“Alia...” Elena murmured softly while looking out the crumbling watchtower’s window.
Though she constantly worried about Alia, she trusted her more than anyone else in this world. Still, today she had a particularly unsettling feeling that refused to fade.
Elena had no dungeon gift and only three elemental affinities remaining. However, she’d originally had four before losing her affinity to fire—and that meant she still had Level 4 Aether Manipulation despite being Rank 3.
▼ HRH Elena Claydale
Species: Human♀ (Rank 3)
Aether Points: 250/250 △ +10
Health Points: 135/135 △ +10
Strength: 7
Endurance: 8
Agility: 12
Dexterity: 8
[Light Mastery Lv. 3]
[Water Mastery Lv. 3]
[Fire Mastery Lv. 0]
[Wind Mastery Lv. 3]
[Non-Elemental Magic Lv. 1]
[Practical Magic x5]
[Aether Manipulation Lv. 4]
[Intimidation Lv. 2]
[Poison Resistance Lv. 1]
[Basic Scan]
Overall Combat Power: 480 (Sorcery Power: 576)
Perhaps noticing something amiss with the mana in the atmosphere, Elena unconsciously stared at the ancient ruins, hazily visible in the distance.
“Do you see something, ‘Lena’?” Ron asked as he came down from the rooftop, where he’d been repairing the balloon.
“Are you taking a break, ‘Ron’?” Elena asked with a somewhat detached smile.
Both she and Ron knew each other’s names were false. Ron was probably a noble from some country, and he’d likely realized Elena was a noble herself. Over time, she’d come to partially trust his and his friends’ characters, but as a noble, she couldn’t afford to fully trust someone who couldn’t reveal their identity.
Granted, I can’t reveal mine either...
Drawing boundaries around personal relationships was part of being nobility, but Elena nevertheless wished it didn’t have to be so. Though Alia didn’t completely trust these people either, seeing how the children had taken to Elena, Alia had decided that she trusted Ron and his friends enough to leave Elena in their care.
For her part, Elena wouldn’t have wanted to stay with them if not for the younger children and their caretaker, Chaco. Naturally, she figured Ron and Camille would be similarly wary of her and Alia, but...
“What, nothing on your mind of late? Surely desert life is taking its toll on you,” Ron said.
“Ah, I’m fine, thank you...”
Recently, particularly since she’d begun to care for the children, Elena felt Ron’s attitude had softened. It wasn’t as dramatic as Camille’s soft spot for Alia, but still, perhaps watching Elena be genuine with the children had made him trust her more.
The children are really sweet...
Elena hadn’t meant to be genuine with the children, but she couldn’t help it. Neu, older and a dark elf, was a bit shy and didn’t approach her much, but the dwarf girl Rana and the dogfolk boy Naru, the two youngest, had grown to adore Elena and always clung to her.
But their affection could be problematic at times.
“Lena,” the four-year-old dwarf girl murmured as she came up the stairs, teary-eyed.
“Oh, dear. What’s wrong, Rana?”
Elena had thought Rana was still napping. She must’ve woken up, not found Chaco—who had gone to tend the field and likely hadn’t returned yet—and come here.
“Did you have a bad dream?” Elena asked.
“No... Naru went outside,” Rana said.
“What?”
Naru was only three years old. As a boy of the beastfolk, he was much more active than human toddlers, but he was still too young to go outside on his own.
“Where did he go?” Elena asked gently, holding Rana’s gaze and trying to hide her own anxiety. “How long has he been gone?”
Rana bit her lower lip, looking like she was about to cry. “Um, he went to pick grass...”
“Grass...?”
“It’s my fault! I told him there’s this bright red grass over where the rocks are, and it smells funny, and we use it for medicine, and...”
“Oh...”
Red grass. Elena knew the plant—a succulent that grew in specific locations in the desert. It was different from the edible succulents found in the area; this one could be processed to make high-grade potions.
Unlike deathroot, which bloomed in miasma-dense places, this one was relatively easy to gather and could be found outside the ruins. Naru had probably overheard Alia and Camille talking about gathering ingredients and pieced together that they were short on that particular red grass.
Young Naru had probably wanted to contribute in some way. Instead of sitting around using his age as an excuse, he’d figured out what he could do and taken action for everyone else’s sake.
“I’m sorry...” Rana mumbled in tears.
“Rana...”
Elena embraced the crying child. Rana had done nothing wrong. Still, were something to happen to Naru, it would break the young girl’s heart.
“Lena, I’ll go look for him,” Ron said, his usual easy smile gone.
“Ron!”
Their two combat specialists were responsible for gathering materials for high-grade potions so they could make money and repair the hot-air balloon. This was the agreement between the older members of the group, Elena and Ron included.
Ron probably felt responsible for having carelessly discussed such things in front of the children, figuring they were too young to really understand. Not only that, but maybe he shared Elena’s inexplicable feeling of unease.
Seeing his sense of responsibility and thinking of Naru’s desire to help, Elena felt conflicted. She and Alia bore no responsibility for the children—it had been Ron and Camille who had decided to save rather than forsake them. Her and Alia’s objective was to send word to Claydale of their survival and make their way back. Everything else was secondary.
But...was that really right?
Returning to her home country would prevent a fracture within the nobility. Elena considered any sacrifices for such a purpose to be worthy. She had to return for her people, even if it meant forsaking everything else.
But was there a line somewhere? How much of her heart could she bear to abandon to prioritize duty?
A ruler’s life was solitary. Her own life was among the things she had to forsake for duty.
Still. Was it justified for Elena to sit here and wait, safeguarding herself as the future queen, and discarding her heart for the sake of her people? Was it really, when everyone else was pushing through suffering, and even a child as young as three was doing what he could to help?
How was she any different from her brother, who just sat around waiting for the crown to be handed to him?
She could save the children—save everyone here—then complete her own objective. How flimsy of a queen would she be if she couldn’t even do that much? Would the people follow someone so passive?
Elena made her decision.
“I’m coming too, Ron.”