A road wide enough for two carriages stretched directly through the sea of thick trees that towered over its surrounding.
The road beyond was dotted with various towns and villages, both large and small. This is the Yggurle Kingdom, founded by Elves, the forest people.
「Sophia…………」
A beautiful elf woman muttered one word seemingly forlorn.
Her long beautiful golden hair, green eyes, and face resembled Sophia’s so much that one would wonder if they were sisters. That too is only natural as that woman’s name is Freesia von Sylphide, Sophia’s mother.
As it might be expected from a race known as the Elves, her appearance is youthful, and she could pass as Sophia’s sister.
There, a male elf approached and embraced Freesia’s arms.
「Were you thinking of Sophia again?」
「…… Dear, what could Sophia be doing? I want to go meet her with these legs of mine right now.」
「Sorry, I am nothing but disappointing………」
The man’s name is Dante von Sylphide. Sophia’s father holds Chevalier peerage and governs two small villages.
The Sylphide family are not Chevaliers with administrative or judicial power[1] , but Knights in charge of small territories.
After the war 50 years prior, Dante became a Chevalier with rights to succession, but that conversely bound Dante.
「I heard that Sophia lost her hand and foot. She’s so pitiful, having such a disabled body for 50 years.」
「I heard she lost her magic because of a curse. Ironically, it is fortunate how, because of that, Viscount Hordia lost interest in her, but it’s a complicated feeling.」
Dante initially consulted with his old friend, the president of Moulin Slavery Company, and promised to buy Sophia once the excitement subsides. According to Moulin, Sophia can’t become a sex slave no matter how beautiful she is because of the laws of Valkyra Kingdom do not permit it. Furthermore, because of the disabilities and curse she has, he said there’s no worry of her being sold to anyone else. And even if there was customer who still wants to buy her, they promised not to sell Sophia if she didn’t give the final OK.
Only, the territory Dante acquired, no matter how small it might be, had brought forth a duty to its citizens.
The Sylphide family, who acquired the territory of Chevalier Sylphide which could not be called prosperous by any standard, couldn’t work out the capital needed to buy back Sophia. Even so, they’re still saving up money from that little amount, but at this pace, they don’t know how many hundreds of years it would take.
「Supposing we were able to buy her back, what would happen to her lost arm, leg, and ear? She is still our daughter before marriage.」
「There wouldn’t be anyone who would buy that girl because of the curse and her disabilities. Moreover, it’s a large sum even with that condition. However, that large sum has also ricocheted back onto us…………. There is just one person in Yggurle Kingdom who can restore lost limbs. Only the third princess, the Light attribute magic user, Mímir. Our Chevalier rank could not request such a personage for healing.」
A panacea can be made from the dew and leaves of the World Tree, but there is no pharmacist to create it. Yggurle Kingdom’s Pharmacist Guild has eagerly challenged the refinement of the panacea, but only two vials, reserved from 1000 years ago, are being handed down by the royal family.
Frankly, Panacea can not be made with the medicinal production of the pharmacists. It is the Alchemist’s field of expertise, but an Alchemists Guild does not exist in Yggurle Kingdom.
To Yggurle Kingdom, the knowledge of science and chemistry required by alchemists is taboo. Actually, more than one millennia ago, there was a time when alchemy was popular even in Yggurle Kingdom, but that, too, was lost in the present.
For the elves with a short-sighted faith towards Spirits, Alchemist appears to be a job they’re incompatible with.
「I didn’t mean for her to become a knight……」
Dante drilled the way of the sword and bow into Sophia since her childhood. At that time, her younger brother Darphy hadn’t yet been born, and he trained his daughter who said she wanted to become a knight like her father. And for his daughter Sophia who was an extremely talented child, Dante had also become engrossed in training her.
As they thought about Sophia who’s been gone for 50 years, the house had gone completely dark. Even among the elves who are said to have finer appearances, she was the especially beautiful daughter they raised proudly. For that reason, they were told by the Viscount to hand her over to be his mistress too, but Dante had many worries over who his daughter would be happy with.
「I am back!」
The cheerful voice that announced his return was Darphy, who was still a small child when he was separated from Sophia, dressed in knight’s armor.
「Welcome home, Darphy.」
「Yeah, welcome back Darphy.」
「Father, Mother, were you thinking of Elder Sister again?」
Darphy was in disbelief, shrugging in dismay.
To the young Darphy, his memory of his sister, Sophia, was faint. 50 years isn’t long for elves. Even so, for Darphy who was but a young child, 50 years was enough time for his faint memory of his sister to fade away.
「I think it’s better for both Father and Mother to forget about Elder Sister now. It’s been 50 years, and if I had become a prisoner of the enemy, I would commit suicide.」
「Darphy!」
「Darphy, the cause for Sophia falling into the enemy’s hands is because of the sealing curse placed on her by the subordinate of the viscount who was supposed to be her ally. It was not Sophia’s fault by any means.」
Freesia exclaimed and Dante defended Sophia, but it didn’t reach Darphy’s heart.
Darphy disliked his sister Sophia who had disappeared 50 years ago. The eldest son of the Chevalier Sylphide family made great efforts by himself. But when he enrolled at the Chivalric Order at the royal capital, there were many that members that would reminisce of his genius sister. In the Chivalric Order of the long-lived elves, many that remained were associates of Sophia during the time she was enrolled. They would talk to Darphy[2] about how brave Sophia was or how much she rescued her allies in the war with Triaria Kingdom.
「(I’m sick of it. It would be better if Nee-san just dies.)」
And later on Darphy also learned from the staff of the viscount that the aforementioned Viscount Hordia coveted his sister, that she was sold to a foreign slavery company as a result of that. When Darphy heard that his sister had fallen to slavery, she was as good as dead to him. She didn’t become the mistress of Viscount Hordia, but the thought of being purchased as a slave of a lowly Human disgusted him.
He was right because she was bought by a human. Her relationship with Takumi is between man and woman, though.
A war that began for selfish reasons had warped the heart of a very young elven child, driving him to detest the sister he loved.
***
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