Chapter 55
Deep in the forest beneath the Flang Mountains lay an abandoned mine belonging to House Béarn.
In that quiet forest mine, where no one ever set foot, an unsettling scream filled the morning woods.
Shiiiiing—
The spider monster Shilob raised its two front legs high, warning the human standing before it. It was an instinctive gesture, carved into its body: puff itself up to look bigger and flaunt its strength to its opponent.
Unlike animals, monsters had no particular fear of humans to begin with. The enormous Shilob replenished its mana by eating humans, and it had grown by devouring lost travelers who wandered nearby time and again.
But somehow, this prey felt different. Several of its kin had already been slaughtered mercilessly. The Shilob’s legs, raised high toward the human before it, were a bluff, half arrogance and half fear.
Swoosh—
So striking first was the best choice the Shilob could make.
The Shilob brought its raised leg crashing down. It moved so quickly the eye could barely follow, but the silver-haired, red-eyed man, Julian, gracefully evaded the spider’s attack with nothing more than a slight twist of his body.
As the Shilob struggled with its leg embedded deep in the mine floor, Julian quickly moved between its legs.
Julian’s saber swept toward the spider’s hairy front legs atop its sleek black carapace, and the keen blade sliced through the soft joints between their segments.
Having lost all its front legs in a single strike, the Shilob toppled to the ground. Julian didn’t let the opportunity slip away.
The dozens of red spots, so similar in color to his own eyes, instinctively stirred revulsion. Julian thrust his raised sword between the teeth clicking busily beneath them.
Kyaaaagh!
The Shilob’s final shriek rang through the mine. But similar cries were already echoing through it.
The life faded from those hideous red spots. The eight legs, which had been trembling, fell still.
Julian pulled his saber from the spider’s mouth, then flicked it through the air to shake the Shilob’s sticky slime and fishy green blood from the blade.
“How many are left?”
Julian asked in a rather weary voice. Christian, however, replied with obvious enthusiasm.
“Hmm… Who knows? I think we’re done once we take care of the few hiding farther in. Hup!”
Christian answered, resting the greatsword that had just crushed a Shilob’s head on his pauldron.
Christian’s fighting style was worlds apart from Julian’s. Julian’s swordsmanship was elegant and lofty, more for show than practical use. Christian’s, on the other hand, was all about destruction.
Before him, wielding a greatsword as large as himself, a Shilob was no monster at all—just a spider, a mere bug.
When his greatsword cut through the air, a giant Shilob’s leg fell to the ground. When his blade came crashing down, the Shilob was left crushed with a sickening sound.
Watching foul, sticky slime ooze beneath the green-stained greatsword, Julian said,
“Take it easy, Christian. You’re splattering that filthy blood everywhere.”
At Julian’s disgruntled voice, Christian answered with his usual affable smile. But perhaps because he was covered in green blood, his smile didn’t seem nearly as warm as usual.
“Hahaha. What’s the big deal? Besides, I’m pretty frustrated right now because a certain someone got posted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Hah!”
Once again, his greatsword crushed a Shilob’s head.
“I need to blow off steam somehow. Otherwise, I might just storm your estate and raise hell in front of the emperor without even realizing it.”
“Haa. To think my one and only friend is such an airhead.”
Shaking his head, Julian fell in behind Christian, who was leading the way. He said as much, but his gaze told a different story. Christian had always protected him from the front, and Julian’s eyes were full of trust.
Far behind them, Ernst crouched before a Shilob’s corpse, collecting something.
“Well, it’s not quite what I expected, but this should still be fairly useful.”
Beneath his faintly narrowed eyes, a clear liquid sloshed inside the glass vial in his hand. Behind his gaunt figure lay the Shilob’s corpse, its venomous stinger marked with sharp cuts from a dagger.
#
“Eli! Where is Eli?!”
Albris flung open the door so violently the heavy wooden panel nearly splintered as he charged inside. But when he saw Dmitri sitting on the sofa and looking at him, Albris froze in surprise and bowed his head.
“Y-Your Grace.”
“Good morning, Albris.”
The people following Albris bowed their heads deeply to Dmitri as well.
Dmitri turned his gaze from Albris to the people standing behind him. There were quite a lot of them, considering how hastily they had come at dawn. It was clear how dearly Albris cherished his younger sister.
“Has Your Grace been injured anywhere?”
“Thank you for asking, though I doubt I’m the one you’re concerned about.”
Dmitri answered with an easygoing smile. Then he lifted the hand resting on the arm of the sofa, signaling Albris to straighten up.
When Albris raised his head, his expression was like that of a puppy who badly needed to go.
“Lady Eleonore is on the second floor. Fortunately, she’s regained consciousness, and her wound has healed well. It seems there’s still some poison in her system, though, so don’t crowd her. Let only a few of you go in.”
It should have been the physician Dorio’s place to say this, but the sudden arrival of so many knights in his home had left him too flustered to collect his thoughts.
“Th-Then, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go up and see her.”
As soon as Dmitri finished speaking, Albris bowed again and hurried up the stairs.
The ivory-haired maid from earlier and a man who looked like a doctor followed close behind him.
Dmitri watched Albris’s back as he hurried around the staircase.
If Hilda were in this situation, would I be like that, too?
Listening to the retreating footsteps, Dmitri smiled faintly. Then he looked at Dorio, who had been thoroughly cowed by the knights of House Béarn, who had suddenly taken over his home.
“Shouldn’t you go up as well? After all, you treated the young lady.”
“Ah, yes. Then this old man will go up, too.”
He’d been so cheeky with the Grand Duke of the North last night, yet now he was acting this way in front of House Béarn’s knights.
Though Dmitri smiled faintly, his heart was far from at ease.
#
‘W-What do I do? I really…’
Quite some time had passed since Dmitri left the room. Even so, his presence still lingered all around her.
The spot on her forehead where his hand had gently touched was burning hot, as if she had a fever. The woody scent of Dmitri’s skin still seemed to envelop her in bed.
Tucked beneath the covers, Eleonore was doing her best to calm her trembling heart.
‘How am I supposed to face Dmitri after this, Eleonore? It was just an accident caused by the poison making me delirious. Yes, yes. I wasn’t in my right mind back then!’
But the peace she’d found didn’t last long. Even through the closed door, she could hear her older brother, Albris, loudly calling her name.
“Eli! Where is Eli? Eli!”
Eleonore, who had been wriggling busily beneath the covers, soon poked her head out and cautiously emerged.
“Eily.”
The orange-haired girl, who had been tidying the room for some time, looked over at Eleonore.
“Yes, my lady?”
“Listen. Someone loud has arrived, so keep an eye on things and slip out when you get the chance. He’s bound to come over and make a fuss at you, too.”
“Thank you for looking out for me, my lady.”
Eily replied with a bright smile.
Perhaps because she’d stayed under the covers ever since Dmitri left, Eleonore’s face was even redder than before. Her voice, however, had returned to its usual clear, lovely tone.
This should ease Albris’s worries a little.
A moment later, there was a knock at the door.
“Eli, it’s your brother. May I come in? No, I’m coming in.”
Ugh, seriously. And he’s supposed to be my big brother? I’m mortified.
Eleonore smiled faintly at Eily, who was watching her while trying to hold back a laugh, then gave her a small nod. The carefully closed door opened.
“Young Master Albris, she’s in here.”
Eily greeted Albris politely. But he had no time to concern himself with that just then. As soon as he entered the room and saw Eleonore lying on the bed, his eyes welled with tears and he hurried to her side.
Honestly, a man approaching her with tears in his eyes wasn’t a very pleasant sight.
Maybe it was because he was family… It wasn’t like that with Dmitri. Ahem. Anyway!
But that feeling didn’t last long. Albris reached her in a single stride and carefully pulled her into his arms. The warmth of his embrace stirred something indescribable in her, and her heart began to swell with emotion.
“Eli. I was so… so worried about you.”
Soon, Albris’s voice rang out beside her ear.
Normally, she would have panicked and pulled away. But Eleonore couldn’t bring herself to do so.
Was it because she had never heard her brother’s voice sound so thick with tears? Or was it, as with Dmitri earlier, because she’d found someone familiar in an unfamiliar place?
Feeling Albris’s rough hand around her back, Eleonore gently rested her head on his shoulder. Pressing her cheek against his, she stroked his broad back with her uninjured left arm.
“I’m sorry for making you worry so much, brother.”
No wonder they were siblings.
Without meaning to, Eleonore’s voice had grown as thick with tears as her brother’s.