I decided on how to go about saving Claire and we left the elves’ village after being sent off by Alice’s mother, and we soon arrived at the Sfir territory without any problems.
By the way I’m slightly disguising myself by wearing commoners clothing. Alice has also put on her hair ornament. Alice’s face is unknown to the Sfir family, but if she is known to be a high-elf, she would stand out in a different way.
In this way, we arrived at the town of Sfir. We were hidden in an alley among the shadows as we observed the Sfir mansion.
“So, Alice? Do you think it’s possible?”
“The sentries…… There are two people watching the gate and there is also a patrol consisting of two people. So it looks like there are two groups of two. I don’t know how many guards are inside, but I think it should be possible to execute the plan.”
“I see…..”
Finally, I can save Claire. Even though I thought this, I could feel my heart sinking.
I want to save Claire. That is absolutely true, but…I turn my eyes to Alice who was cuddling up to me.
Alice puts all of her trust in me and my plan and pushes forward to save Claire. The way she looks right now reminds me so much of Milli that day….
If Alice was lost because of my actions — this feeling grew the closer we got to the Sfir mansion.
“Hey, Alice. Over the past week I’ve also became able to use spirit magic, if I use simple templates. So, there’s no need for you to risk —”
I couldn’t finish my sentence. Alice had placed her small, delicate finger over my mouth.
“….Hey, do you remember what I said about my older brother?”
“Ah, I remember. You said he was very kind.”
“Yeah, my older brother was very kind. I was so weak so he always had to protect me, but I was oblivious to this and I didn’t notice my brother was forcing himself to do so, as a result I lost my precious brother.”
Is she thinking of her brother? Alice looked up at the blue moon in the bright sky.
“I will never repeat that mistake again, I definitely do not want to feel pain like that ever again. So, I will go to help Claire with you Leon.”
“I understand…”
That’s right….
There’s no way Alice would allow me to leave her here while I go in alone. If she has a fear of losing people that are important to her, it’s natural she would have a fear of being left behind.
I understand her reasoning, but still, I don’t want her to get involved just to help me.
“Besides, I also want to save Claire.”
“You do?”
I become puzzled. Thinking back, I don’t remember them being that close.
“I was originally going to be sold to a very bad place, but Claire-sama forced the slave trader to sell me to her. Claire-sama saved me.”
“So, Alice, you want to help Claire?”
“Of course, I may not have originally thought of helping Claire-sama, but…. I’m very thankful to her for introducing me to you, Leon. So, I also want to save Claire.”
“You want to help Claire for your own reasons.”
If she tells me that, there’s no way I can stop her.
“I understand. Let’s save Claire together.”
“…..Yep.”
Alice gently smiled and turned her eyes back towards the mansion.
“The next time the patrol passses, I will climb over the fence to enter the grounds. I will make footholds for you to climb, Leon follow immediately after me.”
“Right.”
I give a short answer and I wait for Alice’s signal. Shortly afterwards, Alice began to slowly approach the mansion, then gave a small signal to me. I silently followed after her.
“Now then….if you would please.”
At the same time Alice lightly shook her right hand, before the wall that was about 3 meters high, stairs made of rock were created that went halfway up the wall.
After all Alice’s spirit magic is amazing.
I had been practicing magic using templates, I try to follow Alice’s example, but I’m not quite able to do so yet.
“Leon?”
“It’s nothing.”
I follow after Alice and climb up the wall. Immediately after that, Alice turns her line of sight to the stairs and they disappeared……Is that a perfect incantation-less spell?
“….It’s okay…There doesn’t appear to be anybody around. I’m dropping down now.”
Alice jumps from the top of the wall to land inside the mansion grounds. She’s very agile……but I unconsciously hesitate to jump down.
No, the height of the wall is close to 3 meters. Even to an adult this height would be intimidating, but it’s much too high for a small child.
“….Ah, I get it. Wait a moment.”
Alice made a small staircase on the inside of the wall and stretched out her hands towards me at the top. She was trying to say, you can jump down and I will catch you……
“No, no, no this is hard for me to accept. Wouldn’t this scene usually be reversed?”
I appeal to her desperately, but Alice only shows a wry smile.
“If you don’t hurry the patrol on the outside may find you.”
“Kuu…I want to become an adult already.”
I endured the embarrassment and jumped down into Alice’s arms.
“Woah, you’re heavy as expected……Alright, you should be fine now.”
“Uuuu…I can’t be a husband like this.”
“Leon didn’t you do many things to avoid getting married?”
“…..That’s true.”
We infiltrated the grounds of the mansion. We hid in the shrubbery and observed the main house.
“There seems to be less guards than I expected……Maybe they weren’t expecting anyone to attempt to break into the mansion.”
“They did specify the date and time when Claire was to be moved. That was all directed at me, but please remain vigilant, as there could still be a trap waiting ahead.”
“Yeah, I know. You know the plan, right?”
“Yes, I got it.”
Even if I say plan, first of we will find our way to Sophia’s room on the third floor. There, I will try to get Claire’s location from her. After that the plan becomes somewhat flexible and we will have to adapt to the circumstances.
Sadly, this is somewhat unavoidable as we don’t know where Claire is currently located.
“By the way, will Sophia really help us?”
“…… Sophia is able to tell if a person is lying or not. I will tell her about the situation, and I think she will tell us where Claire is being kept…..”
“Think?”
“Unfortunately I can’t be sure. I honestly don’t believe Sophia is involved in any of this….”
I have postponed my judgment, but considering what Regis has done, it’s become obvious that Sophia’s parents are involved as well.
I want her to be on my side… but I can’t know if she will turn on her own parents.
“…..So, what if she tries to alert the rest of the mansion?”
She must be concerned about my feelings for Sophia. Alice looks at me, she can see the hesitation on my face.
…..This isn’t good. I need to get a grip on myself, if I hesitate here it will make Alice nervous. I need to give her a firm answer.
“The objective here is to save Claire, so if Sophia tries to alert anyone, at that time…Sophia would also be our enemy.”
Going against my own desires, I declared this to Alice.
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