Just the Two of Us to the Sea (1)
Ruler of the Sea, the Water Dragon’s reverse scale.
When I tried to fit those two separate sentences together, it felt as if my brain had seized up.
And no wonder. They weren’t asking us to bring back the reverse scale of some B-rank danger species like an Imugi, but the reverse scale of an A-rank danger species like a Water Dragon?
A reverse scale was the one and only scale among the eighty-one on a dragonkin’s body that turned in the opposite direction, the single vulnerable point under its neck. So to order me to cut it out and bring it back was, in effect, no different from telling me to subjugate the Water Dragon itself.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one who realized that. Lia, who had been staring blankly, suddenly jerked her head up in alarm.
“J-just a moment! Venus, a Water Dragon? You want us to subjugate a Water Dragon?”
──I said cut off its reverse scale and offer it at the altar, little one.
“That’s the same thing!”
Lia’s objection was entirely reasonable. Dragonkin were savage by nature; if anyone touched their reverse scale, the monster would chase that creature to the ends of its life and make sure it was finished.
So even in the off chance that we could cut off the reverse scale without subjugating the Water Dragon first, Lia and I would spend every trip to the seaside wondering whether the dragon would remember our scent and come after us.
If I was going to live with that kind of dread, wouldn’t it be better to subjugate it cleanly and leave no loose ends behind?
“Lady Lia, please calm down first.”
I gripped Lia’s shoulders as she snorted with excitement.
Lia whipped her head around to stare at me.
“Cain, how do you expect me to calm down? You heard what Venus said too—A-rank. She wants us to subjugate an A-rank danger species! A danger species that normally takes an entire knight order to bring down, and you expect us to—!”
“...I have an idea.”
I pressed a finger to Lia’s lips and spoke only with my mouth.
Venus never said that it had to be just the two of us. So if we use that loophole—
...Ah! If we get help from other people, it’ll be easier?
Yes, exactly.
Lia’s eyes went round, and then she brightened. I nodded and lifted my finger away.
“Venus, would it be enough if we simply cut off the Water Dragon’s reverse scale and bring it back?”
──That would be enough, little one. However, this trial does have a condition.
“A condition?”
──The number of people who can face the Water Dragon is limited to two. In other words, no one except our two little ones may accompany you on this trial.
“Wait, so we’re not supposed to bring it back after all?”
Before I knew it, my original speech pattern had slipped out from sheer disbelief.
Up until now, the goddess hadn’t mentioned any condition like that. Had she been eavesdropping on our conversation?
──If you could simply cut it off and bring it back, there would be no meaning in bestowing a trial. The trial given to the saintess and her guardian knight is meant to be a challenge for the two of you alone. If you don’t overcome that obstacle through the strength of only the two of you, then it’s nothing but a pointless waste of time, isn’t it?
Venus’s words were perfectly logical, but Lia and I didn’t exactly feel like accepting them.
“T-that may be true, but! Venus, you said you’d give us an easy trial!”
“Exactly. How are Lady Lia and I supposed to subjugate an A-rank danger species just the two of us? As Lady Lia said, an A-rank danger species is the sort of opponent that requires an entire knight order to barely subjugate—”
──Little one.
“Yes?”
──If humility goes too far, it begins to look like arrogance instead...
“......”
This time, my brain seemed to seize up for a very different reason.
This goddess. Just how much does she know?
I couldn’t say a word after Venus’s strike to the gut, and when all I could do was move my lips helplessly, Lia thumped my shoulder a few times.
“Aah, Cain! Don’t just stand there—say something! The goddess is acting strange, isn’t she? How in the world are you and I supposed to subjugate an A-rank danger species like the Water Dragon by ourselves—!”
“Lady Lia.”
“W-what?”
“Are you aware that Water Dragons live only in coastal waters where the sea is clear?”
“Ah, y-yes. I do know that. You’re talking about places like the seaside in the Viscounty of Lewis, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. The seaside of the Viscounty of Lewis is famous for its clear, beautiful water, and Water Dragons are said to appear there frequently. That’s why ordinary people can’t even approach the area.”
As I explained, Lia blinked her large eyes at me.
She was giving me a look that said, I’m complaining to the goddess, so why are you suddenly talking about that?
I stood up, brushed off my seat, and took Lia’s hand to help her up as well. Then I bent close to her ear and murmured softly,
“Which means it’s the perfect place for a quiet holiday away from everyone’s eyes, isn’t it?”
“A-a holiday?”
“The sea in early March is supposed to be especially lovely.”
I’d phrased it as indirectly as I could, and she somehow still caught on. Lia’s cheeks tinged pink; she hesitated for a moment, then cleared her throat and spoke.
“W-well, then... I guess there’s no helping it. If we have to go... do this Water Dragon subjugation or whatever, then we should go to the Viscounty of Lewis?”
“Yes, that would be best. But the Viscounty of Lewis is rather far from the capital. Even if we hurry, it’ll take at least half a day, so the round trip alone will cost us a full day. That means we’ll probably need—at the very least—”
“We’d have to stay the night...?”
Lia murmured that under her breath and glanced at me from the corner of her eye.
Her blue eyes were shining, and for some reason, her expression was strangely—
“Ahem, um... Cain?”
“Yes, Lady Lia.”
“J-just so you know, you’re not allowed to do anything weird to me... okay?”
“Yes. I won’t. Absolutely not.”
“......There’s no such thing as absolute!”
“......?”
Why was she angry?
* * *
“Hmm—.”
Lia’s mother, Mary von Elleves, snapped open the folding fan that was all the rage among noble ladies these days and regarded me with only her eyes visible over its edge.
Blood was blood; those eyes were as clear and large as Lia’s, a perfect match.
...No, the other way around. Lia took after her mother.
As I sat there facing her and entertained that foolish thought, Mary von Elleves suddenly clicked the fan shut.
“So, what is the conclusion? Cain Reinhardt, are you saying you want to take our precious daughter to the seaside for one night and two days?”
“Ah, n-no. It’s not that I simply want to go play. I only meant that Lady Lia said she had never been to the seaside before, so I thought perhaps we could use the weekend to tour the area around the coast...”
“I see. So you do want to go play. And with our precious daughter tucked in your arms, no less.”
“...Erm.”
I was about to say I had no ulterior motives, but I stopped myself. It felt like trying to defend myself now would only make things worse.
It was true that I had no such intentions, but I had no way to explain that. If only I could just turn my own heart inside out and show it to her—that would be nice. Of course, that was impossible.
While I was running out of words and absentmindedly kneading my poor wrist, Mary von Elleves stared at me for a moment before turning her head to look at Lia.
“Lia, what do you think?”
“M-my opinion?”
“Yes, your opinion. In matters like this, the person involved’s thoughts are important too, aren’t they?”
For someone who was a central figure in the conservative world of high nobility, Lia’s mother had a surprisingly open mind as she asked the question at her leisure.
Lia fidgeted with her fingers and hesitated, then glanced in my direction. Her face made it obvious she was embarrassed as she muttered,
“W-well, I think it’s not bad... maybe? I feel like something good might happen if we go, and it might be fun too...”
It was such a strange answer that I couldn’t tell whether she was helping me or undermining me, and it sounded like exactly the kind of reply that would provoke all sorts of misunderstandings.
“Hmm, something good, you say.”
Mary von Elleves brought the folding fan up to her lips and smiled meaningfully.
“M-Mary, what I mean by something good is simply that it would be a good chance to see the world.”
“Yes, I know. Isn’t that the only meaning it could possibly have?”
“Ah, you knew...?”
And yet I had no idea why she kept looking at me with that strange expression. They say husband and wife grow to resemble each other—was Mary von Elleves beginning to resemble her husband, Macmillan von Elleves?
They looked nothing alike, but the way their atmospheres overlapped felt like more than just my imagination.
So this was what people meant when they said couples tended to marry their own kind. I was only now beginning to understand it when Mary von Elleves pointed at me with her fan.
“Very well. It should be a pleasant time for both Lia and you, Cain Reinhardt. But there is one condition. Make a promise with me again this time.”
“Ah, of course. If anything were to happen to Lady Lia, the responsibility would fall on me and my family—”
“No, not that.”
Mary von Elleves turned her head.
On one wall of the reception room hung the portrait of the head of the Elleves family, the man widely known as a bear-like fox: Macmillan von Elleves.
“After Lia’s debutante ball in July, Cain Reinhardt, I’ll want you to meet my husband.”
“Pardon?”
“Why? Do you dislike the idea?”
That was actually the question I wanted to ask, but if I said that now, the trip, the trial—everything would likely come crashing down.
There was no doubt I’d be causing a monumental nuisance if I interfered with the original protagonist and then failed to complete the trial properly, so I gave a smooth nod.
“Yes. I understand.”
“Good. Very well, then. I’ll allow you to take our Lia to the seaside.”
“Ah, thank you for your permission. Whatever happens, I will keep Lady Lia safe—”
“There’s no need to say something so obvious... Lia?”
Mary von Elleves muttered dryly and turned her gaze away from me.
“Yes?”
“Come here for a moment.”
Lia and her mother sat close together, and with the folding fan covering their mouths, they whispered back and forth.
-If you’re going to the seaside with a man, then naturally you’ll need a swimsuit...
-Yes, yes.
-Store-bought ones will cling too tightly here, so we’ll have one custom-made, and most importantly, you must make sure to keep it hidden from Cain...
-Ah, yes...
“......”
Their voices were so low I couldn’t hear much, but for some reason the scene felt familiar, as though I had seen it before.
Where had that been? That sense of déjà vu was so strong that I was trying to trace the memory when Lia apparently finished her conversation and rose from her seat, grabbing my sleeve.
“G-good. Okay, let’s go train, train. Cain.”
“Lady Lia, the training grounds are in the opposite direction, not that way...”
“......I said it’s fine. Just follow me!”