Chapter 55
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Key and Flower (2)
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Clemence is missing?
My heart dropped in an instant.
"Wasn't she with you?"
"She was, but then... she just vanished at some point. What do we do? Magical beasts could show up, and if something happened to her..."
Mia clasped her hands tightly together and stomped her feet anxiously. I grabbed her hand.
"Don't worry too much. If a magical beast had appeared nearby, Ash would have let me know right away. It hasn't been long, so she couldn't have gone far."
If a magical beast had shown up close by, Ash would have warned me immediately.
Besides, with all the knights patrolling the area, it didn't seem like anything serious had happened.
I suppressed my alarm and tried to think calmly.
"Where was the last place you saw her? I'll go look. Mia, you go inform the White Guard Knight."
Mia pointed toward the forest on the opposite side. After thanking me, she hurried off toward the White Guard Knight.
I crossed the clearing at a brisk pace and entered the opposite woods, immediately calling for Ash.
Ash poked his head out leisurely from the bushes.
'What's up?'
"I can't find Clemence. Can you look for her?"
Ash blinked once, then vanished again.
I could sense him swiftly expanding his search radius as he darted around.
I started moving in a different direction from Ash.
At first, I called out Clemence's name while straining to detect any signs of presence, but soon I tried other approaches.
With each step, my footprints sank a little deeper.
The firm ground gradually turned into sticky mud.
Trees with broad leaves grew thickly, their roots covered in lush green moss.
And on the mud bloomed flowers I'd never seen before...
Silver flowers blanketed the ground in profusion—ones I'd never spotted in Clemence's garden or even heard of.
Their eight small petals were silvery, incredibly thin and translucent.
Yet even amid the muck, they shone with vivid color, unmarred.
The stickier the ground and the more puddles that formed, the more the silver flowers multiplied.
Soon, a large pond bathed in sunlight appeared before me.
There was Clemence.
In the middle of the pond, surrounded by a profusion of silver flowers, her back turned to me.
The pristine water surface and silver blooms reflected the sunlight dazzlingly, making her shimmer as if she might vanish.
"Clemence?"
"Ah!"
She spun around in surprise.
The armful of silver flowers she held tumbled into the pond with a splash.
"Oh, Lib. You startled me."
"What are you doing out here? Mia was really worried..."
As my eyes adjusted to the light, I began to make out her figure more clearly.
She stood in the pond up to her knees.
The hem of her travel dress was soaked through, and mud splattered her white sleeves and face in spots.
Amid it all, pricked by a twinge of conscience perhaps, she'd neatly placed her boots on a rock at the pond's edge.
"...Mia would freak out if she saw you like this."
"Ahahaha. Mia worries way too much."
Clemence laughed it off as if it were nothing.
"Let's head back. Before the knights come looking."
I stepped into the pond and extended my hand to her.
It didn't look that deep at a glance, but my body tilted more than expected with the first step.
I waded slowly a couple more steps into the pond.
The profuse silver flowers bobbed and swayed on the rippling surface.
"Be careful with the flowers. Some have deep roots."
"Ah..."
I'd already trampled quite a few, it seemed.
Clemence giggled at my frozen, flustered stance.
"This flower is called Luklemia. It grows abundantly along waterways in this region—it's the national flower of the Lesion Kingdom.
It looks delicate, but its roots run deep and strong, purifying the water. That's why 'Luklemia' means 'purification'..."
"Feels like I've heard a similar word somewhere."
"Exactly. My name comes from this flower."
She looked purely delighted as she said it.
"That's why I wanted to take just a few. I thought they'd look pretty floating in a bowl inside the carriage. I was only picking the ones that had come loose from their roots, but... time got away from me."
"And your clothes are a mess besides."
"It's fine, that sort of thing happens all the time gardening. Lib, could you grab those floating flowers over there?"
My reflexive protest of 'You're really taking them?' was cut off as I started scooping up the blooms.
This wasn't why I'd come all this way, yet before I knew it, I was following her directions, lifting Luklemia blossoms from the surface.
"They say you could see these flowers everywhere in the Lesion Kingdom back in the day. Elgrace, the capital, was a city of flowers.
But now... even from what the caravan master said, it doesn't seem as beautiful as it once was."
The caravan master.
Listening to her, I recalled how she'd gone to speak with him that morning.
"What did the caravan master say?"
"Just like Weddy said, he wasn't much of a conversationalist."
Her face grew wistful at the mention. Still, she didn't miss a single flower drifting by, snatching them up.
"At first, he treated me like a maid. But when he learned my family name was 'Lesis,' he started calling me... um, 'Princess.'"
She forced out the word 'Princess,' her cheeks flushing pink.
I chuckled a little.
"If your parents were restored to royalty, then you technically qualify as a princess. It's not wrong."
"Don't, Lib. Then I'll remind you how they call you the 'prince of the knight academy' at school..."
"Okay, truce."
I surrendered, face burning.
Strictly speaking, Clemence was actual royalty, worlds apart from some embarrassing nickname tacked on because my dad was a Blue Guard Knight.
But dwelling on it would make my head explode.
Clemence burst out laughing, her own face equally red.
"Ah, right—so, where was I?"
"Prin... no, up to where the caravan master changed his attitude."
I quickly corrected myself as her eyes narrowed.
"Got it," she said, resuming.
"The caravan master's from Elgrace originally, but he didn't always think that way. Lately, though, his eyes suddenly... opened, he said."
"Opened?"
"The Lesion Kingdom, founded by Denan, has deep history and tradition compared to other nations—even endured the Demon Emperor's rule unbroken.
The Troian Empire before it was Denan-founded too. So doesn't that make Denan historically greater than other races? That's his point."
"...That doesn't justify looking down on other races."
Clemence nodded in agreement.
"Right. When I said that, he got mad and launched into a rant about how other races have plundered and tormented Denan for ages."
"Well, it probably wasn't all one-sided."
I still couldn't buy the caravan master's logic, no matter how I turned it.
Clemence paused, lost in thought for a moment.
"...He did say that too. How he 'reclaimed' Denan assets from thieves clutching them to their sides.
I didn't want to talk anymore, so I stayed quiet. But now that I think about it... does that mean he stole those goods from someone?"
"Stolen goods? No way."
I said "no way," but hadn't some of their items seemed suspiciously impressive for a mere caravan?
...No way, really?
Clemence wore a complicated expression too.
"I want to think not. But once the thought hit me, it won't go away. We'll part ways in Beldaine anyway..."
"Tell the White Guard Knight?"
"Should I?"
She hesitated, not wanting to bother her grandfather over mere suspicion.
I suggested consulting him just in case. We lacked experience, making it hard to judge how to proceed.
"He'll know what to do. Might even take measures against the caravan."
"Yeah, Grandpa will figure it out. Oh, these flowers should be enough."
Before I knew it, our arms were piled high with Luklemia.
I offered her my free right hand.
"We've been gone too long. Let's go back."
"Okay."
She took it.
I tried to pull her toward the shore.
But my legs wouldn't budge.
"...Huh?"
I blinked in confusion.
"Lib, wh-what do we do? I can't move."
Clemence was just as panicked. Her legs were stuck fast too.
Impaled like nails in the pond's mud, utterly immobile.
We tugged at each other's arms and legs every which way, but they didn't so much as twitch.
"Ah, Ash!"
Turning at her cry, I saw Ash perched on a broad rock at the pond's edge.
He'd snuck up without a sound.
"A-Ash. Can you get us out? Our legs are stuck in the mud."
Thank goodness. Ash could...
But Ash just stared at our pleas, slowly licking his front paw.
'Pass on getting my fur wet.'
That lofty refusal left my mind blank.
Convincing Ash took far longer than expected.
By the time we straggled back to camp, we faced sharp glares from those waiting.
Filthy with mud and flowers, utterly spent, we drew belly laughs from the White Guard Knight—even as the clerk scolded us. He kindly let us rest in his carriage.
Chatting away inside, Clemence and I drifted off before we knew it.
I woke to darkness all around.
Alone in the dim carriage, sprawled across the long seat, using a black cloak as a blanket.
Where was I?
Still groggy, I tried to get my bearings.
From outside came voices chattering, laughter, faint music drifting distantly.
Not the delegation's sounds—far more people, more varied...
Opening the carriage door, I saw we'd arrived in Beldaine.
Night had fallen, the air chill.
I draped the long cloak over my shoulders.
My pants and boots, unchanged, were still caked in dirt; I brushed them off roughly.
The border city of Beldaine was a must-pass for travelers between Prion City and the Lesion Kingdom.
Ancient walls encircled it, high watchtowers erecting defensive barriers like Prion's.
Lesion banners adorned each tower—emblazoned with ornate flowers.
Seeing that crest finally made our arrival in the Lesion Kingdom feel real.
The delegation's carriages stood lined up before a large stable just inside the gates.
The horses resting inside looked familiar.
"Ah, Mage. You're up."
The coachman handling our horses and carriages spotted me and approached.
"Slept so soundly no one dared wake you. Welcome banquet's in that big building over there. Go on."
Grinning, he pointed to the largest structure down the street.
"Thanks."
I fastened my cloak's collar and stepped into the street.