How to Spend a Holiday (3)
Fortunately, after that, I managed to slip out of the mansion without further incident.
The moment I stepped out onto the capital streets, a sigh of pure relief escaped me on its own.
"Whew. We got out without being spotted."
"Thanks. I'll make it up to you later."
"Yes. Just so you know, that kind of outfit doesn't work on me. I'll be going now."
Airen handed me a change of clothes and was about to head back to the mansion when she suddenly grabbed me by the scruff of the neck.
"Hold on."
"Hey! What is it now?"
"Since we're already out, hang out with me."
"Why should I? I already had plans for today."
"What plans?"
"Plans to rest and restore my body's vitality. The reason I went to Lady Katram's room was to borrow a book."
"By 'rest,' you mean lying around reading a book?"
"That's correct."
"That's the worst. There's a far superior way to rest than that."
Airen thrust her hand out toward me with a flourish.
"Follow me and I'll show you a revolutionary method of relaxation."
"No thank you."
"What?"
"I had plans to meet with Lady Katram. Don't interfere, Airen — just go back to the Imperial Palace already."
"Haa. This is exactly why I call you an idiot."
Airen clicked her tongue.
"You say you like Lady Katram, but all you want is to be her conversation partner?"
"And what's wrong with that?"
"If it were me, I'd actively give the lady fun experiences. Think about it. Do you really believe a life of nothing but lying in bed reading books is enjoyable?"
"Well, no. But there's nothing I can do about it."
Airen already knew this from her background investigation. My lady was ill. Even walking around for a single day put a severe strain on her body.
About a year ago, my lady had thrown a tantrum about wanting to go out and play, and she'd gone with the Duke. Even from where I stood assisting them, I could tell how happy she looked.
But it hadn't lasted more than a few hours. After running just a little, my lady had suddenly collapsed and coughed up blood.
From that day on, her outings were strictly forbidden. And for roughly a month after she coughed up blood, the Duke had drowned himself in alcohol.
The fact that my lady hadn't been in her room today simply meant she'd been walking around inside the mansion — not that she'd gone outside.
"Because Lady Katram is unwell."
"Haa, you dense Frey. You have the ability to let even a sick person enjoy themselves."
"Excuse me?"
"The illusion magic you mastered at the Academy. You could just call it tangible illusion magic, I suppose?"
"Ah!"
"If I teach you the method, you can cast illusion magic based on that experience. Then Lady Katram can have fun without going outside and without overexerting herself. And the one making it happen would be none other than you."
She was right! Walking around inside an illusion wouldn't put any real strain on the body. My lady, who couldn't go outside, would be able to enjoy herself!
Of course, that required a foundation of real information. And Airen was offering to inject that information into me right now.
"So come hang out with me. I'll show you a fun way to rest."
"Haa. You're quite skilled at handling people, aren't you?"
"I am a princess, after all. But how long are you planning to keep that butler disguise on?"
"I'll drop it."
Fortunately, no one was passing by, so I released the transformation right away. The silver lining was that it was a day off, so I hadn't been wearing my butler uniform. Getting caught by Airen in butler clothes would have been a headache in all sorts of ways.
"Then follow me. I'll show you a truly enjoyable way to rest."
Airen grabbed my hand and ran. I had no choice but to follow her.
Though I did wonder whether a princess should really be running around holding a man's hand like this. Well, maybe it didn't matter.
"Right here!"
The place Airen brought me to was a spot with an extraordinarily tall spire. I'd often seen that mysterious tower while walking through the capital streets — so this was it?
"What is this place?"
"You'll find out once we go up."
Ding! An iron door opened, revealing a small chamber. Airen shoved me inside before I could react, then stepped in after me and pressed a number on the wall panel.
"What's this?"
"It's called an elevator. A device that lets you go upstairs comfortably."
The moment she finished speaking, the cabin shuddered with a jolt, and I felt the pressure of ascending.
Hmm. It seemed like a pulley system powered by mana that people could ride. Outside of a special place like this, there probably wouldn't be much use for it. The empire was mostly low-rise buildings, after all.
Ding-dong! The elevator stopped. The doors opened onto a truly remarkable sight.
"Whoa."
"Amazing, right?"
Beyond the capital streets of the empire, everything stretched out as far as the eye could see. I could even make out the Taran Mountains that served as the outer fortifications. I burned the view into my memory. My lady would love this if I showed it to her!
"Wow. So this is an observation deck?"
"Mmm. Something like that. Want to go over to the edge?"
"The edge?"
I went to the edge as Airen suggested — and there was no railing. What kind of tower this tall had a section with no railing?
"Airen? What on earth is this?"
"Just take a few more steps forward."
"Why?"
"Just go."
"Hmm."
Something felt off, but she wasn't the type to harm me, so I trusted her and approached. The closer I got to that railing-less edge, the more dizzyingly aware I became of how far the ground was below.
"Airen. This should be enough—"
Shove.
The moment I turned around to stop, it happened.
"Huh?"
"Hehe. Bye-bye, Frey."
Airen pushed me. My body caught the wind and plummeted straight down the tower.
"AAAAAAAH!"
Airen was looking down at me, laughing. Why? How? No — right now I needed a way to survive! I wrung mana into my hands. If I cast a wind-blast spell at the ground, I could offset the gravitational acceleration!
But the instant I tried to cast the spell, the mana gathered in my hands simply melted away.
"Th-this is—?"
That damn Mana Blockage Circuit! Why was one installed in a place like this?! Stay calm — just force the magic through the way I did in the herb warehouse!
No. Too late. The ground was already in sight. There wasn't enough time to cast a spell that could punch through a Mana Blockage Circuit.
To die so pathetically after being betrayed like this. My lady, Mother — I'm sorry. This inadequate son of yours is going out like this.
"AAAAAAAH!"
I squeezed my eyes shut.
…
……
"Huh?"
I opened my eyes.
I was floating about thirty centimeters off the ground. With a soft thump, Airen landed lightly beside me.
"It's the empire's famous jump attraction! They laid down impact-absorption and levitation magic circles on the ground, so you can jump down and land safely!"
"……"
"It's a ride built by people who want to feel thrills. So? Wasn't it fun? Doesn't it feel like your brain is pumping out natural endorphins?"
"……"
"What's wrong, Frey?"
"A-Airen."
"Yeah?"
I barely managed to hold back the tears welling up.
"……Is there a changing room here?"
"A changing room? Why would you— Ah?"
Airen looked down at the ground. A clear liquid was slowly spreading across it.
"Uh, um."
Avoiding my gaze, Airen scratched her cheek.
"Want me to wash your pants for you?"
"No thank you!"
I genuinely wanted to die.
I cleaned up the mess with magic and went to the changing room to change clothes. Magic had wiped away every trace of filth, but I still wanted a shower… I couldn't exactly leave Airen behind to go to a bathhouse, though.
In the end, I trudged outside with nothing but a thoroughly dejected mood.
"Fr-Frey. Are you okay?"
"No……"
"Hmm. But once you know what this place is, you can enjoy it pretty well, right?"
"Absolutely not."
Sure, thrills might be enjoyable. But my lady needed to keep her body stable.
"It would be bad for Lady Katram's heart."
"I don't think so."
"Excuse me?"
"Never mind. On to the next place! I'll pay for everything, so don't worry!"
From then on, I was dragged here and there by Airen. And strangely enough, every single place we went was dangerously extreme.
A bridge spanning a cliff with a glass floor.
Stepping stones across a gorge. (After crossing, I discovered the safety lines had been missing.)
A former knight turned acrobat who tossed people high into the sky and caught them. (Supposedly not a single person had ever been injured — was that even true?)
An abandoned church rumored to be haunted. (A real ghost came out, so I purified it.)
The moment we left the church, every last drop of energy drained from my body and I collapsed on the spot.
"Huff. Huff."
This was… rest? Airen had to be exhausted too. Thinking that, I looked over at her.
"Ahaha. That was so much fun. Let's hurry to the next place, Frey!"
"……Are you a monster?"
Amazingly, Airen was completely fresh! She seemed even more energetic than when we'd first met!
How could a person still be brimming with vitality after going through places like that? Was she a different species from me? Or did the imperial bloodline have some special quality?
"Please, spare me."
"What? You're already tired?"
"You just asked if I was tired! Didn't you say you were going to show me places to rest?!"
"Ahaha. Did I?"
"Aaaaaaireeeeeeen!"
This was just her playing around! My precious rest time!
"I followed you so I could create a good rest space for my lady, but none of this is useful at all!"
"Hmm. Actually, even sick people enjoy this kind of thing, Frey."
"There's no way that's true! The heart isn't only affected by physical situations — emotional ones have a huge impact too! What if Lady Katram's condition seriously worsens because of this?!"
"Hmm. Is that so? I don't think so."
"And the reason you feel that way is?"
"Just… intuition?"
If she weren't a princess, I would have given her a solid knuckle to the head. As I trembled with rage, Airen suddenly burst out laughing.
"Puhahaha!"
"Is this funny to you right now?"
"No, I just realized we've really become friends."
"What?"
"We're outside the Academy, and you're talking back to me without holding back. If that's not proof of friendship, what is?"
"Uh."
Come to think of it — we were outside the Academy right now!
Last weekend, Airen had ordered me to speak freely with her, but this time there hadn't even been such a command. Meaning I should have been observing proper etiquette.
But had I gotten too comfortable with Airen? I'd completely forgotten about it.
"Th-that's…"
"You don't think I'm going to scold you, do you? Come on, Frey."
Airen smiled and took my hand.
"Wha—?"
"There are still plenty of fun places left!"
And just like that, I was dragged off by Airen once again.
Thirty minutes later.
"You two are family, so you must not be connected!"
"What?"
"Excuse me?"
That was what we heard at the fortune-telling shop we'd been dragged to out of nowhere.