On the Way to the Capital
The biggest problem was that if she remained holed up in the monastery, Dot would eventually extend her claws again. She would steal the remaining ruby pendant and insist she was the true daughter of the Klein ducal house.
Pay could not simply sit back and let that happen.
Even if she did not return to the Klein Ducal House, she needed to grow strong enough to protect herself. She had to prevent Dot from bringing danger back to Grace Monastery.
I have to leave this place.
Pay was not afraid of walking a path without signposts. On the contrary, she felt curious and excited about the future these new days would bring her.
“Pay… wait, just wait a moment!”
Beryl grabbed Pay’s hand tightly and led her straight to her own room. There, she whispered everything that had happened when she first met Pay, recounting it in exact detail just as Cheryl had said.
Only one thing was different. Perhaps even Cheryl had not known this fact.
“What?”
“That mage named Baroa said that if you ever express a desire to learn magic later, you should bring this letter of introduction to the Magic Tower. Do you have any thoughts about it?”
Startled by the unexpected words, Pay’s eyes widened.
“B-but… didn’t they say the Tower Master Baroa only existed for a year before disappearing without a trace? What if the Magic Tower says they know nothing about this?”
“It will be fine. If they refuse to accept you, you can always come back.”
“Mother Superior…”
Beryl’s eyes, usually so stern, were quite red around the rims.
“Yes, Pay. You also need time to choose your own life fully, yet I was too ignorant. I thought that if I did what I believed was best, you would be happy too…”
Honestly, it was rather unexpected.
Pay doubted the Mother Superior even knew she was the true daughter of the Klein Duke. So why, among so many orphans, had she chosen Pay to send away?
Pay now understood the reason in her heart.
The Mother Superior had sent her because she believed Pay would live well there.
“I will definitely come back. So please don’t cry.”
“Oh, Pay!”
I will protect you no matter what.
As Pay embraced Beryl, she too burst into tears. The warmth of others that she had never recognized in her previous life came flooding over her all at once.
The Mother Superior added her own savings to give Pay a generous amount of money. Pay tried to refuse, but there was no stopping Beryl from stuffing it into her luggage bag.
The next day.
While packing her few belongings, Pay hesitated before also taking the broken ruby pendant.
She could have thrown it away, but the thought of leaving it where it might fall into Dot’s hands made her uneasy.
Hoo.
Heading to the Magic Tower all of a sudden? She had never considered this path before talking with the Mother Superior.
Pay climbed into the luggage wagon bound for the Magic Tower and fell into deep thought.
Lord Baroa said I have talent for water magic, didn’t he? It’s strange how an attribute that doesn’t apply well to humans suits me.
Grace Monastery was such a quiet place that there were almost no books on magic even in the library.
Thanks to Beryl actively searching for them, Pay had been able to read a little the night before. She probably would not have dared to look on her own.
Hoo… I don’t know anything about magic. Will I be all right?
People born with magical talent supposedly began their studies at a young age.
Pay quietly worried that she might have started far too late. She would work harder to make up for the delay, but that did not always guarantee good results.
She focused on reading the basic magic formulas she had copied onto paper the day before.
She did not know how much time had passed.
“Oh dear!”
“Kyaa!”
The wagon, which had been rolling smoothly, suddenly jolted to a stop.
Pay’s hips, which had been lost in thought, lifted lightly before slamming hard against the floor.
“Ugh… ow…”
While rubbing her sore hips, she heard the coachman hurriedly climbing down. She could not simply stay still; she and the coachman had known each other for a long time.
Wondering if something had gone wrong, Pay quickly got down and was startled.
“Oh my!”
“Aigoo, I’m sorry, Pay. I checked the carriage wheels thoroughly before we left, but I never expected trouble here.”
The left wooden wheel of the carriage had a crack running through it, nearly split in two.
It was a disaster.
“We cannot keep driving like this.”
“I do have a spare wheel, but it will take me a long time to fix it alone. It is heavy, and I need to balance it precisely on both sides.”
“Ah…!”
“By the time I finish the repairs here, the sun will have set and the gates into the Capital will be closed.”
Pay looked toward the Capital spread out brilliantly beyond the road, down the hill.
Dot was there. So were her real parents, the Duke and Duchess of Klein, and the Magic Tower. All of them existed on that vast land.
They were so close now.
“What should we do? The Capital is right in front of us… Spending the night on this cold road is one thing, but the guards will not allow us to loiter outside the Capital either.”
“That is true.”
“Perhaps it would be better to take the time to repair the carriage, return to the monastery, rest one more day, and then set out again, Pay?”
At the coachman’s words, Pay fell into thought.
If she returned to the monastery after coming this far, Mother Superior Beryl might change her mind and try to keep her there. Perhaps even Father Cheryl would.
They had come such a difficult way.
It would be better to press forward by any means necessary.
Pay shook her head.
“Oh, no, sir. Since I can already see the Capital’s walls, I will take my luggage and walk from here. I feel bad leaving you alone, though.”
“All by yourself? Goodness, it must be heavy…”
The coachman’s worried voice was suddenly drowned out by the loud sound of galloping hooves.
It was clearly different from the familiar sound of the luggage wagon’s horses. Countless hooves full of vigor and power. Startled, Pay covered her ears with both hands.
“Ugh…!”
“Oh dear, it must be the knights passing by since we are near the Capital. Come here.”
Knights.
Pay nestled in the coachman’s arms, lowered her head, and sank into memories.
Morris, the second son of the Klein Duke, was a man who had failed to join every knight order within the Capital.
Even now that she knew he shared the same blood as her, the displeasure did not fade. It was not only because of what he had done to Dot. It was not simply because Morris lacked talent.
One day, the drunken Duke had said something. The eldest son, Cassel, was so outstanding that he was sent to the border even as the heir apparent, while Morris, as the second son, should have become a knight no matter what, yet he had no will of his own.
Morris Klein was, after all, the Duke’s second son.
Then, even if his abilities were somewhat lacking, it should have been easier for him to join compared to others, considering his family’s support and connections.
Well, even if she overlooked his repeated failures…
If he could not enter a knight order in the Capital, should he not at least seek a position in some rural estate?
The drunken Duke had staggered and continued.
“That useless boy! He says he does not want to take even one step outside the Capital. Tsk. He does not even want to glance at barbaric places…”
“Your Grace, you have had too much to drink.”
“If the conditions do not meet his standards, he refuses both marriage and knighthood. Is that something a father can accept…? He is my child, so I must embrace him…”
“Please come inside now.”
The butler supporting the Duke shot Pay a harsh glare, as if warning her that if she repeated what she had heard, he would kill her.
“……”
Recalling the past made Pay’s heart grow cold again. She tightly closed her eyes.
She hated even the grass growing at the Klein Ducal House. The reason she had chosen complete severance was not only because of Dot, but because of what they had done. They had never given her a single thing to hold onto with her heart.
It seemed she would have to wait until long after the knights had passed before departing. She did not want to risk the dangerous and unpleasant misunderstanding that she was following them.
If she caught the eye of any rough or ill-tempered knights, it would only cause trouble.
However, the situation unfolded contrary to her timid intentions.
“Hmm.”
The sound of hooves stopped nearby, followed by someone dismounting.
When the man got down, the knights following him also dismounted in unison. The coachman quickly hid Pay behind him and bowed obsequiously.
“Oh my, Sir Knight.”
“What happened? It looks as though the carriage wheel is broken. Was this someone’s doing?”
The man’s voice was quite firm.
It overflowed with masculine charm, something that could not even be compared to Morris, who only spouted nonsense about being the empire’s greatest knight.
“It was not that. I failed to maintain it properly, and it broke during the long journey. I can fix it alone, but it will take quite some time.”
“Where did you come from?”
“Grace Monastery.”
He really was a knight.
Fortunately, the exchange was normal.
Hidden behind the coachman’s back, Pay gathered her courage and slightly raised her eyes.
He is young…?
What caught her attention before the shining silver armor was the man’s deep black hair. He was so tall that it seemed he could see Pay even while she hid behind the coachman.
“Grace Monastery, is it?”
After a moment of thought, the man asked the coachman again.
“Is the young lady behind you also from the monastery?”
“Oh yes, she is.”
“Hmm. If you wait here, I will send someone from the Capital to repair the wagon. They should arrive within two hours at the earliest.”
A knight showing such kindness to strangers?
Pay could hardly believe her ears even as she listened.
She had thought knights only displayed their chivalry before noble ladies or for nobles. Both she and the coachman were clearly commoners.
Could he be different from the typical knights I imagined? Unlike Morris, who dreamed of becoming a knight but gave up on his own.
Since being reborn, Pay had newly realized the kindness of Beryl and her daughter.
So perhaps this knight was also different from the arrogant knights she had imagined. Not by much, but just a little.
Thump, thump.
Pay’s heart began to beat faster, and her head lifted slightly.
“Were you on your way to the Capital?”
“Y-yes.”
“…You will have to wait for the carriage to be repaired. But I am concerned about this young lady. Even in summer, this area has had heavy rain lately and it is cool. It would not do to leave her by the roadside for long.”
Thump, thump.
For some reason she could not understand, her heart raced again.
She swore to the heavens that it was not because she had fallen for this stranger. It was a strong, inexplicable premonition.
“Vice-Captain.”
Vice-Captain?
“If it is all right, I will take the young lady to the Capital. Where is your destination? The coachman can wait for the repairs and return, or come later to the agreed meeting place to confirm the young lady’s arrival.”
“T-that is too much…!”
The coachman, who instinctively feared knights, was greatly flustered, but Pay realized what she wanted to say with her own mouth.
Now it was her turn to speak.