Chapter 3 …
“Ah, damn! You there! Are you trying to kill someone?!”
“If you don’t want to die, run over here. I’ll take another swing.”
“A mage? Protect me. You can abandon the mad dog.”
There had been a minor issue with distance control, but anyway—
A noisy battle broke out.
And I ended up dealing almost entirely by myself with three high-risk monsters—griffins—and all the smaller fry beneath them.
‘Thanks to certain people who just stood around watching.’
I shot a glare at the two knights who clearly knew nothing of chivalry.
“…?”
Even though they looked a bit roughed up, their black uniforms and swords were clearly well-equipped. There were no insignias, but it was easy enough to tell their affiliation.
‘Velmaier. Probably the Archduke’s knights at that.’
What did it matter if they lacked chivalry? What did it matter if they caused trouble on a first meeting and spoke casually instead of thanking me?
Wearing a benevolent smile, I pulled out my last remaining emergency ration—jerky—from the hem of my dress.
“You said you were hungry. Want this?”
There’s a saying: give an extra rice cake to the person you dislike.
—Not that. It was because I figured these guys might become my high-speed ticket to Velmaier.
The Hilvarsia Empire and the Duchy of Velmaier.
The history of the ceasefire between the two nations spans ninety years.
That is to say, a hundred years ago—
The Archduke of Velmaier, now called the Demon Archduke, had once been the Grand Duke of the Hilvarsia Empire and the master of the Magic Tower. One day, he supposedly fell to demonic corruption and killed the Saintess of that era.
Because of this, the Empire attacked him. The Archduke blew up the Magic Tower and declared the independence of his territory, and thus began the war between Empire and Duchy.
But a clear victor never emerged.
Although Velmaier’s army was vastly outnumbered, each individual soldier was monstrously strong.
After a prolonged stalemate, they signed a ceasefire—and it has held ever since.
And the Archduke from that time is still alive.
‘They say he became a demon for the crime of killing the Saintess.’
It was unclear whether the term “demon” was metaphorical or literal.
However, it was a fact that he possessed demonic energy and was immortal. And since Rishie called him a demon in the original story, I just went with that.
Well, whether he was a real demon or a fake one didn’t matter.
What mattered was that Velmaier’s enemy was the Empire.
“Ahem. I’m Irenne. A servant of Hilvarsia—”
“I know.”
…You would?
I had finally worked up the resolve to reveal my identity after offering a bribe, but their reaction was unexpectedly breezy.
The man called the mad dog added mockingly,
“You’re Baltres, right?”
Honestly, it wasn’t that surprising they recognized me.
Baltres was a famously powerful family in the Empire, and black hair with red eyes was the family trait.
Besides, my older brother, who looks almost identical to me, frequently went to border conflicts—so they might have guessed from that.
“Zeffy.”
The pink-haired one, who had swallowed the jerky in an instant, suddenly cut in.
With a youthful face somewhere between boy and young man and an expression that was either serious or blank, he repeated,
“Zeffy.”
…Now I kind of understood why his nickname was idiot.
“Right. That’s your name? And you are?”
With sun-bronzed skin like ripened grain and striking platinum hair braided long, the sharp-looking man answered bluntly,
“Nishe.”
“Good. Then why are you guys here?”
“You answer first. Why is a noble lady who should be in the capital wandering the mountains looking like a beggar?”
Beggar—honestly, I couldn’t refute that description, so I just twitched my brows.
“Wrong. I’m not a noble lady anymore. Right now I’m someone who stabbed the Crown Prince and is on the run.”
“…Ha. Isn’t this one completely insane?”
“For the record, I wasn’t wandering. I was finding my way to Velmaier just fine. My turn now. Why are Velmaier’s knights here?”
We hadn’t crossed the border yet, which meant this was still Imperial territory. Their presence here was rather meaningful.
While Nishe remained silent, Zeffy answered without the slightest caution.
“We’re returning after finishing a mission.”
…You’re just going to say that?
I sincerely hoped this sloppy knight had never blown his cover to Imperials while spying.
Anyway—
“How about taking me with you on the way?”
“Why?”
Zeffy tilted his head with a drowsy, blank face.
“I caused a major incident and can’t stay in the Empire. I’m actually quite an impressive mage—I’ll be useful.”
Throwing myself into enemy territory to escape my own country’s execution platform.
The so-called ‘the enemy of my enemy is my ally’ strategy!
“Okay.”
“Listen, my specialty is magical alchemy—I can turn stones into gold… wait, what?”
“Okay.”
Zeffy repeated it as if it were nothing. The agreement was so easy it was almost refreshing.
I asked, dumbfounded,
“You’re saying you’ll take me to Velmaier?”
“You said you wanted to come.”
“What? Are you actually crazy?”
Nishe, who had been quiet until now, suddenly exploded.
But strangely, he wasn’t glaring at Zeffy or me—he was staring into empty air.
Was he talking to a ghost or something? He rubbed his face roughly with one hand and muttered,
“…Fine. I’ll do it your way, Witch.”
“……”
“Hmph. Don’t ever send me on a mission with that idiot again.”
“……”
His insane monologue was starting to scare me when Nishe finally turned to me.
And this time, he actually spoke to me.
“Hey. You want to come to Velmaier?”
“…Right?”
He curled his lips into a sly grin.
“Let’s go. There’s something you need to do. Idiot!”
Huh? What?
Before I could even react, Zeffy grabbed my hand as if fishing it out of the air. His vivid green eyes gleamed strangely.
“I can run now.”
“What are you talk— Aaaah!”
Whoosh!
Before I could mentally prepare, the scenery in front of me changed at jet-coaster speed.
“Ugh, that crazy idiot! You should take me too!”
“You can come on your own.”
Whether Nishe raged behind us or not, neither Zeffy nor I paid any attention.
‘This is running? No way.’
My mouth fell open at the unfamiliar ability that was comparable to teleportation magic. Zeffy glanced at me and warned,
“You should close your eyes.”
Whoosh!
After that, all my senses blurred past in a rush.
After a moment so brief it felt like an instant—
When I finally stood firmly on the ground again, this was no longer the Empire.
“…This is Velmaier.”
The northern Archduke’s land straight out of a romance fantasy.
Under the cloudy sky, a vast frozen snowfield stretched out to greet me.
Was it really this easy to enter enemy territory?
I glanced sideways at Zeffy, who suddenly seemed incredibly capable.
According to the original story, aside from the Archduke, Velmaier had several beings who weren’t quite human. They were his limbs and were collectively called monsters, though their exact identities were unknown.
All I knew was that they possessed powerful and alien abilities—not magic, not aura.
Then did that mean these two… were those “monsters”?
‘But they both had aura cores.’
A mage’s heart contains a mana circuit, and a knight’s heart contains an aura core.
Their aura was impressive enough that I’d assumed they must be the Archduke’s knights.
Well… it’s not like they had to be limited to just one thing.
No one had deceived me, yet I was the only one fooled.
‘If they’re more than mere aides, this actually works out better.’
After examining the quiet exterior of the Archduke’s castle—covered in white snow and honestly looking a bit like a large abandoned house—I cautiously spoke.
“Hey, could you let me meet the Archduke?”
To seek asylum, I needed the highest authority’s permission.
At this speed, maybe I could meet him right away? Maybe the Archduke would say something like, ‘You stabbed that obnoxious Crown Prince? I rather like you,’ and grant it?
“Master is sleeping.”
…Not what I expected, but fine. That happens.
“Then tomorrow? The day after?”
“Master will be sleeping.”
“…When does he wake up?”
Zeffy rolled his eyes as if counting, then answered with a question.
“Next year? Or not?”
“That’s… not right. Your units are weird. Tomorrow, right?”
“The year after next? Master’s only been asleep for three months.”
‘What is he, Sleeping Beauty?’
I had never heard any rumor that the Demon Archduke was cursed with eternal sleep like in a fairy tale.
To begin with, the Archduke never directly appears in the original story. Not even at the very end.
‘Because Rishie’s reverse harem was the main plot.’
What was the point of remembering the original story now?
Still, the Archduke’s condition equaled the world’s survival—which meant my life was on the line—so I was about to question him carefully when Zeffy suddenly snapped his head back.
“Ah.”
It was unclear whether it was an exclamation or a click of the tongue. Leaving only one remark behind, he vanished like the wind.
“I don’t want to get bitten by the mad dog.”
“What?”
Thud thud thud—
The ground began to tremble right after.
“Zeffyter…!”
A massive figure was rapidly approaching the unguarded Archduke’s castle from afar.
The mad dog reached me in an instant and shouted,
“Today I’ll finally beat some sense into you—!”
“You’re here? Are you some kind of special-ability user too?”
Realizing the situation immediately, Nishe’s handsome face twisted.
“Ha.”
“Sighing right in my face isn’t very nice.”
“Whatever. You… just follow me for now. Let’s deal with ‘that matter’ first. The Witch is raising hell telling me to hurry.”
What matter? The Witch? Oh, right.
I’d been so thrown off getting here that I’d forgotten—Nishe had said there was something I needed to do.
“Shouldn’t you explain what it is first?”
“You’ll know when we get there.”
What a way to talk.
Unfortunately, I was the one in the weaker position here, so I followed his unfriendly lead without complaint.
And the moment I stepped inside the Archduke’s castle—
I realized the uncomfortable truth that the exterior had been the better part.
