Prologue: The Melancholy of Princess Sophia
◇ Sophia Eir Roses’s Perspective ◇
The moment I heard the report that a hero had sacrificed themselves in Springrogue to stymie the demon lord’s resurrection, I couldn’t just wait in the capital. I departed for Springrogue immediately.
The news I received during the journey was a string of misfortune.
Setekh and Sciulli, two demons whose reputations persisted to this day, had been revived.
Zagan, the King of Beasts’s army had infiltrated Springrogue.
The Snake Sect was pulling the strings.
Maximilian and a hero of Roses had been cursed into petrification.
It’s awful. Leonardo, Makoto...please be safe.
I felt faint as I arrived at the village.
◇
“Takatsuki’s not waking up...”
“Get up, Makotoooo...”
Aya and Lucy were by the side of a petrified figure, their heads bowed. The figure’s face was covered with a white cloth—in Roses, this was a custom afforded to the dead.
I-It can’t be...
I fell to my knees...
I’d only just told him to come to Springrogue...
“This is strange,” Furiae—the Priestess of the Moon—commented, slapping the covered forehead. “Breath of the Moon is the strongest curse-breaking technique I know, but he isn’t back to normal. Why?”
You can’t treat the dead like that!
“Fuu, that cloth’s bad luck! Let’s take it off.”
“Is it?” Lucy replied, turning to Aya. “That cloth is a magic tool, though. Maybe we should leave it.”
O-Oh? I thought they were in tears, but their voices are much more normal than I’d expected.
I hesitantly started making my way toward the three people.
“Fuuri! Can I get you to free another one?”
“Argh! I’m busy! There, it’s done.”
What?
The moon priestess had freed a cursed person...just by touching them.
“Wh-Whhh...what happened...?” The newly freed elf started patting himself down in confusion.
“You need to remain under observation for a while, so stay in that bed for the day,” Furiae briskly instructed the man. “If you don’t have any side effects, you’ll be free to go!”
Suddenly, someone at my side spoke to me.
“I’m hardly even needed... She really is incredible.”
When I glanced around, I saw a familiar face. “Florna,” I acknowledged.
“We are honored that you would travel so far, Your Highness. I believe the last time we saw each other was during our graduation ceremony.” Though she was smiling, her expression held a tinge of exhaustion.
“You seem rather tired,” I observed. “Are you well?”
“Our country was on the verge of collapse,” she replied. “Though I imagine it is nothing compared to the warriors’ suffering. I apologize that I am unable to offer any better greeting, but we have many injured, so I must take my leave. The chief is in that direction.”
After indicating where I could find Canaan’s chief, Florna left with quick steps. I greeted the old man before giving an order to my knights—those who could heal should aid with treating the wounded.
After everything was in order, I headed once again to my petrified hero.
“Takatsukiii, wake uuuup,” Aya pestered, straddling his stony form.
“Aya, I don’t think you should disturb him so much...”
“It’s already been four days though!” protested Aya. “I’m tired of waiting!”
The moon priestess let out a sigh. “Why is it that I can heal the others in an instant but am powerless when it comes to my knight?”
Three beauties surrounded Hero Makoto. As his fiancée, perhaps I should’ve felt jealous, but...
He’s currently a statue...
I didn’t feel like I could say anything.
Suddenly, Lucy noticed me. “Oh, Princess Sophia?”
“Sophie, were you worried about Takatsuki?” Aya asked.
“I-Indeed... Is he...?” Nervously, I approached the three.
“Warrior, remove yourself from my knight already. You could break him,” Furiae demanded.
“Okayyyy,” she replied as she climbed down.
“It seems that you have all undergone much hardship. At least you are all safe...barring Hero Makoto, that is.” I peered at him. Considering that he’d been fighting against a demon with the Eyes of Petrification, I dreaded to think what rictus of fear his face would be frozen in...
“He’s...smiling...?” I said dumbly. Indeed, he was grinning like someone in the middle of a chat.
“Mmmm, well, he wanted to talk more to that Setekh demon,” Lucy informed me.
“Right, those two were getting along pretty well,” Aya agreed. “At least, as far as we could see. We were quite a distance away.”
That was ridiculous.
“A good relationship with a demon...the church would brand him a heretic if they knew,” Furiae commented with an exasperated look.
“So, will you be able to free him?” I asked.
“I can feel the curse lifting, so it should be broken in a few days,” she replied, tracing a porcelain finger along his lips.
Despite being a woman, even I felt my heart race at how erotic the casual act seemed. I was so glad she wasn’t a rival for his affections...
As the thought passed through my head, I heard someone running up behind me.
“You came to Springrogue?!”
“Leo!” I exclaimed. As soon as he ran within arm’s reach, I grabbed him and hugged his head. “It must have been so hard.”
“I’m so sorry!” he replied. “I was with him when—”
“It’s okay, Leo...” He’d probably been tending to the wounded just as Florna had. He couldn’t hide his exhaustion. “Rest a while. The knights I brought with me are helping with the aid.”
“R-Right... Thank you.” With that, he staggered off under the gaze of the guardian knight.
Once he’s recovered, I need to tell him to head back to Horn for a while. Mother and father must have been worried about him...
Neither of our parents could easily leave the capital, busy as they were with ruling the country. When they’d heard that the demon lord was resurrecting in the same place their son had traveled to, they’d been ready to mobilize the entire army... They needed to know he was safe.
And so, I spent the next few days in Canaan, and eventually, Hero Makoto awoke.
He needed to rest until he had fully recovered, but...
The very day he regained consciousness, he began training.
“Um... Shouldn’t you be resting?” I found myself asking. Thousands of butterflies he had made with water magic were fluttering around him.
“I haven’t trained in a whole week,” he replied listlessly. “I’ll lose my edge.” He cocked his head at the flock of magical butterflies above him.
Is he not satisfied with his magic...? I wondered.
His spells wrapped around the entirety of the village. He was likely borrowing mana from the elementals to cast them...but this wasn’t just a case of plentiful mana—how high must his proficiency be to control everything? I was honestly lost for words.
I doubted that any other mage in Roses could match the feat.
“Oh, not bad. I’m joining in!” Rosalie proclaimed, wine bottle in hand, as she watched him train. Judging by the rosy tint to her cheeks, she was already mostly drunk.
And then she goes and casts a king rank spell with her other hand?! I thought, aghast, as I watched the Crimson Witch cast a Phoenix.
“Mama, don’t interrupt him!” Lucy complained.
“You lose your focus too easily. You should learn from your boyfriend’s example,” she replied.
“How?! I can’t keep using magic for over five hours!”
Right...it has been quite a while since he started. Doesn’t he always do the same?
“Takatsuki always keeps this up for ages.” Aya, who was standing by my side, gave a deep sigh. She was wearing an apron; her hair was tied up, and she carried a frying pan in one hand. Apparently, she was in charge of the party’s food.
“He isn’t even healed yet,” I pointed out. “Jumping right back to long training sessions can’t be good...”
“Huh?” Aya asked. “He usually goes for twelve hours, though.”
“What?!” That was insane. It had to be.
“Besides, it’s almost time,” she added.
“I told you to rest, my knight! You’re injured!” Furiae exclaimed, suddenly hitting him with a flying kick.
Well, it was a clean hit...but was that sensible?
“Oof, a direct blow. Normally, he’d manage to dodge. He must not be feeling well,” Aya remarked.
“Really?”
“Yup. He has a skill that lets him look in all directions at once.”
I never knew that.
“You’re done training!” Furiae commanded with a fearsome glare. “Now rest!”
“Awww, but I was just getting started...”
“You say the same thing every day! That’s why you haven’t finished healing yet! You don’t have any stamina or mana and you’re still pushing yourself! Just lie down already.”
“Fiiine... Oh, Princess?”
“What?”
“I can see your panties.”
“Die!”
She kicked him hard in the head. The noise was so solid that I almost felt the impact.
He deserves it, though...
“I’ll let you know when dinner’s done,” Aya told us before leaving.
“I hope he’ll be— Ack, mama, leggo!”
“You’re not ill, so you need to keep training,” said Rosalie. “Come on, you can do another saint rank spell.”
“No, I’m tired,” Lucy protested, squirming under Rosalie’s arm. I hesitantly made my way to Hero Makoto’s side and softly put my hand on his head.
Water Magic: Healwater.
I doubted it would do much for someone weakened by a curse, but it would hopefully give him a little more energy.
I could hear him murmur in his sleep.
“Hmmm... Yeah, you can’t see up Noah’s skirt...”
What the...? Maybe I should hit him again.
Suddenly, he gasped and shot up. “What happened?!”
“You were having a nice dream, it seemed,” I replied.
He looked at me with wide eyes.
Guh. Stop looking at me so innocently! “Don’t push yourself so much,” I said instead.
“I know...but it was a close call, so I can’t help panicking.” His response was serious.
“What happened?”
“I...can only fight using the elementals’ mana or if the goddesses protect me and give me weapons,” he admitted. “I don’t have any strength of my own... That’s why I can’t relax—I might not be able to use my skills when it counts. It would help if I could at least get stronger when I leveled up.”
He was staring at his dagger.
“Hero Makoto...” I began.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I shouldn’t be complaining.”
Was he...getting depressed? If so, then there was something I should say...
“I don’t think a guardian knight should be looking up his charge’s skirt.”
“Ah, right...”
He wouldn’t stop trying to get stronger, even if he should be relaxing. He’d defeated a demon lord days ago, so why was he forcing himself through more training?
“You already have an adorable lover, don’t you?” I asked. “And...I’m your fiancée, so...you should rely on us.” I wouldn’t rebuff him if he made the approach.
He smiled at the words I’d managed. “Thanks, Sophia. I’ll take a break.” At that, he thumped down to the floor and fell asleep in that spot.
I let out a mental sigh.
This man...
He trained until he dropped, then woke up and trained some more. I’d heard how much it weighed on Lucy and Aya when they adventured together. Still, I remained there, waiting for him to wake up.
When I returned to the chief’s home for dinner, there was a crowd waiting outside.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Looks like someone’s visiting,” Hero Makoto replied from where he was standing at my side.
The people from Highland couldn’t have already arrived, right? That was far too impressive. If so, we needed to get on our way.
However, the identity of the person in the middle of the crowd went far beyond my expectations.
“Oh, it’s been a while!” Hero Makoto waved casually.
Th-That’s no way to—
My thought was interrupted by the response to his wave.
“Hey there, Elementalist. I heard you defeated a demon lord.” A white-haired woman with glowing, ruby-red eyes grinned. Despite her slight stature, there was a sense of tension surrounding her.
G-Grandsage?!
This was Highland’s protector and the strongest mage on the continent—the White Grandsage.
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