That day, my shadow-acting job was on hiatus.
A carriage with a lacquer-like sheen moved slowly through the city. It wasn’t excessively adorned, but its appearance still exuded luxury.
People along the road, upon seeing its impressive form and the family crest engraved on its side, removed their hats and bowed their heads at the roadside. It was the carriage of Count Kealy, the lord of the land.
Three guards and the members of “Dragon’s Throat” surrounded and escorted it.
During the battle against the Night Pythons, the Count had been wary of retaliatory attacks and confined himself to the manor as much as possible, diligently working on his duties. However, as a lord, he couldn’t just shut himself away.
To smoothly manage his domain, there were people he had to meet outside the manor and meetings he had to attend.
And Iris Lune was accompanying him as his guard. Simply put, the presence of a wizard was important, and “Dragon’s Throat” could only unleash its full power when all its members were together.
–Probably, the strongest fighting force the Count could muster was “Dragon’s Throat.” That’s why I got called in, too.
The Count seems to dote on his daughter, but he properly prioritizes lives. Himself first and foremost.
I guess the reason I’m usually made to be the young lady’s shadow is so I can rush to protect the Count if anything happens while I’m inside the manor. In effect, I’m protecting two people.
Even if Catherine died, it wouldn’t be that devastating to the family and the domain, but if the Count himself were killed, the very foundation of everything would crumble. So, it was only natural that the Count prioritized his own life.
This isn’t about what’s good or bad, but what a lord should consider.
Every single day, I wear beautiful but armor-like clothing that restricts movement, meticulously watching every gesture, down to my fingertips, to avoid making a mistake. There’s never a moment of relaxation.
As a reaction to that, my adventurer’s equipment, the plain robe, felt as light as a feather. It felt like I was walking around naked, which made me uneasy, though.
“Feels like it’s been a while, the four of us together,” Hugh whispered, and Benedict nodded.
“How’s the job going?”
–Wow. That’s like when a dad tries to talk to his daughter but can’t find a good opening and ends up saying something really vague and hard to answer like, “How’s school?”
Benedict suddenly tossed an innocuous question at Iris Lune.
Searching Iris’s memories, he’s pretty much always like this. He’s not good with words. Hugh is in charge of talking and negotiating.
This simple and earnestly serious side of him might be Benedict’s charm. Iris Lune doesn’t get annoyed and answers properly.
“It’s fine. I was confused at first, but actually, there’s not much for me to do. The teachers all know I’m a fake, and in front of other people, I just have to stand up straight and walk silently because they’d figure it out from my voice anyway.”
“Apparently, the young lady is trying not to make a noise, either. Hehe, there was a maid who said she couldn’t tell which was which,” Diana said, sounding pleased herself as she praised.
Iris Lune couldn’t help but smile shyly.
“You’ve changed somehow, haven’t you? You have this weird air of elegance…is it because of the way you walk? You used to seem like a real energetic kid, but you look strangely mature now,”
“Yeah, your footsteps have changed,”
“That’s what you noticed?”
The men seemed impressed to see Iris Lune, not dressed as the young lady, after a long time.
Hearing that, Iris Lune realized it for the first time.
I thought I was walking casually, but I noticed that I was straightening my back and walking as if being pulled by a string as a habit.
–I thought, ‘Can I really fool those dark business types with this?’ but…well, for a hastily-acquired skill, I’m actually doing a pretty good job as a young lady.
I wasn’t sure if I should be happy about that, and ‘Chojiro’ was lamenting in my head.
“That’s how it is. A woman can transform with a little trigger. Iris has a lot to learn from this job, don’t you think?” Diana said, but the fact that she had a favorable nuance about ‘this job’ was a little strange.
“U-Um…they teach me studies and etiquette and… well, um, but, um, didn’t you used to be against me doing this job, Diana?”
“Of course, I’m still against it. This is such a reckless job. But that’s that, and if this experience is helpful for Iris’s future, that’s great. Since we’re stuck with a bad hand anyway, we might as well try to get something out of it.”
Translator’s Note
“Bad hand” in this case, if translated literally is “poverty lottery ticket”
“Hey, hey, you can’t say it’s a bad hand like that.”
“It’s a bad hand. The danger is biased towards Iris.”
Diana brazenly declared and snorted while guarding the carriage of the client, no less.
She didn’t seem willing to budge on this point.
“We’re in pretty rough shape too, but Diana’s definitely soft on Iris.”
“Absolutely, super soft.”
Hugh said with a wry smile.
Diana responded to that by thumping her violently protruding chest.
“If we continue working smoothly like this, no matter what happens, I’ll retire from being an adventurer before Iris does, and I’ll die first. So, at least while we’re adventuring together, I want to protect her and leave behind as much as I can. Experiences and knowledge and stuff like that.”
“Can’t argue with that, that’s for sure.”
Hugh didn’t laugh sarcastically at Diana’s openly spoiling declaration.
All the members of “Dragon’s Throat” were Fourth Rank Adventurers, but Iris, being the youngest in both career and age, was treated like everyone’s little sister or daughter.
And ‘Iris’ found that both annoying and appreciated, and adored everyone…
Iris Lune felt a twinge of pain in her chest.
“What’s wrong?” Diana looked worriedly into Iris Lune’s face.
I hadn’t meant to show it on my face, but I must have looked unhappy.
“Even if I wasn’t…‘Iris, a member of Dragon’s Throat,’ but someone else I don’t know, would you say the same thing, Diana…?”
I didn’t even know what I wanted to say, but when I put it into words, the question sounded incredibly selfish.
Diana, looking bewildered, suddenly grabbed Iris Lune’s head and hugged her tightly as she walked.
“You little rascal! Saying such cuuute things!”
“Hyaaah!”
Diana continued to squeeze Iris Lune. My whole body was ticklish.
“No matter who or where you are, as long as you’re you, we would have become friends if we met. I’m sure of it.”
“Then, what if someone else was ‘Iris, a member of Dragon’s Throat,’ and I was someone else who wasn’t Iris?”
The words Iris Lune blurted out while being hugged sounded like a child throwing a tantrum.
–What am I asking…?
Iris Lune was asking, driven by anxiety.
My heart was beating uncomfortably. …What was I so anxious about?
Diana thought about that for a moment before answering.
“If it’s a story so far removed from reality, I can’t quite imagine it…
But if that ‘you,’ who isn’t Iris, wanted me to cherish you, I’m sure I would.”
Diana said it casually, as if it were obvious.
Hearing that, tears suddenly welled up in my eyes, and Iris Lune took a deep breath to calm herself.
–If we had met in another way…?
Would she have cherished Lune as much as she cherished Iris?
…That’s just a what-if. Lune is, inescapably, Diana’s enemy.
“You should stop that. If you talk too much, the enemy might catch you off guard.”
“Oh, right.”
“Yeah…”
Benedict said, and the two of them broke apart.
I felt like I wanted to be hugged by Diana a little longer, but I also felt relieved that Benedict had stopped us. If we had continued, something inside Iris Lune might have broken.
It’s not like we weren’t being vigilant during this conversation.
Iris Lune continued to probe the surroundings with her power to sense emotions.
She perceived a presence that the other three and the guards hadn’t noticed…someone with an inorganic and cold hostility was nearby.
–They’re here…but they’re not coming closer. What is this?
I thought it would seem unnatural to notice someone so far away, so I kept quiet.
It was as if their job was simply to observe, and someone was hiding on top of a building on the side of the road ahead, watching the situation.
–…On top of a building?
If this were Earth, that position would be the first to be guarded against as a counter-terrorism measure.
It was then.
Even though they were still quite far away, the hostility of the person hiding on the roof swelled up like a balloon being filled with gas.
“<<Wind Shield!>>”
Iris Lune used magic before even confirming the situation.
Immediately after, something flew in, tearing through the wind with a roaring sound, from diagonally above and in front.
“What?!”
The people around finally reacted.
But by that time, the flying object was already approaching the carriage…and was caught by Iris Lune’s wind magic, bounced off the carriage, and hit a nearby building while spinning.
It was just an arrow in appearance. However, it had incredible speed and power. The target was the Count, inside the carriage through the window.
The wind magic changed its trajectory and hit the hard exterior, reducing its power somewhat, so the arrow was deflected. However, there was a deeply gouged mark on the carriage. Seeing this, it should have been enough to break through the window and pierce the body of the occupant. Moreover, the arrowhead was emitting an eerily slimy glow. Poison.
–Whoa, damn! Good thing I was here!! Anyone else would be dead!!
I didn’t care about the Count’s life or death, but it would be bad if he died now.
“Sniping?!”
“Where is it coming from?!”
By the time the people around looked up at the top of the building, the sniper was already trying to escape.
The hostility disappeared, and a slight bewilderment and a sense of extreme pride being wounded caused a rush of humiliation.
Such emotional reactions chased after him as he ran away from the roof.
–Think I’ll let him get away!
“<<Snare!>> <<Snare!>> <<Snare!>>”
Translator’s Note
The literal translation is “Foot Entanglement Snare” but that seemed too long-winded for a spell.
Iris Lune repeatedly struck the ground with her cane, firing off spells in rapid succession.
“Did you catch him?!”
“I don’t know! I just shot at random!”
That was a big lie.
It may have seemed that I fired randomly because I couldn’t aim, but in reality, I followed the emotional reactions and aimed perfectly. I burned through the charms with the first two shots and bound him with the third. The assassin was stuck to the roof floor and tripped ignominiously.
Benedict grabbed the bumps and indentations in the building wall and hauled himself up to the top of the building with brute force.
The enemy already couldn’t move. Since he couldn’t shoot Benedict without turning around, it would be fine to leave the rest to him.
–But really, everyone’s carrying charms these days. Even if it’s a common item, it’s not cheap. As expected of a criminal organization, they have money.
“Dragon’s Throat” also had them, but even if it was just some weakling’s magic, the durability would be reduced, so we usually kept them deactivated. They were too expensive to use regularly, so we only equipped them when they seemed necessary.
The carriage turned around on the spot and increased its speed to the extent that the guards on foot could keep up.
Everyone seemed to be on the lookout, but even when Iris Lune traced the emotions around, she couldn’t find any more reactions from attackers.