The atmosphere in the conference room lightened when word reached the Forestian government that the Earth Dragon had been taken care of. Queen Marquedo showed appreciation to the Forestzard Adventurers Guild executive who came to give the report.
ăGood work.ă
ăWe only did our job, Your Majesty. Thank you.ă
ăSo which countryâs adventurer killed the monster? If theyâre from Forestia, we might have to hold a parade for them.ă
ăWe still donât know who did it.ă
ăYou donât?ă
ăActually, we received two reports via magic transmission. First is from the joint subjugation team and the second from Borderzardâs guildmaster.ă
ăBorderzard⊠The town where the incident occurred, right? What did the reports say?ă
ăThe subjugation teamâs chief said âthe subjugation team was successfulâ, while the guildmaster said âthe success could be credited to the townâs protective wallsâ.ă
ăHmmâŠă
Marquedo glanced at her seven advisers. Representing each member of the Allied Nations, they were the queenâs âWatchersâ.
ăBorderzard is formerly a part of Ludancia, correct?ăthe queen asked.
ăThat is correct.ă
ăWhat do you think the reports mean?ă
ăHmm. If we assume they want to show their power to you, someone from Kirihal, then I believe theyâre saying âLudancia has high walls that mere monsters canât break through themâ.ăthe man said in a patronizing tone.
Not even helpful at all, Marquedo thought.
ăI would love to see a wall that can stop an Earth Dragon.ăthe Kirihal adviser scoffed.
The Ludancia adviser was about to answer back when the others stepped in to calm him down. These twoâs quibbling was an everyday occurrence â to no oneâs surprise â as Kirihal and Ludancia were like cats and dogs.
Heaving a sigh, Marquedo turned her attention back to the guild executive.
ăAnyway, great work out there. I want you to submit a report detailing who made the most effort. The government will offer them sufficient reward.ă
ăUnderstood. Thank you, Your Majesty.ă
ăWe can proceed with the Foundation Anniversary event as planned. ă
The guild executive bowed deeply then left.
ăDoes Forestia have someone powerful enough to kill a dragon?ă
ăWhat are the chances Ponsoniaâs Master Swordsman did it?ă
ăMaybe they just mistook a Lesser Wyvern for an Earth Dragon.ă
ăDisappointing, if that is the case.ă
ăIndeed.ă
The advisers continued their random conversation. Zofira, who stood next to Marquedo, didnât seem to pay attention to what they were saying. Instead she prepared the materials for their next agenda. It appeared as though she was saying âthereâs no point in asking your advisers for adviceâ.
ăOh, by the way.ăthe Rumanian adviser said.ăSince you mentioned Borderzard, it reminded me of something. Apparently a spy from a foreign country infiltrated the town.ă
ăWhat do you mean?ăthe queen asked.
She couldnât miss what he said. Marquedo glanced at the man who looked amused by her reaction and answered.
ăBorderzard is Ludanciaâs territory. I donât know much, Iâm afraid. I just happened to hear that there was a spy. Thereâs someone here who might know more.ă
The Ludancia adviser looked flustered.
ăAh. I, uhh⊠yes, letâs seeâŠă
He probably didnât know that a spy infiltrated the town. By baiting information, the Rumanian adviser wanted to know if the man was aware of this. If Rumaniaâs intelligence network reached even former Ludancia territory â although the man seemed to assert that it was presently still under Ludancia â then they had an alarming situation at hand. Rumaniaâs influence was growing bigger.
Maybe the spy who was watching my room the other day was from Rumania, Marquedo thought.
That was most likely the case. The Rumanian adviser was probably stirring things up as revenge for their spy getting busted.
ăYou said foreign country, but where exactly did this spy come from? ă
ăOh, Iâm honored youâre showing much interest, Your Majesty. Iâll get in touch with you once I have more details.ă
ăâŠâŠâŠă
Just say you donât want to tell me, the queen thought. She didnât say it out loud, of course. In an exchange like this, the first one to lose their cool lost.
ăAll right. Weâre busy with the event preparations, so letâs proceed with the meeting.ă
Marquedo, however, was cool, calm, and collected. The Rumania adviser looked at Marquedo with a hint of surprise in his face, since the queen usually never let her emotions show. Then he smiled, thinking she was just bluffing.
Unbeknownst to them, Marquedo possessed information that they didnât know about â the student alliance and the mass wedding. The advisers would most likely get reprimanded back in their home nations for not knowing about these things beforehand.
In your face! Marquedo almost wanted to stick out her tongue.
Let us go back in time, right before Hikaru fought the subspecies of Earth Dragon.
It was early morning in Borderzard and Paula was nodding off inside a small tent.
ăâŠHmm⊠Huh? PaulaâŠ?ă
Paula quickly snapped back to her senses and noticed Priscilla, her eyes slightly opened.
ăPriscilla! Youâre awake!ă
ăI thought⊠I got badly poisonedâŠă
ăYouâre okay. Everythingâs fine now. Are you hungry? Iâll bring you breakfast!ă
ăO-Okay.ă
Paula left the tent.
When Priscilla got poisoned, she was prepared to die. Raised as a hunter, she knew how much poison would be enough to kill a person. And she was hit with a lethal dose. She didnât die instantly however, and as her consciousness slipped away, she thought she was a goner.
But she was clearly alive. The sound of coughing made her turn her face.
ăPia.ă
ăPriscilla? Wh-What? Iâm alive?ă
They both got up.
ăWh-Whatâs going on? I had a hole in my belly!ă
ăIt looks like the same old squishy belly to me.ă
ăItâs not squishy, okay?! But yes, itâs healed. Actually itâs like I never got injured in the first place.ă
Paula returned.ăPia, youâre up! Thank goodnessâŠă
Paula brought soup and bread being distributed as emergency food. Pia and Priscillaâs stomachs grumbled as they had not eaten anything for more than a day. They had plenty of questions, but they decided to dig in first. Paula watched them with eyes filled with happiness and a tinge of sorrow.
After finishing their meal and regaining her composure, Pia asked Paula a question.
ăSo, what happened exactly?ă
ăI, uhh⊠canât go adventuring with you two anymore.ă
ăâŠâŠâŠă
ăâŠâŠâŠă
Pia and Priscilla froze. They didnât expect those words to come out of their friendâs mouth.
ăWh-Why not? Because weâre unreliable? ă
ăPlease tell us why.ă
ăIâm sorry. I canât tell you the reason.ă
ăWhy not?! We survived and thereâs so much more in store for us!ă
ăIs it related to our being healed?ăPriscilla asked.
As always, Priscilla wore a blank look, but she was sharp. Pia was taken aback.
ăD-Donât tell me you sold your body for an expensive potion! Bullshit! Who took advantage of you?! Tell me!ă
ăNo, thatâs not it. Iâm⊠happy you two are alive. Even if weâre apart, Iâll still be happy.ă
I thinkâŠÂ she wanted to add, but she didnât. She would be going with Hikaru. What would they do? A strange feeling came over her â a mix of worry and excitement.
ăYou canât be seriousâŠă
ăI see you made up your mind.ă
ăYeah.ă
Pia couldnât accept her decision, while Priscilla tried to understand her. Paula knew that both their reactions, although different, stemmed from the fact that they cared and loved her. And that made her happy.
ăOkay, I got it.ăPia slapped her knees.ăI want to see with my own eyes this person who gave you the potion.ă
ăWh-What?!ă
ăIâm the one who will protect you.ă
ăW-Wait! Youâre getting the wrong idea! I didnât get any potion.ă
ăImpossible! Iâm sure it was a very expensive one. It completely healed our wounds!ă
ăNo! You were healed because of my magicâă
Her tongue slipped.
ăWhat?ă
ăYour⊠magic?ă
Her friends regarded her. Paula couldnât talk her way out of it. She grew pale.
What do I do? Hikaru-sama told me not to tell anyone!