Chapter 4 marks the beginning of the Adventurer Arc, “The Ash-Covered Princess.”
It’s a bit long because I wrote until a good stopping point.
Lake Claydale, the largest in the Kingdom of Claydale, and its surroundings are a scenic area.
The Viscount Mercis House, a branch family of the Melroses, governed this land, which was under the direct control of the Melrose House, and on this day, they were to welcome a certain “girl” as their adopted daughter.
“Lady Alicia, we’re approaching the mansion. Are you feeling tired?”
“No, I’m fine! Thank you!”
The girl called Alicia answered the young butler’s words with a bright smile.
Her slightly reddish-gold hair and dark, almost black, blue eyes conveyed a sense of strong will, enhancing her loveliness, even though she was only ten years old.
“That mansion will be ‘my’ home, won’t it!”
Alicia’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the large mansion built on the lakeside, visible from the carriage.
As a noble, her appearance was younger than her words and actions suggested.
Nobles usually undergo magic training from a young age to increase their Mana Capacity, and their appearance should mature two to three years faster than commoners. However, Alicia’s appearance was truly that of a commoner, only resembling a ten-year-old.
There was a reason for her youthful appearance.
Alicia was originally a noble, but due to certain circumstances, she became an orphan and had lived in an Orphanage with commoner orphans until this age.
After Alicia, who had been missing, was found and confirmed to be herself, a manager dispatched from the nobility was placed to provide some education. However, it was impossible to provide advanced education like Magic to someone without a foundation. As a result, Alicia only gained the basics of Magic and could not obtain enough Mana to cause her body to grow rapidly.
“What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”
“No, I was just thinking how small you are, Alicia-sama.”
Alicia, noticing the young butler looking at her, peered up at his face and touched her own face in a flustered manner, causing the butler to chuckle involuntarily.
“Really? But I’ve grown a little taller recently, and I was one of the tallest in the Orphanage!”
If she had grown to the level of a commoner in an Orphanage where growth was said to be stunted due to the abuse of the previous manager, then the effects of basic Magic training might have had some effect.
As Alicia leaned closer, pressing her “grown body” against him in the narrow carriage, the young butler awkwardly moved away, and a voice came from the maid sitting opposite them.
“Lady Alicia. As a lady, you must not touch a member of the opposite sex so easily.”
“Aww… but he’s a butler…”
“Even if he is a butler, he is still a man. Since you will be the daughter of the Viscount Mercis House, you must learn to maintain a proper distance from the opposite sex, or you will face difficulties in high society.”
“…Okay.”
Alicia reluctantly released the butler’s arm at the maid’s scolding tone.
Besides Alicia, there was one butler and one maid in the carriage.
Originally, as a noble lady, Alicia should have been sitting next to the maid or alone, but she stubbornly insisted on sitting next to the butler.
The two siblings, who were chosen as Alicia’s escorts and caretakers for the journey from the Orphanage, exchanged glances and silently communicated, recalling the troubled face and words of their Grandfather, who had been ordered to manage the Orphanage.
‘Alicia-sama is beautiful and lovely, so there were signs that she was bullied more by jealous women. Therefore, she is wary of women and tends to seek protection from men, so please be mindful of this point and watch over her.’
If that was indeed the case, it was pitiful, but Alicia’s words and actions felt more “seductive” than childlike.
“It seems the carriage has arrived.”
The carriage stopped, and Alicia, following the butler and maid, got out of the carriage. As she was being handed over to the Viscount and his maids who had come to greet her, Alicia looked up at the butler with anxiety.
“We’ll be stopping here. From now on, the members of the Mercis Viscount House, who will be your family, will take care of you, Alicia-sama.”
“B-but…”
“Is there something wrong?”
When the Viscount, who had come all the way to the entrance to greet her, asked this, Alicia’s anxious face changed in an instant, and she turned to the Viscount with a beaming smile.
“No, it’s nothing! Father(….)!”
“O-oh, is that so.”
Without making eye contact with the Viscountess and maids behind him, Alicia clung to the Viscount’s arm. The butler and maid who had been in the carriage with her sighed, bowed to the Viscount, handed the documents to a maid, and boarded the carriage they had arrived in.
“…Is it alright to leave already?”
“It’s fine.”
If they had been traveling as escorts for two months, it would be common to stay for a day or so to observe the situation of the escort target and the receiving party, but the butler readily nodded to the coachman who was concerned about this.
The maid got into the carriage without saying anything, and when the coachman reluctantly moved the carriage, Alicia, noticing this, shook off the arm of Viscount Mercis, to which she had been clinging, and waved her hand at the carriage.
“Please come and see ‘me’ again! Oz-san!!”
“…And that concludes this report.”
“You’ve done well… Oz, Sera.”
Belt, the current head of Margrave Melrose, sighed and praised his two subordinates, Oz, who had orally explained the general content of the documents detailing the events of the past two months.
Belt had decided to first entrust Alicia to the Mercis Viscount House, a branch family, until she came of age, in order to observe her condition.
Her existence was still a closely guarded secret to the general public, and Belt, unable to assign a large number of knights as escorts for her transfer, had no choice but to rely on Sera and Oz, the two most trusted individuals in terms of both heart and martial skill.
The absence of Sera, one of the heads of the Royal Guard responsible for protecting the Queen’s Palace, and Oz, who served as Belt’s butler and secretary, affected not only Belt but also various other areas, causing complaints to erupt, but there was nothing that could be done about it.
There was a genuine shortage of manpower. Instead of simply gathering people, finding individuals who were trustworthy and skilled led to fierce competition among the various departments.
(If only there was someone who could be entrusted with guarding the Princess, at least… but now is not the time for that.)
“That’s the situation, but what do you think?”
“Grandfather…”
Mikhail, who was only twelve years old but looked about fifteen, gazed at his Grandfather with suspicious eyes, the lustrous eyes that made the young maids of the Royal Palace flutter.
“That girl was supposed to enter the Viscount House next year, wasn’t she? We were supposed to determine if she was the real one by then, so why was it moved up a year?”
“That girl herself was causing trouble by proclaiming that she was a noble’s daughter, so we had no choice but to expedite her protection.”
“…She’s quite the troublesome girl, isn’t she?”
Mikhail sighed deeply at his Grandfather’s bitter words.
Even after two years, there was still no clear evidence that the discovered “Alicia” was the “real one.”
If one were to look only at her testimony and circumstantial evidence, any noble family would recognize her as their own, but Belt felt a sense of unease in recognizing that girl as Alicia simply because she did not have the Melrose matrilineal hair color.
“In any case, I will be entering the Magic Academy next month. Even upper-class nobles will be living in the dormitory for half of the term, so I won’t be able to respond even if I’m summoned like this.”
“You’re already that age, huh? I’m sorry.”
The Magic Academy, which nobles entered, started the new semester from the new year after the harvest of crops was over and taxes had been collected.
Noble children who turned thirteen that year were eligible, and everyone would graduate at the end of the year they turned fifteen, when they would be treated as adults.
“My feelings are the same as Grandfather’s. Just hearing the report, I can’t possibly believe that that girl is the ‘Moon Rose (Melrose).'”
After conveying only that, Mikhail left his Grandfather’s office.
Because Sera and Oz were absent, Mikhail, who had not yet entered the Academy, had ended up helping Belt with his duties under the guise of “studying to be a Prime Minister.”
Normally, he would have welcomed that, but now he was busy preparing for his entrance to the Academy, and there were things that Mikhail personally wanted to do and think about.
“…Moon Rose (Melrose)…”
He spoke the words from earlier once more.
According to an old legend, the Spirit of the Moon praised the nobility and beauty of a woman and bestowed upon her the Moon Rose and hair of the same color.
Whether it was true or not, the fact that this color, which disappeared after a few generations when a woman married outside the family, was inherited only by the direct line of Melrose women made it seem as if they were truly loved by the Moon.
If I were to tell Rookwell, Dandole’s Rookwell, my friend, he might call me a romantic again, but just whispering that name brings to mind the figure of a certain girl.
A girl adventurer I met in the Royal Capital.
The color of her hair was truly the same color as the Moon Rose that only blooms on moonlit nights.
I was intrigued from the first time I saw her. Her aura, truly befitting the word “aloof,” was even beautiful, and she reminded Mikhail of the Moon Spirit he had imagined as a child.
If she’s adventuring in this Royal Capital, I’ll surely meet her again.
Thinking so, I parted ways, and visited the Adventurer’s Guild several times, but time passed without meeting the girl again.
If I enter the academy like this, I won’t be able to go looking for her.
I don’t think this is love. But Mikhail admired her aloof figure.
“I wonder… if I’ll ever see her again.”
＊
“Then, I shall take my leave as well.”
“Good work, Sera.”
“It is my ‘job,’ after all.”
Sera, who hadn’t said anything until then, lowered her head after a beat when Mikhail left the room, and when Belt responded, Oz felt a slight intimidation from his sister’s words, who stated it as a “job,” and cold sweat ran down his forehead.
“…………”
Sera, having left the master’s office, sighed deeply without a word.
Most of that sigh came from mental exhaustion. Having been away from the Royal Palace for several months, discrepancies were occurring everywhere.
Not only was there a backlog of work that her subordinates couldn’t handle, but the reason for her sigh was also because she had been with that “Alicia” for two months.
It’s only natural that she lacks manners, considering she was originally an orphan. Even so, she’s probably better than most commoners, thanks to what her grandfather instilled in her.
However, the way that girl clung only to men and ignored women was too bizarre, even considering she’s a child.
Considering that we will have to associate with that girl as a young lady of the main family from now on, I can’t help but agree with the master and Mikhail’s suspicions.
And now, I have to take care of the ill-tempered Princess Elena.
The “maid” she favored has gone missing, and ever since, the princess, who knows that the maid was part of the “Shadow Unit,” becomes ill-tempered whenever she sees Sera and the other members of the Shadow Unit.
Elena thinks that the Shadow Unit assigned dangerous work to that maid, but the truth is that a traitor within the Shadow Unit may have been responsible, which makes the situation even worse.
If that “maid” were to return, we could entrust her with guarding the princess, and the princess’s mood would improve, but such a sweet deal isn’t going to fall into our laps.
“Mom!”
Hearing her son’s voice, Sera sighed again.
“Was Aria found!?”
“She certainly went north, but she hasn’t been found.”
Sera’s son, Theo, is still chasing after Aria’s shadow.
His body and mind have grown rapidly, and he looks about twelve years old, but meeting her must have been quite a shock to him when he was young, because even when Sera told him that Aria might have died, Theo didn’t give up and continued to train, believing that he would meet her again.
“I see…”
Theo, who hasn’t given up but doesn’t expect to find her so easily, shows a smile while suppressing the urge to sigh.
“Mom, welcome back.”
“Is it just now?”
Saying so, she hugs him as if confirming Theo’s growth, and Theo hugs her back as if confirming his mother’s safety.
“We have welcomed the young lady of the main family. When she enters the academy, you will probably be her guard.”
“…I haven’t heard very good rumors about her, though?”
“You shouldn’t say such things.”
Sera, showing a clear distinction while not denying it, makes Theo wryly smile.
“I’ll go back to my job as a butler apprentice. Please train me again after that.”
“Understood. Do your best.”
Sera, smiling with a mother’s face, receives Theo’s best smile in return, and they part ways in the hallway.
“If I’m not careful, Aria will leave me behind. I won’t give up.”
＊＊＊
The Marquis Kendras Territory, located in the northwest of the Kingdom of Claydale, is a land that prospers from its mines.
The Kondo Mine, located west of that territory, is the largest mine in the southern part of the continent, and it is also a buffer zone where the Principality of Ilse and the Kingdom of Solhorse, neighboring countries, compete for ownership.
Therefore, deploying the national army would provoke other countries, and there are many jobs for adventurers to ensure the safety of the road to the mine.
On the night road connecting such a mine and town, six men jumped out to attack a person walking alone on that road.
Black leather clothing and a curved single-edged sword. Anyone who knows would be able to guess that they are “assassins” from the central-western branch, with roots in the desert people.
There is no official Assassin Guild branch in this northern frontier region, and there are no longer any fools (……) in the Thieves’ Guild of this marquis territory who would dare to lay a hand on this person.
“Guh!?”
One of the assassins, who attacked silently from the side, lost his balance as if caught in a spider’s “thread,” and his neck was slit by a blade that flew in from the side.
“What!?”
While the trained assassins were shocked by the sudden death of their comrade, two of them attacked simultaneously, but the blade slipped through the “girl” walking on the road, and at that moment, one of them collapsed, blood spurting from his carotid artery.
“It’s an illusion!”
“Where is she!?”
The girl is still walking straight ahead. Is it really an illusion? Or is it the “real thing”? One of the assassins, who hesitated for a moment, was instantly cut down by the girl who walked straight towards him without a moment’s hesitation.
“What!?”
A blade flying in an arc slashes the throat of one who realized it was real and hurriedly jumped back.
One who stopped moving, terrified by the unknown attack, died with a look of astonishment as a knife thrown by the girl pierced his face and throat.
“W-What the hell… what, who are youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!?”
The last one remaining, his comrades killed in an instant, screams in confusion.
All of the personnel gathered for this assassination were first-class Rank 3 individuals. Yet, they were all killed as if brushing away insects, without being able to do anything.
“…You know, don’t you?”
That voice came from directly behind him. The figure of the girl who should have been right in front of him had disappeared, and when the assassin reflexively swung his blade behind him, the “human-shaped presence” behind him vanished.
“Gugih!?”
At that moment, a piercing pain, as if his abdomen had been pierced, attacked the man. The man, who had undergone pain endurance training, somehow couldn’t endure it and let out a groan, and again, the white girl’s arm was extended from directly behind him, passing beside his head, and the white hand wrapped around the man’s head and snapped his neck.
The eyes of the man, collapsing with his neck snapped, finally reflected the figure of the real girl in his pupils.
As if finally remembering, the man muttered the girl’s prestigious name.
“………’Ash-Covered… Princess’…”
[Aria (Alicia)] [Race: Human Female] [Rank 3]
[Mana Capacity: 174/240] 30Up [HP: 182/190] 20Up
[Strength: 9 (12)] 2Up [Endurance: 9 (12)] 1Up
[Agility: 13 (17)] 1Up [Dexterity: 8]
[Dagger Arts Lv.3] [Martial Arts Lv.3] [Throwing Lv.3] 1Up [Archery Lv.1] New
[Defense Lv.3] 2Up [Thread Manipulation Lv.4] 2Up
[Light Magic Lv.3] 1Up [Dark Magic Lv.3] [Non-Attribute Magic Lv.3]
[Utility Magic x6] [Mana Control Lv.4] 1Up [Intimidation Lv.3]
[Stealth Lv.4] 1Up [Night Vision Lv.2] [Detection Lv.4] 1Up [Poison Resistance Lv.3] 2Up
[Simple Appraisal]
[Overall Combat Strength: 576 (Body Enhancement: 691)] 133Up
The fake heroine has finally appeared.
I think it turned out quite well in an indescribable way (laughs).
Aria has reached level 4 in some places, but she is not Rank 4.
However, her combat strength has increased considerably.
I wonder if Theo-kun can catch up…?
Thank you for your continued support in this chapter as well.
Next time, to the first land.