Heroine Survival Vol 5 Chapter 6

Twisted Event   First Part

Outdoor field trip for the new first year students, it was a custom  of the sorcery academy. Based from what I only heard, this field trip or  sightseeing was being held every year, so it wasn’t that unusual of an  event.

The information about the event still hadn’t been announced to the  students because children of high ranked nobles would participate in  this event. There was a risk of kidnapping or attack that had to be  considered, so the event organizer was hiding the event details until  the last moment. That was what I was told.

「It can’t be helped that Onii-sama has to participate because of his  standing, but I didn’t expect for uncle to also come along. The matter  of him becoming a teacher also only got told to me after the fact……if  only I could stop him.」

Elena and I were comparing information while drinking tea at the  terrace of her mansion. Elena pressed her finger on her forehead as  though she had a headache when she heard about Amor’s case.

「I don’t think uncle will try anything strange out of nowhere but,  you should be careful too Aria. That person is basing his decision on  something stupid like “personal emotion” and he might try to remove you  from my side because of that.」

「Is it possible to overturn the king’s decree? By that person?」

「Depending on the method, like grasping the person’s weakness, or with brute force……」

Elena stopped at that point and once more looked at me who was dressed in maid uniform. She smiled wryly.

「Both ways will be pointless against you won’t they?」

Elena ended the talk in that note. I poured more tea into her teacup while the butler Joseph spoke up.

「Elena-sama, there is an additional information that has just arrived. I believe that it might be about that matter.」

「What could it be, gramps.」

「The location of the field trip this time will be quite far from the  capital, and so it is believed that the ladies from high ranked noble  houses will decline to participate. In that case, your highness as a  royalty will be put in the same group with the young ladies who don’t  possess their own carriage, but a young noble will also get fitted into  there.」

「……Who is it?」

Elena guessed the “unsaid words” from that sentence and put on an elegant smile that also radiated dreadfulness.

「It’s Nathanital-sama, the grandson of the head priest of the royal  capital’s holy church who is a baron of the robe. His endorser is his  highness the royal brother.」

「My……」

The head priest of the holy church held baron rank. My “knowledge”  couldn’t tell me whether that was a high or low position, but based on  Elena’s expression, it shouldn’t be wrong for me to consider that baron  of the robe was higher positioned than a normal baron.

「If it’s that person, then I remember playing with him when visiting the shrine of the holy church when I was little.」

Elena sighed while recalling the past.

「That person was so adorable that at first I thought he was a young  lady from somewhere, so I put on a flower crown on his head. He cried  because of that. Even so……I am aware how uncle is a pious devotee of the  holy church but, I wonder what he is thinking this time?」

Elena’s muttering ended up with a questioning tone but, she must have  guessed the reason to some degree based on her annoyed expression.

I’m guessing that he was trying to push Elena into the church in  order to isolate her from the conflict of this vulgar world, or if baron  of the robe was in reality a position that was equal to count rank just  like I imagined, there was also the possibility that this move was  designed to direct Elena to marry out of the royal family.

Furthermore this was just Amor’s arbitrary decision that ignored Elena and the king’s opinion.

「Let’s be on our guard for now. It’s really troubling how the  thinking and action of those who are moving based on their emotion are  so hard to predict……」

Joseph and Chloe and I nodded at Elena’s words.

The number of allies who Elena could be herself with was really  small. Three were only these two who had been taking care of her since  she was born, and then there was Sera who she brought as servant even  into the dungeon I guess.

Perhaps she was putting a suspicious person like me on her side was  also because of that. For the sake of Elena who couldn’t even genuinely  rely on her own parents and big brother, I swore to myself once more  that I would at least protect her heart.

「……Is the preparation, finished?」

Inside a dark forest, a person who seemed to be a female clad in  black cloth all over her body was talking with shaky common language  that had extremely heavy accent. She was replied to by the voice of  another female who was also similarly covered all over her body to hide  her identity.

「I wish you’ll trust us already……. Their plan to revolt still hasn’t  changed, and our force is also making preparation so don’t worry.」

The two were working together in cooperation, but they weren’t “comrades” by all means.

The two belonged to different organizations. Their objective was  different. Even so what they had to do was the same, which was why they  were working together.

「We’re doing what needed to be done. Make yourself be capable to use  that. With your status, it should produce even greater force compared to  all the other weapons you have used until now.」

「……got it.」

The woman in black didn’t say much and swung the magic iron chain. It  resulted in a deep gash on a tree. Just how much strength was used to  cause something like that?

The other woman who gave her that weapon and taught her how to use it  took out a thin mythril chain that was for her use. Her eye that was  the only part of her body that was exposed had burn scar around it. That  eye was blazing with hatred.

(“Ash Crowned”……I’ll kill you no matter what!)

***

Like that one month passed without any particular problem. Around the  time when the sign of spring started to appear faintly, it was  announced that there would be a field trip to observe a knight order’s  exercise that was intended for middle ranked nobles and above.

The exercise would be carried out at a grass plain located in the  middle of a territory under the royal family’s direct control and the  territory of Marquis Wankarl. It was an area that didn’t belong to  either territory. It was a place that was unsuited for people to live in  because there wasn’t anything there to block the sea breeze, but in  exchange there would be nobody who complained if an exercise was held  there.

The female students were free to choose whether to participate or  not. As expected, someone who wanted to go to a place that had no inn  and in a distance that would need three days of travel in carriage to  arrive at was rare. There were only several people among all the female  students who decided to participate.

Then those few female students should be grouped together……that was  the suggestion that the academy made, but it was taken back because  Carla announced that she would participate.

At the day of the trip, Elena and I and two other female students,  and then the grandson of the head priest Nathanital were gathering in  order to ride on the same carriage.

That Nathanital was shorter than even Elena. He was a boy with a face  that really looked like a girl, but it seemed the person himself had a  feeling of inferiority because of his short height and girly face. He  was making a displeased expression that he had to head to the  destination in the same carriage with the female students.

It would be great if nothing troublesome happened……I was thinking  like that while bringing Elena’s luggage into the carriage. It was then  an unknown presence approached from behind.

「Pardon me. Am I not mistaken that you are Lady Aria?」

「Do you have a business with me?」

I greeted the man who looked like a knight with a bow as a high class  maid. That young man then smiled brightly with his handsome face.

「I wish to talk with you for a bit about the security during the trip. Can I ask for a little bit of your time?」

「……I understand.」

.

That young knight was apparently the leader of the second knight  order’s first company that was in charge of the princess’s security.  But, what kind of business someone like that could have with me? The  fact that I was the princess’s bodyguard shouldn’t be a public  knowledge, but did he learn about it from somewhere?

That company leader escorted me toward young knights who seemed to be  his subordinate. They would be in charge of security after this so  naturally they were fully armored. The location was in a building inside  the academy that seemed to be used as the knights’ station.

「It will be the time for departure soon, so there should be little time though?」

「We won’t take that long. The men of the second knight order are also  helping out with the preparation of her highness’s carriage, so I  believe there won’t be any problem.」

The company leader smiled wryly in apology. We were sitting while facing each other in the station’s reception room.

「Let me pour you tea. I managed to get my hand on good tea leaves  from Carlfan Empire. I’ll brew it together with sugar and spices just  like how it’s prepared in its place of origin. The taste is a bit  quirky, but it’s delicious when you get used to it.」

「Aren’t we going to talk about the security during the trip?」

I said that without showing any emotion. The young man shrugged a little in respond to my attitude.

「Her highness too shouldn’t be angry just because we’re taking a bit  of time to enjoy tea correct? Also it’s rude of me to not have  introduced myself. My name is Joey. If possible, I too wish to listen to  the story of the adventurer who managed to join the famous “Rainbow  Sword” in such young age.」

「……Where did you hear that?」

I calmly asked him without any change in my tone and also without  applying any pressure. Perhaps he sensed something from that me. The  young man who introduced himself as Joey was at a loss for word for a  moment.

「……It was from his highness the royal brother. His highness also told  me how you are an extremely skilled scout who have also reached rank  4.」

「I see.」

That man again……it was troublesome that someone of such high status  and a lot of free time was carelessly leaking out information.

After that Joey’s subordinate entered with a tea that gave off a  particular aroma. I sipped at the edge of the cup that was presented to  me before quietly returning it on the table. Then I turned a half closed  gaze toward the knight.

「And, are we going to talk already?」

「You still haven’t even drank most of the tea. Or perhaps I should also prepare a light snack to go along with it?」

「Are you ordered to keep me in place like that?」

「What are you……」

Joey smiled as though my words were said jokingly, but a faint  killing intent formed inside him at that moment. I could also hear a  faint commotion outside the room.

I paid that no mind and lightly flicked on the cup before me.

「What is your intention with serving sleeping drug to the princess’s bodyguard?」

*Bam!*

The door got opened loudly at the same time with those words. Then Joey’s subordinates rushed inside.

Joey himself also unsheathed his sword and stood in front of his  subordinates. He pointed its tip toward me who was standing up and  smiled mockingly.

「So you have poison resistance……looks like I underestimated you too  much on the account of you being a girl. We are ordered to not kill her  highness’s people if possible. Even though you’re a rank 4, there’s  nothing a scout can do against knights inside a cramped place like this  right? Let’s have you surrender quietly.」

Scout was considered as weaker in combat power compared to warrior or  sorcerer even if they had the same rank. If a warrior and a scout  actually fought each other head on, it would be the warrior who won most  of the time.

「Your target is the princess?」

Joey frowned slightly when I asked that question.

「We too are knights of the kingdom. We will never hurt her highness.  For the sake of our objective, we wish for his highness the crown prince  to withdraw his claim of the throne, and a “place for persuasion” has  been prepared in order for us to ask her highness to become the new  leader of our alliance. You’re in the way of that. I’ll have you  surrender here.」

「……Noble faction huh. Whose order is this?」

The atmosphere of the knights changed from my words.

「Do it……I don’t mind even if you cut her limbs!」

Joey raised his voice. The knights moved into action.

But, I took a step forward in that instant and took out my black knife from my Storage(Shadow Storage). With that I tore his throat while he was unable to react.

「I’ll eliminate the enemy on Elena’s way.」

***

「Your highness, the preparation for our departure is finished. The  scheduled time for our departure is also fast approaching. We should  depart soon.」

The fifth company of the second knight order had arrived to guard the  princess. It was the company leader who said that to Elena.

「It’s already that time? My attendant, the female student called Aria  still hasn’t returned. Can’t we wait until she come back here?」

The exercise observation this time was intended for male students of  baron house and higher that owned a territory. Aria who was an adopted  daughter of a baronet house didn’t have the qualification to participate  in it, but high ranked noble with rank higher than count was permitted  to bring one attendant with them, so Elena naturally chose Aria for that  role.

Originally a royalty like Elena should be forced to bring multiple  bodyguards with her because of her position, but Elena insisted in being  an example for other students, and a company of around forty knights,  selected from among the elites of the second knight order came as her  guard, so in the end she was allowed to bring Aria alone as her personal  guard.

Originally a company should be composed of 200 members including  common soldiers, but this time only around 40 knights riding on horse  came because they would travel using carriage. That number should be  enough to serve in the role of guard for several days.

When Elena who was sitting on a bench that was placed outside  answered like that, the company leader put on a dry smile as though to  remonstrate an unreasonable kid.

「Your highness……. If it pleases you, please also think of the other  students who have been waiting inside the carriage. Besides if your  highness is worried about the student called Aria, I will leave behind  another carriage here so she can quickly catch up with us when she  arrived. I believe that she will be able to quickly join your highness  again at the resting place midway.」

「Is that so……」

These knights were chosen from among all the knights in the second  knight order to be the princess’s guards. They were elites among elites.

All squad leaders were rank 3. And this company leader Ludger was  especially a rank 4 knight, one of the few in the knight order even  though he was still at his early thirty. He was also the head of a baron  house. Even Elena couldn’t ignore his word so easily.

「Very well. Then I ask you to guard us well during this trip. I also  ask you to make the arrangement so Aria will be able to join up with us  within today.」

「It will be as your highness command. Please leave it to me.」

The situation was somewhat suspicious, but her quality as a royalty  would also be questioned if she was acting too paranoid, Besides she  couldn’t obstinately order the whole group to [wait] after the other  students got brought up.

Like that Elena left behind Aria who was her shield and her sword.  She got into the royal family carriage that was prepared for her.  Inside, there were the young ladies from a baron house and a viscount  house that didn’t have male child……and also the boy who was the grandson  of the head priest who held the rank of baron of the robe.

「Long time no see, Nathanital. Is the head priest in good health?」

「Y-yes, your highness! My grandfather is doing well-!」

The boy was as petite and adorable as the other young ladies. He replied nervously when Elena had a small talk with him.

「Putting that aside……you don’t have any attendant with you it seems.」

Baron of the robe was a position that was related to religion, so  that rank wasn’t accompanied with a territory. But the holder of that  rank received a treatment that was equal to a house of count. If  Nathanital demanded it then it would be possible for him to bring an  attendant, but he refused to do that.

「Yes-, I’m a child of the church before I am a noble-, so I’ve been raised to be able to take care of myself!」

「……I see.」

What he said was splendid, but from his expression and tone, it could  be seen how he had been dyed with the ideal of the church that despised  the worldly noble. Elena controlled herself so her disappointment  wouldn’t show from her expression while giving up having more  conversation than this with Nathanital.

The other young ladies who sensed that atmosphere also kept their  mouth closed. The carriage kept running while the inside was staying  silent. Elena who had nothing to do turned her gaze to outside the  window and noticed that the carriage that should be running from the  south of the capital to the east was actually running inside a forest.

「Where is this carriage heading to? From the sun’s position, it seems to be heading to the south though?」

Elena asked that question to the carriage driver from the small  window installed at the front part. The soldier who drove the carriage  then called out to someone else, opened the door of the carriage while  keeping it running, then Ludger got inside from his horse that was  running in parallel.

「Pardon me, your highness. Can I ask you to please stay quiet?」

「You……tsu」

「We will bring your highness to a certain place from here. I will  guarantee the safety of the other students as long as your highness stay  obedient.」

***

「What!?」

「Commander!」

「How dare you do that to Joey!」

Joey whose throat was torn up instantly crumpled down. The other  knights directed their fury toward me who was holding a bloody black  knife.

「You will pay-!」

Most likely these knights weren’t just his coworkers but also  friends. A knight who looked like he was the same age with Joey thrust  with his sword. I used minimalist movement to dodge the tip while  stabbing his throat with my black knife.

「Shit-! Don’t let your guard down!」

「A scout won’t be able to do anything when surrounded-, don’t let her get away!」

「Ou!」

Their combat strength was around 200──they could be considered as upper rank 2.

Their company leader Joey was around rank 3. That Joey and his  friends didn’t withdraw even after I killed some of them was partly  because of anger, but mostly because they were still confident of their  superiority.

When many people fought inside a cramped space like inside a room,  the side wearing armor and shield would have the advantage because of  the limited space for dodging. Even I would first take distance when  fighting against warriors of the same rank outdoor. I would then  separate them before aiming to take them down one by one.

These knights thought that they could win against me even though  there was difference in our rank because they felt safe from wearing  armor, and because of my appearance as a slender girl. That was my  thought.

But, they were mistaken in their premise. Dodging wasn’t impossible just because the place was cramped.

「Wha-!?」

Even if it looked like they were attacking at the same time, there  was still difference in speed from each other. I used my knife to parry  the tip of the sword that reached me first, put one hand on the head of  that knight who charged at me, and jumped to dodge to the ceiling.

My posture became upside down and I landed on the quite high ceiling.  Then I rotated my whole body while twisting the head of the knight that  my hand was still grabbing. My skirt fluttered and I pulled out the  black dagger attached on my thigh, then I stabbed my knife and dagger to  the side of the heads of the knights at my right and left. Then I  landed back on the floor with my skirt fluttering gently.

「I-impossible……」

「How can a scout be this strong!?」

「She’s just a little girl-!」

Three remaining. Put your life on the line if you want to close the  gap between ranks. Besides it’s unfortunate but, although I’m a scout  type adventurer, I wasn’t really a “scout” deep down.

Although the knights were clad in armor, it wasn’t the full plate  armor that they usually wore in battlefield, but just light armor that  consisted of chain mail and things like breast plate or arm protectors  slapped over it.

An “assassin” could kill their target if they showed their bare skin even if it was only a little.

Before they could recover from their panic, I slid into the gap  between them and stabbed my dagger to a knight’s flank while tearing the  neck of another knight with my knife.

I jumped over that knight and kicked on the ceiling, then using that  momentum I smashed in the face of the knight behind them using the hard  heel of my loafer.

「You’re the last one. Where’re you planning to bring her highness to?」

「Dammit-」

When I pointed my blood soaked knife at him, the knight who had my  dagger planted deeply into his side glared at me while sweating  waterfall and kneeling on the floor.

「Don’t……look down on us-, the conviction of us knights of the noble  faction who grief for this country’s future will never break no matter  what kind of torture──」

「Then die.」

I horizontally slashed the knight’s neck while he was in the middle of talking, taking his life.

If he said he wouldn’t talk even under torture then it would be a  waste of time to keep talking with him. I didn’t know what kind of  conviction these knights from noble faction had, but if they were still  knight, they should be resolved for even death penalty now that they had  laid their hand on a royalty.

Even if I somehow managed to extract information from someone with  such resolve, I had no time to confirm whether that information was  accurate or not.

「Elena……」

I checked Joey’s body just in case he had something on him before going after Elena.

.

When I returned to the gathering place, the carriage was already gone  just as I thought. I searched the faint track that was left on the  ground before running toward the direction where the carriage seemed to  being.

I arrived at the south gate of the academy and confirmed that Elena’s  carriage had passed through here. I showed the guard there a badge that  I was related to the royal family and asked him to deliver a message to  the butler(Joseph) at Elena’s  mansion, then I immediately started following the track once more.  Midway the track entered a forest and from there it split into multiple  tracks. I couldn’t follow it any further than this.

Which way did they go? Have I missed the track on my way here?

I was thinking like that while sharpening my Detection until the very  limit to search the surrounding. Then I suddenly noticed the “gaze”  from faraway that was looking at me, one that didn’t belong to human.

I turned around and focused my eyes into the darkness of the forest──

「……Nero?」

『…………』

The mythical beast Coeurl showed itself from inside dark forest as  though it was oozing out from the darkness. Was this a coincidence or  inevitability? The Coeurl who I named Nero silently stared still at me  to ascertain something.

Inside the slightly gloomy forest in the morning, we were staring at  each other as though to assess the other side. I quietly pointed my  black dagger toward Nero.

「I’ll take you on if you get in my way. And if not then──」

*Gin!*

Nero’s whip-like whisker flew out from the darkness in that moment  and clashed against my knife. I switched posture and thrust my dagger  between Nero’s eyes.

「Lend me your strength, Nero.」

<──right──>

Nero gave such answer and approached until my side with nimbleness  that was unimaginable from such large body. It brought its nose close to  the ground where I became unable to differentiate the right track.

「……You can find the right one?」

『Gaa……』

Why can’t you? It felt like it was saying that to me.

Why was Nero allying itself with me? Did it recognize me in that fight?

Nero called me 『moon』 when we parted. The spirit also called me 『the  child of moon rose』. Carla said that 『I was like a moon so she reached  her hand toward me』.

I wonder how was “I” reflected in the world that they were seeing……?

「Let’s go, Nero.」

<──right──moon──>

.

Nero started moving and following the track while I ran at its side.  We continued like that for a while before we ran into a scene of two  knights in the process of pushing  female students in uniform into a  carriage.

「Nero」

『GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!』

Nero’s roar startled the knights and they turned around. I took  advantage of that opening and gave an order to the female students.

「Duck!」

The knights were at a loss for a moment from the voice of me who was their enemy. The two female students meanwhile were reflexively ducking.

I was using body strengthening, and using pendulum’s string I jumped  on a tree. The knights reflexively followed me with their eyes. Nero who  didn’t slow down at all slammed at them with its large body.

「Disappear」

The knights got thrown to the air. I also whirled through the air and  wrapped two pendulums around their necks. Then I kicked on empty air to  rotate myself while using the centrifugal force to snap the knights’  necks. Then I immediately unwrapped the string and threw them into the  forest around us.

「……Are you two alright?」

「Y-yes.」

These female students should be the young ladies who departed in the  same carriage with us. Why were the two of them here? The young lady  from viscount house was replying even while looking scared at a huge  beast like Nero. Then the young lady from baron house gasped and spoke  up.

「Her highness and the male student from the church are still being captured! They said that we are just in the way……」

「Where are they taking Elena-sama to?」

「Ahead from here-, they shouldn’t be that far yet from here-!」

I turned my gaze toward the direction the baron daughter was pointing before facing the two once more.

「You two stay inside that carriage. Reinforcement should arrive later.」

「Yes-」

「Please save the princess-!」

I nodded to them and called out to my back without even turning around.

「We’re going Nero」

『Gaaa』

.

The girls saw us off while clasping their hands together in prayer. We broke into a run once more in order to hurry ahead.

Midway I climbed a tree and jumped from branch to branch while  surveying my surrounding to make sure that I wouldn’t miss anything.  Then midway I saw an open clearing inside the forest with a large ten  that was usually used in battlefield being erected there. I changed  direction to there──

「Tsu!」

*Gin!*

Nero used its whisker to deflect the arrow that came flying this way.

It seemed they had posted an archer as lookout. As expected they were  different from bandits. I calculated the shooter’s position from the  direction the arrow flew from and returned fire using a normal crossbow  loaded with poison arrow that I took out from my Storage.

The archer fell from the tree. It seemed that my arrow luckily hit  him. But, I couldn’t launch a surprise attack now after counterattacking  their surprise attack. We leaped out from the trees to the ground,  showing ourselves to the knights near the tent.

「Aria-!」

「Elena……you’re safe.」

There wasn’t even any time to feel relieve hearing that voice. The  knights drew out their weapons warily toward Nero and me and formed  formation.

Rank 3 knights who seemed to be as strong as Joey were surrounding  Elena and the boy called Nathanital while pointing their weapons toward  us. Then a man at his thirty who seemed to be the company commander and a  middle-aged man who seemed to be a noble quietly stepped forward while  being protected by the knights.

「As expected from “Rainbow Sword”. So you defeated my subordinates in that age and caught up with us already……」

「Ludger-, what is that beast!? Is the academy keeping that kind of monster!?」

「No, Viscount Savoie. Most likely it’s a monster that got tamed by  that adventurer girl……Lady Aria, I ask you to send off that beast from  this place. If you refuse, an injury that cannot be healed will be left  behind on the face of that boy over there.」

「Hih……」

Nathanital got a short sword pointed to his face by the knight who  was holding him. He let out a small scream with a fearful look. Then the  knight captain called Ludger spoke up again.

「You too should understand this situation if you are the princess’s  bodyguard. Throw away your weapon and surrender. To be honest, I don’t  want to turn a famous adventurer party into enemy. I shall promise you a  greater amount of payment if you continue to guard the princess at our  side.」

「……Nero, leave.」

『…………』

Nero understood the situation and returned to the forest when I spoke to it. Then it hid itself.

Besides I had heard the name of that Viscount Savoie somewhere. I  believed it was Sera who told me. He should be a noble from the noble  faction who was famous for being radical.

The noble faction that had stayed quiet for some time was starting to  move again……. That Viscount Savoie smiled in relief seeing Nero gone  and talked to the captured Elena.

「That was a bit unexpected but, can I ask your highness to also tell  your bodyguard to surrender? We have no intention to do anything to your  highness if your highness proof obedient, but we will have to rely on this if your highness keeps acting rebellious like that.」

「…………」

Viscount Savoie shook a small black bottle with his fingers to show it off. It caused Elena’s face to twist in disgust.

That bottle……I once saw it at master’s place. The bottle was empty,  but that should be a sealed bottle that contained special medicine that  the [evil race] used.

I didn’t know what kind of drug it was, but guessing from Elena’s  expression, it must be something like a paralyzing medicine to rob the  consumer of their free will and reduced them into a state that was just a  step shy from being an invalid. It seemed the intention of the knights  was to have Elena as their alliance leader, but the that didn’t mean the  intention of the noble faction was just that. At the worst case they  could just turn Elena into an invalid to be used as a threat against the  young second prince.

What could I do to save her? If it was just Elena herself, would I be able to escape from here while carrying her?

Even if I used Iron Rose, I would run out of mana midway and I would have to fight the pursuer in such weakened state.

Would Nero allow Elena to get on its back? Even before that, would Elena accept abandoning Nathanital to his fate?

Even if Nero allowed Elena who was close to me to ride on its back,  Nero definitely wouldn’t tolerate Nathanital who could only tremble in  fear in this situation.

Could I fight while protecting Elena against this many opponents……?

But, Elena had resolved herself first before I could decide on my answer and smiled softly.

「Aria……thank you for coming. I’m happy.」

Elena then let out a sigh before looking straight into my eyes.

「You can do as you like from here. Things will become difficult if  you come with me. Even if it’s just you, you at least should live  “free”……」

「……Elena」

She lived for the sake of the kingdom’s people. Even though she had  risked her life to clear a dungeon and had her body healed, she still  tried to become a queen and lived for the kingdom’s sake.

These guys would even trample Elena’s feeling just to make their wish  come true. Viscount Savoie frowned even at Elena’s small wish to avoid  involving me.

「Your highness……it’s troubling for you to say something so selfish.  Such skilled bodyguard who can handle that kind of monster will serve as  a good fighting force. Please give the right order here, your  highness.」

「You……-!」

Elena bristled up from those words that went too far. Even Ludger was frowning.

Aa, I see……

Elena was resolved even if the result that she obtained was “death”.

So it was me who was lacking determination.

Then I too……would act “free” just as she wished for.

「……Iron Rose……」

.

My figure vanished from their sight in that moment.

『──!?』

My body left residues of light behind as though they were wings while  I slashed the necks of the knights who were holding Elena and  Nathanital with super fast movement. Then I held Elena under my right  arm and grabbed Nathanital’s collar with my left hand before swooping  down on a spot that was at a distance from the knights.

「Aria……」

「Elena, I’ll do as I please.」

My ashen iron colored hair that looked like scorching iron fluttered  as I looked down on Viscount Savoie and the knights who were looking  astonished. Then I proclaimed with a voice that was heavy like iron.

.

「I’ll annihilate all of you here.」

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