Volume 1 Chapter 33 A Faint Light Seen In The Late Night
After a lot of twists and turns, we finally made it back home.
Thankfully, it didn't turn into a big deal, and no one got hurt.
We managed to send Orkide packing, but he definitely left behind a seed of anxiety.
He'll be back in 2 weeks to kidnap Cosmos again.
That declaration isn't a lie.
We should probably think of some countermeasures.
To discuss this, we decided to settle down again.
After explaining the details to Rose once more, she puffed up her cheeks in dissatisfaction.
"The more I hear about it, the more it seems like an unreasonable story. They kicked you out of your own home, yet they want to bring you back just for political reasons?"
"It's selfish and pushy, but I guess you need that kind of spirit to rise in the upper class."
It's a family that would exile their own daughter just because she's not good enough.
I thought it might be a relief to be freed from such a place, but now it seems like she's about to be dragged back into hell.
"It's common for parents to decide on a marriage partner without consent, but it's still hard to accept. If the partner is a good person, that's one thing, but I heard that Mr. Poncé isn't a pleasant guy. What kind of person is he, exactly?"
"Now that you mention it, I hadn't gone into detail. Well, simply put, he's a pervert who's crazy about Cosmos."
"Pervert...?"
I shook my head, thinking Rose didn't need to know more, and avoided further questioning.
For now, I just conveyed that he's a bad guy and shifted the topic.
"So, the immediate problem is how to prevent Cosmos's marriage. Does anyone have a brilliant idea...?"
"..."
No one could answer that question.
If it were easy to come up with a solution, we wouldn't be stressing over it this much.
Eventually, Rose timidly raised her hand.
"If that guy is coming to take her back, then we should just find a way to send him packing like we did today..."
"Well, honestly, that's the easiest way to go. If Orkide is trying to take Cosmos by force, we'll just have to chase them off with all our might. So, I'd really like Rose to lend a hand..."
But will Cosmos be okay with that? Just as I was concerned, Cosmos shook her head.
"I can't let you all go through that much trouble. Besides, I think Elder Brother Orkide will come this time with as much force as possible to take me back."
I can't imagine we could fend them off just with Rose's presence like today.
They'll probably come prepared with skilled fighters to counter Rose's monstrous strength.
If that happens, it'll be a whole different level of trouble for Rose compared to today.
I could easily imagine that Cosmos would feel bad about that.
And I could also see that Rose wouldn't care about it at all...
"I'm fine with it. I can't agree with Ms. Cosmos's marriage talk either, and more than anything, I absolutely can't refuse a request from my benefactor, Mr. Roezé. Please, count on me!"
"..."
Is there anything more reassuring than that in this world?
A declaration of support from Valkyrie Rose, who has potential abilities that surpass even a hero.
With that, there's nothing to be afraid of anymore.
It feels like I've gained not just a million, but ten million allies.
But, well, it's also true that the opponent shouldn't be underestimated.
Even if we get Rose's help, I wonder if we can really send them packing again.
I mean...
"Even if we can chase them off with Rose's power, I don't think the Etoile family will just give up after one time..."
"Don't worry! If they try to take Ms. Cosmos again, I'll chase them off 'as many times' as it takes!"
"...That's a really reassuring thing to say, but we can't exactly stay in that situation forever, right?"
It's not like Rose will always be in perfect condition.
In reality, Rose is the only one we can count on as a fighting force here.
I can't imagine we could hold out forever relying solely on Rose.
More than anything, I wouldn't want to keep that situation going either.
"...Getting Rose to chase them away is a last resort, so for now, let's think of other ways. That said, I think there are only about 3 options left."
"Three?"
I shared the strategies that came to mind.
"First, 'buy some time'."
"Buy time...? Can we really prevent Ms. Cosmos's marriage just by doing that?"
"I think we can, if it goes well. We just need to keep running away from the Etoile family for a few years, or maybe over a decade, and wait for Cosmos to grow older. That alone should make this marriage proposal disappear."
"Grow older...?"
Rose tilted her head in confusion.
Meanwhile, Cosmos seemed to understand my intention, making a rather complicated expression.
I didn't want to go into too much detail with Rose, but I had no choice but to explain.
"As I said earlier, Poncé really loves Cosmos. To be more precise, he loves 'girls who look young like Cosmos'."
"Uh, uh-huh..."
"So if Cosmos grows older and falls outside of his preferred type, I think Poncé will give up."
"I-I see..."
Finally, Rose seemed to understand.
It was quite painful to explain something like this to pure and innocent Rose.
Still, I thought it was a pretty good idea.
But then Cosmos said with a sulky expression.
"I really don't want to say this myself, but what if I grow older and still look like this childlike figure?"
"Ugh...!"
I definitely hadn't considered that possibility.
It's entirely possible that Cosmos might not change her appearance at all.
Most likely, her real age is older than she looks.
Actually, maybe I should just ask her now.
"B-by the way, how old are you, Cosmos?"
"...Eighteen."
"Same age!?"
That was an unexpectedly surprising age.
I thought she was at most around 15.
And with that, the possibility of Cosmos not changing her appearance just got even bigger.
If things go poorly, she might end up stuck in Poncé's sphere of influence even into her twenties or thirties.
"Honestly, even if Poncé ends up getting fed up with me, he'll just find another noble daughter. After seeing my elder brother's attitude this time, I realized again that I can't escape that family."
"...Well, it's obvious that brother has a huge grudge against Cosmos."
Even if this marriage falls through, they'll definitely try to set her up with someone else and drag her back home.
So, the idea of buying time was off the table, and I decided to share my second plan.
"The second plan is to 'run away to a really far place'."
"Far away...? Like, how far exactly?"
"Far enough that the Etoile family can't reach her. I mean, you'd hide out in a really remote countryside where people can barely survive, and if you live quietly there, I doubt they'd find you."
"..."
Cosmos froze in shock.
I would later realize that her surprise came from disbelief.
"I don't think I can escape from my elder brother. Given how he perfectly tracked my location this time, the Etoile family probably has some special information network or someone with a job class that can pinpoint specific people's whereabouts. No matter where I go, they'll find me."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
Considering how Orkide backed off so gracefully this time, I think that possibility is high.
More than anything, with Orkide's clingy personality, even if Cosmos ran away to another country, he'd probably chase her down relentlessly.
They'd use any means necessary just to see her suffer.
"What am I supposed to do..."
"..."
With no more options left, Cosmos looked down with a gloomy expression.
I decided to share my last plan with her.
"The third plan is less likely to succeed than the first 2, but..."
"W-What is it?"
Leaning forward, Cosmos looked eager, and I stated it plainly.
"Cosmos needs to get stronger."
"Huh?"
"Cosmos is getting stronger, so it would be great if you could take down that stupid big brother and the Etoile family with your own power. If you counter them with overwhelming strength, they probably won't even think about chasing you anymore."
"I... I will take care of Elder Brother Orkide and the others..."
She probably never expected this at all.
Hearing my suggestion, Cosmos froze as if she was caught off guard.
"I said it before, but even if Rose drives them away this time, they might come back to take Cosmos again and again. So the best thing would be for Cosmos to chase them off herself and make them completely give up."
No matter how many forces they bring, if you can make them understand that they absolutely can't take you back with overwhelming power, that would be the simplest and clearest strategy.
But that also makes the difficulty quite high.
"Th-that's impossible! Me, driving away Elder Brother Orkide and the others? Even after all this training I've done while you watched, I haven't changed much at all from the start!"
Recalling the days of training up to today, Cosmos clenched her teeth in frustration.
"And Elder Brother Orkide will come this time with powerful soldiers to take me back. There's no way I could drive them away with my own strength..."
"...But if you could, this would all be settled easily. Plus, you would achieve the 'revenge on your family' you were aiming for, even if it's not in the way you wanted."
"..."
This is, in a way, a 2-birds-with-one-stone strategy.
Not only would it drive away the family trying to take Cosmos back, but it would also allow for some payback through force at the same time.
So, it's convenient in many ways for Cosmos to become stronger.
After all, making Cosmos strong was the original goal.
"Well, if we keep going like this, we'll end up relying on Rose anyway. So let's continue training to become stronger, since it seems like there's nothing else we can do."
"...Y-yeah, that's true. It feels wrong to leave it all to this kid."
So, we agreed to continue our training.
I'm a bit anxious since I can't come up with a specific plan, but for now, this is about all I can do.
Plus, during the two weeks before Orkide arrives, I might come up with another brilliant idea.
For now, it's best to prepare for battle and strengthen myself as much as possible.
More than anything...
"...there's just a little something I want to try."
"Huh?"
I don't have any solid proof yet, but...
I felt a small glimmer of potential in the power that Cosmos holds.
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