In a secluded forest.
Lucia and Ellie were walking.
“We should definitely inform Sena.”
“You know it’s pointless to say anything when we don’t know all the facts.”
Cruyff Birkender.
The Church of Justitia was already certain he was a traitor.
There might be another motive. Maybe it’s a misunderstanding.
That stage has passed. There were too many clues already found.
Especially, Ellie became convinced due to this incident.
However, Lucia thought there was no rush.
The Holy Knights had already advanced nearby, and given Empress Astria’s power, they could handle even if a Great Demon were to come here.
“My dreams have been restless.”
Lucia’s steps stopped.
It wasn’t something to be easily overlooked.
Ellie’s dreams meant reality.
“What kind of dream?”
“…A dream where Sena destroys the church.”
“…!”
“I don’t know the details, but it’s probably the future that occurs if we eliminate Cruyff Birkender without Sena’s consent.”
Cruyff Birkender. Sena’s father.
She knew he was the only support for Sena, who grew up in quite a harsh environment.
However, it was hard to believe that Sena, who valued human life above all, would do such a thing.
“There’s no way. No matter how much he hates the church, he wouldn’t go that far.”
“…Sister Lucia, aside from maintaining my basic physical state, I’m using all my divine power for mystical purposes.”
This was also why Ellie’s physical strength had weakened.
In other words, the chances of her being wrong were rare now that she was more focused on her powers than ever.
And Lucia knew this very well.
“It will be difficult.”
“I think it’s beyond our capabilities.”
Both knew their positions well.
No matter what they said, they, who hadn’t known him long, wouldn’t be believed if they claimed his father was a traitor to humanity.
They needed an ally.
“Can’t we persuade the Empress somehow?”
Ellie shook her head.
“I think it would be better to bring Miss Sylvia in. I don’t think even Her Majesty the Empress will be able to persuade him.”
“…Indeed. Miss Sylvia seems to be on better terms with him. They seem almost like lovers rather than just friends.”
“Oh my, if you say such things openly, Lady Justitia won’t like it.”
Ellie covered her mouth and chuckled.
But, it wasn’t just Justitia who disliked such talk.
“Congratulations.”
“…!”
From the dark forest, a blond girl with gleaming blue eyes appeared.
Her eyes were like those of a predator.
“You’ve managed to pique my interest.”
And a very angry predator at that.
**
“Mmmpf, mmmpf.”
“Don’t make a sound, Sena.”
Sena was tied up with his mouth gagged. He struggled for a moment, but it was no use.
‘What is this!’
He was gathering coconuts when he accidentally ran into Chris.
Before he could even enjoy the joy of reunion, he was half-kidnapped.
Chloe was also there.
But why was his mouth gagged?
‘…At least they’re safe.’
No, first he needed to free his hands. Sena tapped Chris’s arm. Chris stared at him intently. He seemed a bit tense.
“I’ll release you if you promise not to scream.”
Nod, nod.
Sena hastily nodded several times, and the large hand covering his mouth slowly moved away.
“How… how did you get here?”
“That’s what I want to ask. How did you get here so quickly?”
Because they had a capable priest.
Anyway, Sena was very happy to see Chris.
He had been extremely worried about the missing Chris.
He feared he might do something reckless alone…
There was one more person he was glad to see.
Chloe, looking slightly down at the ground.
When he stared at her, she spoke in a very small voice.
“…Hello.”
“Uh, hello, Chloe.”
Sena awkwardly waved his hand.
It made sense; he had done something terrible to her.
On the other hand, while talking naturally with Chris, Sena’s reaction when talking to her was hesitant, making Chloe look sad.
-‘Sena?’
-‘That furball. I should have kept him tied up.’
Flinch.
The faint sound carried by the wind made his shoulders shake.
Chris glanced briefly in the direction the sound came from and frowned.
“Sena. I’ll explain later. Just, you must keep our presence here an absolute secret.”
“Can I… can I keep it a secret?”
Chris chuckled at Sena’s clueless face, which he hadn’t seen in a long time.
“You can do it. Besides, it’s best to keep it sealed for now.”
“Ouch.”
Chris took Chloe’s hair tie and roughly tied up Sena’s hair. Ponytail Sena blinked.
“Huh?”
“I trust you, Sena.”
Chris spoke seriously. Sena had no choice but to nod in agreement.
“Got it. But I’ll come back later when I get a chance, so stay here for now.”
“If you leave this area, you’ll be caught by Sylvia anyway.”
“Yeah. I don’t really get it, but I’ll go for now. Just wait a bit, Chloe.”
Sena pushed through the bushes and came out. He took one last look at the spot where Chris was hiding before walking into the clearing.
‘It was dark, so I couldn’t see well, but Chris was sweating a lot.’
Empire. Rebellion. Empress. Guardian Knight.
Sena doesn’t know much about politics.
But surely, there must be some reason behind this.
Honestly, he couldn’t imagine the fiery Astria handling things smoothly.
“Senior.”
As soon as he reached the clearing, Sylvia came striding over, panting.
“Where have you been… what’s that?”
“Coconuts. They contain antioxidants, medium-chain fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals that help boost immunity.”
“…Senior, are you sick?”
Don’t look at me like that. …I have my own reasons.
Sena dropped the coconuts he had gathered into his robe.
There were quite a few. It was worth the effort of walking around with sore arms.
“Doing something useless again.”
Astria passed by with a light comment.
“Then I won’t give any to Your Majesty!”
“I wouldn’t eat it even if you gave it to me.”
‘Who do you think I brought these for?’
A balanced diet is important for patients.
Seeing her health decline, he went through all this trouble, only to be treated like this.
He wasn’t wandering around out of boredom.
Feeling disappointed, he looked at Astria, who turned her head sharply and headed to the carriage.
“For us… How can I thank you?”
“As expected, Sena, you’re such a warm-hearted person!”
The only ones who appreciated it were the priests.
His feelings towards the Church were starting to improve a bit.
“Nothing unusual happened?”
“It’s strange. There were traces, but no people, even when we looked closely.”
Sylvia picked up one of the coconuts on the ground.
A very hard, round thing. Is this really good for you?
Sena wouldn’t be wrong, but honestly, it felt cumbersome to eat.
“I see. It’s strange that Sylvia missed any signs…”
Sena felt a sense of déjà vu as he spoke.
‘Wait a minute, so that campfire belonged to Chris.’
He realized the culprit belatedly.
“We did find out something, though.”
“Find out something?”
“It’s obvious. We looked quite far but found nothing, which means they’re around here somewhere.”
“…Then wouldn’t Sylvia have found them? If they’re nearby, Sylvia wouldn’t miss them.”
“My magic detection isn’t perfect. I’m a knight, after all. There are specialists in this field, like mages. If even Her Majesty couldn’t sense them, then it means the mage is quite skilled… and such skilled mages aren’t common.”
Sylvia’s precise speculation almost made Sena’s legs give out.
He trembled slightly.
‘Chris is finally trusting me after almost a century…!’
If he failed this time, it was clear how Chris would see him.
He might be remembered at his funeral as ‘a clumsy oaf who always missed a screw.’
He hated that idea!
Sena wanted to leave behind good memories.
“But there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier.”
“Uh, yeah? What is it?”
Sena laughed awkwardly as Sylvia approached. Sylvia started playing with his hair.
“You tied it up.”
“Yeah, it was inconvenient when picking fruit. How does it look? Does it suit me?”
“It suits you, but…”
Sena’s nape was damp with sweat.
She slowly backed away.
“You, who hates tying your hair up because it makes you look like a girl, tied it up just because it was a bit inconvenient? And a ponytail, no less?”
“Even I want a change sometimes.”
However, Sena wasn’t very good at lying.
It was more that his hair kept sticking up.
Actually, he was quite good at lying. He always lied about one thing or another.
“Well, you are rather unpredictable, Senior. I’ll go look around a bit.”
Sylvia started walking precisely in Chris’s direction.
“S-Sylvia?”
Sena grabbed her arm.
“Yes?”
“Let’s… eat first.”
“What are you talking about? It could be dangerous. Let go of me.”
“Uh, um…”
“Really, you’re going to get in trouble.”
‘Darn cheeky junior…!’
Sena’s pride was deeply wounded.
But he had to endure it for Chris.
He couldn’t let Sylvia go that way.
“But, I want to stay with you.”
Sena said as he hugged Sylvia.
‘I want to die.’
He is a senior.
He is a man.
He has to act cute to survive.
Sena felt utterly pathetic.
“Ahem.”
Sylvia coughed, her face turning red.
“Come to think of it, today seems… difficult to endure.”
“Huh? What’s hard to bear?”
Sena tilted his head in confusion.
Realizing Sylvia had misunderstood something, her pupils wavered.
But she couldn’t take back what she had said.
Showing embarrassment now would mean losing.
“…Didn’t you promise, Senior? Don’t you remember? You told me to tell you if it was hard to bear.”
Sena awkwardly scratched his head.
“I-I did?”
“Yes, you did. Shall we go?”
“Uh, where?”
“Of course, to a quiet place.”
Sena was dragged away by Sylvia.
Not even noticing the blue light flickering through the gap in the carriage door.
