Chapter 26. Justification

Michelle, Elliot, and Bethel stared at me, at a loss for words. Their faces were plastered with bewilderment, annoyance, and questions.

“Why? Are you so happy that we don’t have to move in a hurry?”

I showed them a bright smile. Of course, what came back were crumpled faces.

“Your Highness. It’s an Owlbear. An Owlbear.”

Bethel said as if to reason with me.

“I know. I was here with you.”

“Your Highness, it’s an Owlbear.”

“I said I know. You don’t have to keep repeating the same thing. Gavis Bethel, the deserter.”

At my words, Bethel wrinkled his nose and stuck out his lips in a pout.

“Your Highness, an Owlbear is a very dangerous monster. So wouldn’t it be better to move quickly? I will contact Viscount Rodrigo to come and meet us right away.”

This time, Elliot spoke up. Unlike Bethel, who had been somewhat brutish, she was taking a softer approach.

“No, don’t do that.”

“Your Highness, safety is important. We have only Your Highness.”

“No. There will be many things. So don’t do that.”

“Your Highness……”

Elliot’s eyes asked why on earth I was being so stubborn. I let out a long sigh.

“You’re all cowards.”

I spat out the words, filled with lament. At that, Bethel and Elliot’s expressions hardened.

Well, Michelle seemed to have no particular thoughts as she was engrossed in her meal.

“Why do you say we are cowards?”

Elliot asked.

“If an Owlbear appears, what will happen to the townspeople?”

“Ah……”

Elliot, who let out a gasp, could not easily close her mouth. Bethel also kept his lips firmly shut, only flaring his nostrils.

“It will be dangerous.”

Michelle, who had been peacefully eating her food, said. I admired that simple personality of hers that didn’t care much about anything else as long as there was food that suited her taste.

“That’s why we have to stay. We know the town is in danger, so is it right for me, of all people, to run away just to save myself?”

“It’s wrong.”

This time too, Michelle spoke as if it were obvious. Bethel and Elliot’s gazes turned to her. With reproachful eyes, as if asking if she wasn’t being rude, telling her to read the room. But Michelle didn't care in the slightest. The only thing she cared about was whether or not she could eat the last remaining chicken leg.

“Eat it.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Her consistency was top-notch.

“Instead of just sitting around thinking about running away, let’s think about how to fight with the townspeople.”

“……Yes.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Bethel and Elliot answered in turn. Complex emotions were heard in their voices. The shame of having turned away from the right path, the fear of not being able to avoid a great danger, and the uncomfortable feeling of having to jump into a danger that could be avoided. So I sent them a bright smile. Because I had seized an opportunity to get what I needed with a very good justification.

‘This is why they say you have to meet the right people.’

Though it wasn’t like they had met me because they wanted to.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

By the way, what was with those expressions of near-horror on Bethel and Elliot’s faces? It wasn’t the first time they had seen me smile.

***

The morning sun shone… not. When I drew the curtains, the sky was full of clouds. It looked like it would rain soon. Seeing as no one had come to wake me, it seemed everyone was sleeping. Since the day was gloomy, it wasn't bad to sleep in. There was nothing special to do until the Demonic Moon anyway.

But not for me. I had to scout for a suitable place to hunt the Owlbear.

“Is everyone sleeping well?”

After simple preparations to go out, I stepped into the hallway and whispered, hoping no one would hear. And I moved my feet very carefully, as if a cat were jumping over a wall.

Today, I planned to walk around the village and check the terrain and features. But if I took someone along, they would obviously ask non-stop why I was checking. I could be kind and explain, but…….

“It’s a bother.”

It was more comfortable to wander around quietly by myself without hearing any complaints.

“Hiyah!”

As if to prove the words that its commerce was developed, the village was bustling from early in the morning. A good number of cargo carriages and carts were moving about the streets. People, in step with them, did not spare their sweat.

Plop, plop, plop.

The sky, as if the rain it held was heavy, began to drop raindrops one by one. The people, and the cargo carriages and carts, quickened their movements. The ground quickly turned to mud.

I opened an umbrella to block the rain. If I got caught in the rain, I might catch a cold and collapse before I could even fight the Owlbear.

“This place seems good.”

I found a back mountain from where the village could be seen at a glance. I judged it was better than poking around here and there and receiving suspicious looks.

“A place like a canyon would be suitable……”

The Owlbear has wings and can fly. But the creature likes places where it can build a nest in a cave or a recess and find stability. Is it because its body is similar to a bear? Its behavior is like a bear. Its personality is even more ferocious than a bear.

And that’s the problem. A creature faster and stronger than a bear, with skin harder than iron, flies through the sky and hunts beasts for meat. Especially humans. It seems humans are just right for its palate.

“It’s no wonder they were so averse to it.”

It was perfectly natural for Bethel and Elliot to suggest moving quickly to avoid the Owlbear. I had shut their mouths with a plausible justification, but if others heard the situation, they would call me a madman. They would tell me to die alone if I wanted to die.

Of course, I didn't have the slightest intention of dying. That’s why I was out in the rain from early in the morning, looking for the Owlbear’s grave site.

“Is that the best I can hope for?”

A castle wall built using two low hills came into view. Its concave inward shape was similar to the terrain I had in mind. The problem was that it was an abandoned castle wall, so it had not been maintained or repaired at all.

“It won’t collapse easily, will it?”

I diligently walked to see the castle wall up close. Its condition was more serious than it looked from afar. Stones were missing here and there, and the spots were filled with dirt. It was a sign that someone had taken out the square stones because they needed them. In order to hold down the Owlbear that would leap into the sky, I had to spread a net from on top of the castle wall…….

“Will it hold?”

It seemed it would be decided depending on the size and strength of the Owlbear. I could only hope that it was small.

“Haa.”

A sigh escaped me. If only I could use my Saga properly, I wouldn't have to think about such things and would have just beaten it to a pulp.

I placed my hand on my right chest where my Mana Heart was and slowly composed my breath. I could feel the Mana Heart creaking as it tried to replenish the depleted mana. The damn necromancer. If it hadn't been for that guy, I wouldn't have had to use my Saga, and if I hadn't used my Saga, my Mana Heart wouldn't have run dry. If my Mana Heart hadn't run dry, I wouldn't be trying to catch an Owlbear by force……. No, that’s not it. Even if my Mana Heart hadn't run dry, I would still have to catch the Owlbear. What’s as good for the body as an Elixir is the Owlbear’s…….

“My lady. You shouldn’t be doing this so early in the morning.”

Huh? I heard a familiar voice from early in the morning. I peeked at the owner of the voice, my face hidden by my umbrella. It was Klaus, Adellian’s butler who had picked a fight with me.

‘What is he doing so early in the morning? Going to the carriage repair shop?’

The carriage repair shop was not far from the castle wall. Since his request to be given priority for the carriage repair was rejected, it seemed he was thinking of pleading with the repair shop. But who was the little kid holding Adellian’s hand?

“She said the child’s mother is sick. She doesn’t even have money to go to the hospital, how can I just watch?”

Hmm… was she the daughter of the repair shop owner? The repair shop owner looked like he had a lot of money.

“Then I will go with the child, check on the child’s mother, and take her to the hospital myself.”

Klaus begged and pleaded as he followed Adellian.

“Klaus, didn’t you hear what she said earlier? She said she might die.”

“That’s why I’ll check and…”

“What if you check and she’s really in critical condition and there’s no time to go to the hospital?”

“That is……”

“Isn’t it better for me to just go and see for myself? Don’t you think so?”

“My lady. Still, this is not right. It’s dangerous. If something goes wrong, you could be in great trouble, my lady.”

I understood that someone was sick and Adellian was going to see them herself. But I didn't know what it meant that Adellian could be in great trouble. Was it a contagious disease? If so, patients should be popping up here and there in the village, but seeing as that wasn't the case… had it just broken out? Was that why Klaus was trying to stop Adellian?

Suddenly, my head became complicated. If it was really a contagious disease, then regardless of the Owlbear or whatever, leaving the village might be the answer.

‘I should check.’

I followed Adellian, keeping some distance. The place she arrived at was not the carriage repair shop but a dilapidated shack.

“My lady. Can’t you reconsider? It’s too dangerous!”

Klaus blocked Adellian’s path and cried out desperately. Adellian hugged the child and glared at Klaus.

“Instead of stopping me, stop that person who followed us.”

“Pardon? What does that…”

Klaus, greatly surprised by Adellian’s words, turned his head towards me.

I let out a hollow laugh. I thought I had hidden my mana aura and my appearance well, but it seemed it wasn't perfect.

“Who’s there!”

Klaus drew his sword and glared in my direction. In the meantime, Adellian took the child and entered the shack.

“Come out! Or you will be seriously hurt!”

“My, what a ghost.”

Thinking there was no point in hiding anymore, I revealed myself.

“Your Highness?”

“You’re going through a lot of trouble since the morning.”

“No, why is Your Highness… following us?”

“I heard a familiar voice, so I followed. It seemed like some trouble had arisen.”

“……”

He didn't seem to believe me.

“Ha, ha, ha.”

I tried to laugh heartily. But I only received a deeper look of suspicion. People should trust people. To be so distrustful. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

“I would be grateful if you could honestly tell me with what intention you were tailing us.”

Klaus requested quite politely. Of course, his gaze was not polite in the slightest.

“I really did it because it seemed like you were in trouble. Was our trust only this much? This is a bit disappointing.”

I poured out a look of how unfair this was with all my might. Klaus tilted his head as if he had no idea what I was talking about. Even I thought it was a bit nonsensical. Trust from just one meeting, and a meeting where we saw red at that, was that even plausible.

Fwoosh!

The moment the awkward wall between me and Klaus became as solid as it could be, a blue light emanated from the shack. Subsequently, all the moisture that had been drenching the shack scattered in all directions.

“M-my lady.”

Klaus, who had been wary of me, ran to the shack. But he couldn't enter because of the water barrier created by the moisture.

‘Adellian has sworn an oath to Aquoris, the God of Water.’

The things unfolding before my eyes were telling me so.

“You mustn’t!”

Klaus shouted at the top of his lungs. At that moment, a pure white light began to bloom gently from inside the house.

“What is that?”

I couldn't help but voice my question. Because that gentle light signified healing magic.

“Is she a mage, not a knight?”

I asked Klaus. A knight can only serve one god. So to use two spells of different natures was…….

“She is not.”

Klaus answered with a sorrowful expression. That's why I couldn't help but be surprised. She wasn't a mage, yet she served two gods? Chris had said that was impossible. And I, too, had thought his explanation was correct.

“Then how is that possible?”

Could it be that she wasn't a mage but had memorized the incantation for healing magic? It was an act that even mages said was dangerous.

“She does it by memorizing the incantation.”

Wow, so there was a reason Adellian was the top student.