So saying, Linus reached out and stroked her cheek with a finger. It tickled, and she automatically pulled her head back, which, inexplicably, only made his eyes narrow in amusement. Flustered, she grabbed his hand and yanked the cravat from his other one to wipe his fingers. It was, in fact, unacceptable for the crown prince’s attire to be dirtied, but since he was already wet himself, there was no point worrying about the little things right now.
“Your Highness, as the crown prince, you are a very precious person, so it won’t do for you to remain in these damp clothes.”
“I wish you meant ‘precious’ in a different way, though, hm?”
Miller had been standing there slack-jawed and frozen the whole time. When he finally came to life again, it was to sigh deeply.
“As expected from you, Lady Saint. What an amazing feat of strength.”
“Not at all. What you witnessed was the result of diligent training. I’m used to touching things with my magic, so I only enclosed it in mine, purified it, and gradually simplified the problem, then I just hit it with my magic.”
“Begging your pardon, but…I think that last part is unusual.”
Before she could refute Miller, Fiona heard a shrill scream. A small crowd of people who’d been watching them from a distance started running toward somewhere one by one. Just as she wondered what happened, the village headman rushed over to them, looking shaken.
“Your Highness, Lady Saint, we received a report of monsters! A horde of them!”
Monsters were living beings poisoned by corrupted magic. Mobile, dangerous creatures that spread their filth and behaved aggressively toward other living things. Their physical strength far surpassed that of normal animals, and even if they were bested, their remains still posed a serious threat.
“Understood. Headman, please evacuate the residents to safety.”
“Lady Saint, what about you?”
“If monsters are our opponents, then it’s time for a priest…no, the saint, to show her mettle. Brother Miller, since you’re fatigued from your efforts, I want you to fall back and assist with the evacuation.”
“I brought my knights with me, so we’ll entrust the rest to you two.”
The head of the village nodded so vigorously in response to Fiona and Linus’ instruction that she worried his head would fly off. Miller bowed quickly to them both before he and the headman ran off to help the villagers to safety. She quietly sighed after they left.
“Monsters seldom appear in settlements like this one. Strange, don’t you think, Your Highness?”
People usually encountered them deep in the mountains. At most, one might be seen in a town or a village occasionally, but rarely did they appear in swarms.
“I do, actually. At the very least, I don’t think we’ve had many, if any, incidents of hordes showing up in settlements in the last ten years.”
“I, for one, am glad to have the knights with us.”
While monsters could usually be defeated with swords, they proved too much for mere villagers to handle. The knights had been escorting them from a distance, but now they jogged over to Linus, their expressions tense. The sight of their swords hanging from their belts reassured her tremendously.
“In an unusual turn of events, there was a sighting of a monster horde. You all know what to do, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir!”
The trio of knights saluted to Linus, then unsheathed their swords and took up battle stances. Their gazes focused on ten wolf-like monsters lurking in the shadow of a building. A black haze curled around the giant wolves as they raced directly toward them on the now-deserted lakeshore.
“These things sure do have a one-track mind, eh? They’re coming straight at us.”
As Linus murmured, the ten wolf creatures drew near and skidded to a halt when they were close enough to hear their rasping breaths.
“Your Highness, you and the saint should step back a bit.”
The monsters attacked when the knights pointed their swords at them like it was the signal they’d been waiting for. Their opponents were a pack of giant wolf monsters. A normal swordsman might have had a hard time against them, but not so for the knights chosen by the crown prince as his personal guard. Working smoothly together, the three men dodged the monsters’ attacks and took them down one by one. At that rate, it was only a matter of time before they defeated all ten creatures.
The knights moved as they fought, naturally creating a distance between themselves and Fiona and Linus. In their place, though, a slain wolf lay on the ground nearby. A black mist wrapped around the monster, even in death. The thing couldn’t even return peacefully to the earth without a clergy member purifying it. A lamentable existence.
When most of the monsters had been defeated, Fiona took a step forward to perform the cleansing ritual on the fallen one. Sensing her movement, its head suddenly snapped up.
“Fiona!”
Startled, she stepped back while taking out the globe from her breast pocket and throwing it. For an instant, blue flames appeared, and the monster stopped. Simultaneously, an arm reached out from behind her and forcibly pulled her back, followed by the flash of a drawn sword.
In the blink of an eye, Linus cut down the wolf, and it collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
“Fiona, are you all right?”
He restrained her with his left arm and swung his sword with his right, shaking the blood off. The way he wielded it so effortlessly and the speed with which he’d cut it down told her more than words could of his proficiency and strength. Stunned by the monster and Linus’ unexpected movements, all she could do was nod jerkily.
“I’m sorry, and thank you very much.”
“As long as you aren’t hurt.”
“Your Highness, apologies for the wait.”
The three knights walked back toward them, sheathing their swords en route. Behind them were several dead wolves surrounded in black haze and lying on the ground.
“I’ll be purifying them now, so please step away a bit.”
Fiona took a few steps back to have a clear view of all ten monsters. Then she clenched her fist, concentrated, and punched right in front of her.
“Take that!”
Ripples of light spread out in the air from her first, and magic activated explosively, covering the vicinity. As soon as a ripple touched a monster, it transformed into particles of light. Before long, all of the remains had become light and faded away.
Tiny spheres of light remained around them, sparkling and floating in the air, reminiscent of snow falling. When she caught one in her palm, instead of melting, it disappeared with a little pop.
“Lovely. Truly lovely.”
Linus stared up at the sky with narrowed eyes. Fiona found herself smiling inadvertently at the joy radiating from him.
“Isn’t it just? Though the purification rite is tiring, it is effective. We have nothing to worry about, and the monsters are no longer in pain, either. The effort is worth it to me.”
Then he strode toward her, picked up a section of her hair, and kissed it softly.
“Your Highness?”
“Black hair swathed in light is beautiful, you know?”
His words made her realize the darkness of her hair made the pale light particles shine. If she were allowed to express her opinion, Linus’ silver hair looked even more beautiful as it glimmered under the beads of light. But that ultimately came down to personal preference.
“Goodness, Your Highness, you really are obsessed with black hair, aren’t you?”
“I am. I love your hair, Fiona.”
Exasperated, she surveyed their surroundings and saw the knights staring at them with the same exasperation she felt. Just as she thought, even they considered his fascination with black hair a bit too much.
“Wow…I can’t believe she still doesn’t get it after all that.”
“Don’t look, don’t listen. Pretend they’re an illusion. One wrong slip of the tongue, and we’ll all lose our heads.”
She heard the knights muttering something to each other she couldn’t quite make out and wondered if they were discussing the journey back. Despite it being part of their jobs as the crown prince’s personal guards, it must be draining to constantly have to steel themselves.
Noticing the dancing lights in the air, the throng of people, which included the village headman, walked toward them and profusely thanked them even though the knights were the ones who had defeated the monsters. Moreover, it was thanks to Miller’s efforts that the pollution in the lake hadn’t spread further. So she offered the priest up to the headman and his villagers, who were eager to extend their hospitality. Then she politely excused herself, Linus, and the knights, with the reason being her next assignment.
“Why is there a carriage here?”
Ready to ride double again on the horse with Linus on the way home, Fiona found a coach waiting in front of her instead. The interior beyond the door looked familiar, so it must be the same royal vehicle she’d ridden in last time.
“We’re not in a hurry to return, plus I thought you’d be tired, Fiona, so I had one arranged for us.”
Linus pulled her toward the vehicle, and they boarded it.
“Your Highness, please forgive me for what happened earlier.”
As soon as she sat down on the seat, Fiona bowed her head deeply, and he watched her with a gentle expression. Of course, he understood why she apologized.
“There was no need to rush to perform the purification, hm?”
“Yes.”
Everything had been fine even after the knights had finished killing the monsters. Still, she had to do the cleansing rite quickly and, in her careless haste, was almost attacked. If Linus hadn’t protected her, she would have surely been wounded.