Chapter 26: First Outing (2)

For the next 30 minutes, the two of them searched for Exia.

It was no easy task. The streets of Anatolia City were filled with people enjoying their weekend. 

Given Exia’s small stature, spotting her in the bustling crowd was far from simple.

Fortunately, they managed to find her eventually—because she was standing right in the middle of the street, wailing her eyes out.

-“Waahhh… I thought I was lost forever…”

Exia clung to Sion, crying. Her speech was barely understandable.

Sion struggled to suppress her boiling anger and said calmly.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. We found you, didn’t we? But next time, never run off ahead by yourself again. Understood?”

-“Sniff… Yes, I’m sorry, Sion…”

“Did. You. Understand. I-ris?”

-“…Y-Yes…”

Exia nodded quickly, cold sweat running down her back. Sion’s expression clearly said, ‘Say the wrong thing, and you’re dead.’

Behind them, Isabella tilted her head in confusion.

“Strange… Why didn’t my search magic work? It’s not like I didn’t know her face…”

“It’s okay, Princess. Sometimes that happens when you’re not feeling well.”

“But I’m not in bad shape at all.”

She tried casting a few other spells just to be sure, and they all worked properly. Search magic worked on other people without issue as well.

Yet, strangely, it didn’t work on Iris.

Was it because of some peculiar constitution or something like that?

‘…Well, it doesn’t matter since we found her anyway.’

Isabella soon shrugged it off.

Being childhood friends with Sion, it might have something to do with the overflowing holy energy around her.

It’s common knowledge that holy power and magical power repel each other.

Isabella concluded her thoughts there, quickly losing interest, as was her usual style with matters she didn’t care about.

“So, what are you going to do now? You said you came here for something?”

“Well…”

To be honest, Sion just wanted to go back to the academy. She felt like she could justify it if she decided to head back now.

But then she shook her head. Sooner or later, she would have to get it for Exia. There was no point in being stubborn about it.

It would just be a waste of time if she had to come out again.

“We’re going to get shaved ice with Iris. Would you like to join us, Princess?”

“Really?! Can I?”

“Of course.”

She would have insisted on coming along anyway. Besides, refusing might only ignite unnecessary jealousy toward Exia.

Sion figured it was better to make the offer first.

“Yay, great! Let’s go and eat every bit of ice we can find!”

“No, we definitely can’t eat that much.”

Sion gave a wry smile, knowing he’d have to keep things from getting out of hand.

At the cafe ‘Sweet Days’.

Isabella, sitting across from the two of them, finally brought up ‘that question’.

“By the way, what was Big Sister Sion like when she was young?”

It had finally come.

Both Sion and Exia broke into a nervous sweat internally.

“A-Are you asking me?”

“Of course I am. Who else? You’re the only one here who knows what Big Sister Sion was like as a child, right?

Was she like a complete ascetic even back then? Or was she just an ordinary kid?”

“…”

Isabella’s eyes sparkled as she looked at her, and Exia’s voice trembled.

Her expression was visibly flustered, and anyone could see she was caught off guard.

‘Don’t panic, Exia! Didn’t we practice for moments like this?’

Sion silently prayed over and over.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t anticipated such a question. In fact, she had expected it from the very beginning. 

Ever since she had covered up Iris’s identity by claiming she was a childhood friend, this had been a hurdle she knew they would face.

After all, there was no way that Isabella, who had an unusual amount of interest in Sion, wouldn’t be curious about her past. 

Knowing this, the two of them had prepared in advance while in their room.

They had carefully crafted a backstory—about what kind of (fake) past they had shared, what (false) memories they had together, and how much they (did not) value each other. 

They had meticulously prepared from start to finish and drilled Exia on the details. 

So, as long as Exia followed the plan, they should get through this without any issues.

“…Uh, uh, uhh… well…”

‘You useless idiot, seriously!!!’

Sion cursed inwardly.

Unfortunately, Exia’s stupidity exceeded Sion’s expectations.

 Despite having reviewed it every night for a week, she still managed to forget everything. How low did she have to go to finally be satisfied?

Sion screamed internally in frustration.

Meanwhile, Isabella watched Exia, who seemed unable to form a coherent sentence, and tilted her head.

“Why are you stuttering like that? Are you nervous?”

“N-No, it’s just…”

Despite the air conditioning being on full blast, Exia was sweating profusely.

At this rate, it looked like she might be able to make shaved ice out of her own sweat.

Realizing that things would only get worse if he didn’t step in, Sion sighed and intervened.

“I’m sorry. Iris tends to be very shy around people she doesn’t know well. It seems she’s feeling a bit nervous.”

“Really? She doesn’t have to be. I’m very friendly and easygoing, you know.”

“That’s from the princess’s perspective. For a commoner facing royalty, it can feel very different.”

Sion gave a strained smile, making a gesture asking for understanding.

It was natural for a commoner to be nervous in front of royalty. If they made even the slightest mistake, they could be sent back to Salem with their heads on the line.

Sion tried to point this out to smooth things over somehow.

“Hmm… Well, I suppose she does need time to prepare herself mentally.”

Luckily, Isabella seemed to understand, nodding at Sion’s words.

Phew, thank goodness. Sion felt a wave of relief wash over her.

“Then I’ll wait until she calms down♬”

Correction. It wasn’t fortunate at all. All Sion had done was buy a little more time before the inevitable happened.

It seemed Isabella was determined to hear about Sion’s childhood no matter what.

Her eyes held a resolute determination that said she wouldn’t leave the shop until she got what she wanted.

Sion glanced at Exia, sitting next to her. Could she maybe speak up now?

“Uh, um, uh, uh…”

…Definitely not.

Sion let out a low sigh and opened a telepathic channel to Exia.

-“Can’t you remember anything? Not a single thing?”

-“Well, it’s not that I don’t remember at all… It’s just… thinking about lying in front of those innocent eyes makes my conscience as a holy sword… ache…”

-“…”

Ah, yes. That was one of the characteristics they had given her.

This mysterious sense of conscience that sometimes surfaced.

Given that she declared herself a hero back in the temple, it wasn’t like she couldn’t lie at all, but the criteria were a mystery

Sion could never solve, no matter how many times she thought about it.

Sion sighed again.

-“There’s no choice. We’ll have to go with Plan B.”

-“Plan B?”

 Exia asked.

Sion didn’t answer her question. Instead, she handed Exia her water cup.

“Here, drink this and calm down.”

“???”

“It’s okay. The princess is a kind person, she won’t eat you up.”

Sion smiled sweetly, but the underlying pressure of ‘drink the water quickly’ was evident.

‘What exactly is he planning?’

Exia wondered to herself.

Usually, when Sion acted like this, she had some sort of plan. But what kind of plan would require her to drink water?

Confused, Exia took a sip. And then—

“Uhm… so, to start, I’ll talk about our first meeting…”

“!?!”

Suddenly, a voice echoed from Exia’s location — her own voice. She hadn’t spoken a word.

Just as she began to stand up in surprise, a telepathic message came through her mind.

-“Don’t make a sound. And don’t move.”

-“Sion? Is this your doing?”

-“Yes.”

Sion confirmed. Beside her was the image of “Iris,” nervously but clearly recounting the day she and Sion had met. This was Sion’s Plan B.

-“I’ve used a Major Image spell to create an illusion of you speaking, overlaying it on your body. I’m also providing the voice.”

-“So this way, we can get through this situation without you having to actually do anything.”

-“So… all these words I’m hearing are just an illusion?”

-“Exactly.”

-“…That’s really impressive.”

Exia was awestruck.

While illusion magic itself wasn’t particularly difficult, controlling it was another story. 

Unless you were a specialist in illusion magic, you were limited to mimicking simple things like the sound of a chair scraping or footsteps. 

The broader the range of effects the spell allowed, the more the caster’s skill became critical. This was the characteristic of illusion magic.

Yet, here was Sion, creating a perfect illusion of Exia’s appearance, gestures, tone, and mannerisms—all with flawless accuracy, so much so that even with Isabella watching closely, she couldn’t detect any sign that an illusion was in play.

It was a truly astounding level of precision.

-“So, what should I do? Just stay still?”

-“Yes. Don’t talk or move. The illusion is based on your current posture, so if an arm suddenly pops out of the chest of the person in front of you, the illusion will break.”

-“That’s a disturbing thought… Okay, understood. Anyway, staying still is my specialty! I’ve been doing that for the past 500 years, after all.”

-“And with what mouth do you say that…?”

 Sion’s brow twitched slightly in irritation. Had she already forgotten the mess she’d caused earlier?

What a legendary troublemaker.

-‘Well, at least we don’t have to keep it up for long. Just talk until the shaved ice arrives, and that’ll be enough.’

Once the shaved ice came, they could use the excuse of eating to cut off the illusion.

And after finishing the meal, Sion could always restart the illusion if needed.

Honestly, just to get through one simple meal, Sion had to go through so much trouble.

How much more did she need to put her through before she’d be satisfied?

Sion shook her head in exasperation.

“Your two strawberry shaved ice and special parfait are ready.”

As Sion was silently complaining, finally, the long-awaited shaved ice arrived.

Luckily, her break came sooner than expected.

At least she could catch her breath while enjoying her portion of the dessert.

Especially since, in this body, she had been craving sweet things more often, so the opportunity to replenish her sugar levels was quite valuable.

Just as Sion turned her head to look at the server, the moment her eyes met theirs—

“!?!?!!!???!?!?”

Sion’s eyes widened in shock, and she fell backward.

Naturally, the illusion was instantly dispelled, but that wasn’t the main issue.

 Exia also fell backward at the same time.

All because of the sight of the server’s face in front of them.

“Uh, uh!? What’s wrong, Big Sister?!”

“?! Are you okay, miss?!”

The server and Isabella were both startled by their sudden reaction, and the entire cafe’s attention turned to them.

But neither of them was aware of the stares. More accurately, they didn’t have the time to notice.

‘Wha… Why… why…’

Why? For what reason?

‘Why are you here!!!!’

Sion screamed internally.

This person shouldn’t be here. Right now, they should be wandering near the outskirts of Libertaria. 

Sion had made sure of it herself…!

“Be… Beryl…?”

Behind him, Exia muttered blankly, her expression as if her soul had left her body.

The name of the attendant they had erased and sent away before coming here.