Chapter 111

“Arw-rw-rw! (Lady Mary, it’s morning!)” Unusually, I wake up before her today. I gently poke my lady, who is sleeping on the bed, with my nose, trying to get her to wake up. “Arwf? (Lady Mary? Are you still sleepy?)” “Nn, Routa…” Huh? She’s awake, but her eyes are unfocused. “I feel…kind of hot…” Her cheeks are a little red, too. It definitely looks like she’s sick or something. Did she catch a cold? Well, I can’t stay here. I have to call the maids. “Arwf, arwf! (Miranda! Toaaaa! Come here! Anyone!)” I go out into the hallway and slam into Toa, who was just bringing in the morning tea. “Wh-what’s wrong, Routa?” “Woof, woof! (This way, this way! Hurry, hurry!)” I pull at Toa and usher her into the room. It quickly becomes known throughout the mansion that my lady has fallen ill, and Papa, kicking open the door of his office, runs to where she is. “Uwooooooooohhhhhhhh!! Maaaaaaryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!! Are you all riiiiiiiiiiight?!” he shouts after running in. “Master, please quiet down,” warns Miranda. Her gaze is cold, not allowing objection, and Papa settles down in an instant. “Father, I’m all right. It’s just a little fever.” “And we have the medicine from Hecate for when she catches a fever,” says Miranda. “She’ll come for a checkup in the afternoon, so there is nothing to worry about. I will wipe off Lady Mary’s sweat, so if the men could all leave?” “Right…” “Arwf… (Right…)” After being chased out, we pace back and forth through the hallway with nothing to do. “Mary… Ah, Mary… I’m so worried…” I understand how Papa feels. It was a big crisis six months ago, too, when my lady had a high fever. Ever since taking the wyrmnil, she’s stopped catching colds entirely. And yet now, after all that, she’s sick again? I’m worried about her, too. “I will come back again soon, so please rest your body.” Miranda gives a bow and exits the room. “Miranda, has Mary’s fever gone down?” “I just had her take the medicine; it won’t go down that quickly. But…” “But?” “The symptoms are very much like her previous fevers. Of course, we would have to ask Lady Hecate for more details, but…” “What…?! Are you saying Mary has to go through all that suffering again…?!” “Master, please quiet down. Otherwise, Lady Mary won’t be able to rest.” “I… I apologize… But I’m not sure what to do. I hope Dr. Hecate comes soon.” “That is one thing we can’t do anything about. We have no way of getting in touch with her.” “Then we’ll just have to wait… Miranda, isn’t there anything I could do?” “Well, pacing around here is going to get in the way of us taking care of her, so why don’t you go back to your room and continue your work?” “Right…” Beaten by her sound argument, Papa goes back to his office in dejection. Chin up, Papa. Once Lady Mary is awake, you should be there to cheer her up. It’s so reassuring to have a calm maid like Miranda around. Toa’s not quite there yet in that regard. She just panics, like I do. “M-Miranda…!” “Toa, calm yourself. You know what you have to do.” “Y-yes, ma’am.” “You and I will nurse Lady Mary back to health. If you tell Betty and the others what you have to do, they’ll do just fine filling in for you. Also, go ask Mr. James for something for a sick patient.” “Yes, ma’am! I’ll tell them right away!” Toa takes a deep breath, then nods firmly before heading off at a hurried pace, but not a run, to deliver the messages. “I’ll have to make a list of Lady Mary’s symptoms… I hope Lady Hecate arrives soon. Not having any way to contact her is an inconvenience at times like this…” Miranda leaves down the hallway to fulfill her own responsibilities. “Arwf… (In that case, I’ll…)” …go and sleep by Lady Mary’s side. That’s what I’d like to say, but there’s still something I can do. I open a second-floor window and jump into the courtyard. “Arwf! (Nahura!)” “Meow! (Present!)” Wow, she really does show up as soon as she’s called. She must be so bored. “Arf, arf? (You can contact Hecate, right? Can you tell her to come right away?)” “Mew! (No problem!)” “Arf, arf? (After that, can you bring me to the waterfall Len used to live behind?)” The waterfall café is half-destroyed, but there might still be wyrmnil lying around. If I find some and take it back, it should help make the medicine for Lady Mary. “Mew? (Huh? No need? Oh, all right. Understood. I’ll tell him.)” Nahura is talking to someone—she must have gotten in touch with Hecate. “Mew, mew. (Routa, my mistress would like to see you.)” “Arf? (Huh? But I was the one calling her.)” She shouldn’t need anything from me right now, right? “Mew! (Anyway, she told me to bring you along, so here we go!)” “Arwf! (Hey, wait!)” Nahura triggers her spatial magic, dragging me along by force. The scenery floods white, and when it fades, I’m standing in front of a large tree. “Arwf…! (This is bigger than the elves’ Worldtree…!)” It’s not quite as tall, but it’s several times thicker. It could be a different species of tree, but it gives off this sense of presence, like it’s been alive for thousands of years. And there’s a large house built into the tree itself, too. They’re so fused together, you can’t tell which came first, the house or the tree. “Meow. (Welcome to Hecate’s magic workshop, Routa. You’re the first one to ever come here.)” There’s a surprise—I’m her first-ever visitor. Nobody’s ever come to visit, Hecate? How lonely that must be… I’m so sad for you… “You seem to be having some rude thoughts, Routa.” Hecate appears from within. “Woof, woof! (Hecate! I don’t know what you need, but we’re having an emergency, too! Lady Mary has a fever! Could you come look at her quick?!)” “Yes, I know.” Then come on! “That’s why I called you here, Routa.” I don’t understand. Why do you need me here? “Because we may not be able to persuade the last of the Five Demon Generals without you, Routa.” The last of the Five Demon Generals? Persuade? What’s Hecate talking about? “Routa, you said before that you trust me. Is that still true?” “Arf? (Huh? That was sudden. Yeah, I trust you. So give me a proper explanation.)” “Then wait there for a moment, and don’t move.” Hecate smirks, then slams the silver staff in her hands into the ground. A shining magic circle unfolds, rotating around the spot where she placed the staff. “Arwf?! (Whoa! What’s all this?!)” “Squeak! (This spell is…! No! Milord, this is a spell for destroying barriers! Judging by what that witch has said in the past, she’s trying to revive a Demon Lord’s army general!)” Why on earth would Hecate do that? “Arf, arf? (Hecate, you mentioned the last of the Five Demon Generals. Does that mean you were the one who revived all the other ones, too?)” “…Yes, that’s right.” She still wears her smile as her spell expands even farther. “Squeak, squeak! (I knew you were the root of all this evil! Milord! Stop her! If you attack now, you’ll manage it! I feel an overwhelming power from the depths of the earth…! The general to be revived must have power rivaling yours!)” “Last of the Five Demon Generals of the Demon Lord’s army: Behemoth, the warrior king of the beasts. The strongest magical monster, second only in strength to the Demon Lord. If you fought against this creature fairly, even you might have difficulty as you are now, Routa.” Hecate’s lips part in a provocative expression. “Squeak! (This is no time to be dumbfounded! This won’t even be comparable to the generals you’ve already defeated! We must not let something of this nature be revived!)”