Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 23: Contract / The Main Road
Lady Phyllis had brought a map, and I was able to easily find my target location—within the Glasbel territory, there was a landform that matches my memory.
(There’s a village along the main road. Nearby is a canyon… a treacherous place that even the locals never set foot in. An exploration area, so to speak.)
‘Artifact & Blade’ is a game where you select various areas marked on the map to complete quests. These areas include battle zones, exploration areas, etc., and in exploration areas, there is generally no need to fight.
However, in the quest titled ‘Lost Herb,’ powerful monsters may appear between the time you find the herbs and the time you bring them back. In the game, it wasn’t a problem if you just ran away, but if such monsters appear this time, it’ll be a matter of life or death, so I can’t let my guard down.
“…So, Reis-san, I’m planning to go out for a bit tomorrow…”
“I will accompany you as well.”
“…okay.”
I thought I shouldn’t involve Reis-san, but when he said he’d come along willingly, I couldn’t refuse.
After coming out of the bath and returning to the guest room, I wondered what Reis-san would do since he couldn’t put the mask on right now—but it turned out that he simply waited until after getting out of the bath, and returned wearing the mask.
(I feel sorry for having seen your real face, but I lost to my curiosity… how pathetic of me…)
I sit on the bed, conflicted, but Reis-san tilted his head slightly – perhaps wondering what’s going on.
“…duke Glasbel is expected to begin clearing out the bandits soon.”
“If possible, I’d like to join… but at my age, I’m sure people will say I’m too young. But I’d still like to take part.”
“Now that everyone knows of Lady Ashrina’s strength, no one will raise objections… well, in reality, it’s natural for people to still have doubts, but your sword skills surpasses that.”
“Eh… well, even if you say so, I still feel I’m nowhere near that level. There are people I know who are much stronger than me.”
“That’s…”
(If I say it like this, they might think I’m talking about the ‘Black-Haired Swordsman’… and maybe that’s not entirely wrong either…)
“…How did you gain such strength, Lady Ashrina. I still only know a small part of who you are.”
“Haha… I’m pretty simple. Just practicing swings makes me feel like I’m getting stronger, somehow.”
For me, I see the basis of everything as the fundamental swings and the other training as a kind of derivation of it.
“Then, it seems you are truly loved by the God of Swords. You single-handedly defeated more than ten soldiers, and yet remained unscathed, with boundless magical power remaining… If the members of the royal family saw your strength, they would have no choice but to change their opinion of you.”
“…If that’s how different I am now from what the royal family knows me to be. I think maybe that’s why I can do some things now that I couldn’t before.”
Count Vandel is not the only one trying to seize territory from a neighboring country. Even the princes of Forlant—my older brothers and sisters—are interested in expanding their land, as I can tell from the rumors.
If sacred Relics were to be used in a war with neighboring nations of Forlant, it would lead to irreparable damage. The only way to prevent this is to fight fire with fire—– to compete with the sacred Relics summoned by other royal families that have incredible powers from the start, I need to increase the proficiency of my own sacred Relic as much as possible.
“So you have resolved to go that far. I no longer intend to follow my former master… but instead of trying to take your life, younger sister, I hope to pursue my ideals in another way…”
In fact, in the game, some of the royal members of the Forlant family appear—some even as boss enemies.
(After the assassination attempt on the First Prince, other princes began to rise to prominence. One of them was the Fourth Prince, Rodimus… a prince who holds a major secret related to his birth. Is it the same in this world too…?)
“Reis-san, the person who was your master… well I suppose, you probably can’t say…”
“…No. My master is…”
–Just as Reiss was about to speak,
I felt as if I could see someone on the opposite side of him. Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his shirt.
“…I’m sorry. As I thought, my contract with my master still holds. Even though I am allowed to be here, I cannot even speak his name.”
“It’s my fault… I didn’t know about your circumstances and asked questions just to ease my own mind.”
If Reis-san had continued to say the master’s name, it would have been like going against the contract with the summoner.
The punishment for that would probably be that Reis-san would disappear from here—whether that means the contract itself would be severed or he would be returned to his summoner, I don’t know.
“Lady Ashrina is so strong she could defeat dozens alone… no, perhaps even a hundred, and still not be defeated. I understand that I am nothing more than a trivial obstacle. But as long as I am here, please, let me serve you.”
I had decided on my own not to burden Reis-san anymore. Even though he was the one who wanted to come with me.
“Thank you. But please remember, I am the one who owes you more than you owe me.”
“…Lady Ashrina.”
“You brought me bread and soup, and every day you secretly took me outside the castle for a little while—If you hadn’t, my dignity as a person would have been in tatters and my spirit would have broken.”
“That… how should I put it? My master, doesn’t seem to blame you for what happened with the sacred Artifact summoning—he seems to think that if you are to be killed by another’s hand, then by my hand…”
I don’t know exactly what my brothers and sisters thought of me. But I believe that when I was called the “Princess of White Radiance,” I didn’t face any overt hostility from them.
(As long as he doesn’t reveal his true identity, it seems we can talk about his master… though All I know at the moment is that he’s a scary person…)
“Sorry for the alarming way I put it…”
“No, it’s okay. It made me start thinking again.”
I truly want Reis-san to be free, in the truest sense. To do that, I need to hide my identity and go to Forlant.
“…What do you mean by you ‘thinking?”
“I still only know a small part of the country I was born in. I wonder what kind of schemes were at work when the sacred Relics summoning was deemed a failure… I’m really curious about that.”
“Lady Arshina… then I will investigate Forlant…”
“No, it’s dangerous for you to do it alone. If you want to do that, I’ll do it too. If I can hide the fact that I’m a former princess, I can go to Forlant.”
Infiltrating Forlant under a false identity—it’s like something a ninja or spy would do. But if magic exists in this world, and there are ways to change appearances, then it’s not impossible.
“When the time comes, I want you to come with me too, Reis-san. Let’s cross that dangerous bridge together, carefully.”
“…Yes. As you command, Lady Ashrina.”
When I told Lady Phyllis that I had something on my mind, I was already thinking about returning to Forlant.
If Lord Eric and Lady Phyllis go to the academy within Forlant, I’d accompany them as an escort—though escaping from captivity only to return might seem unthinkable normally.
And I also need to consider other ways to infiltrate Forlant, since I don’t know if they will let me. But before that, I need to cure Duke Glasbel’s illness.
◆◇◆
The next morning, just as I was preparing to leave with Reis-san, I was spotted by Phyllis as we were getting on our horses.
“So, you were planning to go just the two of you after all…”
As we stepped onto the main road, lady Phyllis glared at us as she paces her horse besides me —but it was a gentle glare, as if to say “Hmph?”
“If you had told me, I’d given you some funds, and if you were traveling with me, you won’t have to worry about lodging or anything like that.”
“That’s… well, honestly, it’s a huge help. But I feel bad relying on you so much.”
“Hehe…Considering what you’ve done for me, this is nothing. father also wanted you to hold some land within Glasbel.”
“Eh… I don’t think I need all that…”
As I was about to say that, I remembered that there was also a reward for clearing a quest that gave you a house. It was a system called “Housing,” —the ability to create your own home freely.
(So, The talk of getting a house has changed to a scale of getting surrounding land as well…?Is fighting off bandits considered that much of a feat ……?)
“He said that rather than a guest, he considered you to be a valuable member of his fighting force. Yesterday’s battle must have been particularly impressive… It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my father so talkative.”
Lady Phyllis kept praising me as she walked her horse – I was starting to feel embarrassed, and when she suggested we move ahead quickly, I urged her to run her horse. Lady Phyllis’s horsemanship was better than mine, so much so that I couldn’t keep up with her without using magic.