Ch. 235

“This……!”

Already in battle mode.

The Count’s blood hadn’t even been washed off his sword yet.

Reflexively, I gritted my teeth and reached into my hood.

Without mercy, I grabbed Rai, who was caught off guard, and swung him around.

[Eek! Are you going to fight?]

Rai, suddenly grabbed by the scruff of his neck, twitched in resistance, but I only held him tighter.

[You said you’d help!]

[I didn’t say I’d die!]

No matter how hard I turned it over in my head, my odds of winning were miserably low, but I was the one who had survived a Dragon’s grip.

Rovenin was just a natural enemy, not some colossal being capable of crushing humans to death.

At the end of the day, he was just a human, same as me.

I was already tense, so slipping into battle mode was instantaneous, and Rovenin gave a small nod as if pleased by that, then tightened his grip on his sharp sword and strode toward me.

His blade, which my gaze was drawn to against my will, was an ugly, blackened color, as if it had been steeped in old blood.

[I’m against fighting! I’m against it! Let’s love peace!]

“Shut up. I’m going to win.”

[Ack! That baseless confidence is exploding again!]

I narrowed my eyes, but my palms were already slightly damp with sweat.

I squeezed Rai’s neck even harder.

Rai now looked like a three-span-long, wriggling snake-shaped staff, but he served as a mana battery.

It was only recently that I’d begun using him in this form, since I needed to be in contact with Rai to draw on the Mana stored inside him.

“Come on! I’ll show you that a beating is the right answer to a mad dog.”

“As you wish.”

I was clutching Rai like a club, ready to summon something troublesome, and Rovenin was closing in with a nasty smile, coming within striking distance when—

“Stop.”

Ash stepped between me and Rovenin, who were blazing with hostility, just as I’d expected.

But I thought it wouldn’t matter, since he was the weakest one here.

Like a dolphin getting dragged into a fight between whales.

[That’s going to hurt!]

What I didn’t expect was that Ash grabbed Rovenin’s well-honed sword with his bare hand—and that Rovenin, the great Rovenin, actually paused and froze.

Rovenin’s eyes flashed with a different light than usual.

“I don’t understand.”

“Put down your sword. Now.”

“Why are you interfering?”

Even a lunatic didn’t want to see his own country’s prince bleed, it seemed.

Not that his expression matched the sentiment. And there was already blood—

Before I knew it, I was staring at the drops of Ash’s blood falling from beneath Rovenin’s sword.

“Your Highness, it’s always difficult to make you understand. But let me make this clear. You’re the one doing something absurd right now.”

“What’s the problem?”

“Don’t you know that the problem is that you don’t know what the problem is?”

“I don’t know.”

“It means she’s not someone you should be fighting!”

Ash was so kind.

If it were me, I would’ve punched that oblivious face a long time ago.

“Is it because she’s a woman? If so, I’m disappointed in Your Highness. Everyone is equal before the sword.”

Damn it, that’s only when swordsmen are dueling! I’m a Spirit Mage!

I wanted to butt in, but Ash’s voice was firmer and more forceful than ever, so I decided to hold back and watch.

“I swear on my mother, who was a knight. Never! That’s not the reason! She’s stronger and braver than anyone. That’s why she doesn’t back down from you, even when you charge at her like a mad dog. Because she understands honor!”

“Then, even more…… there’s no reason not to fight.”

“Rovenin!”

“Your Highness, open your eyes and look properly. That woman feels the same way I do. We want each other.”

“……”

“Very intensely and primitively.”

Hey, was that the nuance?

[As expected! I think Ash is the only sane person here.]

“……That’s not what I meant, but it’s still annoying.”

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind, just put down your sword.”

That was undeniably an order.

An oppressive command, given unilaterally by a royal to someone beneath him.

It was the first time I’d seen Ash show this kind of intense anger, and I… actually liked it.

It stirred me more than seeing him display overwhelming physical ability with that mild face of his.

I felt as excited as when he was half-naked.

Maybe I was a pervert to the marrow after all.

“……You didn’t bring me here to have me fight that woman?”

“Of course not!”

“Then why did you bring me?”

[Are you blind!]

“We came to a quiet place purely to ask you something! You never understand the obvious unless I spell it out. I came to tell you because you recognized me! That’s something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place! I…… would never make you two fight unless I’d completely lost my mind!”

“But that woman also…….”

“You might as well stick a knife in my throat.”

It was a rather surprising sight.

Rovenin’s aura visibly deflated under Ash’s scolding, even though Ash hadn’t raised his voice once.

It was like watching a child being scolded by his favorite teacher.

Was he actually reasonable…?

Ash could rein Rovenin in. That was unexpected.

Of course, I sometimes let Ash win, but I still hold out a little longer than that.

The relationship between Ash and Rovenin was like paper beating rock. For that matter, it was strange that cautious Ash had brought me to Rovenin at all.

Was it because he was confident he could control Rovenin to some degree?

I narrowed my eyes and glared at the back of Ash’s head.

[I’ve decided. I’m going to have Ash.]

[What all of a sudden…… wasn’t he already Master’s?]

[Yeah, but now I want every strand of his hair. He’s more useful than I thought.]

[Why are you suddenly burning with perverted possessiveness?]

[I’ve finally found Rovenin’s weakness.]

It really was true—the light under the lamp is darkest.

The thought that Ash might know that guy’s weakness, or that the weakness I’d thought didn’t exist in this world might actually be real, made me grin wickedly.

While I was plotting all sorts of sinister things, Rovenin was getting scolded by Ash and was being forced to hand over his sword, which carried several important implications.

For a swordsman to surrender his sword to someone else meant, first and foremost, a tremendous bond of trust, and the fact that he relinquished his weapon even though he could win by force meant the other person was important enough to override his stubbornness.

It was something he could only do because that person had real meaning to him.

‘To be able to handle Rovenin after me… at this point, I should call Ash a charm trainer rather than the imperial family’s mother bird.’

I casually wound Rai, who had been serving as a staff, around my wrist, turning him into a snake-shaped gold bracelet, and slowly approached Ash from behind.

Ash noticed and turned, raising his left hand as if to tell me not to come any closer, eyes stern.

The distance between me and Rovenin was about two or three steps, and Ash stood between us like a beast trainer balancing on a knife’s edge.

“Everyone, please calm down and listen. We don’t need to fight. There must be some kind of misunderstanding.”

“There isn’t. I just hate him. I want Rovenin Fedri to die.”

“Geenie!”

Rovenin and I remained expressionless, regardless of being scolded.

Ash’s anger wasn’t frightening, but his effort was admirable.

That was probably why beasts didn’t eat their trainers.

They could devour them in an instant, but they were already full, the trainer wasn’t a threat, and sometimes they were entertaining.

They got classified as cute and excluded from the food chain.

“It seems like now is the only opportunity.”

“What opportunity?”

“I hope you two can clear up your misunderstandings through conversation—for my sake.”

“I’m telling you, we’re not the kind of people who have misunderstandings.”

“That’s exactly it. You’re clashing and hostile because you don’t know each other well. Once you understand each other a little and let go of your hostility, you’ll quickly realize there’s no real reason to hate one another. The reason you two are at odds is…… a kind of cultural difference.”

“Cultural difference?”

“Like dogs and cats, there’s a misunderstanding that comes from different ways of expressing yourselves.”

Ash’s pacifism operated on a completely different scale than mine.

Did he seriously think Rovenin and I could become friends?

His efforts were noble, but it didn’t look promising.

“Ash?”

“You’re both belligerent, so you just look at the surface and label each other as enemies. In reality, there’s no need to…….”

“That’s enough. That’s purely your wish. I feel like Rovenin and I have been incompatible since birth. Maybe he’s a natural enemy sent by God. That’s how much I hate that guy.”

“How could that be? Geenie, let me formally introduce you while we’re at it. I know you already know him, but this is Rovenin Fedri, the eldest son of House Fedri. Say hello.”

“What? Why!”

“You’ve never even properly greeted the Prince, have you?”

“……That’s.”

“So it’s a bit much to talk about natural enemies.”

Damn it, it was like he’d brought in an etiquette tutor.

I sulked and shut my mouth, and Rovenin seemed to hate this as much as I did.

His face looked like he was in a staring contest with me to see who could look more annoyed.

“The Lord has many enemies because of his personality. He’s someone who acts before he speaks, and because of his position, he often talks down to people and throws orders around, so he’s easily misunderstood as looking down on everyone, but…… he’s lived his life that way and doesn’t realize he’s in the wrong.”

“The fact that he doesn’t know he’s wrong is the problem, isn’t it?”

“He picks fights with anybody, but it’s not out of malice. He’s just obsessed with proving his strength…… he doesn’t bully the weak. He’s dangerous, but…… he’s not a bad person. If you get to know him, you might find you have something in common.”

Was it the part about speaking down to people being a habit, or the part about picking fights with everyone?

Or the part about being dangerous in general?

I quickly understood what he meant, but I didn’t want to admit it, so I snorted and shot back sarcastically.

“He’s not a bad person? Him? Are you even serious right now? Huh? Ash, why are you defending someone like him? You know how dangerous he is? I heard the number of bandits he’s killed is on the scale of entire villages.”

“……He does kill people sometimes, but he doesn’t kill the innocent.”

“He probably kills them constantly, not sometimes.”

“There are all kinds of people in the world. People like me, who are absolutely against killing…… and people like you, Geenie, who believe sins can be atoned for with death. Rovenin’s beliefs are closer to yours than mine. In that sense, the two of you are very similar.”

Who are you grouping me with?

I only killed slave traders. I have my own preferences and principles when it comes to killing.

Come to think of it, Ash was the only one who always took my side.

Realizing that his defending Rovenin, whom everyone hated, came from that same place gave me a strange feeling.

Me and that guy are on the same level?

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