Princess Sophia and the Crimson Fangs
◇ Princess Sophia’s Perspective ◇
I was sitting in my private office, and I let out a sigh. It hasn’t even been a month since Hero Makoto left. I’d thrown myself into my work to distract from my loneliness, but I might have gone at things a little excessively.
“Perhaps I should take a break...”
I picked up some of the snacks from the corner of my desk and took a sip of my cooling tea. Actually, hadn’t I eaten these with Hero Makoto that one time? Ah, I was thinking about him again... This wasn’t good. Eir had even told me to avoid dwelling on it too much.
To try and shake off those thoughts, I ended up directing my gaze to the stack of documents I still had to finish. My eyes fell, and as I scanned the page, my attention latched onto a line of text that was of particular concern.
There had been a sighting of a dragon around Orion, the southernmost village in Roses. The village was petitioning the country to deal with it. Apparently, the dragon was beyond the capabilities of the Temple Knights and adventurers in the area. The payment would come from their taxes, and I knew their chief to be a diligent sort, so he was unlikely to try and fleece us.
There was a problem, though...
“We don’t have enough people.”
Roses had very few knights. And the ones we did have weren’t exactly strong. Our adventurers were in a similar position. However, this dragon wasn’t an issue we could just ignore.
I was fretting over how to deal with it when something broke my concentration.
“Yoo-hoo! You good, Sophia? Not pushing yourself too hard?”
“We came to hang, Sophie!”
My guards must have heard the commotion—they came bursting in.
“Intruders, Lady Sophia?!”
“No. You are dismissed,” I ordered. Then, I turned to the two intruders. “Lucy, Aya, I’ve told you over and over, but please keep the noise down when you Teleport in.”
“Riiiight!”
“Sorry, Sophie!”
Indeed, the two yells had come from Hero Makoto’s former party members.
◇
“Hmm, a dragon?”
“The villagers have gotta be worrying like mad. What do we do, Lu?”
“Take it down, of course!”
“Gotcha!”
Lucy and Aya had come to simply talk with me. With Hero Makoto now gone, they were some of the few people who could understand and share my feelings of loneliness.
I took a brief breath and brought myself back down to earth. “W-Wait just a minute! It’s a dragon!” Just the two of them against a beast like that would be ridiculous. A dragon of that level was normally a job for around three dozen knights.
“It’ll be fine,” Lucy assured me. “Aya’s a hero.”
“W-Well, she is... But still.” Aya’s cute, petite form made it easy to forget, but she’d won Great Keith’s tournament and become their State-Authorized Hero.
“Besides, we took down a few dragons in Labyrinthos,” Lucy remarked.
“What?!”
The two of them are putting themselves in such danger?
“See you later, then.”
“Bye, Sophie.”
Suddenly, the two of them cleared the refreshments I’d prepared and vanished with a Teleport, like a lightning flash in a storm.
I chuckled. “They really only answer to themselves.”
Hero Makoto was much the same, and those two had really taken on his influence. As I set about finishing the rest of my work, I felt slightly more relaxed.
◇ Several Hours Later ◇
“We’re back!” Lucy called out.
“Hi again, Sophie.”
When they suddenly popped in again (for the second time today), the sun had dipped completely below the horizon, and night had fully fallen. They...really are abrupt people.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Did you forget something?”
Preparation was key against a dragon. If they needed something, I’d use every power I had as a princess to get it for them.
“We dealt with the dragon!” Lucy cheered.
Aya nodded excitedly. “Yeah! We just got done telling the guild, but we figured we should let you know as well.”
I was silent for several long seconds.
“What?” What are they talking about? They only just got the request, right?
“Man, that was a piece of cake. Nice one, Aya!”
“Your Teleport makes things way easier!”
The two of them were laughing with each other. Later, I’d find out that they really had brought the materials from the dragon back to the guild.
“There anything else bothering you?” asked Lucy.
“We’ll take on any long-standing quests!” Aya exclaimed.
Their enthusiasm made me jump...but I knew they were just trying to offer me some help.
“Just rest for today,” I told them. “I’ll have rooms prepared for you.”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Lucy said.
“Right, we can all share.”
I let out a mixture of a sigh and a laugh. Those two always followed their own whims. The thought of it was enough to make me giggle.
“What’s up?” Lucy asked.
Aya smiled. “Sophie’s happy now.”
“I’ll have a meal prepared at least,” I said. “We can all eat together.”
After that, the three of us talked at length, and I found myself in a far better mood.
“Let us know if you need help,” Lucy told me.
“Yup, no pushing yourself too hard, Sophie.”
“I will,” I assured them with a smile. It felt like it had been far too long since I’d been able to smile freely like this. It might even be the first time since Hero Makoto left.
I’m waiting for you.
I’d do my best until he got back. Not alone, but with everyone else by my side.
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