“Where am I?”
After getting spectacularly shot down, I did some stress eating while I made small talk with the other nobility at the party. I wasn’t used to this kind of thing, so I decided to hit up the garden and recharge my social batteries.
So, uh, now I am completely lost.
If I shouted Rosalia’s name, I believed she’d come running like the movie version of the blue robot cat that was frequently mistaken for a tanuki, but before I could figure out my next move, I noticed the weeds in front of me rustling.
This is just like P0k3m0n! Okay, maybe it was more likely this was an intruder.
Reinhard said his family was going through some things, so catching someone trying to sneak in would be a good way to get in his good favor. I erased my presence and closed in on the weeds, when suddenly I heard a sound as a fist came flying at me.
“Whoa!” I yelped. “Hey, that was dangerous!”
“You’re that rose guy!” Aigis said, her fist barely grazing my face. “What are you doing here?!”
I didn’t know how she managed to get the jump on me when I’d received formal training!
“That’s what I’d like to ask you, Lady Aigis.”
“Be quiet,” she hissed. “Otherwise…”
“Is someone there?”
I heard someone else’s voice. It sounded like Lord Reinhard. Judging by how Aigis was behaving as she glared at me, she must’ve been listening in on him.
In that case…
“What are you planning?” she asked quietly. “Did you want to assault me? I’ll crush your balls.”
“Shh, keep quiet. Shadow, conceal us.”
I covered her mouth with my hand and summoned my shadow to hide us, all the while muttering internally about how I’d never lust after a brat like her. Our bodies were completely concealed by pitch-black darkness.
We couldn’t move in this state, but we were completely hidden. In-game, it had the effect of hiding you for a single turn—perfect for getting ready to use healing magic. I thought Aigis would resist more, but she went quiet. Maybe she understood the situation she was in.
Looking over, I saw Reinhard speaking to a slender man clad in a hooded robe and a larger man dressed to match. Both guys looked extremely suspicious.
“My apologies,” Reinhard said. “I must have misheard. Anyway, will you really cure my wife’s illness if I hand over the donation?”
“Of course. The Hades Church promises to save your beloved wife.”
“All right. I promise I’ll give you the amount you asked for. In exchange, please save her. In the meantime, if you sell this, you should be able to make quite a bit. Use it as you see fit.”
Reinhard handed a mysterious sword with a shining stone embedded in it over to the slender man. After that, the men went their separate ways. However, as the slender one passed by me, I thought I noticed him grinning.
But there was something more important on my mind: the Hades Church. It was the heretical religion that led the empire down the path of evil in Valhalla Tactics. In-game, there was a group called the Twelve Apostles of Hades, and they basically served the role of the Four Fiends in another game. This world wasn’t caught up to the events of the game yet, so they must’ve been biding their time and building their influence among the nobility.
“Father…” Aigis murmured to herself. “That magic sword has been passed down from generation to generation of our family. He once said it was the thing he treasured most after his own family.”
“Lady Aigis…”
I undid the spell and looked at Aigis as she sobbed where she knelt. I found myself at a loss for words. She had been so antagonistic only moments before, but now she looked like a weeping child. For the first time, I felt like I was seeing the real Aigis.
“Lady Aigis, those men are with an unsavory church,” I said. “They will not keep their promise. Please tell your father to distance himself from them.”
Considering we’d only met today, I doubted that my words would land with the sobbing girl in front of me, but I had to say something. The Hades Church did not hesitate when it came to using people, and in the empire, at least right now, they were considered to be a heretical church. It would be tremendously bad if other noble houses learned that Lord Reinhard was dealing with them; the church could use this information to blackmail him.
Besides, Lord Reinhard actually recognized the hard work I put into my territory. I didn’t want to see someone like that suffer.
“I know all of that!” she cried. “B-but we may have earned lots of money while at war, but all we can do is fight! We don’t know how to heal my mother, and we’re no good at diplomacy. That’s why there are so many people who try to trick us. What are we supposed to do? If there’s even a fraction of a chance that we can save Mother, we have to take it!”
She didn’t want to trust them, but she had to.
I looked at the young woman crying in front of me and thought back on the one in the game. From here on out, I was certain she would continue to be tricked and betrayed. That must have been why she lost her ability to trust in others and eventually became a monster on the battlefield.
The hero of the game couldn’t save her, but what about now, when she still wanted to trust others?
“Lady Aigis, what kind of illness does your mother have?” I asked.
“What, are you suddenly going to say you can save her?” was her reply. “I don’t trust you!”
Despite her words of rejection, I could see the hope in her eyes, and it hurt my heart. The look of despair on her face reminded me of my fave, Weiss. I wanted to save her, but I suspected my words would not reach her. We had only met today, after all.
Actions spoke louder than words.
“You don’t have to trust me,” I told her, “but I vow to save your mother, whether you believe me or not.”
“What? But…why?”
“Well, quite frankly, my territory is weak. I would like House Bloody’s protection, so to speak.”
I tried to explain my reasoning in a way that made sense without lying. House Hamilton needed the power of an influential family, and House Bloody had the military might I was desperate for. Obviously, I also wanted to save Aigis, but that wasn’t the only motivating factor for me. By helping her family, I’d be able to call in a favor with them and get their help with the impending stampede.
I wasn’t a hero, so I was going to use her problem to my advantage. If I didn’t, there was no way someone as weak as Weiss would be able to survive in this world.
“I see,” she said doubtfully. “I still don’t trust you, but I’ll tell you what she’s sick with.”
Aigis stared straight into my eyes and told me the name of her mother’s illness. It was the very same one that would cause an epidemic that the hero and his party would have to contend with down the line. It was a bit of a pain to deal with, but it wasn’t unbeatable.
While I waited for Aigis’s tears to come to an end, I ran through all the game knowledge in my head to remember the way to cure it.
Eventually, we both returned to the party hall.