episode_0063

[Side One: The Princess]

A few days ago. The night of the inauguration ceremony.

The saint and her knights left the princess’s room. The short tea party came to a warm close, and it was time for everyone to return to their respective quarters.

However, inside the princess’s room, there were still two other people besides the princess.

They were people whom the princess could talk to without hesitation, drink tea with, and have conversations with. They were people who had shed blood and sweat together as a group of warriors and overcome hardships and adversities. In other words, due to the princess’s stubbornness, Silvia de Orsant and Puer de Martial had not yet been able to go home.

Of course, neither of them had any desire to go home right away.

“Your Highness, Princess…”

“Why are you suddenly calling me Luna… with such a serious face.”

And then, someone put down their teacup and spoke to the royal family with a serious face. It was some time after the saint and the knight escort left the room. Even after that, the three of them maintained a gentle atmosphere and shared stories from their daily lives.

Then, one person, Sylvia de Orsanthe, tried to change the mood with a very serious face.

“Then, Luna.”

“Yeah, yeah, why?”

“Luna… can you really trust and entrust the saintess to that person?”

“Huh?”

The second princess was a little puzzled, but soon understood Sylvia’s meaning with her inherited clarity of mind.

And then, explanations that matched her premonitions exactly began to flow out of Sylvia’s lips.

“Honestly… I’m anxious. Given his origins and his suspicious career… I’m surprised and suspicious that the Saintess would place so much trust in a man. Is this man really trustworthy? I heard that he became involved in some kind of incident and stopped his adventures for over a year, becoming a hermit before suddenly showing up… Could he be part of a long-term conspiracy aimed at the Saintess’s reputation and appearance? ”

“Poem, Sylvia…”

“Wow, Sylvia…you’ve always been like that…your brain works really fast in strange ways.”

The second princess stuck out her tongue. Well, she knew very well that Sylvia de Orsanthe was smart, but a bit delusional. However, it wasn’t completely unreasonable.

Glenn. The name was quite well known, and he knew it. He had first seen him when he became the first high-level adventurer as a princess. At that time, he had thought he was a confident and lively boy. However, when he was told that he was much older than him, he had been a little squeaky.

He was a high-ranking adventurer officially recognized by the kingdom, and there was no doubt about his status since he attended the appointment ceremony. The problem was that he had stopped his adventurer activities for over a year and had lost his presence. The break was not the problem. The trigger was the problem.

That incident. Princess Luna also knew that she was involved in a hidden conspiracy that could put the royal family in danger. And it was none other than the Arklight family, who held many of the highest positions among the central nobles, that was at the center of the plan to overthrow the country.

“S, actually, I too… am a bit suspicious. It’s surprising and amazing that the saintess trusts me this much and wants to keep me by her side… but a person who has been in hiding and not been active as an adventurer for over a year… suddenly appears in the midst of the saintess’ crisis… and reaches out as if he’s been waiting for it, and in the end… he, he becomes a knight escort.

This flow leading up to the appointment… I felt like someone had a hand in it. ”

As Sylvia expressed her opinion, Puer, who had been quietly listening from the side, also courageously expressed her opinion. Princess Luna felt a little touched when even Puer carefully conveyed her opinion. She also thought that perhaps her meeting with the saint a little while ago had restored her confidence a little.

“Well, I was a bit suspicious of that too. That guy Glenn… The fact that he got caught up in ‘that incident’ was the most memorable. Of course, he was actually working under a secret edict from our kingdom…but it was so strange how smoothly he uncovered the conspiracy. He even went into hiding after that incident, and the palace and the guild both went along with it without hesitation. ”

There was a corner here that made the second princess even more suspicious. No, the presence of a certain person made it impossible for all suspicions to be put away.

Yes, Guildmaster Rashford.

Although their acquaintance was vague and they had hardly ever actually talked, the presence of that person, or even just a small smile, would alert the princess’s instinctive senses.

Even Prince Endymian, who was his brother who was extremely generous and sometimes seemed so reckless that he seemed like a pig full of muscles, changed his attitude. Whenever the conversation turned to the topic of the guild master, he would add something like this as if to remind him to keep this in mind.

‘The man is worthy of suspicion. In a good way, and in a bad way.’

“He went into seclusion and was forgotten by people… and then, when the saint was in danger and needed help, he appeared in front of her as if he had been waiting for her and helped her, and at the end… I found it hard to believe even though I saw it with my own eyes… but he even took the saint’s heart. ”

“Ah, ahh…”

“Wow, Princess…I don’t think I can say that I took your heart…”

“That’s not a wrong expression, is it? Or, have you ever seen a saint giving ‘that much’ of attention to one person?”

Both Sylvia and Puer showed hesitation in answering, but eventually slowly shook their heads.

No, Sylvia looked a little hesitant. But in the end, she agreed with the second princess’s opinion.

“Sometimes…when I look at you, I think you gave me that look…but no, no. It’s completely different. Even you, the warrior, have never seen that kind of look and attitude…I can be sure of that.”

“A woman’s feelings?”

“Yes, maybe.”

“Me too. I never thought I would see Millie like that in my lifetime. No, I would never have seen it if that escort knight hadn’t existed. The saintess was so captivated by that little brat that it made me say things like that. Completely.”

Even after saying that, the princess flinched.

It was taken away. Is that really the right expression? Is it really okay to make such a conclusion?

The princess recalled the scene from earlier. There was a moment when the princess had approached the little knight. It was when she had ordered him to take the fairy tale book that was placed on the top of her bookshelf.

At the same time, he wanted to check if the man was ready, so he brought his lips to Glenn’s ear to recommend a legendary place that was floating around in the Elf Forest.

And, the princess felt a chill down her spine. What is this coldness? Who is it coming from? An assassin, no, not that kind.

In fact, she had figured out the person in an instant, but she didn’t want to believe it. She wasn’t ready to accept the fact that she had received such an intense gaze from the saint behind her back.

Who was that gaze directed at? To Glenn, who was close to another woman?

Or, to the princess who had suddenly approached her own escort knight?

I couldn’t figure it out. I didn’t want to ask. But… I was sure there was something wrong with my expression, the word ‘stolen’.

“Ah. Seriously… destiny flows strangely. A kid suddenly appears out of nowhere, breaks down a giant castle wall that seems impenetrable, and moves the princess’s heart… I thought this was something that only happened in romantic novels, but now we see it unfold before our eyes. I guess life is long and there’s much to see. I’m only twenty now.”

The princess now took advantage of the absence of the two before her eyes to freely vent her grievances. Her two close friends smiled softly at her childish tone.

However, Sylvia shook the princess’s feelings with her words that were slightly mischievous.

“Oh my, Luna. Could it be that you also want to create such a romantic scene with the warrior?”

“Wh, what? Why is that guy here all of a sudden!”

Openly, the princess jumped up and threw a tantrum.

Strong denial. It was overly awkward. Even, unlike a moment ago, Volga was a little red. It seemed like he had hit the nail on the head.

So Sylvia decided to tease the cute princess a little more. It was a girlish prank that would have been absolutely impossible if she had not been friends.

“I wonder if you feel a sense of emptiness and a little bit of hope at the reality that someone suddenly took away the person who would be the strongest rival in the world. Hehe, warrior, you must have been trying to attract the attention of the saintess, so you launched a lot of offensive attacks.”

“Wh, what are you talking about. Sylvia! I, absolutely not, absolutely not! That kind of philandering guy… Huh! ”

The princess’s attitude, which had been freely talking about the saint’s love life until just a moment ago, completely changed. Sylvia was so happy about this situation that she couldn’t stand it.

Although he and Puer, who was next to him, had once had feelings for the warrior, these days, when they could not meet and their faces could not even pass each other by, those feelings gradually began to fade.

Of course, it was also because he knew very well that the warrior’s attention was drawn to someone.

“But… How are you, warrior?”

One of the people who had been happily watching the princess’s embarrassment suddenly opened his mouth as if he had remembered something. It was Puer. With a slightly anxious expression on her face, she brought up a person she had not brought up as a topic for a long time.

“Even though you’ve been traveling around the continent…you’ve already been away from the kingdom for almost a year…I’m a little worried. I hope you’re doing well…”

“Oh my gosh, Puer…What are you worried about? Health? Crisis? Or… Love?”

“Huh? Oh, no, that, that, that…but…”

I could see Puer’s cute face turning red and shrinking in an instant, but the other two also sympathized with her anxiety.

A warrior. He was a man who brought peace to this continent, but at the same time, he was overly anxious. He didn’t respond to anyone’s feelings properly, but he poured out his heart and attention to everyone. And with his tall stature, good looks, and fame, many women’s hearts swelled with affection for him.

However, the saintess was different. Despite being the first member of the warrior’s party and having been together for a long time, the saintess was never swayed by the warrior’s work. There were several times when the warrior openly expressed his desire to spend time alone with the saintess, but the saintess did not understand at all and the attempts fell through.

In the end, even after the mission of the warrior party was over, progress was still sluggish. Now that the warrior had set out on his journey alone, after a series of events, the saintess had chosen someone else. The princess thought that if the warrior returned and saw this sight, he might be quite bitter.

“Well, he’s probably just whispering sweet nothings and talking to innocent nobles like he usually does. That idiot. ”

And the second princess regained her composure and let out a whiny remark. Her expression had also changed to that of a very whiny child. Even if nothing else, it was clear that she was not happy with the hero’s current situation.

“Oh my, Luna. You seem quite anxious. If you make a mistake, you might lose your heart to someone from the Northern Kingdom. ”

“Ha, Sylvie…what are you talking about when you’ve been together for over 3 years? You were a beautiful saint, and you had an elf princess by your side…what happened?”

“Well…there wasn’t any.”

“Right? So…”

The princess added, her face much brighter than before, and without a trace of doubt,

“That guy, by now, after training, he’d probably take a bath and be fast asleep in the big bed. Just like always. He’s a womanizer, but he’s a pure guy. Pretty much. ”

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[Side Two: The Braver]

“Etch! Ahem…who’s talking about me…”

Hmm, the window is closed properly… I wonder who is talking about me? Is it possible that the saint is missing me and calling my name in the dead of night? Hehehe…

Oh, I almost forgot! Hello, everyone! I’m the warrior! You all missed me, didn’t you?

I’m doing well! I’m incredibly healthy! I’m also full of energy thanks to you helping me live comfortably in the Northern Kingdom!

Especially, the lower body is so healthy… hehehe…

Oh, what are you doing at this hour of the night? Of course, I’m preparing a reply to the last letter from the saint, which was full of affection. Hehehe… I’m a little late because I’ve been showering other young ladies with affection for the past few days…

What? What does it mean to spread affection? Hey, everyone already knows. What would a man and a woman do in a room with a bed late at night? Putting it in and taking it out, putting it in and taking it out… Uhehehe…

What, what. You guys think that you’re being too slutty, even bringing up sex jokes and meeting random women without hesitation? What are you talking about! That’s not what you call being slutty!

I am a warrior. I am the man with the best physical ability and the greatest strength on this continent. I am a completely different person from the me who was at the level of anchovies in the real world.

Even though you’re already in your twenties, you still can’t properly release all this overflowing energy? Tsk tsk tsk, that’s not right. Sharing a little of this precious, one-of-a-kind body and energy with others is service and a donation, that’s what I mean!

Even so, I’m not that crazy of a man, so I stick to the rule of only having one person in bed at a time! If you bring too many people in without permission, you know what will happen!

Thanks to that, four days ago, the young lady of the Count’s House, three days ago, the young lady of the Count’s House, and yesterday, the young lady of the Duke’s House. You just spent the night having a serious conversation about the body with one person a day? Really? Hehehe…

Oh, today was a little different. Today, I showered our cute, animal-eared girl Rinka with affection, under the pretense that I was ‘busy punishing my sassy servant.’ Hehehe…

“Wow… warrior… good…”

Ugh… I tell you, I’m amazed every time I see her. Our Rinka… No, listen, the Suin are really amazing, right? Their stamina is so great that it’s rude to compare them to other humans? Other guys get exhausted after a good fight, but our Rinka never has that, and she’s always in perfect shape. Today in particular… Hehehehe…

“Wow warrior…only me…”

“Huh?

“That girl…stop seeing her…I don’t like her…”

Oh no! Our innocent and naive Rinka… Rinka who made my heart burn with her impressive cat ears… is jealous in my dreams? Jealous? You want to throw a party, hahahahaha!

“Umm…hey, warrior?”

“Huh? Are you awake, our Rinka?”

“I just…heard…laughter…”

Oh my, this can’t be happening! It was a mistake. I must have unconsciously broken my composure in the joy that was rising up on me.

I quickly collected my expression. Then, I carefully soothed Rinka with the sweet voice I used even during the day.

“Sorry for waking you up, Rinka. But I was so happy to see Rinka’s cute sleeping face that I couldn’t help but laugh.”

“Huh? Yeah….right, I see…um…”

A little puzzled but convinced, Rinka tossed and turned in bed again and fell asleep.

Whee-yu. That was a close call. Well, this level of crisis is much better than dealing with those two guys who barged in this afternoon, huh? Ahem.

Those guys. Even though I made it clear that I didn’t have the patience to sit in a room with a guy for hours, they just kept telling me stories and kept repeating boring stories for hours…

What? The atmosphere on the continent is not normal? The strange phenomena? What are you talking about, when it’s not like the Demon King himself has appeared. Let’s listen to their story while trying our best to hide our boredom. They finally added this and barely left my room.

‘If you are interested… please come to our lab. My colleagues will be waiting for you as well.’

‘Well, if you’re wondering if there will be any girls, you don’t have to come. It’s full of guys right now.’

‘Hyung, hyung! Why do you have to say something like that… I’m sorry, warrior. Please ignore my brother’s nonsense. Then, I’ll wait!’

That kid! He hit the nail on the head…

Anyway, the intruder left with the cheeky guy. But, you guys… To be honest, I didn’t understand what you were saying at all? And, you want me to come to you! I have an important letter to write right now… And I have to go to the Western Mountains in a few days! There’s someone I’ve made an appointment to meet… No, there’s a creature! I’ve planted a flag, so I have to retrieve it!

Oh, come to think of it, there really isn’t much left. That guy, is he still staying in the cave he was in before? If you don’t come, he’ll fly to where he’s staying and turn everything to ashes, he threatened.

Surely, you wouldn’t have declared it so openly and then moved somewhere else?

Well, it’s a dragon. Even in old fantasy novels, they stayed in their lairs for hundreds of years, so why would he be any different?

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[Who Are You?]

Among the Western Mountains, which were famous for being rough and rugged, the mountain ranges that bordered the sea were rumored to be dozens of times more rugged than other areas, a terrible place. Unlike the eastern part of the Western Mountains, where people were living or training grounds, the westernmost part of the Western Mountains was a place where primitive wild nature, huge valleys, and mountains that rose without end existed, a place where no human being could carelessly set foot.

Among these extremes, there was one cave of immense size. It was so high that ten people could stand on each other’s shoulders to form a kind of tower and barely reach the ceiling.

An adventurer from the Southern Kingdom came across a cave so wide and high that he could jump as high as he could without even touching the ceiling with his fingers. And this cave was not a naturally formed cave.

“One month.”

And within that cave, a voice echoed. For a human voice, it was a mixture of a rasping sound and a reptilian hiss, which was extremely creepy.

And then, in the darkness of that cave, two eyes shone.

In an instant, several wild birds outside the cave fled in an instant. In the large forest formed near the cave, numerous wild beings suddenly flinched and began to run away.

There was silence all around the cave. It was a silence so great that it was almost eerie. And then, trudging footsteps echoed inside the cave. Outside the shadows formed by the sunlight pouring down near the cave entrance, someone’s feet emerged. They were delicate and beautiful, human feet.

Then, surprisingly, a human appeared, wrapped in a huge robe. No, it was more like a large piece of cloth roughly wrapped around the body. It was much more shabby than the ‘toga’ that humans used to wear in ancient times.

However, the person wearing that piece of cloth possessed a surprisingly devilish charm. Long, crimson hair and equally red eyes.

However, her hair was sticking out here and there, so it seemed like she had just woken up. And there was something strange about her eyes. They reminded me of a reptile rather than a human.

She was a woman with a devilish beauty that was hard to believe was not an ordinary human being, and even an elf with exquisite beauty, with slightly pointed ears, and last but not least, slightly protruding fangs.

“One month left.”

And, unlike a moment ago, the ringing voice was full of softness and magic. There was no hissing sound like a reptile or a squeaking sound at all. The wild animals that had left the area a moment ago seemed to have no hostility or threat, to the point where their actions were meaningless.

“Show up quickly, my warrior. Or else…”

However, suddenly, an incredible murderous aura emanated from that woman. It was a murderous aura that was so powerful that it affected not only the psychological aspect but also the physical aspect.

Thanks to this, the surrounding forest was properly affected. The green trees gradually turned red. It seemed as if they recognized the color of the woman’s hair and eyes and dyed themselves.

If the animals had remained, they would certainly have been seriously affected and in a very serious condition.

“I’ll…go find you.”

And very quietly, the woman who had spoken her vows turned her steps carefully. Once again, she moved her body into the shadowy cave. Thump, thump. Slowly…

Behind the woman’s back, beneath the shabby piece of cloth, what was sticking out was clearly a tail of a different shape than that of an ordinary animal.