After secretly using my magic on Prince Valen, I went around reinforcing the Polpystani mountbeasts. It would pain me to see them get hurt by being dragged into a petty human conflict. When I finished using my magic, many of them went to the battlefield along with their riders.
Things are calmer now than when they were under attack by Myzahn. But everyone was still busy. I worked in a corner to avoid getting in anyone’s way.
The Polpystani army was gathered on a small hill, so I could also see the state of the battle. It seemed that our side had gained the advantage ever since Desnim arrived as reinforcements.
Incidentally, on the surface, I was using my magic under the pretense of reinforcing the mountbeasts’ equipment, such as their reins. That way, it wouldn’t look unnatural for me to be using matter reinforcement magic.
After I more or less finished my work, I took a short break. As I looked up at the southwestern sky, I saw Geni and Charite happily whirling around.
They look uninjured. Thank goodness. It looked like Lord Nazel and Lord Davier were moving while working together. They were once enemies, but they might even be the strongest when they join forces. It was a bit reassuring.
King Bertrand was hard at work commanding his forces, standing in a safe place farther in the back than Lord Nazel.
As I was steadily watching everything, Prince Valen—who’d been lying down and undergoing treatment until a short time ago—walked up to me.
“Your Highness, are you all right walking around on your own? Your condition is...”
“Yes, I’m fine now. Lady Agnes, I heard that you’ve been reinforcing the mountbeasts’ equipment.”
“I have. I wanted to help in some way.”
“Thank you. Your magic is convenient at times like this. You also reinforced my shortsword before, and it’s surprising how it always stays sharp.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” As things were going, I thought Prince Valen might ask me to reinforce more weapons for him, but he ended the talk about weapons there. As I felt puzzled, he smiled, perhaps guessing what was on my mind.
“Nazelbart will likely scold me if I work you too hard. Besides, your magic isn’t exactly the kind you’d like to make public, is it?”
“Huh?”
“For some reason, the poison has completely vanished from my system.”
I froze in shock.
“That was thanks to the doctors’ antidote, wasn’t it?” I tried feigning ignorance, but it looked like I wasn’t convincing Prince Valen.
He smiled gently at me.
“I was unable to move, but I was still conscious. I kept my eyes moving and observed my surroundings so I’d be ready to take command at any time, no matter what happened. Then I saw you whispering ‘Get stronger.’ That was your magic, wasn’t it?”
“Wh-Whatever could you be talking about?”
“The doctors were also shocked at my sudden recovery. I felt an abrupt change in my health after you left. It looks like you aren’t limited to only reinforcing objects, Lady Agnes.”
“I don’t have detoxification magic.”
“There are several people with detoxification magic on this battlefield, but there’s no one among my subordinates or Desnim’s team of doctors who can detoxify powerful poison in an instant. That makes it all the more curious that the poison affecting me suddenly disappeared.”
I was a terrible liar, per Lord Nazel’s expert evaluation, so I held my tongue to avoid saying too much. However, Prince Valen continued.
“Moreover, not only did the poison disappear, I feel in great health too. It’s like my entire body has been reinforced. When I bumped into a rock earlier, it—”
“I-It’s thanks to the doctors’ skill!”
“Heh heh, then let’s just leave it at that. At any rate, I wanted to thank you. I have no intention of doing anything to you, so you can relax. Oh, looks like Nazelbart and the rest have returned.”
Following Prince Valen’s voice, I looked ahead and saw the two wyverns circling around in midair. I could see some kind of green mass at Geni’s feet. I couldn’t quite make out what it was because of the distance, but it was quite big.
“It looks like he’s carrying something...”
“What could it be? Did they capture some kind of manabeast?” Prince Valen wondered, clearly confused.
In the meantime, Geni’s and Charite’s shadows rapidly got bigger. It looked like the two of them spotted me, as they came flying right this way. Dunk was also flying behind them, with the disguised Defi on her back. Turning against his homeland must have been difficult, but he’d helped to protect Lord Nazel and his men. Defi himself had said that he was doing this to continue living comfortably in Sutrena and that he didn’t have any family in Myzahn, but I was still thankful to him for assisting us.
Defi’s true magic wasn’t public knowledge, but his absolute release had been a major help to everyone from Sutrena. Myzahn’s troublesome magical attacks had stopped thanks to him, but our allies had probably interpreted it as the enemy using too much magic and running out of mana. Everyone thought that Defi had accompanied Lord Nazel purely to release the seals on our affected allies. From what I’d been told, people with sealing magic besides Prince Rivage had appeared on battlefields, making them a major nuisance for soldiers who used magic. Because of such past cases, our allies hadn’t been suspicious when Defi, someone with release magic, had accompanied them.
While Prince Valen and I were observing the situation, Geni, Charite, and Dunk arrived above us and slowly landed on the ground in front of us. A soft breeze blew away the sand at their feet. Since they landed so gently, Geni’s cargo also seemed intact.
Lord Nazel quickly jumped down from Geni’s back.
“Agnes!”
“Lord Nazel! Thank goodness, you look unharmed.” I carefully observed him from head to toe.
“I’m fine, Agnes.”
“I’ve been worried this whole time.”
Lord Nazel didn’t have a single scratch on him—his hair was just a bit disheveled from the flight. The mountbeasts all looked fine too. Dunk had even decided to start eating a nearby cactus’s flower. I felt relieved from the bottom of my heart.
“It was a bit difficult, but I’ve brought Prince Valen a souvenir. I hope he’ll buy it for a high price.”
By “souvenir,” Lord Nazel was referring to the green mass. When I took a closer look, I realized that something was wrapped up in his magical vines. Lord Nazel had a bright smile even in this kind of place, although now it looked kind of malicious... It was the kind of expression he had when squeezing everything out of someone at work. He mainly showed this expression to King Bertrand.
“Um, Lord Nazel? What’s this souvenir?”
“You don’t need to see, Agnes. It’s dangerous, so hide over there with him.”
“Huh... Are the contents that dangerous? Is it perhaps really a manabeast like Prince Valen said?!”
“No, it isn’t a manabeast.”
In any case, it looked like Lord Nazel didn’t want me to stay here. I didn’t want to get in his way, so I withdrew along with Defi.
Oh, the shade under that rock looks like a good hiding spot. I moved behind a large rock and beckoned over Defi, who seemed like a bad fighter.
“This way. Let’s hide together.”
Defi nodded quietly, removed the bandana from his face, and quickly came over. I tugged at his clothes and hid him in the shade of the rock.
“Hold on, Lady Agnes. If we’re too close to each other, Lord Nazelbart will be terrifying later.”
“Don’t worry. Lord Nazel is bighearted, tender, and gentle...”
“The fundamental difference in our perception hurts...”
There was a cleft right in the middle of the rock we were hiding behind, so we could peep at Lord Nazel and the rest through it. Since it was a small opening, I doubted anyone could see us from the other side. I crouched down and Defi stood up, lining us up vertically, and the two of us peered through the gap to see what was going on. At that exact moment, Lord Davier came down from Charite and walked up to the mysterious “souvenir.” Lord Nazel undid his magical vines coiling around it, and a tall, slender man with glossy black hair came rolling out. Defi gave a short gasp when he saw him.
I feel like I’ve seen this man somewhere...
Even though the man had been released from his restraints, I couldn’t see any signs of him moving. Was he unconscious? We could hear the others’ voices from this distance, so I kept watching carefully.
“Who is he?” Prince Valen looked at the unmoving man in surprise.