“You don’t need to answer right away. I understand why, as a prospective member of the Holy Order of the Purge, you’re reluctant to pass through the Empire of Mira. Oh, and another thing—Seras?”
“Yes? What is it?”
Mist froze, her hand on her face, as she realized what she’d just said.
“Ah...”
She just responded to somebody else’s name.
“Um, Sir Hati… Look, I…”
“Sorry for springing that on you.”
Mist looked down at the floor.
“You knew.”
“Yeah.”
I told her everything—how I’d used my Sleep skill on her and seen the shape of her ears and face change. I explained why I’d suspected her true identity.
“I see.”
She accepted it much more easily than I’d expected.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I don’t need the bounty—there’d be nothing in it for me if I turned you in. What I need is your strength as a warrior.”
Mist—no, Seras Ashrain—smiled uncomfortably.
“You were hesitating just now over whether to tell me the truth, weren’t you?” I asked.
“I—”
“If we were to travel together, you’d eventually need to sleep, right? That’d be a problem unless I knew your true identity.”
Seras looked taken aback.
“Y-yes, it was on my mind…”
We can sleep in separate rooms in an inn like this, but not so much in the Land of the Golden-Eyed Monsters.
“I’m just guessing, but…when you sleep, that disguise of yours goes away, right? Your face and ears turn back to normal. I thought…if I know who you really are, you can change whenever you need to.”
“…I see.”
“I saw you hesitating to tell me just now, so…”
I took the first step.
“Like I said, I’ve no intention of selling you out to anybody. I need your help.”
Seras still hesitated.
“The power of my spirits is different from others,” she said finally, laying a hand on her chest. “When I made my contract with them, I sacrificed my ability to sleep.”
Seras went on to explain that the spirits always ask for an offering of a person’s most crucial desire—for her, that was sleep.
Given everything she could’ve sacrificed, it’s fair to assume she never had many desires in the first place.
“When you’re borrowing the powers of the spirits, you can’t sleep?”
“That’s correct. I can get some brief rest, hovering between consciousness and shallow sleep, but I can never truly fall asleep.”
I see…so that’s why she always looks so tired—it’s like she’s taking out a loan of all the sleep she should be getting and offering it to these spirits instead. She wants to sleep but she never can…and never will, so long as she’s benefiting from the contract.
The thought sent shivers down my spine.
Seras told me she was contracted to three different spirits. The spirit of light, who changed her face and ears; the spirit of wind, who let her tell truth from falsehood; and the spirit of ice, who reinforced her weapons. Her armor and other equipment was created and maintained by this trinity of spirits working in unison.
“I can only sleep once I have paid off my debts to the spirits. And whenever I sleep, my ears and face return to normal.”
“That’s why you wanted your own room? So people wouldn’t see your real face while you slept?”
“Yes.”
I guess she didn’t intend to sleep in the Mils ruins, and she shouldn’t even have been able to. She can only protect her identity as long as she stays awake. My Sleep skill was the one thing she couldn’t predict.
“About the four hunters you killed in the forest…” Seras said, avoiding my eyes. “They were chasing me. I had slipped up and shown them my true face.”
She can’t change her body, so they could still find her. Those men from the forest were twisted and cruel, but talented trackers.
“The White Walkers… When you killed them, it freed me and let me continue my journey. I’m once again in your debt. Thank you.”
Seras’s head glowed with a faint light, and suddenly she was back to normal—the normal I had seen in the ruins. Pointed ears, stunning beauty.
“You trust me now?” I said, standing up from my chair.
Seras stood too.
“Yes. You have earned that, Sir Hati,” she said, now looking straight at me with those clear, piercing eyes of hers.
“I think I can trust you, too. It’s Too-ka.”
“Hm?”
Seras looked taken aback.
“My real name—it’s Too-ka Mimori. Don’t tell anybody my real name, and I won’t tell anybody yours.”
This is the perfect gesture to build trust with someone like Seras. Like guilt, trust is just another chain to tie her to me. I give her my name and tighten the chains.
“Sir Hati—no, Sir Too-ka.”
Seras’s expression softened. Perfect, just as planned.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Seras Ashrain. I will be happy to join you as your bodyguard through the Land of the Golden-Eyed Monsters,” she said, extending her hand.
“Nice to meet you too, Seras,” I said, and shook her hand. Then, I looked toward the door.
“Piggymaru.”
“Squee.”
The little slime squished over to us. It had been keeping an eye on the door in case anybody tried to eavesdrop.
“Squee~! ♪”
Piggymaru squeaked, rubbing up against Seras’s feet and turning a pale pink color. Seras smiled and sat back down on the bed.
“Nice to meet you again too, Sir Piggymaru.”
“Squee. ♪”
I offered Seras one of the blue gemstones I’d found in the Ruins of Disposal as payment for her protection. The pair I’d taken them from didn’t know how much they’d be worth, but maybe Seras would.
“Ah!”
She fumbled and almost dropped the little blue stone, quickly catching it before it hit the floor.
“I… I’m sorry.”
“Are you okay?”
“Just surprised, that’s all.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Sir Too-ka, I believe this is a blue dragonstone.”
“Blue dragonstone? I got it from someone who told me it might be valuable.”
I remembered the spirit’s words.
“I hope our treasures can help you when you get up to the surface. They should last you for quite some time…as long as the economy didn’t crash or anything!”
Seras picked up the lamp on my bedside table and inspected the gemstone closely.
“It’s real, isn’t it?” she said with wonder in her voice.
“I don’t know,” I answered.
“Sir Too-ka, would you mind pouring mana into it?”
“You can’t do it yourself?”
“Unlike humans, my race is not adept at manipulating mana. We can only control small amounts of it—it’ll take more than I can muster to determine this gemstone’s authenticity.”
Is that why elves borrow the power of spirits to fight their battles?
“All right.”
I took the gemstone back from her and tried pouring mana into it. It glowed like a prism, a beautiful rainbow of colors, which faded as quickly as they’d come.
“It matches the descriptions I’ve read… I think this is real, Sir Too-ka.”
“Is it really worth that much?”
“Priceless would be a more accurate term,” she explained. “Blue dragonstones can only be obtained from creatures of legend, blue-eyed dragons. When they died and their bodies melted away, it is said that these small, beautiful stones could sometimes be found in their remains.”
Seras looked closely at the little stone sitting in my hand.
“Blue-eyed dragons were stronger than entire armies and were said to occasio
nally attack human villages. They were practically walking natural disasters. But legend says that a band of heroes and mercenaries vanquished them all in ages past.”
I remembered the two heroes from the Ruins of Disposal who had died hand in hand. They must’ve been powerful warriors in their own rights…
“Blue dragonstones aren’t available on the public market. They’re worth…” Seras looked flustered. She stroked her chin, trying to calm herself down and assess the situation. “They’re worth at least as much as the Dragon-Eye Cup reward, maybe more.”
“Then I guess it’s pretty valuable. So you’ll take it as payment?”
These things could be extremely useful in any future negotiations.
Seras held her hands out in protest.
“I can’t do that, Sir Too-ka.”
“Huh?”
“This is too valuable to be given so casually!”
She’s too nice for her own good.
“…”
I thought of the pouch full of gemstones in my bag —I had more than enough to share.
I tossed the blue dragonstone at Seras.
“Ah!” She caught it with both hands, flustered.
“Sir Too-ka…?”
“That’s yours now. Throw it away, keep it—do whatever you want with it.”
“What? N-no, I—”
“That’s your pay. Don’t tell me it isn’t enough for you.”
“I-it’s enough, but…”
It’s worth as much as the reward for the Dragon-Eye Cup, isn’t it?
“So, do we have a deal?”
“Squee?”
Piggymaru backed me up.
Eventually Seras relented, giving a long sigh.
“All right, I give up. I know it’s a little late to ask, but…are you sure about this?” said Seras, looking troubled.
“Hm?”
“As you know, I’m being pursued as we speak. There are things I haven’t shared with you yet. And…I think I should explain everything before we—”
She stopped, unsure of where to go from there.
“Whenever you want to talk, please tell me. I’m just happy that now you’ll be able to sleep on the road.”
No point having a sleep-deprived, unreliable bodyguard by my side. Since that problem’s solved, we can move on.
“I never intended to expose your past in the process,” he continued.
I know who Mist really is. Seras knows that I know who Mist really is. That’s all I wanted.
“You’re my bodyguard, and I’m your employer—I wanted to make that relationship easier on both of us. Like I said, if you feel like talking while we’re on the road, I’m not gonna stop you. Maybe occasionally I’ll need to know some details, but I have no intention of pressing you about your past.”
“You’re so considerate, Sir Too-ka.”
I shrugged. “I guess I’m just a kind person.”
I just stated the facts—if you want to misconstrue that as kindness, I’m not going to correct you.
“Think you can get some rest tonight?”
“I believe my disguise will wear off tonight, yes.”
“Guess I won’t need to put you to sleep then,” I joked.
“So it would seem,” she replied primly.
“Go get some rest. I figure you’re not the type who enjoys long conversations and playing hostess.”
Seras gave a bitter laugh.
“You’re not wrong.” Her face changed again, and her human ears returned.
Not letting her guard down, even just to walk the short hallway back to her room—she’s really careful.
Seras turned in the doorway and looked back at Piggymaru and me.
“Good night, you two.”
“Squee. ♪”
She smiled at Piggymaru.
“Sir Too-ka.”
“Hm?”
“Would you like to eat breakfast together tomorrow morning?”
“Sure.”
After we’d agreed on a time to meet downstairs, Seras said her goodbyes again and left.
“Right, then…”
It’s too early for me to sleep, especially after that nap.
I went over to pick up the bottle of monster enhancement solution from the table.
“Piggymaru, do you want to try this stuff now? If you’re scared, I can wait until—”
“Squee!” Piggymaru interrupted, turning green.
“Already good to go then, partner?”
“Squee! ♪”
The slime took on the shape of a bowl.
“You want me to pour it into your…you?” I asked awkwardly.
“Squee.”
“All right…here goes.”
“Squee!”
I poured the transparent solution onto Piggymaru until the bottle was empty, and the slime returned itself to its normal rounded shape.
“Squee?”
Piggymaru’s body began to glow.
“Squeeeeeeee!”
The experiment was a success—Piggymaru reacted just as the book said.
“It’s getting late—let’s leave the tests to tomorrow and stick to observations for now, huh?”
I sat on the bed and leafed through my copy of Forbidden Arts: The Complete Works, keeping an eye on Piggymaru and reading until I finally felt drowsy enough to fall asleep.
Seras Ashrain
SERAS RETURNED to her room and, when she was sure she was safe and alone, let her disguise slip.
I need to sleep whenever I get the chance—I expect long, sleepless days for the foreseeable future…
Finding these opportunities was difficult, especially when she was forced to go on the run. She began to undress, brushing back her silky hair before wetting a cloth in the washbasin she’d borrowed from downstairs.
She gently wiped down her torso with the damp cloth. A sudden thought stopped her.
Perhaps I should’ve washed before meeting with Sir Too-ka earlier. Elves don’t smell as strongly as humans, but we do have our own scent…especially after a day of fighting.
Cleansing my body for a man…what am I thinking? How long has it been? At home, I barely gave men a second thought. Sworn to protect the princess of the Holy Empire of Neah, I had no time or desire to form personal relationships with men. And human men are more vulgar than elves—our race is more decorous and aloof.
It was only one of the differences Seras had discovered after coming to live in a country filled with humans. When she had first arrived, it was difficult to hide her confusion at the way men would approach her so forcefully.
“Be careful of human men,” her mother always told her. The princess said the same. Seras remembered what happened in the square outside the Mils ruins.
That man, Monk…he remembered me. Ever since we met in Neah, he was relentless in his pursuit of me. I know the princess did her best to keep him away from me after I turned him down, but he was obsessed—not even she could calm him! I was terrified he was going to find me out in the square. How did he remember my body so perfectly?
Seras had always been hounded by human males, even in Neah. They deemed her beautiful, and apparently that was all they needed to know about her to pursue her relentlessly. She didn’t understand any of it.
She’d never enjoyed the time she spent with those men, who only ever sought her out in hopes of that.
What has being beautiful ever done for me? It makes me isolated—forces me to keep my distance from others. That’s why my time as a knight protecting the princess was so enjoyable. When I was a holy knight, I felt I could stand tall. I had found where I truly belonged.
After becoming the captain of the Band of Holy Knights, Seras had even less time for human men. It didn’t lessen their interest, though. The princess used to say that those men had come down with the Seras sickness.
Ever since then, I’ve avoided contact with men…
Seras wiped the back of her legs with a washcloth and scowled at the thought.
Ma
ybe I should have simply chosen to wear a mask and hide my face away for good, but…
Too-ka Mimori.
He’s a strange human. Not exactly emotionless, but…less easily swayed by his feelings than most.
Of course, she had met men with no interest in her before—it wasn’t like everyone she met threw themselves at her feet—but she had never been interested in them, either. She stopped wiping herself, the water falling to the white floor like dew from her dripping thighs.
I think he’s interested in me, but…maybe not just in the way that men are usually interested in the opposite sex.
He interested Seras, too—that much went without saying. She changed into her sleeping clothes and lay down on the bed.
Perhaps he’s simpler than I’m giving him credit for. But he has a strange fixation on justice and fairness. I might be able to…trust him.
The world she’d inhabited in the Holy Empire of Neah was filled with conspiracies and plots that whirled around the royal court. For Seras, always able to see who was lying to whom, the deception and backstabbing were too much to bear. She couldn’t trust anyone.
That’s how I made it this far. But if I can, I…
I want to trust him.
Seras walked these same paths again and again in her thoughts. As a runaway, she doubted everybody she met.
At long last, have I finally found it? Have I finally found someone to trust? Just as the princess did…to give my heart away…to a human man…
When she awoke, the morning sun was casting warm rays through the window onto her exposed skin. She felt like she’d agonized all night, but eventually she must have drifted off to sleep.
All right, then…
She pulled herself out of bed and went over to pick up the blue dragonstone Too-ka had given her. She smiled softly and closed her hand tightly around it.
“Time to go.”
Mimori Touka
THE NEXT MORNING, I ate breakfast with Seras down in the food hall. The other patrons couldn’t stop looking at her.
She’s wearing her Mist Balukas face now—still beautiful enough to draw attention, although maybe it’s the Dragon-Eye Cup’s fault this time.
“Hey, over there! Looks like one of the mercenaries has already got in with her!”
Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells (Light Novel) Vol. 2 Page 10