I Want to Help You (3)
Just in case, I laid a firm warning on Servant. No matter the situation, he was not to lay a hand on my body.
"If it were only a touch, I should think that acceptable."
"No. Absolutely not."
"A pity."
He clicked his tongue, but he seemed to understand.
Even so, this had proven his ability beyond any doubt. He had stood before a Yusia intent on killing him and come through it with ease. She seemed to sense him for a single instant, and yet in the end there was not so much as a scratch on him.
"Then I'm counting on you."
"I shall obey."
At last, the reconnaissance of the mansion began.
What did Yusia actually do with her free time? If I watched her for a few days, I might find a gap even she herself did not know she had. Above all, the moment I tried to escape during that free time, she was the one who came running at once. For all I knew, she was stationed permanently in front of the mansion's security measures.
I waited for Servant with my heart pounding. About an hour later, he returned.
"I have returned."
"Welcome back! It wasn't dangerous, was it?"
"You saw yesterday, did you not? I am never discovered."
"So what was Yusia doing?"
"She was asleep."
"What?"
Servant repeated himself with perfect seriousness.
"She was asleep sitting in a chair. Without so much as a twitch."
"You're not lying?"
In an instant, the person I had trusted became a lump of suspicion. Servant raised his voice a little, as if wronged.
"It is the truth. She kept her eyes closed for a full hour."
"Couldn't she have been meditating?"
"Her breathing, the angle of her slumped head, and the rest, taken together, confirmed a state of sleep."
"No. That doesn't make any sense."
I seized the door handle.
"If Yusia really is asleep..."
I opened the door and tossed outside the block of wood I had been idly carving. The instant I took a single step beyond the room—
"Fren?"
"Ah. Yusia."
Yusia appeared before me wearing that characteristic haughty look, and spoke with a stern face.
"Why did you come out of your room?"
"It was hot, so I left the door open. Then the wood I was carving rolled outside."
I pointed at the fallen block. Yusia sighed.
"When that happens, call me. Understood?"
"I understand. I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to apologize for. Rest."
She vanished down the far end of the corridor at an unhurried pace. I returned to the room and shrugged.
"See?"
"I'll go and look again."
Servant left the room once more. When he returned some ten minutes later, his shoulders hung limp.
"No matter how many times I look, she is asleep."
"Th-that can't be..."
Should I go out again? Doing so would only provoke her.
In the end, I decided to watch for a few days more.
A few days later.
Servant stood with his shoulders slumped.
"I apologize. I am of little help."
"Mm. No. Yusia's the strange one."
However many times he went to check, Yusia was asleep.
He also possessed a telepathic ability that let him show others what he had seen and heard. When I looked at her through it, she truly was sleeping. I had watched her countless times in our days adventuring as a hero's party, so I could tell a feigned sleep from a real one.
"To think Yusia had an ability like this, too."
Honestly, I was stunned. Even asleep, she could take in what was happening outside and act on it at once.
It felt a little unfair. If that was the case, there had been no need to stand night watch while we were out adventuring, had there? No—that wasn't the point.
"The only chance is when Yusia goes outside."
"So it seems to me as well."
So long as she remained inside the mansion, there was no hope of escape. Simply learning that much was a considerable gain.
I did not actually touch his drooping shoulders. I patted the air above them.
"You did well, Servant. Don't take it too hard."
"Hehe. Lady Fren is kind."
"I'm incompetent at everything except being kind."
Yes. Back when the Sword of Trust was out on its adventures, all I could do was carry a little luggage and look after the party's hearts. Counting my previous life, I was past thirty. Aside from Aphron, the others were still in their teens even now, so I was the more mature of us in spirit. When they were worn down, I could offer the right advice. I could hold them up, if only with my heart, so they would not collapse.
Those had been good days.
"Lady Fren?"
"Oh—right. Haa. Nothing to be done today. I should just carve."
I went to the table and took up the carving that had by now settled into daily life. It was only camouflage, but after weeks of it my hands had grown considerably more skilled. What I mostly shaped were cute little bears. I actually preferred lions, but a mane was difficult to cut.
"Hm. This should do."
Crude as it was, a bear that looked cute to my eyes was finished. And then the routine that followed.
Skrrk.
"Ngh."
"......"
I began cutting myself with the carving knife again. If they learned I had fresh wounds, how would Kailin and Aphron react? Heh.
As I endured the pain, Servant came over to me and took the hand I had just drawn the blade across.
"S-Servant? I told you not to touch me!"
"This much should be all right. More importantly, must you do this?"
"What? This is for the backup plan. I explained, didn't I?"
"But."
From behind the white mask he looked at me for a long moment. Then he smiled quietly and let go of my hand.
"Hehe. Lady Fren is remarkable."
"Remarkable? I don't have any ability at all, so here I am hurting myself."
"No. Lady Fren surpasses anyone in this world. I will vouch for it."
"I'll take it gladly, even if it's only flattery."
Remarkable. What ability could I possibly have, with neither strength nor skills? If anything, Servant's gift for going unnoticed by Yusia was far more impressive. There was no comparison.
Still, to be praised by someone like that did not feel bad.
"Since it's come to this, I'll have to wait for the day Yusia goes out."
"You mean to escape then?"
"I have to try. You'll scout ahead, and I'll follow behind you."
"For now, that is the best method."
It was the first direct attempt in a long while. Could I pull it off?
Even so, one corner of my heart was at ease. Even if the escape failed, Servant would not die.
"Ah, Lady Fren."
"What is it?"
"Is there perhaps another ability user you desire? If you wish it, I believe I can bring an additional helper."
"I'd rather not bring any helper but you."
Servant could flee from Yusia. Whoever he brought would not be the same. I did not want any more sacrifices made for my escape, so I meant to refuse.
But the proposal he offered next was a tempting one.
"That helper need not infiltrate the mansion. Once we are outside, we need only receive a little aid in passing."
"What kind of aid?"
"You must tell me, Lady Fren. What help do you wish for?"
"Then..."
There was something I had dreamed of ever since I was confined.
"I wish no one could see me. So I could move about freely."
At that, Servant smiled.
"That wish. It shall be granted."
"Fren, you'll be good, won't you? I'll be back before you know it."
"Yes. Have a safe trip, Yusia."
"I'll be back."
Today was the day she was to meet the Pope. Now the first Duke of House Frontline, Yusia was forever being summoned here and there for political reasons. This time, she said, she was to tell the people how magnificent the guidance of the Holy Sword had been when they drove back the Demon King's army.
The Holy Sword was a blade bestowed by God, and a sacred relic of the Church as well. The wider its exploits spread, the more the Church's power would grow—and a Church grown powerful would, in turn, lend Yusia a great deal of aid. A win-win, as they say.
"Hnn."
For some reason she narrowed her eyes and looked around me.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. I just looked around the room a little. I'm off!"
"Okay!"
Yusia left the mansion. Servant, who had been silent, smiled.
"Shall we be on our way?"
"Yes."
"I will scout."
He stepped out of the room. I was nervous. It would work, wouldn't it?
Before long, he returned.
"I have secured a route. This way."
"Y-yes!"
I ran through the mansion after him. Not one of the maids usually in sight was anywhere to be seen.
He led me to the window of a secluded room. The second floor. From this height I could jump down easily.
Hop!
"Hehe. You jump well."
"I'm a cat beastfolk, after all."
I was outside the mansion. I had never gotten out this easily before. Without Servant, it would have taken dozens of minutes at the very least.
"Come. The meeting point is close."
Once again I followed his guidance out into the streets. It had been a very long time since I had seen them.
"Waaaaah!"
Cheers rose from the capital square in the distance. Yusia must have begun her speech.
"Here. Are you there?"
The moment Servant called, someone appeared out of empty air.
"I am."
"Wha—?"
"Just as I thought. This is Lady Fren. Lady Fren? This is the helper I spoke of."
The new helper wore a white mask, the same as Servant. He laid a hand on my shoulder.
"It is done."
"Eh?"
"Look at your hand."
I looked at my hand.
"I-it's gone?!"
"For at least six hours, no one else will be able to see you."
"Th-thank you!"
With an ability like this, I really could get away!
I was about to thank him over and over when Servant pulled me along.
"We must hurry."
"A-and that person's name?"
"Hearing it would do you no good."
"Aah."
The other helper waved to us. Swallowing the farewell, I ran after Servant.
The streets of the capital, Arseria, were nearly deserted. Most of the people seemed to have gone to hear Yusia's speech, and thanks to that we crossed the city with ease.
The capital walls came into view. If we only got past those—!
"Servant!"
"Yes?"
"Thank you!"
Having come this far, it was as good as a successful escape. I thanked him ahead of time. I was simply too happy. This much should be all right, I thought.
Thud.
Even as I thought it, something strange dropped suddenly in front of us.
"Wh-what is that?"
"......"
Servant stopped running. I had no choice but to stop as well.
The thing rolling away across the ground was the new helper's head. For some reason, white light was leaking from it.
It was the moment I saw what it was and screamed.
Light poured down from the sky. Angel's wings unfurled—no. A hero's wings.
Hero Yusia hung aloof in the heavens, and tucked at her hip was an old man with a familiar face.
I sank to the ground.
"Yusia... and His Holiness the Pope?"
The Pope of the Church of the Goddess Alsenia. Foremost among all the clergy of the continent. The man who, before Yusia ever appeared, had held back the monsters' onslaught more than anyone.
Pope Georgius Cappadocia.
The greatest hero in history and the greatest pope in history had descended to seize us.
Their eyes fixed precisely upon us.