Chapter Index

    Intruder

    Intruder

    I headed out of the mansion with Riel and Lilu for patrol.

    I actually wanted Riel to stay behind, but she objected, insisting on coming along.

    “I want to go too!”

    “But it could be dangerous.”

    “Once they’ve gotten this far, everywhere is equally dangerous.”

    “Still…”

    “That’s enough.”

    The one who stopped me as I strongly objected and tried to persuade Riel was Lilu.

    “If you’re that worried, you can protect her yourself.”

    “……”

    She wasn’t wrong.

    But in terms of safety, it would be better if she stayed here under the protection of Phyllis or other knights…

    “Kyo.”

    “……”

    I met her eyes as Riel called me.

    Her clear red eyes were looking straight at me.

    …Fine, I give up.

    This wasn’t the timid, quiet Riel from the original story, but Riel who had regained her true personality—bright and proactive.

    That’s the Riel I fell for.

    “Promise you won’t do anything dangerous. Stay close to me and Lilu. Understood?”

    “Yes!”

    She smiled as brightly as the sun when I gave my permission.

    We left Phyllis and Luca in the Duchess’s room and entrusted the room to the knights who remained there.

    The Duke’s estate grounds were quite extensive—even after leaving the mansion, there was an area even larger than the mansion itself.

    Not only gardens, but facilities like guesthouses and greenhouses too—no wonder it was so spacious.

    As expected of a Duke’s family, the garden was the size of a large park.

    “There should have been anti-intrusion magic… why didn’t it activate?”

    Riel voiced the question that had occurred to me.

    Certainly, a mansion of a Duke’s family would have not only those high walls but also anti-intrusion magic cast on the walls, making infiltration difficult.

    I couldn’t imagine what kind of person could break into a Duke’s estate grounds.

    “Ah, I heard that someone named Eve destroyed it when entering this mansion.”

    “What? My sister…?”

    “Hmm? She’s your sister? Well… Princess Aine said so, so that must be it.”

    Anti-intrusion magic literally requires permission from someone inside when entering from outside.

    Usually, a servant managing the building would verify the owner’s face and approve entry, or passage would be possible with a magic stone acting as a key…

    “…Why would my sister do such a thing to her own home?”

    “I don’t know.”

    Come to think of it, the main gate did look newly constructed when I first came to the mansion.

    Even with a new door, casting anti-intrusion magic requires calling a specialized magician.

    I suppose they hadn’t yet cast new anti-intrusion magic, and the intruder took advantage of that opportunity.

    “But how did they get over such high walls?”

    “It might be an intruder with exceptional physical abilities.”

    I found myself looking at the high walls surrounding the Duke’s property.

    Though slightly worn with crumbling parts, they were still very high walls. Perhaps 3-4 meters high.

    “Or maybe they can fly.”

    “Fly?”

    At Lilu’s words, I instinctively looked up at the sky.

    Not a single bird was flying in the cloudy summer sky.

    “Yes, like… that one!”

    Suddenly, Lilu drew the bow she was carrying, nocked an arrow, and pulled the string.

    With a sharp sound cutting through the air, the arrow flew toward what seemed like empty space.

    “Kyaaaah!!”

    Along with a piercing scream, the arrow stopped in midair as if it had pierced something.

    Then it disappeared in a flash of light, and only the sound of the arrow falling to the ground echoed.

    “What… what was that?”

    “A fairy.”

    Lilu casually answered Riel’s question.

    People who’ve actually seen fairies are few and far between… no, I have seen one before.

    The Light Fairy that Allen summoned as his summon.

    “Fairies can hide their appearance. It’s convenient for playing pranks.”

    “That’s such a frivolous reason.”

    “Yeah, well, I can sense their presence so it’s not a problem… but why are they just flying around?”

    Though I couldn’t see anything, Lilu was looking around in the air, rolling her eyes.

    Her expression was like someone glaring at flies buzzing around.

    “How many are there?”

    “Three… no, four. But they don’t seem like they’re going to attack. Rather…”

    Lilu turned her gaze from the air to look at us.

    “They seem afraid of something… that’s the impression I get.”

    Fairies are afraid?

    Is there something in this mansion?

    I couldn’t understand the situation, but since I couldn’t even see the fairies, there was nothing I could do.

    “But we can’t just leave them… maybe I’ll hunt them down.”

    With that, Lilu began nocking arrows and shooting again.

    “Kyaaaah!!”

    “They’re dodging all over the place!”

    However, the fairies must have sensed the danger—other than accidentally taking down one of the four, she couldn’t hit them properly.

    If I could see the fairies, I could have helped.

    Of course, I could randomly cast magic in the direction Lilu was shooting and might accidentally hit one, but that would just demolish the Duke’s garden.

    While I was thinking this, Riel suddenly grabbed my arm.

    “Riel? What’s wrong?”

    “Kyo, let’s borrow his power.”

    “His?”

    Who is “his”?

    As I hesitated at her sudden suggestion, Riel sighed.

    “Forgot? I mean Baduk.”

    “Ah.”

    …That’s right, I had my summon, Baduk.

    After the outdoor class, I occasionally summoned him to play on days off, but somehow I’d forgotten about him.

    I quietly concentrated my magical power and summoned Baduk.

    “Kyeong!!”

    As a strong wind blew, Baduk appeared in midair and barked loudly.

    Baduk scattered green magical power around him and barked valiantly.

    His cute dog-like face somewhat ruined the image, but a dog is a dog, I suppose.

    “Kiiing…”

    Perhaps expressing discontent at not being called for so long, Baduk whined and circled around my feet.

    “No, well… I should say I’ve been too busy lately… I’m sorry.”

    “Kiiing…”

    “I’ll play with you often from now on.”

    Riel had summoned her own summon, Freya, and was preciously hugging her.

    Riel probably summoned her occasionally to play with her, while my Baduk would cause chaos if summoned indoors, so I couldn’t help it.

    I mean I have to summon him outside.

    “Are those summons?”

    Perhaps noticing our summons, Lilu approached with interest.

    As Lilu approached, Baduk, slightly startled, retreated briefly before slowly approaching her.

    “Kyeong! Kyeong!!”

    “Oh, a Sylphid Wolf? You contracted with a pretty decent one.”

    Good for you, Baduk.

    She says you’re in the pretty decent category.

    But I didn’t know what kind of summon you were at all—a Sylphid Wolf, is it?

    I see…

    …Huh?

    “A Sylphid Wolf?”

    “Yes, they used to live in the forest where I lived before. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one.”

    “Kyeong! Kyeong!”

    Baduk barked happily.

    But I was staring blankly at Baduk.

    No way…

    “…A wolf? Not a dog?”

    “Yes. He’s a wolf.”

    I stared at Baduk’s face.

    No way, with this face, a wolf?

    At best he looks like a Shiba Inu or a Retriever!

    “You were a wolf?”

    “Grrrng…”

    Baduk whined with dissatisfaction.

    Seeing this, Lilu laughed loudly and said:

    “Hahaha! Well, his face is certainly a bit dopey, but he’s definitely a wolf.”

    “Really?”

    “Yeah, I like it though. He looks like an acquaintance of mine.”

    “Kyeong! Kyeong!”

    Baduk seemed to puff out his chest proudly.

    Hey, she just called you dopey-looking, don’t be happy about it.

    Anyway, we decided to borrow Baduk’s presence-sensing ability.

    A summon’s sensing abilities are transmitted directly to the summoner without any need for explanation.

    “Wind Cutter!”

    “Kyaaaah!!”

    So, I could also sense the fairy presences that Baduk detected.

    One fairy that had been wary of Lilu was destroyed on the spot by Wind Cutter.

    “Another one got hit!”

    “Scary! Scary!”

    The fairies revealed themselves.

    Fairies with wings made of light, looking like small children.

    The fairies with twinkling blue eyes were looking at me with fear filling those eyes.

    “What are you! What are you!”

    “Scary! Scary! Scary!”

    Hey, they keep saying it’s scary since earlier.

    I mean, I did slice one with magic, but if we’re talking about scariness, shouldn’t they be more afraid of Lilu who shot and killed two of them?

    “Smelly! Smelly!”

    “Scary smell! Scary smell!”

    ……

    “Huh?”

    At those words, forgetting we were fighting, I smelled myself to see if I had an odor.

    No, except for a slight sweat smell, there’s no smell?

    If anything, I’m the type who pays attention to cleanliness, washing every day.

    “…Riel, do I smell?”

    At my words, Riel opened her eyes wide and approached me.

    “Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff…”

    “Ri…Riel?”

    No, there’s really no need to bury your nose in my chest and smell like that.

    This is really embarrassing? What if I really do smell? This is so embarrassing!

    “Sniff sniff…sniff sniff…”

    “Um…Riel? How long are you going to do that?”

    “Huh!”

    Startled by my words, Riel stepped back.

    Her face was bright red.

    “Ah…that…well.”

    “Um, okay…but do I really smell?”

    Be honest with me, Riel.

    Suddenly being told by a fairy that I smell makes me really self-conscious.

    “Ah…yes… a really nice smell…”

    “What?”

    “No…yes! It’s fine! Not bad at all!”

    …Hmm.

    So you’re saying I don’t smell strange or anything?

    “Smell of foreign entity! Foreign! It’s a foreign entity!!”

    “Scary! Scary!!”

    I really don’t understand what’s going on, but the fairies are criticizing me for smelling.

    And apparently the smell is scary enough to frighten them.

    “Where are you looking?”

    “Kyaaaah!!”

    One of the fairies that was making such a fuss was hit by Lilu’s arrow flying from the side and vanished.

    It was the price of forgetting to be wary of Lilu while focusing on me.

    “Elf! Foreign entity! Too scary!”

    The one remaining fairy was flying around in the air, making a fuss.

    “Foreign entity! Smell! Smells like poop!”

    ……

    No, this is actually getting kind of hurtful.

    “Wind Cutter!”

    “Wowak!!”

    I cast the spell out of irritation, but it was easily avoided since the fairy was at a distance and too quick.

    “The smelly scary human attacked again!”

    “Can’t you stop that?! You damn fairy!”

    “Smelly human! Ugly human!!”

    With its blue eyes and silver hair, its appearance reminded me strangely of Allen, and its behavior was just as annoying, making me increasingly irritated.

    I was thinking about how to take it down when it happened.

    “Kyaaaah!!”

    “Huh?”

    The fairy was on fire.

    Flames that were redder than ordinary fire magic.

    “Hot! Hot!!”

    The fairy screamed as it burned.

    It ran around trying to extinguish the fire, but the flames wouldn’t subside, instead growing larger.

    The fairy, crying out in pain, eventually disappeared in a flash of light.

    Both Lilu and I stared blankly at the sight before shifting our gaze.

    To Riel, who had her hand stretched out toward the fairy.

    “Uh…Riel?”

    “Prominence Flare, is it? Excellent magic.”

    Riel turned to look at me, then ran over and firmly grasped both my hands.

    “Kyo!”

    “Uh…um…yes?”

    “It’s okay! You don’t smell bad at all!!”

    “…Huh?”

    “Actually, you smell really good, so it’s fine! I guarantee it!”

    “…Um, yeah, thanks?”

    I don’t know what to say.

    “Both of you, that’s enough for now. The intruder is still around.”

    At Lilu’s words, both Riel and I stopped and looked at her.

    Lilu’s ears were twitching.

    “This time it’s not fairies… what is this? Not human either…”

    That’s when it happened.

    I instinctively reached out as I heard something cutting through the wind.

    “Kyeong!!”

    Baduk leaped forward and deflected with his paw what was flying toward Lilu.

    It was none other than an arrow.

    Lilu, who almost got hit by the arrow, opened her eyes wide and let out a groan.

    “Huh…right, it makes sense I couldn’t distinguish. It’s been too long, I completely forgot.”

    “Lilu, what do you mean?”

    “Both of you, be careful. The enemy isn’t as easy as fairies.”

    In the direction Lilu was glaring, two figures wearing green hoods were descending from the wall.

    I suspected one of them, who was holding a bow, was the one who had shot the arrow.

    “Did it take too long to cross the wall? The insects have already been dealt with.”

    One of them muttered.

    From the voice, I could tell it was a man.

    His blue eyes looked straight at us.

    And then he removed his hood.

    “…The intruders are elves. And they’re quite skilled.”

    At Lilu’s words, I slightly moved my hand to the sword at my waist.

    0 Comments

    Heads up! Your comment will be invisible to other guests and subscribers (except for replies), including you after a grace period.
    Note
    // Script to navigate with arrow keys