After muttering her name, I took a step back, but she grabbed my left arm without hesitation.
“Now, why are you...running away? You’re the one...who called me here,” she said.
“Yeah, but...”
“Heh heh... And asked for me...specifically. Ha ha ha...”
I wasn’t sure if the strange creaking sound coming from my arm was my imagination. I hoped it was. Unfortunately, reality wasn’t so kind. Her grip sent a dull pain through me.
“Yes... You called a special-class knight in... You chose...to call in...the Scarlet Star... You must be...awfully important. Are you...an archbishop? A cardinal? Or maybe...the pope himself?”
“Oh crap... She’s mad...”
Ruvy was chuckling, but her eyes and mouth showed no trace of a smile. All I could see was an attempt to restrain her rage. Despite how much smaller she was than I, I was losing this strength battle—I couldn’t shake her off. Was I going to die before the witch trial even began?! I had to change the subject!
“I didn’t think you’d arrive in half a day after calling for you. You must’ve really been dying to see me,” I said.
“What?”
The strange creaking sound got louder as Ruvy increased the pressure in her fingers. She was about to snap my arm in two!
“I was already...on my way to Esma. It was mere coincidence...that the neighboring village...had a message stone.”
Message stones were mana crystals that had been processed to relay one’s voice across long distances. Many large institutions used them—including the guild and the church—but they were very expensive. Regular folk like me never really got a chance to use them.
“Plus...the vanguard...was already in Esma,” she went on.
“I see.”
Wait a second. Did this mean that the Carbuncles would’ve arrived in time without needing to call them? I didn’t have to brave the danger of riling up Ruvy to get her here?
“Excuse me!” Leen said as she popped her head between us. “Let go. Hakura belongs to me.”
I wanted to raise an objection at her assertion, but it was probably best to remain quiet.
“Hmm?”
Leen’s green eyes and Ruvy’s red eyes met. If you could see the tension in the air, you would see sparks flying.
Ruvy was short, but Leen was even shorter. This might have looked like a spat between two girls, but the atmosphere right now was incredibly tense—like a pile of tinder ready to burn as soon as a match was struck. It was truly terrifying to see these two women with vastly different beauty aesthetics stare daggers at each other. Just as I was wondering how to get through this without provoking anyone, Leen cocked her head.
“Hmm? You’re...Ruvy, correct?” she asked.
“Yes, I am... And...what of it?”
Ruvy couldn’t help but furrow her brow at the expression Leen was making, which contained more interest and confusion than antagonism. She looked at me as if silently asking what Leen’s deal was, but I wanted her to let go of me first.
“Hmm... Excuse me...”
Ruvy’s arm was covered by a gauntlet, but the hand upon my arm was only wearing a thin glove. Without any hesitation, Leen reached out and stroked the back of Ruvy’s hand.
“Eep?!”
A strange sound escaped Ruvy’s throat as she evidently struggled to process this sudden act. As for Leen, she continued to stroke Ruvy’s hand with confusion.
“You don’t have a Sphere?” she muttered.
“Of course...I do not!” With suspicion in her voice, Ruvy swatted away Len’s hand and moved some distance away from her. “Don’t...lump me together with you adventurers! Of course I don’t...have a disgusting stone in me!”
“Hmph...”
Ruvy’s brusque tone had rubbed Leen the wrong way, and their glaring match resumed.
This was good for me. I was growing more detached from the conversation.
“No matter... Anyway, the topic...at hand,” Ruvy said.
I wasn’t so lucky. Their antagonism hadn’t lasted long and I was brought back into the spotlight. Ruvy’s scarlet eyes glared at me. That simple action caused the tension in the air to ripple once more.
“The witch trial will be held in three hours...at Esma’s Claré Church.”
“Three hours from now? Isn’t that too soon?!”
Evidently Leen hadn’t expected the trial to be held immediately after Ruvy had arrived. Despite her surprise, Ruvy continued with a cool tone.
“We have a victim...who has been cursed, do we not?”
Dammit, Derg! He told her everything! Actually, wait a sec...
“Which means a witch...is definitely nearby. He added...that he would put his honor as a third-class knight on the line...to validate the evidence. We will...respect his resolve.”
Things started to make a little bit more sense.
“Also, I’d rather not...give the witch time to escape.”
Ruvy would have rushed here even had Derg not given her my name. Hearing that Erifell was cursed—in other words, that a witch definitely was lurking—would have been enough to bring her here running. What the hell was the point of my and Leen’s fight and reconciliation?
“One of my subordinates is...on her way to Derg...to collect the evidence. The indictor,” Ruvy said, glaring at me with those ruby eyes before I had a chance to regret my choice, “is you, Hakura Istilla. Is that right?”
All right, all right... I’d told Derg to use my name, so I needed to take responsibility here.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I lifted my arm slightly. I wouldn’t act so roughly to get her hand off of me, but it would be enough to show my defiance.
“If I’m wrong, then you can personally chop off my head. Lucky you, huh?”
As soon as I said this, I felt a concentrated force of hostility shoot from Ruvy’s eyes, causing a chill to run up my back. It was the type of authority that caused your body to freeze up—the primal fear that made you want to scream.
“We’ll see each other again at the trial, Ruvy,” I said.
At times like these, you needed to pretend everything was normal. You needed to huff through your nose and act cocky. Or so an old peer of mine had once told me.
“I really do...hate you.”
Suddenly the pressure on my arm let up. I felt Ruvy’s opinion of me plummeting to rock bottom. With these parting words, she turned around, causing her scarlet cape to flutter behind her. It wasn’t like the material we adventurers used to keep us both defended and warm—it was designed to show the prestige of her position. It was horribly beautiful and understandably ostentatious.
After about one minute of silence after Ruvy left, Leen spoke up.
“Hakura?”
“What.”
“You two seem like such good friends. I’m happy for you.”
“Shut it...”
Ruvy had hit me with rage-filled thorns, so it was no surprise I had no energy right now.
“Hey, Hakura?” Jiray chimed in. “Couldn’t you shake her off? That pretty lady wasn’t an adventurer, was she?”