#030 Test
#030 Test
Rosemas Tervation.
She was a High Elf, and a princess among elves.
Elves formed communal groups in each forest, and the elves who represented a forest were called "elders."
Then what was a princess?
A princess was a concept from the human world.
Even so, Rosemas was called an elven princess because her status was equivalent to a princess's in human society.
"Your Highness! How can someone who bears the duty of protecting the World Tree act so recklessly...!"
In elven society, she was known as the "next World Tree shrine maiden," but the elves didn't want to say the long title every time, so they just called her "princess."
"If any harm came to Your Highness, I could never face Her Majesty the Queen, the caretaker of all forests and the World Tree's proxy."
The elves had a queen as well.
This queen was in charge of managing the World Tree, and she held the very important role of overseeing all the power transmitted from the World Tree.
"Was Mother... very startled?"
"Startled doesn't begin to cover it. If things had gone wrong, every Guardian of the Forest could have come charging out here."
Rosemas was the queen's daughter.
When the queen died, she would become the next World Tree shrine maiden.
Even with the elders, including the Supreme Elder, assisting her, it was the queen's existence that allowed the elves to maintain an equal relationship with humans.
As such, Rosemas's personal safety required special attention.
Even if someone could replace her, Rosemas herself was as important to the elves as a princess was in human society.
"Your Highness, seriously! Ugh!"
Such a woman had been captured by orcs and nearly died?
Marzohis, the elf who had been Rosemas's escort but had been restrained by her and lost track of her, pounded her chest in frustration.
"So why did you leave me behind?!"
"Sorry...."
"If an apology were enough to settle this—ugh, seriously!! Do you know how worried I was until I reached the Adventurers' Guild?!"
Custody of Rosemas was handed over to Marzohis.
The person who had filed the missing person report with the Adventurers' Guild was Marzohis, and the Guild had naturally sent Rosemas to Marzohis.
"I was terrified the whole way here! In case some humans realized Your Highness was a princess and tried to kidnap you!"
"......."
If they had known Rosemas was an elven princess, they would certainly have taken different measures.
Fortunately—if it could be called fortunate—Rosemas had kept the fact that she was a princess completely hidden from the humans.
Though that was exactly why she had ended up in such a dangerous situation.
"Ugh, seriously, this immature princess...!! I can't even hit you...!"
"There, there. Calm down. Anyone who comes out into the human world wants to wander around on their own. Your Highness, don't feel too upset either."
Fergus, the Normance blacksmith who had given Marzohis and Rosemas a temporary place to stay, handed the two of them honey tea.
"Just don't do it again from now on. In the end, everything turned out fine. Okay?"
"Make one mistake, and you can make another."
"Then we'll think about it when that time comes. For now, let's just be glad you came back alive. Hm?"
"Ugh...."
Marzohis lowered her trembling fist as Fergus patted her shoulder and soothed her.
"...Damn it."
If something happened to the princess?
Then she would be executed immediately.
A wound to the immature princess was, in effect, the death of her escort knight.
"And Your Highness. No matter how much you wanted to travel, trapping your escort at the bottom of a lake with spirit magic and then running off alone was truly wrong. In human terms, that's attempted murder. You wouldn't have died, but if the spirit had had bad intentions, this one really would have been done for."
"...I apologize."
"If you know you did wrong, apologize to Marzohis, not me."
"......I'm sorry, Marzohis. I won't do it again."
"Ah, seriously."
Marzohis let out deep sighs and suppressed her temper.
She was apologizing that much, so Marzohis couldn't press her any further.
"Promise me, Your Highness. That you will never leave me behind again. That you will never do such a thing again. Do you understand?"
"Uh, w-well, that's...."
"You can't promise?"
Marzohis's expression began to harden.
Fergus also lowered the corners of her mouth with a look that said this wasn't going to work, and the atmosphere grew increasingly grim.
"...Well."
Rosemas fidgeted with her fingers, then met Marzohis's gaze with a serious face.
"I found a companion I want to be with."
"Excuse me?"
"I want to be with the Hero who saved me."
"...Pff, hahahahaha!!"
Fergus clutched her stomach and burst into laughter.
The sight of Rosemas blushing, clutching the hem of her skirt, and fidgeting was, to anyone's eyes, a girl in love.
"Hey, this is bad! It's over!!"
"You can't, Your Highness. Surely you haven't fallen for a human? Hm?"
"That person...."
"That person?!!?!"
Marzohis was stunned by the shocking declaration.
"Your Highness, you really can't. At this rate, you could end up having a half-elf child!"
"...I'm prepared for that!"
"Your Highness!!"
"I can't ask to go with you. What if that person sees you and falls for you instead."
"N-no. Your Highness, are you seriously keeping me in check here? Tch...."
Marzohis looked like she had a great deal to say.
"Fine. Fine. It's all fine that Your Highness wanted to travel the human world without restrictions, trapped me in a lake with Spirit Arts so I couldn't get out for days, registered as an adventurer in the meantime, wandered the human world, got captured by orcs, and only survived by sheer luck through the grace of the World Tree and the two goddesses. But after all that, shouldn't you at least go with me now?"
Marzohis was starting to get genuinely irritated.
"But still...."
"But still what?"
"Marzohis, you're weaker than me."
"......."
The princess was far stronger than Marzohis.
She bore the title of escort knight in name, but in reality she was closer to an attendant.
"No, Your Highness, even so...."
"And you're weaker than Fergus."
"That's true."
"No!! Even so, I'm a member of the Guardians of the Forest!"
"Yeah, I used to be a deputy commander of the Guardians."
"I'm stronger than the Guardian captain."
"And someone like that got captured by orcs?!"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
Rosemas clasped Marzohis's hands tightly.
"Tell the queen and the elders how I was captured. Tell them there was an orc that sealed Spirit Arts."
"......."
It was indeed a serious matter.
The elves' main strength, Spirit Arts, had failed to produce any effect, as if casting magic inside a Dispel Field.
If Rosemas had been rendered helpless, the other elves would be just as vulnerable.
"The art of sealing Spirit Arts is 'their' power, isn't it? Perhaps they have reappeared. That was in the distant past, but still."
"Your Highness."
"I'll gather information while moving with the person who saved me. It's fine—they're the 'real' deal who wiped out those orcs."
"......Can I really trust that?"
"Yes. Of course. I did make a big mistake, but trust me this once."
Whoosh.
A massive surge of water shot up beside Rosemas.
The water stream that appeared in an instant transformed into a human shape, and soon produced a sphere made of water droplets from its chest.
"Marzohis, give this to the queen."
"This is...?"
"It contains my memories of what I went through. Please deliver this, no matter what. Understood?"
"...Truly, can you manage without me?"
Marzohis could not bring herself to leave.
"A-are they really people you can trust?"
"Yes. More than anyone. In fact, once you deliver this to the queen, she'll tell me to make sure I move with them."
"They're that trustworthy...?"
"Yes. I'll swear on the World Tree. They are not dangerous people. Marzohis, you can go to the forest with peace of mind and deliver this."
"!!"
An oath on the World Tree.
For an elf, that held stronger binding force than an oath on one's parents, or even an oath to a goddess.
Since she had sworn on none other than the World Tree, there was no turning back now.
"I, Rosemas Tervation, swear that I am not moving separately from Marzohis because I have fallen for a man or because I don't want to bring Marzohis along."
"......To go that far."
Marzohis bowed her head deeply.
The World Tree was like a parent to the elves.
Since Rosemas had sworn on the World Tree itself, Marzohis had to believe her.
"I cannot believe it.... But if you have sworn on the World Tree, there is no helping it. However, I still cannot help but worry about your safety. I would like to meet them once."
"...No."
"Your Highness. I cannot back down on this either. If I cannot meet them directly, then I will watch from a distance."
"...Fine. Then let's go right now."
Rosemas immediately kicked the door open and went outside.
Marzohis remained uneasy at how hastily Rosemas was moving, but she followed her to the inn and hid against the wall by the staircase.
And then.
"Eek!"
Rosemas recoiled and stepped back.
Marzohis tried to rush forward, but Fergus, who had followed, grabbed her.
"Wait. Watch. Over there... oh boy."
"...Oh, wow."
The two elves gulped as they saw the blond man who had come out of the room into the hallway.
At the sight of the human man wearing only roughly pulled-on pants and drenched in sweat, the two of them grew serious.
"Come inside and talk first, Rosemas."
"Y-yes."
Creeeak.
Rosemas went into the room, and the two of them moved away from the stairs and toward the hallway.
"Did you hear the voice?"
"...I know. He's a customer who came to our shop. But... his body is really something. Wait."
Fergus turned pale.
"One of the party members is a woman—"
—You want to become a companion?
A woman's voice came from inside.
The two elves in the hallway gulped.
—All right. A companion. In exchange, call me Master.
"To the princess, she dares...?"
"Wait a moment. Calm down. That woman knows the Supreme Elder."
"What...? How? She hasn't left the forest in 500 years...?"
"Exactly."
—In exchange.
—If you fight me and win, I'll accept you as a companion.
—Very well.
Rosemas's voice was more resolute and motivated than ever before.