The house they were led to was, in fact, a place Allen already knew. It was the same house he and his companions had been assigned to stay in when they visited the Elven Forest. To think that this would be used as Noel’s residence now gave him a strangely surreal feeling.
That said, they hadn’t come here simply to hang out at Noel’s house. As soon as they arrived and had a moment to breathe, Noel wasted no time in questioning Percival.
“Now then, there’s something I want to ask you, Percival. You remember the mountain where you came to fetch me, don’t you? Could you tell me the way there?”
“Ah, so that’s what you wished to ask me. Of course, if you want to know, I have no reason to refuse. But first, may I ask one thing? Why do you wish to know the way? At this point, it seems rather...curious.”
“Well, you’re not wrong. Truthfully, if nothing had come up, I probably wouldn’t have asked either. But...I’ve got a reason to go there now.”
As Noel said this and glanced at him, Percival seemed to realize what—or who—that reason was. He turned his probing eyes on Allen before speaking again.
“I see. Am I to understand that you are the reason for this?”
“Well, yes. I asked Noel to take me, to guide me to the mountain she once lived on.”
“May I ask why?”
“To fulfill a request I accepted from the Adventurer’s Guild, although truth be told, asking her to guide me was the client’s intention from the start.”
“The client asked our queen to guide you to that mountain? Your Majesty, could this client be...?”
“I didn’t hear it directly, but...yes. It’s just as you suspect,” Noel confirmed.
“Hmph.”
Allen tilted his head at Percival’s dissatisfied expression. Revealing the location of her old home hardly seemed like a problem to Allen, but Percival didn’t look particularly eager.
“Is this truly something Your Majesty must do personally? If you would only wait here, I could guide you in her place.”
“No doubt that would be more efficient, yes. But you know, don’t you? I owe him a debt. And I’m not shameless enough to leave a debt unpaid.”
“I do understand that, but...”
“Um...is there some kind of danger involved?” asked Allen. That, at least, would explain why he didn’t want Noel to go.
But Percival shook his head. “No, not exactly...”
“Ugh. Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on that. She said herself that’s just how she is,” said Noel curtly.
“Still, it was a farewell to our queen. It could well have been a final farewell, and yet she didn’t even see Your Majesty off. That borders on disrespect.”
“Disrespect? I owe her, but she owes me nothing. Besides, she’s not even an elf,” retorted Noel.
“As overprotective as ever.”
“This counts as overprotective?”
“Well, at least it’s clear you’re only thinking of her.”
Noel, however, wasn’t about to back down. And in the end, it was Percival who yielded.
His eyes darted around as he searched for a response. “Very well. I will tell you. But allow me to ask one more thing.”
“What now?” she asked.
“You said you intended to return to the kingdom afterward. Is that truly necessary? From what I can see, you’ve already finished what you went there to do.”
“Well...” The words struck a nerve with Noel, and she faltered, unable to answer immediately. Her eyes wavered as if caught between answers.
“Of course, I wish to grant Your Majesty’s every wish, as I swore when I came to your side. But that is why I must ask, is returning to the kingdom truly so important? Important enough to risk damaging your position?”
“Damaging my position?”
It was clear even to Allen, just listening from the side, that Percival spoke out of genuine concern. And precisely because of that, his words could not be ignored. How would returning to the kingdom harm Noel’s standing? What exactly did he mean?
“Hm... Do you know why our queen went to the Kingdom of Adastera?” he asked Allen.
“She never told me.”
“Then you must have heard from someone else, or perhaps guessed? In any case, your guess is likely correct.”
“Percival, that’s enough,” Noel said, cutting him off.
“You wouldn’t have brought them here if you didn’t trust them enough to hear this. Otherwise, there would be no need to guide them at all.”
“I won’t deny that, but is it really necessary to say it aloud?”
“I believe it is. Which is why I will.”
Allen had no idea what Percival was about to say, but Noel and her fellow elf locked eyes for a tense moment. This time, it was Noel who relented.
“Fine. Do as you like.”
“My thanks. Forgive me.”
When Percival turned back to Allen, his eyes were far more serious than expected. Allen instinctively straightened his back to listen.
“Let me say it plainly: Our queen visited the Kingdom of Adastera in order to announce our defection. We elves have decided we will no longer serve the empire.”
It wasn’t a shocking statement, as Allen had suspected as much already. But Anriette, listening with them, was startled, though not by the explanation itself.