Encounter
"Hahh..."
After a wave of blinding white light had swept through the forest, I let out a long breath and settled my breathing. A tingling numbness lingered in my limbs — the aftermath of using several different kinds of aura.
This power really takes a toll on the body.
I clenched my hand lightly, then opened it again. Was it because I still lacked the knack for it? Even so, it was an ability that came with a surprisingly vicious recoil. Most knights trained until they were fluent in a single type of aura, but I was throwing around several at once. In martial-arts terms, it was like practicing a handful of completely unrelated styles at the same time. The only reason a stunt like that was even possible was Behirit's freakish constitution.
I was still taking stock of my condition when Liliana and Ayla came up and bowed deeply at the waist.
"U-um... thank you so much for saving us. If you hadn't helped, I don't know what would have..."
"Don't worry about it. More importantly, there seemed to be other children in the carriage."
"Yes. Thanks to you, everyone's all right."
At Ayla's words I looked toward the carriage. The other elf girls had already climbed out and were clinging to one another, weeping tears of joy. There were about six of them. They looked haggard, as if they hadn't been fed properly while they were held captive, but nothing seemed seriously wrong with their health.
Thank goodness.
I had ridden hard all day from the imperial capital to get here, and I had managed to save Liliana and the others. I had also reduced the Second Prince's little expansion scheme to ash. The results, at least, had been worth the effort.
....
And yet a thick regret lingered, bitter on my tongue — perhaps because Liliana had been hurt. If I had been even a little later, as she herself had said, something unspeakable would have happened. This time, thanks to my knowledge of the original story and the information Lüdenburger had provided, I had been able to find the slave hunters' camp. But if I did not want to repeat the same mistake, I needed to start making more aggressive use of the abilities at my disposal.
"Um... do you have somewhere you're planning to go from here? We're thinking of heading to a nearby village first. If it's all right with you, could we repay you for saving us once we get there?"
Having finished speaking with the other elf girls, Liliana came over. I could feel the determination in her voice — she meant to repay me one way or another. Elves lived for a very long time, so they tended to be exacting about debts of gratitude and grudges, and Liliana seemed to be no exception.
Repay me at the village for saving them, huh...
Just what kind of repayment was she talking about? Surely she didn't mean that.
Get your mind out of the gutter.
My thoughts had started drifting in a thoroughly stupid direction, and I snapped at myself.
"Then we should travel together as far as the village. I need a place to rest before I head back to the capital anyway. I'll think about the repayment."
"All right. There's a village we should be able to reach in about half a day from here. I think we can head there first."
Liliana pointed toward one side of the forest, and I nodded quietly. Everyone was in rough shape, so I needed to accompany them at least as far as the village — at the very least until they linked up with the pursuit party from the autonomous territory.
And so I continued on with Liliana, making for the nearby village.
After several hours of pushing through the forest, night finally gave way to a dim, gray dawn, and we arrived at a village of considerable size. I left my horse at the stables and led the elf girls to the finest inn the place had to offer.
"Um, we don't have enough money right now to all stay somewhere like this..."
"Don't worry. I have money."
"But we can't keep imposing—"
A bell chimed as I opened the door, ignoring Liliana, who was still talking as she stuck close to my side. The sound announcing a guest's arrival rang through the inn. On the first floor, which was furnished like a tavern, patrons who had been drinking until dawn turned their eyes on us.
"What's this? Elves? And a whole bunch of them?"
"I've never seen an elf before."
"Me neither. But that one is crazy pretty."
The crowd murmured. Flushed drunks stared at Liliana as if they meant to bore a hole through her.
They were like this at the village entrance, too.
A faint sigh escaped me. Elves were already famous for their beauty, and even among them Liliana was overwhelming. Light-green hair that belonged in a forest. Pale skin that stood out all the more in the dark. Striking features that somehow gave a faintly feline impression. Her chest was modest compared to Lucy or Eustia, but her childbearing hips — the kind that looked built to deliver babies with ease — were second to none.
Regardless, I was not about to let Liliana get tangled up in something troublesome. I clicked my tongue and let a thin thread of killing intent seep into the room.
A hush rolled through the air.
"Hup—!"
"Hey...! Let's just drink."
"Mm. Yeah."
The villagers buried their noses in their cups and started drinking in earnest. I went to the counter with the fidgeting elf girls, and the innkeeper answered in a voice that had shrunk to almost nothing.
"W-what kind of rooms would you like?"
"Every room this inn has left."
"Ohh...! Ahem. In that case, we have one large room and three small ones. Would that be all right?"
"That'll do."
I took the keys from the innkeeper, whose expression had brightened dramatically, and we went up the stairs toward our respective rooms. I tried to take a small one, but Liliana was so stubbornly insistent that she could not yield on this one point that I ended up going into the largest room alone.
The door opened with a hinge that had seen better years. The room was reasonably cozy — maybe three hundred square feet. Having long since thrown any notion of Eastern courtesy out the window, I threw myself onto the bed the moment I stepped inside, without even taking off my shoes.
"Mm."
Even the finest inn in the village was still a countryside inn, I supposed. Unfortunately, the mattress's feel was a long way from plush. Compared to the beds at the Divelion Mansion, it might as well have been a wooden floor. Still, maybe because the fatigue had piled up, even a bed like this felt reasonably comfortable.
I was just about to take off the mask I had been wearing all this time and rest when a knock came at the door.
"Um, may I come in for a moment?"
Liliana's voice drifted in from the other side. Don't tell me... she had come to make good on that repayment?
"Come in."
"Yes."
Liliana carefully opened the door and stepped into the room. I spoke with a pretense of composure.
"What brings you here?"
"I really wanted to thank you for today. You saved me and my sister, and you even gave me a holy power recovery potion on the way here."
"It was something I had extra of. Nothing worth fussing over."
That was the truth. The Divelion Mansion had a whole stockpile of holy power recovery potions that Milinarise had made for me. If they had been used to treat Liliana, they had served their purpose admirably. But perhaps she took my words differently, because Liliana's expression grew even more serious.
"...Do you know anything about elven customs?"
"To some extent. You're supposed to remain inside the autonomous territory for a hundred years, I hear."
"That's right. But there's a reason for that."
Liliana paused to catch her breath, then went on.
"The elven race traces its roots to the spirits. That's why we devote a hundred years to forming spirit contracts on land the spirits have blessed."
"And that land is the autonomous territory."
"Yes. And when we succeed in forming a spirit contract after all that training, we receive a Soul Name."
"...."
Hearing her words, I honestly could not help but be surprised. This was exactly what she had said to the protagonist in the original story.
"...You don't have to go that far."
"A promise sworn on a Soul Name is binding for an elf. I've already made the vow. I look forward to working with you, Sir Masked Knight."
Liliana folded her hands behind her back and smiled softly. It was a beautiful smile — beautiful enough that every effort I had made to save her felt entirely worthwhile.
"Come to think of it, we haven't even introduced ourselves. I'm Liliana Mayflower. A first-year at the Imperial Academy. And you?"
"Hm."
I fell silent for a moment, thinking. Right now, Liliana did not know my identity. Had she not heard what Gladrock shouted before he died? Well, it did not matter either way. I could trust her. There was no reason to keep wearing a mask when we were alone. She would not rashly ask why I had gone to that forest, either. Even if she was curious, she was a woman whose consideration ran even deeper than her curiosity.
Having settled my thoughts, I took off the mask.
"...!"
"Ah..."
Our eyes met. Liliana's went round like a startled cat's, her lips parting slightly, her cheeks flushing. In that pleasant silence, I smiled faintly and said to her,
"I look forward to working with you, Liliana."
The next day, the pursuit party from the autonomous territory arrived at the village. Most of them were the kidnapped elf girls' families, and they all shed tears of joy the moment they were reunited with their missing loved ones.
"Hic... Carmen... thank goodness you're safe."
"Waaah... I won't ever wander off on my own again."
A tearful family reunion. I watched from a distance, wearing my mask. I had told Ayla my identity as well, so afterward the House of Divelion should be able to build a favorable relationship with the Mayflower family — and that, in time, would become the foundation for friendly relations with the entire autonomous territory. Doing good deeds really did seem to bring good fortune.
Time passed. After sending the elf girls back to the autonomous territory, I headed for the capital on horseback with Liliana. I had intended to go alone, but she had stuck to me, insisting she would repay her debt somehow.
"Um... shouldn't you be going to the Academy?"
"It's all right. Repaying my benefactor comes first."
We were in a forest about an hour from the village. I glanced back at Liliana, who was riding behind me, and she answered with a bright smile. Perhaps because she had shared her Soul Name with me, she did not seem particularly intimidated despite my status as Grand Duke.
Hmm...
This girl, though — her attitude toward attendance was grounds for academic probation. Declaring her absence so shamelessly. I recalled that in the original story, too, she had been so curious she had run around everywhere and had not attended the Academy much...
Well, whatever.
She looked happy, so I let it be.
As we were crossing the forest together, we stopped for a moment at a stream to water the horse. I was leaning against a tree, resting, when Liliana exclaimed in wonder at the sight of it.
"Wow. So that's how horses drink water."
"First time seeing a horse drink?"
"Hehe. I've ridden a few times, but I've never seen one drink."
She spoke with a smile like sunlight. Having seen a horse drink on some educational TV show as a kid, back before I had been transmigrated into this world, I found her wonder rather adorable. It had gone slurp and sucked it up like a vacuum cleaner back then, too. Looking at it again, it really was a little fascinating.
We were spending a peaceful moment together when I sensed a presence a short distance away. I brought my hand to the longsword's scabbard and called softly to Liliana.
"Liliana."
"Yes?"
"Someone's coming."
I spoke quietly, raising my guard. Judging by their energy, they were by no means inferior to Gladrock. For a powerhouse of that caliber to come alone into a forest like this was not a normal situation. A glance to the side showed that Liliana had realized the same thing — she was ready to cast magic at any moment.
I spoke toward the presence beyond the undergrowth, infusing my voice with mana.
"Who's there."
"...."
A brief silence. I felt no killing intent from the other party. A moment later the presence drew closer. The undergrowth parted, and a boy stepped into view.
"!"
"Oh... there are people here, but..."
A clear, androgynous voice. Soft light-brown hair and calmly lowered eyelashes. The blessing of the stars flowed through his entire body, and his somewhat youthful face wore a bewildered expression.
"Does anyone here need help?"
The boy of the stars, Luke Stareil. The original protagonist scratched his head and asked me.