Leave a comment

–––Ciel’s viewpoint

“Who are you?!”

They were fighting against demons so I could not blame them for being suspicious of us, but having spears pointed at us did not feel nice. But I did not feel endangered, I knew Karin and Luvias would be able to stop any attack they attempted on us. And even if things got bad we could always escape with my magic. As I thought of a plan to escape, Luvias stepped forward while raising her hands.

“We mean no harm! We’re Bordaule’s hero’s party! We came here as fast as we could to support Strom’s army! Can I talk to whoever is in charge here?”
“From Bordaule..? Wait, is that you Lady Luvias?”
“Yes, that is my name, I’m glad someone here recognized me.”
“My apologies! Hey, lower your weapons! She’s the real deal!”

I was glad Luvias was with us so somehow we avoided a senseless confrontation. When they understood we actually were the hero’s party, they all changed their attitude and acted very welcoming. They let us into their camp, and while we walked we observed the state of the city, most of it in ruins. It was hard to find a building that stood intact, and everywhere we could find corpses of humans, monsters, and demons. It was clear a brutal battle had happened here.

“Did the demon army retreat if we’re staying here without moving forward?”

Luvias walked in front with the soldier guiding us, and when she asked that, he smiled tiredly and shook his head.

“I wouldn’t say the demon army retreated exactly, they were pretty much exterminated. Their main forces were staying in this city for a night, and thanks to the great efforts of your friend Lapis and Lady Freya from Lumielle most of them died.”
“So Master was here after all!”
“And Lumielle’s hero as well… Though Lapis alone would have been enough to put the enemy on a disadvantage.”

I had seen Freya, Lumielle’s hero before during the meeting in Leble. Back then I had a feeling she was more than she let on, and she actually had proven that here…

Eventually, we were led to a detached mansion, which was being guarded by high-ranking knights. They looked at us with stern eyes as we approached, but our guide walked up to them and whispered into their ears. Soon after they looked relieved and loosened up their wariness.

“Welcome, heroes of Bordaule. I’ll guide you inside, please follow me.”

He spoke in a strict manner. Was Lapis really inside the mansion though? Was she being treated as a guest of honor for helping in the battle perhaps? Before I could ask any of that, the knight continued talking.

“This mansion is being occupied by His Majesty, as well as Lady Lapis and Lady Freya. Hence the heavy guard.”
“They’re all here? Or actually, His Majesty went together with the army then? That must have been reassuring for your people.”

Hearing Luvias, the knight nodded.

“Of course. Though to be honest…we only were able to win thanks to Lady Lapis and Lady Freya’s help. Alone we would have perished for sure.”
“Were they really that helpful in the battle?”

Karin looked happy seeing one of us get praised like that, and she asked while leaning forward. The knight was surprised to see her get so close to him and stepped aside.

“Well, yes. It was Lady Lapis who came up with our strategy in the first place…”

He seemed a bit hesitant at first, but he slowly explained everything that happened here, and how Lapis fought while we were still on our way.

§　§　§

Once we heard the full story, our stressed bodies were able to relax a bit. But at the same time, even if Lapis was together with Freya, flying to the middle of the enemy camp and fighting their higher-ups felt way too reckless no matter how strong she is. The demons also had powerful warriors, while I doubt they are as strong as Lapis, even if they are just half as powerful it would be dangerous if they gang up on her.

“So Lapis was as reckless as always…”
“Yeah, though Freya is quite something if she held her own ground like that.”
“And they also cast a large spell over the entire city…I guess Freya is at least as powerful as a high priest, or even more powerful.”
“But we weren’t here to support her during such an important battle…”

I felt bad for being absent at a critical time. If we had gone home as scheduled we would have been all here at the same time. I felt bad for thinking this way of Luvias’ family, but it was all her idiot brother Stied’s fault. I already did not like him before, but now I actually hated him.

“We’ve arrived. His Majesty is in this room, together with Lady Lapis and Lady Freya.”

Time had passed quickly while we talked, and before I realized we had arrived at their room. It had not been that much time since we last saw each other, but somehow it felt like an eternity. I really had to thank Lapis for working so hard while we were gone. As I thought of that, the door was slowly opened by the knight.