Chapter 184: A secret envoy from Reubens, part 4
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
◆Lyla◆
「Urgh…」
A wave of nausea washed over Lyla the moment she woke, followed shortly after by a splitting headache.
「My head… it hurts…」
She briefly tried to sleep it off, but realised that she felt too terrible to even go back to sleep. On top of that, the curtains had been drawn, and the sunlight that shone into the room dazzled her greatly.
Its origin, the sun, was at its highest.
「…」
Roland had disappeared from the adjacent bed. He too had drank too much the previous night, and was thus unlikely to have gone far. Lyla felt a twinge of loneliness — she had intended to baby him and help him nurse his hangover.
「Where did he go…?」
She noticed a pitcher of water accompanied by a glass on the dresser next to her bed.
「He just won’t let me stroke his back…」, she muttered after drinking a glass of it. 「…or rest his head on my lap. How unfeeling of him. If only he didn’t have places to go…」
Grumbling, the Demon King left the room. Spotting a passing attendant, she inquired of Roland’s whereabouts and was informed that he and Elvi had left for the castle after breakfast.
「I believe they will only return after the sun has set」, added the attendant.
Lyla thanked her for the information and decided to go back to sleep.
「Hm?」
Just then, she caught a glimpse of Roland’s figure. Seeming not to have noticed her, he opened the door to the guest room, looked around, and started pacing up and down.
「Oh, you’re back?」
「…I am.」
The girl with a penchant for being serious was nowhere to be seen.
「So… any news?」, asked Lyla.
「On?」
「Huh. The… regicide and all that」, she replied, lowering her voice.
Roland burst into laughter. Having felt that something was fishy the moment she spotted him, she tried to find out what exactly was off, but to no avail so far.
「I have all the news… I mean, I did it.」
「Hm? What do you mean by –」
He disappeared.
「So this is the Demon King」, came his voice from behind her back.
「!」
Lyla tried to run, but her hungover body refused to cooperate. It seemed as if none of her magicka could be used. She felt a prick on the neck, and her consciousness quickly sank below the surface.
So that’s what was off, she thought just before passing out.
He had a right arm.
◆Roland◆
「I can’t thank you enough.」
Elvi bowed in the corridor, in front of the officials that were still spilling out of the meeting room.
「People are watching. Please.」
I squeezed her cheeks with both hands as she lifted her head.
「B-Buh…」
「Your naivete was the root cause of all this」, I said, taking my hands away.
The officials in the corridor seemed intrigued by our conversation. I grabbed one of her wrists and dragged her round a corner.
「The unexpected happened. It’s natural that you feel responsible for all this, but you don’t have to bear the burden alone.」
「…」
The Holy Knight looked like she was about to cry.
「What?」
「I… I thought it was all my fault… you’re the only one who has said otherwise!」
「I know, I know. Don’t cry. It’s annoying.」
「Oh, come on! And I thought you were being nice to me for once!」
I parried the fist that came flying at me.
「Oww…!」
「They’re trying to push all the responsibility onto you. Not just you, Elvi, but the army commander, the daughter of a marquis and a member of the Heroes’ Party. It’s a golden opportunity for those who don’t like you.」
「That’s really striking below the belt…」
「They only managed to catch you hook, line and sinker only because — once again — of your naivete.」
「I feel bad enough already, okay?」
Like Almeria, Elvi also lacked mental tenacity. Born with a silver spoon in their mouths, their sheltered upbringing had left them less-than-ideally prepared to face the real world. After my intervention, the meeting had abruptly changed courses. Instead of continuing to play a game of pinning the tail on the Elvi, the officials talked of the late king’s successor but reached no consensus.
Every man for himself. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
「But given that they managed to sneak past your guards, we’re up against a formidable opponent indeed.」
Nobody tried — or rather, nobody wished to address the elephant in the room. They had instead replaced it with Elvi, pinning all the blame they could on her.
「Are the upper echelons of the Kingdom of Reubens filled with such people?」, I asked.
「No idea. More or less, I guess? You see these characters everywhere.」
She said that she had her usual duties to attend to and asked me to return to her mansion.
「I won’t be back that late, so… dinner… together?」
「Okay. Until then.」
「Mhm. Promise?」
Promise, I said, waving gently as I headed back to where I had started the day.
「Lyla?」
The guest room was empty.
「…」
A pitcher of water had been left on the sideboard along with a used glass. She’s better at nursing her hangover than I gave her credit for, I thought. I had expected her to still be in bed. She’s probably stretching her legs, then — exploring the city like she owns the place.
I asked an attendant in the corridor, but ended up none the wiser.
「Were you not conversing in the corridor, sir? I saw you there with her after you returned.」
「After I returned? Me?」
「Yes, you… Roland-sama…」
「Me?」, I asked again.
The attendant nodded, perplexed.
「…」
I had been with Elvi the entire day.
So some doppelganger had been talking to her while I was gone, I thought as I returned to the guest room. I placed a hand on the bed Lyla had slept in.
「…Still warm.」
She hasn’t been gone for long.
I can’t imagine her walking around with an impostor, either. She’s too sharp for that, and would have immediately found him suspicious. Even if he had used some sort of magic or skill to change his appearance.
There was no sign of a scuffle. Where could she have been carried off to in such a short time?
「Just where on Earth…」
Lyla’s ‘Shadow’ rapped on the window from the outside. If it’s here, then…
I hurriedly opened the window, allowing it to enter.
『How discourteous of you. What, are you trying to scare me?』
『Not in the least. Please relax.』
That’s… my voice.
It was rather sickening to hear my voice coming from someone that wasn’t myself.
『Where’s your right arm?』
『It’s always been here, no? I was born with it.』
So the doppelganger had failed to take my missing arm into account.
『…It’s been a long time since I saw that skill up close. It’s a truly a sight to see.』
『You’re the only person to have seen ‘Faint Shadow’ and lived to tell the tale, Lyla.』
Different people have different names for my skill. ‘Faint Shadow’ was what Aimée had called it all those years ago, and I had stuck with it. It was also highly unlikely for someone to have settled on an identical name for a similar skill.
From what Lyla had said, the skill used must have been almost, if not completely, identical to mine. The more they spoke, the more certain I was that ‘I’ was at the other end.
「Could it really be ‘me’?」
Lyla had been using my right arm as a back scratcher —
Which had disappeared a while ago.
「Ki! Ki!」
The ‘Shadow’ pointed in the direction opposite that which I was facing.
Lifting it onto my shoulder, I hastened in the direction it had indicated, hoping to find Lyla there.
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