Chapter 100
With 【Enhanced Hearing】, my ears picked up the din outside. There were quite a few people... There might have been more than a hundred. It seemed that many people had gathered at the mansion's gate. The knights under Captain Maxim were dealing with them for now, but if the others got serious, the gate would be breached in no time.
It was completely beyond my expectations that Etan-sama's House Ebenyu was so hostile toward people with black hair and black eyes. I had optimistically expected today's discussion to end with the count refusing to yield and the young lady sulking, but the two of them were still father and daughter, so surely they would find some kind of compromise in the end.
But the count had already begun taking steps toward what came next. No, the situation had moved because of me. How had he found out? Was it because of the mediator's behavior back then...?
"Father! Isn't this too cruel?! You had your life saved by Reiji, and yesterday, if not for Reiji, so many people would have...!"
"It's all right, young lady. That's enough."
"But!"
"I'm happy simply because you got angry for me."
When I said that sincerely, the young lady looked at me sadly.
(I'm truly happy just because of that.)
I had an ally. An ally I could trust with all my heart.
I couldn't even say how much courage that gave me.
You don't know that, do you, Count?
"You seem awfully at ease, Reiji-san."
"Yes. I told you earlier, didn't I? I have nothing more to do with House Syries."
"...In other words, you're leaving right now? Those are seasoned fighters from House Ebenyu."
The count must have frowned because he thought I was being arrogant about my own abilities.
Well, I had never shown him what I was like when fighting seriously.
"Count. You failed to obtain the two pieces of information I wanted... Well, you came close regarding the eight-star Talent Jewel, but it wasn't what I wanted."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Those two pieces of information were truly necessary for me. I don't need to stay here and have House Syries's prestige protect me, and I don't need to receive wages absurdly high for someone like me, either."
"!"
"You're very intelligent, and you can read ahead like a prophet, but you miscalculated one thing. I don't place much value on this country's future. If there's somewhere else where I can live freely, I'll simply leave this country."
"...You have no lingering attachment to it?"
"I do. But my only remaining attachment is the young lady."
I walked around the sofa and stood right beside the young lady.
"Young lady. Won't you come with me? The world is vast—one lifetime wouldn't be enough to see it all."
The young lady's eyes widened.
She stared at the hand I held out, then looked up at my face.
The count said nothing. If anything, the head butler and Captain Maxim were the ones who seemed flustered.
Didn't the count care about the young lady? No. The count was such a doting father that he would want to protect her even at the cost of ruining himself. Then why wasn't he trying to stop us?
"...I'll go."
When the young lady took my hand and stood up, the count's impassive expression crumbled.
"W-what did you say...?"
The count had known that the young lady wouldn't take my hand. Yet because that had turned out to be wrong, he was shocked.
"Count. While you were away today, I went to the church."
"...W-what...?"
"I had the contract magic between you and the young lady dispelled."
"!?"
The handsome count's face twisted in anguish. The head butler and Captain Maxim also wore expressions that clearly said they had no idea what was going on.
"From your reaction, it seems only you knew about it, Count."
Today was the first time I had suspected that some contract magic had been placed on the young lady. It was because, when she heard what I had to say and began to suspect the count, she had looked far too unwell.
I had wondered whether she had been placed under contract magic that prevented her from betraying her own father, so I went to the church with her.
That was where the know-how Non-san had taught me first proved useful.
At the church, one could pay money to undergo a ritual that purged sins and impurities. It involved stripping naked and bathing in holy water, and apparently the bathing procedure was very similar to the process of dispelling certain kinds of contract magic. If a large amount of magic power was circulated through the body during the ritual, many forms of contract magic could be dispelled. Non-san had said that only a limited number of people connected with the church knew this, though.
The young lady possessed a great deal of magic power, and she even had the Talent 【Magic Power Control★★★★】, so the contract magic was dispelled easily.
Apparently, magic with unusual structures, or magic in which the mage themself served as the medium, could not be dispelled. But that had not been the case with the young lady.
The count half rose from his seat, his face frozen in astonishment.
"Eva, then you...!"
"Yes, Father. I remembered everything... I was the one who killed Mother."
Why had the count used contract magic?
Apparently, the young lady had happened to hear about her mother's death from a butler who had been at the mansion at the time. The contract magic had been used to seal that memory and ensure that the family bond would never break again. It had probably included not only sealing her memory, but also provisions that she not betray her father and that he not betray his daughter. The important point, however, was whether the person herself felt that she had betrayed someone. The count keeping various secrets from the young lady was considered acceptable because he had done so for his daughter's sake. But when the young lady began to suspect the count, the contract magic activated because she herself felt that suspecting her father might constitute betrayal.
The young lady did not lose her composure when she remembered the truth about her mother's death. She was calm and matter-of-fact. When she first returned from the ritual bath, there was nothing particularly unusual about her, and I even wondered whether there had been any contract magic at all.
But once we returned to her room in the mansion, the young lady confessed everything to me, clung to me, and cried. After crying as much as she could, she smiled and said, "I'm all right now."
—Actually, I had suspected that my "Magic Eye of Encouragement" might have been what caused Mother's death.
The young lady had vaguely sensed the truth herself.
"No! You didn't do anything wrong!"
And for the count, the young lady was his greatest weakness.
"I am all right. I can face my own guilt properly. More importantly... the time has come for both of us to stop depending on each other. I must become independent from you, and you must let go of me. A member of House Syries can stand and walk on their own two feet without relying on magic like that."
"But, but, you don't need to leave this house!"
"...Reiji, I'm going."
"Yes."
I turned my back on the count together with the young lady.
"Eva, Eva—!!"
The count's anguished voice hurt my ears. When he rose and tried to chase after us, I unleashed killing intent at him—the count crumpled where he stood, and Captain Maxim faltered as well.
More than anything, the count cared about the young lady.
The count had accepted even her doubting her father as a sign of her growth, and he believed that deep down, she would never betray her father.
Because of the contract magic.
But the young lady had overcome it.
And then we left the room.
"...Reiji."
"Yes."
"Was what Father did wrong?"
The count had devoted himself to this country and to the young lady.
Even if the things he did appeared to be "evil" to those around him, they were truly right in the count's eyes.
I didn't resent the count. Nor did I hate him. If anything—
(What an awkward man.)
I even felt pity for him.
It would have been wonderful for the count if I had relied on him more and entered his protection. That was why he had spoken to me in a manner bordering on blackmail.
But to me, that had looked like malice.
Even if its true intent was his goodwill toward me.
"It wasn't wrong. Your father is a truly admirable man."
I declared it without hesitation.
"Then..."
The young lady pressed the question again.
We reached the entrance hall. Maids and butlers frightened by the commotion outside were gathered there.
I opened the door leading outside for the young lady.
"Was what I did wrong?"
The night of the thin moon was dark, and the knights of House Syries had gathered outside. Numerous magic lamps illuminated the approach to the gate.
About a hundred armed soldiers had gathered beyond the gate, and magic lamps were glowing on their side as well.
"No."
I declared it without hesitation.
"If you had done something wrong, I would stop you with everything I had."
"...I see."
When the young lady and I started walking, the knights noticed us and called out for us to stop, but we ignored them and continued straight ahead.
"—There's a bodyguard named Reiji here, y'know. Just hand him over and we'll be done with it."
"—Coming here at this hour is unreasonable in itself."
Lelenoa-san and one of the knights were locked in an argument at the gate.
When they noticed us approaching, they were startled. Lelenoa-san twisted her face as though in pain.
"Reiji... your hand."
"Yes."
I took the young lady's hand. It was unbelievably cold. She must have been forcing herself; she must have been anxious... If only my warmth could reach her.
The young lady pulled me onward, moving steadily forward. She stopped a few steps from the gate.
"Reiji."
"Yes."
"Even now that I've left the count's house, will you still guard me?"
"With pleasure."
"Then... you there, open the gate."
"But, Eva-sama—"
"It is my order. Open the gate."
"I-I understand."
Though bewildered, the knights opened the gate at the young lady's command.
Beyond it stood armed soldiers watching me warily. They seemed less well trained than the knights of House Syries, but there were many halflings mixed in among the humans as well.
"Eva-sama, please hand over Reiji. The count has already been informed of this."
Lelenoa-san knelt and made her request.
"Reiji is no longer affiliated with House Syries."
"I see... Then there is even less of a problem."
"What are you going to do with Reiji?"
"...I cannot say."
"Are you going to kill him?"
"!"
Lelenoa-san twitched. ...They'd really kill me? How frightening. I mean, they sure did casually decide who lived and died.
"I can't hand him over. Reiji is a very important person to me... my bodyguard."
"But—!"
"Reiji."
"Yes."
The young lady turned and looked up at me. A light kindled in her eyes—it was a warm feeling. It warmed my heart and roused my will to fight.
So this was the "Magic Eye of Encouragement." How pleasant it was when the Magic Eye was under control.
But, young lady.
Even without you casting it on me, I already had more than enough will to fight.
"Can you defeat everyone here?"
The young lady's innocent question made Lelenoa-san recoil, while the armed soldiers bristled with killing intent.
"If I get serious, it won't be a problem."
That was an objective fact. In this world, one Gold-rank adventurer was stronger than a hundred Iron-rank adventurers.
That was how great the difference in Talent was.
In short, I was certain that even if all the armed soldiers before us attacked together, they wouldn't have been able to stop Ouroboros.
"—Reiji-kun, you can't say things like that..."
Lelenoa-san tried to calm me down, but it was pointless.
"Get serious, Reiji."
The young lady's orders were always simple.
"Clear a path."
And she was always a little rough with the people she commanded—well, today of all days,
"Understood, young lady."
I was in the mood to cut loose, too, so that worked out perfectly.