Chapter 185. The Prelude (5)

After Shepherd's communication ended.

The meeting of the interim leaders continued for a few more hours, exchanging some additional opinions, before finally concluding.

When Enoch came out of the barracks, the sun had already set.

“It's finally over. I was waiting.”

“Ah! Direct Lineage Member, you're here-mka!!”

When he walked out to the assembly point plaza with Sirocco and Alicia, Enoch was greeted by April, who was leaning against a large container box.

And Nano, who was tirelessly standing tall and actively looking at the equipment of the freelancers around her.

“As you said, I was waiting here-mda!”

“That's right. Anyway, good work, Direct Lineage Member!”

The gazes of the other freelancers passing by were focused on Enoch's squad, which had gathered in one place, including the two beautiful girls who had naturally approached from the side.

As expected, it seemed that various things, including the fact that he was a direct lineage of the Elsyde, were attracting a lot of attention.

Enoch sighed lightly and said.

“First, the operation was decided at the meeting.”

“I know. The contents of the meeting have already been shared on the community among the other freelancers outside.”

“The news travels fast.”

“Well, I think so too.”

April, as if it was no surprise, let out a small chuckle and shrugged her shoulders once.

“Especially, right? There's news that our squad leader had a direct confrontation with a Victoria army commander named Colonel Shepherd, right?”

“A confrontation. It wasn't that grand.”

“What a shame. I wish I could have seen it. Anyway, I don't like the way that guy controls the outsourcing district!”

April laughed as if the mere thought was thrilling.

“So, where are we going now? It's almost night. Is there anything else to do?”

“We'll meet up with the rest of our party and rest.”

“Rest? Where?”

“My companion has probably booked us a room.”

Lien must have already booked a room.

But when I said that obvious thing, it was surprisingly April who looked flustered.

“Ah, that's right! I forgot to book a room…!”

"Ugh," she said with a look of dismay, then sighed and shrugged her thin white shoulders once.

“Phew, there won't be any rooms available around here with all these freelancers. I guess I'll have to sleep outside.”

Enoch stared at April blankly for a moment.

Come to think of it, given her profession, that might have been the case.

However, the one who unexpectedly came to the rescue was Nano, who was standing next to her.

“Ah! By any chance, Freelancer-nim, how about spending the night at our workshop?”

The bobbed hair hanging over April's shoulder bounced up once in surprise.

“Huh? Is that really okay?”

“Yes! If Freelancer-nim is okay with it-mda!”

“Just call me April. It’s both my name and my codename.”

“Ah! Is that really okay-mka?!”

Since things seemed to be working out, Enoch turned his head. Now, all that was left was for everyone to join up.

“Ah! Wait a minute!”

Just then, from the distance, a small girl pushed through the crowd, leading a group of children, and approached in a hurry.

A tattered modern-style robe, a dirty but lively cheek. It was one of the children from the outsourcing district that April had saved.

“Ah, it's the older brother and the pretty older sister with the pink bobbed hair!”

When Enoch nodded, the girl and the children rushed over, their eyes shining, and exclaimed.

“The older sister with the wolf ears and the older sister with the hat. Thank you so much! Thanks to you saving us from that monster…!”

“It was nothing.”

Sirocco replied curtly, but behind her, her wolf tail was wagging back and forth, as if she wasn't entirely displeased.

On the other hand, April sat down, hugged her knees, and carefully examined the girl.

“By the way, are you guys okay? I think some of you were injured earlier.”

Then she exclaimed in surprise.

“Oh my? But this, are you all healed already?”

Enoch had also noticed that part. Inside the children’s torn clothes, their wounds had already healed as if they had been washed away.

The injuries must have been quite severe, enough to render them immobile in front of the magical beast.

I had one guess.

“Healing magic?”

“Yes! And actually, that's why we came!”

The girl bowed her head deeply as if in gratitude. As I was tilting my head at her sudden words.

“Thank you so much, I didn't think I would receive help from Lord Enoch twice!”

She started saying things I couldn't understand.

“What do you mean?”

“It's a nun from The Order! She said she was dispatched here because of you, Lord Enoch!”

“A nun?”

The children looked at each other, nodded, and began to chatter.

“Yes! She's also been healing the non-mages who fell while fleeing during the magical beast attack with her healing magic!”

“That's right! She had citrus-colored hair and was really pretty. She said she was from the Holy Séjour.”

Anyone could tell it was Lily.

In the first place, it was almost unheard of for a healer dispatched from the Holy Séjour to come to the outsourcing district.

At this timing, there could only be one person. With that conviction, Enoch casually asked the girl.

“By any chance, was that nun looking for me?”

“Yes! She asked very earnestly!”

“Earnestly…?”

“Yes! She said to tell you to please come to the shelter where she is if I found you! She was on the verge of tears, saying she was being held captive by people who had pushed her around without her knowing why!”

“Ah.”

Enoch silently nodded his head.

…It seemed to be Lily's SOS signal.

***

The place I was guided to was a temporary shelter.

In reality, there were almost no casualties from the magical beasts, but it seemed that there were quite a few people who were injured while evacuating in the crowd earlier.

As I walked past the waiting room and towards the back of the shelter, I saw a familiar face in the distance.

A pretty girl wrapped in a thin nun's habit.

Lily was diligently treating people, wiping the sweat from her forehead as she used her healing magic.

“Phew, phew. It's finally over…”

Having finished treating the patients in front of her, Lily sighed in relief and caught her breath.

“Ugh, how on earth did I end up doing things like this…”

Enoch quietly approached her and said.

“You've been through a lot, Sister Lily.”

“Ah……!!”

For a moment, Lily looked at me with wide eyes, then suddenly shot up and started sprinting.

“Lord Eeenoooch—!!”

She practically threw herself at me, wrapping her slender arms around my waist and clinging to me, then, stuck to me like a cicada, she began to sob.

Without giving me a chance to say anything, Lily looked up at me with a tearful face and exclaimed resentfully.

“Ugh, why! You called me here and then! You didn't show your face at all—!!”

……Hmm.

After calming down Lily, who was clinging to me and sobbing like a piece of sticky rice in her nun's habit, I was able to hear the whole story.

Enoch said to Lily, who had teary eyes.

“…So, the attack happened as soon as you arrived in the outsourcing district, you got caught up in the crowd, and then you were pestered by people who saw you in your nun's habit and realized you were a healer from The Order?”

“Th-that's right. I was suddenly kidnapped here…”

“You could have just contacted me with your terminal?”

“W-well. The nuns of the Holy Séjour are generally forbidden from owning terminals to sever ties with the secular world…”

Hearing about the remarkably impressive living conditions of the Holy Séjour, Enoch flinched for a moment.

Could it be, that's why the nuns of the Holy Séjour were all so naive? They did all seem a bit innocent.

“Then refusing would have been an option.”

“B-but they were injured people…”

Lily answered hesitantly and cautiously looked to her side. Indeed, thanks to her, the number of injured people had noticeably decreased.

It was clear that she had done more than her fair share of what she had to do as a nun here.

Enoch stared at Lily for a moment and said.

“But, are you okay?”

“Huh? With what?”

Enoch, who was looking down at Lily who was hugging him tightly, asked nonchalantly.

“I seem to recall you telling me not to get close last time. Is it okay as long as it's not the Holy Séjour?”

“A-aaah!!”

Lily hastily backed away.

Her face was faintly red. Then, as if she was self-conscious, she fidgeted with her fingers and her eyes darted around restlessly.

“A-ah! This isn't it, I'm sorry!! I was just so tired and flustered that…!!”

“No, I don't mind that.”

Enoch glanced to the side. The gazes of the other citizens of the outsourcing district were focused on them.

- L-look over there. A real nun from The Order's Holy Séjour.

- My, I've never heard that the direct lineage of the Elsyde had so many women with him.

- Look at this. The squad is full of women, isn't it? And they're all beauties!

I pretty much expected this.

I had grown quite used to being the center of attention, as it wasn't just a one or two-day thing.

“─Ugh!!”

Lily, whose face had really turned into a tomato, seemed to still have a long way to go to reach that level of composure.

Anyway, I felt a little sorry for Lily. I thought that since it was an outsourcing district, the healers from The Order would at least be given a reliable companion.

But she had no terminal, no companion. To send a young girl who was a healer alone like that. It was certain that things were strange inside the Holy Séjour.

“…It seems Amelia wasn't just criticizing the Holy Séjour for no reason.”

“Huh?”

“No, it's nothing.”

Hoping that Amelia would seize control of the Holy Séjour as soon as possible, Enoch shook his head.

“Hmph, another one.”

Just then, I saw a wagging tail out of the corner of my eye and turned my head in that direction.

Sirocco was watching with a sharp gaze.

Not knowing why she was doing that, I tilted my head slightly to the side. Sirocco then padded over.

And then, as if imitating what Lily had done, she wrapped her arms around Enoch's arm and began to rub her cheek against it.

As Sirocco's soft, white cheek touched me, I could feel the soft texture of her skin and her warm body temperature.

“Sirocco, what have you been doing since earlier……”

Looking down at the beautiful wolf-eared girl with her slightly wavy red hair and twitching ears, Enoch asked casually.

Then Sirocco stopped rubbing her face, looked up at me, and said proudly.

“Hmph~ I'm leaving my scent on you.”

Another incomprehensible statement came out, but I had grown quite used to Sirocco's way of speaking by now.

Enoch tilted his head and asked.

“Scent? Is there a need for that?”

“That female did it earlier too. Am I not allowed?”

“It's not that.”

Sirocco smiled sharply, her cheek still pressed against my arm.

“Hehe, good. Then give me your arm.”

Enoch reluctantly held out his arm.

Then Sirocco, with a look of pleasure, narrowed her eyes and rubbed her cheek against my arm. She really was more like a puppy than a wolf sometimes.

“Ah, by the way, Direct Lineage Member?”

Just then, April, who had been watching Sirocco with interest from the side, asked as if she had just remembered.

“But, the minimum number of participants for the operation that the colonel set was six, excluding you, right, Direct Lineage Member?”

“That's right.”

“Then we’re one person short with the current members.”

Nano, Lily, April, Sirocco, and Alicia. Right now, there were only five in total.

Just as Enoch was about to say something, the sound of heels clicking echoed down the hallway.

“Young Master, you were here.”

Silvery-white hair that flowed lightly with each step. The perfectly polished demeanor of a maid, approaching with her hands clasped together.

“Lien?”

—That's right.

Looking back, the person who had slowly walked down the hallway was a beautiful girl with silver hair.

Enoch Elsyde's exclusive maid, Lien. Her blue-silver eyes stared at the other people behind Enoch.

“These must be the other members of the squad you recruited, Young Master. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

She lifted the skirt of her maid uniform with one hand and greeted them elegantly.

A sudden silence fell in the room, but it was actually Enoch who was the most speechless.

“…But, Lien. How did you know I was here and find me?”

Enoch definitely hadn't told her.

Here, her life wasn't in danger, so she couldn't track his location, and he hadn't contacted her with his terminal.

“I simply follow where the Young Master is.”

Lien added in a chilly tone, brushing back the silver hair on her neck.

For some reason, I felt like I was in big trouble.

“Young Master, I didn't think you would head to a place like this without saying a word to me.”

Lien approached closer and added quietly.

“From now on, I will serve you by your side.”

The reaction was immediate from the side.

“Wow!! I’ve never seen a real maid before-mda!!”

Nano, with sparkling eyes and a bright smile, and April, who had frozen for some reason. Well, except for Sirocco and Lily, the other two were seeing Lien for the first time.

But putting Nano aside, April's reaction was a bit unusual.

“Wow, that's crazy……”

For some reason, April, with her index finger slightly in her mouth and her eyes wide, was letting out a dazed sigh of admiration.

April stared at Lien for a while, then whipped her head around to look at Enoch and exclaimed with eyes sparkling with admiration.

“G-give me a pretty silver-haired maid like that too!!”

“……What?”

“No! A maid like that is the stuff of dreams!”

April, seemingly stimulated by something strange, suddenly clenched one fist and pointed at Lien with her other hand, exclaiming passionately.

“Silver hair, a cool beauty, super polite! And a beautiful girl in a maid uniform with a huge chest…!! I want one too…!!”

“……”

…Polite, she says.

Enoch let out a wry smile without realizing it and tilted his head.

She certainly had silver hair, was a cool beauty, and had a big chest, but if April lived in my shoes for just one day, that kind of talk would disappear in a flash.

“Where on earth do you find a maid like that? Ah! Is it the wealth of the Elsyde family, after all?”

Whether that was the case or not.

The freelancer sniper was still excitedly poking Enoch in the side and shouting.

Without giving a specific answer, Enoch just turned his head to the side.

She wasn't wrong.

Even if you searched the entire Elsyde Main House fortress, which boasted a size and height comparable to a small city, you wouldn't find a maid like Lien.

…Certainly, a maid who was so ridiculous in so many ways was not common.

“This is Lien. You should get acquainted.”

Enoch briefly added the introduction.

“She’s our last squad member.”

For a moment, April looked back and forth between Enoch and Lien. Then, with a dazed look, she looked at Enoch and asked back.

“……A maid?”

“That's right.”

“……????”

For a moment, April's weapon case, as if in shock, fell to the floor with a thud. Her reaction was quite something.