Chapter 109
Chapter 109
Episode 109
Lucia continued to berate me with a look of disgust.
“Ha, the more I think about it, the more I don't understand. Why would someone like a Hero like a man like you?”
“Nothing's confirmed yet. Her mind must have been hazy from the aftereffects of the curse.”
“That's what I'm saying. How could she show such favor to you in that state? Weren't you actually acquainted?”
Yes, there was a point to her words. To be honest, I didn't know where the hell this Oz had been wandering around.
But probably not.
From what I saw of Lustitia just now, it was our first meeting.
If so, then what I could infer from the circumstances was probably…….
“My face……?”
“……If you say that, then I don't have anything to say. No, wait a minute. If you look at just the face without the usual behavior…… Yes, this was it. It's suddenly starting to become more credible.”
“What about my behavior? I haven't done anything that would be a problem.”
“Haha! Prince Oz is also good at jokes. That one just now was really funny.”
“……”
What?
Why is her emotion, seen through [Contemplation], showing a complete unity of surface and inner thoughts?
Does Tenebris want an all-out war with me or something?
“Pfft……. r-right. Prince Oz. About the plan for the futu—pffft……. I mean, the plan.”
“……”
Stop laughing. Why are you laughing so uncontrollably?
Is it really that much?
This is too much…….
“Ahem, ahem……. anyway, about the plan for the future. Prince Oz? I'd like you to do a little investigation on the Hero Lustitia.”
“Investigation?”
“Something you realized yourself while fighting, or even just something simple is fine. It seems the higher-ups are uneasy that there's no information on a master of that level.”
I could understand the Empire's position.
In fact, hadn't Salem, about whom there had been no information, appeared and pacified Spellerge, which had been no different from a lawless city, in an instant?
Since there was a precedent, they couldn't take it lightly.
But…….
“Why are you asking me to do that?”
I was not a member of Tenebris, let alone the Empire.
Had she forgotten our distance because we had been friendly?
“Well, that opinion is also valid. Since you're not a member of Tenebris. But Prince Oz. First, would you read this?”
What Lucia held out was a note, about a single letter in length.
A note with nothing particularly special about it.
The material was ordinary, and there didn't seem to be any magical devices on it.
Did Discreet send it?
My dear Successor of the Mage King, Oz Quabadis. First, I apologize for greeting you through a letter like this. I am the First Imperial Princess of the Helios Empire, Stasia von…….
I folded the note as it was and returned it to Lucia.
“Why are you delivering a letter from the imperial family in such a way……?”
Are you crazy?
Because she had held it out so casually, I hadn't imagined it was a letter from the imperial family.
Thanks to that, the moment the name came out, goosebumps rose all over my body.
“Prince Oz. How much damage do you think we had to endure to grant your whim this time?”
“……”
“Nationwide surveillance and the dispatch of combat personnel to the Papal States were the basics.”
Lucia tapped the note and laughed as if it were ridiculous.
“Information control and manipulation about you in each fiefdom and each country, and even a battle that involved non-combat personnel.”
“……Would a personal profile be enough?”
In other words, I had exceeded the permissible limit of what I could be indebted to the Empire.
If this continued, I would be engaged to a crazy bitch who bathes in the blood of convicts.
“I’m glad you understand quickly, Prince Oz. For your reference, this note is just a transcript of the Imperial Princess's words, so it’s not an official document, so rest assured.”
“Even so, you’re carrying that around written on a note like that?”
“She told me to let you know as soon as you crossed the threshold. Well, since you’ve agreed to cooperate this time, it will be as if it never happened.”
“The Empire is truly a terrible country.”
“All countries are like that.”
Lucia said, sneering, and held out a communication device to me.
It was the same model as the one Eleanor had taken from me before.
“This……”
“This time, I won't be giving any particular instructions. It seems Noah has a beast-like intuition.”
“Even more so than you?”
“That's a species-ist remark against beastkin.”
“Mmm……”
No, is the human-hate you're committing okay?
Eleanor was a person with a certain level of intelligence, even if she had a rather impulsive and sensory side.
I understood her words, but I wished she would treat her more like a person if possible.
“Anyway, this communication device is a one-way street from their side to ours, so you should act accordingly.”
“A poker face is my specialty, so you don't need to worry.”
“……Right, I’ll trust you.”
After hiding the communication device Lucia gave me in my ear, I turned back the way I came.
By now, Eleanor and Lustitia must have sorted out their feelings.
I would have to appropriately draw out information about the problem between the two and about Lustitia, and then escape from this stifling and anxious state.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Wow~ what an interesting item. Mr. Oz. What does this do?”
“Master, what kind of person is she this time? Is she the same person as last time?”
“……”
It didn't even take five minutes for the communication device Lucia had lent me to be discovered and for my poker face to crumble.
What? Is she really a beast? Does she perhaps detect electromagnetic waves or something?
I didn't know.
I was just filled with the desire to get out of this place.
“Master, there won't be a second time.”
Crack!
Squeak!
The communication device Lucia had given me was shattered with a sound like a short death cry.
“It’s a long-awaited reunion, isn't it? If someone else were to interfere at a time like this, wouldn't I get angry, no matter what?”
“Uh, um, right……. sorry.”
The atmosphere sank even further.
Even though she had a smiling face, I couldn't meet her eyes. To make matters worse, Lustitia was making a similar expression to Eleanor for some reason.
“Noah, how about introducing me here?”
“Haha, shall I? Master, this is Sister Lusti. Lustitia Heros. Was she thirty this year?”
“What are you talking about? I'm still twenty-four. I told you last time, didn't I?”
“Haha, I forgot.”
“Noah, you have a bad memory. You'll have to study hard.”
“……”
Ah, I really hate this.
Normally, this wouldn't happen, but for some reason, I wanted to go home today.
Why are you doing this? The two of you had a good atmosphere until just a while ago.
“Ah, Mr. Oz. What would you like for your meal? My recommendation is……”
“The Master likes steak, doesn't he? I know everything. How many years have I been with the Master?”
“……”
I felt like I could even endure Tia's one-sided hysterics right now.
Still, I had to endure. I had to endure.
It was better to cross this hellscape than to be involved with the Imperial Princess.
No, was either way hell? What did I do wrong?
I had tried to be a good person as much as possible. But was this the price?
Yes, Ein was surely an evil god.
“Master, so which one will you have? Is it steak, after all?”
“Ah, the one I recommend is the stew over here. It was quite good.”
“……”
I don't think I can swallow my food, but do I have to eat?
I wasn't the type to skip meals, but I thought it would be okay today.
No, I thought I had to.
“……I’ll have the pasta.”
“Tch……”
“How uninteresting.”
The synergy of the duo was terrible.
Eleanor expressed her dissatisfaction openly, and Lustitia glared at me as if she were looking at a coward.
An atmosphere so suffocating it was hard to breathe.
I wanted to run away right now, but……. I would have to try a little harder.
“Ms. Lustitia, there’s one thing I’d like to ask……”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Don't you have anything you want to ask me? Master.”
“……You, a little later.”
“You’d better choose your questions well. Master.”
“……”
It felt like walking on thin ice.
I had lived a life of walking a tightrope until now, but this was the first time I had felt so anxious.
First, I would have to take a stance so as not to hurt Eleanor's feelings.
It seemed she was more unstable than Lustitia.
“First of all, thank you for protecting Noah……”
“Eleanor.”
“……Thank you for protecting Eleanor.”
I immediately corrected myself at Eleanor's interjection.
Right, I would admit this one.
For her, the meaning of the names 'Eleanor' and 'Noah' that I called her would have a big difference.
Wasn't it a sign of lies and trust?
It was just that I had been calling her Noah all this time, so I couldn't help but get used to this side.
“No, I just did what was natural. I am a Hero, after all.”
“Is that so? Then it means you have no particular connection with Noah……. Eleanor. I can't help but be a little suspicious of such one-sided goodwill.”
“Sister Lusti is my distant relative. So you don't have to worry about that part. Master.”
No, I just can't get a read on her.
Which tune am I supposed to dance to right now?
Even if I tried to match Eleanor's reaction, she was on edge one moment and mellow the next, so I couldn't grasp the atmosphere at all. If she changed her attitude so moment by moment, I couldn't help but feel suffocated.
“I see……. Should I take that to mean you are curious about me? Mr. Oz.”
A blonde woman with unusually bright eyes.
“Haha! Isn't it more likely that he's trying to sell that information to the Master's secret friend?”
And a silver-haired girl with a chilly, sunken gaze.
“……”
And in the midst of that, she hit the nail on the head again.
I was so anxious.
Does she by any chance know about the relationship between me and Tenebris?
Are the two of them conspiring right now to drive me into a quagmire I can't escape from?
“Just a moment……. I think it's about time to go and find the magic tool I left, so I’ll be excusing myself.”
I didn't think I could endure it any longer. This was my limit.
I had to run away.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Right after Oz had left the room, Eleanor pouted and spoke to Lustitia.
“That was no fun. Sister Lusti.”
“Heeheehee, I had fun seeing various sides of Noah.”
“I don’t want to show a sharp reaction even to you, sister, you know?”
Noah knew well that her behavior was relatively irrational.
And it was the same that it was a black and gloomy emotion that she couldn't control with just her will.
To Eleanor, Oz and Lustitia were precious beings.
Yes, even if their directions were different, they were both precious. That was why she couldn't help but dislike herself for spouting malicious words at Lustitia.
“The Master ran away because of you.”
“……If you trace the cause, I think it might be more because of you than me.”
“Are you blaming me now?”
“No, mmm……. never mind.”
Their relationship had strangely changed by now.
They were surely precious beings to each other, but at the same time, they were also enemies aiming for what was their own.
But even that relationship was in a state where Lustitia had taken a step back.
Didn't she know?
How desperate the girl named Eleanor was for that feeling.
That was why she was accepting Eleanor's childishness while also making an appeal about herself to Oz.
It was unavoidable for her disposition, which sought to stand on the side of the weak. Yes, it was unavoidable.
She had become too used to yielding and being considerate.
Lustitia shook her head at her own appearance and continued to speak.
“Noah.”
It was a soft voice, devoid of playfulness, but at the same time, it contained a strictness that urged an answer.
“I'm going to talk about something serious now. Will you listen?”
“……?”
Lustitia had been thinking from the moment she opened her eyes until now.
She was helping Eleanor.
But she was not the only one helping Eleanor. After actually meeting the boy named Oz, Lustitia was able to be certain of that fact.
“What are you going to do from now on?”
“Pardon……?”
“We’ve achieved the objective we originally set. You’ve confirmed the current situation of Chrysos, and I’ve had my curse lifted. So what’s next?”
“……”
“What are you going to do next?”
Lustitia met Noah's eyes with a gentle gaze.
Fear still remained in Eleanor's pupils.
Like the emotion she poured into the boy named Oz. She must have been afraid that her relationship with her would be severed.
The emotion of obsession that began from loss.
'I'm happy that she likes me that much, but…….'
This can't go on.
Lustitia thought so.
Eleanor was in an unstable state. It was unavoidable, but if she were to go on the path she had set for herself, she couldn't stay like that.
It would probably be a long journey.
“I'm going to travel again like this. Will you go back to Scientia and regain your original life? Or will you follow me?”
If so, then once. If she didn't teach her how to overcome it.
If she didn't teach her how to change, how to grow.
“Noah, I remember the reason you headed for Scientia. You said it was to make connections, build up your strength, and make yourself known, right?”
There were several reasons why Eleanor had headed for Scientia.
Even excluding the fact that she showed extreme separation anxiety, she had a mission she had embraced as the sole survivor of Chrysos.
Companions she could trust and be trusted by.
Strength that would not be shipwrecked by the indiscriminate malice that would come her way.
Knowledge that would be needed for the future of rebuilding Chrysos.
Yes, because she had thought all of that was necessary.
“There’s one thing I can offer you. Will you travel the world with me and make connections to rebuild Chrysos? If you want that, I’ll lend you the name value of a ‘Hero’ as much as you want.”
Then what about the suggestion Lustitia was offering her?
She would surely become an absolute companion she could trust.
She would surely become an absolute strength that could protect her.
The knowledge she would build up while being with her would surely become more valuable than anything else.
She alone could greatly shorten the reason why she had aimed for Scientia.
“Noah.”
Lustitia said, looking at the trembling gaze of the weak girl named Noah.
“Eleanor von Chrysos.”
And yet, she said, looking at the gaze of the royalty who bore the duty of the name Eleanor, which was shining faintly.
“What do you want to do? Will you do your best to fulfill your duty?”
Whether to follow her now.
“Or will you keep your current feelings and take the long way around?”
Whether to return to Scientia.
For Eleanor, a moment of a choice between two options, neither of which she could easily give up, had arrived.