“Allow me to introduce you. This is my aide Richard, and my personal friend Nephteros. And this is Lord Valjakka. He’s one of the Archangels.”
Richard straightened himself up and situated himself, while Nephteros lightly greeted him with a nod. It was actually Valjakka who bowed down reverently.
“How surprising. I never thought you would gain the assistance of an elf. Perhaps my meddling was unnecessary.”
Nephteros knit her brows at that statement.
“Are you Chastille’s friend?”
“Her brother was my adjutant, you see, so I consider Chastille a little sister... though she’s a splendid Archangel now, so I suppose I can’t keep treating her like a child forever.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Chastille could see sympathy in Nephteros’ gaze and shrugged her shoulders.
“Then I’ll leave Chastille to you. She can be quite clumsy at the critical stage, after all.”
“Nephteros!”
“I’m counting on you. It’ll be problematic if she’s gone.”
Chastille faltered at her perfectly honest statement.
“I promise I won’t allow any harm to come to her. Now then, let’s go Chastille. The other knights have already charged in.”
Valjakka urged her on, and Chastille put her hand to her sword.
“I’ll be back soon. Don’t you worry and wait right here.”
“Right. Be safe.”
Nephteros nodded, and Chastille left the waiting room. And just as she did, she remembered something and looked over to Richard.
“...Um, Richard. You do your best, too.”
“...Yes. I’ll put in some effort.”
Despite the two of them being alone during the entire meeting, it didn’t look like he’d managed to make any progress in getting closer to her at all.
◇
On the same evening, Foll plopped herself down on the throne while engrossed in thought.
I’m happy Zagan went to play for his own sake. But... why at this time? The Zagan that Foll knew was quite the klutz when it came to Nephy. However, he wasn’t someone who would stupidly leave his defenses undermanned in the middle of preparing to deal with an Archdemon.
Meaning there was something that Zagan had to do himself that was worth sacrificing his defenses for.
But what is it? She couldn’t really do anything by worrying about it, but it was still on her mind. And unable to find an answer, Foll leaned back in the throne. The back support was too far away, however, and she ended up tumbling backwards. As she looked up, she found golden eyes looking down at her.
“Teehee, that’s quite the grim expression you have there.” It was Alshiera. She was leaning over Foll’s face while sitting on the throne’s armrest. “Are you dissatisfied with watching the house?”
“Not really.”
She wasn’t dissatisfied, but she also wasn’t satisfied. And seeing through her complex state of mind, Alshiera brushed Foll’s head.
“Now then, where did the Silver-Eyed King’s objective take him this time, I wonder?”
She was right on the mark, but Foll was already used to this, so she simply nodded back before speaking.
“He didn’t sound troubled, but it also sounded like he was in a rush. Did something happen?”
“How about going to investigate?”
“...I can’t. I don’t want to get in Zagan’s way.”
He was finally on a trip all alone with Nephy. If she went to meet them, it would be the same as always. She loved the time she spent with them, but she believed it was better if they made some progress.
Alshiera let out an amused laugh.
“Even if you do not chase after the Silver-Eyed King, you can investigate what he saw.”
“...By going to see Orias?”
Zagan was supposed to have visited Orias the other day. Meaning something happened had there, or he’d found something there. That’s why he’d suddenly said he was going to the Holy City. It tickled her curiosity, but Foll shook her head nonetheless.
“I can’t. I need to protect you.”
The reason Foll was able to deliver a blow to Bifrons was because she was in Zagan’s domain. She didn’t believe it would be possible if she were to leave. And knowing that full well, Alshiera nodded.
“That’s exactly why. There’s no harm in going if I’m with you.”
Apparently, she was offering to take Foll there.
Foll wavered but shook her head.
“...As thanks? Protecting you was something I did on my own. I don’t need it.”
“Not as thanks, but as a reward. Doesn’t a good child doing her best deserve a reward?”
There was something dodgy about the way she said “reward” that reminded Foll of Gremory, but she had no reason to refuse either.
Is it okay to just accept this for doing my best in a suitable way for my age? She wasn’t overreaching herself, so it was surely fine to accept this much. And after she pondered over it for a whole minute, she nodded back.
“Got it. Then let’s go.”
“Heehee, what a good girl.”
Seeing Alshiera somewhat pleased about this, Foll felt like she figured it out.
“You were also worried?”
“Did you think I wasn’t?” Alshiera got down from the armrest and held her hand out to her. “Shall we?”
“...Right now?”
It was already late at night. This was normally Foll’s bedtime. And yet the vampire smiled at her like a mischievous brat.
“Night is my time to shine.”
Foll really was tired, but she also felt like she wouldn’t be able to sleep while this was on her mind. She hesitated but ended up taking Alshiera’s hand.
“Okay, let’s go.”
What’s this feeling? The warmth she felt from Alshiera was similar to what she felt from Zagan and Nephy, but it was somehow different. It wasn’t the same as the kindness she received from Gremory or Raphael either. But it still wasn’t unpleasant...
Friendship... That single word came to mind. On one hand, there was the daughter of a dragon who could compare to an Archdemon. On the other, there was an ancient vampire who even Zagan said he could not defeat.
Such a pair were now standing side by side, but they didn’t look like anything more than two little girls going off to play.
“Keehee, what wonderful love power! What’s with this strong desire that makes me want to adopt them?! It hides an infinite well of love power within it!”
“Gremory, you coming?”
The granny was once more writhing about in happiness in front of the throne room door.
◇
Foll, Alshiera, and Gremory arrived at Orias’ base around the time dawn was breaking. Gremory was in the form of a young girl, perhaps to match up with the other two.
Gremory may have come along as an escort in her own little way... About 90 percent of it was just her going along with her desires, but Foll believed that the remaining 10 percent was maybe to protect the two of them. And 10 percent was actually pretty big for this granny, who usually only acted on instinct.
With Orias’ base in sight, Alshiera cocked her head.
“Is this where an Archdemon lives?”
They were currently far to the north of Kianoides, deep within a forest. There were no human habitats within walkable distance, and even hunters were said not to tread this far. There were obviously no girls anywhere nearby too, which is why Gremory staked her life on escaping this secluded region.
This was even further from Zagan’s castle than the Holy City of Raziel, and it would have taken about a week by carriage to arrive. And yet the three of them got there in just a few hours.
It’s not as good as the handyman, but that was still teleportation. Zagan had prepared devices capable of activating teleportation sorcery. It couldn’t go anywhere he wanted like Barbatos, but it apparently linked together fixed locations that Zagan had decided on. There was a need to ins
tall a magic circle at the destination, so it required traveling there once beforehand. Still, this was very high-level sorcery.
Barbatos was actually the strange one for being able to link together any shadow of any person once he was cognizant of them. He truly possessed prodigious talent as a sorcerer. There likely wasn’t even an Archdemon who could surpass him at teleportation.
The handyman was probably number one before Zagan became an Archdemon. Gremory and Kimaris were also sorcerers who represented their respective fields of sorcery, but when it simply came to who could use the most advanced sorcery, Barbatos was likely in the lead. Which would put Foll as last among all the candidates. At the time, she only excelled at using dragon sorcery, and nothing else.
Would I be able to beat the handyman now? Foll tried simulating a fight with Barbatos in her mind. If it was a head-on fight, she could probably win. In the worst case, she could even eat the shadows and devour him.
But I don’t think I’d have a chance if he was an enemy... When walking alone at night, or sleeping, or chatting with someone close to her, there were countless occasions where Barbatos could easily slip in and stab her with a knife. There was no need for anything more complex. It was impossible to keep one’s guard up at all times, after all.
There were, of course, ways of sealing teleportation. However, it didn’t seem like it would work against Barbatos. He was a monster who could easily hijack Zagan’s magic circle. It would be like trying to block a sword with a paper shield.
Zagan was able to deal with him because his physical reinforcement could withstand a surprise stabbing, and any further sorcery would just be devoured by him.
As Foll observed the mechanism behind the teleportation, she answered Alshiera’s puzzled question.
“This is where I came last time...”
“Mm. It seems she’s out,” Gremory said, as she looked up at the building in relief.
“So, Zagan didn’t meet Orias?”
“Who knows? It’s also possible she left after they met... Wait, that’s not right.”
Gremory searched the ground. There were several footprints there. Someone had come and was walking in circles after not being able to enter right away.
Zagan and Raphael noticed she wasn’t home and wondered whether they should let themselves in. The granny was actually quite talented to be able to find such tracks.
“I thought Archdemons tended to live in big castles,” Alshiera commented with mixed feelings.
“My teacher is quite the misanthrope. She said this was just about right for her.”
Orias’ base was quite different from the other Archdemons’ bases. It was nothing more than a small hut. Apparently, she made use of a subspace created with sorcery to store her vast accumulation of bookshelves which contained her wisdom. The hut itself was just big enough for a single person to live in. Just having two or three guests would make it rather cramped.
Gremory apparently got a lump on her head while being forced to sit on her knees here once. The building itself was covered in moss and being assimilated into the surrounding trees. It truly looked like an elf’s hiding place.
Such was Orias’ refuge, but right now nobody was home. That’s probably why Gremory had actually come along.
“Should we go in?”
Foll gave up on observing the teleportation mechanism and stood back up.
“There’s no meaning to coming here if we don’t,” Alshiera said with a nod.
“Keeheehee, let’s go expose my teacher’s deepest secrets.”
“...So why are you hiding behind me?”
Even though she knew nobody was here, Gremory was unable to suppress her body rejecting the act, so she glued herself to Alshiera’s back.
“We’re coming in granny.”
Foll put her hand to the door. There was neither a keyhole nor a lock. It was the type to have a bolt blocking it on the other side. Foll pushed lightly on the door, and it creaked open without any resistance.
It was dimly lit inside despite being early in the morning, and a cold breeze flowed out. The damp smell of trees and soil tickled her nose. It was the middle of winter, but there was no smell of oil or ash inside from being warmed up. It seemed that she’d been out for more than just a few days.
The dim lighting didn’t make any difference from the brightly lit outdoors to a dragon’s eyes. Foll took a look around the room. The table that was leaning against the wall the last time she came was now sitting in the center of the room. There were three long and narrow shelves on the walls. Two of them were filled with jars of medicine, while the third had miscellaneous parchments and grimoires strewn across it.
There were multiple large parchments on the table, as well as smaller ones with memos written on them. It looked like Orias was investigating something, and likely didn’t have the leisure to clean up when she’d left the place.
“It doesn’t look like there was a fight.”
“Indeed. The fireplace was taken care of properly too.”
Alshiera pointed at the fireplace. New firewood was placed inside, and the ashes were completely cleaned out. Foll took a step into the hut, onto the thin flooring. Dust had started to accumulate, but there wasn’t enough to leave behind footprints. Even as she passed her finger over the table, there wasn’t any dirt to be found. Upon noticing that, Foll leaned over the table and looked at one of the small memos.
“It was all tidy the last time I came. Why is it all messy when it doesn’t seem like she was in a rush?”
“I mean, my teacher is actually quite sloppy when it comes to... Eep?!”
Gremory suddenly screamed while in the middle of trying to expose her teacher’s habits.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just felt like I was about to be killed...”
Foll and Alshiera cocked their heads, but Gremory simply continued to tremble violently and didn’t say anything more. So Alshiera turned her attention back to the room.
“It seems she’s been out for about a week.”
“A week? So since Alshiere Imera?”
“Seems so.”
Gremory looked somewhat worried about this fact.
“I don’t think it’s possible when it comes to my teacher... But it does worry me.”
Alshiere Imera was accompanied by the second advent of the rare species hunt. And elves were the prime example of a rare species. Gremory’s anxieties stood to reason. But Alshiera shook her head.
“I don’t think he had the leisure to meddle this far out. There are no traces of a scuffle either. If he was foolish enough to take on two or three Archdemons at the same time, he would’ve died five years ago anyway.”
Foll nodded in agreement. Even wounded as she was, Alshiera was a threat on par with an Archdemon. The fact that she ran away into Zagan’s territory meant Shere Khan was basically taking on two Archdemons at the same time. There were better ways of planning suicide than taking on even more Archdemons than that.
So what happened? Foll clambered onto a chair and looked through the memos on the table.
“...I can’t read it.”
It appeared to be written in some sort of Elvish. Zagan was proficient in it, but Foll couldn’t read it at all. So in her stead, Gremory hopped up onto another chair to take a look.
“Let’s see... Oh, this is too much for me too. Most of it’s in Celestian.”
“Celestian...?”
Orias was a high elf. She was likely the foremost expert on the language, far beyond both Nephteros and Bifrons.
“They’re drawings of the Sigils of the Archdemons, so maybe it’s related to that,” Gremory added.
There were thirteen little parchments. The one in the center was a Sigil that Foll recognized.
And lastly, Alshiera climbed up onto a chair and rudely plopped herself down onto the table.
“Heart... right hand... oh my, how surprising. Was she actually analyzing the Sigils of the Archdemon?”
Alshiera smoothly rea
d the memos that Gremory had given up on.
“You can read them?”
“Well, just a little.”
“What do they say?”
After Foll asked, Alshiera plainly grimaced.
“I don’t really want to explain.”
“You said I could have a reward.”
Foll pleaded with her, and Alshiera sighed in resignation.
“...You’re unexpectedly good at begging.”
“Keehee, well, of course... I’ve carefully trained her, you know?”
“...Foll, you should choose the people you associate with better.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment!”
Gremory warded off Alshiera’s sigh with an iron-hearted will. And Foll came to fully realize that this granny was a top-notch sorcerer.
Alshiera picked up the small parchments and began lining them up in order.
“This is the heart. It’s the Silver-Eyed King’s Sigil. This one’s the lungs. So it’s little Andre’s Sigil.”
Both Foll and Gremory looked up upon hearing an unexpected name.
“Little Andre?”
“It can’t be... Do you mean Head Archdemon Andrealphus?”
Alshiera nodded like it wasn’t a big deal.
“I think it was about two hundred years ago? He came to Liucaon to play. He was a bit of a rascal at the time, so I wonder if he’s calmed down by now.”
“Two hundred years...”
Foll and Gremory both remembered hearing that before.
“Angelic Confession Zachariel. It’s been two hundred years since this has been used in this world. Even Raphael wasn’t able to reach this stage. This is the final form of the Sacred Sword.”
That was what Andrealphus said when he’d wielded both a Sacred Sword and the power of an Archdemon to drive Zagan into a corner. Zagan said that if Andrealphus had planned on killing him from the start, he would have been dead already.
And that meant the Archdemon had challenged Alshiera two hundred years ago. Where, judging by the way she worded it, he’d been defeated handily. Foll and Gremory were at a loss for words, while Alshiera continued lining up the parchments.
“This is the left hand. Archdemon Naberius I think. This is the eyes... Bifrons? Ah, the child the Silver-Eyed King hates. And this one...” Alshiera’s voice shook with both irritation and grief. “Memories... the Tiger King Shere Khan.”
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 9 Page 13