How a Wizard Survives (28)
How a Wizard Survives (28)
Even someone as dense as me could tell.
Angelica was here because of me.
Not that she would have orchestrated this whole operation just for my sake...
She must have slipped Angelica's name onto an existing roster.
'Those damned Einholds!'
My personal disgust aside, the Inquisition was genuinely welcoming them with open arms.
According to Reinhardt, this oversight unit existed in name only; it was essentially reinforcements.
The Inquisitors, already feeling the sting of their manpower shortage after the palace battle, had no choice but to welcome them.
Even if we did manage to track down Ulysses, could we really arrest a mage that powerful?
Truth be told, that unease had been hanging in the air.
Angelica, flanked by the knights of Einhold, closed the distance without hesitation.
She reached me moments later and greeted me warmly.
"Hello, Lady Katrina. Sir Jaeger, you've been keeping well?"
"A pleasure. This reunion comes sooner than expected."
She hadn't breathed a word about the Einhold proposal...
But Katrina had clearly caught the suspicious atmosphere, and her reaction was anything but pleased.
Angelica paid her reaction no mind and took my hand.
"Is your body holding up?"
"Ah, yes... No issues."
"Wonderful. If it wouldn't trouble you, would you lend me a hand? I'm relocating my lodgings to Reshutal, so there's some luggage."
I should've said I was still a little sore.
As I rose belatedly, already regretting it, Katrina moved to follow me.
But a Holy Knight Captain lending a hand with this sort of menial task was just wrong.
"La-Lady Katrina, please stay."
"Alright. I won't keep him long."
"... Be quick about it."
The clipped tone, shorter than usual, betrayed Katrina's discomfort.
Fortunately, Angelica's lodgings weren't far.
She had already secured a fine mansion near the Inquisition Branch.
I assumed she'd be sharing it with her retainers, but...
It was so luxurious and well appointed that it caught me off guard.
It had even been thoroughly cleaned.
"That was fast."
"Ah, the mansion itself has been Einhold property for some time. A ducal house always has personnel stationed in the capital."
"Aha..."
So she hadn't procured it in a day or two.
The moment I passed through the main gate, a stream of carriages bearing the Einhold crest came flooding in.
Knights dismounted in a steady line, as if she had dragged the family's entire elite reserve force along.
There was even a throng of people who looked like Angelica's relatives.
"Reshutal, it's been far too long! Oh, Angelica. You arrived ahead of us?"
"Indeed. And this gentleman beside you is..."
"So we really get to face Ulysses, the Wizard of Change."
"Good heavens. You think you can take him on?"
"Mother always said if you see Ulysses, run, no questions asked..."
The Einhold contingent was so numerous I was half-worried about the duchy's defenses.
I exchanged hasty greetings with them all and clicked my tongue internally.
'Did the king summon them?'
The image of the king I'd seen at the palace flickered to mind. It wasn't entirely implausible.
Just as I was wondering if I was being too sensitive...
The servants brought Angelica's luggage from the carriage.
We swiftly took it and headed to her room.
She had plenty of servants, yet she'd specifically asked for my help.
I grumbled inwardly as I set the bags down upon arriving at her unexpectedly feminine room.
The luggage itself was almost nothing.
"Thank you, Sir Jaeger. A true gentleman."
Was it because of my first impression of her?
When this woman spoke, even the simplest things sounded like teasing.
At the very least, this time she was definitely teasing.
After chewing on my words for a long moment, I finally settled on honest indignation.
Despite how plainly I'd spoken, they'd still slipped Angelica into this mission.
The Head of the Einhold Family had gone too far.
"It seems Lord Einhold failed to grasp what I said."
"Huh? No. That isn't..."
"There's no need to lie to my face."
Angelica tried to act tough, but her voice quavered with wounded pride as she retorted in disbelief.
"Does my father really seem so powerless to you?"
"Then why do you keep... someone like me..."
"No. Well... For starters, Sir Jaeger's value isn't as low as you think, and my own value isn't as high as you imagine."
Angelica heaved a deep sigh, as if wondering where to even begin her explanation.
Her desperately contrived calm struck me as painfully pitiful.
Still, for courtesy's sake, I had to at least hear her out.
"Mage families like the Einholds and the Wizardveins make a point of having many children, you see? Did you notice my relatives outside?"
"I'd heard as much."
"Right now I have two older brothers and three younger siblings. Even someone in the Eight Swords has six children—what kind of scarcity does being the eldest daughter bring? Besides, I'm not even the family head's child."
Certainly a lot of them.
But the Einholds possessed a vast territory and deep coffers.
No matter what, anyone bearing the Einhold name would walk away with a share of the wealth upon marriage.
And a man of Hector's standing would not treat his eldest daughter so poorly.
'Should I just reveal that I'm Einhold-born?'
I entertained the reckless thought for a moment, then shook my head and dismissed it.
This was a matter already settled with my teacher.
I had to conceal my Einhold lineage for as long as possible.
'Jaeger, your father wouldn't have hidden you away in some remote village for no reason. There must have been circumstances.'
'... Do you think so?'
'Yes. Whether it was a choice he made for you or not, I can't say... but at the very least, it's certain he meant to keep you hidden. Revealing it carelessly could put you in danger.'
If I disclosed my Einhold blood here and now, the family would stop at nothing to "retrieve" me.
They could never allow a mage carrying their bloodline to run wild outside their control.
While those thoughts churned...
Near panic, Angelica stamped her foot. Then her eyes glinted as an idea occurred to her.
She hung her head low... and finally began to confess bluntly.
"I understand, Sir Jaeger. Then I'll speak truthfully."
"Finally!"
"Th-The truth is, I don't want to marry some man already either. But the family head ordered me to bring you into the family, no matter what."
Perhaps because she was pouring out all her pent-up grievances, Angelica's voice trembled.
I clasped her hand firmly in encouragement.
She couldn't even look me in the face.
"So that's how it was. I'm sorry. I should have been clearer when I spoke with Lord Einhold."
"No! If you had, I might have been married off to some rich old man or a disgusting wastrel."
"G-Good heavens!"
It still sounded absurd, but it was far more persuasive than before.
If he was trying to pair Angelica with someone like me, what would stop him from marrying her to men like that?
The Head of the Einhold Family was a money-crazed ingrate.
As I was busily cursing the man in my head, Angelica, eyes brimming with tears, clung to me.
Something about the corners of her mouth looked like a smile, but I must have been mistaken.
"I know I'm not good enough for Sir Jaeger, but could you please pretend to associate with me, just for a while? If I'm seen as having been spurned by you, then I..."
"Not good enough... More to the point, pretend to associate with you?"
"Yes. If you just act suitably familiar with me, I will manage the rest."
Well. If Angelica grew into a more powerful mage and stacked up achievements, perhaps she could manage something.
I understood her meaning and clenched my fist.
As my teacher had said, I'd nearly been sold off myself, so I wanted to help her if I could.
And when you got down to it, wasn't this woman my relative?
'Even among the Eight Swords, not all are the family head's siblings, so the actual blood relation might be somewhat distant... but relative is relative.'
Angelica wasn't asking for much.
Even setting emotion aside, having an ally within the Einhold Family seemed like a reasonable move.
Thinking that, I nodded.
"Understood. I'll do that."
"Truly? That was easy... I mean, thank you!"
Angelica brightened so abruptly that it was almost awkward.
She practically seized my hand and pulled me out of the bedroom.
Thanks to that, I endured the stinging glares of the Einhold family members.
I hurried back to the Inquisition Branch before Katrina could get truly upset...
Suddenly, a blood-soaked boy came dashing breathlessly from the main street.
His face lit up when he spotted the cross engraved on my armor.
"S-Sir! Please help. Someone's dying in that alley..."
"Lead the way."
I drew my sword without hesitation and followed him.
Angelica's presence made me want to avoid this, but duty was duty.
It would be good for her to learn as quickly as possible, too.
Though flustered by the sudden situation, Angelica willingly came with me.
We entered a shadowy alley and found a bloodied woman collapsed on the ground, just as the boy had said.
"Goodness, the bleeding is severe—"
"No."
I gripped the hand Angelica had been about to use to examine the woman and didn't let go.
Stopped short, she turned to look at me with bewildered eyes.
"Jaeger?"
"You made two mistakes. First, kids like you don't usually offer such a polite escort at times like this. You say your piece and run. Next time, try saying it was your family or your friend who got hurt."
Angelica, realizing I was addressing the boy behind us, clamped her mouth shut.
The boy stood frozen stiff, unable to say a word.
I continued my lesson regardless.
"Second, don't smile at a Heretic Inquisitor. No one does. Third, you still used way too much blood. If your clothes are that soaked, you're either the killer or the corpse—pick one. And fourth... damn it, I meant to list two, but you made too many mistakes!"
When I couldn't hold back my irritation, the other side couldn't hold back any longer either.
The boy tried to stab Angelica with a dagger he'd hidden in his clothes.
At a glance, a knife wouldn't pierce her armor, so I had to admit it was a fairly rational choice.
Thwack! Wham!
"Aagh!"
I easily beat the boy down with my gauntleted fist, then hurled a dagger into the shoulder of the mage who'd been playing dead.
I sank another blade into her opposite shoulder, deflected the incoming magic with my sword, and finished with a kick.
As I moved to drag the two unconscious figures away, Angelica stared at me blankly.
"..."
"Welcome to Reshutal."
I said it awkwardly and escorted her back to the Inquisition Branch.
Katrina had been waiting at the entrance in a foul mood, but her anger vanished when she spotted our unexpected captives.
"You caught a mage already?"
"They came looking for me."
"Well done. That hand... Ah, no."
My hand, still linked with Angelica's.
Katrina, who'd been staring at it, stopped herself mid-sentence.
She'd noticed that Angelica had been trembling nonstop since earlier.
Angelica's trembling finally subsided right around the time the rest of the Einhold contingent arrived.
Originally, the Einholds and the Inquisition were destined for a tense relationship at best...
But the Inquisitors, who'd felt the manpower shortage keenly during the palace battle, welcomed them gladly.
Ulysses's existence had united even old foes.
They held a modest but hearty welcome banquet.
Under Katrina's glare, I explained the general situation to her.
The moment the story ended, she fixed me with eyes like chips of ice and muttered as if I were pathetic.
"You... fell for that? Yet you capture Heretic Mages so easily."
"Fell for what?"
"However you look at it, there's no way Hector Einhold would send his eldest daughter to scoundrels like that."
"Aah! I-Is that so? But he even considered someone like me as a candidate..."
"That's right. Einhold is weak. Sir Jaeger has to help us."
Angelica sipped her drink beside me and nodded vigorously.
Katrina just squeezed her eyes shut.
Was it a lingering effect of her injury?
Plagued by a chill I couldn't explain, I demurely nibbled at my food.