Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 286

286

Looking back, Lapis had a collector’s streak in him, considering the circlet he gave me. It was odd that a guy who owned the Imperial Family’s treasures and the Demon God’s treasures hadn’t set his sights on a unicorn’s eye. As if my guess was right, he answered with a face that recalled an unpleasant memory.

“I did try to get one. But I couldn’t.”

“Whoa, you tried and couldn’t?”

“You need something to buy in the first place to even try.”

“It must be incredibly rare.”

I don’t know exactly how much he’s worth, but it’s clear he’s not short on cash. If he really wanted to, he’d use force or even steal it (as the circlet’s origin already showed). For him to fail means they’re practically nonexistent in this world.

“I heard a wealthy man once obsessively bought them all up. After that, it became impossible to track them down. Usually, unicorn eyes are used as jewels, but that guy seems to have absorbed them all.”

“All of them?”

“All of them. If they were used as jewels, there’s no way traces wouldn’t be left behind.”

Indeed, jewels eventually circulate to other people through some route. Even if you held onto them your whole life, you couldn’t possess them after death. They might be buried somewhere, but it’s more reasonable to assume they were absorbed rather than buried.

“Hmm, that’s a nasty hobby. What was he trying to do by eating them?”

“Who knows? Damn it, even one would be enough to process somehow. Hey, blue elf. I’ll give you special consideration. Just give me one eye.”

“Get lost, lizard.”

Cervian ground his teeth with a look of contempt. Lapis’s eyes also flared sharply.

“Lizard? Have you lost your mind? You think I’m staying still because I’m scared of Ellie?”

“Says you.”

The overture signaling the second battle began. This time, I didn’t even give a separate warning. I smiled brightly and raised my hand.

Splash!

A refreshing sound of water echoed.

* * *

No sooner had I unpacked than it began to snow in earnest. As expected, it was quite a heavy blizzard. The swirling snow, so thick you couldn’t see an inch ahead, halted all outdoor activities for the people within the territory. The snow piled up as soon as it hit the ground, quickly rising to thigh level. In just a few minutes, the whole world was covered in white. After half a day, it felt like the village itself was buried in snow.

‘Take it easy. Take it easy.’

I could see undines [water spirits] and Shuriel running around everywhere. At this rate, we might have to dig tunnels when the snow stops. I sent a light warning glance towards the spirits who were running around as if they’d lost their minds. I usually leave them alone, but I didn’t want the war to drag on too long because of the snow. I also didn’t want to be stuck inside this unsettling mansion all day.

“I feel like my sleep has been disturbed lately.”

“You too? I’ve been feeling a bit…”

“Don’t you feel unrefreshed even after sleeping? Like you’re always carrying fatigue.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Exactly.”

“Could our bodies be weakening?”

I was walking down the hallway when I overheard the servants of the Count’s mansion chatting from afar. As expected, everyone seemed to be affected by the thought-form without realizing it. It didn’t seem to be progressing very quickly, but I wondered when the strange phenomena would start to appear in earnest. It might take several more years for it to fully intensify and surface.

I hadn’t yet informed Esna and the others about this situation. It was an incident where nothing was clear—what exactly happened, who was involved. Since it happened inside the mansion, everyone in the Count’s mansion, from the lord Bannon to the servants, was suspicious, but it couldn’t necessarily be said that it was the work of an insider. It was obvious that telling them now would only create unnecessary discord.

Esna was already a thoughtful person. Especially after the Duke’s side attacked Alisa, her vigilance had increased considerably. She wasn’t one to show it, so I didn’t notice it at first, but lately, she’d been asking about Alisa’s safety much more often. Having experienced a moment that would have been disastrous if she’d been even a step late, it was understandable that she’d be sensitive. In front of the Crown Prince, she had said calmly that she would do whatever Alisa wanted, but in reality, she must have been barely holding back the urge to tell her to just leave the war.

According to the circumstances at the time, the Duke’s knights attacked as soon as they recognized Alisa’s identity, as if they had been waiting for it. Apart from the plan to cause discord through the Crown Prince of Carter, the Duke’s side had intended to eliminate Alisa. It’s a natural strategy for anyone to target the most outstanding warrior of the enemy first. It was an accident that had been foreseen since Alisa was called the daughter of the goddess. In other words, there was every possibility that the Duke would attempt another assassination.

In this situation, if she were to find out about the mansion’s suspicious circumstances, Esna wouldn’t be able to rest easy for a single moment while staying here. Until it was revealed to be completely unrelated, she wouldn’t be able to stop thinking of it in connection with the Duke. Everything around her would feel like a weapon threatening Alisa.

Since my contribution (?) was the biggest reason Alisa became the Duke’s target, I also deeply felt responsible. Until now, I thought that I could just protect them all if they were in danger, but it wasn’t as simple as I thought. Humans were beings who could die in vain even in the few minutes you took your eyes off them. The weight of the war, which I had been approaching with a somewhat detached feeling, seemed to press down on my shoulders anew. In any case, for Esna’s peace of mind, it was better for her not to know anything right now.

Fortunately, I hadn’t yet sensed any suspicious signs from the Count’s family. The lord Bannon was just as respectable as I had initially felt, diligently fulfilling his responsibilities. His attitude was polite within the bounds of etiquette, but he didn’t neglect anything. Rather, this was more trustworthy than trying to win favor excessively. Moreover, there were parts where our opinions coincided.

“So that’s how things turned out. I didn’t fully believe the Duke’s claims, but I didn’t know his true nature was so vile.”

On the first day of staying in the Stealth territory, when Esna told him everything that had happened during a light conversation, Count Bannon couldn’t hide his shock. He gaped for a long time before repeatedly washing his face with his dry hands.

“You seem very surprised, Count.”

“No, it’s not that. To be honest, I’m not that surprised. That’s why I’m sighing, Your Majesty.”

“Not surprised, but sighing? What does that mean?”

“I don’t know how to explain this.”

The Count’s face contorted painfully as he answered.

“Your Majesty may or may not know, but the Demon God’s Order has been quite tyrannical for a long time. They tried to reign over the lords, using the name of the Demon God’s Holy Empire. Among the local lords, there are quite a few who dislike the Demon God’s Order. The Duke’s rebellion may have been planned long ago.”

“…Indeed, that’s true.”

“In fact, I thought it was absurd from the moment the Duke, a priest, became regent. The moment he walked the path of a priest, he could no longer be called royalty. Priests should only serve the gods. That is the life given to them. Nowhere in continental history has the Order coveted the imperial power. The Demon God’s Order has ambitions it should not have. I cannot tolerate their behavior.”

Count Bannon was genuinely angry and, on the other hand, relieved. His antipathy towards the Demon God’s Order, which he had held from before, coincided with this incident, and he seemed to have found a justification for hating them himself. At least from that perspective, he was not someone who would harm us.

“Ellie!”

“…!”

A loud voice calling from behind brought my consciousness, which had been flowing elsewhere, back to the present. When I turned around, Alisa was running towards me, panting.

“Alisa. I told you not to wander around if possible. Besides, why are you alone? Where’s Cervian?”

After the last incident, Cervian and I never let Alisa walk around alone. When I wasn’t there, Cervian was, and when he wasn’t there, I was always by her side (I didn’t expect Lapis’s cooperation, so I excluded him from the beginning). It was mealtime now, so I had slipped out alone, and Cervian was supposed to be by Alisa’s side during that time. But he, who should have been there, was nowhere to be seen. The reason was very absurd.

“He was taken away by Count Marcus’s aides earlier.”

“What?”

“Count Marcus is staying at the government office. The lunch that came out today must have been very bad. He cried because he wanted the cream soup that Cervian made.”

“…”

“Cervian refused to go until the end, but I forced him to go. And strictly speaking, I’m not alone right now.”

“What do you mean you’re not alone… Ah.”

I frowned, wondering what kind of nonsense she was talking about when she hadn’t even summoned a spirit, but I soon understood. It was because I saw what was in Alisa’s hand. A sharp longsword with an ink-black light.

“…Fire Buster?”

—Ohohohoho!

At that moment, a familiar and unwelcome laughter echoed. Alisa and I frowned at the same time.

—Yes, it’s me! I’ve been holding my breath, waiting for the moment when Ellie would call my name! Did you miss me? Ah, I knew you would. You didn’t even forget that I was here, or that there was even a kid like me. Of course, there couldn’t have been such disappointing and regrettable things. Because I’m a spirit sword born to be loved! A miracle of inheritance from the sublime and great Ifrit [a powerful fire spirit in mythology]! Literally precious, wondrous, and beautiful…!

“Alisa, you can throw that away.”

“Really?”

—Aaaaaah! No! I don’t want to! I’ll shut up! Don’t throw me! My perfect body can’t be scratched!

At the screaming voice, Alisa lowered her arm, which she had raised with a look that said she was glad she did. I looked at Fire Buster with a fed-up feeling and gave Alisa a look asking what happened. Alisa, who immediately understood the meaning, made a crying face.

“Esna told me to carry it around.”

“…Oh dear.”

I roughly knew what had happened. As far as I knew, Fire Buster had been sealed (?) in the subspace bag because of its incessant and formidable chatter. But Esna, worried about Alisa’s safety, had finally decided to endure the sacrifice of the majority. Alisa, who was the cause of Fire Buster’s unsealing and also the biggest victim (?), looked up at me with a desperate face.

“Can’t Ellie persuade Esna? I said I didn’t want to, but she absolutely won’t budge. She said if I don’t carry it around, she’ll attach someone to me and send me back down to Clamor with a claymore [a large two-handed Scottish sword]!”

“Wow, Esna said that much? She’s really made up her mind.”

“It’s not something to admire! Does this make sense? I can take care of my body by myself! Why do I have to carry around such a silly sword?”

—Wait a minute! Are you done talking? Silly? You can’t even call a noble spirit sword with respect! You have a mouth, so you say whatever you want?

“Noble my foot!”

—Oh my, look at what this girl is saying? Do you think I like going around with a kid like you? I refused several times, but the Hero kept asking me, so I had no choice but to decide! I accepted it with a big heart, thinking I was doing a favor for a pitiful girl!

“Who told you to accept it? I never asked for your favor! It just gives me a headache when you’re around! You don’t want to be with me either, do you? I’ll take you back to Esna and tell her you can’t do this!”

—No! I’m sorry, but I can’t do that! This Fire Buster! Because I’m a sword of loyalty that keeps my promises no matter what! Besides, I have a different level of generosity than you! Even if your heart is as narrow and prejudiced as millet, I have the broad-mindedness to accept it generously. In that sense, I’ll stick by you even more! Now you’ll only have headaches? Oh, I’m so sorry, what should I do?

“Ugh, I really hate him! Do something, Ellie! Huh? Esna listens to Ellie, even if she doesn’t listen to anyone else! Huh?”

The voices pouring out endlessly made my head hurt instead. I scratched my cheek with a troubled feeling and patted Alisa’s shoulder.

“Sorry, Alisa. I think I have to side with Esna this time.”

“Even Ellie!”

“Don’t just get angry, but think calmly. We’re still at war. It’s good to have even one more means to defend yourself. You agree with that, don’t you?”

“Th-that’s true, but still…”

“Fire Buster isn’t just an ordinary sword. When a critical moment comes, it’s a precious item with the ability to save your life several times. I think I understand Esna’s heart in giving you this sword so well? For Esna’s sake, why don’t you try to get along with Fire Buster?”

“…”

Alisa bit her lip and said nothing. She seemed to be wavering more because of the fact that Esna was caring for her than because Fire Buster was helpful to her. In the end, Alisa nodded with a reluctant face.

“…Okay. I’ll try.”