We live in the foothills of Dragon Peak.
A midnight stroll.
“I apologize, but I have to entertain Lord Guildia, so I will excuse myself here. After all, he is the lord of this land.”
It seemed the village chief’s companion had died of old age about twenty years ago. As we were helping prepare dinner then, Alex said apologetically.
“No, please don’t worry about us. But Alex, you have it tough. Not only is your main house occupied, but you also have to entertain him.”
I had heard that Alex’s parents had also died a long time ago. Alex once told me over drinks that a terrifying demon had attacked, leaving many villagers dead.
The demon that attacked the village inhabited by descendants of the Fighting God and warriors must have been incredibly strong. Now, Guildia, a being incomparably weaker than such a demon, is trying to take his precious younger sister, Amira. Moreover, even knowing this, Alex cannot openly resist and must entertain him.
Alex’s expression is calm, but he must be seething inside.
In fact, his younger brother, Alf, was openly showing his anger, his brows furrowed, as if to vent his own and his siblings’ pent-up frustration.
“Damn it. I’ll beat that bastard to a pulp someday.”
It’s wonderful to have a brother who can openly get angry for his sister’s sake.
Amira also smiled weakly but happily at Alf, who was fuming for her.
“Brother, I’ll help too. But Amira, you stay here. You don’t have to entertain them.”
Alex gently stroked Amira’s head as she tilted hers, wondering “But?”
“It’s fine. We’ll just say my sister is feeling unwell. Conveniently, Elnea-kun has two miko among his relatives, so if we say she’s being nursed, Guildia won’t be able to do anything.”
It seems that clerics are guaranteed a certain level of safety even in the Divine Race Empire. And that protection extends to those they protect.
“Then, we will take Amira-san in.”
Alex and Alf nodded firmly at Ruiseine’s words. Then, they left the longhouse.
“Umm, Priscilla will eat with Amira older sister.”
“Now, now, Priscilla-chan. Don’t be too selfish, okay?”
I tried to reprimand Priscilla-chan, but Amira eagerly picked her up.
It seems Priscilla-chan’s cuteness is providing some solace to Amira-san’s sad heart.
Alex had mentioned before that Amira-san’s speech was sealed.
I don’t know why her speech is sealed.
It must be incredibly inconvenient not to be able to speak. Still, Amira-san conveys her thoughts and feelings through her expressions and gestures.
Priscilla-chan seems to be doting on Amira-san for some reason, perhaps wanting to distract her with her childish heart.
Alex’s decision seems to have been correct.
If Amira-san had returned to the main house where Guildia was waiting, she might have been heartbroken. In contrast, by spending time here, she can maintain a slightly calmer heart, perhaps.
And while Amira-san is kept away from Guildia, we can devise countermeasures.
Even so, we haven’t clearly received Alex’s permission to help yet.
While we’ve received a positive response, that alone doesn’t give us the right to barge into someone else’s home in another country.
“Come on, come on, I’m sorry it’s country food, but please eat your fill.”
“We won’t hold back, thank you for the meal!”
Unlike our futile thoughts, dinner preparations progressed steadily.
A large table was placed in the living room, and many dishes were laid out.
As expected from a village whose main livelihood is hunting, various types of beast meat were used.
“You know, Priscilla wants to eat that big piece of meat?”
Amira responded to Priscilla-chan’s request and served her the dish. Then, she blew on it to cool it and fed it to her.
Amira-san herself seems to love children.
Amira-san ate happily with Priscilla-chan, as if she had forgotten about Guildia.
Speaking of which, I look at Amira-san again.
She is a beautiful woman with flowing long black hair. Her skin is fair, and her features are distinct.
It’s no wonder Guildia is interested in her; she’s a beauty.
She is older than us, but still a minor. I think that’s her age.
Since she’s a divine being, I don’t know her true age, but during the talk about “military service after reaching adulthood?” earlier, she didn’t deny being a minor, although she denied the military service part. So, I don’t think I’m wrong.
Well, I don’t know what age adulthood is for divine beings, so I can’t say for sure. Still, she looks to be in her late teens based on her appearance.
And her gentle expression is lovely.
When she participated in the battle against the Demon King, she seemed like a more spirited and proactive woman who would take the lead on the battlefield, but that’s not the case now.
It seems there’s a big difference between her battlefield demeanor and her usual one.
In the village, she’s a kind older sister. On the battlefield, she’s a descendant of the Fighting God. Amira, who possesses both these true faces, exudes a unique aura.
“Um, it spilled.”
Amira picked up the piece of meat that Priscilla-chan dropped and ate it herself. Then, she wiped Priscilla-chan’s dirty mouth.
She’s truly kind.
Such a wonderful woman absolutely doesn’t need to marry a tyrannical noble like Guildia.
However, as things stand, Amira will be made Guildia’s concubine by his unilateral demands.
I absolutely want to prevent that from happening.
Mistral and the others, knowing that it wasn’t a topic to bring up during dinner, enjoyed their meal without even mentioning Guildia’s name.
I also didn’t bring up Guildia’s name so as not to remind them of unpleasant things that they had forgotten.
“Where are you from? I’ve never seen such a beautiful Dragon Race woman before.”
“I’m beautiful too.”
“I’m beautiful too.”
“The human twins are completely indistinguishable. And you resemble those twins? Can you tell the twins apart?”
“Hahahaha, I couldn’t tell them apart in the past. But now I can distinguish between Yufi-sama and Nina-sama.”
“It’s strange, but I can’t honestly be happy to be told I resemble my elder sisters.”
Grandpa, the village chief, talks to us casually.
From our perspective, unable to distinguish races, we wouldn’t think Grandpa was a divine being at all.
Amira-san, far from looking down on us, actively takes care of Priscilla-chan, proving that there are indeed good people among the divine race.
“That’s right. Amira, why don’t you sleep with us tonight?”
Mistral made a wonderful suggestion, perhaps to distract Amira-san even a little. Priscilla-chan, who was completely doting, was the first to be delighted.
Amira-san showed a surprised expression at first, but then she smiled and nodded.
It seems tonight will be lively. I thought about the night and all sorts of things, but reality was cruel!
“Well then, Elnea-kun, as the only male, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to stay in a separate room.”
“Eh!?”
Ruiseine, what are you saying? I asked, my eyes wide.
Instead of Amira staying with us, I’m being kicked out?
N-no way!?
“Ho ho ho ho. You are amusing people. How about it, boy? Will you sleep with me?”
“N-no… I can’t cause any more trouble, so I’ll just rest in a separate room.”
Grandpa is a good person, but! Spending the night alone with Grandpa is too much!
My being sent to a separate room led to a few people trying to pull a fast one as usual, and others making a commotion trying to stop them, making tonight lively as well.
In fact, it was more boisterous than usual.
Everyone was being considerate to try and distract Amira-san.
“…Now, what should I do?”
Midnight.
As per Mistral’s suggestion, I was to sleep in a separate room.
Even so, I couldn’t fall asleep easily.
I’m more worried about Amira-san than our future plans.
What exactly can we do?
Our cooperation, as outsiders and even of different races, might be limited. But is there anything, even a little, that we can do to help?
However, I still haven’t heard Alex and the others’ thoughts, so I can’t organize my own or take action.
To begin with, Amira-san showed strong aversion to Guildia’s proposal, but can she refuse the lord’s command?
If she resists, what kind of punishment or hardship awaits her?
We, who know nothing, cannot act solely on our emotions.
At the very least, we must confirm Alex and the others’ intentions.
Even knowing this, I find myself thinking of various things.
To calm my muddled thoughts, I reluctantly got out of bed.
The women and Grandpa the village chief seemed to have already gone to bed; it was a quiet night.
I stepped into the hallway and quietly left the flat house.
“Uwah, it’s really cold.”
The night sky, illuminated by the moon and stars. A cold wind blew down from the Western Dragon Peak, which loomed to block the sky, stinging my skin despite it being late spring.
“A walk?”
Yunyun’s voice was directly in my head. Sensing her presence, I felt Yunyun’s aura around me.
Nodding, I began to walk leisurely with Yunyun, who remained invisible.
“Alex and the others seem to have gone to sleep too.”
The lights in the mansion next to the flat house were also out.
But, my brow furrowed slightly.
As everyone slept, I sensed a disquieting presence.
There’s a presence in the distance, under the cover of an object, that seems to be watching me.
Perhaps divine soldiers are monitoring us even at night?
But, that’s strange?
Were there any masters among the divine soldiers I saw during the day who could conceal their presence so skillfully?
If I hadn’t developed the ability to sense incongruities in the world, I might not have noticed their existence at all.
They are quite skilled.
While paying attention to the presence in the shadows, I continued to walk as if nothing were amiss.
For now, it’s safer to pretend I haven’t noticed. In the current situation where their intentions are unknown, it’s not the time to show our full strength unnecessarily.
Yunyun also seemed to notice the presence in the shadows, but instead of approaching to scout, she stayed by my side, guarding against any surprise attacks.
I walked aimlessly along the country road, illuminated by the moon and stars. The occasional cold wind seemed to cool my head, calming my overthinking thoughts.
“…Hmm, you are following me?”
While looking at the fields and the night sky, I kept track of the movement of the presence in the shadows, which was subtly following me.
As I walked, the lurking individual followed.
They are definitely targeting me.
I continued to walk slowly, still pretending not to notice.
I walked along the ridges between the fields, occasionally crouching down to look at what was planted in the fields.
Well, it was dark, and I couldn’t tell what was planted just by looking at small sprouts as an amateur.
But by acting like this, it’s easier to lull the lurker into a false sense of security, making them think it’s just a nighttime walk.
“Hee hee hee. Even with my experience in playing hide-and-seek and tag with monsters and magical beasts, this level of stealth won’t fool me?”
“It sounds like villain’s dialogue.”
I spoke in a voice too low to be heard by the lurker, and Yunyun spoke directly into my mind.
Even if the wind carried my voice to the lurker, they wouldn’t be able to make out what I was saying, and if they couldn’t sense Yunyun’s presence, they would think I was talking to myself.
But then again, it also means the lurker is stalking me from quite a distance.
Quite a cautious lurker.
They seem very skilled, and I don’t recall any such expert among the divine soldiers Guildia brought with him.
“No. Your thinking is shallow. They might have stayed at the main house without appearing before us.”
“I see. If they are soldiers guarding Guildia, they might have stayed at the main house instead of coming to capture us.”
After all, if all the soldiers were deployed, there’s a risk that Alex and the others, descendants of the Fighting God who might have been enraged, would counterattack in the meantime. Considering that, the divine soldiers who stayed to guard Guildia must be skilled enough to deter Alex and the others.
And entrusting them with guarding means they are also confidants of Guildia.
“All right, I’ve decided. I’ll capture them and get information.”
“Weren’t you going to avoid being rough?”
“I won’t be. But, you know. If someone is lurking, we tend to defend ourselves as if they were monsters or magical beasts, right? And if the other party turns out to be a divine soldier, it’s okay to question them about the reasons for their lurking, isn’t it?”
“That’s a good excuse.”
I sensed Yunyun’s amused sigh.
“Now, how should I attack?”
I wonder if the lurker has realized it. The hunter and the prey have just switched roles.
As I casually walked along the country road, I began to secretly look for an opportunity to ambush the lurker.
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