Lord of the Spirits, Vissus (2)
Kwang
“There. Are you okay?”
Claudia lightly blocked the ogre and looked at Vissus, resembling a goddess from a myth.
“…Beautiful.”
Vissus murmured unconsciously at the sight.
“Hmm?”
“Ah…!”
It was too late for him to cover his mouth, but Claudia, a skilled mage with a graceful body, had already clearly heard it.
“Heh.”
Claudia smirked.
“Judging by your ability to make jokes, you seem fine.”
Chin
Claudia reached out her hand to the fallen Vissus.
“Ah… Thank you for saving me.”
Secreus took her hand and helped her up.
“It was the least I could do. Actually, you should be the one apologizing.”
“…Excuse me?”
“That ogre was one of the creatures that were kept in the palace. I’m not sure why it’s here, but it’s probably his doing.”
“The palace? That creature?”
“…Hmm? Oh, forget I said anything. It’s nothing.”
The palace… Secreus…
Wait, could it be!
Although this world’s Secreus didn’t know Cladia’s true identity, even he couldn’t help but realize it at this point.
“Whoa!”
In that moment, Ogre swiftly lunged at Cladia from behind.
“It’s dangerous!”
“Ugh!”
Secreus quickly jumped in between Cladia and Ogre, blocking their path.
“Sylph!”
-Buzz!
In response to Secreus’ call, the wind spirit appeared.
“Take him down!”
-Buzz buzz!
A spirit in the form of a little girl created a blade of wind with her hands and shot it forward. Unlike before, there was a clear determination and command in the spirit master’s actions, making it possible.
Chae-Aeng
The fiercely shot blade of wind cleanly severed the two massive heads of the Twin-Headed Ogre.
Kung Kwoong
The Ogre, now having lost both heads, fell to its knees.
“Haa… Haa….”
Bisus, who had no experience in actual combat, couldn’t move out of fear earlier. But for some reason, when she thought Cladia was in danger, she unconsciously exerted her full power.
“You… You were quite strong.”
The Ogre with two heads, the Twin-Headed Ogre.
It was a monster with tough leather and strong durability to the point of being sorry to compare it to a simple Ogre. It was famous as a top-tier monster that was difficult to deal with, even if only one of its heads remained, as it could regenerate the other.
To think that she had cut off the two heads of such a Twin-Headed Ogre in an instant.
“More importantly, was she a spirit master? Such a rare sight… “
Come to think of it, I’ve heard of it before.
There is a prestigious spirit master in the same grade.
If I ever get a chance, I thought I should try to recruit her.
“Haa… Haa…. Ah! That was a monster from the royal family, right…? I didn’t even realize I caught it… Uh, what should I do? I’m so sorry…”
“hahahahat. hahahahaha!”
After easily defeating the formidable enemy, the Twin-Headed Ogre, Bisus showed a cute side.
Seeing the difference, Cladia laughed heartily.
“?”
Secretarys could only stare at Cladia, who was laughing loudly, in a daze.
“Oh, I’m sorry. It doesn’t matter. Wasn’t it to save the lady? Since the lady also intended to kill that troublesome monster, you could say that I helped lessen her burden. I’m actually grateful.”
“…hehehe.”
Secretarys felt his face getting hot, so he slightly lowered his head and scratched it.
“What is your name?”
Claudia’s face came closer to Secretarys.
“Whoa!”
Startled, Secretarys took a step back.
“I-I am Secretarys Granginelle!”
“Secretarys Granginelle. I see. I am Claudia.”
“I…understand. The Iron-blooded Princess…”
“Heh. Yes, I am known by that title.”
The Imperial Princess who never once easily showed her emotions.
Her laughter was famous for being unseen by anyone.
There were other reasons as well, but her unique expressionless face played the biggest role.
“Huh? But I heard that I can’t see her laughing. She laughs really well, though?”
Secretarys, who believed that rumors couldn’t be trusted, thought to himself.
“Once again, thank you so much for saving me. If it weren’t for the princess, I would have been eaten by that ogre by now.”
“Hmm…”
“……?”
Upon hearing Secretary Vissus’s words of gratitude, Claudius fell into deep thought.
“Vissus, how is it that you possess the ability to defeat the Twin-Headed Ogres in an instant, yet you were unable to fight properly?”
“……Huh? Ah, well, you see, I’m not really cut out for battles… Once I enter a real fight, my body stiffens up….”
“Stiffens up, you say. Despite that, your handling of the Ogre earlier showed the skill of a mithril-ranked mercenary. Were you hiding your true abilities?”
“No! That’s not it!”
Vissus vehemently denied, raising his head as if to emphasize his point.
“It’s just… I couldn’t help but move my body without realizing it when I thought the princess was in danger….”
“To protect the princess?”
The princess’s interest in Vissus grew stronger.
At first, it was merely because she had rescued a student who had fallen into danger while running around trying to resolve the terrorist act orchestrated by the crown prince, who had targeted her.
She even found herself smiling at his murmurs about her beauty.
She had heard countless expressions of admiration directed at her own beauty. But even when she heard those words, she never felt anything.
Yet, for some reason, the praise of “beauty” coming from this man made her feel good. She couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
When she learned that he was an elemental mage, she thought she should recruit him as a retainer.
And when he defeated the Twin-Headed Ogres in an instant, she believed he was a talent she must hold onto for the sake of competing with the crown prince.
But even so, she thought he was nothing more than a potential recruit at best…
“He couldn’t move properly when he himself was in danger, but he displayed that level of combat prowess to protect me…. It’s a bit….”
It pleased her.
Not only did she desire his abilities, but she also found herself desiring Vissus as a man.
“If that’s the case, what about doing it like this?”
“Yes?”
“Become Lady’s bodyguard.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Didn’t you say that you couldn’t properly use your strength in real combat? On the contrary, you were able to use that strength to protect Lady. Lady is intrigued by your power. And you are not using that power properly. So if you were to protect Lady… then wouldn’t you be able to use that power?”
“But… I’m not a knight…”
“It’s alright. The power you just used was a strength and cutting power that even a typical royal knight couldn’t produce. Or…”
Claudia smiled brightly and reached out her hand to Vess.
“Are you thinking of rejecting Lady’s proposal?”
“…No. I don’t want to reject it. But if I cause trouble…”
Snap.
Claudia grabbed Vess’ hand.
“It’s fine. Lady will take all the responsibility. So, please. I entrust you, Lady’s knight.”
“…Yes.”
Vess replied in a hesitant voice.
“Is this our first meeting in this world, me and Claudia?”
Vess was observing their encounter from within that body.
* * *
The emperor’s luxurious private carriage
Inside, Claudia was lying comfortably.
The desire to use teleportation magic and meet him at the academy was like a chimney, but the current self is the emperor.
If he were to meet him like that, the emperor would have to keep his composure and scold him.
Secretary Hothong.
It wouldn’t be too bad to scold him again after a long time. How much I missed him during that time.
But the current self is on the way to meet him again as a guest.
I wanted to show him the best side of myself.
“It’s hard to wait, my lovely secretary.”
To make the carriage go faster, numerous spells were already cast on the carriage.
From Noble mtl dot com
Even if I rode a military horse and galloped at full speed, I couldn’t move faster than her carriage.
But even so, it felt too slow for her.
“I want to meet you a little faster.”