(We’re short-handed…)
Inside the small, single-horse drawn carriage, it wasn’t just a thought; a sigh, almost a mumble, escaped my lips.
I’d received permission to go out and repair the equipment damaged in the desert battle, but Sera had requested that I return to Elena-sama’s side as quickly as possible.
Sera and I have the relationship of an adoptive mother and adopted daughter, but we also share the connection of a national Shadow Unit and an adventurer who received a request from them. Even without that, I intended to return to Elena-sama’s guard duty, but the problem lay in the security arrangements that meant the princess couldn’t be left unattended even for a few days.
The biggest problem was, as expected, Karla. Until Karla and I fought to the death, she shouldn’t yet have any intention of harming Elena-sama or Clara-san, but the Royal Guard knights couldn’t stop Karla’s capricious rampages.
Karla is the Crown Prince’s fiancée and is regarded as quasi-royalty. Therefore, many of the Royal Guard knights, who are mostly mid-ranking nobles, would surely feel intimidated about stopping Karla, the daughter of the Head Court Magician.
However, beyond that, Karla’s combat prowess is seen as a major threat. She’s likely the strongest in this country. Not just with the power of her Divine Protection, but with her raw magical ability alone, she probably already surpasses her father, the Head Court Magician.
The reason Karla’s rampages are tolerated within the nation is because she is feared as a military asset to the royal family, and any clumsy assassination attempt on her would likely result in catastrophic damage.
That’s precisely why Sera is telling me, the “Dragon Slayer” – believed to be the only one who can stand against her – to return and act as a deterrent.
We really are short-handed… Even if not in terms of raw combat power, we need someone who can serve as Elena-sama’s attendant, is a high-ranking noble, and won’t be intimidated by Karla.
“Aria, did you say something?”
“Nn-nn.”
I gave a small shake of my head in response to the voice from the seat opposite me in the carriage.
Today, Sera’s son… Theo, who is technically my younger brother, is accompanying me as a chaperone. Our errand is to the Adventurers Guild, but Jesha, who was supposed to come with me, apparently had his instructor, Mira, accompany him the day after that incident.
It wasn’t as if I had a problem going alone, but for some reason, Sera had told me—
“Aria, you are an attendant to Her Highness the Princess, and are perceived as the daughter of a Baron’s house. Consider this an exercise in appearing in public; take Theo with you as a temporary attendant.”
—so she had said. Well, I didn’t really feel it was necessary, but if it was an order, it couldn’t be helped.
That’s why, right now, I wasn’t in my worn-out leather dress, but in the maid uniform I wear at the royal palace, accompanied by Theo, who was dressed as a butler.
Be that as it may…
“Theo, is it alright for you not to be looking after that young lady?”
Theo was supposed to have become the guard-butler for the young lady of House Mercis.
That viscount’s daughter, who shares my name, seemed to be in a position just like the “heroine” That Woman was so fixated on. I’d heard she had delved into a Dungeon in the Lester domain with the Crown Prince, Prince Amor, the Temple Chief’s grandson, and others.
If Theo was the viscount’s daughter’s guard-butler, I’d assumed he would have accompanied her. Had he returned early to report to the Prime Minister?
But in response to my question, Theo made a face that was a mixture of dissatisfaction and exasperation.
“…I was left behind.”
According to Theo, the viscount’s daughter had requested him to accompany her to the Dungeon, but Theo, being a knight of the Shadow Unit, had tried to persuade her against it.
From Theo’s standpoint, that was only natural. Even if she had learned Light Magic, a Rank 2 Light Magician would likely be more of a hindrance than a help.
There were several back-and-forths about whether she should go or not. Then, for some reason, Prince Amor himself told Theo that he would take the viscount’s daughter. While Theo was hurriedly reporting this to the Prime Minister, the viscount’s daughter apparently set off for the Dungeon.
“Well, it’s fine, I guess… According to His Excellency the Prime Minister (Boss), the situation surrounding her has apparently changed, so I no longer have to guard her.”
“The situation?”
As I tilted my head slightly, Theo, for some reason, staggered a bit, then leaned in close and told me in a hushed voice.
“I’m only sharing this because it’s you, Aria… but that young lady, her birth is a little suspicious. My mission has changed from guarding her to surveilling her, to find out what she’s planning by getting involved with His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Is that so.”
That sounds like the Prime Minister’s personal judgment, doesn’t it? I don’t think that’s something he should have told me.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be heading back to the young lady’s place. So today, part of it was that I wanted to see you, Aria, but… why have you gotten stronger again…?”
“Our height is about the same now, isn’t it?”
“That’s true, but… sigh… I wonder when I’ll ever reach Rank 5.”
Theo seemed bothered by the fact that he wasn’t getting stronger. But it’s only because he’s comparing himself to me and Karla; I think being Rank 3 at his age is more than adequate.
“I don’t know how many years it’ll take, but I’m sure you’ll get there someday, Theo.”
“How many years…”
At those words, which I had intended as encouragement, Theo swayed dramatically as if he’d been struck by a bout of dizziness.
The Layton family coachman stopped the carriage in front of the Adventurers Guild, and Theo and I passed through the Guild’s doors together for the first time in about six months.
It had been quite a while, but perhaps they remembered us even with the perception-inhibiting magic tool I wore, as the adventurers all parted at once to make way for us.
“…They’d remember that, wouldn’t they,” Theo muttered.
“If you’re talking about what happened before, it was self-defense.”
I’d been accosted before because I look like a young woman, but when I replied that my response had been self-defense, Theo just shook his head silently.
“Aria-san, it’s been a long time.”
A voice came from the reception area. When I turned, Mary, Viro’s fiancée, was giving me a small wave.
She looked somewhat relieved to see me, likely because Viro had told her about the situation. She’s supposed to be quite beautiful; I still don’t understand why she got engaged to Viro.
“It’s been a while.”
“I’d heard from him, but I’m glad you’re safe. I heard about it, you know. I saw the scale for the first time; it’s quite something, isn’t it?”
The dragon subjugation hadn’t been made public yet, so she was being vague, but I figured that was only a matter of time.
Jesha would be turning the scales into equipment, and Feld’s greatsword would be crafted from the dragon’s horn. He was currently on his way to Galbas’s place to have it made. My leather armor and Mira’s would also be made from the dragon’s hide, so anyone with a discerning eye would realize that the Rainbow Sword had defeated the Black Dragon.
The rest depended on Gelf’s skill, but I planned to have the hardest of the dragon’s scales… the Gekirin, the Reverse Scale, attached to my armor over my heart.
“So, what can I do for you today?”
“I’d like to update to Rank 5. For both close combat and magic.”
“…That’s fast. It was only five years ago that I handled your registration.”
She had registered me in the Baron’s domain five and a half years ago. Normally, forget five years; most people wouldn’t reach Rank 4 in their entire lifetime, so I was an anomaly.
“Well, I had heard about it, so I’ve already spoken to the higher-ups and it’s been prepared. We’ll need you to give a brief demonstration just in case, but you can go ahead and wear this now.”
Apparently, Viro and Mary had smoothed things over for me. She took a Rank 5 adventurer’s Identification Tag from a wooden box and offered it to me.
A Rank 1 Identification Tag was a copper plate, but with each rank increase, Magic Iron was mixed in, and a Rank 5 Identification Tag was made of solid black Magic Iron.
I took the tag, which had a chain, and hung it around my neck. The adventurers nearby, who had been casually observing us, saw the black Identification Tag, and their faces twitched.
————!
Just then, from the back of the spacious Guild hall, I heard a noise that sounded like a scuffle.
“…What’s that?”
“Ah… come to think of it, is this your first time seeing this? About six months ago, a young man who looks like a knight registered. He was Rank 3 despite his youth, so it seems some adventurers occasionally try to pick a fight with him.”
Mary frowned, and a male staff member behind her began to move.
If she said “looks like a knight,” then there was a chance he was a noble. Unlike the frontier, where even commoners could become knights depending on their achievements, in the Royal Capital, most knights held a noble rank.
If someone was picking a fight with such a person, they were probably adventurers from the countryside. Just then, through a gap in the crowd that had gathered around them out of amusement, I caught sight of the back of the person in question.
“…I’ll go take a quick look.”
“Eh!? P-Please be gentle with them!”
There was something vaguely familiar about that back view and this presence.
As I headed over, the adventurers who noticed me parted one after another, revealing the individuals at the center.
I see, this would definitely get him into trouble. The red-haired young man, whose back I’d seen, was wearing standard light armor, but the clothes underneath and the sword at his hip were clearly a cut above what typical adventurers owned. Being young, he probably looked like some rich kid playing adventurer. I, too, had been accosted by both adventurers and nobles when I was younger because I had decent equipment.
The ones harassing him were Rank 3 adventurers, the same rank as the young man, but… they were adventurers I’d never seen before, with the rough appearance of bandits.
The man, his gaze drawn by the parting crowd, looked at me in my maid uniform, a vulgar smile flashing across his face for an instant—the next moment, sweat poured from his entire face.
“Th-The Ash Covered Princess?!”
Screaming this, the man scrambled out of the guild as if his legs had given out.
…A member of the Thieves’ Guild, perhaps. It seems my face is quite well-known even without being covered in ash.
“Aria-jou!?”
A young man, stunned by this exchange, called out. When I turned at the sound of my name, a familiar face was indeed there.
“…Dandole-sama?”
It was none other than Clara’s older brother, Rockwell Dandole, a person who should have had no connection to a place like this.
＊＊＊
“Doris. Is she really stopping by this town?”
In a post town south of the Royal Capital, one of two women who had infiltrated a clock tower spoke to the other. Both were dressed like waitresses from a typical high-class inn, but a keen observer would notice that both were skilled in reconnaissance techniques.
“Yeah, no doubt about it. Didn’t Clara-sama’s ‘Foresight’ say so too? Bibi.”
Bibi, who hid her face with her long black bangs, and Doris, with her short brunette hair, were maids who had served by the side of Clara, the Crown Prince’s primary fiancée.
However, the impression of their facial features was different from when they were disguised as maids. Bibi, in particular, despite only having slightly altered her bangs, had become so different that even Clara might not recognize her immediately. Moreover, it was possible that neither of their current appearances was their true face.
This was the art of disguise, but those who used it at a practical level were not adventurer scouts, but members of the Thieves’ Guild or Assassin Guild.
“That’s true, but… But I…”
“Bibi, you… are you still thinking of going after them? You saw it too, didn’t you? Those two are monsters.”
Both Bibi and Doris were members of the annihilated Northern Frontier branch of the Assassin Guild.
Hilda, who now served Clara, specialized in poisoning rather than direct assassination and thus rarely showed her face at the guild. Invited by Hilda and taken in by Clara, the three of them—Bibi, Doris, and Heidi—had escaped death because they were undertaking an outside job when the guild was destroyed.
Many of those who frequented the guild were people unable to live in ordinary society, and Bibi, who was not yet an adult, had adored the women of the guild like older sisters.
The other two, like Hilda, felt indebted to Clara for taking them in and had decided to work for her. That’s how difficult it was for people from the underworld to live outside of it.
Bibi certainly felt indebted to Clara as well. Hailing from the Slums and having lost her support, Bibi was being pursued by the Thieves’ Guild. Although Hilda had introduced her, it was Clara’s subordinates who had rescued her when she was in dire straits.
But Bibi, the youngest of the three and still in her teens, couldn’t be as pragmatic as Hilda and the others, and couldn’t forgive the “Ash Covered Princess” who had killed the people she considered family.
(I will definitely avenge that person…!)
She had made that resolve. However, the “Ash Covered Princess” she had actually seen was an unbelievable monster.
She had felt a desperate difference in power from that monster of the Lester Family, who had brought her to her knees with Intimidation alone, but she sensed an equivalent formidability from the Ash Covered Princess.
The Royal Capital was a den of demons. Even Doris and Heidi, who had reluctantly agreed to help with Bibi’s revenge, had their spirits broken early on after witnessing the clash of the two’s Killing Intent up close.
A coward who used poison and set fires? Some still said that, but who could actually do such things? What was terrifying about her was a monstrous nature that allowed her to do so without hesitation for her goals—there was “something” about her that made even Bibi, seeing her for the first time, think this.
Even so, Bibi’s spirit was not yet broken.
Despite belonging to the underworld, Bibi, who had committed misdeeds since she could remember without truly understanding them, was foolishly pure.
“Bibi, focus on what we have to do now.”
“…Got it.”
At Doris’s rebuke, Bibi also focused on the task at hand.
Their mission was the assassination of Viscountess Mercis’s daughter, who was misleading the Crown Prince. However, Clara had strictly ordered them not to attack recklessly and to prioritize retreat if it was dangerous.
The goal was not to kill her quickly and surely, but to eliminate her for certain by the time the Crown Prince graduated. Clara had taught them that for this purpose, it was also important to pass up opportunities and focus on gathering information.
Among the opportunities to assassinate the viscount’s daughter, the one Clara had designated this time was this post town on the border between the Royal Capital and the Lester territory.
They, as assassins, had initially thought there were more suitable places for an assassination. However, as a result of subordinates, who like them had been saved by Clara’s “Foresight,” infiltrating the Lester territory, they learned why they couldn’t kill her elsewhere.
During her journey, Viscountess Mercis’s daughter never once slept in her own bedroom. This was because at night, she was always in either Prince Amor’s or Nasanitar’s bedroom.
She shouldn’t have been allowed into Crown Prince Elvan’s heavily guarded bedroom yet, but Clara foresaw that in this post town, with only one high-class inn and where they would be staying separately from many of the knights, she would definitely make a move.
To be precise, the Foresight was only half of it. In the true history of the otome game, the heroine, when attacked by assassins, used her wits to discover an attic passage that even the inn staff had forgotten, and saved the Crown Prince from a dire situation.
It wasn’t certain that this viscount’s daughter would also notice it, but Clara foresaw that she would use it with high probability to achieve her goal. Of course, Bibi and the others had no way of knowing that such game knowledge was the source of this information, but they believed this too was Clara’s Foresight.
“Just as Clara-sama said, the Shadow Unit members aren’t here. We’ll settle this before that butler brat, the only Shadow Unit knight, joins them.”
“Understood, Doris. I’ll leave the diversion to you.”
As foreseen, after confirming that the Crown Prince’s party had entered the only high-class inn, the two returned to their inn duties without arousing suspicion as the employees they had replaced beforehand.
If there had been knights from the Shadow Unit, it wouldn’t have been this easy, but the Second Order of Knights, unaccustomed to guarding royalty, and the festive mood of being able to return home soon, allowed them to enter without suspicion.
The Crown Prince’s and Prince Amor’s rooms were on the top floor of the three-story inn. Nasanitar and the viscount’s daughter were also on the top floor, but due to their status, their rooms were at the far end, separated by rooms for the knight commander and others.
There were knights guarding the hallway, but they weren’t watching every room. While Doris delivered a late-night snack to the guard knights, Bibi slipped into one of the empty rooms, entered the hidden attic passage through the fireplace in that room, and waited there for the viscount’s daughter to appear.
She had considered infiltrating the viscount’s daughter’s room for a direct assassination, but since the target would go out of her way to come to a place where screams wouldn’t easily be found, if she believed the Foresight, waiting here would surely allow her to assassinate her.
“…”
Even as Bibi waited, believing this, she was half in doubt as to whether the viscount’s daughter would truly appear.
Clara’s Foresight wasn’t perfect either. It merely calculated the highest probability, so Clara had also told them to retreat if she didn’t appear.
—Katan.
(…She really came!)
Hearing a faint sound, Bibi tightened her grip on the poison-coated knife in her hand.
Coming closer… A complete amateur, unable to even use stealthy steps. From the light footsteps of cloth indoor shoes, she deduced it was a young girl.
The moment the light from a dimmed Light spell, lit at the tip of a small staff, illuminated a faint shadow, Bibi sprang out without a sound.
But—
(—Eh?)
Seeing the girl’s face illuminated by the faint light, Bibi felt a nostalgic air, the same as someone she had been close to in the Assassin Guild, and the moment she stopped in her tracks, she made a slight sound.
“…Is someone there?”
“!”
She was noticed. But Bibi found the girl’s courage, to ask such a question to someone who shouldn’t be in a place like this, likable.
(No, this person is my target to kill…)
However, for Bibi, killing was a job, and she didn’t resent this girl. So, at least…
(I have to kill her without causing pain…)
“…If you’re to resent someone, resent me. It’s pitiful, but…”
Feeling a sense of guilt as if she were killing an innocent child, she had unintentionally spoken unnecessary words to the girl.
“Is… that so?”
The girl, though slightly frightened by Bibi’s words, wore a sorrowful expression.
(What a face she’s making…)
Bibi’s initial wariness had already vanished. Seeing the girl’s sorrowful face, she even felt as if the girl was worried about Bibi, the killer.
This was all a delusion Bibi had arbitrarily come up with.
It’s human nature to be wary of strangers, but if the words come from someone you feel close to, you tend to view them positively.
For example, when you read a story, even if the “heroine” is someone generally difficult to accept, don’t you find yourself thinking positively of them by seeing things from their perspective?
It wasn’t that her heart had been changed; rather, precisely because she found the girl likable, Bibi arrived at the conclusion, through her own thoughts, that she could believe her.
“Are you troubled? You must have… something you need to do, don’t you?”
“Why… do you know that?”
Most people have things they need to do and worries. Pointing that out is a common trick used by fortune-tellers, but seeing the girl’s melancholic smile, which she viewed positively, Bibi thought that this girl was someone who understood her.
The sweet poison of having everything affirmed by someone she found likable began to eat away at Bibi.
“If you need my life… I’ll give it to you. But!”
The girl quietly approached the immobilized Bibi and took out a strange Magic Stone from the amulet pouch hanging around her neck.
“I’ll give you a fragment of this. If you drink it, it will surely become your strength. You want to get back your precious person, don’t you?”
“Ah, ahh, that’s right! I have to get that person back!”
Bibi felt as if the darkness in her heart had cleared. She understood that she didn’t want to avenge that person, but rather, she wanted to get that person back.
Even if it was merely that she had positively accepted vague words that could apply to anyone and had arbitrarily connected them to her own circumstances…
She was indebted to Clara. However, Bibi concluded that if Clara also knew this girl, she would surely understand.
“Ah, thank you… I’m Bibi. Will you tell me your name?”
“Call me Licia. That’s what my friends call me.”
“Friend… Yeah. I’ll come see you again, Licia.”
Saying that, Bibi received a small fragment of the Magic Stone from the girl, gave an embarrassed smile, and disappeared into the darkness.
Unaware of the girl’s distorted smile, faintly illuminated in the darkness—
And so, Clara’s assassination attempt using “Foresight” was thwarted by the “Allure” of Viscount Mercis’s daughter, and Bibi vanished from the Royal Capital without returning to Clara’s side.
…The first-year student’s story just doesn’t seem to end.
The Allure sought by the false heroine is neither the power to survive nor the power to toy with hearts.
Its true nature is…
Next time, it’s the continuation of the Adventurers Guild.