Chapter 5: Welcome to Delphion

After emerging victorious from the forest battle on the Delphion border, we marched straight into the province. Our first stop would be to convince Lord Delphion’s younger brother, Ernest, to join our cause.

According to the scout Reggie had sent out after we’d entered Delphion, Ernest had gathered a respectable number of soldiers.

“Back in the beginning, Lord Ernest kept to himself in his branch estate. Then people who weren’t interested in falling in line with the baron after his surrender started to gather there... or at least that’s how I remember it,” I recounted.

“Everything seems to have gone the same way as your memories,” Reggie remarked. “Half of the branch families’ soldiers have gathered in Ernest Finard’s territory. Many came in asking to enlist after their fields were ravaged, so it’s safe to assume he’s brought together even more troops than we predicted.”

The farmers whose fields had been laid to waste bore deep grudges, but they were far too outnumbered to strike back with only their hoes in hand. Thus, they had all gathered under a single emblem for their cause. Reggie explained all this as he walked his horse alongside mine.

We were heading to the southern part of Delphion. That wasn’t to say we were moving our whole army there, however. The rest of the troops were marching steadily to the west, toward the fort occupied by the Llewynian and Delphion soldiers. Alan and his knights were in charge of leading those men.

My squad, led by Reggie, was aiming to meet the baron’s brother, Ernest Finard. After receiving a report from our scout regarding his whereabouts, we were headed to the House of Finard to the south.

In the RPG, this task was handled by Alan, the protagonist. However, our current commander-in-chief was Reggie. If we were out to win Ernest over, everyone determined that Reggie was the right man for the job. Or rather... we held a meeting with only those who knew the full situation, then once the decision was already made, we told Jerome and Lord Enister what the plan was.

For the record, we had pinpointed where to send our scout thanks to my prior knowledge that the baron’s brother was taking refuge with a large number of soldiers, which made it hard to explain our reasoning to anyone else. As far as everyone else was concerned, our scout had “just happened” to pick up on the rumors en route and had made his own call to inquire into Ernest’s affairs. We had rewarded the man with a hefty sum of money to buy his silence on the matter.

“If only more people had memories of their past lives, everything would be so much easier,” I mumbled out loud.

“True. Of course, that begs the question of why only you have those memories, Miss Kiara.” Cain seemed to be wondering about that aspect of it. I would’ve liked to know the answer to that one, too.

“Fair point. But in your past life, the story follows Alan’s crusade, doesn’t it? Perhaps whoever remembered their past life in your world was the one who told Alan’s story. Thinking about it that way, there might be a surprising number of people with memories of another world.”

Reggie’s suggestion made a lot of sense. Everything here was the same as in the game, right down to the tiniest details, so it was natural to think that someone might have witnessed the events in this world and written them down in a story in their next life.

But that “someone” would definitely have to be a member of our army, right? They had to know a good deal about both sides’ circumstances, plus a deep knowledge of the enemy’s formations... Wait, who could that even be?! Plus, the memories they possessed were of a world without Reggie in it.

“This is starting to sound like a time paradox...”

Many things had changed, mostly due to my own actions. In that case, the memories of whoever had reincarnated into the other world should have changed, too. Which would mean my memories ought to have changed to match what was currently happening... but that had yet to occur.

Either way, I had already left a record of all my memories on paper. If I found a discrepancy between what I’d written and what I remembered, I would know that something had changed.

“That aside, I wonder why Llewyne is just leaving Lord Ernest be.”

It was like that in the RPG, too. But if you really thought about it, they weren’t in a position to ignore someone with a sizable number of troops.

“Perhaps that was a side effect of bringing Salekhard to their side.”

Are there drawbacks to allying with Salekhard?

“Salekhard has allied with and invaded alongside them due to a common goal, but they’re not acting in Llewyne’s interests. They have Trisphede now, but they might want some territories a bit further south, too. Llewyne is likely being cautious of that.”

Because they had prioritized marching west and taking the royal capital, Llewyne hadn’t left very many soldiers with the noblemen occupying each territory. If Salekhard moved against them, they would only barely have enough men to push them back. Thus, Reggie speculated that they couldn’t turn their back to the allied country.

“But it looked like Salekhard was with them in the forest.”

“Yes, because they had a common enemy. They’ve already decided to band together against Farzia, so it was easy for them to join forces there. Oh, look, I believe we’ll be coming up on it soon.”

We had departed from the Delphion border two days ago. Perhaps because we were traveling in a smaller group—Reggie’s knights and a handful of other cavalrymen, so about fifty men total—we had arrived sooner than expected. If it hadn’t been for me, we might have gotten there even earlier.

At first, Reggie had suggested he go by himself, but that just seemed like a bad idea. I mean, he already had a track record of getting shot the moment I thought he’d avoided a death flag! I didn’t want to send him out with only a few escorts, so I had insisted on coming along.

Besides, I had the most information about Ernest, and if Reggie was only willing to take a handful of people along, at least I was as valuable an asset as they come. Since he had agreed to help me, not only did Cain not object, but he even managed to persuade Jerome. Thanks to that, I was allowed to accompany Reggie.

Recently, Cain had started treating me more like a little sister to look after, just like he had promised. I actually found that kind of fun. Of course, I had been an only child in my past life, and I might as well have been one in this world too, so I didn’t know what siblings were really supposed to be like. But he’d do things like casually ask me if I was feeling tired, and when I told him I was fine, he’d give me an encouraging slap on the back... which made me incredibly happy.

Cain had worried that he was being a little too rough with a girl, admitting that he was probably treating me more like a little brother... but I was perfectly fine with that. I felt a lot closer to him this way.

“Oh, I see how it is. Heeheehee!” Master Horace had cackled as he’d watched us, but I decided not to think too hard on that.

Before long, we arrived outside the town in which the Finard estate, Ernest’s home, was located. We were standing on a hill overlooking the town; down the slope, all the way to the fields by the river, the land was strangely bare of grass in a few places.

“I see something, Your Highness.” Groul brought us to a halt, and we peered downhill. A moment later, a lump of earth popped up in one of the barren areas, only to be pulled back in, leaving a large hole in its wake.

Looking closer, we saw several similar spots. No sooner had I noticed than more dirt kicked up from the ground, plugging up one of the holes.

“Terramice,” the sandy-haired Felix determined as he stepped in front of Reggie.

Right on cue, an animal popped its head out of a hole. It had golden, fluffy fur; round, black eyes; and tiny, little paws. Its size was nearly that of a human’s, but make no mistake: it was the spitting image of a hamster.

“How cute!” I cried, spellbound by its dark, watery eyes.

Reggie burst into giggles. “You’d consider something of that size ‘cute’?”

“Just look at its face! That’s as cute as it gets!”

Who cared how big it was? That cherubic, hamster-like face won out over everything else.

Master Horace cut in from beside me, “Whatever you say, kid. Just don’t forget: if they’re out here, they’ve probably dug their holes along the high road, too. Mmheehee! Think you can still make it to the town?”

“Oh!” Now that I was looking for it, I noticed they’d made plenty of holes in the road winding down the hill as well. But hey, that wasn’t a problem with me around. “It’s fine! I can just patch up the holes along our path.”

I hopped down from my horse and placed a hand on the ground. The earth along the road hardened, gradually spreading over the whole surface. This way, our horses would be able to get across no problem.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t cover the entire area from here to the river in one shot.

“I’m going to go flatten the ground up ahead! Follow along nice and slow, everyone,” I instructed, walking on ahead.

“Let’s come down from our horses for now, just in case they trip. I don’t see any sign of the enemy, so we should be fine,” Reggie suggested. Everyone dismounted and set off on foot.

I jogged straight ahead. Right where the hardened patch of ground broke off, I kneeled down and pressed my right hand to the ground once more.

Just as I finished leveling the ground all the way to the bridge over the river, something soft and heavy suddenly flung itself at me from the side.

“Kiara!”

“Your Grace?!”

The moment I heard those shouts, everything went dark—suddenly, all I could see around me was dirt.

“What?!”

Within the time it took me to scream, I found myself in the embrace of a fur-covered marshmallow. I felt my body being jerked to the left, then the right, up, and then down. The terramouse that had snatched me up had to be even bigger than I was. From what I could tell, it had absconded with me into its underground burrow. It was too dark to see anything, and all I could feel was fur. Seeing as neither my hands nor my feet were touching the ground, there wasn’t much I could do to resist.

Right when I began to consider biting my thumb and using my own blood, we emerged into a better-lit area. It wasn’t so bright as to be disorienting; light seeped in through a thin crevice, dimly reflected off the white limestone. In the center of the cavern was a mound of copper stones. If I were to stand next to it, it would reach to my waist.

I was unceremoniously plopped down atop this gently sloping pile of stones.

“Owww!”

Sitting on top of a mountain of rocks was uncomfortable, to say the least. Ouch.

I climbed down from the heap, feeling pretty done with all this craziness. Perhaps the terramouse in question didn’t care what I did so long as I stayed in the room; it didn’t try to put me back on the pile.

“What’s all this about, anyway?”

Why have I been kidnapped? I tilted my head to one side, puzzled.

Master Horace, who had been dragged along with me, was the one to answer my question. “I’ve got a good guess. Remember, these creatures are monsters. Mmheehee! Maybe he wants to keep you stored away as a sweet treat.”

“A treat? Stored away? What?” I wondered why a monster of all things would bother with that, but then I remembered. “Did he bring me here because he wants my mana?!”

The reason Gina’s frostfoxes had taken a liking to me was because they craved scraps of my magic power. The same phenomenon seemed to be happening with this terramouse.

“Oh, that makes it sound so harmless. Eeeheehee! You both have the same element, so I’ll bet this guy’s fixation goes way beyond those foxes of yours. He’ll chase you down the second you try to run away.”

“Great...”

As amazed as I was by the terramice’s fluffiness, if I had to cart them around everywhere and they were always right on top of me, I’d never make it to another battle. I had to find a way out somehow. Fortunately for me, there was plenty of ore lying around, so I figured I could use that to build a tunnel back to the surface.

However, the moment I placed a hand on the ground and attempted to cast my magic... FWUMP! From the three tunnels leading out of the white cavern, a swarm of terramice came hurtling along to pile on top of me, almost like they were tackling me in a game of rugby. One of them wouldn’t have been so bad, but the weight of six or seven human-sized hamsters was too heavy for me to bear.

“Ack! I’m dying! I’m being crushed!”

“Lay off the magic, kid!”

“I already stopped! I couldn’t cast anything right now if I wanted to!”

The pressure on my chest was making it hard to breathe. I flailed like a drowning man, but the terramice just kept nuzzling closer, blocking off my escape route. Just as my mind had begun to melt in the heat of their fur, a savior appeared.

Eek! Chirp! With a few adorable squeaks, the terramice suddenly jumped off of me. I was dying to know what had happened, but now that I could finally breathe again, I was too busy gasping for air to worry about anything else.

Someone picked me up from where I lay face down on the ground, lifting me up in his arms. I had a moment of panic over the sudden embrace. A hug from a total stranger was just alarming—that was my first thought, anyway, but something about the way he was holding me felt familiar. When I blinked and looked up at his face, I saw that it was Reggie.

“Are you alright, Kiara?” Looking a bit ruffled, Reggie cast a glance to the side, readjusted his hold on me, and made a shooing gesture with his left hand.

I followed the motion with my eyes. The moment Reggie’s fingertips brushed against a terramouse’s belly, I could have sworn I saw sparks fly.

The terramouse gave a cute squeal, then swiftly scurried away from Reggie and retreated into one of the passageways. From there, it timidly peeked out at me.

Now that I was looking, I noticed that several other terramice had huddled in all three tunnels. Counting their faces, there were apparently fourteen of them.

“Huh? Reggie? Why...?”

There were a lot of different questions wrapped up in that “why.” Why was he here? Where were the rest of his knights? How had he shot sparks from his fingertips?

“That was just a little sleight of hand. I came into possession of a thunderstone in Sorwen, and it appears these creatures don’t take well to those,” Reggie answered, a vaguely strained smile on his face.

Somehow, I got the feeling he was hiding something from me. Thunderstones were abundant near lightning-prone areas or colonies of zapgrass, yes, but I had never heard of them producing sparks so easily.

Of course, I knew that even if I pressed him about it, Reggie wouldn’t give me a real answer. Worse still, I could easily see him convincing me I’d imagined the whole thing, so I kept my mouth shut. Nonetheless, I gave him a long and hard stare, far from convinced.

When our eyes locked, he just said, “Don’t worry, Kiara.” Then, to avoid my gaze, he rubbed his cheek against the top of my head.

“Eep!” I’d gotten used to being held, but it was still embarrassing for him to bring his face so close to mine. My face was pressed against his jacket, and I could feel the hard touch of the chain mail he had begun to wear underneath his uniform ever since summer had passed.

Wrapped up in Reggie’s arms, there was a moment I nearly forgot to breathe.

“Whew! Thanks for the save. For a second there, I thought this new body of mine was doomed.” Master Horace, who had nearly been crushed alongside me, scratched at his head with one of his stubby arms.

“Are you alright, Sir Horace?” Reggie asked.

“Mmheehee! Nice of you to pretend like you care. You sure do love to show off.”

As soon as he said “show off,” I suddenly felt a lot more self-conscious in Reggie’s arms. I had totally forgotten Master Horace was here. Maybe Reggie was the one to blame for that; he was always touching me every chance he got, so I didn’t think twice about it anymore.

I rushed to peel myself away from Reggie, but he wouldn’t let me go—in fact, he even murmured “Don’t move.” Next, he addressed Master Horace with a nonchalant air. “Oh, but I do care. You and I are both Kiara’s guardians. I’m sure she would cry if she were to lose you.”

“I have to say, son, you’re refreshingly honest about what you’re after.” Master Horace gave a hopeless shrug of his shoulders. I didn’t really get what they were talking about. “So tell me, am I getting this right? My disciple here was kidnapped by a terramouse, and you jumped in after her all by yourself?”

“Not quite. I was dragged along for the ride.”

According to Reggie’s explanation, delivered somewhat dryly, over a dozen terramice had popped up from beneath the earth, aiming to take me down with them. Immediately after one of them had snatched me up, they had sent a knight who’d come running after me hurtling back, hitting Reggie along the way and knocking him down into one of the holes.

“Well, I suppose that did make it easy to get into their nest and find Kiara. I found a way to fend them off, too, so I’m glad I was here to save you.”

“It is a good thing for us you were here,” Master Horace reluctantly admitted.

“Since you can drive the terramice away, do you think we can make it back to the surface? Let’s hope they don’t just try to drag me back down again.”

“We’ll just have to give it a shot,” Reggie said, finally releasing me from his hold. I stood up.

Relieved, I looked around to see which tunnel was least overrun with mice... and that’s when I finally noticed something: one mouse that had scampered right up to a tunnel opening was clutching a little girl.

The girl’s dark, brown hair was tied up with a big, green ribbon, and she was wearing a green dress made from the same fabric. I assumed she was about twelve years old. There was a good chance she would grow up into an alluring beauty someday, going by the mole under one of her eyes.

She flung away a sack she was holding, her expression blank, and the terramouse immediately let go of her.

The girl landed with a practiced motion, then said impassively, “Hello. Who are you?” After that, she fell silent, apparently waiting on our answer.

From that reaction, even I could tell what was going on here. She was suspicious of us. Whatever her circumstances were, they meant she had to determine enemy from ally.

Judging by appearances, she was either part of a family with ties to nobility or the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Considering the timing and the situation at present, the former seemed more likely. When I considered why she might be down here, that left only one person she could be... or so I thought, but something about that didn’t check out.

Ernest Finard’s daughter was supposed to be older than me.

Reggie responded before I could. “Will this crest and the color of my hair provide proof enough of my identity?”

He drew his sword and showed off the design on the hilt. A ring of silver leaves bordered a shield bearing the image of a dragon, adorned with two crossing swords and a crown on top. That was the crest of Farzia. The hilt itself was made of gold, so it was clear at a glance that this sword was special.

The most undeniable evidence of all was Reggie’s silver hair. It was a trait unique to those with the blood of the Farzian royal family running through their veins.

The girl was clearly aware of that, seeing as she curtsied on the spot. “I apologize for my suspicions. I am the daughter of Henry Delphion, the man who rules over this region. My name is Lucille.”

“The baron’s daughter?” That’s weird. “I thought Lord Delphion’s daughter had been taken prisoner by the Llewynians.”

Lucille grimaced.

“Someone helped you to escape, didn’t they?” Reggie prompted.

Lucille nodded. “My cousin—Uncle Ernest’s daughter, Emmeline—allowed me to get away.”

“Ernest’s daughter, hm?”

Had the story diverged from the RPG again? No, we couldn’t say that for sure. We had set everything into motion six months earlier than the start of the game. If all of this had originally happened before the events of the game, only for Lucille to be captured a second time and killed, everything would line up.

Reggie asked her yet another question. “In that case, why did you come down here?”

“I came down to take a look at the terramouse nest. Llewynian soldiers will march to Uncle Ernest’s land sooner or later, so I’m to escape down here in the event of an emergency,” Lucille answered, then proceeded to explain why there was a nest of terramice here in the first place. “The terramice Emmeline bred made a nest here, and all the holes in the road keep the troops from charging in. Terramice usually won’t let humans come near their nests, either, so it’s perfect for warding off Llewynian soldiers. All you have to do to get inside is hold a piece of copper. The terramice will carry you all the way down here, and once you let go of it, you can slip right past them and leave.”

“But why did this Emmeline breed more terramice to begin with? Was there some sort of quarrel among branch families?”

“Emmeline had attempted to turn down a marriage proposal, but the man wouldn’t give up... She decided to use monsters to drive him away and ensure that he would never want to get involved with her again. She said that the newfound potential for making pitfalls was a nice side benefit.”

Uhh... Okay, I understood the feeling. I was essentially doing all the same things as her: digging holes and breaking down walls with magic. Still, that sounded just a little extreme.

Lucille clasped both hands together and looked off into the distance, dreamy-eyed. “That’s my dearest Emmeline for you! Oh, if only I were a man, I would come running to her rescue, sword in hand, and ask for her hand in marriage!”

“Oh... So you don’t see a problem with that.”

Evidently, Lucille was quite infatuated with this off-the-wall Miss Emmeline.

“Incidentally, we’re interested in meeting with Ernest. Could you take us to him?” Reggie asked.

“Of course,” Lucille agreed, then took off walking.

There was one small problem: the moment I headed toward a hole, the number of terramice there multiplied. Or at least, that’s how it looked; they crowded around behind me, their faces peeping out as they sensed my presence.

I wasn’t even using my magic when I was snatched up from the side... Are they ever going to let me out of here?

“Don’t worry. I can scare them away like I did earlier,” Reggie reassured me. Hugging me around the shoulders, he held me close and headed for one of the tunnels full of terramice. He was holding a stone in his left hand, one small enough to fit in his palm.

Apparently, his claim about using a thunderstone had been true.

Reggie let Lucille go ahead first. The terramice didn’t bother with her as she squeezed through the gap, their eyes completely glued on me. Reggie proceeded after Lucille, thrusting out his stone as he took a step forward. Alarmed by the sight of it, the terramice scurried back one after the other.

Now we could finally pass through. Reggie and I traced our way back through the terramice’s burrow. Lucille took us down one of the relatively brighter paths so it would be easier to see the ground under our feet.

The terramice Reggie had scared off hid in side tunnels along the way. Their eyes were all that shone in the dim light, so I could tell they were still watching me intently after we passed them by. Reggie was following right behind me, however, so they didn’t try to come near us.

We made our way up the gently sloping passage, and before long, we came upon a pit that led outside. The light filtering down from the surface was almost blinding.

The exit was split into two. There was a boulder jutting out of the wall that served as a foothold for the smaller of the two holes, so Lucille easily climbed up and out through there. Unfortunately, said hole was far too small for me to slip through.

The other hole was too high up to crawl through on my own, and there was no stepping stone I could use to get up there. What a pickle.

“You go first, Kiara. If you’re the last to leave, those mice might come snatch you up the moment I take my eyes off you.”

“I’d love to, but I don’t think I can reach it on my own. Could you hel— Whoa!”

Right as I was about to ask for some assistance, Reggie hauled me up. I gave a little scream, surprised that he was strong enough to lift me up onto his shoulders... and because I was mortified to have my legs right next to a man’s face.

“Don’t worry; I won’t drop you. Go on, climb up.”

I chose to do as he said and head to the surface ASAP. That was my only option if I wanted to get out of this mess and make sure the terramice couldn’t drag me back. I attempted to grab hold of the lip of the hole and make a quick escape, but unfortunately, my arms were so weak that I struggled to pull myself up.

“Ngh...!”

Reggie made an effort to help me out, holding onto my legs and giving me a boost. I made it to the surface at last, tears in my eyes, and Reggie effortlessly swung himself up behind me.

Upon witnessing that, I made a vow to myself: I was going to put a little more muscle on my arms. It was time to start doing push-ups in secret.

When we emerged from underground, I saw a bridge built over a river just past the hole-ridden ground, and that Groul, Cain, and the rest of their squad had flocked there.

“Miss Kiara! Your Grace!” Cain and the others were ready to come running over to us, but we headed over to them before they had a chance. If another one of the terramice popped up, Reggie could take care of the problem for us. If anybody else got dragged into it, however, we would have no choice but to wait around until they found their way out.

Once we had finally reunited, Cain said, “Thank goodness you’re alright.” Relieved, he nearly reached out to touch my shoulder, but his hand came to a stop before he could. He opted to give me a gentle pat on the head instead. “I was afraid you’d been devoured by terramice.”

“Sorry for worrying you, but we’re both just fine. It sounds like they don’t eat humans! Also, we met Lord Delphion’s daughter inside.”

“Lord Delphion’s daughter... Is that who this is?”

I nodded. Lucille, who had just come up alongside me, gave a curtsy. “My name is Lucille. I would be most honored to invite you to my uncle’s estate.”

In addition to Reggie’s squad, there were several other men wearing blue Farzian capes gathered near the bridge. It turned out that they were soldiers from the town. After noticing the color of our capes, they had come to see if more friendly forces had arrived.

Lucille asked them to inform Ernest of our arrival, and they politely obliged. One went running off to the manor while the remaining soldiers served as our guides.

One man remarked, “What a valiant man you are, Your Grace. To think you were taken down into a den of terramice, yet you remained no less composed than Lady Lucille... None of us have even ventured down there.”

“You haven’t?” Reggie gave a puzzled tilt of his head, and I couldn’t blame him. If that nest played a part in this town’s defenses, it was natural to assume the soldiers would have taken a look inside.

“Why, it’s a den of monsters! Not many are brave enough to wander inside. Lady Emmeline and Lady Lucille are the only two of the House of Finard who have ever had the courage.”

That was fair. Not many people would think to use a monster’s nest as a hiding place. The one who had come up with the idea, Emmeline, definitely sounded like someone ready to knock common sense out of the park.

When we arrived at the manor, a servant lady showed us to the parlor. That was where Ernest came to greet us. With his long, dark-brown hair and almond-shaped eyes, there was no doubt he’d been a hit with the ladies in his younger years.

“Oh, Your Grace! I’m so glad you could make it!” Unfortunately, he looked as though he might burst into tears at any moment and put those good looks to waste. “To be perfectly honest with you, I’m rather ignorant of military matters, and I always left that side of things up to my brother. Now that the two of us have gone our separate ways, I’ve had no idea what to do with the soldiers who have gathered around me...”

It seemed Ernest’s hands had been tied by his own ineptitude at commanding the troops.

“I assume you traveled all the way out here because you would like to bring on the soldiers who have assembled here. Naturally, if it’s to save Farzia from the hands of Llewyne and liberate our home of Delphion, I am more than willing to leave them in your hands. I’m sure the men in question will have no qualms either.” At that, his eyebrows lifted with concern. “However... I’m afraid that upon hatching a plan to save my daughter and the rest of the hostages, some of those men from the branch families have already left for Delphion Castle.”

“Why?”

“In order to do battle with your men, Your Grace, the Llewynians and my brother’s soldiers had to travel to the border with Cassia. Thus, my men assumed that now was their chance to storm the castle. Many children of the branch families and other similarly influential figures have been taken prisoner, you see.”

Everything was starting to make sense. I finally understood why the baron’s soldiers had seemed strangely motivated during our battle on the border: the children of the families they served had been taken prisoner by the Llewynians.

Still, if there was a team so worked up about going to save them, that meant chances were high that Emmeline and the other children were still alive.

“If you could, I would be most grateful if you freed my brother’s wife and all the other children trapped alongside my daughter... If he loses his reason to stand against you, I’m sure my brother will bend the knee,” said Ernest.

Reggie nodded. If we released all the captives of the House of Delphion, we could move forward with far less hanging over our heads.

“Unfortunately, I don’t believe our children are being held where everyone ran off to. I have a feeling they’re somewhere other than Delphion Castle.” What Ernest mentioned next was a town near the baron’s residence.

“If you don’t mind telling us, I’m curious about something. Your brother chose to side with Llewyne, and yet you held out. Was there a reason for that?” Reggie asked. I wanted to know that, too. Why hadn’t Ernest’s love for his daughter been enough to bring him under Llewyne’s thumb?

“If I did that, I knew my daughter would berate me as a ‘milksop of a man’ or demand that I put the longevity of our house before my own child...”

Emmeline sounded like a pretty unflappable girl. When I said as much, Ernest broke down and blurted out, “Her mother was a force to be reckoned with, too. I was a bit of a... debauchee in my younger years. I certainly wasn’t faithful, at any rate. Even after we got married, I didn’t fall in line.”

To sum up the story, Ernest used to be a real playboy. However, after all that time spent putting the moves on various women, his wife just told him this: “If you’re going to cheat, it had better wait until you’ve finished your work.”

Ernest figured she was just trying to get a rise out of him, so he did exactly as she demanded... but it turned out his wife really couldn’t have cared less about it. He was bewildered enough already, but then she followed up with, “If you have a baby with another woman, I’m going to adopt the child, so make sure she’s alright with that.”

Ernest was shocked to his core. He had never met a woman like her before.

Eventually, his wife told him it was preferable to having him meddle in any internal affairs. Apparently, she wanted to run the House of Finard however she saw fit. Ernest’s playboy antics were all the more convenient for her, seeing as it meant she could do whatever she wanted; she was more than happy to have him go out and play rather than get in her way.

And that was how she had wrested control of the land right out of her husband’s hands.

Ernest had been infuriated to be given the brush-off by his wife, considering how confident he was in his looks. He was so determined to win her over that he turned into a doting husband.

Their daughter had apparently inherited her mother’s disposition. After all, it was thanks to the gallant Emmeline that Delphion’s anti-Llewyne forces had managed to keep their flag held high.

And now, they were determined to rescue her.

His circumstances differed slightly from those in the game, but it seemed Lord Delphion’s hands were tied because his wife had been captured. It sounded like she was being held in the same place as Emmeline, so if we could free all the women at once, a bunch of problems would take care of themselves.

We were to spend the night in the Finard estate. Either tomorrow or the next day, we were bound to receive some news from the group that had left for the baron’s castle. Assuming we could pin down Emmeline’s whereabouts with that information, the plan was to reunite with Alan’s forces and go rescue them together.

I was covered from head to toe in dirt, so I took a bath with Lucille and got myself cleaned up, then collapsed into bed in my assigned room.

That was when it suddenly occurred to me.

“Huh? Master Horace isn’t here... Is he wandering around on those stubby little legs of his?”

I guess even Master Horace likes to go for a walk every now and then. I closed my eyes, ready for a short nap.

◇◇◇

The moment he set foot inside the room, Reginald collapsed sideways onto the sofa, as if keeping himself upright was too much of a strain.

“Your Grace?!” His escort, Groul, panicked and rushed to his side. “Your Grace... Were you hurt? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“No, it’s not that. The old injury is acting up,” the prince responded, exhausted.

Groul frowned. “Then you’re hurt either way. Do you have any idea what could have aggravated it?” he asked.

Reginald gave a laugh, almost as if the knight had caught on to a little mischief of his. “It was when I was with those terramice. The power proved useful in driving them away... so I overdid it. They had flocked to Kiara, ready to crush her, so what else was I supposed to do?”

“Perhaps you should stop trying to wield it to your advantage now... Has it taken a toll on you?”

“No. I should be fine after I rest a bit.” So he claimed, but he wasn’t looking well. His face was pale, and the arm Groul gripped felt feverish.

“Shall I go fetch something to cool you down?”

“I’d appreciate it.”

Groul rose to his feet. But then...

“Eeeheehee! I knew there was something off about you.”

“Who goes there?!”

“It’s just li’l ol’ me!”

When the knight turned around, he found a familiar clay figurine standing beside the door, chuckling.

“When did you get there?” Reginald asked.

“I hitched a ride with that knight there. So, Your Highness... feeling some aftereffects?”

Reginald scowled. “You’ll keep this a secret from Kiara, won’t you, Sir Horace?”

“What’s the point of hiding it, son? Mmheehee!” There was no way he could have felt an itch, but Horace scratched at his hip all the same, ruthlessly threatening to expose the prince’s secret. “Just how long do you think you can keep this quiet for? You’ve been in bad shape ever since you were shot with that powdered arrow. Obviously there’s a connection there.” Horace took small, toddling steps toward the prince. “Still, never thought I’d see magic manifest this way. It’s my first time witnessing anything like it... But you know it’s too dangerous for you to control, right?”

“Whether I’m doing anything out of the ordinary or not, I’ll still run a fever from time to time, or tiny, painful sparks will suddenly fly from my fingertips. If I’m going to feel the effects either way, I figured I might as well use it to my advantage,” Reginald muttered with a sigh. “I see now that it’s quite difficult for someone without an aptitude for magic.”

“Of course it’s not that easy! Even we’re out here risking our lives. If you keep trying to wield it, your mana will eventually spiral out of control, and you’ll crumble to pieces. Heheheh! My poor disciple might just cry herself to death!”

Groul suppressed a scream. “See! I told you it was dangerous! You are not to use that stone ever again!”

“I suppose I shouldn’t.”

“That should have been obvious,” Horace remarked, exasperation evident in his tone. “I thought you were supposed to be smart.”

“Perhaps. But can’t someone feel like being a little stupid for once?” Reginald flashed a bewitchingly beautiful smile, and Horace took a step back with a clack.

“You think some pretty crazy things...” Horace heaved a sigh, then turned to face Groul and beckoned him over. When the knight approached, it turned out he just wanted to be dropped off closer to Reginald so the two could talk more easily.

Knowing that the doll couldn’t wield any magic of his own, Groul picked him up and set him down on the wide bed, just as he had requested... but immediately had some regrets. He had left the clay figurine close to Reginald’s right arm; from there, Horace began shuffling on all fours atop the quilt, sidling up to the prince. Groul couldn’t help but avert his gaze from the surreal sight.

“You’re a prince, aren’t you? Don’t you know of any spellcasters with a connection to the state?”

“I did some searching before, on Kiara’s request... What that led me to was evidently the House of Credias. That must be how the family gained their rank. The current viscount of Credias... or rather, all the viscounts since my grandfather’s generation have never served in a war. It’s likely that even the late king wasn’t aware Lord Credias was a spellcaster.”

“I see. So prince or no, he’s not exactly someone you can consult.”

Reginald nodded. He hadn’t realized that when he’d first started researching spellcasters. Kiara had yet to tell him much about her past life at the time, so Reginald hadn’t been given reason to believe that Lord Credias was anyone particularly relevant. However, once the possibility of him being a spellcaster had been mentioned, Reginald inferred that it had been him all along.

“There aren’t any other spellcasters in all of Farzia?”

“There’s the Thorn Princess, whom I met with Kiara.”

Horace gave a considering “hrm,” then advised, “If that ‘Thorn Princess’ doesn’t bear any grudge toward Farzia, you should try seeking her out. Even if yours truly or that hare-brained Kiara can’t think of a solution, a different spellcaster might know a trick to extract the contract sand from your wound.”

“Truly?” Groul demanded before he could stop himself.

“Well, I’m not saying anything for certain,” Horace responded.

Reginald appeared to mull that over for a bit. Finally, he told Groul, “Let’s give it a shot. Who was the knight we sent to the Forest of the Thorn Princess before? Ask for the same village boy as last time, and instruct him to get in contact with the Thorn Princess. If he can, he should hand her the letter I’m about to write.”

“Understood.” Groul nodded.

That raised some questions for Horace. “Why do you need to ask for a kid? Is he a relative of hers?” he asked.

“Oh, no. It seems the Thorn Princess has a preference for young boys,” Reginald explained with a wry smile.

Horace heaved a deep sigh. “Maybe the true criteria for becoming a spellcaster is to be a complete oddball.”

◇◇◇

Reggie didn’t show up for dinner.

“Perhaps he’s tired from the constant string of battles. We should have rushed to meet you before he had to come all this way... Emmeline will be furious when she finds out,” Lucille reflected with a sigh. Ernest gave a frightened jolt.

Emmeline is ruling the House of Finard with an iron fist, isn’t she?

“Never mind that! Please, eat!” At Ernest’s urging, we began partaking of our meal.

Groul, Cain, and I were all sitting around the same table. There were the ten other knights of Reggie’s royal guard, too.

Yet the one Ernest spent the most time talking to was... me. Mind you, it wasn’t because of his womanizing tendencies. It was simply a matter of hierarchy.

Groul was the captain of the royal guard, but he came from a long line of knights. His family was actually higher-ranked than the one I’d been born into, though. He had worked his way up through the ranks, so he boasted a truly impressive career history. Most of the other knights, on the other hand, were of noble origins. If I recalled, the highest-ranking one was the third son of Lord Tarinahaea.

And then there was me. I was “officially” the daughter of a branch family thanks to some family register laundering, which meant I was no more distinguished than Ernest himself. In fact, I ranked below him. But then we had to take military rank into account. As a spellcaster, I was regarded the same as a general. Of course, that was what enabled me to act however I saw fit... but it also meant I was the highest-ranked person at the table.

There was one more factor to take into account. Groul’s face had been set in a scowl ever since informing us that Reggie wouldn’t be coming to dinner, so Ernest was probably too scared to talk to him.

Being a fellow girl, it made sense that Lucille felt the most comfortable chatting with me.

Thus, the three of us ended up being the only ones at the dinner table to do any talking.

“I was surprised to hear you were a spellcaster, and even more so to see your power in action. What an impressive achievement for such a young girl!”

“Ahaha...” I laughed off Ernest’s compliment. Most people didn’t know much about the process of becoming a spellcaster, so of course he would think that.

Lucille paused as she was cutting up her venison sauté. Then, she cut in, “I’ve heard that spellcasters make a deal with the devil. Apparently, the Llewynians who invaded Delphion made use of failed spellcasters, hurting our soldiers by spreading their curse. Is that true?”

Hmm. How much can I actually explain here? If I tell her about contract stones and word gets around, we might have people pop up going, “Hey, maybe I’ll try my hand at becoming a spellcaster!” That would be bad.

“We don’t literally make a deal with the devil, no... but becoming a spellcaster does require a special ritual. The only ones who can survive the process are those who have the aptitude for magic. Anyone who fails will die the same way as a defective spellcaster. That’s why people took to calling it ‘a deal with the devil.’”

While I explained, I started to wonder about Master Horace. He was always very good at obfuscating these sorts of explanations... but where was he, anyway? He had yet to return.

I didn’t find out where he had wandered off to until after dinner. With an even more distressed look than he’d worn before dinner, Groul asked me, “I’m very sorry to trouble you, but could you come with me to His Highness’ room?”

“Did His Highness call for me?”

“No, not His Highness. The problem is your master.”

“Wait, don’t tell me Master Horace has been in his room this whole time!”

But why? I wondered, but Groul refused to explain.

When I followed him back to the room, I found Reggie, who had taken off his military uniform and was lying down on the bed. Meanwhile, a certain clay figurine was running circles around him.

“What on earth are you doing, Master Horace?!”

I hurried to try and catch him, and with a strange giggle, he tumbled off the other side of the bed. I reached out toward him, stretching my arm as far as it could go, but I still couldn’t manage to grab him.

“Tch!” I wasn’t about to walk right over Reggie, so I circled around to the other side of the bed, finally catching the clay figurine just as he was clawing his way back up onto the bed. “You’re like a little bug buzzing around the room!”

I was panting. Hey, Master Horace, why were you even running from me in the first place?!

“Thank you, Lady Kiara. He told me that if I didn’t handle him carefully, he would crumble into dirt, so I was at a loss for what to do,” Groul said.

I dipped my head in a bow. “I’m so sorry! This awful little doll was lying to you! He wouldn’t break even if you tossed him around! Right, Master Horace?” Smiling sweetly, I pumped some mana into Master Horace’s body. Then, using a copper coin I took out of my pocket, I gave him an extra coat.

“Wh-What are you doing, kid? That tickles!”

“I just tried making you a little more sturdy. Yeah, I think it worked like a charm.” When I gently rapped him with the back of my hand, he made a metallic sound.

Since I had just added a new layer of magic, it would take extra mana to maintain it, but I assumed it would hold for the next few hours.

Next, I opened the window to Reggie’s room and stuck Master Horace out of it. “There’s a flower garden underneath us, so I doubt you’ll break. Why don’t we show Sir Groul how you can survive a three-story fall just fine?”

“Wha?! Don’t tell me you’re going to—”

“Oh, I am absolutely going to drop you. Do your best to find your way back!”

“Aaahhhhh!” Following Master Horace’s scream, there came a fwump from below. Yes, the flower bed seemed to be nice and soft.

After I closed the window, Reggie laughed and said to Groul, “I’d feel bad if he were mistaken for a plaything by a dog or a child. Can you go pick him up? I’m sure he’ll be covered in dirt when you find him, so ask someone from the House of Finard to clean him up for us.”

With a small sigh, Groul left the room.

“I’m sorry that mentor of mine made so much trouble for you, Reggie.”

He was already feeling under the weather, and with Master Horace jumping around, he probably hadn’t been able to get any rest. I went to Reggie’s side and offered a heavy-hearted apology, but Reggie just sat up and grabbed hold of my wrist. He had such a nice smile on his face, too.

“I have something I’d like to ask you, Kiara. What happened to your leg?”

“Eep...”

Shoot. When I had changed clothes earlier, I had set my boots aside and asked for slippers to wear, since those were more comfortable. I’d lifted the hem of my skirt just a bit when I was reaching for Master Horace, and without my boots on, the wound just under my calf had been plain to see.

“Erm, well... you see...”

Oh nooooo! I even managed to hide it from Cain, too! Why is the person I least wanted to see it the one who actually noticed?!

How was I supposed to explain this to him? If I told him I’d kept quiet about it because I didn’t want Cain to have a reason to touch my leg, he would be absolutely furious. I lapsed into silence, sweating bullets on the inside.

Then, Reggie murmured, “In that case, would you care to trade secrets?”

“What?”

“Tell me the reason why you let the wound on your leg scar. And I’ll tell you why I was feeling ill. I’ll go first: I’m still feeling the effects of the contract sand in my wound. I ran a slight fever.”

No fair! I thought as Reggie smoothly transitioned into telling me his side of things. Now that he’d already said it, if I ran away without doing the same, it’d be like I cheated... That was my first thought, at least, but it was quickly replaced with panic as what Reggie had said finally sunk in.

“Does it hurt? How does the injury look now? Show me—”

“Denied.”

Reggie caught my left hand as I reached out for him. When I grumbled and kept trying to push forward, he burst out laughing. Grr! Here I was expending every last bit of strength I had, and meanwhile Reggie was relaxed enough to laugh.

“I won’t let you touch me until you tell me your secret.”

“Hrk...” I was torn. After a moment’s indecision, I squeezed out the best answer my brain could come up with. “I was... too embarrassed to have it looked at.”

“Oh?”

“I had Girsch take a look at it afterward, but apparently that was too late.”

At last, Reggie let go of my hand. I breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, “So, did you have Sir Groul look at yours?”

“Yes. There’s no issue with the cut itself.”

“Can I touch it?”

“Sure. I did promise you.”

I placed one knee on the bed, then reached a hand toward Reggie’s shoulder. I gently touched his shoulder and back from over his shirt. He didn’t seem to be in much pain, even as I slid my fingers over his body, but he closed his eyes for a few seconds.

He definitely felt a little warm to the touch. I could feel the mana roiling around inside him, so I willed my own magic to curb it from the outside. Still, moving dirt or earth and manipulating the mana in a human body were two very different things. It was hard to make it flow, like there was something blocking the way.

Nevertheless, it felt like I was doing something to stimulate it, and once the mana interwoven with mine finally settled down, Reggie seemed to relax a little.

“Sorry... This is all happening because you shielded me.”

He had suffered an injury so terrible that he was still feeling the aftereffects... all because he had saved my life.

“It was my choice to protect you, Kiara. But if you truly do feel guilty, let’s call it even with this.”

He pulled me into a hug. I was taken by surprise, but Reggie stroked my head, draining my will to resist. Part of me wondered why I suddenly felt so relaxed.

I stayed put in his arms, and Reggie laughed once more. “Sometimes you truly remind me of a friendly puppy, Kiara.”

“Don’t call me a dog, Reggie! That’s mean!” Reggie couldn’t see my face, what with my ear pressed against his neck, but I pouted all the same.

“Don’t sulk,” Reggie mumbled, “I’m happy to have you stay by my side.”

When I heard those words, it felt like a pinch of sand lodged deep in my heart had finally been shaken free.