264

Chapter 264 — If It Exists (2)

She had not particularly meant to help me… was that it?

But was that really true?

She had only stepped in because they irritated her, and it merely happened to benefit me. Was that genuinely nothing more than coincidence?

Bang!

“Pardon the intrusion for a moment. Is there perhaps…….”

While I was harboring suspicions I could hardly help having in my current situation as a fugitive, the inn door flew open rather violently.

The newcomer was a young Cureti man with broad, drooping ears like a dog’s and a long sword held in his arms.

He was a little short, enough to make me wonder if he might be a teenage boy… but that was not particularly important.

Whether he was a teenager or a young man in his twenties, the fact that he was dressed in silk meant he was not someone I could afford to mess with either way.

“Ah, Sir Knight!”

Apparently the newcomer and the person who had helped me knew each other.

The moment the young Cureti man spotted the blue-green-haired woman, his face lit up.

The blue-green-haired woman, on the other hand… did not particularly change her expression.

Still, for some reason, that picture-perfect smile seemed to carry traces of annoyance and irritation.

Probably.

That was only my guess.

“Sir Knight, how could you leave me behind like that!”

“Lower your voice, Jardin. You sound uncultured.”

“Urk. Th-that was my mistake…….”

“…Knight?”

As the innkeeper unconsciously muttered, there was a slightly problematic word hidden in their conversation.

“…A k-knight?”

I had naturally assumed she was no ordinary person, but she was actually a knight?

…There wasn’t anything that could even be called a weapon at her waist or back. Not even on her thigh, wrist, or leg.

“…We’re fucked.”

“Shut up…….”

For now, I had already thanked her, and there was nothing else for me to do, so I simply watched the situation unfold.

The Adventurers who had tried to pressure me did the same.

They had clearly realized that the other party was far too important to keep picking a fight with just because she had overturned their table, humiliated them, or interfered with whatever scam they had been trying to pull.

“But Sir Knight, if you have business somewhere, at least tell me before you go. I came out of the shop and you were gone. Do you know how startled I was?”

“Very well. I will reconsider that next time.”

Well, after hearing the word knight repeated that many times, who could possibly fail to understand the situation?

“…So why did you come here?”

“I thought someone I know might be here.”

“Whoa, really? Where are they?”

“It seems I was mistaken. Let us go.”

“Ah, yes.”

Fortunately or unfortunately, the knight showed no further interest in us.

That included even the fact that the Adventurers had almost snapped at her at first because they had not known she was a knight.

As though even the time required to deal with the aftermath would be a waste, the knight cleanly ignored us.

Not only the Adventurers.

Me as well.

Jingle.

With the sound of the bell, the person who had stirred up such a commotion left.

“So… I wasn’t found out.”

If I really had been exposed, there was no way things would have ended like this.

I was now a criminal with an official wanted notice out for me, and if she was truly a knight, she would have a duty to arrest me—and even if she had no such duty, there would be no reason for her to deliberately let a criminal standing right in front of her go.

Yet despite that, she had left without paying me any attention whatsoever?

In the end, the most likely explanation was that she had failed to recognize me and simply happened to help me.

Probably.

Even if…

For some reason, I was left with an uneasy, unpleasant feeling.

“…Hmm.”

After all, it was not exactly common for a knight to help some random person, and the fact that the person in question just happened to be me felt a little contrived.

…Ah, no.

Was it common?

It was not as though I ever had reason to see knights in the first place.

Unless I was meeting someone on the level of a city lord, I almost never crossed paths with them, so I had no idea whether they normally went around doing this sort of thing.

“L-let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

Hmm.

Still, from the way I saw it, someone important enough to be a knight probably would not come to a shabby inn like this without a fairly good reason… and she had mentioned someone she knew earlier too…….

Hmm…….

I glanced at the Adventurers, who were sweating bullets as they prepared to leave—probably because they were afraid the knight might come back.

Had their attempt to pick a fight with me also been completely coincidental?

Or had something been deliberately arranged?

“Um, young man.”

What about this innkeeper?

“What should I do about your food? Want me to bring you another serving……?”

…No.

That was taking things too far.

I reeled back in the paranoia that was trying to scatter in every direction.

True, I was being pursued, but distrusting absolutely everything to this degree was excessive.

“No, it’s all right. I was almost finished anyway.”

If I kept suspecting and distrusting things at this level, I would become paranoid long before it actually helped me avoid danger.

And if that happened, every single day of my life would become unbelievably exhausting.

Considering this life on the run might continue for years, that sounded like an excellent way to shorten my lifespan.

“I’ll help you clean this up.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that…….”

“I have nothing but time anyway. And you gave me extra food. It’s fine, so please take care of your other customers.”

So unless I had definite physical evidence or circumstantial evidence, I should restrain myself from making baseless assumptions.

With that mindset, I righted the table and gathered the bowls that had rolled away.

The innkeeper looked slightly apologetic at first, but eventually left to deal with the pile of work.

She still had to collect money from the Adventurers, and the other customers were cautiously trying to place their orders, so it seemed she had little choice.

Clatter.

Because I never knew when I might have to deactivate the disguise skill, I always wore gloves.

My gloved hands placed the neatly stacked dishes on the table.

.

.

.

“No matter how many times I try like this, I’ll never find them.”

“What?”

Meanwhile, out on the street, where the Adventurers had hurriedly fled.

“I was not speaking to you.”

“Ah, yes.”

“More importantly, Jardin. My sword.”

“H-here it is.”

Paying no attention whatsoever to the ignorant fools passing behind her, the blue-haired knight took her sword and raised it.

Bernstein, a keepsake left behind by the former Knight Commander and a sword specially crafted for people like her—those who could not become mages, yet possessed far too much Mana for ordinary knights—gave off its unique glow without so much as the slightest fading.

“Why the sword, though……?”

“That is a strange question.”

Like newly kindled fire, it had an indescribable quality to it: an amber-colored blade transparent enough to let light through rather than scatter it.

“Does a knight require a reason or explanation to inspect her own sword?”

“S-sorry…….”

It was not to her taste, but it was certainly beautiful.

With that thought, Emerald slid the sword back into its sheath.

The 1.3-meter-long blade, forged for its 1.9-meter-tall previous owner without a shred of consideration for whoever might inherit it, slipped neatly into the wooden scabbard.

“Um, then… what you said earlier… was it really true?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Earlier… when you said you were, um, mistaken…….”

In the meantime, Jardin, her attendant who had also been granted the rank of esquire, hesitantly asked another question.

The boy dreamed of becoming a knight and worked hard toward that goal, yet strangely never seemed to lose weight. Whenever he acted like this, he looked rather adorably round.

“Was what I said strange enough to be a problem?”

“No, not exactly… it’s just that you’re not usually someone who makes mistakes like that, Sir Knight…….”

“That is true.”

“…May I ask who the person you knew was?”

But the fact that he kept asking questions without reading the room no matter how many times she rebuked him, and the fact that he took such interest in her, were rather irritating.

Emerald silently looked down at her attendant.

As her jade-colored gaze lingered on him, Jardin hid his trembling eyes by lowering his head.

“If I overstepped, I apologize…….”

“Good. As long as you understand.”

She shoved the sheathed sword back into Jardin’s arms and began walking again.

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“Dame Emerald!”

Before long, someone came running toward them from the distance.

The matching clothing worn by that person and the companion beside them, the spear in hand, and the mark embroidered on their clothes all identified them as guards of this city.

“We have discovered a clue regarding the demon.”

“Ah, you found one?”

“Finally!”

At the soldier’s breathless report, Emerald and Jardin each reacted in their own way.

Jardin’s reaction was particularly intense, but Emerald did not bother to restrain him.

His behavior remained far removed from her own idea of proper conduct, but even pointing it out to her attendant felt tiresome.

“If we’ve found a clue, then we should be able to catch the demon soon too, right, Sir Knight?”

“Who knows. That remains to be seen.”

“But you’re the Chief Knight!”

More than anything, news that they had found the demon was rather pleasing to Emerald as well.

That demon was responsible for about half the reason she had been forced to come to this irritating, tedious, filthy town, and half the reason her outside assignment had dragged on so long.

“Once we catch this, the deployment will be completely over… and we’ll finally go back to Münmunt after a whole year.”

“Enough. I have held my tongue, and now your presumptuousness is trying to pierce the heavens. Or have you decided you would like to hunt it personally?”

“Ah… I-I’m sorry.”

She looked back over the year she had spent participating in the traditional knight exchange between the two knight academies, Chechebator and Münmunt.

Originally, she should have returned to the city of Münmunt more than two weeks ago…

But the damned Lord of Manhapelt had saddled her with one final outside assignment under the excuse of asking for one last favor before she left.

That remained true even if unavoidable circumstances had forced her to volunteer for it almost against her will.

“And you. Hurry and guide us.”

“Y-yes!”

Someday, both that lord and the person who had maneuvered her into a position where she had no choice but to volunteer would pay the price for their choices.

The knight, saddled with someone else’s work without even travel expenses or field-duty pay, silently gripped her sword.

* * *

Permission had been granted for Meister to meet Wave-Cresting Blue Coral.

So when the long-awaited approval finally came through, Meister wondered, What the hell got into those Temple bastards? and, Don’t tell me these assholes are trying to run some kind of sting operation.

Any mage would have thought the same.

“What?”

“If you’re coming in, then come all the way in. Why are you skulking around the doorway?”

Contrary to expectations, however, the Temple did not try to monitor their conversation or use it to find some excuse to accuse either of them.

Meister’s brow furrowed.

“I was wondering if the blockheads were about to do something blockheaded again.”

“And someone thinking that crawls into this place anyway?”

“Were you so well behaved that you got dragged in here?”

Good.

Judging by the way the old man was talking, there really did not seem to be any surveillance devices around.

Still, just in case, Meister decided to watch what came out of his mouth and avoid saying anything unnecessary.

Meanwhile, with nothing particular to add, Blue Coral turned away with a faint sigh.

“I hear they will be leaving soon.”

“They are?”

There was no need to explicitly name the subject.

Meister immediately understood who Blue Coral meant and raised an eyebrow.

“So?”

“I thought you would go with them.”

“Me?”

And Meister could not hide the doubtful expression that followed.

Him?

With them?

Why?

“…It seems that one was mistaken.”

“Did the Archmage say that?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

Truthfully, it was not that much of a misunderstanding.

It was not as though Meister had never considered joining their journey.

But compared to following them, remaining behind was better for him.

Or, to put it more precisely, he had more reasons to remain than to leave.

That was why he had given up on accompanying them.

“…Is it because of me?”

“Half.”

“And the other half?”

“Battery research and commissions?”

After all, taking care of his grandfather was one thing, but Meister also had quite a few other matters piling up.

For example, there was the battery research this incident had given him ideas for, and the commissioned goods destroyed in the disaster that would now have to be made again.

“If that is all, go with them.”

“……?”

“…You have heard about the oracle as well, have you not?”

“I’ve heard about it, yes?”

It was the first time in ages that the bystander God—who chose the person destined to become the Hero but had otherwise never interfered—had actually done anything.

Meister had never particularly cared about such things, but the priests had caused such an uproar that the news had reached even him early on.

It simply had nothing to do with him, so he had ignored it until now.

“Then you know the latter part of the oracle as well.”

But if his grandfather was bringing it up, that changed things.

Meister’s eyes narrowed, and one index finger adjusted his glasses.

“…Of course I do.”

When Meister had first heard the oracle, he had immediately realized who the “lost one” was.

After all, if God had not even seen fit to foretell the Bemurchen disaster, then just how valuable did someone have to be for God to personally mention them in an oracle?

At the very least, it had to be someone capable of causing an even greater catastrophe, or someone as important as the Hero.

One of the two.

And how many people like that could possibly exist?

God had even placed the qualifier “lost” before the person’s description.

Thus, as far as Meister could judge, there was only one person who could possibly be the subject of this oracle.

The one person who carried a Great Demon within him, had slain two Ancient Beasts and two Great Demons, and had accomplished all of that while his memories were incomplete.

“…If.”

Of course, that did not mean he fit the word “lost” perfectly.

But if the phrase was taken metaphorically, it did not really contradict him either.

Someone who had lived while missing his memories could, in a sense, be described as wandering after losing the path of his own life.

So the oracle was probably referring to the Demon Knight.

Most likely.

“If I say I’ll go.”

And yet his grandfather was the one bringing this up?

The same grandfather who had let the Demon Knight leave while talking about “qualifications”?

“Will you tell me about the qualifications?”

Then there had to be more to this.

Something only his grandfather knew.

Meister’s violet eyes flashed.