157 – Repayment
Hwansu is dead.
But, nothing very good happened.
There were no hidden treasure troves or artifacts with magical abilities. The god of Barbisia was a parasite that sucked the souls of wizards, so after killing him, there was nothing left.
It did not cure Bibi’s inherited genetic disease.
We fell into a quagmire and barely managed to crawl out.
All of this is not to gain anything. It was just a struggle to return what had gone wrong to its original state.
For me, my goal was to divert attention from the memories I wanted to erase, and I achieved what I wanted.
The only thing I wanted was for my body to return to its intact state before I met Silverine.
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But Vivi didn’t seem to have any intention of sending her away empty-handed.
On the second night after holding Hwansu, Vivi sat in front of her campfire, hugging her legs and saying.
“Is there something you want?” ?”
“… No.”
“But tell me. You have saved the only bloodline of the principality. “The principle is to give compensation commensurate with one’s merits, even if one is from another country, is of a different race, or is a criminal.”
“I haven’t solved all of the princess’s problems. Just having a connection with the princess is enough.”
It’s not like setting foot in the principality and living there. If we return safely like this, we will each go back to our daily lives and live with our own problems.
Vivi said with a grumpy expression, pulling the rope around her wrist.
“Are you thinking that what I’m giving you is of no help?”
“We haven’t gotten out of here yet. “I think it would be better to talk about that after we arrive at the principality.”
“It looks like you’re living without anything lacking.”
“….”
“… “No matter how great your teacher was, he never had more money than the principality’s treasury.”
Bibi seemed to have some unexplainable regrets, but there was a reason why she wanted to talk to me after I went to the principality.
Because both of us were not in very good shape. Since it wasn’t over until I returned to the principality, I didn’t want to get too excited.
But Vivi seems to have sensed that she would soon be leaving.
The next day, we were discovered by the principality’s search party earlier than expected and were quickly transported.
Dozens of troops made up of wizards and knights tried to kill me as soon as they saw me with the princess, and the chaos was brought under control only after Vivi screamed for the world to go away.
I still can’t erase from my mind the stunned expressions on the search team’s faces upon hearing Bibi’s shouting out of nowhere.
Unfortunately, I have no memory after that. This is because I drank a potion for treatment and was forced into a long sleep.
It was the deepest sleep I had felt in a long time. It was a very deep sleep, with no dreams, no sense of time passing, and no conscious activity.
***
Trisha was face down at her desk. With her eyes wide open, she lounged around like that. She then picked up a random book, read it, and scribbled on her desk.
“I’m bored….”
Then he got up and threw himself on the bed. She then put her nose to the bedding, sniffed it, like an animal, and rolled the blanket around herself.
“I’m bored….”
What’s different from her usual routine is that the room she loafs around in is Damien’s room.
Trisha hit her pillow with her fist meaninglessly.
“When will you come…” .”
***
Refreshing sunlight shines down on the Art Department’s greenhouse as always. Most of the members stayed there and continued their work after the club activity time was over.
In that quiet greenhouse, the only sound was the crunching sound of brush strokes.
Then, a girl kicked down the greenhouse door and ran in. Parchment was fluttering in her hands.
“Hey, hey! Hey!! “This is not the time.”
The students who were drawing all turned around.
The person who burst through the door was Rosalyn, a third-year student in the art department.
She shouted so loudly that she didn’t even really care that she had completely ruined her modesty.
“It’s a crazy case. “You need to know what kind of crazy guy joined our art department.”
Then she ran straight to Hayley, the head of the art department.
“Look at this. Damian, Damian, you know that the newbie followed Princess Gainax, right?”
“… What?”
“Look.”
Hayley took the parchment that Rosalyn gave her and looked at it with a shocked expression.
“This…” “It’s Thorin’s letter.”
It was a letter written by Thorin, a third-year member of the combat club who was dispatched on a mission to protect the princess along with Damian.
“That’s right. “Thorin told me everything about Damian’s actions in the escort unit.”
“….”
All the other female students put down their brushes and listened intently to the conversation the two were having.
Haley read the contents of the letter slowly.
“Knock down the duchy’s knights like dogs… ? Are you saying that you were treated with a hateful image by the princess? “Did he have an accident?”
“Ah, ah! Look at my mind. I brought you a letter from last week. Anyway, it’s true that she had an accident, but there’s more to it than that.”
Then, as if Xenia sensed something more serious, she tried to stop Rosaline.
“Hey, if it’s a bad rumor, don’t talk about it for nothing. Talk about it in private.”
Rosaline shook her head violently from side to side.
“No, no, Ah, let me tell you. This is really important. “You have to listen to everything.”
“… ?”
Rosaline explained in detail what happened to the convoy passing through Barbisia. Damien being hated, the festival of Barbisia, the knights becoming increasingly crazy, and even rushing to kill the princess.
“Damian said it to the princess’s face. She said she was just going to cool off with her.”
The story continued.
“…… “The entire bodyguard went crazy and the princess was certain to die. Do you know who saved her?”
“… No way?”
“Damian, that new guy jumped in and saved the princess by himself.”
If you listen to the story, it is a story of great heroism, but the rumors are always exaggerated. Hayley listened quietly and asked a question as if she were suspicious.
“Isn’t it a bit exaggerated?”
Rosalind said, patting her chest in frustration.
“No, the current atmosphere in the principality is really no joke. I don’t know what it was because the whole story was kept confidential, but it seems like there was another serious incident. But even there, Damien protected the princess until the end by burning her body. “The two of them disappeared together from Barbisia for over a week before turning up.”
“…… “Is that real?”
“That’s not all. More, more….”
Rosalind swallowed her saliva once before speaking because she was out of breath.
“The princess did things to Damian that she did not do to other men. “I wonder how it would be if the guy who was bullied and bullied didn’t even hold a grudge and instead protected him.”
Haley answered hesitantly.
“… “Do you feel more proud?”
Then Rosalyn shouted in frustration.
“No! “I fell in love!!”
Rosaline’s voice echoed loudly, and for a while her greenhouse became deathly quiet. The mouths of the female students listening to her story slowly opened as if they could not believe it.
If it was true that the princess was smitten, they knew very well what would happen next.
And suddenly, the sound of something being smashed spread from the back of the greenhouse, which was covered with flowers.
“Oh, what a surprise.”
“Who is behind you? “Would you like to go check it out?”
A second-grade student hesitantly approached the place where the sound came from. She then checked her seat and came back and said:
“No one is there except for the broken glass flower pot. It looks like someone dropped it while moving it….”
“What? “No?”
Haley immediately got up and went to the spot to check for herself. Pieces of glass were shattered and spread across the floor.
“…?”
Just as my junior said, there was no exit nearby, but people had disappeared.
The flower pot seemed to Haley to have been thrown on purpose rather than dropped. Is this a malicious prank? It seemed like he was very angry about something and was taking out his anger.
***
The place I opened my eyes was not a swamp with pouring rain, nor was it the inside of a rickety carriage.
The first thing I saw when I came to my senses was the bed curtains sparkling in gold.
The chandelier on the ceiling was studded with jewels, and a cool breeze blew from the window, making a tinkling sound as they clashed with each other.
Now that I think about it, the window frame is also covered with gold leaf. I’ve worked with metal and jewelry, but this is the first time I’ve seen a golden window like that in my life.
I got up from the bed.
And when I saw the scenery of the big city unfolding outside the window, I was momentarily enchanted by its grandeur. Is this the capital of the Duchy of Yulicia?
Then, my left wrist gets caught on something.
Thick handcuffs are attached to the place where Bibi’s rope was tied and fixed to the floor. What on earth is this?
My belongings. The wooden sword and other artifacts are all neatly placed on the side of the bed.
And there was a golden call bell on the nightstand. I immediately grabbed the bell and shook it.
I shook it until someone came, and then someone urgently opened the door to my room and came in.
It was a man wearing a neat servant’s uniform. He bowed politely to me.
“You’re awake now. It’s truly an honor to meet you, Damian.”
“Where am I?”
“You are staying in Grancardia, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Ulicia, at the Litheskillis Palace, located in the center of the city.”
I slowly raised my left arm and waved it.
“Okay. It looks like there was some misunderstanding. Could you please clarify this?”
“I’m sorry, but I have no authority to release you. Damian is being held as a prisoner.”
“I’m a prisoner…?”
“Yes.”
“Whose order is this?”
“We simply follow the laws of the great Grand Duchy of Yulicia.”
“….”
I think I know who it is.
He smiled brightly while looking at my face and added,
“To be exact, he said, ‘He is an unpredictable person who doesn’t know where he will go, so make up any excuse to catch him.’ So we carefully reviewed Damian’s actions and applied all the elements that were against the law, and now Damian is a prisoner. It’s done.”
There is only one person who can say something like that. It was Vivi’s order.
Even the babies know that they are not real prisoners. Where in the world would a prisoner stay in such a luxurious palace?
“I have somewhere to go.”
“We sent the principality’s statement to Eternia, and Eternia agreed to it.”
“….”
I have to go to Silverine, not Eternia. The longer you delay, the longer you will have to miss class.
“Damian will be on trial soon.”
“A trial?”
Wasn’t it just an excuse? Is there any reason to go to trial?
He smiled and said with satisfaction.
“That’s right. And Grand Duke Gainax will also attend the trial.”