Chapter 40 - Fairy and Blue Parting
"Go already. A young lady of House Weavy should not linger in a place like this for long."
"That is impossible, Louis."
The air froze.
There was strong will in Claire's eyes as she raised her face.
Louis gazed at her as if dazzled, and gently urged her to continue.
Having such kindness shown to her here, Claire pressed a hand firmly to her chest.
Claire drew in a breath, straightened her back, looked ahead, and
"Former Chief Court Mage, Louis Stylus. You are suspected of inciting the attack on the Royal Capital. —Treason, aiding and abetting murder, there are various charges, but..."
She pronounced judgment upon the 'criminal' before her.
"I want you to come with me. This house is surrounded, and they will break in at my signal. Elenoa... will not be treated poorly. And given our previous conversation, while you cannot be declared innocent, I will somehow manage to secure leniency—"
"...Haha."
Louis laughed. As if he could no longer bear it.
Claire looked up at him suspiciously.
"Louis...?"
"No, ...what is it, it is just funny. Did that King truly think that simply sending you would resolve everything?"
He did not even suppress his chuckling voice.
Taken aback by the unexpected reaction, Claire stood stunned for a moment.
He turned away. Cut off by his attitude of acting as if it were only natural, Claire hurriedly chased after his back.
In an instant, she lifted her skirt, drew a knife from the holster on her thigh.
Without any preliminary motion, she leaped.
With enough force to not care if his arm came off, she pulled, sweeping his legs. She pushed him down onto the table. With fluid movements, she jumped onto the table, straddling him so her knee pressed against his stomach. She held the knife to his neck.
"...You are unusually violent today."
"Where are you going? Our conversation is not yet finished."
While questioning him in a lower voice, Claire strongly rebuked Louis with her gaze as he twisted his face in pain.
In terms of physical ability, Claire was superior to Louis. Though she specialized in agile movements, the pressure she exerted was considerable.
Yet Louis merely responded to even that with dark eyes.
"The bedroom. There is nothing more to say."
"Were you listening to me?"
"Of course. And on that basis, I said it. —There is nothing more to say."
Suddenly, Louis's hand moved.
Smoothly. Louis gently stroked Claire's cheek. The blade cut slightly into Louis's skin, reprimanding the act.
"What are you doing?"
"No. It has been a while since I looked at your face so closely. Though your height has not changed."
"Is the long talk over? I would like you to cooperate with my work."
"Unfortunately, I dislike overtime."
"You are a useless childhood friend. There is a delicious meal included, you know?"
"Canned food? Hardtack? Dried meat? Greasy solid matter? In any case, I am not enough of an expert to call those delicious..."
"Even general soldiers are rationed better things these days."
After exchanging jokes for a while, silence arrived. Louis stared intently at Claire's eyes, looking puzzled. Observing his state closely, she made a small sound in her throat, looking amused.
Claire understood Louis's aim.
Mages can induce hallucinations or sleep.
"It must be surprising that I can still move, yes?"
"Yes, very. What are you holding? An item of the dark attribute, or one that raises all magic resistance... Rank B, perhaps?"
"Who knows. I was just told that since your house has a barrier, I should have at least one person enter to attempt persuasion."
Whether it was an item immune to magic, or a barrier that prevented magic. Claire did not state it explicitly, but a blue magic stone pendant swayed beneath her clothes.
Louis, having seen through the fact that some kind of magic defense power had been added to her, muttered, "Ars, I suppose." He was a person who knew Louis would use illusion or sleep magic, and who could take measures against it.
"As expected, you are excellent in unnecessary places."
He did not get angry in front of Claire. Since Claire had come to this house, he had shown nothing but a serious face, smiles, and signs of fatigue. Was he not aware of how unnatural that was? Having lost his sister, becoming desperate to save the fairy, his eyes clouded, and even while bearing false charges, he advised her in a tone far from furious, saying things like, "It would be for your own good to let go, you know?"
"...Hey."
"Yes?"
"Come with me, Louis."
Even to Claire's earnest whisper, he severed it with a single word.
"No."
—!
There was the sound of cutting wind.
Claire instinctively jumped back, standing with her back to the living room entrance.
What pierced the floor and walls, following her, were the forks and knives of House Stylus. Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud. At regular intervals, there was a soft sound of hitting wood. The pointed parts of the tableware were all embedded in the wooden floor.
Claire lowered her body, not taking her eyes off Louis.
Louis, having tidied his appearance, pointed with the index finger of his right hand, and the items stuck in the floor pulled out smoothly. With a single movement of his finger, they flew toward Claire's feet.
"A pity. I do not wish to turn blades against a woman, but..."
"Then don't! You are a man unfit to be spoken of!"
"I love the sound of 'self-defense'."
"Y-you! W-wait!"
"It is an expression of affection born from the trust that you can dodge at least this much."
"I don't want such a twisted, complicated, and inverted expression of affection!"
Claire used her small body to evade the general cutlery, of which there were three of each in a typical household.
She deflected a dining knife flying toward her with her own self-defense knife. Clang, a high-pitched sound rang out. Sparks scattered lightly.
—What a terrifying house!
If she had known she would be visiting such a dangerous residence, she would have challenged it in full heavy equipment from the start.
Claire put her finger in her mouth and whistled, but as expected, her companion knights did not enter. Naturally so. Since the persuasion had ended in failure, the barrier around the grounds had not been lifted. Louis, watching her with amusement, was utterly, utterly hateful.
"Earlier, I said Ars was 'excellent in unnecessary places,' but that is truly correct. He does not think I can be seriously captured."
"Is there such a ridiculous story!"
"In the first place, did you not find it strange that you were given, or had applied to you, only enough of that magic defense for one person?"
"I was told, 'It is precious, so there is only one'!"
"No? If it was something capable of passing through this barrier and repelling magic, with his ability, he could have prepared about three more."
"That guy deliberately held back!? Aiding escape is a serious crime!"
"Should you not be grateful to him?"
"I will question him when I return!"
"Please do not blame him. He likely knew I would go easy if only you were sent out, and even if many had entered here, we had our own measures."
The teleportation magic circle that appeared at his feet swallowed Louis.
"Ku...!"
Though she lost sight of her target, Claire did not stop even so. Without sparing a glance at the knives and forks that had stopped attacking, she ran to the second floor.
It was unthinkable that he would leave Elenoa behind. If so, the destination of his teleportation was obvious.
Trying not to mind her slightly aching chest, she ran up the stairs.
She hastily opened the door.
There was Louis, wrapping Elenoa in a blanket and lifting her into his arms.
Elenoa's eyes were slightly open; she seemed to be conscious.
"We are moving a little. Tell me if it hurts."
"...Where... are we going...?"
"To a place that is spacious, quiet, and will not hurt you."
Claire judged that quiet conversation to be dangerous. But with Elenoa being held in his arms, she looked like Louis's shield, and Claire could not step forward.
—More than anything, could she really capture him? Even if she managed to capture him, would he receive proper punishment for it?
If one began to doubt the King they served, even a knight became fragile. Claire was tormented by distracting thoughts and doubt, wondering if perhaps even her current status was something she had bought with money without her knowledge.
—Come to think of it, even if she was praised for her war achievements, had she ever used her own head for important decisions? Had she not been waiting for the words of 'someone next to her'?
She did not know what to believe.
The mission given to her, deemed suitable as Louis's childhood friend, would end in failure.
"W-wait, calm down, this is unlike you."
"It is the people here who tried to calm me down and would not let me. I am sorry. I am already tired."
"Then just go to court! Criminals are judged. If there are those who have hurt people more than you, you just need to testify to that!"
Louis did not answer. He spoke of unrelated matters.
"Ordinary humans do not have many means to resist magic."
"Louis!"
"Humans are easily affected by magic. That applies to the King of this country as well."
"You always ignore what I say like this... Don't joke around at a time like this..."
"The Demon Lord and magic are very dangerous things. And yet, why do the powerful mages not bare their fangs, but instead serve the King who is merely a human—"
This country had few soldiers. This was partly due to the scarcity of wars, but also because in times of emergency, a relatively large number of excellent mages were deployed. Magic was feared by other countries, and there were those who believed that if a declaration of war were made, the commander's head would fly off the next moment.
Louis believed the reason those mages knelt before the King was solely for the sake of peace.
For their livelihood, for their lovers and families, they worked in a country where humans could live easily. Originally, their nature suited building their own territory in a secluded land without involving themselves with people.
He was the former. But that, too, was over.
"I remained under the King for money. To support my family. ...To take that away and then tell me to be a good child, it is a cruel story, is it not?"
Louis's feet glowed blue. A triple circle appeared.
Louis calmly observed Claire as she fought with her own heart, struggling to move somehow. Veins floated on her slender arm gripping the knife. It trembled. But it did not move. Her glare, staring at Louis regretfully, was sharp enough to pierce a person to death.
In the meantime, Louis's magic circle added lines one by one. They intertwined, forming character strings.
It resembled the transportation magic circle he had frequently used in this country, but it was more complex.
The blue light grew stronger.
Louis's eyes narrowed triumphantly.
"Oh, yes. Regarding the barrier of this house."
What swirled around Louis was wind containing blue particles.
While playfully lifting his hair softly, its momentum gradually increased.
"The only ones who can enter without my permission are Lumina, Elenoa, and you. You could have entered anytime if it was just to enter. Thank you for your hard work."
"U...!"
"Then, please be careful not to disturb anything further,"
"Louis!"
"Please leave the house as it is."
"Wait! Wait!!"
"Farewell."
"Louis!"
—Hyu.
It was a pathetic sound. With just that, Louis vanished.
Claire did not say things like 'don't leave me,' 'stay,' 'together,' 'accept your punishment,' or 'I love you,' surely because she knew she should not.
On this day, the boy realized that his heart had been dyed completely black.
Only the girl who was his childhood friend witnessed the boy breaking.