“What? Why?”
A sharp voice –
– Angry, yet with a trace of immaturity of someone who’d just barely become an adult, pressed down upon the knight who stood with his head bowed.
“That’s… That scoundrel was stronger than expected. I hear he’s a servant of the demons…”
“What nonsense is that?”
“Khm.”
The knight didn’t dare tell his mistress about the even more outrageous rumour circulating among the soldiers about the Devil of Lust.
How could he utter such garbage that even he himself dismissed as nonsense?
It was embarrassing to even speak of it.
But –
“That he uses demonic powers doesn’t seem like a lie.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. The bodies of the soldiers confirmed it.”
Whatever the scoundrel had done, the corpses had all burned up, but the marks of a beast’s teeth were still clear upon the remnant bones.
There were no other obvious wounds, so he was sure.
“I don’t care.”
“But…”
“Make sure you catch him. I’ve never seen such a beautiful man in my entire life!”
Memories of that time surged up in the woman’s heart.
When she’d been kidnapped.
The man who got off his white horse and saved her, defeating her assailants in an eyeblink.
The jet-black hair and sharp nose she’d glimpsed when the hood of his robe had fluttered aside for an instant. That chiseled jawline, and those deep eyes –
She would never forget the sight. She couldn’t.
“Miss…”
The woman had a rapturous expression on her face.
The knight who saw it suddenly had a thought that had nothing to do with his duty.
‘Falling in love can turn people so beautiful!’
The knight was awestruck.
She’d always been apathetic about love and romance, and her interests laid in a different direction.
But clearly, she’d finally grown up and realized what love was!
Even if she was playing with fire.
“You must love him a…”
“What a beautiful mace he’d make!”
“Eh? Ah…”
The knight scratched his head and came back to reality.
His mistress was that princess of the principality, after all.
Not for nothing was she called Rebecca the Vile.
“Find him quickly. Don’t waste time. I can’t stay here in the empire for too long.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
They didn’t come to the empire to play around.
“And…”
“Yes?”
“If the imperial princess finds out, she’ll take him away. She always used to snatch away whatever I took a fancy to.”
“Please be careful with your words…”
“Alright, so hurry it up, Bethan. Remember, you better bring him back.”
Bethan, who’d been feeling anxious about somebody listening in, let out a deep sigh.
“I can’t leave your side, Princess. I’m you guardian knight…”
“I can protect myself perfectly well.”
Bethan was dumbstruck at that brazen declaration.
“It hasn’t been long since you almost got kidnapped!”
“That was because I was drunk.”
“Khm.”
“Now go! Quickly!!”
“… Alright.”
Bethan vacated the tent, clearly unwilling.
Shortly after he disappeared –
“…”
Rebecca straightened up and covered her face with a half-mask.
She was now a princess of the principality, sporting a gentle smile.
Gone were the vulgar expression and impatient tone from earlier.
Because this was the role that fit her new situation.
“Princess Rebecca. Long time no see.”
“Honoured to meet you again, Grand Princess[1] Lavian ov Lactus.”
The imperial princess –
Lavian.
Clad in crimson armour, she looked more of a knight than a princess.
A woman with bright blonde hair tied in twin braids, and eyes with a tint of sternness in them.
But her identity was that of a princess, nonetheless.
A grand princess of the Great Holy Empire.
“It’s been a while, Princess Rebecca.”
The empire and the principality –
Although they were allies, there was a clear difference in power between them, so they were not equals.
And the same went for the identities of the women here.
The princess’ heart swelled at the friendly tone of the grand princess, but she didn’t express it outwardly and merely responded with a calm smile.
“It’s been a long time indeed.”
“Are you well? How many years has it been?”
“Exactly four years.”
“Yes, that sounds right. Have you drunk a lot of milk in these four years? Those seem to have grown even bigger.”
“It’s hereditary.”
“…”
Grin.
Princess Rebecca smiled.
The grand princess always wore armour whenever she came to visit.
The reason was nothing else, but the rather unfortunate difference in the shapes of their bodies.
‘Thanks to you two, I’m being hated.’
The grand princess narrowed her eyes and observed the princess’ twin peaks.
“They look heavy. You must find it difficult to move.”
“Thank you for your concern, Grand Princess. But it doesn’t matter as long as I wear armour. They fit snugly.”
“… Is that so? Still, it must be annoying when you aren’t in armor. How about snipping them off? Want me to help?”
“I’ll be alright, thank you. By the way, may I ask why you called me?”
Since the princess refused to give up, even the imperial princess couldn’t help but come to the point.
Princess Lavian, her face now serious, glanced at her accompanying knight.
The imperial knight took out a map and laid it out quietly on the table.
“I heard that lizards are mixed in among the beasts that flock to the southern part of the empire.”
Lizards?
The princess’ eyes narrowed.
“They’re rebels who must be annihilated. Is that why you called me?”
“They haven’t retained a tenth or even a hundredth of their power compared to back during the Old Evening, but they still worship the same spear that the empire does, so we can’t underestimate them. That’s why I called you.”
In the history of the empire, the lizardmen had been a recurring problem.
Because they were also fellow worshippers of Lactus, even though the empire pursued a policy of exterminating all nonhuman races.
After much deliberation, the empire had finally chosen to destroy the lizardmen, but some remnants still survived to this day.
And they still dreamt of revenge.
The grand princess’ task was to annihilate them.
It was a reasonable course of action on the empire’s part.
The reason she’d called the princess here, was because the location was on the empire’s border with the principality.
‘There was no need for her to come personally. Is it because she’s wary of the saintess?’
Or perhaps the prince?
It might well be.
Lavian was a woman with her own ambitions.
“Hmm… I see. Certainly, the lizardmen might be hiding around here.”
The southernmost part of the empire.
And the northernmost part of the principality.
The border region where these two met was a great forest filled with wetlands which were the lizardmen’s favourite.
There were plenty of places for them to hide.
Even if the approximate location was known, they wouldn’t be easy to find with mere manpower. It was only natural to ask the principality for help.
‘The empire has been conserving power since that recent debacle…’
For Princess Rebecca, there was no reason or justification to refuse.
Not only was it her duty to obey, she was also quickly calculating the gains she could make after the lizardmen were subdued.
“The sad part is that it might take a long time to find them.”
“That’s right. They like darkness and humidity, so they’re probably hiding somewhere deep in the forest.”
“There’s really no need for someone of your noble station to spend time tracking them down.”
“Yes, didn’t you have a knight, Princess? Bethan, was it? You said his mace is good at tracking, so I want to borrow him for this.”
“…”
Troubling.
Rebecca was going ‘oops!’ inside her head.
She’d sent out Bethan on a chase just a while ago.
She’d never dreamed that the grand princess would come for him.
One was an imperial princess, the other a mere knight!
“You don’t look too good. Did you send him on a mission? Or maybe to spy on the empire?”
From Grand Princess Lavian’s twitching lips, she seemed to know something.
However, Princess Rebecca didn’t panic and curved the her lips slightly at the corners instead.
“I met a man.”
Let’s just make up some lies, she thought. The grand princess must’ve heard the story already.
But she couldn’t have known the full details.
Then it was better for Rebecca to take the initiative and explain.
“A man?”
Why did a man suddenly come up? Despite seeing Grand Princess Lavian tilt her head, Rebecca continued to speak slowly.
“He was so handsome it was as if he’d been sculpted by God.”
“… Huh?”
The answer didn’t satisfy Lavian.
She frowned a little at the unexpected answer, then nodded.
“A man… So the princess of the principality is interested in the man of the empire.”
The moment when her pride was uselessly swelling up –
More words followed.
“I’ve never been interested in any men’s courtship before. But he, was different.”
“Ohh… That bad, huh?”
The two princesses had known each other since childhood.
Because Princess Rebecca had undergone her formative years in the empire as a hostage, and they’d been fellow students.
At the Imperial Academy.
So Grand Princess Lavian was a little surprised.
Because Princess Rebecca has never had any romantic scandals with men.
Lavian had even somewhat suspected whether Rebecca’s sexual orientation was normal or not.
‘I’ve always tried to keep a distance because I thought she might like me that way, but I guess not.’
The grand princess was relieved to the bottom of her heart.
“But, they say he has a magic beast helper. What a fun riddle.”
“A magical beast?”
The corners of Lavian’s lips curved up.
“Yes. Is there something you’d like to point out?”
“I read it in an old work of imperial literature. It said that the followers of the God Auste can easily tame animals and stuff. By using a whip. What was your impression of the man?”
“He was like a pilgrim.”
A pilgrim of Auste?
What an interesting turn of events.
Grand Princess Lavian had already known that Princess Rebecca was searching for someone.
There was no way she could’ve missed the news of a wanted order being issued within the empire. So she came here to gossip and make fun, but ended up hearing an unexpected story.
“Since he appeared here in the south… Maybe he has something to do with the lizards.”
“…”
“Where is he?”
“… Probably in Gabor by now.”
“Alright, then.”
The imperial city, Gabor.
It was relatively close to the Great Glory Marsh, and a place with some pretty dangerous folks.
‘This could be fun.’
Next to the satisfied grand princess, Princess Rebecca secretly smiled.
The grand princess didn’t think of the man as anything more than a connection with the lizards.
Therefore, she might be able to borrow some of the empire’s strength and capture him without any loss on her part.
‘It might be easier than I thought.’
The princess fiddled with her mask, hiding the raised corners of her lips.
Whiiiiiiiish.
The mountain breeze passed through the plains and forests, calling for the night.
As the night called to the moon, men lit their fires; and the moon and the fire chased away the darkness.
Clop.
Under the red glare of the torch, the horse still shone white, but the pale moonlight made it hard to make out the rider’s face in any detail.
But from what could be seen –
“Are you a pilgrim?”
“That’s right.”
The rider wore a pure white robe.
The eyes of the man hidden inside the hood reflected the torchlight.
Waltz, the gatekeeper of Gabor.
He’d seen many men crossing the gates of the barren land of Gabor.
He was adept at recognizing what type of people they were from their eyes, but looking at this man’s eyes glinting under the torch’s red glare –
‘I mustn’t touch him.’
But this was Gabor.
A place where even the imperial army’s influence couldn’t easily reach.
The process of verification had to be thorough.
“Of? Lactus? Or Radon?”
Lactus, the God of the Spear.
Radon, the God of the Mace.
No matter how he looked, the rider didn’t wear any armaments, so he could only ask.
The pilgrim was silent for a moment, and then pulled out something from the back of the horse.
“Radon.”
A bloodstained mace.
Looking at the sharp pointed thorns adorning it, the pilgrim wasn’t somebody to mess with.
“The toll is three silvers.”
It should’ve been one silver, but everybody had to eat.
Waltz the gatekeeper received the money from the pilgrim and smiled contentedly.
“There, the ‘Jaw-Dropping Pub’, you see it? You can go there. They’ll at least have a place to sleep.”
Waltz’s eyes shined as the pilgrim nodded while passing by. From his clothing and bearing, this was a rich whale.
‘I could make some real money.’
Waltz had a fleeting thought of chasing after the pilgrim and ripping him off a little more, but he quickly gave up.
A bit of greed could cost you your head, these days.
“Let’s be satisfied with this.”
If you betray a son of God, won’t you get your comeuppance later?
‘Although he’s going to get robbed even if I leave him alone.’
The vagrants of Gabor won’t leave such a rich-looking pilgrim be.
“They call me Waltz, I’m smart as a whip~ They fight for the soup, but I just take a sip~”
A loud noise rang from afar as he was singing and guarding the gates.
Craaaaaash!
“There’s no getting off this ride~ A pilgrim came in~ Next they’ll rob him blind~ A new beggar’s life begins~”
Tsk.
But Waltz wasn’t too interested in what was happening.
The whole world was like this.
“Maybe I should’ve pushed for five silvers. Tch.”
Whiiiiish!
Thunk!
“What the hell!”
A shape suddenly came flying in a parabolic arc, and deeply pierced the walls right next to him.
It was the broken tip of a spear.
“Whoo…”
Apparently, this newcomer wasn’t an ordinary mark.
The gatekeeper locked the city gates tightly and headed towards the tavern.
Hiding himself, he watched from a distance.
The tavern had already been cleared out.
Through the broken boards and windows, he could see the pilgrim in pure white robes sitting peacefully.
Dozens of people lay fallen around him.
The floor was filled with smashed earthenware, but the person responsible was gracefully eating meat from a still intact plate with a fork and knife.
The scene was filled with some kind of grotesque madness.
“Ugh…”
The trembling gatekeeper forced a smile on his face. Quietly, he approached and set two silvers down on the table.
A question mark was about to appear above the pilgrim’s head as he saw the gatekeeper try to leave, but he soon had to redirect his attention to something else.
Because two people wearing robes were now front of him.
One was exceptionally short.
One had a fairly slender figure.
‘I smell iron.’
The small one smelled of iron.
The thin one smelled of earth and grass.
Callius looked at them, puzzled, but soon his lips twitched into a minute smile.
Because he thought he might know who these two were.
Editor’s Notes:
[1] The two titles being used are ?? for Rebecca and ?? for Lavian. The former is actually the term for a duke’s daughter or similarly positioned noblewoman (in English she’d just be a lady), whereas the latter is a real princess i.e. born royalty. Compensating by calling Rebecca a princess and Lavian a grand princess. That doesn’t follow actual European customs, but this is a fantasy and nobody probably cares. Same goes for Grand Prince Chloe of Carpe, he’s just a prince but this keeps the symmetry in titles.