Chapter 09

Aylesia hooked the two wolves’ harnesses to the front of the carriage, then raised her staff with her eyes closed.

“Good. They’re close.”

Thump.

She tapped the ground lightly with the tip of her staff—
And in a flash of light, two enormous creatures appeared out of nowhere.

“Polaris, Shyla. Sorry for calling you so suddenly.”

“Grrrrow?”

“Kyah!”

A brown bear twice the size of a normal one and a silver-maned deer whose shoulder height was taller than Thermion’s head answered her with excited calls.

“Ssshhh…”

And from the lake, Jörmu poked his head out, tongue flicking happily.

Polaris of the mountains, Shyla of the valley, and Jörmu of the lake —
These three were the true rulers of the Western Forest.
The apex of the apex predators.

“I’ll be away from home for a bit. Take care of the place, okay? Ellie, say goodbye.”

“Poli! Shasha! Jör! Stay well! I’ll come play again!”

Thermion, who had taken a few steps back, blinked rapidly with a perfectly blank face.

Even seeing it with his own eyes, it was hard to believe his tiny niece was waving at these monstrous beasts like they were old friends.

“Grooo.”

“Kyarr.”

“Ssshhik.”

Polaris and Shyla rubbed their noses against her, and Jörmu gently slid his tongue along her back like a cat grooming a kitten.

Eleanor giggled, buried head-to-toe among the gigantic animals.

… How long has it been since Ellie looked that happy?

Without realizing it, Thermion found himself watching peacefully.

Eleanor playing among the giant animals, and Aylesia smiling beside her—
It looked like something out of a warm fairy tale illustration.

… I want to have this painted.

Just as a small smile lifted his lips, Aylesia’s bright voice rang out.

“Alright, time to go! See you later, everyone!”

She twirled her staff—
and a burst of golden light erupted from her body.

“—Where is this?”

The lake and log cabin were gone.
Thermion found himself standing in a familiar place.

His knights also looked around with thoroughly shocked faces.

“See the village entrance over there? Go bring the horses.”

“… Did you just use spatial teleportation magic?”

“Yep.”

“…For this many people? All at once?”

No chant.
No hand signs.
No magical wave or pressure.

It had all happened literally in a blink.

Thermion felt his basic understanding of magic shatter on the spot.

“Aylesia, who in the world are you?”

“I know! Uncle, I know!”

Eleanor threw up her arm proudly.

“Teacher is a super strong, super nice witch! And the prettiest in the whole world!”

“…Is that so?”

At least toward Eleanor, she was obviously kind and gentle.
But still—

A ‘super strong witch’? What kind of witch is that supposed to be…?

Well… if Ellie liked her, that was enough.

Thermion forced an awkward smile at his niece.

*** * ***

Crackle, crackle.

With a small campfire between them, Aylesia and Thermion spoke quietly.

The journey back was going smoothly.
Taking the shortest path and using a gate earlier, they were already only about two days from the Retis estate.

Aylesia didn’t even need to use magic to help anymore.

“It took more than a month and a half to reach the Chernil Forest, but returning is faster than expected.”

“Hm? A month and a half?”

Aylesia tilted her head, puzzled.

“Yes. I didn’t count the exact days, but that should be close.”

In the original story, Eleanor’s disappearance lasted nearly two months.
The timeline made sense.

“Weren’t you tracking the pendant’s magic? Even then it took that long?”

“If the distance exceeds a certain point, the pendant only indicates direction. Just knowing the direction doesn’t mean we can walk in a straight line.”

“What? This thing’s defective.”

She had assumed it was broken.
Turns out it was poorly made to begin with.

Aylesia grumbled under her breath, and Thermion gave her the most baffled look.

“That one pendant costs as much as a noble estate.”

“So it’s overpriced too? Is this country’s economy alright?”

“……”

Thermion silently pressed his temples.
His expression said, Where did this woman come from?

He explained that he marched nonstop until the pendant’s signal stabilized.

He chose routes where horses could move at full speed, covering enormous distances.

“We had to search every place that could possibly match the signal.”

“You went through a lot.”

“If we had used a gate, the tracking tool might have broken. And there was no way to measure distance accurately.”

With all the wrong detours included, they probably traveled several times the minimum required distance.

“You’re a really good uncle.”

“…Me?”

“You endured all that just because you wanted to find Ellie. That’s amazing.”

“Please stop teasing me.”

“That was an honest compliment.”

Thermion sharply turned his head away—
and the tips of his ears were red.

So shy.

Maybe it wasn’t that he had weak resistance to women —
He was just easily embarrassed.

“Mmm…”

Ellie let out a sleepy whine.

Aylesia reached out and gently patted her small shoulder.

Eleanor was fast asleep on Aylesia’s lap.

They had told her to sleep inside the carriage, but she insisted she wanted to sleep with Teacher.
She lasted for a while… then lost to sleep.

Aylesia had wrapped her in the leather coat and a thick blanket.
No risk of catching a cold.

Behind her, Blanky and Whitey curled up tightly to block the wind.

“Aylesia.”

“Hm?”

After a pause, Thermion asked with a serious expression:

“What will you do when we reach the estate?”

“What do you mean?”

His look was too heavy for her to brush off.

He was only traveling with her because of Eleanor’s stubbornness.
But as they neared home, the reality finally hit him.

The prologue is already completely changed. The first button’s been torn off.
The second button would have to be handled at the Retis household.

Before that, she needed to coordinate with Thermion properly.

“I intend to treat you as the Retis family’s benefactor and honored guest. But… if possible, I’d prefer a more concrete reason to introduce you into the household.”

“A reason.”

So he had been thinking hard about how to integrate her into the family.

Ah, so that’s what he’s been worrying about these days.

Besides managing the household, he would’ve naturally worried about Eleanor’s bond with Aylesia.

If Aylesia suddenly left after returning home, Eleanor might…
actually run away.

“I don’t want Ellie to have even the slightest stain on her name.”

“You mean my presence could become a problem?”

“There are people who will make problems even where none exist.”

Aylesia’s eyes widened in surprise.

Not bad, kid.

The teenage duke apparently had excellent political instincts.
He wasn’t as immature as his age suggested.

“So, what’s your idea?”

“I want to introduce you as Ellie’s private tutor.”

“A tutor?”

“I can’t say for certain with my limited knowledge, but… I doubt there exists a mage with your skill at such a young age. At least not anywhere in the Empire.”

She didn’t even know her own precise age, but…

Aylesia snorted quietly.

“Of course.”

“… Excuse me?”

“I’m a witch. Isn’t this basic level?”

“… Can you please stop?”

A deep line formed between Thermion’s eyebrows.
He kept his voice low, probably because Eleanor was sleeping.

This expression is cute too, but—

Aylesia preferred the small, quiet smile he sometimes showed during their travels.

He looked the most handsome like that.

“I am a witch. What’s the issue?”

“Why do you keep—ugh?”