A Wanderer's Destiny, Pointing Toward Serpina's Army (1)
After seeing Serpina off on her return to the royal palace, I headed for the place she had indicated.
Once I explained the situation to the guards, I opened the door and at last managed to reunite with them.
"Swen!"
"Swen...!"
"I'm glad you're all safe."
It had only been a few days, yet it felt as though we had been apart for a very long time.
I was not the only one who thought so; they seemed just as overjoyed to see me again.
Irene especially... looked as if she might cry.
"Please calm yourself, Irene."
"But... Swen. I thought I might never see you again... *sob*."
"Why would you never see me again? It isn't as though Serpina intended to devour me."
Well, since I had ultimately chosen to serve her, one could argue I had been devoured after all.
"But when I asked what had become of you, Swen... they told me you were so heartbroken you had stopped eating and were starving yourself... I was so terribly worried..."
"..."
I had assumed it was a joke, yet she had truly said that.
Serpina truly was a woman whose depths one could never fathom.
"Swen... you must take proper care of yourself and eat well... You're already so thin. If you refuse meals, your health will fall to pieces..."
Even as the tears fell, the genuine concern she felt for me reached me, and a pang of tenderness stirred in my chest.
She was always mature and dependable, yet every so often this childlike side of her would surface.
"Ah, Irene... there, there now... dry your tears..."
"*sniffle*."
Judging purely by temperament, one would have expected Reika to be the one sniffling rather than Irene. Seeing the two of them reversed like this was somehow amusing.
After I had soothed Irene, I finally learned how the two of them had been faring.
"You've been staying together?"
"Yes. Well... Lady Serpina was kind enough to accommodate us. We were originally kept apart, but when I told her I was worried... she said that if we did not mind living together, she would allow it."
I had only spoken with her a short while earlier, yet she truly was nothing like the rumors painted her.
I even found myself thinking she might possess more compassion than Yuuri.
"Was it livable?"
"Yes... Meals arrived regularly, and Irene was with me, so... But did you truly stop eating...?"
"No. I ate well and lived without trouble, so you need not worry."
As I spoke, I studied both their faces.
I briefly fretted that things might feel awkward without me there to bridge the gap—
Yet on second thought, these two had grown fairly close ever since we shared the carriage ride here.
In life one learns to distinguish people who are compatible from those who are not.
Compatible souls become astonishingly close after only a few words, while the incompatible create discord no matter what one attempts.
In that regard, the two of them seemed rather well matched.
Once Irene had calmed to a reasonable degree, I was at last able to broach the main subject with them.
"Your lord... Swen, she demanded Lady Anima's release in exchange for sending you away...?"
"It would appear so."
"Is that so."
Yuuri's decision must have struck her hard; Irene seemed to have lost her words.
Well, from any ordinary standpoint, no one would choose to hand over another general—especially one dispatched as an envoy—simply to save a different general.
"Then in the end, you have been abandoned."
"That is how it turned out."
In Irene's gaze I sensed half pity and half something akin to kinship.
Come to think of it, she too had once been cast aside by the lord she originally served—Lin.
People who make irrational decisions that fly in the face of common sense are hardly rare; it was no great surprise that a few of them happened to occupy high stations.
"Ah, um, that is..."
I rested a hand on Reika's shoulder as she fidgeted, unable to find a place in the conversation.
"Eek...!"
"Reika, please calm yourself, and listen carefully without misunderstanding me."
"Ah, um, I...!"
To the girl whose eyes had gone round with panic, I spoke as clearly as I could.
"I feel as though I have forced hardship upon you here because of me. I am truly sorry."
"Huh? N-no, that isn't... th-that's fine..."
"I will send you safely to Valharat Castle at once."
"...Eh?"
The moment the shy girl heard those words, she flinched and stared at me like an abandoned kitten.
That was precisely why I had added the warning not to misunderstand.
"I mean it is not that I have no need of you, or that you are of no help... It is simply that I am no longer part of the Asius Army."
"What? That means...!"
I nodded as I met the startled Reika's eyes.
"Yes. As of today, I will be serving under Serpina."
"Is that so. ...Well, even if you returned to the Asius Army now, I doubt you would find much of a welcome."
Irene seemed to grasp the implications at once and accepted the news quickly.
She was fairly sharp; she could easily foresee how the situation would unfold.
"So it seems we will no longer be able to travel together. It is a shame."
"Th-that... but..."
Reika forced the words out in a fading voice.
"Ah... then what about Irene...?"
"Right. Irene, what will you do?"
I already knew the answer, yet it was better to ask.
As expected, the reply came without even a second's hesitation.
"I told you, did I not? No matter what happens, I will remain at your side, Swen. I too shall serve Lady Serpina."
"Are you not worried? My new lord has a rather poor reputation, after all."
"If you have decided to serve them, then whoever it may be becomes my lord as well."
I had expected things to turn out this way—
Yet hearing her speak those words still filled me with a quiet pride and a strange, fluttering warmth.
"Very well. I will speak favorably of it to Lady Serpina... that is, to my lord. You are an outstanding person, Irene, so I believe she will accept you. You need not worry overmuch."
"Mm."
In any case, as a warrior Irene possessed the freedom to choose whom she would serve—
Yet Reika was bound to Zinor, so we had no justification for keeping her with us indefinitely.
"Th-then I will...!"
"Reika. I would like to stay with you as well, but if anything were to befall you, I could never face Lord Zinor."
"I do not mind...! I want to be with you, Swen..."
"How can you not mind? Of course it matters."
"No! Truly... it truly does not matter. So..."
Reika was desperately trying to force something out.
"I received permission! My father's... permission!"
"...What?"
"He told me that if anything happened, I should stay by your side... He said so before we departed...! So it is all right for me to remain here...! In the first place, I am not serving anyone. As long as I have Father's permission... it is f-fine...!"
She spoke in a tone stronger than was usual for her—
Yet when I considered it calmly, she was correct.
She had simply been training in magic at Zinor's mansion; she was not particularly affiliated with the Asius Army.
The only person who could truly direct her was her father Zinor... and if he had given his permission, there was no real reason to send her off to Valharat Castle, was there?
"...Is that true? You are not lying to me?"
"Of course not...! I d-do not tell lies... Well, of course I understand if I seem untrustworthy..."
"No. As long as it is not a lie, that is enough. Then... stay with us for the time being."
"Do as Swen says, Reika. If we are at your side, you will at least be able to live in safety."
Only after hearing Irene's words did the shadow of anxiety leave Reika's face.
"Swen... Irene...!"
As I soothed Reika together with Irene, thoughts of my former lord rose unbidden.
Not Lin, not Yuuri, but the sole person who had truly believed in me—Lunarien.
No particular news had reached us yet, yet if I could only return to Luna's side at the very moment she raised her army—
Having the knight Irene and the mage Reika with me.
Both of them would prove an enormous help.
And if I seized a favorable moment to propose to Irene...
And afterward... proposed to Reika as well, would that work?
I still did not know Reika's heart, so proposing to her felt somewhat premature.
The marriage discussions had been interrupted by this whole affair, leaving matters awkward...
Yet if we lived together for a time, I would likely gain some sense of how to proceed.
And so we entered the service of the northern hegemon, Serpina.
For Irene it was her third lord; for me, my fourth.
"Well then, I will come visit again soon."
After Swen left the room, Irene sat upon the sofa, lost in thought.
According to him, Serpina would decide their assignments before long, so in the meantime they were to remain in this annex.
It had been called confinement, yet it had been decent enough to live in, so she did not particularly mind.
To be precise, that sort of thing was of little consequence either way.
The true problem was that in the end... she had been unable to ask him that question.
I could not ask about the marriage talks...
She was curious about the discussions concerning Reika as well.
Yet what she longed to know even more was... why Reika had said things such as "Irene will be the first wife."
According to the girl, "Listening to Swen's stories, I could not help but think so"... but what on earth had he said to make her speak that way?
Swen...
Becoming his wife rather than merely his comrade.
Irene had long since set aside any thought of meeting someone she loved and building a family.
Her calling was to cross battlefields and take lives with her sword. The power to take a life also meant that one's own life could be taken in turn.
She might die leaving a loving family behind, and so she had sworn never to love anyone, dedicating her entire existence to her blade and the lord she served.
And yet.
The mere thought of becoming Swen's wife set her heart racing.
At first the confusion had been overwhelming, but after careful reflection...
If Swen desired it... she wanted to become his wife.
She wanted to bear a child who resembled him.
A life spent for the man who had acknowledged her when no one else would, who always relied upon her even as he became her own support—such a life did not seem so terrible.
Only then did she newly realize it.
That she was in love.
Given how chaotic everything had become with the unexpected change of lords, she could not bring up the subject at once...
Next time... I must make certain to ask.
While Irene was lost in such thoroughly girlish worries,
Reika's concerns were rather more practical.
I said it, but... what now?
It was not a lie that she had received Zinor's permission.
Still, if she failed to contact him, would he not worry?
...Honestly he did not seem the type to fret overmuch, yet there remained the debt of having been raised by him.
Perhaps I ought to send a letter at least.
If she told him she was staying with Swen... it should be fine.
It felt as though only yesterday she had been unable even to step outside, yet ever since meeting Swen she felt she was gradually reclaiming her freedom.
What if Father ordered her to return at once...?
I have never done such a thing before, so it is frightening, but... I should prepare a suitable line of refusal...
Her appearance and manner were utterly frail.
Yet she had no desire to have the freedom she had once grasped taken from her again.
Before the person who had essentially gifted her that freedom—her magic teacher—
—a woman becomes stronger than anyone else when she wishes to spend still more time at his side.