MagicalExplorer
Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim
We went back to the castle from there, but timing wise, we had really cut it close in a lot of ways. Since Ludie hadn’t contacted Sophia after leaving the dungeon, Emperor Marc had brought soldiers with him and entered the Sanctuary.
Though it almost went without saying, Ludie’s parents were angry at their daughter, as well as us, for leaving without their permission, and they had been horribly worried. However, after they heard about Ludie awakening her High Elf power, and about us defeating the Arch Elf, they celebrated the achievement with happy and, likely due to how worried they had been, conflicted looks.
After taking time to relax, the next thing on our agenda was to give Lilou her first ramen experience, to make up for our missed opportunity. The long and short of it was…
“Big Sis Ludie, we should hire a ramen chef at the castle!”
“What a wonderful idea, Lilou. I’m sure Mother and Father will be thrilled, too.”
The birth of the Imperial Ramen Sisters.
When they told Sophia their plan, she told them she would “consider it,” with a strained smile, but I suspected it wouldn’t ever be more than a consideration. Though if she had a taste of ramen for herself, she might’ve changed her mind.
Just as I was about to start playing with Lilou, it happened—Sophia told me “I want us talk, just to the two of us,” and called me away.
Sophia led me to a room used to meet with guests. She had a maid bring us some tea and then immediately told the servant to leave.
“Marino was right after all.”
“Hm? About what?”
“You are a devilish man.”
“That was supposed to be a joke, right…?”
Sophia giggled at my reply.
“You carried yourself brilliantly both here in the castle and against the Church. And in the process of saving the empire, you helped Ludie grow, too.”
I hadn’t been trying to pull off some grand achievement, but I had to admit, hearing someone else list off my exploits made it sound like I had done a lot.
“In light of your heroic deeds, there’s something I’d like to ask of you.”
“Of me?”
“That’s right. I’ve wanted to do something about it myself for a long time, but I don’t really think Leggenze or I can do anything more to help the situation.”
“…Seems like something pretty large scale, then. Are you sure you want to ask me to handle something so big?”
“At this point, there’s nothing else I can do.”
No other choice, huh?
“Marino told me you’ve solved all sorts of problems that have come up. In fact, she even emphasized to me that I should come to you for help if I ever found myself desperate and grasping at straws.”
“Marino’s grasping at straws? Is that going to be all right?”
“It very well might not be, to be honest.”
She winced. I really wish Marino wouldn’t throw these sorts of problems at me. Hng, Ms. Ruija.
“This is a difficult issue, so you can give it as much time as it needs. You could wait until you’re done with school to address it. But I want you to save her.”
There could only be one person Sophia was talking about.
“Is it Anemone?”
Sophia hung her head.
“I tried to help her myself, but…”
“Being asked this kinda puts me in a rough spot.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to put all this on you,” Sophia apologized. But I hadn’t been trying to reject her plea.
“That’s not what I meant. I had already planned on doing something about her problem on my own, anyway.”
I had so many things to do that her situation would have to be saved for later, though.
“This isn’t related to Anemone, but may I also make some requests of you?”
“What would those be?”
“I have two. I’d like permission to explore the Sanctuary, provided that’s even possible, of course.
Sophia took a long inward breath of air.
“I’ll talk it over with Marc. We should be able to work something out.”
“Thank you very much. As for the second…there’s a chance you might not know about it.”
“Know about what?”
“I think Ludie can reach even greater heights. When the time is right, and her High Elf power has grown stronger…I want you to have her undergo a trial.”
Sophia dropped the cup in her hands, and it went crashing to the floor. I immediately reached out with my stole to pick up the pieces. Then, I used a stain-removal spell Nanami taught me to get rid of the mess it had left behind.
Sophia looked at me as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Almost scared and fearful, even.
“Just who are you?”
“The guy who saved Ms. Sakura, er, the angel Raziel. I know about the first elf queen, too.”
She took a deep breath. She looked at the broken cup and apologized for dropping it.
“I understand what you want to do. Except, I can’t say a thing beyond ‘Go right ahead.’ Only the High Elf and their companions are allowed in there.”
I mean, I knew as much, but I figured it’d be good to at least bring it up beforehand. A parent’s obviously gonna be worried about their child, right?
Sophia stared blankly at me.
“What is it?”
“Oh, nothing. Just thinking that the dragon’s grandson is just as much a dragon himself.”
The dragon’s grandson? If I was the grandson, then the dragon had to be… Marino’s father, Ryuuen Hanamura.