“Phew…”
Riersha exhaled a long breath of relief as she gazed at the defensive barrier that now encased the entire forest.
It had been her first time putting such a thing into practice, so she had been somewhat nervous — but all things considered, it seemed to have gone rather well.
“…Wow. Where does it even end? This is enormous.”
Yuta, who had been watching from beside her, blinked blankly. He let out a low whistle at the barrier stretching beyond the limits of sight.
“Splendid work, Miss Riersha. Now then, shall we be on our way? I will escort you to where the Young Lord is.”
Rosinante extended his hand.
Riersha had been about to take it when she hesitated and turned her head.
Come to think of it…
“We can’t go back to the camp from here, Rosinante. And all those nobles who fled over there — they’ve disappeared completely.”
Riersha pointed in the opposite direction, her expression twisting with unease.
“Those nobles are currently located within the Knoum Forest. It appears there was an unidentified transfer gate.”
“So you’re saying the Magic Tower was behind all of this?”
Yuta asked, repeating back what Rosinante had implied.
Installing a transfer gate was not something just any skilled person could accomplish. And the fact that no one had detected its existence until now…
It had to have been created by someone of exceptional, extraordinary ability.
So it was not unreasonable to conclude that the Magic Tower had orchestrated the whole affair.
And yet Riersha shook her head immediately.
“The Magic Tower isn’t the culprit.”
“They’re not?”
“Nope.”
“How can you be so sure? Isn’t that putting a bit too much faith in the Magic Tower?”
Yuta looked unconvinced. Riersha simply shrugged.
To outside observers, the ‘Magic Tower’ might appear to be an extraordinarily secretive and dangerous institution — but…
Before the hunting festival.
For a brief moment when the crystal orb had lost contact, Sion had looked more dead than alive when they finally connected again.
Why did it take so long to reach you? I’m dying here, Miss. …What if I actually die from overwork? Why did the Imperial Palace have to go and release monsters at the hunting festival of all things. It’s the first time in my life I’ve had a nosebleed. …Even a genius like me got a nosebleed trying to work out the monster formula that Young Lord Arachrene requested…
…There was simply no way that Sion — who had been whining and complaining that pitifully just yesterday — had turned against her.
And there were other reasons as well.
If something went wrong involving magic, the Magic Tower would immediately be the first to fall under suspicion. Sion would never be foolish enough to make a choice like that.
Riersha muttered in a vaguely sympathetic tone.
“It’s just — …Anyway, it’s not Sion. He was practically dying just yesterday.”
“Yesterday?”
“…Hm?”
“You were in contact with the Tower Master yesterday?”
A low, quietly ominous voice cut in.
It belonged to Isierd.
He had been listening to Riersha in silence, but the word ‘yesterday’ made him react with unmistakable sharpness — his eyes now demanding an explanation.
Oh no.
Only then did Riersha realize that she and Isierd had been out of contact for well over two months, and she snapped her hand up to cover her mouth.
I wanted it to be a surprise — that’s why I came without telling him…
How was she supposed to talk her way out of this?
Riersha’s eyes darted desperately around her, silently pleading for someone to help.
But Yuta merely took a step back, as if asking to be left out of this entirely…
And Rosinante, whom she had counted on at least a little, was smiling brightly with an expression that said things were working out rather nicely.
…Haa.
Riersha let out a small, quiet sigh inside and looked up at Isierd.
The situation wasn’t ideal — but having a chance to explain herself wasn’t so bad.
If anything, it was something of a relief.
“The thing is — the truth is, I ended up having to take the heir advancement examination this time, so…”
“Ah, that.”
Isierd nodded, indicating he already knew about it.
“You knew?”
If that was the case, clearing up the misunderstanding might go a little more smoothly.
Riersha’s expression brightened noticeably. Isierd, watching her face, smiled warmly in return.
“I did hear about it, actually, Riersha. The Declair Capital Newspaper was kind enough to let me know.”
“…Ah.”
“After being completely in the dark for over two months, I was quite grateful to that newspaper. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to prepare a congratulatory gift.”
Isierd spoke in a calm, gentle voice.
His tone was perfectly pleasant — and yet, for some reason, Riersha felt a cold sweat prickling at her back.
“But you were in contact with the Tower Master just yesterday?”
“…Well, about that.”
“And then you came to the hunting festival and spent the whole time stuck to that slippery one over there.”
Isierd began drawing out the grievances he had quietly been storing up, one by one.
Yuta, who had been watching their exchange with amused curiosity, pointed at himself with a look of disbelief.
Slippery?
He absolutely refused to accept that — but the only person Riersha had spent the entire hunting festival attached to was, undeniably, him.
“By ‘slippery one’… surely you don’t mean me…?”
Isierd glanced briefly at Yuta, then looked away.
A wordless confirmation.
Yuta stood there with his mouth hanging open, reeling from the blow, when something shifted in Isierd.
The sight of Riersha standing there looking back at him with that apologetic expression — it softened something in him, suddenly and completely.
Because from the beginning, the moment contact was restored, the moment they could meet again…
He had never intended to treat Riersha this way at all.
“I’m sorry, Riersha.”
“Huh? No, don’t be. You had every right to feel hurt. …I should have told you in advance. I kept it from you because I wanted to surprise you. But I think I made the wrong call.”
“You did. That was wrong of you.”
“…”
“I don’t like surprises like that. I’d prefer you didn’t do that again.”
“Okay.”
“And the rest of this conversation — we’ll finish it once everything is over.”
“Okay.”
“I missed you.”
“Okay. …Okay?”
Riersha’s head snapped up in surprise.
Had Isierd just said he missed her?
She found herself doubting what she had heard.
Isierd had never once directly expressed his feelings like that before, as far as she could recall…
As Riersha stared at him wide-eyed with shock, Rosinante stepped smoothly into her line of sight.
“My, we’ve wasted quite a bit of time. The Young Lord is waiting, so we should hurry along, Miss Riersha. As for you, Prince Isierd — you ought to remain here under protection, so I’m afraid you won’t be able to come with us.”
He planted himself between them and extended his hand to Riersha.
“And this slippery one over here — ah, what was the name again. You said Yuta, didn’t you?”
“Yes. Yuta.”
Yuta’s face went slightly hollow, having now been called ‘slippery’ for the second time in a row.
He was genuinely beginning to worry whether he actually came across that way.
He was, for what it was worth, a candidate for admission to the Imperial Knights — and to think that was the image he gave off…
Honestly, it was quite a shock.
“Yuta, why don’t you come along with me? I’ll take you back to the Willias family’s camp.”
Rosinante offered generously.
But Yuta took a step back and shook his head.
If he returned to the Willias camp alone, that was its own kind of headache.
His cousin sister was back there somewhere, currently alone with one of her friends.
He didn’t want to think about what kind of scolding he’d receive from Duke Willias if word reached him that he had left Olivia behind and returned by himself.
“Ah, I’m fine, thank you. I’ll be going back with my cousin.”
“I see.”
Rosinante didn’t press further. He reached into his coat and produced something without hesitation.
It was an object Riersha had never seen before. She looked at it curiously.
“What is that?”
“It’s a scroll that will transport us directly to where the Young Lord is. Tear it, and we’ll arrive immediately.”
“…You had a transfer scroll?”
“Yes. In case the Young Lord were ever in danger and I needed to reach him at once. I’ve used one quite a few times on the battlefield before, but… I haven’t touched one since then, so it feels rather unfamiliar.”
Rosinante explained evenly.
“Then let’s use it.”
“Mm.”
Riersha took his hand firmly.
Even so, one question refused to leave her mind.
Who in the world had installed that unidentified transfer gate?
And what on earth was the purpose behind it?
A moment later, the world in front of Riersha’s eyes filled with white light.
