A lot had happened.
So much, in fact, that it was impossible to explain it all in words.
Yuna who was muttering things that only fanned the flames of suspicion, and Ariel who was staring blankly at Lobelia with a chilling gaze—
The two of them began to attack us with completely different temperatures.
This was all Lobelia’s fault.
If she had just stayed still, half of this wouldn’t have happened. But no, she kept trying to link me with her, saying we were alike or whatever, and that’s how we ended up like this.
To sum up this chaotic incident.
Ariel ended up crying.
“Bweeehh!”
Even when she was terminally ill, she had remained composed—
But now she was crying like the world was ending.
Seeing that, even Yuna couldn’t bring herself to tease her any further.
Thanks to Lobelia and Yuna’s consideration, I got to spend some time alone with Ariel.
…But what about any consideration for me?
Sniff…
The two of us were left all alone in the middle of a forest currently under terrorist attack.
This awkward and stifling atmosphere—
I had no idea how to comfort her. It’s not like I’d ever done it before.
“Uh, um…”
Should I pat her on the back or something?
But what if it just makes her cry harder?
I cautiously patted Ariel’s shoulder.
“Sir Johan, you’re so mean!”
“Ah, yes… I apologize.”
Ariel’s sadness exploded.
Damn it, I knew this would happen… But it’s not like I could just do nothing, right?
Maybe I was doomed to face inevitable destruction.
“Look, it’s all a misunderstanding. Yuna’s just a friend. She’s just really playful and was teasing you.”
“A friend?”
“Yes, just a friend.”
“When I was your friend, you didn’t react like that!”
“……”
She’s not wrong. I had always kept a strict boundary with Ariel.
But there was a reason for that.
“Because, Lady Ariel, you always carry danger with you.”
Lobelia’s best friend and the daughter of Duke Ether—
A living provocation totem who had slaughtered countless terrorists.
To be friends with someone like that…?
Sorry, but honestly, I had no choice but to keep my distance.
In fact, we weren’t even friends. Acquaintances, at best.
She was the only one who thought we were friends.
“So now you’re saying this is all my fault?”
“No…”
It already felt like I was being nagged.
But there was so much I felt guilty about that I couldn’t say a word.
“You’re so mean.”
“……”
“You didn’t even wear the hat I gave you… It was expensive…”
“I’ll make sure to carry it with me from now on.”
“Not just carry it; please wear it. I want to see you wearing it.”
“I will.”
Well, this much was still kind of cute.
Objectively speaking, given everything I’d done up to now, it wouldn’t be surprising if a spell came flying at me.
Still… the hat, huh?
I think I shoved it into some corner.
Guess I’ll have to dig it out when I get back.
“By the way, what about Her Highness? From what I saw earlier, it looked like you two were…”
“That’s also a misunderstanding. Actually, there was an attack. Her Highness collapsed from exhaustion, and I was just helping her up.”
“Collapsed? She was that worn out? Just who was it that pushed her that far…?”
“It was the Oracle. Apparently, she didn’t take kindly to us and attacked. You see this? I got hit too.”
“Oh!”
Only then did Ariel notice the wound on my cheek, and she started flailing in panic.
“D-Does it hurt a lot?”
“Not really… I’m fine.”
Ariel began wiping the blood from my cheek with her sleeve.
And for some reason, the atmosphere felt strange.
Whatever else she may be, Ariel was my fiancée.
It was harder not to be conscious of it.
This was probably why Lobelia had left the two of us alone.
Feeling a bit awkward, I started making excuses that no one had asked for.
“Ahem! And what Her Highness said….she’s always scheming to drag me into her group, that’s all.”
“Scheming… So if you fell for her scheme, would that make you one of her allies too?”
“Let me be clear. I’m not interested.”
Seriously, shouldn’t I be focusing on keeping myself alive first?
“Even so, I want to see you more often.”
“Well… I’ve actually been thinking about that a bit myself…”
“Oh, really?”
Ariel’s eyes sparkled.
Honestly, it wasn’t that hard a problem to solve.
All we had to do was choose a place where we could naturally run into each other.
Like a library…
In my case, it’d probably be the alchemy workshop.
I’d be there doing research anyway, and Ariel could pretend she was coming to buy potions for her training. That should be a good enough excuse.
Just as I was about to explain that—
A group emerged from the forest.
“Thought we were gonna die wandering this damn forest, but look at that, we found you. Brats, you’re the first.”
They looked like mercenaries, and they were armed with machine guns.
Not revolvers or muskets, but near-modern firearms.
They had to be the work of Ex Machina.
However, the group before us showed no signs of intelligence.
That meant they weren’t Ex Machina researchers. They were just mercenaries.
The real issue was who had hired mercenaries to attack the Cradle?
“We were in the middle of something important.”
Ariel grumbled, still sitting, as the atmosphere turned grim.
Apparently, she hadn’t grasped the danger. She was probably misled by how unimpressive the enemy looked.
“Ariel, it’s dangerous—!”
Before I could finish warning her, the mercenaries swung the barrels of their miniguns toward us.
Dududududududududu!!
The barrels spun and rained bullets in our direction.
A surprise attack.
I wrapped myself around Ariel and ducked low—
But…
“……”
We didn’t go down.
It felt like pushing against a wall.
There was a sense of reassurance that didn’t match her slender frame.
At most, it looked like I was just hugging Ariel.
“It’s okay, Sir Johan. Still, I really appreciate the thought.”
And despite the situation, not a single bullet had hit us.
I cautiously lifted my head and glanced behind—
The bullets fired by the mercenaries were frozen in midair.
Ah! Telekinesis!
Well, what was I worried about? Ariel’s been through it all. Of course she handled this well.
Ariel who had been under me as if I were shielding her naturally wrapped her arms around my neck, then pulled me in close while reaching for her staff lying on the ground with her other hand.
“The mood’s nice, so don’t ruin it.”
Then came a powerful surge of energy from behind me.
I couldn’t see it. Ariel was still holding on tightly to my neck, but I could tell she was preparing a spell.
It was just taking a bit of time to cast.
Normally, no one would just stand still and take a spell like that head-on, but…
“M-My legs?!”
“Damn it! I can’t move!”
“This has to be…!”
But Ariel’s telekinesis was incredibly versatile.
Using it to pin her enemies down, she could unleash her spells freely—
That’s how she fought alone. She was a battle mage without the need for a front line.
Booooooooom!!
A massive explosion.
And just like that, all the noisy shouting ceased at once.
It was a bit chilling, honestly.
Feeling again just how powerful Ariel truly was, I couldn’t help but worry once more about our future married life.
I’d really have to be careful.
“Now that it’s over, would you mind letting go?”
“It’s not a pleasant sight, so let’s stay like this a bit longer.”
Would it become a pleasant sight if we waited long enough?
For someone saying that, she didn’t seem interested in cleaning up the situation…
Maybe she just liked staying like this.
“Johan, go on. Tell me, how can we see each other more often?”
“Uh, well…”
Doing my best to stay respectful, I shared whatever came to mind with Ariel.
After some back-and-forth conversation with her, we finally reached a mutual agreement and promised to meet every Wednesday at the alchemy workshop.
Even then, Ariel still hadn’t let go of the arm she had wrapped around my neck.
***
Yuna was not in a good mood.
She had planned to slowly and steadily close the distance between them. But now, a formidable rival had appeared.
She’s not as naive as I thought. This won’t be easy.
Well, she had jumped straight to an arranged marriage, after all. That kind of determination and boldness spoke for itself.
To be honest, Yuna had been confident.
Ariel might have had the barrier of noble status, but Yuna had been far more forward with Johan.
Still, she hadn’t expected Ariel to use that status to completely crush him.
The engagement had come out of nowhere.
Before Yuna could even react, Ariel and Johan were already fiancés.
It wasn’t like Johan had ever been hers, but… she still felt like something had been taken from her.
“Ugh.”
Perched on a tree branch, Yuna watched the terrorists wandering through the forest.
She was taking them out with clear irritation.
“So annoying.”
The group was more like mercenaries, armed with all sorts of unfamiliar weapons.
She didn’t know what they were—
Nor did she need to.
She was an assassin. Her job was to eliminate targets before they even sensed danger.
“This makes thirty? What is it about the Cradle that’s worth all this…?”
Taking out people lost in Olga Hermod’s illusion was about as easy as flicking her wrist.
Yuna was using the terrorists as a way to vent her frustration.
Then suddenly, she spotted something.
“…What’s that?”
A presence in the forest, clearly different from the other terrorist groups.
Yuna didn’t get the sense they were terrorists—
They felt more like outsiders who had been caught up in all this.
Still, there was no sign of anxiety.
The group seemed to be waiting. Neither advancing nor retreating.
Seeing this, Yuna recalled a common trait among the terrorists she had taken out.
“Sponsors?”
Men dressed like mercenaries, all armed with strange weapons.
If they were real mercenaries, then someone must have hired them.
And if this was also a field test for the weapons, it wouldn’t be surprising if their employer was nearby.
“Andvaranaut?”
Yuna had heard about Andvaranaut from Johan beforehand.
The sponsors behind the terrorists.
Johan had seemed completely unwilling to be involved with them.
But if they were the masterminds behind all this, she couldn’t just let it go.
Fortunately, they were currently caught in Olga Hermod’s illusion magic, unable to move and simply observing the situation.
Yuna leapt down from the tree, landing right in front of them.
“What brings you here?”
“…Ah…”
With a cheerful smile, Yuna ran up to them.
The group guarding the carriage.
And at the center, a woman in her late twenties, dressed like a merchant.
Impressive. She’s loaded the carriage with fruits that can only be gathered in this forest?
Anyone who didn’t know better would really think she just got caught up in this mess.
The group looked on edge, as if they were protecting the carriage.
And the contents of the carriage? Just fruits and a bit of coin.
Who would look at them and think they were the same as the terrorists invading this place?
Even if someone decided to search them, the conclusion would likely be that they were just unlucky bystanders.
“I’m a bit embarrassed to say this, but… we got lost. And to make things worse, it seems there are bandits nearby…”
“Oh no, that must’ve been really stressful.”
As Yuna drew closer, the woman seated on the coachman’s bench lifted her hood and spoke.
“Um, could you please not come any closer?”
Ink-black hair and golden eyes.
A tired, frightened expression that matched her act.
A woman pretending to be a powerless, weak traveler.
A flawless mask.
In a forest like this, it would be even stranger to look relaxed in front of an outsider.
The woman was perfectly playing the part of a lost merchant.
Yuna felt a sense of kinship.
This woman. She’s one of her kind.
“Oh! That was thoughtless of me. I’m a student from the Cradle. If you’re lost, would it be alright if I helped you?”
“…What’s a student from the Cradle doing in a place like this?”
“We’re out here for field training. There are a lot of other students nearby, too.”
“Field training…?”
She played it like she’d never even heard of such a thing.
If it weren’t Yuna, she wouldn’t have seen through the woman’s act.
It was something only someone like her could recognize.
A subtle scenario made possible by a gap in information.
“It’s probably because of the headmistress’s magic. Even if you took the same path as usual, it would’ve led somewhere else. That’s probably why you got lost.”
“Ah…”
The woman gave a small nod, as if she’d only just understood.
Yuna stepped toward her again, this time more carefully.
“I’ll guide you.”
“Would you…?”
Perhaps the woman had realized she couldn’t keep the standoff going any longer,
because she didn’t stop Yuna from approaching.
She must have believed she had nothing to hide,
and that she had the other girl completely fooled.
And that belief would soon…
“If I take you to Johan, he’ll be pleased, right?”
“…What?”
…become a fatal flaw.
Whack!
Just like that, Yuna knocked the woman out and kidnapped her.
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