Chapter 12
“Come out with me for a bit.”
He scanned Lea’s all-black outfit from head to toe.
No matter how he looked at her, it practically screamed, “I’m about to do something suspicious.”
“Where are you going all bundled up like that?”
“There’s that place where monsters were said to appear. A village northeast of Lord Biden’s villa.”
“……”
Helix silently looked at Lea.
Her eyes seemed to say, “You said you wouldn’t help,” and Lea coughed awkwardly.
“Ahem, it’s not like I’m going specifically to help the villagers.”
“Oh?”
“I just want to practice my magic.”
So that was her real intention.
Helix smiled faintly, and she, slightly embarrassed, looked away.
“I’m not going to help them or anything. I mean… I do feel a bit responsible, so… anyway, come with me.”
Helix paused for a moment.
Seeing Lea also get swept up in political reasoning made him think, So she really is a noble, after all, leaving a bitter feeling.
But still—her showing up in full gear in the middle of the night like this…
“…Let’s go together.”
He answered a beat late, feeling a bit sorry for having doubted her.
“Good. Then get ready quickly and let’s head out.”
Lea said,
“The knights guarding the back entrance of the villa will be changing shifts soon. We’ll have to slip out during that gap.”
Breaking out of your own home’s security—what a situation.
Helix let out a small chuckle.
“Lea, you’re oddly meticulous in strange places.”
“That sounded like a backhanded compliment.”
“It was a compliment.”
❀ ❀ ❀
“Still, you sure called me and decided to go together.”
“Just as a side note.”
The two who had quietly slipped out of the villa walked briskly.
“It seemed like monsters crossed over when the barrier was lifted, so I was worried.”
“Same here.”
“That’s why I suggested we go together.”
Lea continued,
“And it’s my first time dealing with monsters, so going alone felt dangerous.”
“Good thinking. I’m not exactly the most reliable partner right now, though…”
“Huh?”
She looked at him in disbelief.
“Contract holder, you’re being way too modest. Didn’t you protect me from those wild dog monsters last time?”
“That was dangerous.”
Helix’s expression grew slightly stiff.
“I shot mana to stop it, but I didn’t expect the monster to get back up… I was careless. I shouldn’t have acted as if I still had my old strength.”
Lea recalled how he had fired mana like a martial arts master. And that was supposedly him not at full strength?
Then what would he be like when he regains all his power?
Just then—
Guuuuuh…
A monster’s roar cut through the night air.
“P-please save me!”
A human scream followed.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Lea and Helix both started running.
Grrr…
Arriving quickly in the forest, they saw a bear-like monster about to strike a hunter. Lea reflexively extended her hand.
“Fireball!”
A mass of flame shot from her fingertips and struck the monster’s head.
Kuaaaagh!
The monster staggered, clutching its burning head. A second attack followed immediately.
Kugh!
With a short scream, the monster turned and fled.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
At that moment, a large fireball formed in Lea’s hand—
Crash!
Crack!
With the sound of trees snapping violently, another monster leapt out from a different direction and charged at Lea.
“Lea!”
A sense of déjà vu hit her.
Helix stepped in front of her, blocking the attack. At the same time, the cold dawn wind collided with the heat from Lea’s flames. The strong, acrid gust made Helix’s long silver hair and robe billow.
He turned to look at Lea.
His refined, composed face was filled with urgency.
“Lea, move!”
As if under a spell, she stretched out her hand.
BOOM!
More monsters were approaching behind Helix.
Bang! Boom!
Lea gritted her teeth and launched continuous fireballs at them.
“I said move!”
“If I run alone, what about you?”
As Helix toppled monsters using mana, Lea attacked them with flame magic.
“They’ll keep coming! And your magic is weakening, isn’t it?”
He was right. The flames that once reduced monsters to charcoal were gradually losing power.
Raaaagh!
Monsters with their heads and shoulders on fire roared in pain. Lea grabbed Helix’s sleeve and said firmly,
“Let’s run.”
Helix also abandoned the idea of evacuating her alone.
“There’s a stream nearby.”
He grabbed Lea’s hand and started running.
Grrrrooo!
The monsters, still burning but not dead, continued chasing them.
Lea glanced back and was horrified. It felt like a mass of bear-sized fireballs rolling toward them.
Without realizing it, she gripped Helix’s hand tightly.
Helix spoke.
“Don’t worry. I can smell water. A stream will appear soon.”
“You can smell water?”
Lea asked in surprise—and soon, she too heard the sound of flowing water.
Gritting their teeth, they ran toward it, only to freeze when they saw what lay ahead.
“…It’s not a stream… it’s a river.”
And it was a river beneath a cliff.
Kraaaaugh!
The monsters roared triumphantly, certain they had their prey cornered.
They approached leisurely, as if they had already caught their targets.
“Stay back!”
Lea raised a fireball in one hand to threaten them.
The monsters paused briefly—but then resumed advancing, seemingly confident there was nowhere to run with the cliff behind them.
“These bastards…”
Lea’s blue eyes flashed.
As she changed her expression and reached out her hand, one monster suddenly darted forward from the group.
Kyaaa!
“Lea!”
At nearly the same moment her fireball struck the monster, it fired something from its mouth. Helix pulled Lea back and took the attack in her place.
“Helix!”
The robe hit by the substance began to melt as if burned.
“W-what do we do? It didn’t touch your skin, did it?”
“It’s fine. This much… ugh!”
He let out an involuntary groan.
“Does it hurt?!”
“It doesn’t.”
Helix replied, then quickly raised his robe sleeve in front of Lea.
Kyaaak!
The sleeve crumpled under the monster’s spit, but he ignored it and shielded Lea with his body.
Kyaak! Kyaak!
The monsters’ triumphant cries were deafening, and the tattered hem of Helix’s robe fluttered as he stood protectively in front of her.
“You damn things…”
Lea muttered darkly and raised her hand.
“You’re all dead! Firestorm!”
BOOOOOM!!!
Flames exploded outward from Lea’s position.
Caught off guard by the attack, the monsters were blasted away like burning leaves.
Helix pulled Lea out from the center of the flames.
Half-conscious after casting such a large-scale spell for the first time, she was held tightly as he turned his body.
There was no other option.
Helix wrapped her in his arms and leapt into the river.
Splash!
❀ ❀ ❀
A man watching from afar gaped.
“…Self-destruction?”
While not entirely reckless since there was a river behind them, a normal person wouldn’t trigger such a massive flame explosion that could engulf themselves.
There was no information that Lea Piert, the princess, had a personality that acted without thinking when angry.
Even after being trained as a spy and infiltrating the Piert ducal house, he had never sensed anything like that.
The man rubbed his eyes and looked again at where Lea had been.
Firestorm.
Exactly as the name suggested, the area swept by the flames was littered with roasted monsters.
“Hah…”
Magic.
He had come at night, disguising himself, wondering what they were up to—and they were attacking monsters with magic.
And when chased by a horde of monsters, she had backed up against a river and unleashed a self-destructive flame storm.
What had Count Trow said when assigning him as a spy?
“The Piert ducal house raised her like a sheltered girl. She’s physically weak. There will definitely be gaps.”
There were gaps.
The problem was that if you tried to find them and got caught, you’d end up roasted.
The spy shook his head.
“I’ll have to follow them.”
He muttered, his voice unconsciously excited.
The man who had grabbed her and jumped into the river had likely ensured the princess’s safety.
“……”
The smile that had lingered on the spy’s lips faded slightly.
Looking in the direction Lea had disappeared, he rose to his feet.
Whoosh.
In an instant, his figure vanished.
❀ ❀ ❀
Lea had secretly trusted Helix.
If the explosion gets too big, he’ll jump in with me!
Still, she hadn’t expected this.
Blink.
She closed her eyes at the scene before her, then opened them again.
No matter how many times she blinked, it was still a cave—and Helix was beside her.
Her eyes wavered.
Being soaked and alone with him in a narrow cave…
“Uh…”
“Awake?”
She nodded and adjusted her posture.
“Where are we?”
“In a cave by the river.”
So they were still near water.
Lea looked around the small cave and muttered,
“I thought if we jumped in, we’d cross to the other side…”
“The current was too strong.”
Helix said, brushing back his wet silver hair.
“You passed out as soon as you fell into the water.”
“Ah.”
He explained that he had swum while carrying her and eventually found this cave along the riverbank.
“You’ve had a hard time…”
“What can I do? My contractor is weak.”
He clicked his tongue, looking at Lea, whose lips had turned blue.
“Weak—and impatient.”
“But you were the one who got poisoned—ow.”
Helix’s long, cold fingers lightly poked her cheek.
“Excuse me.”
Pop.
Mana spread across her cheek.
The trembling in her lips, which had been shivering unconsciously, stopped.
“…Could you at least inform me before treating me next time?”
“Wouldn’t it be better not to create situations that require treatment?”
She had no reply.
“I guess not.”
“Be careful. You’re going to be the death of my heart, Lea.”
At his sudden words, Lea’s ears turned red.
“Lea, what is it?”
“Ah. Um. I-it’s… cold?”
Helix nodded.
“You must have used up all the mana stored in your circle earlier.”
“Yeah. Maybe that’s why. I’m still cold.”
She tried to act casual, then suddenly asked,
“Helix, are you okay after being hit by the monster’s poison earlier?”
At her words, Helix turned around and began taking off his clothes.
“…Huh?”
