Chapter 11: A Moment in Elle Village
ON the same day the former Analian Four Grand Magi joined forces with Saint Aela’s party and swore to defeat the Demon Lord, we teleported to Laurent’s former village to evacuate Elle Village.
After all, tomorrow we will set out to defeat the Demon Lord with all the major players on our side. Our top priority is to move Elle Village and eliminate any concerns about them being taken hostage or harmed.
To make the evacuation area extra secure, Laurent draws a barrier around the entire village while Julius teaches him high-level defense spells.
With the defenses strengthened, all that’s left is to spend the night recharging our batteries before heading to the Demon Lord’s castle tomorrow.
So we decided to treat ourselves to a pre-vanquish-the-Demon-Lord celebration to get better acquainted with our new team members.
Partying outdoors is the best!
“Go on, eat up! Feast upon the tantalizing food cooked by the legendary chef Meide, one of the Four Grand Magi of Elle Village! It’s so delicious it’s guaranteed to melt in your mouth and stick to your ribs! Her devilish food is capable of turning even Analia’s former strongest Grand Magi, Julius, into a little boy ready to eat you out of house and home!”
Saint Aela’s party, our newest recruits into Elle Village, were still so glum I had to recommend Grand Magi Meide’s delicacies to them.
It seems to have done the job, since the thick tension has died down and Aela’s group as well as Regulus and Sereniel have begun to relax, and friendly conversation is starting up here and there.
Looks like they’ve opened up to one another quite a bit.
Or maybe too much. Golem and Regulus decide to arm wrestle for whatever reason, get worked up over their match, and start arguing about their personalities being too similar, and then Sereniel throws out “Don’t fight over me, boys!” even though I’m positive it has nothing to do with her. They’re out of control.
In the heat of the moment, Golem and Regulus destroy part of the magic circle Laurent just finished drawing and get laid into by the seventeen-year-old even though they are several dozen years his senior.
Aela smiles throughout the chaotic show, and Prince Guido gazes upon her smiling face with such love and adoration it makes my skin crawl… I wonder if that means the two of them are already a couple.
If they are, will Julius get rejected by Aela even if he falls for her? And if he does…when he does…will I—
I’m surprised by the relief spreading through me.
What’s wrong with me? Why am I thinking this way? Julius is my friend, and someone to whom I would gladly hand over the top spot as Elle Village’s first-ranked Grand Magi, and yet I can’t bring myself to support his feelings… How could I be so horrible as to be relieved at the thought of him being rejected?
“Lady Elle, I want to talk to you about something…,” Laurent says to me with reserve.
“Sure. Talk away,” I respond. Apparently, he doesn’t want anyone else to hear, because he takes me to a quiet place away from the din of the party.
“What did you want to talk about alone…?” I ask since he seems nervous.
He closes his eyes and opens them again, determined. “I want you to take me with you!”
I didn’t expect him to say that.
“I can’t. Who will protect Elle Village if you come?”
“But I set up all the defenses. It shouldn’t be easy to—”
“Shouldn’t isn’t good enough,” I say over him. “We don’t know what Clark will pull. Someone has to stay behind to protect the village.”
“But if something were to happen to you—”
“Something happen to me? Pshaw! I’ll be fine, for I am Elle Village’s glorious mayor, Elle!”
“I know. I know and still worry. Not because you’re weak, Lady Elle… But because I am weak. When I think something might happen to you, I…” He trails off, looking like his back is up against the wall and he’s about to lose everything that matters to him.
I frown. “Laurent, I will be okay. Julius and Aela will be with me,” I say to assuage his worries, but it does nothing to wipe the hard look off his face.
What can I say? Before I have the answer, Laurent speaks.
“You are my light, Lady Elle. When you saved my village, you shone a light into my dark world. If you disappear, I’ll be plunged back into the darkness.”
I dumbly blink in response to his sincere gaze and distraught voice.
I keep forgetting that Laurent was originally, in the manga, a character who seemed kind but could become deranged at the drop of a hat because of the darkness he carried with him. I showed up at just the right time to save his village from annihilation, but his potential to turn yandere is still alive and well.
My heart aches when I see him pushed to the edge like this, because I think of him like a little brother. I didn’t realize it would hurt him so much to be left behind… But I need him to stay and look after everyone.
“You won’t see that darkness again. There’s no worst-case scenario where I won’t return. I swear I will come back. So I want you to protect the place I will come home to, Laurent. I can take on the Demon Lord with peace of mind because I know you will be here for me,” I tell him.
His eyes widen. “Lady Elle…it’s not fair when you put it that way.”
“But it’s the truth,” I say with a smile.
Laurent exhales a long-suffering sigh and throws up his hands in defeat. And then he lets a sunnier expression chase away the clouds covering his face.
“…Okay. I will wait for you to come back home, Lady Elle. But can I get a reward for listening to you and staying behind…?”
His entreating eyes stir up my desire to take care of him. I puff out my chest and put a hand on my hip.
“A reward? Sure thing! I’ll give you anything you want! Want Meide to whip up a meal just for you? Or is there something else you have been wanting?”
Grand Sorceress Elle never goes back on her word! I’ll sell every gem and treasure I have to grant his wish!
“In that case, um, can I hug you?”
“Hug me? Like a goodbye hug? I don’t mind…but is that all you want?”
“It’s more than enough for me,” he says, seemingly thrilled I didn’t reject his request. I open my arms, and he steps closer and puts his arms around me.