Chapter 84 The Silver-Haired Young Man And The Golden-Haired Young Man
After completing my training, I visited the Savila Knight Order's training ground. I wanted to ask about the forest near the royal capital, which I was planning to visit the next day.
I figured the Knight Order would know the most about the current situation. But when I thought about it, I only knew two people from the Knight Order. One was Vice Commander Olivelle-san, who should be stationed in Flaria right now. The other was Commander Vake, who would be traveling around. So, there was no one I knew here.
I hesitated to approach someone I didn't know, especially someone who was probably in training. Still, I decided to sneak up on a group member who seemed to be taking a break and called out to them.
"Excuse me. I was wondering if I could ask you something about the forest near the royal capital..."
"Laura-san?"
I looked up quickly when I was called by name. It turned out that the person I had addressed was Flor, a new magician who was supposed to be traveling with Vake.
I was relieved to see a familiar face.
"Oh! Good evening, Flor-san. I didn't expect to see you here."
"Yes. I haven't been able to visit all the places yet, so I'm just taking a break."
Flor's smile was much more gentle than I remembered. But that was to be expected. The Flor I knew was the one who had been possessed by the demon king.
Speaking of which, I thought Flor was not in the royal capital, so maybe...
"Hey, there, young lady!"
I turned around quickly when I heard the voice I had been hoping for. There stood Vake, the commander of the Savila Knight Order.
"Vake-san! It's been a while."
"I heard from Olivelle. I'm glad you're doing well."
I had been helped a lot by Vake and Olivelle-san, including the Flaria incident. But I hadn't had a chance to thank them because we were both so busy. I hurriedly bowed my head.
"Thank you for everything."
Vake just smiled silently and nodded. He was truly a man of great capacity.
"So, what brings you to this dreary place?"
I opened my mouth to answer his question, but then I stopped to think.
The forest I was going to ask about was the place where the monsters attacked the royal capital. Vake lost his right eye in that incident. I hesitated to ask him about the forest.
"Ah..."
"What's wrong?"
Vake looked at me with concern. He had an eye patch over his right eye.
It felt like an insult to Vake, the Knight Order commander, to think this way. He himself had spoken of his injuries as a badge of honor in "Last Brave."
I took a deep breath. And I made up my mind. I tried to speak as naturally as possible, even though I knew it wouldn't sound natural.
"Actually, I'm planning to visit someone who lives in the forest near the royal capital tomorrow. The person who lives in the forest is going to guide me, but I wanted to get a sense of the current situation. Do you know how the monsters in the forest have been behaving lately?"
In response to my question, Vake didn't show any particular reaction, but he answered smoothly and fluently.
"We've been strengthening our patrols since the attack, but we don't see monsters very often these days. We have soldiers on guard at the entrance, but we don't stop armed adventurers... right?"
Vake looked at Flor for confirmation.
He nodded with a smile. As expected, trust would sprout after spending a long time together. I felt a pleasant atmosphere between Vake and Flor, even though it was a brief exchange.
"I'm sure they wouldn't stop a young lady alone, but I don't think they could stop us if we were together. This forest is close to the royal capital, so monsters don't usually come near here. That time was just an anomaly."
"Is that so... thank you."
Iris said that her two senior brothers ―― the silver-haired and gold-haired young men who stood on either side of him when I met Reinhardt-san, her Mentor ―― would be coming to meet us. She said that they had lived in the forest for a long time, and that they would naturally make poison for self-defense, but I wondered if I should be so cautious.
"Should we send an escort from our side?"
"No! I can't ask you to do that much for me!"
I shook my head in a panic at the sudden suggestion, and Vake furrowed his brow in dissatisfaction. He seems to be very worried about me. I'm really grateful and happy for his concern, but I'm going to get out of here before I cause him any more worry.
"Thank you very much," I said, bowing deeply and taking a few steps away from Vake and the others.
"I know you're busy, so please take your time and rest. ...Flor-san, please take care of yourself."
Vake looked a bit dissatisfied, and Flor nodded with a kind smile. ――Will that kind smile fall into the hands of the demon king in a few years?
I don't know where or how the demon king will take over Flor's body after his resurrection. Since I don't know, I can't take any precautions.
As I leave, I glance back briefly. There are no more signs of them.
*
――The next day, Iris led us to the front gate of the royal capital, where we waited for our greeting.
Of course, we had healing potions and poison for emergencies, as well as a box of sweets as an apology and thank you for the sudden visit. Iris was laughing at me, saying that I didn't need anything like that, but meeting my junior's parents ―― or maybe not exactly, but they're like family ―― was quite nerve-wracking.
"Oh, here they come! Leon! Sieg!"
Prompted by Iris' voice, I looked up to see the silver-haired and gold-haired young men walking towards us side by side, just as I had imagined last night. They were similar in height and build, but upon closer inspection, their appearance seemed to have been designed to be contrasting, from their coloring to their facial features.
The silver-haired young man with slightly droopy eyes and the gold-haired young man with upturned eyes. The silver-haired young man with a gentle smile and the gold-haired young man with a furrowed brow and a stern expression. The silver-haired young man in white clothes and the gold-haired young man in black clothes. I had the impression that they were designed not to be opposites, but not to overlap in any way.
The gold-haired young man ruffled Iris' hair roughly as soon as he reached her. Iris shook her head and waved his hand away, saying, "What's wrong!?".
"You're too sudden, you bastard."
"Eeeh! I told Laura and the others to come, didn't you?"
"Yeah, but not yesterday!"
The blond young man, I think his name was Leon, and Iris were arguing back and forth like real siblings. I still don't quite understand the relationship between Iris and the others, but they definitely seem close.
However, as we stood there, speechless at the sudden exchange that unfolded before us, the silver-haired young man, I think his name was Sieg, frowned slightly and reprimanded them.
"Hey, you're scaring Laura-san and the others. ...Sorry, we're being too loud."
"N-no, thank you for coming to pick us up."
"It was our request to bring you here, so this is the least we could do."
Sieg said, his lips curling into a smile. Then, he narrowed his amber eyes into crescent shapes.
"Mentor has been wanting to talk to you alone for a while now, so he's been fidgeting all day."
He said in a light, singing tone.
The image of the red-haired man, Reinhardt-san, flashed through my mind. I was honestly curious about him, the mentor of the genius girl Iris. He was probably a skilled alchemist.
And above all, the amber eyes that Iris and the others shared. The same color eyes as the heroine of "Last Brave."
It might just be a coincidence, and there might be no connection. But maybe, just maybe, they could lead me to the heroine.
As both an alchemist and as a person named Laura Ampère, I felt a restless anticipation as I stepped into the day, hoping to uncover something new.
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