Chapter 12: Would You Let Me Cut Your Hair?

At dusk, the people of Dasilva watched in curiosity as the frontier count, clad in menacing mana, marched toward the Spirit Temple with dozens of knights in tow.

“What’s all that commotion?”

“I hear he’s going to retrieve the youngest princess from the Temple. She must’ve misunderstood something and run wild again.”

“The lord has it rough.”

The frontier count would probably offer a light apology, take Judith home, and bring the matter to an end. The public appeared to watch the situation with that carefree assumption. Apparently, Judith causing disturbances was nothing unusual.

After observing them from inside Kiko’s shadow, I immediately put our plan into action.

From the garden of a vacant house behind the Spirit Temple, I extended Mage Hand toward the marker I’d planted inside the Temple’s library. Teleportation allowed me to enter any location as long as Mage Hand could reach it.

Naturally, countermeasures existed.

Important buildings such as noble estates and temples often had mana-barrier spell circuits engraved into their walls. This barrier spell differed substantially in nature from barriers used in combat. Powerful magical attacks couldn’t shatter it; instead, it neutralized attacks according to the amount of mana placed into it beforehand. Naturally, it could cancel Mage Hand, and even Kiko’s shadow had difficulty breaching it.

Therefore, if I wanted to infiltrate a temple, I generally had to exploit a gap in security and enter through the front door… but doing that every time was simply too troublesome. That was why I dug horizontal tunnels in advance beneath places I infiltrated frequently, just as I had here.

I’d originally created this tunnel to enter the library. I hadn’t expected it to become useful for rescuing Judith.

Without any particular trouble, we infiltrated the Spirit Temple’s library in an instant.

“Kiko, do you know where Judith is?”

“Mm. I know.”

“Then it’s time for your shadow magic.”

From the library onward, I entered Kiko’s shadow, and we headed toward the room where Judith was imprisoned.

There were lights inside the Temple, but it inevitably remained dimmer than daytime. Kiko’s dark shadow could move without standing out at all. We slipped beneath the feet of the priests guarding the halls, entered through a gap in the heavily locked double doors, and reached Judith with astonishing ease.

Three priests wearing severe expressions surrounded Judith inside the room. All three were women, an outward gesture of consideration because their prisoner was the lord’s daughter.

Only outward, of course.

The three women crowded around Judith and berated her relentlessly.

“Aren’t you ashamed to make such accusations without evidence?”

“Trying to frame the Temple for crimes it hasn’t committed…”

“This is what comes of raising a young lady with too much indulgence.”

“Your birth may be noble, but your heart is base.”

Judith stood in the middle, pale-faced and trembling. Yes. I couldn’t leave this alone any longer.

“—Penne, I’m borrowing your magic.”

I withdrew one magic tool and tossed it out of the shadow. With a small puff, smoke spread through the room, and the female priests toppled one after another.

—Sleep Bomb.

This useful device held Penne’s Sleep magic inside a magic jewel, fashioned into a nonlethal bomb-type magic tool.

Activating personal-magic tools required mana compatibility, and Penne’s Sleep magic weakened considerably when driven by my mana. However… the women possessed Low-grade mana at best, so fortunately, it worked. On the other hand, this tool had no effect on Judith’s Special-grade mana. She merely stood frozen, her eyes wide.

“I came to rescue you, Princess.”

After emerging from the shadow, I retrieved the Sleep Bomb and extended a hand to Judith.

“I-I… I have done something terrible—”

“We’ll talk later. For now, you must do exactly as I say.”

“Y-yes.”

I took her hand and returned to the shadow.

Inside, Kiko awaited me with an oddly reproachful stare. What was it? If she had something to say, I’d listen.

“…Another girl.”

“Ah… Yes.”

“Crow, gimme candy.”

As I fed Kiko, I reflected upon my own actions. Yes. This was bad. I’d behaved exactly like a prince rescuing a captive princess. I thought so objectively, and I thought so subjectively. This might become tremendously troublesome.

Very well. I’d think about it later.

“Judith, there’s one thing I want to confirm first. Where is your attendant, the knight Meia?”

“I-I don’t know. We were separated when they captured me… They told me that if I resisted, they would harm Meia. Is she safe?”

“We’re going to find that out now… Shall we go and see for ourselves?”

It would probably be quicker to show her than to explain.

“Incidentally… Was Meia the person who told you about the Spirit Temple’s human experiments?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“I think you’re about to learn the answer to that as well. Probably.”

I asked Kiko to move us with her shadow magic.

Judith had known about the human experiments. When I heard that, I considered two possibilities.

The first was that the lord’s side had intentionally leaked the information to Judith as part of some scheme, using her to shake the Spirit Temple. The second was that the Spirit Temple itself had deliberately leaked the information to Judith in order to provoke her actions.

After speaking with the lord, I believed it was probably the latter—that the Spirit Temple had arranged this.

At the end of our journey through the shadows, we saw… Meia eating and chatting cheerfully with the head priest of the Spirit Temple.

She looked nothing like a knight whose mistress had been captured. Instead of the emotionless expression she wore while standing behind Judith, her face held a radiant smile.

“—My goodness, I’ve put you through considerable hardship.”

“Not at all. This, too, was the guidance of the spirits.”

“Hmm. It pained me greatly to send a devout believer like you into the home of a filthy noble… but you achieved results worthy of the task. Your skill in raising that youngest daughter into such an uncontrollable tomboy was particularly remarkable.”

For a moment, I worried Judith would leap out of the shadow, so I took her hand. Her trembling fingers clutched my arm as though seeking support.

Yes. She could hold on as long as she wished.

“It took time, but just as planned, you created a tremendous opening in that shrewd frontier count’s defenses. Heh, heh, heh… With the youngest daughter under our control, we’ll be able to move even more freely. A splendid achievement, Believer Meiarante.”

“Yes, Head Priest. I’m honored.”

“Indeed. I release you from your infiltration assignment… Resign from House Dandelion under the pretext of taking responsibility for failing to restrain the youngest daughter, and return to the Temple. From now on, you’ll serve at my side and devote your entire being to me.”

While the head priest spoke, I secretly extended a magic tool toward him with Mage Hand and recorded his mana signature. It was necessary for the plan to come.

Once I’d accomplished what was required, I exchanged a glance with Kiko and had her move us back toward the library through the shadows.

Meia, the knight who’d served at Judith’s side, was a spy planted by the Temple. Considering everything we’d heard, that was the truth. She’d appeared to restrain Judith while actually encouraging her rampages. She’d remained beside her for nearly five years… For eleven-year-old Judith, that meant she’d spent almost half her life with Meia, continuously shaped by her influence.

As we moved, Judith murmured.

“I was… raised for the sole purpose of causing trouble for Father. For nothing more than that…”

Her words sounded hollow, as though every trace of the confidence, pride, and hope she’d once possessed had fallen away.

I wanted to offer her something comforting.

But then an emotion from my previous life returned to my mind.

—Don’t pity me according to your standards.

That was right. I’d forgotten for a long time, but words of comfort could make a person feel even more miserable when they were already low.

Besides, I’d never been especially eloquent. What could one say at a moment like this? I couldn’t imagine finding some convenient phrase that would instantly clear her heart.

Then, at the very least, I wouldn’t pity Judith. With that decision, I simply held her hand. It was all I could do for the moment, but… Yes.

“Judith. Would you let me cut your hair?”

“My… hair?”

“I discussed matters with the frontier count. If we’re going to teach those people at the Spirit Temple a lesson, your hair is absolutely essential. I’ll need to cut quite a lot of it.”

Once we reached the library, we began the preparations I’d discussed with the frontier count.

After all, our minimum objective—rescuing Judith—had been accomplished safely.

Now we only had to give everything we had to make the rest of the plan succeed.