Chapter 17
As expected, the best way to sightsee was with a local guide.
“Wow! Look over there, Helix.”
The mountains transitioning from early autumn into full fall were beautiful in themselves, and wildflowers blooming here and there blanketed the slopes in white.
Helix shifted his gaze from the flower field Lea had pointed out back to her.
On her bright face, which was chattering about how she never knew the northern region could be so beautiful, autumn sunlight filtered through the scattered leaves above, making her glow.
Watching her like that made his heart beat faster, yet his mood strangely sank.
“Why do I feel… like this?”
Helix looked at Lea, mulling over this unfamiliar emotion.
Ever since he had seen how popular Lea was earlier, his mood had felt off.
“My heart’s been racing since last night too.”
From the moment Lea stepped forward toward the execution platform, his heartbeat had quickened—and it hadn’t stopped since.
“Am I just shocked? I don’t even know why this is happening.”
Helix placed a hand over his chest and furrowed his brow.
He vividly recalled Lea walking away with her back to the burning pyre.
Her platinum-blonde hair fluttering in the flames.
Her blue eyes burning with pure, unyielding anger.
Her lips pressed tightly shut to hide her fear, though the edges trembled faintly.
“Even now…”
Lea stood beside him, admiring the wildflowers. The shadow of leaves fell across her face, and even the leaves caught in her hair stood out clearly in his vision.
Each detail seemed to imprint itself slowly and vividly into his eyes.
Helix pondered.
“Is this a side effect of the unsealing?”
Come to think of it, he had felt the same heartbeat and symptoms when reinforcing the barrier in Azra’s lair last time.
“Strange symptoms.”
As he frowned, unable to make sense of it—
“Helix, what’s wrong?”
At Lea’s question, Helix relaxed his expression.
“Nothing.”
“It doesn’t look like nothing. Your expression’s off, and you’ve barely spoken.”
Meeting her concerned gaze, he concealed his odd condition.
“…Seeing how popular you are reminded me of my time as a Guardian.”
“Oh? Well, I guess working as a Guardian means you had to deal with a lot of bad people.”
Lea nodded.
“You must’ve been really popular.”
“Not at all.”
Helix answered firmly.
“Not at all? Why?”
Lea couldn’t understand.
“You’re fair, strict when needed, kind, considerate, and even handsome like a god.”
“That’s not what Guardians are about. It’s a job that tends to earn resentment rather than popularity.”
Helix’s voice carried a hint of bitterness.
“Judging by what you’re saying, it sounds like a champion of justice—but still gets resentment. I guess there’s more to it.”
“You’re right.”
“So what exactly is a Guardian? What do they do?”
Controlling mana, maintaining order, protecting the weak—it sounded righteous, but also vague.
After a moment of thought, Helix spoke.
“The main duty of a Guardian is…”
“Yeah. Their duty is?”
“…to stop rampaging dragons and archmages.”
“Pardon?”
❀ ❀ ❀
Helix explained.
A young dragon that knew nothing but itself, one that had lived alone in its lair for too long and lost all social ability; a mad dragon that had played so much with shapeshifting it had declared itself on its 999th reincarnation.
Archmages who spent their lives researching in magic towers until they lost their minds; those who served the powerful only to be discarded and ended up burning entire cities; those who became true mass murderers amid war.
“In the age of magic, individuals like these were the greatest threats to world peace.”
Lea nodded, pale-faced.
“Well… that’s unexpected… but it’s oddly… convincing…”
She held her forehead.
“I guess I’d better take care of my personality and mental state as a mage.”
“You, Lea, should be perfectly capable of doing that.”
He continued.
When beings with overwhelming power like dragons or archmages went out of control, the damage could be catastrophic—entire kingdoms could fall, mountains collapse, rivers dry up.
The Dragon Lord, leader of dragons, and the Master of the Magic Tower considered solutions.
“At that rate, magic would either be branded as dark magic—or the world itself would end.”
“Right.”
“So they decided to create an entity that could control those who went berserk.”
“And that became the Guardians?”
“Correct.”
Helix nodded.
“They selected Guardians from the elves, a race highly sensitive to mana and known for their fairness, granting them the ability to control mana and assigning them the role.”
Lea’s eyes widened.
“Helix, you really are an elf…”
“I am not.”
“Not?”
He looked like an elven king to her.
Helix gave a wry smile under her gaze.
“When the elves migrated to another continent, they selected the first human Guardians.”
“And that was you?”
“Yes.”
He added,
“Elven mentors raised and trained me.”
It was a heavier responsibility than it seemed.
Holding the power of life and death over others, wielding strength akin to that of a god.
“So that’s why you always said you had to be fair…”
“One must be fair. To minimize harm and ensure that as few as possible suffer injustice.”
Now Lea understood why Helix always called himself a Guardian.
She recalled their first meeting.
“Who sent you?”
“Has war broken out outside?”
His wary tone and sharp gaze now made sense.
“Since you control mana, other mages must’ve asked for your help. And powerful figures probably bothered you too.”
“That’s right.”
Helix gave a brief reply, but Lea thought his expression looked darker than usual.
He must have had a difficult life.
Living while wielding immense power alone, always on guard against being used.
If he helped, people demanded more. If he refused for the sake of the greater good, he was resented. Those who lost their power likely cursed him.
Others would try to exploit his weaknesses, making it difficult to form friendships or family.
“The elves were rather inconsiderate.”
“…Inconsiderate?”
Lea muttered.
“Think about it. If they become Guardians, at least they have their own kind to share it with. But they picked just one human and left you alone—what were you supposed to do?”
Helix looked down at her.
“…That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”
“Really? You didn’t resent them?”
“I never did. It was something someone had to do.”
Lea looked at him with a sense of distance she couldn’t quite explain.
“What even is this personality…?”
Even if a halo appeared behind him, she wouldn’t be surprised.
“You really do have the character of a Guardian.”
Helix looked down at Lea’s round head as she shook it.
Then, casually, he reached out and removed a red leaf stuck in her hair.
“You’re a good person too, Lea.”
Blinking, Lea looked up at him.
“Hearing that from someone like you feels unreal…”
“I’m only stating a fact.”
At his blunt praise, she smiled.
“Well, I am pretty and also pretty impressive when you look at it.”
“…That is true.”
Helix agreed, sounding slightly strangled.
Even though it sounded reluctant, he accepted it—very much like him. Lea laughed and turned her gaze away.
“Ha ha, you really are so rigid… huh?”
She blinked.
“What’s that? A flower?”
Amid the brown tones of the autumn mountain, she spotted a blue bud that stood out.
“Helix, look at that. Near the mountaintop. Is that a flower? Or a fruit?”
“It’s a Tigone flower.”
Helix narrowed his eyes.
“It blooms only once every hundred years. To see it here is rare.”
“Lucky us. If it’s blooming, will it bear fruit?”
“Sometimes.”
“Is it tasty?”
Lea’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“If it bears fruit only once a century, even if it doesn’t taste good, it should be beneficial, right?”
“Not necessarily.”
He explained.
“Tigone flowers are normally purple. If it’s blooming blue, it means there’s a source of contamination nearby.”
“Contamination…?”
“If it’s drifting from contaminated lands north beyond the mountain range, it would mean the barrier of the Hel Range has weakened…”
Helix’s expression grew slightly tense.
“We should check it. Lea, you head back down first.”
❀ ❀ ❀
Meanwhile, while Lea and Helix were out walking, the priest who had been following them was hiding nearby, waiting for the right moment.
“They should be coming soon… the princess and that man.”
The priest was growing impatient.
He had intended to eliminate Janet while she was alone, but the clearing she was in was too open.
“Should I just go out and drag her over here?”
At that moment, Janet approached the stream with a water flask.
“Now’s my chance!”
The priest burst out from the bushes beside the stream and swung his knife at Janet.
“Ahh!”
Startled, Janet stumbled and barely managed to avoid the blade.
“You insolent girl!”
The priest adjusted his grip, but then paused and turned his head at the sound of footsteps.
“Janet!”
Lea came running at the sound of the scream.
“Don’t come any closer!”
The priest flailed his blade into the air.
“If you come closer, I’ll kill her first!”
“Your Highness, it’s dangerous! Please don’t come!”
“Shut up! I’ll cut your face before you can move!”
Lea stopped in her tracks.
“Good, listen wel—”
She extended her arm.
“Fireball!”
Whoosh.
The fireball grazed the priest’s shoulder.
Janet gasped.
“A—A fireball?”
The priest staggered, clutching his shoulder.
“Gh… w-w-witch!”
Whoosh!
Holding a fireball in one hand, Lea replied,
“Is that the only word you know?”
Her mocking tone made the priest’s face flush red. He pointed his blade at her.
“You think you’ll get away with this after defying a priest? I’ll report the Fioret family’s princess to the church as a witch!”
“Oh, really?”
Lea replied lazily.
“Then should I report something across the kingdom? That a perverted demon who goes after any pretty woman is disguised as a priest and leading witch hunts?”
“What did you say?”
“Since he’s a demon, he even attacked a princess without hesitation. Let’s name him… how about the Lust Demon, Filthraus?”
The insult turned the priest’s face ashen.
“You… you insane witch!”
