The First Gift
In a hospital located within Brimton City, a number of attendants and a portion of the soldiers were resting in their beds.
There were no apparent illnesses or unusual incidents, yet the patients lay unconscious.
Without the slightest warning, however, they suddenly woke and began to thrash wildly.
“Kyaaaaak!!”
“Kyaaaak!!”
Screaming like beasts, they lunged toward the hospital staff, smashing everything in their path and rampaging through the wards.
Some even broke out of the building and caused chaos in the streets.
Fortunately, most incidents ended when patrolling knights subdued them, but the number of affected patients had been considerable.
The situation was especially dire at larger hospitals that could not accept many patients due to limited space or empty beds.
“Kuuuuuuugh!!”
“Damn it! Stay calm! Quick, go get the guards— I mean, the knights!”
The hospital was one of the most vital facilities in the city, so it was common to maintain a separate security staff.
That was why the smaller wards had managed to contain the rampaging patients relatively quickly.
But the larger hospitals where the most patients had been admitted were now in absolute pandemonium.
“Stay calm!!”
“You bastards! There are too many of you!”
With a dozen or even several dozen rioters running amok, the handful of security personnel who managed to remain—barely a dozen—stood no chance.
Moreover, the injured patients showed no regard for their own safety and fought with terrifying strength, turning the chaos into an all-out brawl where bones were shattered on both sides.
Particularly, the city’s largest hospital—Brimton Central Hospital, where all the attendants had been admitted—had become a battlefield of true horror.
The saving grace was that the guards had quickly realized the situation and evacuated the doctors, nurses, and other patients.
Yet the building itself was in ruins: walls cracked, floors shattered, and smoke already billowing from spots where the rioters had accidentally ignited fires.
“We need backup—now!”
“Jackson already left for the ducal manor to call for reinforcements! Hold on just a little longer!”
Despite being a major hospital, the guards had still managed to block the escaping patients from leaving the premises, but they were quickly losing the battle to contain the situation.
And then, the news reached the ducal manor.
“Everyone has assembled!”
All the knights and mages except those on patrol or checkpoint duty had gathered in front of the ducal mansion.
Even with more than half the force already deployed, the sight of the remaining knights lined up perfectly under Knight Commander Gareth’s command was truly magnificent.
“Your Highness, I propose dividing the unit into two. One group will assist the current city patrol and help suppress the situation in Brimton, while the other will be sent to Lerzo City.”
“...Yes. Now that you mention it, the matter over there as well.”
Lerzo City was another city within the Ignis Duchy, home to a hospital that had admitted a portion of the patients because Brimton Central Hospital could not accommodate everyone.
If the unrest was not confined to Brimton City alone, the situation would grow far more critical.
“...Among the patients sent to Lerzo City, there were many former soldiers. If they turn on us, the damage there could become even worse.”
Even if ordinary patients had already caused widespread chaos, what if trained soldiers began rampaging?
It was possible that far greater casualties could occur in Lerzo City.
In the end, Princess Aine assigned two-thirds of the unit to Knight Commander Gareth for the march toward Lerzo City, while she herself led the remainder into the heart of Brimton City.
“...Is this all right?”
While resting in the guest room of the ducal manor, I was visited by Riel.
Seeing her worried expression, I let her into the room and, while sipping the tea Phyllis had brought, Riel watched me with a face full of anxiety and quietly said:
Almost all the knights of the manor had already left for the city to suppress the riot.
The only ones remaining were the gravely ill Duchess and three knights.
And then there was me, Riel, Phyllis, Luca, and the elf named Rillu.
Prince Andrew, as the ducal heir, had accompanied the suppression efforts, and Priestess Alicia had followed him.
The once-bustling ducal mansion now felt strangely quiet and desolate.
“It’s fine.”
“Yeah... I hope it is? Both you and Her Highness are incredibly strong...”
Even as she spoke, dark anxiety shadowed Riel’s face.
I took both her hands in mine.
Riel seemed startled at first, but her anxious expression flushed bright red and she smiled.
“Hehe...”
“...Ahem.”
Feeling embarrassed in the face of her smile, I coughed to hide it.
I tried to release her hands, but Riel instead held onto mine.
...She had not only brightened recently, but seemed truly bold now.
Thinking back, several months had passed since we first met, and so much had changed.
If I looked closely, her hair had grown longer... and her figure... Ahem...
“Why are you staring?”
“Ah... nothing.”
Oh no, she must have noticed me looking.
I quickly turned my head away from Riel’s gaze.
Before I knew it, we were sitting in silence again, simply holding hands.
What a weird atmosphere.
Is there nothing else we can do to change the mood?
Some kind of conversation topic...
“Master.”
“...Huh?”
Caught off guard by Phyllis’s voice amid my scattered thoughts, I turned to look at her.
Phyllis gestured with her eyes toward something.
...My bag?
“Ah.”
Of course, that was it.
After arriving in the duchy, so many things had happened that I had completely forgotten about it.
I slipped my hand free from Riel’s grasp. She looked at me.
I offered her a small smile and apologized, then headed toward my bag.
“...It should still be here somewhere properly...”
I found it.
A small package I had always kept with me since receiving this.
When I unwrapped the clean cloth, Riel’s curious eyes followed the motion.
“What is that?”
“Ah... yeah. Go ahead and open it.”
Riel carefully untied the knot after receiving the package from me.
When she removed the cloth, a wooden box appeared, and Riel’s eyes widened slightly.
“A headband...?”
“Yeah. It’s for you, Riel.”
The item Riel lifted from the box was a dark forest-green leather headband.
It was a simple, plain headband with no extra patterns, but to me it held profound meaning.
Among the Wentos family, it was a custom to gift a woman promised to you the first piece of jewelry made from an animal or magical beast you had hunted yourself.
In fact, the necklace my mother wore was a gemstone necklace crafted from the canine’s gem, the first magical beast my father had hunted.
Therefore, this leather headband was also made from the skin of the first magical beast I had hunted—the Frost Wolf.
After I explained the origin, Riel’s cheeks flushed bright red with delight.
“Hehe...”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Yeah... It’s the first gift I’ve ever received from Kyou, and it carries deep meaning.”
...I was truly relieved.
Honestly, I had been a little anxious.
“Can you tie this for me?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. I wanted you to tie it the first time.”
...Hmm, I had never actually tied a girl’s hair before.
I was at a loss, so Phyllis stepped forward and gave me some tips.
Though a bit awkward, with Phyllis’s guidance I somehow managed to tie two strands of hair on either side of Riel’s head.
“How is it? Looks good?”
“...Yeah... yeah. It looks very good.”
Thank goodness. It suited her far better than I had expected.
It had only been recently completed when I returned home last time, but in truth this item had been made for my former fiancée, Liliana.
Even before it was finished, after the breakup with Liliana, the finished piece suddenly floated away from me.
The lingering blue tint was the only remnant.
I had urgently dyed it nearly black, but a trace of blue still remained.
So I had been a little anxious, but surprisingly it blended perfectly with Riel’s red hair.
I secretly let out a sigh of relief.
“Hehe... hehehe...”
Riel stood before the mirror on the wall, admiring the headband in her hair.
Thank goodness. The uneasy and awkward atmosphere had somehow been cleared.
Originally, I had kept this item to give as a gift after confessing and succeeding.
This was precisely when such a gift would come in handy.
“Well done, Master.”
“Phyllis, you should thank yourself.”
I gave her a subtle thumbs-up in response to her quiet whisper.
After about an hour, there was still no sign of the knights or Princess Aine returning.
A few minutes earlier, the elf Rillu had come and asked for hot chocolate, so Phyllis had stepped out for a moment, but nothing else had changed.
Earlier in the reception room, the cup we had been holding was hot chocolate, right?
Riel sat quietly, gazing out the window, but she hummed a cheerful tune as if proudly showing off that she looked good.
Scary, the gift offensive.
I wondered if I should prepare something even better for the next time.
Just as I was thinking that, the door burst open and someone entered.
“Sorry to interrupt for a moment.”
Blonde hair, blue eyes, and long ears.
It was the elf Rillu entering the room.
“Rillu, what is it? Do you need more hot chocolate?”
“Hmm. That’s good too, but something much more urgent.”
The expression on the elf’s face was strangely serious, completely different from the languid look she had worn when she had come earlier to ask for hot chocolate.
Rillu scanned the three of us and opened her mouth.
“It seems there are intruders near the manor. Better to be cautious just in case.”
Her long ears twitched alertly.