In the first place, Zagan didn’t fuss over aesthetics, and despite having no interest in it, didn’t want to make her do anything that would drive her to death.
However, in that case, just what could he have her do?
She’ll probably be anxious if she has nothing to do too huh...?
This girl was given the idea that she was going to be a sacrifice or a lab animal. So if the man who bought her simply told her to stay put, he didn’t think she would be pleased and think ‘Ah, it’s nice to not to have to do anything.’
While groaning, Zagan was unable to come up with an answer, so he set his cup of milk on the floor and began chewing on the dried meat.
Nephy then made a face like she found this unexpected.
“Master, are you also eating the same thing?”
“Yeah...? Is something strange about that?”
“No, um...” It seemed like she had something she wanted to say, but Nephy’s gaze was wandering around like she found it difficult to put in words.
“Just speak. You won’t particularly anger me.” While Zagan cursed himself for being unable to put it in a slightly more friendly manner, he somehow managed to say that.
Nephy maintained her unchanging expression, and opened her mouth as if it was difficult to say.
“I feel... privileged from just having received a meal. However, Master, I find it strange for you to be eating the same things...” In her own way, she made her best effort to voice her doubts.
Zagan then folded his arms and thought about it. Just what was it that Nephy found so odd? The only thing in front of his eyes was a dirty cup filled with milk, and dried meat from god knows how long ago.
Hm? Now that I think of it, there was a group eating similar things in town yesterday too.
Yes. If he remembered correctly, it was the slaves in Kianoides.
Seeing them in the middle of the streets was quite pitiful, but when he thought of it carefully, Zagan was eating something similar himself.
And after nodding to himself, Zagan opened his mouth to speak.
“Could it be... because this is too modest a meal?”
“Um, yes... I believe it to be food fit for a slave like myself.” In other words, rather than a meal, it was slop.
However, rather than taking offense to that, Zagan was genuinely lamenting it. Or actually—
Is she... worried about me? No, that may have been a little wrong.
It wasn’t like she was going to suddenly open her heart after just yesterday and today.
It wasn’t that, but it was like she couldn’t stand by and watch no matter who it was. It felt almost like she was saying ‘Won’t this person die if I don’t do something about this?’
Zagan gnawed away for a while, and then gazed at the shriveled dry meat.
Aaah, that’s right. This food’s at the level where you can’t really even call it a meal.
Ever since his days as a highwayman, this was the only kind of thing he had to eat, so he never thought about it even once. He was at the point where as long as he didn’t starve, it didn’t matter what the food was.
Other than dried meat, he also ate hardened bread, but that got moldy too quickly and would no longer be edible. He’d previously tried to forcefully eat it anyway, but after that he experienced nothing but a stomach ache and tragic memories.
Looking back at how I’ve been getting nowhere since yesterday, I can recall the taste of the bread, huh?
He had heard before that a first love tasted like lemons, but in reality it was more of a sour feeling that seemed to tear apart his stomach.
If he had to name one thing that he honestly found delicious, it would be liquor. The liquor that Barbatos brought over while talking like an idiot was truly delicious, but at that time the main dish was also dried meat.
When it came to alcohol, Zagan didn’t know which was better to buy, so in the end his life of dried meat and milk had simply continued.
“What does... a normal person eat, I wonder...?” As he involuntarily mumbled that, Nephy opened her mouth as if she made up her mind.
“Um, Master.”
“What?”
After taking a small yet deep breath, Nephy said the following.
“Though it may be impertinent of me, shall I... cook something for you?” Zagan shot to his feet with a clatter.
He then grasped Nephy’s hand as she shrank back in a startled manner.
“You can cook?”
“I have only learned by watching, so I cannot guarantee the taste, but...” How skillful of her.
Home cooking... Not only that, it was being made by the girl he had fallen in love with. To Zagan, this had never been an option before.
Now that I think about it, among the three grand desires of man, one’s the appetite for food...
All he did was research sorcery, so he never thought of satisfying that sort of desire.
The contours of his eyes became hot.
Was that feeling swelling up in his eyes tears? It was a shocking revelation to Zagan that such a thing actually still remained within him.
Following that, he downed his milk in one gulp.
“Phew, hear me, Nephy. I have decided what you are to do.”
“Yes. What is it?”
“Go shopping!” Within this castle, there were no ingredients other than dried meat and old milk. Even Zagan knew that making anything delicious was impossible with just those.
“...Ah, yes.” Nephy responded as if she was taken aback, blankly staring up at Zagan all the while. Then, she applauded lightly.
She may have just thought that she had to react in some way, but it was a rather embarrassing sight.
◇
The largest town in the vicinity was certainly Kianoides, but there were several other small villages and settlements close to the abandoned castle.
Zagan was headed toward one of them, but upon leaving the castle, he quickly realized that there was a problem.
Thinking about it carefully, I spent my entire fortune on Nephy, huh?
He was undoubtedly penniless.
At the time, he was stirred up by the voice in his heart, so he hadn’t spared a single thought of what was to come afterward.
Since Kianoides was a trade city, it had well maintained highways that stretched out to various places. Towns were dotted along these roads, and it was normal to use carriages to travel between them. If one were to walk down the road, they would be able to at least catch a stagecoach fairly quickly.
However, Zagan finally realized that he possessed no money to board such a carriage.
“Not getting on?” The coachman, a young male therianthrope with the face of a cat, tilted his head to the side, and Zagan shook his head in response.
“Aaah, it seems I forgot something. Go on without me.”
“That so?” The clattering of the carriage’s wheels rang out as it departed.
As Zagan saw off the carriage in vain, Nephy tilted her head to the side behind him.
“Are we returning to the castle?”
“No, there’s no need for that.”
“Is that so...?” Even if he returned to the castle, there wasn’t a single copper coin left. It may have been possible for him to sell off some of those torture devices, but it would also cost quite a bit to call over a merchant who was capable of evaluating them and making the transaction.
Actually, Nephy also needs something to wear.
Ever since the previous night, this girl had been wearing the same white dress. Moreover, since the castle was filthy, it had become sullied.
To do something or other about that, it was necessary to procure money.
And as if glossing that over, Zagan muttered with a solemn expression.
“It has been quite a while since I’ve been out at this time. It isn’t bad to take a walk every now and then.”
“Yes.” While making a lame excuse, Zagan began walking in the direction that the carriage headed, and Nephy followe
d suit.
As he took a fleeting glimpse behind him, he noticed that Nephy was lifting the hems of her skirt and jogging. There was the fact that their strides were different, but he figured the struggle was mostly because she found it hard to walk with that dress and those shoes. And so, Zagan kept that in mind and walked at a leisurely pace.
While walking, Zagan began to worry himself. Would it be fine to just attack the carriage from earlier and take all their money and goods? Lately he hadn’t really been doing it, but back in the day that was basically how he fed himself.
However, just last night he ended up frightening Nephy with his offensive sorcery.
Rather, just what would that girl think about while watching a man rob innocents? In the end, I feel like stealing’s no good.
However, in that case, just how would he earn money?
Anyway, just as Zagan was thinking that since Nephy could cook he should sell his castle and open a restaurant in town... a scream came from further down the highway.
Nephy gulped.
“Master.”
“Hm? Oh, it’s probably a robbery. Bandits show up in this area once in a while.” Off in the distance, men carrying axes were assaulting a carriage.
There was about a dozen or so armed men. It was a band of brigands who were harmless to man and beast.
They weren’t sorcerers, just simple people. None of them received training like Angelic Knights, and they didn’t wear troublesome armor like the Archangels, either. They were just ordinary folk who were running amok, wielding easy to understand edged tools.
That was about all there was to Zagan’s perception of them.
The passengers were being pulled down out of the carriage, and the bandits were stealing all the money and goods. It seemed they were intent on taking a young woman along with them, as they were pulling her over to another carriage. They likely either intended to sell her into slavery or use her as a plaything. In either case, that woman’s fate was sealed.
Zagan at least thought that the abducted girl was pitiful, but he himself had done similar things before. He didn’t think it was all that wretched a scene.
While he was gazing at the scene like it didn’t concern him at all, he eventually realized that Nephy was trembling in place.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-Nothing...” The person in question pretended to be calm, but her face was completely pale and her lips were trembling. In fact, it seemed like she couldn’t take her eyes off the scene unfolding before them.
Zagan was taken aback.
Could it be that Nephy was also abducted like that? It wasn’t like Nephy was captured by slave dealers from the very beginning. She should have been living a peaceful life somewhere before that. This may have reminded her of a painful memory.
Zagan then pointed his finger at the bandits.
“Nephy, take a good look. Those things are just rubbish.”
“...Yes.” Her voice sounded somehow dejected.
He didn’t know what she was discouraged by, but Zagan gathered his mana into the finger he had extended.
Immediately following that, a single line of lightning shot out like an arrow.
“Kyaaa.” Nephy covered her face as she let out an adorable yelp.
Touched by the branching lightning, several of the bandits vanished into thin air.
Nephy’s mouth was flapping open and close without making a sound.
From that sudden attack, the bandits also stiffened up as if they didn’t understand just what had happened.
I have no intention of saying I’ll protect you or anything else so pushy.
Sure, offensive sorcery may have frightened her, but whatever the circumstances may be, being frightened by mere bandits was unacceptable. Those being were like weeds or pebbles, so there wasn’t a single thing about them to fear.
That was why he showed her that bandits were nothing but tiny insects.
In any case, it seemed that the bandits at least understood that an enemy had appeared.
“D-Don’t panic! Even if he’s a sorcerer, it ain’t like he can just keep firing shit off! Press in before he can invoke the next spell!” Hearing the voice of what appeared to be their leader, the bandits rushed in with their weapons in hand.
“Master.”
“Stay behind me.” Saying that to Nephy after her trembling voice leaked out, Zagan stepped forward.
The bandit closest to Zagan was a large man about two heads taller than him. His arms were bulging with muscles that may have been thicker than Nephy’s waist.
That man came slashing with the axe in his hand. Even a large tree would likely be bisected by that, since it was a brutal strike. Something like Zagan’s head would easily be smashed like an egg, and the weapon was coming straight down on Zagan’s skull.
“R-Ridiculous... Urgh?” However, the one to leak out a shocked voice was the large man.
Zagan caught the large man’s axe barehanded. Not only that, even when the man pushed down, the axe did not budge an inch.
“Challenging a sorcerer with brute strength truly is ridiculous, isn’t it?” Speaking of sorcerers, to most people, they likely had the impression of an unathletic individual who sealed themselves in a gloomy laboratory surrounded by a large quantity of books.
However, with the power of sorcery, they could call down lightning, manipulate fire, and give birth to invisible shields. As long as they were also mortal, that almighty power would first be used to protect oneself.
They had skin so tough that an average blade would not leave a single wound on it, feet so fast that they could even overtake a swift horse, arms which could tear apart even iron barehanded, and a heart that did not tire even after fighting for an entire day and night.
As sorcerers aged, they would touch upon even more superhuman abilities that seemed like they were straight out of legends. Even if it were an Angelic Knight who devoted countless hours to training, the mere body of a regular person could not cross swords with those monsters.
That was the existence known as sorcerers.
Zagan put his strength into his hand in an attempt to counterattack. A crack ran down the steel axe, and the large man’s eyes peeled back.
“I-Impossible...” With a clang, the axe shattered like glass, and the man’s befuddled voice leaked out.
The man collapsed to his knees crestfallen, and Zagan lightly struck his forehead with his finger as if simply driving away a fly.
“FUGYAH!?” Letting out a voice like a pig, the man was blown all the way back to the carriage. An unfortunate bandit who happened to be there ended up pinned under him.
“Eeek, the chief!”
...It seemed that unfortunate bandit was the leader. With their boss flattened, the other bandits ducked into the shadow of the carriage, with some even rushing into the surrounding thickets.
“Geh, ha-halp... Mr. Sorcerer! Help us!” Though that was a voice begging for help, they were not words pointed toward Zagan.
It wasn’t clear where he was hidden beforehand, but a man suddenly stood in Zagan’s way, seemingly at ease.
A sorcerer.
It seemed that these bandits had hired a sorcerer.
“Hmmm... A sorcerer who would save people? What a strange occurrence.” As the sorcerer stroked his chin in a puzzled manner, he held up his other hand.
“However, this is also a contract. I don’t know who you are, but I assure you that you shall regret having appeared before me.” The moment a small magic circle appeared to have formed in that man’s palm, flames burst out of it.
It was hot enough to choke on. The grass in the surrounding burned up, and even the bandits who were hiding there were covered in flames as they let out shrieks.
Carefully observing the movements of the sorcerer and the flames, Zagan muttered to himself.
“I see... Using the flames as a medium, he’s drawing out another magic circle, huh?” The flames weren’t just spreading out without a trajectory. They were run
ning about as if drawing a circle with the sorcerer at its center. This was not an attack, but a form of restraint employed while forming a magical circle.
Engulfing the carriage and Zagan, a massive magic circle stretched out. It seemed he deemed Zagan a formidable foe and intended to use large scale sorcery.
Well, I don’t have any reason to just sit around and wait for that, either.
A tongue of flames closed in before his eyes. Nephy was gulping behind him, but Zagan was the one standing in front of her.
Zagan swung his arm to the side as if it was merely irritating.
The flames vanished as if dissolving, and even the burning thickets and carriage were extinguished. All that was left was the light from the magic circle at his feet.
Even so, the sorcerer stuck out his arm and yelled out sonorously.
“You’re pretty good. But you’re one step late! Turn to ashes!” The magic circle shined— And then, nothing happened.
“Wh-What in the...?” The magic circle certainly was shining even now.
However, it no longer belonged to the sorcerer.
Zagan ostentatiously let out a sigh.
“After making such a large magic circle, you’re not going to use even a single bit of sorcery?” When Zagan shook off the flames, he plundered the hegemony of the magic circle from the other sorcerer.
It was the same as when Barbatos teleported into Zagan’s barrier the other day.
“Rubbish... refers to fools like you.” After raising his index finger into the air, Zagan swung it downward and drew a vertical line.
A grand light then burst out of the magic circle.
“Gah?” Spears of lights rained incessantly down from the sky.
It was a single strike of converging lightning. It wasn’t all that sophisticated, but when Zagan fired it, it had enough destructive power to pulverize a castle wall.
As for the sorcerer who took that strike head on, he was erased without leaving a single trace behind.
The most terrifying thing, however, was the fact that the carriage and its passengers in the surroundings weren’t wounded in the least.
The sorcerer only created a single fire and even dragged his allies into it, while Zagan erased just his target. The difference in ability was clearly demonstrated right here.
Zagan then approached the carriage at a relaxed pace. There were still bandits remaining there.
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride - Volume 01 Page 5