With the flow of the battle in our favor, we cut the Lizardmen down one after another. Still, there was something odd about the whole situation... There were far too many enemies in one place, right...? We had already cut down a great deal of them. Lizardmen by themselves weren’t particularly strong monsters, but it was a pain trying to deal with so many at once...
“Come forth, Dark! I seek a scalebound warrior: [Lizardman]!” The black-robed man was behind the Lizardman army, and he was chanting. When he finished, several more Lizardmen came crawling out from the shadows around his feet. What the heck was up with that?!
“Touya, it’s Summoning magic! That man in the black robes is the one summoning all the Lizardmen!” Linze yelled in my direction.
Summoning them... So he had been using Dark-type magic. No wonder we hadn’t been able to cut down the Lizardmen’s numbers. He would’ve been able to keep on calling monsters for as long as his magic held out, what a pain... All right, then. My course had been set.
“[Slip]!”
“Gah?!” The robed man’s feet flew out from beneath him and he was thrown to the ground with a loud thump. He scrambled to get back up, but collapsed to the ground once more right away.
“Grr...!”
“Steel yourself.” Yae leapt in with impossible speeds and cleanly severed the man’s head. Whoa, little bit gruesome there... The man’s head fell to the ground and rolled a bit before it stopped. Rest in peace.
Since the summoner had been taken care of, the remaining Lizardmen simply faded away. I assumed they’d gone back to wherever he’d pulled them out from.
“Looks like it’s over... Everyone alright?”
“I’m doing great,” Elze replied.
“I-I’m alright as well,” Linze meekly muttered.
“As am I, I am.” We made it out alright, but the people who had been attacked had suffered great losses. One of the remaining soldiers made his way over to me, leg dragging behind him.
“Th-Thank you... you saved us...”
“Don’t mention it... What’s the casualty rate?”
“Of ten bodyguards... they got seven of us... Damn it! If only we’d noticed sooner...!” The man trembled in frustration and clenched his fist. I felt the same, in a way. If only we had shown up a little bit sooner... but there was little point in dwelling on such things any longer.
“S-Someone! Is someone there? Gramps... Gramps is...!” We all turned to face the carriage when we unexpectedly heard the voice of a girl. Crying and shouting, a little girl with long, blonde hair clambered out of the carriage. She looked to only be about ten years old.
We ran over to the carriage, and next to the white clothed little girl lay a gray-haired old man in a black formal outfit. Blood flowed from his chest as he wheezed in pain.
“Please save Gramps! He was hit by an arrow...!” The girl, face soaked in tears, begged us for help. This old man must’ve been very important to her. The soldiers brought the old man down from the carriage and laid him down on the grass.
“Linze! Can’t you use your Healing magic on him?!”
“...I-I can’t. The arrow must have snapped, and part of it is still lodged in the wound. If I heal him in this condition, the arrowhead will get stuck inside his body... E-Even that aside... my magic wouldn’t b-be effective on a wound this dire...!” Linze’s words were laced with apology and regret.
As soon as the little girl heard what Linze had to say, her face clouded over with despair. She gripped the elderly man’s hand tightly as she wept, and it looked like she would never stop crying.
“Young miss...”
“Gramps...? Gramps!”
“I am afraid... that we must part here... But please know... the days I spent with you... were among the happiest of my— ghh! Ack...!”
“Gramps, that’s enough!” Damn... the old man was coughing and sputtering. Was there really nothing we could do? I had never tried out major Healing magic before, but I had read about it in the tomes Linze had let me borrow. I knew the incantation, too. It wasn’t impossible for me to cast... probably.
Should I take a gamble here? But even if I heal him up with the broken arrow still lodged in the wound, there’s no telling what might happen. The wound healing up might even make the arrow sink in deeper, which would make it pierce his heart... Wait... if I could just pull the arrow... out of the wound... That’s it!
“Please, move out of the way!” I hurried the soldiers aside and knelt down by the old man. After that, I quickly pulled one of the other arrows out from the side of the carriage and committed the shape of the arrowhead to memory. Then, I focused on the image strongly in my mind.
“[Apport]!” In an instant, a blood-soaked and broken arrowhead was firmly gripped in my hand.
“Amazing! You used the spell to retrieve the arrow!” Elze looked at my hand and almost screamed with joy. But I wasn’t done yet, there was one more step.
“Come forth, Light! Soothing Comfort: [Cure Heal]!” As I cast the spell, the wound in the old man’s chest gently began to regenerate. It was almost like watching a video rewind itself. It continued like that until the jagged opening had closed up completely.
“...What is this? The pain... is receding? Whatever is happening, it... doesn’t hurt? It doesn’t hurt... I’m healed?”
“Gramps!” The old man sat there, completely baffled, but upright and unharmed, as the little girl threw her arms around him. She cried countless tears of relief, refusing to let go of the old man all the while. Watching the sight made all of us let out our own relieved sighs. We slumped to the ground.
“Phew...” Well, I was just glad it had all worked out.
◇ ◇ ◇
We helped make graves in the nearby woods for the seven soldiers who had died. Couldn’t very well have left them lying there, but bringing them with us wasn’t an option either.
Of the three survivors, the youngest soldier dug graves in complete silence. Apparently, his older brother had been among those that had passed away. When we finished making the graves, he bowed deeply to us. The old man stood next to him and bowed as well.
“Truly, you have been the greatest of help to us. How can we ever even begin to repay you...?”
“Please, don’t worry about it. More importantly, I healed your wound, but you’ve still lost a fair bit of blood. You really should be taking it easy right now.” I tripped over myself a little bit as the old man kept his head bowed. It was like this with God too, but it really did seem that I was weak against old men.
“Thanks, Touya! You didn’t just save Gramps, you saved my life as well!” The little blonde girl fired words of gratitude at me as though she were the queen of the world. I gave a wry smile and thought to myself that she must be the young daughter of some noble or other.
The carriage was of far higher quality than Zanac’s. Plus, there was a large number of bodyguards, a family servant-looking old man, and the haughty little girl, so it felt I probably wasn’t far off the mark.
“Apologies for my belated introduction. My name is Leim, and I am a servant of the noble Ortlinde household. The young miss is the duke’s daughter, Sushie Urnea Ortlinde.”
“I am Sushie Urnea Ortlinde! It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance!” A duke’s daughter? Guess I was right on the money. She did seem like nobility, after all.
As I internally confirmed my theory, the twins and the samurai girl at my side all stood deadly still as though turned to stone.
“...What’s up?”
“How can you be so casual like that?! This is the duke’s daughter, you know!”
“...D-Duke is... the highest social rank that can be bestowed... Unlike the other titles, Duke is usually only given to members on the royal family...”
The royal family... Huh?
“Yes indeed! My father is Duke Alfred Urnes Ortlinde, younger brother of His Majesty the King!”
“So, I guess that makes you the king’s niece. That’s pretty amazing.”
“...You do not seem surprised. You must be quite the accomplished person yourself, Touya.” Huh? I turned around to find the twins and samurai girl down on both knees, bowing their heads to the ground.
What, prostrating ourselves now? Is that how I’m supposed to react here?
“Uhh... Miss Sushie? Should I be... on the ground with them?”
“You may call me Sue. We’re in no formal setting, so you needn’t bow. You needn’t speak formally, either. As I said before, I owe you my life. If anything, I should be the one to bow my head. All of you, please rise.” The girls stood back up and raised their heads as Sue had instructed. It seemed some of the tension in the air had been relieved, but they still held stiff expressions on their faces.
“So, what’s the daughter of the duke doing in a place like this?”
“We were on the way back from grandmother’s place... on my mother’s side. There was a matter we were looking into, you see. We stayed for a month, and were traveling back to the capital.”
“And then you were attacked all the way out here... Doesn’t really sound like it was just any old group of thieves that attacked you.”
I couldn’t really picture thieves attacking with Summoning magic. Plus, while there were a lot of Lizardmen, there had only been the one man in a black robe commanding them. It made the most sense to assume that the assailant knew the duke’s daughter was in this specific carriage. In that case, his motive was likely either assassination or kidnapping...
“Well, the assailant is dead now. We have no way of knowing who he was or upon whose orders he was acting.”
“I do apologize, I do...” Yae hung her head despondently. Oh, right, Yae had been the one to send his head flying. It certainly might’ve made more sense to try and restrain him for interrogation. After all, there was always the possibility that we could’ve found out who had sent him or unraveled some big old conspiracy that was going on or something.
“Pay it no heed. I told you, I am grateful to you. You have my praise for vanquishing that menace.”
“Such kind words... you waste them on me.” Yae bowed once again.
“Well then, Sushi— er, Sue. What do you plan to do next?”
“Regarding that matter...” Leim, who had retreated to somewhere nearby, spoke up in an apologetic tone.
“Over half of the guards have been felled, and if we are attacked again, I fear we may not be able to keep the young miss safe. Would you consider lending us your services as bodyguards? I shall see to it that you are paid adequately as soon as we reach the capital safely. Will you assist us?”
“Bodyguard work, eh...” Well, we were all heading to the same place anyway, and I couldn’t bring myself to just leave them there. I didn’t really mind, but I needed to know what the others thought.
“Sounds fine, right? I mean, we were going that way anyways,” Elze stated plainly.
“I don’t mind at all.”
“I am already but a passenger, so I shall leave the decision to you, Touya-dono.” Seemed like we were all in agreement.
“Alright, we’ll take the job! To the capital, then?”
“Indeed! We shall place ourselves in your capable hands!” Sue’s face broke out into a broad smile.
So, both of our vehicles carried on. The old wagon trailed along behind Sue’s carriage, and out in front of both were two soldiers on horses, leading the way.
The remaining soldier had taken his horse and rode off ahead to deliver a letter that Sue had written explaining the situation to the duke’s family.
I rode along in the carriage as Sue’s personal bodyguard. Since I was proficient in both magic and swordplay, it was decided that it was the best possible position for me.
I sat in a completely unfamiliar high-class seat, and directly in front of me sat Sue, Leim by her side all the while.
“...And with that, the valiant Momotaro slew the wicked Oni and took various treasures back to the village.”
“Ooh! Amazing!” Sue clapped her hands as she listened to my tale. I wondered if this was okay. I had been told to talk about something, so calling it a heroic tale passed down in my hometown, I recited the tale of Momotaro. I didn’t know how she would react to it, but Sue seemed pleased enough.
Sue spoke quite strangely for someone of her age. Apparently her speech was like that because she kept trying to mimic her grandmother, so her grandmother must have been someone of quite high status as well.
“Would you permit me to hear another tale, Touya?”
“Well, alright. Let’s see... Long ago, in the castle town of a kingdom far, far away, there lived a girl named Cinderella...” I never thought I’d be telling stories featuring witches or wizards in a world where magic really existed... Still, Sue seemed happy enough, so I didn’t really mind.
After that, I exhausted myself by reciting every fairy tale imaginable, and before I knew it, I found myself telling the stories of famous manga and popular anime movies.
I almost leapt out of my boots when Sue yelled about wanting to embark on a hunt for the Castle in the Sky, but Leim managed to calm her down.
It seemed the young lady was particularly fond of adventure stories. What a strange girl.
And so, we passed the time peacefully in the carriage as we headed onward to the capital.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Ooh, we’re almost there! It’s the capital!” Sue let out a shout as she peeked her head through the window. I looked outside myself, and in the distance I could make out a white castle surrounded by tall walls, framed by a large waterfall behind it.
The Royal Capital, Alephis. Located on the bank of Lake Palette, a large body of water that formed at the base of the waterfall, it was also known as “The Lake Capital.”
Situated on the western part of the continent, the Kingdom of Belfast had a comfortable climate. That plus the fair rule of the reigning king made it a relatively peaceful country. The silk goods made in the Killua region of Belfast were renowned as some of the highest quality in the world. They were light and soft, sturdy, and beautiful. The goods were popular among nobles and even the royal families of other countries, so the business was the pride of the kingdom, and supposedly an indispensable source of income.
Come to think of it, didn’t Zanac have some silk clothes up for sale in his shop?
As we grew closer and closer to the capital, I was shocked once more at the sheer size of the castle walls. Just where did it all stop? It was very much the picture of an iron fortress designed to keep any enemy out. Not to say it was actually made of iron or anything.
Several soldiers were conducting inspections at the city gates before allowing people passage into the capital. However, we were allowed through as soon as the guard caught a glimpse of Sue and Leim’s faces. Seemed they were pretty well known around those parts. No doubt the duke’s family crest on the side of the carriage played a part as well.
The carriage continued straight on toward the castle, crossing a stone bridge which spanned a large river below along the way. There was another checkpoint in the middle of the bridge, but we just rolled right on through once more.
“Beyond this point is the nobles’ residential district.” I gave a little “I see” to Leim’s explanation. Then the capital was divided into two areas: The commoner district, and the noble district. Which meant the place we just left must have been the commoner district.
We traveled through a street filled with rows of beautiful buildings and arrived in front of a massive mansion. The walls around here were huge, too. When we finally pulled up in front of the entrance, five, then six soldiers slowly opened the very large, presumably heavy doors. Only now that we were directly in front of it did I recognize the crest on the door as being the same one on the side of the carriage.
So this was the duke’s estate. It was huge. Everything from the garden to the house was needlessly huge. Why was everything so big?
The carriage pulled up in front of the foyer, and Sue swung the door
open with great gusto.
“Welcome back, young miss!”
“Why thank you!” A wall of maids appeared and bowed their heads in unison. I simply sat in the carriage, completely dumbstruck until Leim urged me to step out. I felt... completely and utterly out of place. When we stepped into the foyer, a man came running down the red-carpeted staircase in front of us.
“Sue!”
“Father!” Sue made a beeline for the man and jumped up to embrace him.
“Thank goodness... Thank goodness you’re safe!”
“I am fine, father. Did I not write as such in my letter?”
“When that letter arrived, it felt as though my heart had stopped in my chest...” It seemed like the man was Sue’s father. He was Duke Alfred Ortlinde, brother to the king. He had a head of blond hair, and a strong body that told of his good health at a glance. But despite his sturdiness, he had a gentle face which made him appear to be nothing but kind.
Eventually, the duke parted from his embrace with Sue and made his way over to us.
“...You must be the adventurers who saved my daughter. You have my sincerest gratitude. Truly, thank you so much for all your help.” I was surprised. The duke approached us only to bow his head. The king’s brother was bowing before us.
“Please, there’s no need to bow your head. We only did what anyone would do in that situation!”
“I see. You’re quite the modest one, aren’t you? Nevertheless, you have my gratitude.” After he finished speaking, the duke took my hand in his and shook it firmly.
“No doubt you know already, but allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Alfred Urnes Ortlinde.”
“I’m Mochizuki Touya. Oh, Touya is my given name and Mochizuki is my family name.”
“Oho, might you be from Eashen?”
... Please. Not this again.
“I see... So you came to the capital on a guild request to deliver a letter?” We sat out on the second floor terrace overlooking the garden, enjoying a cup of tea.
Though the only ones actually enjoying their tea were the duke and I, as the other three were all tense and sat like planks of wood. Sue had left her seat and wasn’t there anymore. I wondered where she’d run off to.
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 1 Page 7
