CH 27

In the three days since she parted with Chaos, Alexia hasn’t taken a single step outside the Weichsel Imperial Magic Academy. Compared to those busy yet fulfilling days, these days are peaceful. But contrary to this tranquility, there is a certain joylessness in her expression, as if in sorrow.

What’s on her mind is the events of three days ago. That day, they were returning from Brandenburg just like usual, and Chaos said something different from usual.

“Sorry. We won’t be able to meet for a while.”

“Eh—”

What did Teacher say just now? Chaos’s sudden declaration turned Alexia’s mind blank and she was left speechless, unable to respond.

“Chaos, what is the meaning of this?” Irene asks belatedly.

“Actually, I’ve got exams, so I won’t be able to come here for a little while.”

Come to think of it, Chaos had said he was a student. When she heard that, she was surprised that her knowledgeable teacher was still a student as she wondered just what sort of place this foreign magic academy is. She also thought of secretly going to school with Chaos. Though, that was only a daydream. She’s a noble from a different country, and even if her parents have given up on her, she’s still under their protection, so she can’t study abroad so easily.

“Then, we’ll be able to meet after your exams are over.”

“That’s right. I can come in five days, but…” Chaos paused. Alexia, who had been relieved to hear that it would only be a temporary parting due to exams, became anxious once more. “I’m thinking of going to Commune.”

The Allied Commune, which Alexia has never visited, is a trade nation located to the east of the Weichsel Empire. Surrounded by the two largest countries on the continent, the Weichsel Empire and the Castal Kingdom, and facing the sea to the south, Commune is vital for trade between the Empire and the Kingdom across both land and sea.

“Lady Alexia, Irene.” As if Chaos had resolved himself, he looked them in the eyes. “Will you go to Commune with me?”

These words made her heart start pounding. ‘Why is it beating so fast?’ wondered a part of her that was filled with joy. Perhaps it was because it was a clear statement that he wanted to be with her. Up until now, nobody at the academy or even in her family has ever told her that they needed her. She was worthless, just a failing student with incompetent magic skills, but now, he was telling her that he truly needed her, regardless of how much magic she could use. Knowing this made her so happy that her heart started pounding, she realized.

The invitation was so tempting that she almost accepted it without thinking. His invitation which told her how much he needed her, even though she was only a failure of a noble, just an ordinary girl.

However…

“…Please give me some time to think about it.”

In the end, she couldn’t give him an immediate answer, and was forced to postpone her response until after Chaos’s exams were over in five days, when they would next meet.

‘What do I want to do?’ She’s been anxiously asking herself this question every day since, even though she has known the answer for a long time now.

She knew from the start that she couldn’t stay with Chaos forever. It’s fine for now, while she’s still a student. Even if Chaos goes to Commune, it would be possible to balance it with her schoolwork. Even if they’re going to the neighboring country, Commune, there are practically no problems with distance and time, due to the teleportation spell Chaos uses, Warp Portal, which Alexia also learned. Recently, she’s been teleporting from Stolbrussen to Brandenburg and meeting up with Chaos there, and Chaos has even been teleporting them to distant portals to hunt. So, as long as she goes to Commune’s portal once, she’ll be able to go there anytime.

However, once the extracurricular lessons are over, she’ll have to meet up with Chaos less frequently. And after she graduates, it’ll be even less easy to meet up with him. In other words, the problem is her standing. She isn’t just Alexia. She is Marie Alexia von Zavarish, the daughter of the noble Zavarish family of the Weichsel Empire. Because of this status, she cannot act freely. When she sensed that it was “just Alexia” who Chaos wanted, she realized this – no, remembered it. The moment she understood this, the passion that burned with Chaos’s words suddenly fizzled, as if drenched with cold water. In its place, she felt intense frustration as well as an indistinct emotion that she didn’t know what to do with. They dulled her resolve and, not knowing what she should do, she postponed her answer.

From the start, it was decided long ago that she would part with Chaos. She understood this in her head. She knew it would be sad, but she thought that she would be able to part with him. However, now that it’s become reality, her heart easily wavered when she realized that it would end, and she’s considering following the temptation to go with him even more. So, when Chaos goes even farther than Commune, when extracurricular lessons end and her time as a student is over… Will she really be able to part with him? Will she be able to decline another invitation? She still can’t come to a conclusion.

“Lady Alexia,” her servant, Irene, calls out to her as she’s being swallowed by a whirlpool of thoughts with no way out. “What do you intend to do?”

“…About what?”

“About Chaos. Will you go to Commune?”

“…What do you think?” Alexia asks, thinking that perhaps Irene, who has been accompanying her for many years, may know the answer to this difficult problem

“…If I may be allowed to speak my mind, although it’s a bit late to say this, it has already gone beyond the scope of extracurricular training. In addition, it may be a bit of a problem for a count’s daughter to frequently visit a foreign country even in times of peace. In that case, it would be necessary to ask the count’s permission.”

“Father… I’m sure he wouldn’t allow it.”

Her father, who has no interest in her, wouldn’t give his permission so easily. And even if she was given permission, there would be talk of bodyguards and escorts. In which case, it would be bad for her reputation if the young daughter of a noble had a young man by her side. If things go badly, it would cause problems for her teacher. Repaying his kindness by causing him harm is the one thing she wants to avoid at all costs.

In the end, now that it’s been put into words, she realizes once again that no matter how much she agonizes over it, the outcome has already been decided. So, she decides to discard her hesitation and say it herself.

“I’ve decided. I will…” She closes her eyes, pauses for a bit as if persuading herself, slowly opens her eyes and, with much hesitation, forces the words out. “…Not go to Commune. When I next see Teacher… We will say our goodbyes.”

“…Are you really alright with this?”

“…Yes.”

Irene has only one thing to say to her frail master’s decision.

“Lady Alexia, I will abide by your decision, no matter what sort of decision you make.”

With a bow, Irene leaves the room.

‘Just how powerless am I?’ Irene thinks to herself, her heart breaking at her own cowardice. As a servant, she knows that parting ways with Chaos is the correct decision. But in that case, she should have admonished Alexia before she harbored strong emotions for him. Thrusting this upon her this late has only pointlessly widened the wound.

Even so, this month has been pleasant for both master and servant. Her master found in him someone she could finally relax around, and he’s especially important to her. At some point, those warm days became the norm, until finally, they averted their eyes from the crossroads they were approaching. Since Chaos showed no sign of leaving this country, as if they would be able to meet anytime, until just before his departure – though this was likely because he could easily travel with teleportation magic – they couldn’t help that they didn’t notice.

However, Alexia’s decision to part with him is likely not her true desire. Irene suspects that she only made this decision with her standing in mind and with fragile resolve. Her master is most likely still unaware of her feelings for Chaos. But even if this is the case, would it really be a good thing to make her aware of those feelings?

Even if she realizes, the possibility that she could be with Chaos is low. Love stories between noble girls and foreign commoners – since judging by his behavior, Chaos doesn’t appear to be nobility – only have happy endings in fiction. In order to be with him, Alexia would have to abandon her status as aristocracy and elope with him. Living as a commoner in a foreign country – the continuations of those love stories don’t describe just how difficult that is.

Besides, she doesn’t know how Chaos himself feels. At the very least, he doesn’t dislike Alexia, but Irene can’t tell if his feelings towards her are more than that of friends. But when he announced that he was leaving the country, what were his intentions when he said he wanted to go with her? Of course, being accompanied by trustworthy companions is important, but someone with his skills would be in great demand, so there would be no need for him to go to the trouble of inviting companions from a different country. Perhaps he has fallen in love with her master, or maybe even Irene herself? No, Irene immediately denies, her master aside, he would never fall for a masculine woman such as herself.

In any case, this is an important choice for Alexia, and no matter how this ends, she will stay by Alexia’s side and serve her. That is Irene’s decision as a chamberlain.

It’s the day of her reunion with Chaos, and in the end, Alexia still hasn’t cheered up as she teleports to Brandenburg to say her farewells. Similarly to Stolbrussen, Brandenburg has a portal in the city. It’s a valuable archaeological site that has been here since before the city came to be, and, though she’s not sure if this is true or not, she has heard that it has a lost magic that keeps monsters from approaching the area, which is why they were able to build a city here. Chaos is the one who taught her the name of the portal and its destination. That the end has come at last, Alexia thinks as she feels herself beginning to sniffle.

She has no time to be swept away by emotion. She heads to the Adventurer’s Guild, where Chaos is waiting. The streets are as busy as usual as she walks through them with a somber mood, but for some reason, something feels off. It certainly is noisy, but rather than lively, the mood feels hurried and grim. When Irene looks around in suspicion, wagons packed with household items are hurrying down the street, and there are mothers and elderly people holding children’s hands while carrying large bags on their backs as they all walk in a line. All aspects of this situation give the impression that they’re fleeing the city.

Increasingly convinced that something serious may have happened, Irene stops an elderly woman in the line.

“Hey, just what is happening here?”

“You don’t know? The whole city is in an uproar,” the woman, with child in tow, says in amazement.

“Yes, we’ve only just arrived. We don’t know the situation.”

“Is that so? Hard to say if your luck is good or bad… The truth is, Fort Eisenstadt has fallen to monsters.”

“Wha– How could that be?!”

Fort Eisenstadt to the northeast is one of the most important strategic locations in the empire, and even while monsters have become more active, it has kept the monster invasions entirely at bay. She couldn’t believe that it had fallen to monsters and shouted on impulse. Even an invasion from Commune would have been more believable.

“I don’t know the details, but in any case, there’s a horde of monsters coming this way. You young ladies should hurry and run if you know what’s good for you!”

‘Now of all times, at a crucial moment like this when my master is making an important decision, what sort of joke is this?’ Irene complains in her mind. But she can’t say that now. She doesn’t know how much time they have, but thankfully, they’ll be able to escape quickly with teleportation magic. But teleportation magic isn’t perfect. According to Chaos, it can only take six people at a time. It would take a considerable amount of time to teleport almost 500 residents. There’s a limit to how many they can save, and even if they told the residents about her master’s teleportation magic, they would all rely on her. It’s painful and vexing to abandon the residents and escape, but her master’s life is irreplaceable.

“Lady Alexia, we should hurry and–”

Get away from here, Irene intended to say, but before she can finish, Alexia runs off.

“Please wait! Lady Alexia!” Irene calls out to her, but she shows no sign of stopping.

She chases after her master to stop her. Alexia is heading for a certain place, muttering as her face turns pale.

“Lady Alexia, please calm down!” Irene says, forcibly reaching out and grabbing Alexia’s hand.

“Let go of me, Irene! Teacher is… Teacher is…!” Frantically, Alexia uses all her strength to break away from Irene. “TEACHER!”

Alexia rushes into the Adventurer’s Guild and begins searching for Chaos. Inside the Adventurer’s Guild, there are about a dozen adventurers who gathered at the Guild’s request, but Chaos is nowhere to be seen. He’s not here yet, Alexia thinks as puts her hand to her chest in relief. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean he didn’t come earlier than their usual meeting time.

What would happen if Chaos came to Brandenburg? As a foreigner, Chaos would normally have no obligation to defend another country. However, since he’s a member of the Adventurer’s Guild, if the Guild demands it, he would be forced to participate.

There’s no way Chaos wouldn’t come. He’s a punctual person who’s always right on time. In that case, he would have definitely seen the residents running away. Chaos would never run away if he saw them. In her mind, Chaos is a kind person who wouldn’t abandon anyone, even strangers. Why else would he go to so much trouble for someone who was branded incompetent? And he’s a brave, strong person. After all, he can take on so many monsters that they can’t be counted on one hand and easily slaughter them without even running out of breath. Therefore, in a predicament like this, he would surely lend the residents a helping hand and dauntlessly face the monster army.

But no matter how exceptionally strong her teacher is, can he win against an army of monsters? Even when she was with him the whole time, Chaos never came out uninjured. Even so, almost all of them were light injuries since Alexia and Irene were there. Chaos might die.

No. She can’t let that happen.

‘I’ll never see Chaos again.’ Just imagining it is so painful it tears her apart. She feels a pain in her chest and her whole body can’t stop trembling. Her eyes naturally start welling up.

She won’t let him die. She doesn’t want to lose her teacher, lose Chaos. She wants that kind person to live. For that, she would offer all of her being.

‘…Ah, that’s right.’

Why did she hesitate? All of her doubts as to what she was feeling back then begin clearing away. Alexia finally notices her feelings which weren’t clear to her until now.

She realizes that her love for Chaos is romantic love.

“Lady Alexia!” her servant calls for her, and she looks back. Nearly all of the agitation that filled her mind has subsided, and she can now think calmly.

She wonders if this composure is because she identified the indistinct emotion that caused her to waver these past few days. She read in a book somewhere that women are stronger when they’re in love, so maybe that’s what this is. If it is, I think that’d be lovely, Alexia thinks with a gentle expression. But it’s too early to celebrate, and Alexia’s expression stiffens. After all, right now, there’s someone she wants to protect above all else.

“Irene. I want to save Teacher.”

Chaos may not be able to win alone. But with the three of them, Alexia feels like they can endure any hardship.

“Please, lend me your strength,” she says as she looks Irene directly in the eye, her eyes filled with resolve. Irene gasps at her strong, unwavering gaze, wondering what in the world could have happened in the brief moment she took her eyes off her.

However, she can certainly see determination in her master. Her gaze is strong enough to overpower even Irene, who wanted to take her to a safe place as soon as possible.

This is the first time Alexia has made such a bold decision. And on top of that, she needs Irene’s strength. She can finally be useful to her master. As someone belonging to the Zavarish family, this is undoubtedly the incorrect choice. But as Alexia’s servant, Irene, she doesn’t want to go against it.

“As you wish, Lady Alexia,” Irene says as she kneels and bows her head.

At that moment, they are a true master and servant, to the extent that those around them gaze in admiration.