Decline the offer and find Saturan on his own, or carry out her request. Which one was the better choice? She could see he was struggling to come to a decision, but Elaine already knew his answer.
He would accept the offer. No, he had no choice but to accept. He must feel like he was grasping at straws by now.
Saturan was absolutely necessary for his research, but he had no idea where to find it. His magic also had limitations for locating objects. Even if he was able to find the Saturan without her help, it would take a very long time. On the other hand, if what she had said was true…
There was no reason to refuse. He didn’t dwell on his worries anymore and nodded.
“Alright. I will accept your request.”
“Good choice.”
Elaine grinned. In fact, in terms of urgency alone, she was more desperate. But she didn’t show it.
Nathan asked.
“So, what is your request?”
“Before that, can you promise me one thing?”
“Please speak.”
“Everything that happens today, including the details of the request, must be kept a secret between the two of us. You must not tell a soul, including the other knights.”
“What kind of request is this? Well, anyways, I understand. I will not speak a word.”
Nathan, seeing her face become serious, nodded curiously. After hearing his answer, Elaine looked around for a moment. She then took out the piece of cloth stained in her dried blood and held it out to Nathan.
When she had first opened her eyes in Seveka, she had drawn this magic circle. It was her only clue. She had carried this cloth with her ever since.
“Please examine the magic circle drawn here.”
After saying that, Elaine went on to explain the details of the request. Of course, she kept the fact that the magic circle was the cause of the Seveka incident hidden. If he asked her how she had known that, she wouldn’t have been able to answer.
After explaining the entire request, Elaine returned to camp as if nothing had happened. Then, when morning dawned, the Knights of Philres finished their training camp and returned to Killiard.
***
When the group had returned, they stopped in front of the headquarter of the knights.
The members then dispersed and left back to their respective lodgings to put away their belongings from the past few days. As soon as Ash arrived, he was dragged to an office by Lowell, who had rushed out carrying a pile of documents.
Just before going up, he had told Elaine to return to her room first and then left. Because she had moved her room recently, she went to the mansion instead of the dorm. Just as she was leaving the headquarters, a voice came from behind.
“Hold on for a moment.”
When she turned around, Sophia Rozlis was standing there. It seemed like all of the other members had already gone back to the dormitories, they were the only two people left. Elaine asked with a puzzled look on her face.
“Do you have something to discuss with me about?”
“Something to discuss? There’s a lot to discuss.”
The voce that responded to her was sharp. She’d had the same attitude with Elaine ever since she had become Ash’s escort knight. Sophia crossed her arms and glared at Elaine.
“Why can’t you act with restraint?”
“…?”
“During the training camp, I couldn’t even watch. You’re supposed to be his escort knight, who told you to act as his guardian?”
Only then did Elaine understand what Sophia was talking about. She had taken issue with Elaine’s actions toward Ash.
On the first evening, Elaine had surprised the knights several times by doing strange things, such as opening the bottle of wine to slicing the meat.
At first, everyone was shocked, but after witnessing it a few more times, they seemed to have become immune and no longer took notice. By the time they had returned to the estate, everyone thought Elaine was just weird.
But it seemed Sophia thought differently. She poured out her thoughts, as if venting the frustrations she had been holding in for a long time.
“If you think you are special just because His Grace allowed you to escort him, don’t be ridiculous.”
“…”
As Elaine listened, Sophia continued speaking, becoming even more energetic.
“Don’t act so conceited. You keep metaling in his affairs and pretending to be close to him, but cant you see that it is making him uncomfortable?”
Sophia had been bothered by Elaine’s actions throughout the training camp. She didn’t like how friendly Elaine was acting toward Ash. She had wanted to say something then, but was unable to because the two were always together. Now, she finally had a chance since he wasn’t around at the moment.
Meanwhile, Elaine was lost in thought, ignoring Sophia’s continuous nagging.
‘Huh, is that really true?’
As Sophia had said, did Ash dislike that she was being friendly with him? It may have been natural for her, but for him it wasn’t.
‘Although he may get annoyed sometimes, he’s never gotten angry or said that he didn’t like it…’
