CH 102

Characters in this chapter:

Sapphiras Perfectio, 2nd son of the Earl of Aldridge

Percival Belisario, 3rd son of Margrave of Vanderwall on the Eastern Frontier

Gideon Harvard, 2nd son of the Marquess of Wagner (redhead)

Harvard, Commander of the Second Order of Knights (redhead’s older brother)

Gabriel McMillan, Commander of the Order of Magicians

Matteo, Percival’s horse

“……Why is Sapphiras riding Percival’s horse?”

Redhead says with a terribly dissatisfied look.

“Eh? Why, because I don’t have a horse?”

Today we are going to the forests of the royal capital to look for the abyss.

As a result of the redhead negotiating with his brother, I was allowed to go to the forest with him. Naturally, Percival and Matteo are with me. I have Unisus, but he has wings and a horn, and his appearance is a little too exaggerated. I’d be happy if it were a more spectacular stage, but today is just a search for the abyss.

So I’m sitting on Matteo’s back, which has become a permanent position these days. On top of that, Percival, a caring man, has finally prepared a riding cushion exclusively for me, which makes today’s sitting experience even more wonderful.

“Rather than asking me why, I should be the one asking why you’re here?”

When I said this to him, redhead made a pitiful face and countered in a small voice, ‘Don’t say such a thing.’ You probably forced your brother to let you participate anyway.

“I’d heard rumours, but the Vanderwall horses are really big!”

Gabriel-san exclaims in admiration when he sees Matteo.

Today’s search will also be joined by the Commander of the Order of Magicians, Gabriel-san. However, Gabriel-san is said to be taking part incognito. It seems that the advisor is even more annoying when the Order of Knights are involved.

That man, even though he doesn’t come to the scene himself, he’s always talking. I wonder what kind of work he does on a daily basis. If he just sits in a chair looking like a big shot without doing anything, he’s a total paycheck thief.

The members of today’s abyssal search are the Commander of the Second Order of Knights, five of his subordinates and the Commander of the Order of Magicians. Then, Percival and I are joined by a red-haired omake1オマケ (omake): extra, bonus, freebie. It’s a bigger group than I thought.

“The forest is huge. We’ll split up and look for the abyss. When you find the abyss, start a smoke signal and let us know. If a magical beast appears, take it easy and retreat. Even if you don’t find the abyss, regroup here by sunset.”

The Commander of the Second Order of Knights is giving instructions to his men in a brisk manner. Unlike redhead, it feels like a reliable big brother.

“I’ll work with Sapphiras-kun and the others.”

“Oh, I’m going with Sapphiras too!”

Gabriel-san aside, shouldn’t redhead be working with his brother? That’s what I thought, but if I say that, he will be depressed again, so I will keep silent.

We don’t have much time to explore the large forest, so we split into two groups, the Second Order of Knights and us, with Gabriel-san joining us, and we immediately start looking for the abyss.

I decide to call on the perfect partner to help me find what I’m looking for.

“He who protects fairies, Cu Sith!”

A dog the size of a calf with long dark-green fur jumped out of the summoning circle. He’s not as cute as Cait Sith, but he still has an amiable personality, and his nose is quite effective.

“Wh-what? Is this guy a dog? It’s a weird colour, and it’s pretty spooky……”

“Watch your mouth, redhead. He’s a dear friend of mine.”

“So-sorry……”

“Cu Sith, can you find an abyss somewhere in this forest?”

I asked Cu Sith, who looked up at me with round red eyes through his long fur, and he ran without making a sound. We should leave the depths of the forest to him, who is fast on his feet, and we should search from there.

“Sapphiras-kun, you can use summoning magic as well.”

“I can use all kinds of magic except white magic.”

“That’s wonderful. I don’t know why the advisor let go of such a talented person……I’m sorry. We shouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“No, it’s a needless concern. I’m refreshed after breaking ties with the Earl. Rather, I’m glad that he quickly abandoned me. Besides, I heard that Gabriel-san is from a knight’s family. What made you want to become a magician?”

Madam Adeline had praised Gabriel-san, so I wanted to talk to him when I had the chance.

“Because magic is wonderful! You can manipulate the elements at will to create all kinds of phenomena, summon phantoms and even heal people. It’s so mysterious and wonderful.”

Gabriel-san’s eyes light up. It’s really mysterious to say the least. I had never thought of it as mysterious, because I had always taken magic for granted. Gabriel-san seems to be a person who sees things from a slightly different perspective than other people, and he really appreciated the C-Class performance. And I agree with you when you say it’s nice. Magic is nice and fun, isn’t it?

“As Sapphiras-san said, I come from a family of knights. Naturally I was told to become a knight too, so I was opposed a lot when becoming a magician, and I was told that if I wanted to use magic, there was also the path of a magic swordsman. But you know, I wanted to wear the dressing gowns of a magician rather than the uniform of a knight. But I look like this, don’t I? I didn’t look like a magician at all, so I tried to at least manage the stern atmosphere that my physique creates, so I changed my way of speaking like this……I did my best.”

Gabriel-san speaks cheerfully, but in reality, there must have been a lot more to it than that. I can only imagine the hardships. The nobility are obsessed with and value things that, to me, seem irrational. The commoners have a lot of things too, but at least they have fewer fences than the nobles.

“When I was a student, I was laughed at a lot for being eccentric, and my family didn’t get on well with me, and I was really close to losing my mind. But you know, the daughter of the Marquess of Giddings, the current Margravine of Vanderwall, Belisario’s mother, she smacked me and said to me: “Look up, not down, and to stand tall and proud because you are aiming high and working hard every day!” I felt as if I had been slapped on the side. She told me that I don’t need to be confused by the people around me. Above all, it made me happy to think that there was someone who recognised what I was doing. After that, I didn’t care about the people around me at all. That’s how I became a magician in the Royal Order of Magicians.”

So that’s why Madam Adeline knew about Gabriel-san. As expected of Percival’s mother. She was a fine woman even back then.

I turned and gave Percival a respectful look.

“……What’s up?”

“Madam Adeline is a wonderful person.”

“No, Mother is just meddlesome.”

“Even so, to me it was tantamount to a revelation from the Goddess.”

Madam Adeline is a person with a noble heart, and I guess she couldn’t keep quiet about the fact that someone who is making a serious effort is listening to a voice he doesn’t need to hear and is downcast.

Eventually, Cu Sith glides back to me and runs alongside Matteo. Seeing Cu Sith’s strange running without making a sound, the redheaded man had a subtle expression on his face as if he wanted to say something again, but he never opened his noisy mouth. Maybe it’s because I told him to watch his mouth earlier.

“Looks like Cu Sith has found the abyss. Let’s follow him.”

Cu Sith came forward like a stream of water and led us.

As we followed him, the forest, which had been open and bright, gradually became darker and darker, with the shadows cast by the trees becoming thicker.

“We’re going quite deep, aren’t we……”

The redhead mutters anxiously.

“You can go back if you’re scared. We’ll go alone.”

“Ho-How could I be scared? I’ve never been this deep before, I’m just confused!”

“Hmmm,”

“I-I’m telling you the truth!”

After a little taunting, the red-haired turned into a scowl and said back. Gabriel-san laughed at me for being on good terms, so I replied that we weren’t on good terms, and I saw a clearly suspicious figure wearing a dirty cloak coming out of the shrub bushes ahead. He was wearing a hood and I couldn’t really tell his face or appearance.

“Huh? There’s a person up there.”

“I can’t believe there’s a person this deep in the woods……and it’s suspicious when the woods are now off-limits.”

When the man noticed us, he quickly melted away into the shadows of the forest.

It’s possible that he’s a good citizen who accidentally entered the forest without knowing that entry was not allowed, but he’s got a suspicious vibe all over his body, and it’s not like normal people would conceal themselves like that. Can not. It’s like saying you’re an intermediary in some way. It’s like saying he’s a spy from somewhere.

“Cu Sith, capture that man without letting him die.”

In response to my request, the silent fairy dog barks to the heavens. Its roaring bark echoed throughout the forest, and startled birds took off in unison. Gabriel-san and the redhead’s horse were also frightened and restless, but Matteo was not the least bit perturbed. This is the Matteo who was not frightened even amongst the overflowing magical beasts. The barking of Cu Sith did not even faze him.

“Wh-what?!”

“It’s a signal for Cu Sith to catch his prey. Leave the man to him, we’ll search the abyss. It should be around the corner.”

“……I feel sorry for that man.”

Gabriel-san looked on in pity as he watched Cu Sith go after the man.