Rumel van Holne
Rumel van Holne
Anna and Aslan did not understand Rumel. More precisely, they could not grasp the purpose behind her current behavior.
The nature of their ignorance differed.
Although she had lived for over two centuries, Anna was originally from the most powerful empire on the Southern Continent and a high-ranking noble.
Yet her life had been consumed solely by her obsession with her lost family and by magic.
She occasionally took on disciples, and sometimes researched spells to recover her lost family, but she could scarcely recall having anything resembling a life of her own.
Literature was foreign to her. She had rarely read anything beyond texts on magic, and she had no idea that the kind of popular novels Rumel read even existed.
Thus, Anna could not guess the delusions Rumel harbored. She only seemed to be wary of her for some reason.
Aslan was somewhat different.
Twelve years ago, he had been a teenager, and he had encountered popular literature.
Games and webtoons had been his main hobbies, and reaching further back, he could vaguely remember watching things like anime now and then.
In essence, he had sufficient reference material.
The problem was the twelve-year gap.
Those twelve years had been a brutal struggle for survival, and Aslan had been forced to lose many things along the way.
His hobbies were among them.
Aslan could barely recall those pastimes from twelve years ago. It would be fair to say he hadn't thought of them at all.
He was a survivor who had spent every moment fighting and seeking ways to stay alive, not indulging in hobbies.
For someone like Aslan, discerning Rumel's intentions seemed impossible.
So Aslan and Anna, looking somewhat flustered by Rumel's reaction, exchanged glances.
They hadn't spent enough time together to read each other's thoughts through a single look, but at least they could tell what attitude the other was taking.
"Lady Rumel, Lady Anna is trustworthy."
Rumel did not answer. She believed that if she opened her mouth to greet her now, she would no longer be able to pursue the matter.
Perhaps interpreting the silence differently, Aslan forced a smile and brushed his palm over Rumel's arm, which was linked with his.
Feeling his warmth, Rumel instinctively met his eyes, and Aslan spoke with a smile.
"I'm asking you. Please trust my judgment. Lady Anna is a reliable ally."
Aslan's words were a far cry from Rumel's delusions, and she simply stared up at him blankly.
He showed no sign of noticing her delusions.
At the same time, it was an indication that her delusions were completely wrong.
Realizing that, Rumel quietly shut her mouth and looked down at the floor.
She was too embarrassed to show it openly.
In the end, Rumel betrayed not even a hint of her delusion and exploited Aslan's misunderstanding.
She behaved as though she had been regarding Anna as a dangerous person who might attack at any moment.
"I am Rumel van Holne... the rightful owner of Gerne, and Lord Aslan's... 'companion.'"
Rumel emphasized the word 'companion' with unnatural stress. Most would have reacted, but Anna merely smiled faintly, as if unbothered.
"It is an honor to meet you. Rumel of Gerne. I am Anna Heleminus, mayor of the City of Mages and master of two hundred mages who cast spells under my name."
Anna Heleminus gave a polite bow, lightly holding the hem of her skirt and her collar as she inclined her head.
Rumel flinched for a moment, as if she hadn't expected such a courteous greeting, then returned the same bow.
When they straightened, Anna said with a gentle smile.
"Then shall we be off? Your companions are waiting."
As Aslan silently followed and Rumel was about to stay by his side, the guard stepped between them and spoke.
"That won't be possible."
Anna looked puzzled, and Aslan let out a quiet "Ah" of realization. Puzzled by his reaction, Anna approached the guard.
"Was our gesture insufficient?"
"...It is not a matter of gesture."
The guard shook his head as the lady reached into her garment, and she tilted her head, even more puzzled by his demeanor.
"You must be unaware of the situation. This woman here... is a murder suspect. She is accused of commanding strange monsters to attack and kill a noble."
She must remain here at least until her innocence is proven, he added, and Anna's eyes widened.
She had assumed Aslan was involved in some minor offense; the surprise was evident. A faint green light flickered in the lady's eyes, and Aslan wore a bitter smile.
"Of course, this man here was merely in her company and is not a suspect, so he is free to leave. His status has been vouched for by Lady Anna, and he arrived in the city after the incident occurred."
The stiff-necked guard said this with a nod, and Aslan frowned, his expression clearly troubled.
Slip.
That was when Rumel stealthily released Aslan's sleeve. Feeling the release, Aslan turned to look at her, and their eyes met. The emotion filling her brown eyes was close to guilt.
It was the reaction of someone who felt too sorry for dragging him deep into her troubles to keep holding on.
Noticing this, Aslan relaxed his frown and thought.
Was there a way to get Rumel out without using force?
Regrettably, there was not.
For Rumel to leave this prison, her innocence would have to be proven, and the only way to do that was probably to capture Tormule, who was closely connected to the truth.
But there was no way to find Tormule without going outside and moving around the city.
She couldn't leave until he was captured, yet she had to leave to find him.
A contradiction. As he thought about how troublesome it was, Aslan suddenly felt that something was off.
Something was strange.
His teal eyes turned toward the guard.
"What did you just say?"
"...Are you threatening me?"
His abrupt words sounded like a threat. Belatedly realizing his own expression, Aslan shook his head.
"No, that's not it. I just... would like you to repeat what you said a moment ago. Please."
The guard gave him a strange look before haltingly searching his memory and speaking.
"At least until her innocence is proven..."
"Not that. Tell me about the charges."
The guard grimaced before speaking again.
"The charge of commanding strange monsters to attack and kill a noble..."
"You said strange monsters?"
"What... what are you getting at?"
Aslan turned to fully face the guard. A kind of certainty settled in his eyes.
"Not Warrior Monks, but strange monsters?"
The guard, as if finding the question itself strange, looked perplexed and bewildered.
"...You call that a Warrior Monk? Not even a Bug, it was... like a black skeleton. How could that be a Warrior Monk..."
Aslan felt a growing oddity as he listened to the grumbling reply.
Rumel looked puzzled, unable to grasp the situation, and Anna looked even more lost, as if she had no idea what was being discussed.
Although Rumel seemed unable to recall because she lacked the Knowledge, the black skeleton being mentioned was something both she and Aslan had encountered before.
The divine power wielded by the Twilight Flock.
Or the sign that the Twilight Flock had descended.
For Aslan, who had been considering the possibility that the Twilight Flock had intervened, this was firm proof.
Proof so clear that he could even guess its purpose.
The Twilight Flock had been secretly moving, targeting only Aslan all this time.
There was no way that Flock didn't know about Aslan's goal of recruiting companions.
If it knew, its aim couldn't have been merely to have Rumel framed or to damage her reputation.
What the Flock was after was either Rumel herself, or Aslan who would try to help her.
In other words, Tormule would certainly come for Aslan or Rumel.
By the time Aslan realized this, the guard eyed the suddenly silent man suspiciously and then blurted out.
"Anyway, this woman cannot leave. She will have to wait in a cell until the charges are cleared. Since she is an acquaintance of Lady Anna, visits will be allowed, but release is..."
"That's good."
Aslan's low voice cut him off. The guard stopped talking, and Aslan went on.
"Conversely, does that mean that until the charges are fully proven, or until a trial is held, no harm will come to Lady Rumel?"
"...Huh? Well, yes. That's right. Although Asan may look like a den of crime from the outside, as long as our Asan guards are here, that won't happen. We do not punish criminals without a proper trial."
A civil servant unfitting for a city of pleasure. Aslan liked that stubbornness. When the guard frowned at Aslan's slight smile, Aslan spoke.
"Then I will remain here as well."
"...Excuse me?"
This time it was Anna, not the guard, who asked. At her flustered expression demanding an explanation, Aslan offered none.
"Anna, I have just one request. Please tell my companions to come to this prison. That is all."
Anna's eyes widened, and Aslan turned to the guard. Looking at the dazed expression of the public servant struggling to comprehend the situation, Aslan said lightly.
"As an acquaintance and ally of Anna Heleminus, I, Master of Combat Aslan, will assist you in your duty."
The guard could not respond.
But the answer that would come was obvious. Aslan pondered with a faint smile.
A prison, depending on how it was used, could function not as a prison but as a fortress.
If one cannot leave, then one need not leave.
As Aslan's smile grew more distinct, the guard's face crumpled.
*
The sound of running footsteps echoed loudly. Not loud enough to shake the earth, but sufficient to make the guards filling the guard post with mixed expressions of irritation and apprehension look toward the door with unease.
Soon the running stopped, and the door burst open.
"Aslan!"
The person who threw open the door of the guard post and stormed in was a white-haired woman—Ereta.
Wearing a black dress that clung to her and revealed her figure, she quickly spotted a staircase that unmistakably led down to the prison and strode straight toward it.
"H-Hey, wait! Halt! Are you sent by Lady Anna? Wait, hold on!"
Despite the calls to stop, the woman swiftly descended the stairs, not pausing even as guards ran after her.
Finally, after crossing the prison corridor, in front of a cell with an open barred gate, the woman caught her breath and shouted.
"Aslan! I..."
And then, as she finally found the Aslan she had been searching for so desperately, Ereta froze, her smile fixed in place.
Because the Aslan she had imagined would be anxiously waiting for her inside a cell was instead sitting casually outside one.
And he wasn't even alone.
If she had to pinpoint the cause of her stiffening, it was likely more the latter.
As the smile slowly faded from the woman's rigid expression, other companions appeared one after another behind her.
"Hey, what's this? The lad's fine, huh?"
The first to reveal himself was the burly dragon-kin, Tiyamal. Swishing his tail, he walked up, and upon seeing Aslan looking perfectly well, he shoved the bread in his hand into his own mouth.
He had probably brought it to give to Aslan.
"Thought so. I told you! He broke out of the place they called the worst prison—no way he'd be stuck here! He's got a plan, I'm telling you!"
Next was Angie. She grinned, combing through her scarlet hair with her fingers, then briefly frowned as Fay pushed past her from behind.
Fay had unusually let down one side of her hair.
Perhaps she had undone it, because she was holding a straightened metal loop in her hand, as if it were something she used to tie her hair.
It was clearly a short piece of metal meant to pick locks or handcuffs that Aslan might have been wearing. It had become useless since he wasn't restrained.
As Fay retied her hair, Anna's voice and the guards' grumbling could be heard from the entrance of the guard post above.
With those sounds as background noise, the group all looked at the person beside Aslan.
"Welcome. It seems we'll have to stay in this prison for a while, so I called you here. Sorry."
Even at Aslan's words, the group did not reply. They just silently looked at the person.
Ereta's expression hardened.
Seeing Ereta, who usually wore a gentle expression, turn serious, Tiyamal made an odd face that seemed to say, 'I won't belabor it, but I get the situation.'
Fay was expressionless, as if she didn't know who it was, but unlike Fay, Angie's eyes widened and she let out an exclamation.
"Oh, she's the one who attacked us that time, right?"
The one who attacked them that time. An ambiguous description, but it was enough.
After all, Tiyamal and Fay had never seen her before.
Because at that time, they had been outside guarding the ruins or scouting the surroundings.
So they simply stared at the woman in silence.
A brown-eyed woman with a heavy, large bosom pressed inadvertently against Aslan's arm as she held it, her beige hair braided thickly and draped over her shoulder.
As if demanding an explanation, Fay and Tiyamal looked at Angie, but before Angie could speak, Ereta said,
"Master of the Spear. You were alive."
Her words were cold, unlike her usual self. Even her eyes, which always gently curved, had descended into nearly straight lines.
"...Yes, thanks to Lord Aslan."
Rumel replied emotionlessly to the cold voice and the chilly gaze directed at her, and Ereta blinked slowly, as if the answer displeased her.
As pink eyes met brown ones, the two instinctively realized.
What kind of existence the other was.
While the two women silently stared at each other, Aslan broke into a cold sweat, thinking of how to defuse the chilling atmosphere.