Anesis, the home of Duke Kerebel. An eagle flew towards the second largest city in the Mireana Kingdom.

What made this eagle different from other eagles was its size. An ordinary eagle, no matter how big it was, would only have a wingspan of 2m a most after spreading its wings. However, the eagle flying towards Anesis was 1.5……or even 2 times larger than an ordinary eagle.

It wasn’t a monster of course, but the result of a magical breeding process.

They were bred to fly faster and for longer periods of time than ordinary eagles. And although they weren’t a monster, they were still strong enough to take on a few Goblins by themselves.

Such an eagle flapped its wings as it descended towards Anesis with a metal tube containing a letter tied to its leg.

The gatekeepers were surprised at the size of the eagle but didn’t panic as they warned travellers, merchants and adventurers who were trying to enter the city to not get in its way.

Flapping its wings, the eagle dove through the gate and headed straight for its destination, Duke Kerebel’s residence.

 

 

A room in Duke Kerebel’s residence. Inside, Elena was looking through documents at her desk.

In front of her was a man in his 20’s, as still as a statue.

He looked very tense……no, as he was standing in front of the Duke’s daughter, it was natural that he would be nervous. However, his tension wasn’t because of that. Rather, he was feeling overwhelmed by Elena Kerebel, the young woman in front of him who looked like a work of art.

(……Well, that’s no surprise. Elena-sama has changed a lot since spring. Her beauty had always been something that drew the gazes of others, but now some sort of charm has been added on top of that.)

Ara thought to herself as she checked some documents before signing them off on her own desk, a short distance away from Elena’s.

After the war with the Bestir Empire……or more precisely, after parting with Rei on the battlefield, Elena had become prettier and prettier by the day.

Of course, she wasn’t distracted by love and didn’t neglect her role as a noble, the leader of her knights or as the General Princess. In fact, her work efficiency was faster and more reliable than ever.

(Is this the strength of a girl in love?)

A small smile crossed her face as she thought of Elena, her superior, and Rei, who Elena was in love with.

However, Elena hadn’t been the only one who had changed. Ara had also changed a lot compared to before.

In the past, she had never taken paperwork seriously.

……That said, there was still a clear difference between Elena, who had just discovered her feelings of love, and Ara, who was taught by Elena and Machen, her deputy, to do paperwork.

Meanwhile, Elena, who had been reading through some documents, nodded before turning to look at the young man.

「……There are no problems. Please proceed as is.」

「Y-Yes!」

Because of Elena’s serious expression……or rather because of the dignified aura she gave off because of her serious expression, the young man’s cheeks flushed.

However, Elena didn’t seem to notice that at all as she shifted her gaze to the next set of documents.

The young man standing before her might have already disappeared from her mind.

Despite being visibly depressed seeing that, the young man went towards the door to leave Elena’s office……

「Oh, pardon me.」

Just as he was about to open the door, the door was opened from the hallway side as a voice called out.

The young man involuntarily took a step make to make way for the voice.

The person on the other side was a man in his 30’s with a calm expression on his face. It was Machen, the deputy commander of Elena’s escort knights, to which the young man belonged.

「No, don’t worry about it.」

After responding to Machen, the young man left the room.

He closed the door and had walked a few steps away when……

『What-, really!?』

He stopped in his tracks when he heard Elena’s loud voice from within the office.

To him, Elena was the General Princess. Because of that, he had never though he’d hear her lose her composure and shout so loudly.

For a moment, he had thought that the Bestir Empire might have attacked again, but Elena’s voice that he had heard was filled with more astonishment and surprise. He judged that it probably wasn’t something bad for the Mireana Kingdom or Duke Kerebel, so continued on his way.

He was also grateful for the……rare opportunity of hearing Elena shouting outside of the battlefield.

 

 

「Calm down, Elena-sama.」

As one of Elena’s escort knights walked down the hallway with a small sense of happiness at the unexpected event he had overheard, inside the office, Elena was smiling as she got up to leave immediately.

Machen spoke to her to calm her down.

Normally, it would be role of Ara, Machen’s superior, to stop Elena. But seeing Elena’s response, she had also prepared herself to leave immediately.

Even though parts of her personality might have changed compared to before, Ara’s blind faith in Elena had not.

In a sense, this was unavoidable as it formed a core part of Ara’s personality.

「……I’m sorry, I’ve been waiting a long time to hear this. Seriously, Rei. I told you that we would meet up after about three months, but didn’t you make me wait too long?」

Realising how flustered she had been, Elena spoke up to hide her embarrassment before sitting back down on the chair at her desk.

「So, Elena-sama. I’ll ask first, what do you plan to do now? Fortunately, there isn’t too much urgent work, and as for paperwork, as I’ve said before, me and Commander Ara can handle it. If you really want to leave Anesis now, there won’t be any problems.」

At Machen’s words, which were spoken without hesitation, Ara couldn’t help but worriedly ask back.

「Wai-Wait a moment. Machen, did you just say that I’ll be staying here?」

At her question, Machen nodded without pausing.

「Of course. After all, Elena-sama, who is the leader of the knights, will be absent. In that case, of course, Ara-sama, the leader of the escort knights, will have to take charge as the next in command.」

「……Eh? But, doesn’t that mean I can’t go to the Labyrinth City with Elena-sama?」

Ara asked in a daze.

However, Machen, who had been selected as Ara’s deputy due to his pratical abilities, nodded mercilessly.

「That is right. ……Were you planning on going out with Elena-sama by any chance?」

Ara silently turned her head away at Machen’s question.

Shortly after, she turned to look back at Machen with a gentle expression.

Unfortunately, Ara’s expression, which would have surprised anyone who knew her, did not affect Machen in any way.

「You can’t give me that look. If the Knight Commander Ara leaves along with Elena sama, the escort knights will stop working completely. In short, we can’t do anything if you’re not here.」

「……That is……」

Ara was at a loss for words.

As someone who greatly looked up to Elena, she couldn’t do such a foolish thing as to put the escort knights into such a situation.

It wasn’t just a matter of Ara’s pride. If anything went wrong, Elena would looked down on with contempt by the other high nobility.

As Elena’s best friend and subordinate, she couldn’t do such a thing.

Seeing Ara go silent, Machen asked her again.

「Do you understand?」

「……B-But! We can’t just let Elena-sama go to the Labyrinth City by herself, can we? That’s the whole reason why the escort knights exist!」

That was all she could manage to say, but Machen shook his head without sympathy.

「Please rest assured. He may be a carriage driver and not an escort……but I’ve asked Tufal to take her there.」

Ara words got stuck in her throat for a moment when she heard the name of the carriage driver that served Duke Kerebel, but she recovered and responded almost immediately.

「Escorts! We are Elena-sama’s escort knights!」

「I know that she would normally need an escort, but……in the end, hasn’t Elena-sama inherited the power of an Ancient Dragon’s magic stone? Who can hurt her? Furthermore, Rei-san, who got the title of Crimson during the spring war will also be with her. If Rei-san is with her, his tamed Griffon will of course also be there. ……So, I’ll ask you again……does she need an escort?」

「……」

Ara choked on her words again.

Ara felt like she was facing a monster as she looked towards Elena, but Elena just smiled back without saying anything.

「You understand? What we should do is to keep the escort knights in a fully operational state to respond to anything that might happen. It’s also a good idea to improve your own training.」

The reason Machen said that was because while the escort knights served to protect Elena, they were also an elite unit that specialised in offensive manoeuvres, contrary to their name.

Because they were a knight unit under Elena’s direct control, who favoured fighting on the forefront while commanding to raise the morale of her allies, they were all naturally highly trained.

Those who couldn’t keep up had the option of moving to another knight unit.

Seeing that the discussion was over, Elena, who had been silent up until now, spoke up.

「Ara, I want you to remain in Anesis.」

「But-!」

She hadn’t expected Elena to tell her that. Ara looked back at Elena in disbelief.

But, before she could say anything else, Elena continued.

「No, it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s the opposite. I want you to remain in Anesis, my home city, because I trust you.」

「Elena-sama, but that……」

「Could you accept my request?」

With Elena looking directly into her eyes, Ara couldn’t say no and eventually gave a small nod.

「I understand…… Then, I will guard this place with my life until Elena-sama returns.」

It was Ara who agreed with Elena’s request, but it was Machen who silently cheered as he watched on.

(There’s no doubt that Elena-sama intends to go to the dungeon in the Labyrinth City, but her main purpose is to meet with Rei-san. Probabaly……at least that’s what I think.)

But even if he knew that, Machen wasn’t going to say anything about it.

He knew how much Elena had been looking forward to going to the Labyrinth City with Rei and how much work she had done in order to make time for that.

He also knew that Duke Kerebel was aware of Rei’s ability and would be happy to have him join their faction.

Of course, if Elena didn’t have feelings for Rei, the Duke wouldn’t have made such a decision. Duke Kerebel held a strong affection for Elena and wouldn’t have used her to try to bring Rei into his faction.

However, it was a different matter as his daughter had feelings towards Rei, so in a sense, their interests were aligned.

(In a way, I guess you could say we were lucky……if Elena-sama didn’t have feelings for Rei, even if Duke Kerebel tried to pull him in……no, in that case, he would have just used other means.)

As he thought of that, Machen called out to Elena, who was smiling faintly while retaining her dignified expression.

「So, Elena-sama, I would like to have the maids prepare for your trip as soon as possible if that is alright with you. As for your departure, you could leave tomorrow.」

「That’s right, I don’t think I would be able to make it in time to leave today. ……Should I send Yellow ahead?」

Elena thought about it for a moment, but her senses weren’t directly connected to Yellow. All she could see was what Yellow had seen in the past, but that needed him to be with her. It would make little sense to look through Yellow’s memories after arriving at the village.

「……I should just forget about that. It would be better to just get there as soon as possible instead. Fortunately, I’ve already handled my work, and even if I’m not here, it will be fine with Knight Commander Ara.」

Elene muttered to herself as she looked over her remaining documents, looking forward to reuniting with Rei again.

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