by Takehaya
Koutarou picked up on Alaia’s apprehension and lent her a helping hand. He had an unfair advantage though, because it certainly wasn’t something he would have intuited on his own. This was basically what had happened during last year’s play, so Koutarou figured that the real Alaia might be hesitating in a moment like this too.
“Yes, we should clear out...”
Koutarou had suggested to Alaia that they should leave the area before the unconscious men woke up, but she didn’t move right away. In order for her to make up her mind, Alaia decided she needed to ask him something. It was something she’d been wondering all this time.
“Before that, Sir Knight, please tell me something.”
“Anything you ask”
“Why didn’t you cut those men down?”
There was weight behind each word as Alaia asked Koutarou why he hadn’t killed the men. Regardless of whether he was her ally or enemy, killing the men would have made more sense. If he was an enemy, it would serve to fool Alaia. And if he was an ally, they could escape without worry of being pursued. Despite that, Koutarou hadn’t taken their lives and Alaia wanted to know why.
“That’s—”
Koutarou wasn’t sure what to say. That was a question that hadn’t been in the manuscript, so he had to respond with his own words.
“I don’t like cutting people down. And when I came to help, I wasn’t aware of your identity. I couldn’t just kill them without knowing who they were either. That was my reasoning.”
Koutarou decided to answer her honestly. It wasn’t something worth hiding, and he didn’t want to betray the earnest look on Alaia’s face.
I see... So this man was neither friend nor foe...
Hearing his answer, Alaia was a little embarrassed of how hasty she’d been to try and judge him. She was so focused on whether Koutarou was an ally or an enemy that she’d overlooked the possibility that he was neither. Koutarou was just a neutral bystander that jumped in to stop a fight in front of him.
And... there’s something different about him compared to the other knights.
Because of her position, Alaia was acquainted with many knights. She knew good and well what kind of men and women they usually were, but Koutarou’s answer wasn’t something she would have expected a knight to say.
A knight that doesn’t want to kill his enemies? Thinking about it, just now...
Alaia recalled Koutarou’s appearance after the skirmish had ended. He’d looked relieved. From what he said, it was probably because the encounter hadn’t proved fatal for anyone. He hadn’t even boasted of his victory.
He still might be from one of the bands of knights that have become my enemy. But... But I want to believe in this mysterious man...
Alaia decided to put her faith in him, and in what made him different. She wanted to believe this knight in blue armor who was surprisingly strong, but strangely gentle at the same time.
“Please forgive me for my rudeness, Sir Knight. I will believe you.”
Alaia gave Koutarou a smile full of gratitude and trust.
“I am honored, Princess Alaia.”
Hearing Alaia—whose voice and face were very similar to Harumi’s—say that she believed him filled Koutarou with a warm, fuzzy feeling. He felt just like Harumi was saying it herself. Even though that wasn’t the case, Koutarou’s heart danced with joy.
“Sir Knight, please do me the kindness of giving me your name.”
“This was most rude of me. My name is—”
Satomi Koutarou. That’s what he was about to say, but Koutarou held his tongue. He had another name he needed to answer by now.
“My name is Layous Fatra Veltlion, and I swear on this sword that I will protect you.”
And that was how Koutarou met the Silver Princess.
The Golden Flower
Leaving the cliff side, Koutarou and Clan walked along a thin path in the forest as Alaia guided them. They were walking back down the road she had taken while being chased.
“Just a little further ahead is where I fell off my horse. The scream Layous-sama heard was most likely from then.”
“I see, that must have been what it was.”
Koutarou was actually in the front of the group with Alaia right behind him. A few meters after her was Clan, bringing up the rear.
“I’m glad you weren’t hurt in the fall.”
“The underbrush here cushioned my fall. I was lucky.”
“It surely must have been divine protection from the Goddess of Dawn.”
“One can only hope.”
Koutarou and Alaia’s steps were light.
“W-Wait up, Lord Veltlion! You’re walking too f-fast!”
However, that wasn’t at all the case for Clan. She was already in the back and only falling farther behind the other two. They’d only been walking for a few minutes, but she was already out of breath.
“That’s pathetic, Clan.”
Koutarou stopped and turned around to retrace his steps down the path.
“Heehee...”
Alaia giggled and smiled at Koutarou as she turned to go back and collect Clan with him. Seeing her smile, Koutarou couldn’t help but feel apologetic. Although Clan was his enemy, she was starting to feel more like his incompetent sister.
“You’ve only been walking for a few minutes.”
“C-Criticize me all you want, but this is my first time walking in this kind of place!”
Clan complained to Koutarou while panting. Her face was flush and there were beads of sweat running down her forehead.
The path Koutarou and the two girls were walking along was an animal trail in the middle of the forest. On top of that, there were lots of ups and downs, so it was more like hiking than walking for a sheltered princess like Clan. The more active princess, Alaia, was fine, but to cerebral Clan, this was approaching torture.
When Koutarou got closer, Clan switched off the translation device and complained to Koutarou in her native Modern Forthorthian.
“It must be nice for you, all cushy in that armor!”
When it registered Clan’s voice, the AI in Koutarou’s armor automatically switched the translation device to Modern Forthorthian. This way, they would be able to talk without Alaia understanding what they were saying.
Clan had turned off her translation device exactly because she didn’t want Alaia to hear her whining. Since she was a Forthorthe-born girl, she had a strong sense of admiration for the legendary Silver Princess, and she certainly didn’t want the Silver Princess seeing her weak side. And since they were both Forthorthian princesses, she didn’t want to lose to her either. That girly side to her led to her turning off her translation device.
“Forget me. Even Princess Alaia is fine. And I’m sure Theia would be fine with this too.”
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t compare me to the people of this time period or the mountain-bred Theiamillis-san!”
In this day and age where the only real method of transportation was a horse, the people had more stamina than modern folk. That was why Alaia was doing all right despite the rough conditions. But even Theia—a princess from her own time period—had more stamina than Clan.
And Clan calling Theia “mountain-bred” was deeply rooted in the long-standing conflict between their families. The Mastir family that had produced both Alaia and Theia ruled the mountainous region to the north of Forthorthe’s capital. On the other hand, the Schweiger family that Clan was from held more modern territory with a merchant town at its heart. Because of that, the Schweiger family had a tendency to treat the Mastir family as country bumpkins.
The Schweiger family, however, wasn’t established until several generations after the Silver Princess’s era. Because of the advancements made during that time, they naturally gained territory with a developed city at its core. But since the Mastir family was older, they treated the Schweiger family as newcomers. And being from such a modern, advanced territory, Clan felt that it was only obvious she didn’t hav
e the stamina that these country folk did.
“I can’t take another step!”
Clan turned her head away stubbornly. At first glance it just looked like she was being selfish, but the exhaustion was visible on her face.
Now that I think about it, she must have walked all over the place looking for me...
Seeing that, Koutarou realized why she might be so tired, and he lost his urge to give her grief for it.
“Can’t you just fly?”
“And what do you suggest we do when Alaia-san sees that?! I can’t let anything else strange happen here!”
“I mean, talk whatever game you want, but those men could be chasing after us while we argue about this.”
“That’s because you didn’t kill them! This is your fault!”
“Hey now...”
While Koutarou put his hands on his hips and sighed, Alaia finally spoke up after observing the two of them talking.
“What is Clan-sama saying?”
“She’s saying that it’s going to be hard to continue walking at this pace.”
Koutarou’s translation device switched back to Ancient Forthorthian when Alaia spoke, and Clan was quick to turn her translation device back on too.
“That certainly is a problem...”
Alaia gave Clan a concerned look. Seemingly embarrassed by that, Clan looked away from her.
“Hmm...”
After thinking for a while, Koutarou turned his back to Clan and squatted down.
“Here.”
“What’s this supposed to mean?”
“Get on my back. I’ll carry you.”
Fortunately, carrying Clan was nothing for Koutarou in his armor, even on a mountain road in poor condition. And since Koutarou was used to walking around with Sanae on his back, he had no objection to carrying Clan.
“Th-That’s quite all right!”
Clan’s face turned red and she shook her head. Unlike Koutarou, Clan was a young lady of noble blood, so the thought of anyone seeing her getting a piggyback ride was too embarrassing. She was also a little opposed on premise to the idea of being carried by the man who was her enemy just a short while ago.
“Quit acting tough and get on. There’s no time to be childish.”
“I-I guess I don’t have a choice...”
But after Koutarou urged her again, Clan reluctantly leaned on his back like she was told.
He’s got armor on anyways...
Clan tried to convince herself that a piggyback ride from someone that wasn’t family wasn’t all that embarrassing if she wasn’t touching him directly.
“Heehee...”
“...”
However, when Alaia laughed, Clan’s embarrassment levels shot through the roof. She turned her face down and cursed Koutarou out of spite.
“Your armor is too hard.”
“Just bear with it.”
“I-I guess it’s unavoidable...”
“Teehee... Heeheehee...”
Alaia laughed even more. And more red-faced than ever, Clan pressed her face against Koutarou’s back to hide from Alaia.
To think I doubted these people...
But this time, Alaia wasn’t really laughing at Clan. After witnessing Koutarou and Clan’s heartwarming bickering, she laughed at herself for ever suspecting they might have been enemies.
So this is the kind of person Layous-sama is...
Alaia was both pleased and relieved. Up until now, she had only seen Koutarou fight and present himself as a knight. This was the first she’d seen him act his age and simply be himself.
It seems like he gets along well with his servant too.
What relieved Alaia the most was Koutarou’s relationship with Clan. They had identified themselves as a knight and his servant, but she had never seen a knight carry a servant on his back in her life. And since Alaia herself had vassals that were as close as family to her, she felt like she had a lot in common with the two of them as she watched them.
“Heeheehee...”
She really couldn’t help laughing at herself. It was just too funny. Her cheerful giggling rang out like the tinkling of bells.
“Pardon my improper appearance.”
“You have nothing to be concerned about, Layous-sama. Now, let’s go!”
Alaia then took to the front of the group, turning away from Koutarou and Clan with a smile.
Even though she’s a legendary princess, she smiles like a normal girl...
That’s what Koutarou felt when he saw Alaia smile. Her smile in that moment very closely resembled Harumi’s.
Since Princess Alaia looks just like Sakuraba-senpai on stage, it makes perfect sense that her ordinary smile resembles hers too...
While staring at Alaia’s back, Koutarou began smiling himself.
“What? Are you falling for her?”
Seeing his smile, Clan gave Koutarou a cold glance.
“I was just thinking that there’s a big difference between you and Princess Alaia, despite you both being princesses.”
“Wh-What was that?!”
Koutarou stayed calm and collected as he followed after Alaia. After dealing with Kiriha on a daily basis, Clan’s words weren’t enough to get his goat.
“Besides, why—”
“Calm down. There’s something I want to ask you.”
“Huh?”
Clan was about to lay into Koutarou just as he interrupted her. He then whispered to her so that only she would hear.
“Can’t you use your powers to find Princess Alaia’s allies? If we just wander around looking for them, those guys really will catch up to us.”
That was part of the reason Koutarou offered to carry Clan. He wanted to be close enough to her that they could talk without Alaia hearing them, so Clan tiring out had worked out great as an excuse.
“We’re not the real Blue Knight and his servant. If the situation is as you say it is, shouldn’t we do something?”
If Koutarou had been the real Blue Knight, they wouldn’t have had to go out of their way to do anything since they would be fated to safely group up with Alaia’s allies. But since he wasn’t, there was a chance that they were currently walking down a path different from the one the Blue Knight was intended to walk. For example, the Blue Knight might have cut down the men that were currently pursuing them. Something like that might make enough of a difference that they could end up getting caught where the Blue Knight hadn’t.
“So that was your reason for—”
“Half of it, yeah. So how about it?”
Clan pulled herself together as she listened to Koutarou’s question.
“It’s possible. I can send out the observation device from the Cradle and scan the area.”
“Then please do that as fast as you can.”
“I understand. In return, I’ll borrow your back for a while.”
Using her bracelet to remotely control an observation device while hiking through the mountains was hard. It would be a lot easier with Koutarou carrying her. While gently bouncing up and down on Koutarou’s back as he walked along, she quickly began fiddling with her bracelet and sent her observation device forth from the Cradle.
“Sure. You’re heavier than Theia, but not heavy enough that it’s a problem thanks to the armor.”
“Quiet, you fake Blue Knight! Take that back right now! There’s no way I’m heavier than Theiamillis-san!”
However, the observation device was left floating in the Forthorthian sky without a goal for quite some time while its operator was distracted.
Alaia was guiding Koutarou and Clan to a small waterfall where she and her allies had been before they were scattered. They had been taking a short break there, and Alaia was hoping that they would all have regrouped in the same spot.
“I just hope they’ve all come back...”
“There’s no need to worry, Princess Alaia.”
The sun had now set for the day, and Koutarou and the two girls were dependent on the light of lamps
they’d borrowed from the men as they moved forward. The light, however, was weak and unreliable. To Koutarou and Clan who were used to the lights of the modern age, the forest seemed especially dark.
“Whoops.”
“Kyah!”
Thanks to that, there had been several times they almost tripped and fell. They were more or less getting a crash course in the dangers of walking through the mountains at night.
“Keep it together! I don’t want to go down with you.”
“Sorry, sorry.”
Koutarou apologized to Clan, who was still on his back, and then whispered to her so that Alaia wouldn’t hear.
“So what’s up ahead, Clan?”
“There is indeed a waterfall in front of us.”
Clan responded in a whisper as well. She was using her bracelet to control the observation device without Alaia noticing by hiding it between her and Koutarou as he carried her.
“There’s a group of five people and a horse there.”
“Can you tell who they are?”
“I can’t get a good read on them in this darkness. But since the number of people matches Alaia’s description of her party, the odds seem to be in our favor.”
“Good work.”
If Clan was right, Alaia would safely be reunited with her allies at the waterfall.
If we regroup with them, we should be within the tolerance range that Clan mentioned...
Even if things were looking good, Koutarou couldn’t let his guard down yet. Still whispering, he asked Clan about another of his worries.
“What about our followers?”
“I sent out a second observation device to track them, and it looks like they’re heading in the opposite direction. It seems like they’re taking the shortest route to the Mastir checkpoint.”
By now the men that Koutarou had knocked out earlier in the day had long since woken up. After losing sight of Alaia, however, they headed north instead of bothering to look for her.
“The Mastir checkpoint?”
“It’s a checkpoint on the border of Forthorthe’s capital, Fornorn, and the Mastir territory.”
Alaia and the others were on a journey to the Pardomshiha territory. The fastest way of getting there was by going through the Mastir territory in the north. As the Mastir territory belonged to Alaia’s family, she would have plenty of allies there regardless of the situation.
