The Past Strikes Back
As my companion easily throttled one thug by the neck, another charged in only to get knocked flat without ever realizing where he’d been hit.
One was already drooling and rolling across the floor in seconds, while the other dangled in midair with his eyes rolled back, flailing desperately for his life. That much was clear.
Does he train his body alongside spirit magic? If that was why he moved so fast, then his unusual aura finally made sense.
“Gurgh… gaaahk!”
So it was possible to choke a man one-handed while holding him off the ground.
That kind of grip strength didn’t seem like something you could possess without rigorous physical conditioning.
It was impossible for me. My own strength was pathetic, and compared to a man I was short to begin with…
“What’s going on?”
I had been whistling in admiration at the impressive display when someone gently pulled me back from behind.
Ash had appeared out of nowhere and already moved me safely behind him.
What was this? Was he protecting me?
How cute.
“It’s nothing. Looks like a fight broke out.”
“Good heavens.”
He must have come running after sensing the commotion. He was looking at the same scene I was, yet his expression was the complete opposite of mine.
The gap in their fighting strength was overwhelming. The ones who had picked the fight might actually die. One of them already looked half-crippled.
I simply leaned against the doorway, watching the whole thing like it was someone else’s problem.
“We should stop this.”
“Huh? Why?”
For a split second I had the strange feeling that the cloaked man had glanced at me.
It was as if our eyes had met through the shadow of that dark hood.
“They’re going to kill them at this rate!”
“But those guys are thugs, so…”
Before I could finish, Ash was already dashing out to intervene.
Lox hurried after him in a panic, and Chad followed a beat later with Einy riding on his shoulders, strolling out of the inn at a leisurely pace. The rest of us remained firmly in spectator mode.
“There he goes again, that Ash guy, running off to mediate.”
“Is he always like that?”
“Pretty much. He can’t stand by and watch injustice.”
“Does getting yourself killed for acting tough count as injustice?”
“I think so too, but… he says life is precious, or something like that.”
He was still hopelessly kind-hearted.
I figured Ash could become a wise and benevolent ruler, but he would never make a strong tyrant.
With that personality, even if he became emperor he wouldn’t be able to execute the dissidents. Usually when someone ascends the throne, they systematically behead every opposing faction that ever stood in their way…
If that guy became emperor, the imperial palace wouldn’t be bathed in blood. Of course, he’d have to become crown prince first.
Ash was the only member of the imperial family I had any interest in, and everyone who knew him understood why.
The reason the Second Prince Ephiros was aiming for the position of crown prince was because of the string of younger siblings lined up behind him.
Most of them had different mothers. Only one was born from the empress.
And if the First Prince—the one born from the notoriously cruel empress—became crown prince, the futures of the other royals born from different consorts would become extremely precarious. That much was obvious.
I’d heard the First Prince despised any blood that wasn’t legitimate.
What he hated most of all was the Second Prince, a man of lowly birth who nevertheless held the emperor’s complete trust.
“What am I supposed to do about this…”
“Why are you worried about Ash?”
Chad asked, but I could only mutter the answer inside my own head.
No, I was worried about whether that overly gentle guy could even become crown prince, but I was even more worried that if he failed, he’d be assassinated within a few years.
By the way, why was I even thinking like this? I wasn’t the type to worry about other people… Wait, could this be—!
Maternal instinct!
Or maybe not?
If I had something like that, Einy wouldn’t feel this annoying… It was an emotion I understood even less.
I stroked my chin while watching Ash’s back.
What was certain was that he looked too helpless to ignore.
So what was this feeling? Loyalty? Maybe I actually possessed a tiny scrap of compassion for other people after all.
After watching Ash break up the fight for a little while, I saw the cloaked man leave as if the whole thing bored him, and I lost interest too.
I had a lot to do today. It was going to be a busy day no matter what.
Rai: Master! Are you going out again today?
Jeanie: Yeah, I’m planning to stop by the Magic Tower and then drop in at the library.
Rai: Then you’ll be gone for a while?
Jeanie: Probably. It’ll take at least half a day.
Rai: I want to go too! Take me!
Jeanie: You have to stay here and watch Einy.
Rai: No! Babysitting is boring! She’s not even my kid!
Jeanie: What are you even saying? You’re a spirit.
Rai: If Master hates it, there’s no way I’d enjoy it either!
Jeanie: …For once you’re actually making sense?
It stung my conscience. Just a little.
“Besides, that Chad guy is surprisingly good with kids! I think it’s fine to leave her with him!”
“Yesterday you called him a disgusting bastard who only talks about poop and said he was as annoying as Kenta.”
“I misspoke. He’s actually a very reliable, trustworthy, and brave fellow.”
Good grief. This guy really was like instant adhesive.
“Take me with you! I want to stay with Master!”
Rai had started clinging to my pant leg for dear life. Those were brand-new pants, you know?
“Chad, could I ask you to watch Einy for me?”
“You’re heading to the Magic Tower?”
“I have other errands too… It’ll probably take quite a while. I might not be back until evening.”
“I don’t have anything else to do, so it’s fine.”
“Thanks.”
And thank you for this sandwich too. I hadn’t ordered one, but I snatched the sandwich in front of me and took a big bite.
It was delicious, so I wrapped a few more in a handkerchief and stuffed them into my pocket.
“I haven’t even said I’d do it yet?”
“Mmph. What should I bring back for you?”
“I’ll write it down real quick.”
In a way, the two of us understood each other perfectly when it came to having no shame.
After leaving Einy with him and stepping outside, I looked up at the sky and saw it was a brilliant blue.
The weather was so nice that I had a vague premonition something good might happen today.
And my premonitions were almost always completely wrong.
Damn it, why was it so hard to meet with this old man?
Nothing went right. The dean, who had supposedly been waiting for my contact, had been summoned to the palace today of all days and wasn’t at the academy.
I had wasted communication fees for nothing again.
If I called one more time I’d basically be throwing away the price of several horses, so the only real gain was that I had properly scheduled a meeting for tomorrow.
On top of that, for some strange reason there were no banks in Mielta.
They had withdrawn because public safety was so bad? There wasn’t a library either, and the bookstore I finally found didn’t have any of the books I was looking for.
After a string of failures, I ended up returning to the inn much earlier than planned.
And somehow, in that short time, the inn had been completely demolished. In just one hour.
“What the… what happened here?”
It had been perfectly fine when I left. Now all peace had vanished without a trace. The door was horribly shattered, and when I carefully stepped inside I saw that the interior looked like a battlefield—there wasn’t a single undamaged spot.
Almost every table and chair in the first-floor dining area was broken, and many of the windows had been smashed. A staff member was sweeping up glass shards from the floor.
I had seen a scene like this before.
Whenever the big, sturdy mercenaries from the Shabel Mercenaries got into a fight during our travels, the place always ended up looking exactly like this.
I assumed it was just a brawl between travelers and tried to brush it off as no big deal.
At least until I spotted Lox standing anxiously in the corner and Chad, covered in blood and breathing heavily.
Only then did unease wash over me.
I couldn’t see Ash anywhere in this hellscape. And Einy was nowhere to be found either…
“Hey!”
The moment Chad saw me he shouted. Normally that would have made me angry, but right now it just felt strange.
Even when he stomped over quickly and suddenly grabbed me by the collar, the feeling remained.
“Just what the hell have you been doing?!”
“Grrrr!”
Rai, wait.
I stopped Rai, who was already baring his teeth and preparing to lunge.
Before I knew it, my feet had left the ground—Chad was holding me up by the collar.
Lox tried to calm him from the side, but all of Chad’s rage was directed straight at me.
“Golden hair and blue eyes! A pretty young woman! Those damn bastards were definitely looking for you!”
“…What are you talking about?”
“They took Einy! Those sons of bitches!”
It took me a moment to process what he was saying. I couldn’t understand what had happened, so I kept asking him to repeat himself.
“They were looking for me?”
“Yes!”
“Then why did they take Einy…”
“This is all your fault!”
“I get it. I get it, so let go first…”
“What are you going to do about it?! It’s all because of you! What did that little girl ever do wrong?!”
“Let go…”
I told him to let go but he just kept shaking me.
“Rai, bite.”
I had been planning to go easy on him since he already looked like he’d taken a beating, but since words weren’t working, I had no choice.
Rai immediately sank his teeth into Chad’s leg and shook him hard.
“Aaaargh!”
I had tried to convey the intention of biting gently, but Rai’s fangs were vicious. Chad screamed and dropped me.
You should have listened when I was speaking nicely.
Rai dragged Chad off into the distance, still biting his leg.
With the guy who had lost his mind taken care of for now… I rubbed my tingling neck and turned to Lox.
“Lox, you explain. What does Chad mean? Are you saying Einy was kidnapped because of me?”
“…That’s exactly what it means.”
I had hoped it wasn’t true, but it was.
“Can you explain it properly? I’m not following.”
“Do you know a man named Grack?”
“No, not at all.”
“A man without a nose or ears… He seemed pretty insane.”
“Hmm, I don’t… Ah?”
I thought I might know who he was talking about. An unpleasant memory slowly crawled up from the depths.