Chapter 20 · The New Sprout Festival (2)

I quickly snatched my robe back from Ark and ducked behind them, but I couldn’t tell whether Paeon had seen me or not. The whole time I was pulling the hood over my head and wrapping myself tightly in the robe, my lungs felt like they were shrinking.

‘Please just go… just go!’

Cold sweat poured down my face. Ark and Rizen were trembling like aspens too. They kept pressing closer to each other. It was clearly to shield me where I hid behind them.

“C-Commander!”

‘Aaaah! He came this way!’

“What are you doing here?”

It was Paeon’s voice.

“Uh… we came out to see the festival. O-of course, we got permission from the temple!”

“…Just the two of you?”

His tone was deeply suspicious. And no wonder—Ark and Rizen had been around each other often lately because of me, but fundamentally they were enemies, so they weren’t the sort of pair who would hang around together at all.

“Are you on a reconnaissance mission, Commander? I didn’t expect you to come in person.”

Rizen tried hard to change the subject.

“There’s something I’m looking for…”

He paused for a moment, then turned away.

“Don’t stay out too late. It’ll interfere with training tomorrow.”

Only after a long while of not even breathing did Ark and Rizen finally separate from each other.

“It’s all right now.”

Rizen whispered cautiously. But I grabbed his hand and dashed madly into the back alley.

“Princess—no, young lady! You’ll fall if you run like that!”

Ark, chasing from behind, quickly scooped me up. After running a good distance from the plaza, we finally sat down and caught our breath.

“Hah… hah… hah.”

“Why is Papa hewe?! Don’t tell me Asha’s been found out? He said he was wooking fow something.”

“Hah… hah… It’s probably not the princess. If it were, it wouldn’t just be him—a hundred men would be out searching.”

“Phew… Thank goodness. I thought I was going to die…”

“Still, I think it would be safer to go back now.”

Rizen said, looking worriedly toward the distant plaza.

“J-just a wittle wongew… once it’s certain Papa isn’t in the pwaza.”

If I were caught sneaking out now, it would reach the king’s ears, and if that happened, I might not be allowed to stay at the temple anymore. So I absolutely had to get back safely without being caught.

“Hurry, hurry! The Commander of Veritas is here. They say he’s incredibly handsome!”

Girls squealed and rushed over in a crowd.

“The Commander isn’t some spectacle—why are they all acting like that?”

Rizen grumbled sulkily.

“Your commander is a famous hero. Even common folk know about the Battle of the Nigel Plains.”

“That’s true, he deserves respect! But it feels like they’re focusing on his looks rather than his heroic deeds!”

I didn’t know what he was looking for, but with the crowd that had gathered, it would be hard for him to carry out his mission for a while. Having such a striking appearance really was a hardship.

As we caught our breath in the corner of a quiet alley, I sensed a presence.

“Who’s there!”

Ark hastily drew his sword. A small figure flinched and shrank back. It was a little black-haired girl dressed in dirty rags.

“I-I’m just…”

The girl was holding a large flower basket. It was full of red roses.

“Awk! Don’t. She’s just a hawmpwess girl.”

Ark looked sheepish and sheathed his sword. But the girl, though trembling, showed no sign of leaving.

‘She must want to sell flowers.’

Suddenly my sixth life, when I sold flowers, came to mind. Somehow it ached. The girl was thin, as if she hadn’t eaten properly, and she couldn’t even meet our eyes. I wanted to buy her flowers, but I had spent my entire fortune—the gold ring—on the herb seeds, so I had nothing to give her.

‘Should I give her this hairpin or the doll? Would that seem like I’m mocking her?’

As I fidgeted, watching her, Rizen smiled brightly and walked over to her.

“Lady, may I have one flower?”

‘If you say that with such an overly sweet smile…’

At Rizen’s flower-like smile, more beautiful than the roses in the basket, the girl’s face flushed in an instant. She hesitated, unable to hand over the flower easily. Then, as if she had made up her mind, she held one out with trembling hands. Rizen grinned and offered the flower to me.

“What’s with just one flower? How boring. Hey, give me everything in that basket.”

At Ark’s bark, the girl looked flustered. Ignoring her, he snatched the flower basket and pulled a pouch of gold coins from his clothes, handing it over as if tossing it. Then he tried to give me a bundle of flowers. That was the moment. From the roses came a sharp, powerful wave of mana.

“Ah…!”

My head spun dizzily. Thud, crash! I heard something collapsing. When I barely managed to open my eyes, Rizen and Ark were lying on the ground.

“Ri…zen, A…wk…!”

My knees too gave way against my will and hit the ground. As consciousness faded, something suddenly came to mind.

‘Mental magic…’

Why would that girl use Kalisa’s magic?

◇ ◆ ◇

Only after getting quite far from the plaza was Paeon finally able to escape the crowd that surrounded him.

“See, this is why I told His Majesty several times that we should carry this out in secret…”

“He must have judged that the people needed their spirits lifted. No matter how victorious we were, the damage was severe—of course they’d want to show off their handsome hero.”

Shellman said with a sly smile.

“You seem to be enjoying this situation quite a lot.”

“Would any member of the order not find it amusing to see the Commander flustered by being surrounded by women?”

As he glared sharply at Shellman, a member came running in a panic.

“Commander, Sister Sierra, a second-grade priestess of the Great Temple, has sent an urgent telegram.”

“What is it?”

“That is… Princess Anastasia has disappeared. They’ve searched the entire Great Temple and can’t find her…”

“!”

He thought of the two apprentice knights.

“They say it hasn’t been reported to the royal family yet.”

“At once,”

He hesitated.

“…”

Several scenes flashed through his mind.

“I’m so happy eating togethew with my angels wike this. So happy.”

“Don’t expel Awk.”

“I’m so happy to be back at the twaining gwounds. Papa, awe you still mad?”

“Hah…”

He ran his hand irritably through his hair. The moment it was reported to the royal family, she would no longer be allowed to stay at the temple. That was what he wanted.

And yet…

“Don’t make a fuss. It’s certain she’s somewhere nearby.”

“What?! She’s here? Really?”

“…Yes. For now, let’s split up and search.”

He ordered them to divide into groups and scatter in various directions. And he himself headed toward the places the children might have gone.

‘I made a vow.’

He gritted his teeth.

‘That no matter what happens… I would never grow close to her.’

From the day he met her again, nothing had gone the way he wanted. Not a single thing.

◇ ◆ ◇

A ringing buzz filled my ears. Voices that sounded distant, as if underwater.

“To catch three precious ones like this. We could throw a party tonight.”

“But is it all right? They look like children from good families. Especially that red-haired one. They said he had a pouch full of gold coins.”

“Who cares. Tonight they’ll be going across the far sea anyway.”

The sounds grew clearer and clearer.

“One has mana, one has divine power… The boss will be pleased. Divine power is incredibly rare, after all. The temple folk always track them down like ghosts and take them back.”

The owners of these voices were definitely people I knew.

‘In my fifth life, they were the slave traders who kidnapped me!’

My mind snapped to attention, and I felt that my arms and legs were bound with rope. I opened my eyes to slits so as not to reveal that I was awake, and saw Rizen and Ark, tightly bound as well, lying on the cold wooden floor.

‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!’

My first life ended with being branded a heretic, driven from the royal palace, and burned at the stake by the people.

My second life ended with mana runaway because I couldn’t use magic out of fear.

My third life ended before I even turned four, mauled by a beast while fleeing in the mountains.

My fourth life, I barely escaped the beast but couldn’t find the way to a village and froze to death wandering.

The life after that, I finally reached a village, only to be caught by these bastards and beaten to death while trying to escape.

That was the whole story of my life up to my fifth death.

But I was definitely kidnapped from a small village far from the capital. And before I was even four. The place and time were completely different, yet I was caught by the same bastards…

“The young lady cannot escape her fate!”

Why did that fake old fortune-teller’s words come to mind at a time like this? There seemed to be no way out. In my current state, there was no way I could use magic, and there was no way this child’s body could look after two boys and break through that crowd to escape.

‘Should I just regress one more time?’

But what happens to this world after I die? Does it just continue? Then… then would Rizen and Ark have to live as slaves? Because of me?

My heart clenched painfully for a moment. No, that can’t happen.

‘What are those boys to you? You were going to abandon them and leave someday anyway, weren’t you?’

A voice spoke from within my heart.

‘…These boys are the first friends I’ve made in ten lives.’

That’s right. Even though they weren’t my age and our stations were different, I felt an unfamiliar emotion when I was with them. It was ‘comfort.’ These boys taught me the joy of chattering about pointless things without having to watch my words or feel small.

‘Even if we have to part ways eventually, I can’t just run away alone by regressing here and now.’

Think of a way. There has to be one—a way to escape before these bastards cross the sea!

“Hold on.”

Just then, a chilling voice sounded from behind me.

“That little brat, I think she’s awake.”