Chapter 009
I checked her condition first.
“A-Are you alright?”
It was much less mana than what I had poured out toward Loreil previously, but if it were an ordinary human, it was a shock that would have spun their head twice.
Fortunately, it seemed there were no major injuries other than the helmet being dented.
‘It’s a relief she’s sturdy.’
If she had died, a terrible result would have almost occurred.
I must control my strength well from now on.
“H-How did that just……”
“Indeed, you shouldn’t pounce when you can’t even gauge your own capabilities.”
If she were truly my subordinate, I would have showered her with nagging. And I would have trained her again, asking if that was the only kind of attack she could manage.
I let out a short sigh and took off the veil that had been stifling all along.
Rusla, seeing my eyes, widened her own.
“Those eyes……”
“Unique, aren’t they? You might not know, but I am actually……”
“They are beautiful. They look exactly like jewels.”
“…….”
As expected, she was a unique person. He was the first person since Lilibel to look at these eyes and compliment them as pretty.
“Anyway, is that decoration such an important item to you? To the point of raising your fist at a Princess?”
“I am sorry, when my emotions get intense, I become unable to control my strength…… I will accept any punishment.”
She knelt and bowed her head, as if asking me to strike her neck right away.
“That’s enough, since I was also rude.”
Actually, attempting to attack a member of the Imperial family was a crime worthy of execution, but I didn’t want to blow things out of proportion.
“Rather, in place of punishment, I would like you to explain that decoration.”
“That…… is difficult.”
“Will you not speak even if you receive punishment?”
“Yes. I cannot tell a human.”
A human.
Somehow the nuance was strange.
I looked down at her quietly with my arms crossed. I couldn’t know what kind of expression she was making inside the dented helmet. Instead, I could feel the will that she would absolutely not open her mouth.
“Then, I shall ask something else.”
I looked for an appropriate topic to relax her tension.
“I heard you have never once taken off your helmet in front of an audience, is there a reason?”
“It is simply not a face to be shown to others. I also do not like standing in front of people.”
“Then why did you become a player?”
Isn’t the duty of sports to be active in front of the public?
Then, Rusla’s shoulders flinched.
“……There are circumstances.”
“Is it a circumstance that cannot be told to a sponsor this time as well? You have many secrets.”
“That is……”
Whether it weighed on her mind that she kept refusing questions, Rusla answered with resignation.
“It is a family matter. Only by doing this work can the survival of my family be guaranteed.”
“Is your family in difficulty?”
“Yes, we are in a position where our home is being taken away.”
I felt her attitude soften considerably as the family story came up. I spoke with a touch of sympathy.
“Tell me, your heart might feel lighter.”
Rusla, after agonizing for a moment, slowly opened her mouth.
“My family was living in a certain abandoned mine.”
As if recalling the past, her voice became choked up.
“One day, a noble purchased the abandoned mine where we were living. And he tried to kick us out, saying we are not citizens of the Empire. That noble is none other than the sponsor of this arena.”
Rusla said she begged them not to kick them out. However, the noble did not listen and threatened that if they didn’t leave, he would kick them out by force.
“If it were an ordinary human, they would have fled to avoid the noble, but we needed the mine for survival. To tell us to leave there meant to die.”
‘A race that hates revealing their faces and must live underground…… no way.’
I began to guess what her identity was.
Rusla continued speaking calmly.
“When I begged that I would do anything as long as we weren’t kicked out, that noble proposed a deal. Which was……”
“To go out into the arena?”
“That’s right. It was that if I won even once, he would return the territory. As a condition of the deal, my family became hostages.”
After that, Rusla headed to the Imperial Capital.
“What happened to the family that became hostages?”
“I do not know. Whether they remain in the abandoned mine, or if they were taken somewhere else…… Fortunately, I am being informed of their life or death through letters.”
Thus, Rusla’s life as an arena player began.
And for more than 10 years at that.
“But because my skill was lacking, I have never won even once. Even whenever it came to important matches, I kept making unknown mistakes.”
In the end, Rusla became a supporting actor for the winners, the ‘Helmet-Guy’.
For several years, she trained without a single day off, but the light of victory never greeted her.
As if the Goddess of Victory had turned her back on her.
‘It’s strange. If she fought for 10 years, she should have grown.’
Did Rusla have no combat sense? Even so, it was hard to believe she lost for such a long period of time.
‘First, I can raise her skill myself, so let’s think about that later. What’s more important is her identity.’
A race that must live underground.
The point of not taking off her helmet in front of humans.
And the reason for having my emblem.
There was one race in my army that possessed all these characteristics.
The fairies of the Demon Realm who find sunlight uncomfortable and live in the underground world.
“Baobhan sith.”
They were the wicked blood-sucking fairies, the Baobhan sith.
Whether flustered by my words, Rusla’s body flinched.
“How do you know that name……”
“When there are this many clues, I can’t even pretend not to know.”
I stood up from the chair and approached Rusla. Then, grabbing her shoulder as she was about to step back, I placed my hand on the helmet.
“Wa-Wait a moment. If you touch the helmet……”
“It’s fine, I’m used to it.”
“……!”
And I pulled off her helmet.
The Helmet-Guy’s face was finally revealed.
Pale skin as if it had never received sunlight, red pupils, and short green hair that was crudely cut.
Let alone makeup, even the hair wasn’t managed, but the seductively shining eyes and sculpted features stole one’s gaze.
If there were a God of Beauty on the surface, they would favor Rusla most in the world.
‘The audience wouldn’t have known. The fact that the Helmet-Guy was actually female.’
That was it. Rusla was female.
‘Because the fairy Baobhan sith only has females.’
The blood-sucking fairies Baobhan sith who live in the underground world to avoid sunlight.
That was Rusla’s identity.
“How do you know our race’s name…… humans shouldn’t be able to recognize us!”
Baobhan sith were indistinguishable from humans except for the habit of sucking blood and the characteristic of beautiful appearance.
The reason I recognized her was because it was I who saved the Baobhan sith who were persecuted in the Demon Realm and incorporated them into the army.
My state of mind was complicated.
I did think it might be someone with a connection to the past, but to think she was truly my subordinate Baobhan sith.
“Please answer. Why does the Princess know about the Baobhan sith?”
While I was silent, lost in thought, whether she made some misunderstanding, murderous intent filled Rusla’s pupils.
“Don’t tell me, a minion of the Sun God……!”
Soon, she even drew the sword at her waist.
“Don’t talk nonsense. I am……”
“But didn’t you insult the Black Lion earlier and revere the Sun God!”
‘I did do that.’
I had nothing to say.
The moment I was about to open my mouth to tell her to calm down, she shouted out.
“If you are truly a minion of the Sun God, I will stop you even if I die! To protect my family!”
“No, I’m saying I don’t believe in such a god.”
“I will not be deceived by human lies any longer!”
This won’t do. It seemed she had no intention of listening to my words in the first place.
‘Oops, even the soundproofing spell is about to expire.’
Just as she, emitting a fierce aura, was approaching with her sword, I heard the signal that the soundproofing spell would soon disappear.
Because I used the minimum amount of mana to avoid side effects, the duration was too short.
‘It’ll be a big problem if I talk about the Baobhan sith in front of other people.’
If it goes on like this, Rusla’s identity will be discovered by the people outside. I raised both hands to express that I had no intention of fighting and said.
“Wa-Wait a minute. Then it’s enough if I let you know that I am not human, right?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Watch closely, my identity is.”
Then, I focused my mind and awakened my mana. Since this was not using mana but showing the hidden mana, I didn’t have to worry about side effects.
Instead, Rusla, who was close by, could feel that change.
“Ugh……”
The mana that flowed out from my heart enveloped my body.
In my eyes, it just looked like black fog covering my body, but Rusla, who was eroded by the mana, muttered with blank eyes as if she were seeing a hallucination.
“Wings, flames of hell, mane……”
Presumably, she was seeing my appearance from my prime.
Just as I was about to say whether she believes now that I am not human.
“Oh, my God.”
She suddenly knelt down, put her two hands together, and began to pray.
“My God, finally, finally you have descended upon this world.”
“No, I was trying to let you know that I am a demon……”
“My God, my light, my savior.”
This is bad.
It seemed she had gone crazy, intoxicated by my powerful mana. Anyway, the Baobhan sith were a race that got easily intoxicated by mana.
In the moment I hurriedly withdrew my mana again and was about to help her up.
“Excuse me. Since there was no answer even when I knocked…… Princess?”
The door of the waiting room opened, and Loreil’s knights entered the room.
“…….”
What they saw was Rusla, the beauty, praying earnestly while pouring out tears and snot.
And the cursed Princess (me) with the veil off, standing in front of her.
I said while covering my forehead, where a headache seemed to be arising, with my hand.
“It’s not that.”
Anyway, it’s not.
