31. A new encounter

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

“There’re an awful lot of people here… Iris, you okay?”

“Yeah, I can manage… somehow.”

The mess hall, where usually only we and the occasional townspeople who came to eat, was filled with a large number of people… They were men clad in a menacing aura that made it easy to tell at a glance that they were combatants of some kind. It seemed that they were the escorts of the merchants who arrived here recently.

That aside, Saul-niisama was still reeling from the incident the other day and silently following behind me. I thought the two of them would have something to say about the fact that he and I were sleeping on the same bed, but Reiji-san just patted me on the head a few times… Was that supposed to be a compliment?

Somehow we found an open space for three in the corner of the mess hall, took our seats some distance away from the crowd, and ordered our meals as well. However, the sheer number of people, the occasional glance toward me, and the rough way those men spoke reminded me of “that time”, and I couldn’t even get the soup down my throat.

“Dude, I’m so pissed. Our long-awaited break in this nice little town just got interrupted because some jobbers couldn’t even kill a single gob!”

Instantly, the two of them stopped eating.

I looked fearfully toward the voice and saw several men looking at me with grins on their faces. My skin bubbled with horror. The way those men looked at me reminded me of…

“……Just forget about it. Those bandits are long dead.”

“……Yes.”

The warmth on Reiji-san’s hand as he gently touched mine and murmured brought me back to my senses before the dam in my mind burst. Yes, the matter of “that time” had now long gone. I saw it all through to the end myself.

I heard a grating, vulgar laugh, but I ignored it.

What was it about our situation that “pissed” him off so much?

Suddenly, one of those men walked up to me and removed my hood in a flash.

“……”

My breath was stuck in my throat at the sight of my face being exposed. I was about to cry at the sound of the voices around me, but I tried to hold it in. Reiji-san and Saul-niisama looked outraged, but I gestured them with my eyes that everything’s okay. I didn’t want them to cause trouble by starting a fight in the mess hall, so I’d just ignore it for a while and let it pass…

“Damn, I don’t know what business you have with this remote town, but you look so cute. Too bad I’m not into children.”

That was one word too many. Was this his idea of flirting? No, I didn’t think he’s the type to earn others’ consent with that tone.

“You’re a skilled healer, aren’t you? I don’t care if they saved this town from an unidentified monster or whatever, how about you leave those chumps with only shiny equipment to show behind and come with us instead? I can assure you a much better treatment.”

My spoon that had been stirring up the soup senselessly clanged against the tableware as my body shook in something that wasn’t fear. It was anger, so much anger that I started to be surprised at myself.

“…Take back what you said.”

“Huh?”

Despite trying to stop the two of them from doing the same thing earlier, I voiced my protest against the man. I could feel them panicking beside me, but my mouth, which had apparently been quite stressed out by the whole thing up to this point, was no longer able to stop once I started to spit it out. 

“I said… take back what you just said! Every single word of it!”

My condition, while somewhat better, had yet to be cured. It was so terrific that I looked down in front of me and shivered as if my knees would collapse at any moment… But my emotions were running high, and I was more angry than I was fearful.

Unforgivable… how dare he make such a despicable slander?! Did he even see how hurt they were because of yesterday?! Or see Ayame shaking and crying so badly last night?!  

“Those two… they’ve always been there for me no matter what! The likes of you don’t have the rights to slander them!”

“You bitch…!”

There, I said it.

The enraged man grabbed me by the collar and lifted me off my feet, and the feeling of fear that was taking over my body quickly faded away from the waist down, a sensation I hadn’t felt for a long time. I reflexively held up my arms at least protect my head from the man’s hand swinging down at me, and squeezed my eyes to prepare for the impact that would come next…

Five seconds had passed… ten seconds had passed… there was no impact. When I fearfully opened my eyes, I saw that the man’s hand was being held by Saul-niisama, who was locking his arm behind his back. It didn’t look like Saul-niisama’s putting much force into it, but the man’s hand couldn’t move, his “Dammit, let go of me!” yell was the only sound echoing in the mess hall.

In the meantime, Reiji-san easily retrieved my body from the man’s grasp.

“……What you said was true for the most part, we did make a mistake, and we’re willing to accept whatever you have to say about us, but…”

Nii-sama slammed the man onto the table with great force, expelling the air inside his lungs and making him cough. After waiting for the man to calm down, Nii-sama continued.

“…Do not bring Iris into this, or I’ll make you regret it.”

I could not see his face, but at the sound of his low, even calm voice, the man who was being held down began to shake his head, looking very pale.

“What’s with the ruckus so early in the morning?”

“C-Captain?!”

Amidst the commotion where some people were ready to draw their weapons, a new person entered the hall with an air that could be called carefree around him. His dark brown hair was pulled back in an all-back bun, and his muscular body was covered with countless scars.

Reiji-san muttered “This guy is the real deal…”, so small that only I, who was being held to his chest, could hear it.

His gaze stopped at me, who was being held by Reiji-san, for a moment, making my body jolt. However, despite his stern appearance, his eyes had an intelligent light in them, and he smiled at me in a masculine yet somehow friendly way, and I soon let my guard down… He was a big, strong man by all appearances, but he had a strangely reassuring air about him.

The Captain who witnessed my condition glared at the mercenaries around me with a stern face again.

“So… don’t tell me you new recruits are going to lay your hands on the respectable lady over there?”

“N-No, w-we’re just trying to scare her a little…”

The men tried to explain themselves in a slurred tone, but their voices were feeble because the situation was so obvious.

I let out a big sigh. Despite being in Reiji-san’s arms, where it was safe and secure, I still felt the chilling anger even if it hadn’t been directed at me.

“Y’all need some good old-fashioned discipline, that’s what you need. Now go apologize to the lady, you numbskulls!”

“Eek?! We’re sorry!”

“It was just a prank, I swear!”

The group of men turned blue and bowed their heads as if they were about to get down on their knees at once. We (and the staff who had taken refuge in the kitchen) could only watch in amazement as they cleaned up the mess.

“Oh man… I’m sorry on behalf of those greenhorns. Are you hurt anywhere? Here, please lend me a hand.”

“O-Okay… Eh?!”

A blue-haired young man with a kindly appearance who had been standing by my side for some time casually held out his hand. He grabbed my hand, which I had taken without thinking because it was offered so naturally, and sat me down on the chair with a heave.

“…Well, well, well, what a pleasure to meet such a lovely princess. If possible, the next time you’re in danger, allow me the honor of saving you with my own two hands as your knight.”

He whispered to me in a somewhat theatrical manner, and then, in a gesture that I had seen in a movie or something, he put his lips to the back of my hand and immediately let go in such a natural motion that I wondered whether he had practiced this move for a long time.

My brain was unable to react to events that had greatly exceeded its capacity to respond, so I simply watched in a daze.

“…?”

Was it my imagination? When he started to raise his head and looked directly at me, his eyes seemed to widen slightly, just a little, with a hint of astonishment in them.

“…I beg your pardon. Such was your beauty that I couldn’t help but admire it.”

“Yes…?”

My brain was still unable to process what was going on.

“Oh brother, you dummy! How many times have I told you that it’s rude to do that to a girl?!”

“Ack!”

He was knocked down to the floor by a free-spirited looking girl with the same blue hair tied in a ponytail, who suddenly appeared behind him… Well, to be exact, she bonked him in the head with the sheath of her sword. I wondered if he was still conscious.

“Knight this, knight that, you haven’t been one for a long time… Ah, are you alright? Did he do anything weird to you?”

While I was still dumbfounded, the girl moved like a storm to see if I had any injuries, adjusting my hair and collar, and even put my hood back on as it had been.

My brain, which had finally resumed its activity, gradually understood the sequence of events… and my face turned bright red from embarrassment.

I had just been treated like a princess, complete with the kiss on the back of my hand.

“Ouch… why are you so cruel to me, I just wanted to greet her.”

“Oh brother, anyone with common sense would never greet a girl in that way! Why haven’t you learned your lesson?!”

For some reason, the girl was holding me in the arms and stroking my head through my hood.

Reiji-san was still frozen in the pose he had been holding me with, mouth agape.

Saul-niisama, whose fighting partner had been taken away at some point, was also completely stunned.

“They’re such a noisy bunch, aren’t they? I’m the captain of this mercenary company, ‘La Cercueil’. Once again I apologize for the out of control action of my subordinates.”

The Captain bowed his head vigorously. It must have been my imagination that the wind ruffled my bangs slightly.

…Coffin? What a strange name for a mercenary company. Doesn’t it bring bad luck?

“…No, it’s my choice of words that caused the commotion to happen, so I should be the one apologizing… I’m sorry.”

I sat down and returned the apology. Nii-sama also bowed his head next to me, and the Captain went to pay the bill for the hall’s repairs. With that, the matter was now water under the bridge.

And that was how we first met.

Once again, the meal was served… and this time, it was the Captain’s treat. We initially wanted to decline, but he insisted on making up for the trouble his subordinates had caused us, so we gratefully accepted the offer.

And so, just before the meal, we exchanged introductions.

“Allow me to reintroduce myself. I’m Walter, captain of this company, and these two are the squad leaders.”

“My name’s Zeltis. I’m sorry for my earlier misconduct.”

“I’m Philias, nice to meet you!”

The two people with the same hair color… they looked very similar and appeared to be much closer in age, and I couldn’t help but ask questions.

“Um… Are you two twins by any chance?”

“Of course! The handsome guy over there your brother must be your brother, right? That makes us both little sisters! We can have so much to talk about!”

“Please don’t mind my sister, she can be a nuisance sometimes…”

“Like you’re one to talk!”

A mild-mannered older brother and a boisterous little sister. Their dynamic reminded me of “me” and “Ayame”… so I smiled at them like I was looking at something funny.

Then it’s our turn to introduce ourselves.

“So… we’ve been asked to take down a horde of goblins that were spotted near this town.”

At these words, I could sense disappointment from both Reiji-san and Saul-niisama, although they did not express it in their attitudes. Perhaps they wanted to redeem themselves the other day, but now that the job was in their hands, there was no longer anything we could do, or so we thought.

“What do you think? Can you lend us your assistance?”

“Us…?”

Reiji-san’s eyes widened at the question.

“Where do I even start… The reconnaissance revealed that the horde was larger than I had honestly imagined. There’s a large colony of goblins that had been discovered in a town a little further down the road… I’m concerned that these goblins are possibly being led by a ‘commander’ type.”

A sufficiently large horde of goblins with a commanding individual guiding them was known to move in a more organized manner. But a horde of this scale, what if there were multiple leaders among them, or…

“In any case, we can’t deny that there’s a possibility that it’s getting out of hand for us. That’s why we need all the help we can get.”

“But we’re…”

Saul-niisama clammed up, as if reluctant to finish the sentence. He still hadn’t recovered from yesterday, and his eyes are shaking with a lack of confidence… but we couldn’t keep being like this…

“I’ve heard about your failure. If you ask me, it happens all the time to any new soldier.”

His eyes seemed to tell “Do you want a chance to make up for your mistake?”.

Saul-niisama turned his gaze toward me and Reiji-san.

We both nodded.

“…Then we’d like to take it on, and uh, we appreciate your concern.”

“Oh goodness, what are you thanking me for?”

A giggle escaped his lips as he shrugged his shoulders. As if he noticed me hearing him, he winked at me… I think this uncle looks kind of cool, like a movie actor or something. The “me” of before would have wished to become this kind of mature man in the future… Well, objectively speaking, it would have been impossible.

“…We’re departing at 11:00 today. These guys are nocturnal and as active as they are in the evening and morning, they’re at their slowest at that time. That’s it for now. If you have anything to ask, give me a word, I’ll leave you a liaison to help with that.”

“See you soon.”

“Bye bye~ Ah, Iris-chan, how about we bathe together after this?”

Each said their goodbyes and they stormed out of the restaurant.

…At first I wondered what would happen, but those three people who said they were executives were very agreeable, and I breathed a sigh of relief that it all worked out.

“Hey, Saul.”

“I know… They’re a capable bunch.”

I tilted my head at the two of them, who were looking serious.

“It’s a far cry from that wannabe mercenary. I didn’t feel his footsteps until he got that close.”

Ah, I see what they were talking about. Indeed, from my point of view, that man… Zeltis-san seemed to suddenly appear beside me. He took me from Reiji-san’s arms then took my hand and sat me down a chair before Reiji-san could be alerted.

“That bastard, his face pissed me off…!”

For some reason, Reiji-san had been in a bad mood since a while ago. Since that time, he had been occasionally sending glares toward Zeltis-san…

“Reiji being so jealous is unexpected, but it’s a pity he’s still so clueless…”

“…?”

I could only put a question mark on my head as Saul-niisama shrugged his shoulders and looked at me in pity.

“That aside… Reiji, think you can win against any of them in a fight?”

“Beats me. That old man Walter in particular, I don’t know what he’s capable of.”

From my point of view, he seemed to be a good-natured uncle, but apparently he seemed to be something else to the two sword-wielders. I was not sure about Philias-san, but perhaps all three of them were powerful people if those two had that much to say about them. I felt a sobering sense of how the inhabitants of this world are not to be underestimated.

Walter

“So, what do you think of these youngsters?”

I was talking to the one who was acting as a ruffian to those kids earlier… Now he had taken off his disguise and looked like a dull, young merchant’s servant. I didn’t trust a newcomer just because he’d just finished his first task, his entrance examinations were still ongoing.

“I don’t know what’s the deal with them, but they all seem to have some incredible abilities, but they’re still far too soft to be on the battlefield.”

He shrugged his shoulder, but the next moment, his expression turned serious.

“…Well, that was what I thought at first.”

“Oh? What about now?”

“I don’t want to fight them at all, especially the guy with the silver hair. Even if he’s a bit sloppy at the moment, he’s the type of guy who would go to ‘any lengths’ for what’s important to him. I swear, he was going to murder me at any moment back there.”

“…Very well. If I hadn’t heard that answer, I would have fired the auditor, but I’ll cut him some slack this time.”

“Phew… I’m saved…”

The man left the room after letting out his breath.

I recalled those youngsters… especially the girl at the center of it all.

“The ‘Northern Princess’… She’s very different from what I’ve heard of her. Rumor had it that she was a doll-like princess who never moved her face under any circumstances, but, well, here we are.”

The name first appeared in a commotion when a village girl living quietly in a remote knight’s estate was spotted by the local lord and forcibly taken away. It began with a call for the rescue from a man who was her brother, after a series of twists and turns, the girl turned out to be related to the missing sister of the former king, who was also missing, and the sudden scandal caused an uproar… The identity of the girl’s father could have been another oversized scandal, so everyone involved agreed to keep the matter under wraps… The girl was then placed into the custody of the country, but her whereabouts afterward were unclear.

And it was said that the girl was petrified all the time, hardly changing her facial expression, and being swept along by her surroundings during this commotion. Like an emotionless living doll.

But the girl I saw might look calm, but her facial expression changed from moment to moment. She was a somewhat shy girl, but she looked and acted like a girl of her age, and didn’t look like a doll.

That wasn’t the end of the mysteries. Her appearance didn’t differ in the slightest from the portrait drawn at the time… seven years ago to be exact, except that the signature wings of the Highborn race were missing from her back.

“To think that you would contact me like this… What are you trying to pull, Aureolus?”

As I stared at the letter, which was now nothing more than a folded sheet of paper, I muttered to myself and to no one in particular.