★
The fortress city of Treia was encircled by high castle walls that prevent the invasion of magic beasts. Or so it was supposed to. However, there was no doubt that what had appeared in one of the inns inside the city was a hellhound. It was even as tall as an adult male. Its sharp fangs and claws could easily pierce through steel armor, and one swipe from its paw had enough strength to send someone’s head flying.
Face to face with the magic beast, Yuliana could only stand stock still, petrified.
It was not because of fear.
It was because she understood.
She understood that that was no ordinary magic beast. It was a unique magic beast, one that was being controlled for military means by someone else.
(Father...... this is how much you...... I......) She thought she had been mentally prepared. She was in the position of being hoisted up by the anti-emperor faction, so it should not be a surprise for her to be assassinated as any moment. However, even so, she had wanted to believe that he would not raise his hand against the child that had been born between him and a woman he loved so.
Upon perceiving why this timing, and why it was this unit that was deployed, Yuliana could not stop shivering.
The unit that controlled magic beasts was still considered to be in the experimental stage. This, too, was surely another one of those experiments. But if this assassination was to succeed, then her father the emperor would become even more confident that this unit was ready for actual deployment. Then he would immediately launch the invasion of this kingdom.
“Rrr!” roared the hellhound, before lunging at her.
“Ah......” Yuliana could not move.
Death rushed toward her—but.
“The hell you standing still for! You idiot!”
Bam! A force from the side sent her flying. Sharlo had tackled her.
(Who did you call an idiot? Idiot, you’re the idiot......)
Sharlo had basically taken Yuliana’s position. In other words, the hellhound’s open jaw was making a beeline toward Sharlo’s throat.
(Please, no. I don’t want anyone to die for me—) “Please, no!”
“Eep!” Sharlo’s little scream of fear completely ruined his gallant image from just now. But even so, while averting his eyes from the magic beast, he turned to look at Yuliana, and mouthed, “Run away!”
“Sharlo!”
“Uwahh!”
As if in response to the shouts of both of them, a light sprang up from Sharlo’s body.
Clang! A sound similar to the clashing of swords rang out.
“Grrr!” The hellhound backed up as if it had been repelled. No, it actually had been repelled by the wall of light that had suddenly appeared between it and Sharlo.
“Wh-Wh-What is this......?” Sharlo understood with his mind that it was defensive magic, but he could not use such magic. If it wasn’t him, then who had cast it? Both Yuliana and Hanna looked astonished, so it probably wasn’t them either.
“A-Anyways, this is our chance!” Sharlo chased the question from his mind, then readjusted his grip on Sylphid, the Sword of Wind. Then—
“Let’s run!” He pulled Hanna over, and grabbed Yuliana’s hand. “Oh wind!” He slammed all the magic he had into the Sword of Wind.
A powerful gust of wind suddenly appeared inside the room. It wound around Sharlo’s body, and lifted his well-rounded body slightly off the ground.
“Wh-Whoa?! What’s this? There’s someone else’s magic in the sword?!” He had only expected the sword to make himself lighter and thus a bit faster. However, he could use this in his favor. Sharlo abandoned his original plan of charging down the hallway.
While piggybacking Hanna and firmly grabbing Yuliana’s hand, he glared toward the window in their room. Then his body automatically began rushing in that direction.
This room was on the third floor. If they fell normally, then it would hurt quite a bit. However, things were different if they could fly.
Or so he thought when, right after shooting out from the window, he immediately found himself being pulled down by gravity. He was still far from being able to use Sylphid properly.
“Wha-?! U-UWAHHHH?!” Down he plunged, head first.
“O-O-O-OH WIND!” He shouted with sheer desperation. At which, his falling speed abruptly slackened. However, the ground was already right there.
Pfftttt.
“Gueh.”
“Pigyah!”
“Fuu......”
Sharlo crashed into the ground stomach first. Hanna made a weird noise due to the impact. Yuliana had fixed her positioning in midair, and thus managed a perfect landing.
“Owww...... But we made it......” Because of the sudden decrease in speed right before slamming into the ground, nobody was much the worse for wear. However—
“Grrr......” Outside the inn were apparently several more hellhounds laying in wait.
“Dammit! You stupid dogs!” Sharlo swung Sylphid around. Small blades of wind flew at the magic beasts. Although the blades did not have nearly enough power to hurt them, it did cause them to temporarily back off warily. Sharlo was not going to let that opportunity go to waste.
“Now’s the time! We run!” He intended to stick with that to the very end. In his eyes, no other option was viable. Staying alive was of the utmost priority. That’s why he chose to run. With no hesitation whatsoever.
Sharlo held Sylphid’s hilt in his mouth, and grabbed Yuliana’s and Hanna’s hand. “Oh-ind!” Then once again they were enveloped in wind, and off they went at top speed—
✦ ✦ ✦
★
Slowly, a single handkerchief fluttered to the ground. It was the one that Shouzou had said “keep this on your person at all times” to Sharlo when giving it to him. It was also what had protected Sharlo from the hellhound’s pounce. However, when they were jumping out from the window, the wind had caught it from Sharlo’s pajama pocket, and sent it flying high into the sky.
The handkerchief slowly settled onto the ground. It was exactly the same location where Sharlo had landed on his stomach earlier.
“Hmm? This is......” The person who picked it up was a young man with narrow eyes. He had a thin sword on either side of his waist, as well as two spears criss-crossed on his back. As he closely examined the handkerchief—
“Pardon me. May I ask you a question?”
He turned around at the deep voice. There stood a huge man with a bearded face. The young man recognized him. This was most definitely “Shouzou Onigawara.” Judging by how he had not felt the man approach, he must have appeared with some sort of movement magic.
(The fact that he appeared here must mean......) Thinking that he had a good grasp on how things were developing, the young man asked in return. “Can I ask you a question first? Or so I ask but I’m already asking a question. But based on the fact of you being here, can I draw the conclusion that the assassination unit already failed in their mission?”
An aura of rage billowed out from Shouzou. “I’ll make this simple. Are you my enemy or my ally?”
The young man gulped before the overwhelming sense of pressure. “Even if I offer my subjective answer, I don’t think that would have much meaning. However, let me introduce myself first.” His narrow eyes widened slightly. “My name is Cain Ketora. I am a Platinum class adventurer.”