Sionâs voice telling her to stop didnât make it in time.
The fired mass of magical power is flying straight here.
⊠No. Itâs aimed at Freed.
As I understood that, pushing Freed aside I immediately got in front of him and held out my hand towards the mass.
âLidi!â
I heard Freedâs voice, but I ignored it. The moment I touched the mass, I loudly shouted.
âDisappear!â
The moment I did, the mass of magical power instantly vanished. Then all traces of it disappeared too.
âFuuâŠâ
Iâm glad. Nothing happened.
Even if I can repel it, such things are too dangerous.
No matter how few people are here in the outskirts, weâre still inside the town, so thereâs no way to know how much damage may occur. Itâs best that I erase it.
â⊠Princess, you really show no hesitation when the Crown Prince is involved⊠I guess there was no time or opportunity for me to actâ
Ugh , I became lost for words hearing Cainâs amazed voice from behind.
B, but, there was no damage in the end, so isnât it fine. All is well that ends well, besides with this flow of events Sion is likely to remain an ally.
ââŠâ
⊠I canât see them, but the eyes looking at me are painful still. Feeling awkward, I somehow forced a smile.
⊠Yes, I am sorry.
Above reasons were a complete postscript. I simply hated Freed being attacked. There was nothing else.
âHaaâŠâ
I heard Freed let out a breath of relief.
I tried looking back, but he strongly pulled me towards himself and tightly hugged me from behind.
âIâm glad youâre safe. Jeez⊠I beg you, donât do something so dangerous by yourselfâ
âUgh⊠I am sorryâ
He put strength into his arms.
âIâm happy you did your best for my sake, however only being saved by Lidi feels a little uncool. Let me show off once in a while tooâ
Hearing the line said with a bitter laugh, I shook my head.
âNot at all? Freed is a prince who always saves me. Youâre cool enoughâ
I said what I honestly thought, but at my line the two people became speechless for a moment.
â⊠Lidiâ
âPrincess⊠Itâs scary how unaware you areâŠâ
âNn?â
Huh? Have I said anything strange.
To gloss over the strange atmosphere that appeared, I forcibly changed the subject.
â⊠E, err, ah! But, Cain, you arenât surprisedâ
âNn?â
The matter of neutralization magic. I shouldnât have informed Cain.
And yet heâs composed.
When I asked a question about what I found strange, he returned an answer like it was natural.
âIâve heard from granny. She said itâs time to lift the information ban alreadyâ
âAh, I seeâ
Certainly, thereâs no meaning in keeping it silent from Cain if Freed knows.
When I looked up front satisfied with that, the girl who fired magic was looking here with eyes wide open and her body stiffened.
Unconsciously, she was pulling the hem of Sionâs clothes.
â⊠Lord Sion⊠What, what was that nowâŠ? Same, as Lord Sion?â
While stroking the hair of the girl who spoke in a dumbfounded voice, with a âNoâ Sion calmly shook his head.
Then, in a warning tone he chided the girl.
âRena. I understand well you cannot trust higher-ups, however if youâre saying you want to stay with me, please abide by my words and actions⊠You acted horribly just now. If you had properly listened to our talk, youâd understand this isnât an unfair contract, right? You messed it up⊠It wonât be forgiven twice, okay?â
âah! ⊠I am sorry, Lord Sion⊠I wonât do it againâ
As the girlâs body trembled with a start and she apologized in a voice that seemed like itâd vanish, Sion faintly smiled and turned here.
He bowed his head deeply.
âExcuse my companionâs discourtesy. I believe you have an idea, but this child is a former slave⊠She went through an awfully painful experience in Tarim. I wonât ask you to excuse her with that, but could you forgive her just this time?â
â⊠Donât you have questions regarding Lidi?â
Deliberately not returning an answer, Freed asked him so.
Aah , I thought at that question.
Come to think of it. Thereâs no problem with Cain since his doubt was cleared up, but despite being shown neutralization magic, Senpaiâs response was extremely ordinary.
But, no matter how I look at it, itâs strange. After all, neutralization magic seems to be extremely rare. That Rena girlâs response is correct.
Itâs simple , Sion explained the reason to Freed seeing his natural doubt.
I nodded at that. I remember seeing Senpai after using neutralization magic.
I suspected my eyes of deceiving me though.
â⊠It was at a distance, however I think it certainly was Sionâ
âI seeâŠâ
Hearing our conversation, Sion continued talking.
âAre you convinced? I wasnât surprised because Iâd already known about it. However, I truly apologize for my companion. I couldnât complain even if she were sentenced to capital punishment for firing magic at royalty⊠However, as an apology for her impoliteness, I will tell you one of my secrets. I understand itâs an impudent request, but could we settle it like that this time?â
âSecret?â
âYeah. Itâs fine if you judge after seeing it. If it turns out insufficient, please tell me⊠Renaâ
âah! Yes. Lord Sionâ
Called out in a quiet voice, the girl sprang up.
Senpai ordered such a girl.
âFire the earlier magic at me⊠Lidi, Iâm sorry to trouble you, but could you once again erase the magic? I think the magic will go your wayâ
âErr? I need to erase it? Thatâs not a problemâŠâ
When I accepted without understanding what heâs getting at, this time Sion turned to Freed.
âYour Highness Friedrich too. I believe it wonât be a problem, but the attack will go your way, so just in case please take care⊠You donât mind, right?â
â⊠I understandâ
I have no idea what Senpaiâs about to do.
Still, while I was tilting my head inside Freedâs arms as he increased his guard, the girl troubledly alternated her gaze between my and Senpaiâs faces.
âBut⊠Lord Sion⊠That isâŠâ
âYou are aware of my power, right. Donât worry and do itâ
âYes⊠Then, Iâm goingâ
Perhaps feeling like she couldnât oppose the repeated order, hanging her head the girl took a little distance from Senpai.
Then once again she fired the mass of magical power, this time towards Senpai.
As it vigorously came towards him, Senpai held out his hand completely unperturbed.
Without turning his face to us, he said.
âPlease take a good look. Itâs different from your neutralization magic, but I believe it to be quite rare tooâ
âah!â
I couldnât believe what I saw.
The moment the flying mass of magical power touched Senpai, it changed its bearing as if repelled.
With increased momentum it flew at me.
In a fluster I invoked neutralization magic and erased it.
âU⊠wa. It surprised meâ
Once again , so he meant this, huh.
Not having expected this at all, I put a hand over my heart.
My heart is still pounding from the surprise of seeing this phenomenon for the first time.
â⊠Lidi, are you alright?â
âY, yup. Iâm fine⊠but that just nowâ
Freed worriedly peered into my face from behind. I was still in his embrace, he mustâve wanted to protect me when push comes to shove.
However, really, what was that just now.
Thereâs no problem with magical power flying at me. I was warned to erase it, so I was prepared, and itâs easy to invoke neutralize magic itself.
The problem is not that, but the phenomenon Sion caused.
It didnât look like he activated a magic formation, and Iâve never heard of one like that.
Looking to the side, with his mouth open Cain solidified, overwhelmed by surprise.
Freed stared at Senpai and groaned, impressed.
â⊠After neutralization magic is reflection magic, huh⊠What a splendid gathering of legendary magicâ
âReflection magic?â
When I tilted my head at the name Iâd heard for the first time, Freed gave an easy-to-understand explanation.
âItâs magic that completely reflects the opponentâs magical power. Magical power is repulsed in any desired direction. Moreover, the rebounded magic seems to have double the power. Along with Lidiâs neutralization magic itâs one of very rare magicâ
Cain, who came to, clapped his hands as if to say he recalled it.
âAah, reflection magic. Come to think, there was such a name. Iâve also heard of itâ
â⊠Is that soâ
Uwaa, I thought deep down while shortly replying to the both of them.
Could this be that.
Senpai has a similar cheat to me.
If my reincarnation bonus is neutralization magic, then Senpaiâs transport bonus is reflection magic. I wonder if thatâs how it is.
I wonder if our existence itself is special to have something so strange.
While I was wryly smiling, Senpai urged.
âI meant to show a considerable ace up my sleeve. How about it? Can this magic be compensation for her rudeness? Of course, because I am indebted to you, there is no problem if you freely use it. Please think of it as the lodging feeâ
After looking like he thought for a while, Freed nodded once.
â⊠We didnât get hurt, and I donât want to lose an excellent person. Very well. As you say, letâs strike a bargain. However, this is the only time. There wonât be nextâ
âOf course. Thank you. I am grateful for your forgiveness from the bottom of my heartâ
As Senpai breathed with relief, the girl frantically apologized.
âI am sorry, I am sorry, Lord Sion. Because of me, Lord Sion again had to do something unnecessary⊠I am truly sorryâ
âItâs fine, Rena. However, as I said before, there really wonât be the second time. They are different from Tarim people. Please cast away any strange prejudice. And please, donât be rude towards royaltyâ
âYesâŠâ
Senpai looked with gentle eyes at the girl who hung her head and even tail. Looking at him defending her like this, they mustâve been very close in Tarim. He treats her like a little sister, I feel his gentleness just by looking. Senpai looked at me and said.
âMy and her magic are completely different. I double and reflect all magical power, she neutralizes magical power and erases it. But, thereâs no difference in that both are very rare. Rena, her situation is the same as mine. Could you not tell it to anyone?â
âYes. If Lord Sion says so, I wonât tell it to anyoneâ
Having her promise to keep it a secret, Sion faced us.
âNow then, the conversation has considerably deviated, but may I believe weâve come to an agreement?â
Asked so, Freed parted from me and took a step forward. He held out his right hand.
â⊠Yeah, very well. Welcome to Wilhelm. I welcome both of you⊠I hope weâll have a long relationship from now onâ
Sion too nodded with satisfaction.
He walked up to Fred and grasped the held-out hand.
âLikewise, I hope we will. Let me do it properly, I am Sion. This child is Rena. Since Tarim Iâve been using this name Ăventail for about a year, but my real name is Sion Nanaohgi. Use it from now on, and please treat me wellâ
I blinked my names at the name he said.
âNanaoogi Shionâ
His real name. I felt nostalgic hearing it after the long time.
Having finished pleasantries with Freed, he turned his eyes to me behind Freed.
â⊠You too. Please treat me well from now on⊠Lidiâ
âYeah⊠Best regardsâ
Narrowing his eyes, Senpai smiled. From the smile he showed, I got a strong impression that he was very happy.