Saving People Before Seeking Freedom
Before setting out in search of freedom, I would save people first.
I changed clothes at the tailor shop that had been my regular haunt back in the royal capital.
The armor had been forged to fit my body perfectly, but I was no longer a knight, so there was no reason to wear it anymore.
I cast off that heavy plate and slipped into a sky-blue dress instead.
Wearing it made me feel as though I had somehow returned to my childhood.
Armor, I realized, had weighed me down not only physically but psychologically as well.
Come to think of it, it had been a very long time since I last walked the streets without a single care in the world.
Back when I belonged to the knight order, I had always scanned my surroundings as I moved—ready to arrest any criminal in the act or slap a fine on some petty offender.
"Haa... If I'd known it would end like this, I should have just given up sooner..."
Training juniors? What a joke.
These were the same people who had cast aside someone they once called their finest talent. What good would raising successors ever do?
Yeah... just forget it all.
Forget everything and start over.
Wasn't that exactly why I was leaving this country?
I had already arranged a carriage for the journey.
My plan was to slip out of the capital, head for Free Port City beyond the kingdom's borders, and board a ship bound for the Western Continent.
I had heard the Western Continent was small, something like Hawaii in feel.
A journey all alone.
Honestly, I could hardly wait.
"Lady Esilly! It is time to depart!"
The coachman called out that our departure hour had arrived.
He was a young man who looked about my age; I had hired him hoping we might at least keep each other company with conversation until we reached the port city.
"Just a moment, please."
I had told myself to forget everything, yet some lingering attachment refused to let go.
Clutching the armor the shopkeeper had agreed to hold for me—that, too, was nothing but residual attachment, if I was honest.
If I wanted to move forward, I could not leave such things behind.
At the very least, I had to settle them before leaving the capital, didn't I?
I lifted the hard iron armor with both hands.
And then.....................
I slammed it into the ground.
I poured every ounce of strength into the throw, reinforcing my body with overflowing mana.
KWA-AAAA-GAGAGAAAANG!
I had merely hurled it to the ground, yet the armor was crushed beyond recognition.
I stepped lightly on the wreckage and climbed into the waiting carriage.
That felt wonderfully refreshing.
Part of me wanted to shout at the top of my lungs, but this was still the capital. If the guards or the knight order came to arrest me, it would be a real mess.
"......Let's go."
"Yes! If we leave now, we should reach Free Port City within about four days!"
"I'll be in your care."
Four days, huh...
Until we arrived there would be nothing but open plains, so I decided to simply watch the scenery and enjoy the ride in peace.
After four long years spent on the battlefield, a mere four days felt like the briefest of moments.
Two days had already passed since we set out.
The carriage had begun rolling at sunrise and kept going until just before the sun dipped below the horizon.
Normally the roads outside the capital were thick with monsters that wandered across the path or blocked the way entirely.
Yet on this journey there had been none of that at all.
I never expected two whole days of such smooth travel.
It almost made me worry that some accident was bound to happen along the way.
"Albert, have you ever driven a carriage through such quiet roads before?"
I asked the man I had grown friendly with over two days of conversation—Albert.
Despite his youth he was already a senior coachman with more than five years of experience.
Surely he had seen days like this now and then?
A sign of coming rain, perhaps, or some approaching disaster...
He hesitated a moment before shaking his head.
"To be honest, never. I've had days without monsters, but never a day without even a single animal."
"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen so much as one squirrel."
As someone who adored squirrels, coming outside only to spot not a single one was almost unbearably disappointing.
"Well... maybe rain is on the way? The sky does look a little darker."
"From what I can tell, it already rained and stopped. The ground is in rather poor condition."
That was bad news.
When the ground was soft, a carriage had a terrible time of it.
Paved roads of brick or tile were one thing, but out here the roads were never paved.
Of course it was just bare earth that kicked up dust—or, after rain, turned into sticky mud that swallowed horses' hooves and buried the wheels.
Just like that carriage up ahead.
Hm? A carriage?
Why was there a carriage there?
"That carriage looks awfully expensive..."
"Th-that carriage!"
Albert's face suddenly went pale, as if his own family were riding inside.
Surely not, but just in case I asked.
"What's wrong? Do you know that carriage?"
"Th-this is bad! That is the carriage of the Mayor of Free Port City's family!"
"Huh? The mayor's carriage?"
The mayor's family carriage?
Then either the mayor himself or his family must be inside.
Oh my, oh my, oh my.
What on earth was going on?
Free Port City was an independent city-state—think of it as something like Singapore and you wouldn't be far off.
"Then shouldn't we go help them? They're sinking into that swamp."
It was going under slowly.
If we left it alone, the whole thing might gurgle under completely in five minutes.
"W-we have to rescue them at once!"
"First let's stop our carriage. I'll just smash theirs open if I have to—want me to write up a notarized statement?"
"Th-the mayor is not the sort of person who would care about something like that!"
"Is that so? Then fine."
Albert brought our carriage to a gradual halt, and soon we were fully stopped.
He and I climbed down at once and hurried toward the carriage being swallowed by the swamp.
It looked as though some monster were devouring the vehicle whole.
Unless the coachman had been bewitched by a fox spirit, there was no natural way the carriage should have ended up in that direction.
"Tsk... If the coachman didn't just drive it in, someone must have done this on purpose to kill them."
"Lady Esilly! This is hardly the time for remarks like that!"
"I know, so be quiet for a second."
For a moment I had slipped right back into the manner of a knight on a crime scene.
I never thought the day would come when occupational habits made me spout nonsense like that.
The carriage was already more than halfway under; I had no idea how to pull it free.
Since they had said damage was fine, maybe I should just tear the top off?
I leapt high and landed lightly atop the slowly sinking carriage.
"L-Lady Esilly!!"
"It's fine, I told you."
One of the magics I was best at—physical reinforcement.
If I used up my mana I could simply recover it on the spot and cast again....!
The roof of the carriage tore away as easily as twisting a wafer cookie in my hands.
The noise was enormous; Albert clapped his hands over his ears, but what did that matter?
"Everyone inside~ are you all right?"
"Wh-who are you!!"
A man who looked every bit the butler shielded two figures—apparently a mother and daughter—behind him and demanded my identity.
Protecting his masters and answering a complete stranger took real courage; I was impressed.
If someone asked who I was, the decent thing was to answer.
After all, I was famous enough that simply giving my name usually told people everything they needed to know.
"I am the former vice-commander of the Royal Knight Order...............well, right now I'm just an unemployed elf."
Decent manners or not...
I had already been discharged, hadn't I?
I had smashed my armor and was trying to leave the country; claiming the Royal Knight Order would hardly be appropriate.
So in the middle of speaking I ended up calling myself an unemployed elf instead.
"Un...unemployed?!"
"I'm unemployed now, but I used to be with the Royal Knight Order. Name's Esilly. You know me? Or maybe not?"
"I have never heard of any such pers—"
"I-if you mean Esilly of the Knight Order, that is the hero of the kingdom!!"
The young woman behind the butler cut him off before he could finish saying he did not know me.
The butler might not recognize the name, but the lady clearly did.
Moments earlier her face had been filled with despair and terror; now her eyes shone with the hope that they might yet live.
"Oh, that's me. Shall I pull you out?"
"Do you truly mean to save us?"
"That's the idea. My coachman said this was the mayor's family carriage, so I opened it to check."
Truthfully I had assumed bandits or assassins had attacked them and left them to sink.
I had expected to find them already dead or dying; discovering everyone still alive was a relief.
"Then I'll get you out—grab my hand first."
"Helena. You go first."
"M-Mother..."
"Do not worry. If this lady truly is Esilly of the Royal Knight Order, she would never harm us."
"Come on and grab hold~ If we wait any longer we'll all sink and die~"
People lost in hesitation needed a little reality check.
If they did not get out right now they would be swallowed by the swamp. Was this really the time to dither?
She glanced around for a moment, then slowly extended her hand.
I took it and lifted her up in one smooth motion so she would not be hurt.
"Uup....!"
But I must have misjudged my strength, because as I pulled her free our faces collided.
Not forehead or cheek—of all the absurd coincidences...
Our lips met squarely, turning the rescue into something that looked for all the world like a kiss.
And just like that, my first kiss was stolen by Helena, daughter of the Mayor of Free Port City.