Chapter 79
Bellias de Nebula.
Originally, she had given up the Nebula Duchy's surname to become the boss of [White Shadow].
Well, although people said she had given it up, it was closer to saying that she had simply thrown it away.
But her blood—specifically, the fact that she was a direct descendant of the Nebula Duchy—remained an unchanging fact.
Having inherited the Nebula Duchy's blood so strongly, she had been born with an absurd degree of mana control.
For a knight, it was the level of a Sword Master; for a mage, that of an Archmage.
After all, she had reached a level of mana control comparable to those who had attained such heights at just fifteen, before becoming an adult.
The current head of the Nebula Duchy says this.
That she was the person who had personally thrown away the authority of the Nebula family.
But that answer was only half right.
Although she had discarded the name Nebula, there had been meticulous calculation behind the act.
'The other direct descendants of the Nebula Duchy are dangerous right now.'
They knew it too: among the current direct descendants, she was the one with the greatest ability.
'What if, by some chance—truly, by the slimmest chance—an assassination succeeded?'
The Nebula Duchy was that kind of place.
It was overflowing with people trying to usurp the head's position through assassination, ambushes, power struggles, poison, and every other illegal act.
Fortunately, things were quiet only because the current head, despite being poisoned, still possessed formidable ability.
If Servan, the current head, died, it was obvious that the Nebula Duchy would hold a veritable banquet of blood.
'Dangerous.'
An automaton created with her absurd mana control guarded her, but it was still dangerous.
She was the sort of person who couldn't stake her life on even the slimmest possibility that it might happen.
Of course, anyone who made such a choice would have to be out of their mind.
'I'll give it up.'
So she gave it up.
For the sake of her life and safety—and, to be honest, because in her judgment, the position of head of the Nebula Duchy was not attractive enough to covet through a fratricidal struggle involving the murder of others, even relatives.
That was why she had abandoned the Nebula Duchy's surname.
It was a choice she had made to protect her life and avoid fighting people who shared her blood.
Thus, this unexpectedly levelheaded woman was now—
[Aaaaaaah.]
falling apart in real time.
***
That day, before going to the city of artists, Abel made her a suggestion.
First of all, a mute artist couple, whether married or merely dating, would stand out too much.
We had to go investigate, but honestly, a cover that attracted too much attention wouldn't benefit us much.
Bellias understood that as well.
A couple in which the wife was mute—an artist couple at that—could exist, but there wouldn't be many of them.
The most important principle of infiltration was to blend in as an utterly ordinary person. Not attracting other people's attention was the cardinal rule.
Besides, a mute couple or lovers would naturally have to learn sign language, and that took time, making it quite troublesome.
'So should we just speak aloud for now, like an ordinary couple?'
But Abel's next words brought her thoughts to a halt.
Aloud?
In other words, he meant the act of vibrating her vocal cords to produce a voice, right?
All right, then, here's a question.
Why did Bellias go out of her way to converse via telepathy?
Because she was mute?
No, that wasn't it. Her vocal cords were perfectly fine.
There was only one reason she spoke to others through telepathy.
She was catastrophically bad at talking.
[What do I do?]
It wasn't that she stammered or anything.
But how should one put it?
She omitted most of the conversation because she assumed I already knew, conveying only the barest, vaguest content.
In short, before she started using telepathy, her conversational style was one that made the listener want to tear their hair out.
[Aaaah.]
For someone as disastrously inarticulate as she was, telepathy—which conveyed her thoughts exactly as they were—was a technology from a new world.
She didn't have to talk so much that her mouth hurt.
Nor did she have to worry about making the listener feel bad.
When her thoughts stabbed directly into the other person's mind, what could possibly get in the way?
So she naturally grew skilled at conveying her inner thoughts coherently, and in inverse proportion, she had no choice but to maintain an expressionless face.
After all, there was no need for her facial muscles to move when she conveyed emotions telepathically.
But now she was suddenly being told to use her voice?
"..."
I can't.
I really can't.
"Ah. Ah."
Is this voice really coming from me?
From her perspective, having reached the point where even the most ordinary muttering was done entirely through telepathy, the voice produced by her vibrating vocal cords was something utterly alien.
Moreover—
"Ugh."
They say unused parts atrophy, don't they?
Her vocal cords, which she hadn't used at all for nearly ten years, suddenly moved, making her throat itch.
'What do I do?'
She had already made an appointment with that man, Abel.
After negotiating with the fiercely resistant Abel and asking for about a week, they had already settled the matter.
"I came just in case, and—"
As Bellias struggled to produce a voice, a very familiar voice reached her.
She had been a member of [White Shadow] since birth.
[White Shadow], older than Sebastian.
Someone who could be called her oldest friend, Nella.
"So it really is you."
[Nella?]
"Lord Abel sent me. No, he didn't send me exactly; I came on my own initiative."
Saying that, Nella looked at Bellias, who was clutching her throat and groaning.
Should one call it inevitable?
Or perhaps simply natural?
Nella had cared for Bellias since she was a newborn, though Bellias herself didn't remember.
That's why she had taken action.
That was why she'd come here, rejecting the temptation to spend her rare free time eating enough sweets to make her tongue melt.
"So what exactly is the problem?"
Which meant she knew very well.
Bellias's disastrous way of speaking.
A truly disastrous mouth that omitted every important sentence and picked only words the other person could misunderstand.
Fortunately, after learning telepathy, she had become capable of smooth communication, but...
'Maybe she actually got worse...'
Using the distinctive powers of observation she possessed as a member of [White Shadow], she assessed Bellias's current condition.
She was clutching her throat—in other words, the area around her vocal cords—and wriggling her fingers as though something inside it itched. She was also swallowing noticeably more often.
"For now, you'd better drink this."
Cold water, offered just in case.
Bellias began gulping down the cold water Nella had handed her.
'As I thought.'
That sight confirmed it.
Bellias had developed a problem with her throat from using her voice for the first time in so long.
'Phew...'
If she'd known this would happen, perhaps she should have taught her how to speak properly instead of telepathy.
Thinking that, she sighed softly inside and corrected herself.
Right. Let's think of it as her previous disastrous way with words having been reset.
As a member of [White Shadow], how despairing had it been when Bellias acquired that disastrous way of speaking while Nella was away?
But now it had been reset, so perhaps it wasn't so bad after all.
Nella decided to think of it that way.
"All right, Lady Bellias. This is just my guess, but I suspect your throat is tense because you haven't done this in a long time. Am I right?"
[Mmm.]
At the telepathic message echoing in her head, Nella began speaking in an intentionally stern voice.
"From now on, telepathic conversation is temporarily forbidden."
"..."
"I don't know what you discussed with Lord Abel, but I heard that you're leaving in roughly a week."
Nod.
"Hmm... That's a little tight."
But that was even better.
With such a tight schedule, Bellias wouldn't have time to create some bizarre escape route.
For example, she had the technical ability to make a device that produced a voice whenever she sent telepathy, so it wouldn't be strange if she tried that.
But they only had a week?
So Nella pressed her while Bellias was as flustered as she was now, ensuring she wouldn't develop any other ideas.
Nella opened her mouth, making that resolution deep in her heart.
"Good. What is the most urgent problem right now? Take your time. Even if it's slow, go ahead and tell me."
"..."
"It's all right. There's no one here but you and me, Lady Bellias. You can speak comfortably."
Perhaps Nella's words helped her regain her composure.
Bellias began forcing the words out with considerable difficulty.
"Th...at..."
"Yes."
"Pro...pron...unciation."
"You think the biggest obstacle is that your pronunciation is inaccurate."
Nod.
"Good. Then let's start with pronunciation practice."
Nella opened her mouth and began moving it slowly so the pronunciation would be easy to see.
Anyone watching would have thought she was a parent teaching a newly born child how to speak.
The astonishing part was that the child was a beautiful woman who had just become an adult, while Nella herself looked extremely young for her age due to her species' traits, making her appear to be around the same age as Bellias.
"It'll be a difficult road."
You are prepared for that, right?
Nod.
At Nella's words, Bellias nodded seriously.
And so, a week passed.
***
A week later.
I was leaning against the car bound for Marita, its mana stones fully charged, waiting for Bellias.
I hadn't seen her since she asked me for a little time a week ago.
When I had Mist look into it, she said Bellias was doing some sort of special training with Nella.
But when I asked what kind of special training it was, Mist merely shook her head firmly and said she couldn't tell me, which only made me more curious.
Wait, was Marita dangerous enough for Bellias to need special training?
No, it wasn't that.
'Hmm.'
Ting.
Questions continued to nag at me.
But Mist must have had a reason for not telling me.
Thinking that, I began passing the time by playing with the lighter I used to light my cigars in my other hand.
A short while later.
My senses detected three people as I flamboyantly toyed with the lighter.
I turned my head and saw Mist, Bellias, and Nella approaching.
Checking the time, I saw that it was thirty minutes before our appointed time.
"Yo."
"I'm sorry, Lord Abel. We ended up being a little late."
"Ah, it's fine, it's fine."
It wasn't as if they were late; in fact, they'd arrived before the appointed time.
I waved my hand as if it were nothing and shifted my gaze to Bellias, who was pressed right behind Nella's back.
To be honest, this was also why I'd come so early.
I was curious to see how Bellias would turn up.
"Yo, Bellias."
"..."
"So, shall we get going soon?"
"..."
"First, perhaps we should revise our relationship setup..."
Flinch.
As though my words had triggered something, Bellias's body flinched, and she began speaking in a slightly trembling voice.
"The thing is!"
"Oh..."
The first time I'd heard Bellias's voice.
Perhaps because she was a beauty comparable to Mist or Ariel, but her slightly husky voice was pleasant to hear.
"F-first! How about we make our relationship setup a married couple!!!"
But why was she so stiff?
Her face was red, too.
Ah, and I'd discovered one more new fact.
When Bellias conversed through telepathy, she basically maintained a blank expression.
Her face changed so little that sometimes I wondered if she was a doll.
But now was different.
Her lips trembled awkwardly, as though she were smiling for the first time in ages,
and her whole face was trembling so excessively that I couldn't shake the feeling it was incredibly awkward.
Well, that wasn't important for now, so I let it pass and focused on Bellias's words.
"A married couple?"
"Yes!"
"First, your voice is way too tense. Calm down for a moment."
"Haaah..."
Although I briefly heard Nella sighing beside her, Bellias seemed to have calmed down considerably at my words.
"First, a married couple?"
"Yes... W-would you perhaps... not like that?"
Who on earth was this beauty in front of me, twisting her body because she was afraid I might refuse?
"No, that's fine. Then let's go."
Whoosh.
"Yes!"
At my easy agreement, Bellias smiled happily and opened her mouth.
“Lord Abel, please be careful.”
For the record, Mist, who had seen all of that, said so in a voice only I could hear.
Wondering what she meant, I looked at her, only for her to say something truly outrageous.
“All women are wolves.”
“…“
“Please be careful.”
Thus, after being seen off by Mist and Nella, Bellias and I immediately departed for Marita, the city of artists.