Four Days
Four Days
Hamster.
No, it was undeniable that the academy became remarkably comfortable the moment I started walking around with Esmue. Apparently the title Iron-Blood Princess was no joke; the most ordinary interaction students dared attempt with her was a greeting.
No one approached me anymore. It was as if bug repellent had been sprayed—they wouldn't even come near a certain radius.
"I did not insist upon accompanying you without reason."
As Esmue officially joined us, that bastard Zeke decided to temporarily avoid our company. The reason being that even within the academy, the sibling relationships among the imperial princesses were not in a particularly good state.
Consequently, a preposterous division of labor occurred where even Ragnis, who had originally come to visit the Hero Zeke, ended up separated from me and moving with Zeke's group.
When Esmue informed her of this, Ragnis wore the expression of someone who'd just been told the sky would fall tomorrow, but in the end, gritted her teeth and agreed to move with the Hero's party.
Time passed, and now at the inevitably arrived lunch hour, having finished our meal at the dining hall, we were simply enjoying a leisurely stroll.
Honestly, I wondered whether an escort was even necessary at this point, but Esmue linked her arm with mine as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and I decided to keep my mouth shut, silently praying for the continued health of her shoulder muscles.
"Your retainer is with the First Princess while you yourself maintain relations with the Hero, isn't that right? It's a golden opportunity other envoys couldn't get even if they wanted it, yet the Margrave seems none too pleased."
That was certainly true... but Esmue's tone felt less like genuine incomprehension and more like a teasing lilt meant to mess with Ragnis. Was that attitude why Ragnis had been so frustrated?
Still, the kid was a noble in name at least—she wouldn't lose her emotional control over just that. It was truly a mystery.
"In any case, it is a situation beneficial to all, so there is nothing to object to. Even for me, this is a first, but it is rather nice."
Esmue was all smiles, but I couldn't help thinking a little differently.
She was only 18. Because she was a genius, she had skipped grades even at the academy and entered politics, and it was already four years she'd spent fighting to consolidate imperial authority. The groundwork for that must have been laid far earlier, so it was clear she'd lived fiercely tense and on edge amidst plenty.
It was hard to say she'd solved everything easily just because she was a genius—hadn't she herself said that even ordinary work sometimes made curses slip out? Seeing how much she was enjoying herself now, being a genius clearly didn't mean she lacked ordinary emotions.
Just as I ran without rest for revenge, she too was running without rest to become emperor.
Thinking that, I couldn't shake a renewed sense of admiration. Even I couldn't have lived like that if it weren't for the form of reincarnation.
"Isn't the work difficult for you?"
I couldn't exactly ask outright whether the cutthroat political struggle to become emperor was exhausting, so I brought up work instead. Esmue gave me a faint smile, watched me for a moment, then answered as though it were nothing.
"There is nothing in the world that is not difficult. If one's ability is great, it may be somewhat less difficult... but in the end, work befitting that ability inevitably comes."
"With Esmue's ability, couldn't you avoid difficult things?"
How far did she understand and accept my question? I couldn't know, not being a genius. I merely asked and waited for an answer like the light small talk one shares during time spent together anyway.
"A future emperor doesn't avoid hardship. She only pushes through it."
"No. That's the next emperor, isn't it? You should tell me what Esmue herself is like."
The belated thought crossed my mind that this could be a question inviting a response like, 'Dost thou dare imply that I lack the caliber of the next emperor?! Bring the guillotine!' but fortunately, such a thing did not happen. I felt a slight tightening of strength in the arm linked with mine, but as the strength came from Esmue's small body, it was barely perceptible.
"I wonder. I have never thought about it until now. I am a princess, and I possess abilities not lacking for becoming the next emperor. In truth, am I not a genius with abilities far more suited to the emperor than my other siblings?"
If I'd met her without knowing, she'd have been an impudent brat begging for a knuckle rap, but having already established herself as a hamster in my mind, even those words were endlessly cute.
The best part was that Esmue was completely serious when she said it—and that every word was true.
"I had thought it would remain so in the future... but it seems that just, a very tiny, tiny bit of worry has arisen."
Esmue squirmed and blushed, as if embarrassed by the very fact that she'd harbored such a worry.
In the end, this kid was still a kid. Such worries were only natural; she merely faced a situation where what was natural could not be allowed to be natural.
I endured because in my past life I had at least pretended to lead an ordinary life. Fighting endlessly for years on end, training, preparing for the future—it was never easy, no matter where you went.
"Esmue."
"Wh-what is it?"
Once the conclusion was reached, the action was swift.
"Esmue is ultimately here under the academy's rules, in the capacity of a student, and I too am here in a form similar to auditing, but am ultimately a temporary student, am I not?"
"That... is so?"
To get a definitive answer from her, who nodded with a vaguely puzzled look, I bent my waist slightly, looked her straight in the eyes, and asked once more.
"In other words, until the day I return to Itisel, we're both just students here, right?"
"Th-th-tha-that is so."
Memo: small animals... Hamster... too timid to handle faces getting close...
"Then, obviously, we have to do something we can only do in this moment to properly savor student life, don't we?"
"Wh-what on earth do you intend to do, drawing out my agreement and keeping me in suspense like this? Something you can, can only do now, you say...!"
I had no idea what thoughts were making her face flush as if about to burst, but the answer was already decided.
I lifted Esmue straight up and seated her on my shoulder. Unable to process the sudden change in circumstances, Esmue sat on my shoulder, spacing out for a few seconds before finally reacting normally.
"Hyaat?! Wha-what are you doing!"
Not only was she maintaining her balance properly, but I was holding her hand just in case, yet she clung desperately to my head as if terrified. To calm her, I answered without hesitation.
"It's truancy!"
"....True...?"
Skipping class. Taking the day off. Playing hooky.
An act only students can commit.
And thus, wasn't it the most student-like act of all?
"Let's go have fun!"
"That is tru... hyaak! Do-don't run! Don't run!"
Not a chance. I was going all the way to the mansion like this.
◈
"Wh-what on earth have you done, Sir Ega?"
What greeted me at the mansion, after I'd run all the way there wrapped in Magic Power, was Renisa, staring in such shock her jaw looked ready to drop. Her gaze was fixed squarely on Esmue, who was still perched on my shoulder with her arms around my head.
Hmm. I suppose as a knight, she must have the imperial princess's face memorized by default.
"Right now the pr-prin-princess, you're abd-abd...!"
"It is merely part of my duties, Renisa. Therefore, please summon the maids and have them select some modest clothing suitable for Her Highness to wear."
"Part of your duties. Understood."
What the hell, that woman was terrifying.
The person who'd been about to gasp out the word 'abduction' with a horrified expression vanished in an instant at just a single phrase, leaving only the extremely calm and businesslike knight Renisa.
And Esmue followed Renisa and disappeared as naturally as if we'd arranged it beforehand. Hm. Honestly, I'd expected her to panic and demand an explanation. Unexpected. Maybe a man like me really did inspire an incredible amount of trust?
The reason I'd run here was simple. The dark violet dress Esmue was wearing was so damn expensive it couldn't help but stand out.
In this world, dark violet dye was genuinely, absurdly hard to obtain—so rare that owning even a single dark-violet handkerchief could make someone an instant star in high society.
And she'd made a dress out of it? Even a princess of Itisel would be politically crucified for excessive luxury if she did that. That thing was already a symbol of authority that could only be worn because she was a descendant of the imperial household.
How could you go on an outing wearing that?
Naturally, I was still wearing the same Levien knight uniform as Renisa. I changed into the casual clothes I'd been given at the start but never had a proper chance to wear, strapped on only my wallet and longsword, and headed out. As I went, I asked the servants I passed about the three-day imperial sightseeing tour they'd been enjoying and started making concrete plans for our outing.
The wait was not long.
"El-Eldmia. I am ready."
Her beauty and white hair still made her impossible not to notice, but Esmue emerged in an outfit that was as plain as could be.
In modern society, someone might have cursed it as one-dimensional thinking, saying that a world-class beauty doesn't become a neighborhood housewife just by wearing normal clothes, but here, it was enough.
Most of all, I wanted to applaud whoever had skillfully put together an outfit that suited someone as exceptionally petite as Esmue without making her look too young. With fashion sense like that, couldn't they open a clothing store?
I smiled with satisfaction, approached, and lifted Esmue up onto my shoulder again.
This time, I hadn't even lifted her that quickly, but Esmue, who accepted my touch without resistance, hesitated, seated on my shoulder, and opened her mouth.
"Mu-must we absolutely go like this?"
"No matter that it's playing hooky and heading into the city, I can't very well make Her Highness the Princess walk, now can I?"
"Th-this rather seems detrimental to the dignity of the princess..."
"That's what's good about it. Who could possibly imagine that someone would dress the princess in common clothes, seat her on their shoulder, and strut through the streets?"
The less what we did looked like anything a princess would do, the less attention we'd draw. I answered as I strode confidently out of the mansion.
"Alright. From now on, I'm Eldmia Ega, an adventurer of the Kingdom of Itisel. Esmue, you're a neighborhood girl who's gotten close to me. I finished a request and took you out to have fun with the lump sum I earned."
"El-Eldmia? You just now, called me 'you'...?"
"Are you ready to get some rest while experiencing a proper commoner's life, Esh?"
When I cast my gaze at Esmue on my shoulder and asked, she stared blankly with round eyes and open mouth for a long while, then finally, fidgeting and squirming hesitantly, she forced her mouth open.
"I am ready."
As expected of the quick-witted princess.
This reminded me of the time I toured Ogwen with Ragnis.
Things were starting to get fun.