The Empire's Supply Preparations (2)
We had been stripped of our clothes without warning and shoved straight into the bathhouse.
The steaming hot spring was belching thick clouds of vapor, and the urge to sink into it hit me like a tidal wave. When was the last time I had soaked in water this hot? Back in the Labyrinth City—already ten days ago.
"May we get in? May we get in?!"
"Why are you asking twice?"
"Because it's important!"
"Well… heating enough water to fill a bath this huge must have burned through a lot of mana stones."
Lumine was sticking her rear out, dipping a finger into the scalding water and yanking it back again and again while she fretted over whether to climb in. The sight was ridiculously cute. She was clearly dying to dive into the prepared hot spring.
"They went to the trouble of getting it ready for us. Wouldn't it be rude not to use it?"
"Exactly! Getting in is the polite thing to do!"
She was already about to plop straight into the water when I caught her by the shoulder. You always rinse off before soaking—basic bathhouse etiquette. Besides, we had just been tromping through a hot, humid forest and gotten covered in griffin blood. Even if we had wiped ourselves down with a mana-infused towel, it still wasn't hygienic.
We only planned to dispose of the griffin, stroll through the market, and head back to the hotel anyway, so there was no reason not to take our time. As for the stamina tonic I had meant to buy at the market, I would just ask the guildmaster to procure a little for me later.
"E-Esilly-nim, I can wash that part myse—"
"It's fine."
"Hnn… i-if you suddenly put your hand there…"
I sat Lumine down in front of the shower and scrubbed her thoroughly from head to toe. I used a scrubbing cloth for most of it, then switched to careful fingers for the more sensitive spots. Her face flushed crimson all over again—whether from the steam or something more carnal, I couldn't tell.
We washed each other with equal thoroughness, then finally slipped into the hot spring and simply enjoyed it. Letting the heat soak deep into my bones after so long felt heavenly. Stay in too long and I might turn into bone broth…
"Esilly-nim. Do you think something's going on today?"
Lumine, who had been kicking her feet like she was in a swimming pool, suddenly wore a more serious expression. She was always a deep thinker, but today she seemed even more preoccupied than usual. She had been that way since before we entered the forest. She was probably still trying to make sense of the way the Adventurer Guild had treated us.
"Yeah… buying griffins at double the usual price out of nowhere. Market demand couldn't have spiked that suddenly."
"And they even acted shocked that we had gone into Shaneport Forest at a time like this."
Meaning this was not a good season to enter. That would explain why only a dozen or so people had been trying to head into the forest this morning.
"Is there some reason people would avoid Shaneport Forest?"
A reason not to go in… Griffins were already ridiculously strong monsters; ordinary adventurers never even considered hunting them. That was why the Empire kept them penned up in Shaneport Forest under the guise of protection—while charging adventurers an entrance fee, of course.
"No… unless there's a monster stronger than a griffin in there, it doesn't make sense."
"Are there monsters like that on the Central Continent?"
"There must be. Griffins are only High Class monsters in the end."
"Hmm… but Shaneport Forest only has wyverns and griffins, right~?"
Lumine was right; nothing stronger than a griffin should be living in that forest. If something like that had appeared, they would have warned us before we even went in—something along the lines of "A monster is rampaging right now, so we recommend staying out." Or maybe the Empire people simply refused to tell me because of who I was.
"I guess Esilly-nim really is hated…"
"Can't be helped. I wiped out nearly eighty thousand of them."
An entire legion, erased without a trace—no keepsakes, no corpses. They had invaded another country, so they should have been prepared for that much… or so I kept telling myself. If I had not acted that day, every last person in the kingdom would have been slaughtered in the most horrific ways. Lately I found myself thinking about it more often. Maybe it was regret. The thought that I never needed to shoulder that burden was trying to eat away at me.
Was I wrong…?
If a whim had made me choose differently that day, what would I be doing right now?
That was when someone suddenly wrapped their arms around me from behind. While I was lost in something that was not quite regret, Lumine had slipped behind me and hugged me tight. The soft press of her bare chest against my back felt strangely intimate. Personally I preferred the front, but saying that out loud would get me scolded. Better stay quiet for now.
"Esilly-nim. Please don't think about it too deeply."
"Lumine…"
She slowly slid her hands down and laced her fingers through mine. Warmth—whether from the spring or from Lumine herself—wrapped around me and seemed to melt the ice that had frozen solid inside my chest. So that was what the old man meant when he said a man should lose himself in a woman when he was worn down… I was starting to understand.
After we finished bathing and put on the clothes they had prepared for us, we found the Adventurer Guild's doors already shut. Sure enough, the throng of adventurers who had packed the place earlier had completely vanished. Even so, the guild staff were still rushing about in perfect coordination. They looked so busy I felt bad even asking what was going on, so we simply stood off to the side and watched.
Wait—that person over there didn't look like Adventurer Guild staff. More like someone from the Alchemy Guild. Why were they here?
"It's a lot quieter inside than before. Where did everyone go?"
Lumine glanced around, then suddenly pressed herself against me as if she had sensed something. The guild employees hurrying about without a word seemed to have frightened her a little. Their eyes were lifeless—the eyes of people who had not slept properly for days and were being worked half to death.
"It's still early for the Adventurer Guild to close…"
"We closed early today, Miss Esilly."
Just when I was wondering when someone would finally notice us, a voice called from behind. It was neither the guildmaster nor the staff who had escorted us to the baths. A middle-aged man in expensive clothes, sporting a thoroughly ordinary mustache that curled out to either side. He looked every inch the type who believed from birth that he was a precious noble—and he had the self-importance to match. On top of that, his mana was surprisingly strong. Nowhere near Lumine's level, but strong enough to be counted among the Central Continent's notables.
"Or perhaps I should say Esilly von Yggdrasil?"
"The name doesn't matter. Who are you?"
He chuckled at my blunt demand to get to the point. Using such an informal tone with an imperial noble inside the Empire itself was normally a terrible idea, yet looking at this man somehow made me feel zero desire to be polite.
He placed a hand over his chest in the noble fashion and introduced himself.
"Forgive the late introduction. I am Marquis Leverage, granted the title of marquis by His Imperial Majesty."
"Leverage? Do you like investing?"
"Investing? I do enjoy putting money into various ventures, but…"
"Never mind. It's nothing."
The only thing the word "leverage" brought to mind for me was something completely unrelated. Apparently it had nothing to do with him.
"So? Did you have business with me?"
"Nothing of great importance. I merely came to see the elf wench the entire world hails as a hero."
"………Huh?"
For a second I thought he was talking about someone else—hero, elf wench… Wait, did he mean me? Being called a "wench" was a first. People used to call me "young lady" when I was little.
More importantly, Lumine had been glaring at this Leverage-or-whatever-his-name-was with murder in her eyes for a while now. Calling me a wench had clearly earned him her deep hostility. Yet he ignored that stare completely and kept looking straight at me. He stepped even closer and peered into my face.
"To think an entire legion was wiped out by a mere wench like this."
Hearing "wench" over and over was starting to get on my nerves. Did this man understand that I was currently standing inside the Empire—my former homeland? Or was he simply suicidal, or maybe a spy from the royal capital? No, even those idiots in the capital would not hire a high-ranking noble just to piss me off and get the Empire destroyed. This was pure provocation. He had to have some kind of plan.
"You…"
Ah. Lumine's rage gauge had finally maxed out. She had been holding it in until now, but phrases like "mere wench" and "an entire legion" had pushed her past the limit.
"You've been calling our Esilly-nim a wench this whole time…!"
"Now, now~ Marquis Leverage, do watch your tongue~"
Someone cut in before Lumine could finish. That leisurely, unhurried way of speaking sounded familiar, and I turned my head. Wait—that person…
It was the one who had given us the griffin back in Shaneport Forest. Her appearance was a little different now. In the forest she had been completely covered by a cloak; now she wore lighter, more comfortable clothes. And she was dripping with ornate accessories that went far beyond ordinary nobility…
The moment she appeared, Marquis Leverage—who had been acting like manners were something you fed to dogs—clicked his tongue softly. He clearly did not appreciate the sudden interruption.
"…I did not expect to find you at the Adventurer Guild, Your Highness Princess Hestia."
Pr…princess?
The emperor's daughter was addressed that way, right? Then that meant she was… the emperor's daughter?
"My, my~ When I first crossed over from the Demon Continent, you were the one who told His Majesty that mixing demon blood into the imperial family would bring disaster. You've become quite polite since then~"
"Th-that was…"
So there was some complicated history behind a half-demon being a princess. And for all her laid-back tone, the words she was saying were pretty vicious.
"There are no more griffins for you~ His Majesty has already given his approval, so kindly take yourself elsewhere and rot~"