Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Patience - 3
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Traveling is inherently boring. A journey where you just had to sit still was twice as tedious as usual.
"..."
Fortunately, that lord had treated me with kindness. I'd thought he might resent me for skipping the victory feast, but my worries were unfounded.
Upon learning I traveled on foot, he'd prepared a horse for me. When I said I had no intention of riding, he'd even readied a carriage.
The princess joining my journey must have swayed his decision, but even so, it was overly generous.
"How long can I keep using this...?"
It was a mutter to myself, but Nerwen's sharp ears caught it.
"At least until the outskirts of the World Tree. After that, the forest makes roads impossible..."
With this group's strength, at least the carriage wouldn't fall to bandits or wolf packs.
Considering stamina management, the carriage was faster. Traveling with her was ultimately efficient—the right choice. Still, I hated it.
It was my decision, but being cooped up with someone you didn't want to see wasn't exactly pleasant.
When walking, you could stare at the empty road or the back of the person ahead—better than this.
But inside the carriage, like it or not, you had to face each other. Elenor sat before me, eyes closed as if on the verge of collapse. Pashier and Nerwen watched me cautiously.
Ceres, at least somewhat better off, handled the reins under the valid excuse of no coachman. In the end, it was just me and three women crammed in here.
"Ha..."
Even a sigh drew overly burdensome stares.
If I claimed no jealousy when they'd chatted happily without me, it'd be a lie.
But I hadn't wanted to see them all frozen, watching my every move.
Nor did I want to see them laughing while ignoring me—or laughing together with her.
What the hell did I even want?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "We've arrived! Let's rest in this village today!"
Ceres's cheerful voice brought a bit of relief.
As Enel dismounted the carriage, Elenor staggered out after him.
The gap between the not-so-high carriage and the ground felt like a vast chasm.
She wasn't in peak condition to begin with, and she'd fought the Orc Lord. It wasn't a state she could tough out on willpower alone.
But herding the horses into the inn's stable was her job. Leaning on them, she maneuvered the beasts inside.
As Ceres and Enel entered the inn, Pashier spoke to her.
"You've made quite the difficult choice."
"It was necessary. Apologizing to him... following on this journey."
She'd doubted herself countless times. Considered canceling, telling him she'd return to the palace.
But having brought it up once, backing out now might plant a bad impression in his mind.
That, she couldn't abide.
"He hasn't changed a bit."
"...You're right."
Even if Enel had fled the Orc Lord without fighting, no one would have condemned him.
But he'd fought. Perhaps Elenor's words had ignited his resolve—or maybe, after all he'd endured, he still held the will to aid others.
"How's your body holding up?"
"Once Celia arrives, I'll be ready to fight again."
She hadn't only fought battles she could win. Her body was battered, but not so much she couldn't move right now.
"The Emperor will worry greatly."
"He'll understand."
He'd always placed the Empire above all.
Even if Elenor died, that Emperor could spin it into fertilizer for a stronger, more stable realm.
As long as he didn't openly defy the Imperial Family, the nobles' criticisms would struggle to rise above moral posturing.
The princess who'd once stolen his achievements now sacrificing herself for the true hero's goal would make such moral attacks on the throne ring hollow.
"Who knows. I thought I understood him... but now, I'm not so sure. You're the Emperor's daughter. To him, you might be far more important."
"The Imperial Family has many daughters."
"You're his only true child."
The Emperor wasn't young. In ten or twenty years, he'd face death by age.
If he'd been a typical emperor siring heirs left and right, Elenor in her twenties never would have vied for succession.
Middle-aged princes and princesses would have entrenched their bases, battling for the throne.
But at her tender age, she could challenge it because the rest of the Imperial Family were all collaterals.
"Please, value your life."
"I expected anger."
"I want to be angry. If you'd just told me sooner—who the real hero was, whose power you borrowed—this mess never would have happened."
But to Pashier, this wasn't wholly bad. Forcing the silver lining.
Enel had brutally shown her she'd been wrong from the start.
"Can he even return?"
"If we retrieve even the Phoenix's remains, a sliver of hope appears."
But every plan hinged on his survival.
"How much of Nerwen's words can we trust..."
The elf elders' wisdom defied imagination. Their lifespan granted vast knowledge, and they were those who'd amassed even more beyond mere years.
Among ancient elves, only those who entered the World Tree, grasped truth, and trained a human lifetime earned the elder title.
Strength aside, for ancient lore, they knew more than the Empire.
"...Something's coming."
"I don't hear it yet... Hoofbeats?"
"Yes. Guests, it seems."
Elenor's face eased slightly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "We are without excuse."
The princess's escorts knelt, begging the Emperor's forgiveness.
Their mistake: treating it as routine knight training or travel. They'd never imagined charging against an Orc Lord, courting death.
Lax from habituation to Elenor the hero. With that power alone, she needed no guards.
"I have no intention of blaming your lapse. But Elenor is gone."
"She left already. To aid Baron... Enel's journey. We couldn't stop her."
"I see."
The Emperor sighed deeply—not at the dire straits, but brimming with self-loathing.
Even here, Enel aided others. Unchanged.
Yet he, as Emperor, sought to exploit it. Revulsion at himself soured any smile.
"We'll persuade her return somehow. We've sent the Saintess for treatment..."
"No need."
His decision firm, the Emperor cut him off.
"Announce it publicly. The Saintess, the Elf Great Warrior, the Tower Master, the Princess—all departed to aid his journey."
"Yes... That...?"
This escalates.
The princess abandoning duty to help someone swells his stature immensely.
Factor in the hero's power, and it balloons beyond the Emperor's grasp.
No different from declaring the true hero outright—just unproclaimed till now.
"It's dangerous."
The princess was a colossal asset. Symbolic, martial.
Only under imperial authority—but without her, the Emperor struggled with minutiae.
Her direct knights and troops would soon murmur: whose side profited?
"That..."
His presence loomed larger. Nobles spread tales of his Orc Lord slaying; he was already the capital's savior.
In extremes, if he claimed the princess, sired a child, demanded crown prince—Emperor would yield. Better than nobles claiming him.
"If nobles recruit him now, Your Majesty risks peril! At least observe a year..."
Post-chaos, returning troops could rebuild authority—but monster stirrings refused to subside.
"I've lived long. He's proven trustworthy. Evil... he wouldn't embrace."
The Emperor had pondered illusions versus true priorities endlessly.
"Do it. Send the finest carriage, escorts beyond envy. The Saintess herself—does she wish to follow?"
"...Mind not wholly sound, but she'll comply if asked."
"Then send everyone. Restore the glory denied him."
The knight nodded reluctantly. The Emperor stroked his beard, a bittersweet smile mingling relief and sorrow.