MYHLF Vol. 1 Mission 2 Part 6

“Oh my, how enviable. Please let me join in too.”

“Oh, Head Priest. This is the venue for the Fil Guardians’ Association, you see. By all means, by all means.”

“Yes. Fil, you may call me Papa anytime.”

“…I’m not calling you that…”

The Head Priest sat down beside him as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

“That’s not fair. All right, Fil, kid. You can call me Father, with due respect included.”

“…Not happening…”

Philz replied to Villans with half-closed eyes, then added a spoonful of jam to the bread Luiri was about to eat.

“Mm… Jam…”

Philz had heard from the proprietress of an eatery that Luiri, surprisingly, liked sweets. This was a gift, partly to thank him for the talk about his promotion, and partly to show appreciation for his hard work.

“…Delicious… Fil, lad… Um… You can call me Old Man…”

“…All right…”

Philz was surprised that Luiri had apparently been listening in so casually, and even more surprised that he had asserted himself in this sort of matter, so he nodded.

“Eh? You… Luiri! That’s not fair!”

“No cutting in line, please. Here, we should proceed in proper order…”

The immature guardian candidates were noisy, but Philz paid them no mind and instead channeled mana into the secretly developed reheating cup he had been using, warming up the soup that had gone cold. As he sipped the soup, which quickly began steaming warmly again, he smiled a little at the noisy scene of adventurers and knights eating.

He had no way of knowing that the Third Prince and his companions were watching that same noisy meal from inside their tent with strange, envious expressions.

◆　◆　◆

The Third Prince, Ryublan, and the knights who were his companions were somewhat bewildered that they had failed to die. However, while they were still stunned and unable to grasp the situation, the Ogres and magic beasts had been subjugated, and the priests had carried them into a tent, treated them, and provided them with food.

They finally calmed down around the time everyone had gone quiet in sleep. The adventurers and the ducal domain’s knights, except for those on watch, were asleep wherever they pleased. It was hard to believe they had been making such a commotion only moments earlier.

“…We survived…”

There was a faint hint of disappointment in Ryublan’s murmur. The one who called him on it was the Head Priest, who had entered the tent.

“You are alive. Honestly, how troublesome. God Ryula is angry with you, you know? That Goddess acknowledges even reckless courage, but she does not permit choosing death. And at the same time… she does not permit making others choose death either…”

“…”

Who had made them choose?

“I… I was the one who made them choose!”

“Lord Ryublan! That isn’t true!”

It was Ryublan who had made the knights following him choose that path. However, they did not think they had been forced to choose it. The Head Priest understood that as well. That was why he denied it.

“Yes. That is not true. More importantly, the eyes of God cannot be deceived. Who made you choose such a thing while you were still children… God understands everything.”

“…”

He knew it had been forced upon them by the King and the nobles.

“God is worried about you all.”

“I… I…”

By the time he realized it, the adults had left him with no path but the one he chose. From the Head Priest’s expression, he understood everything, including the fact that God knew that too.

“You have become people under the protection of the church… under the protection of God. For a while, under my care here in the ducal domain, please allow your hearts to fully heal.”

“Under… protection…”

“Even if he is the King, he cannot lay a hand on you once you are under my care.”

“…”

Those who became people under the church’s protection could live peacefully within the church, without even the nobles being able to touch them. During that time, if the environment awaiting them improved, then all would be well. But if there seemed to be no hope of that, they could also change their names and ways of life, and live in another country.

The church could even cast a no-contact spell on the people who had caused problems, so there was less need to worry afterward. If they were still anxious despite that, there was also a path for them to live in the church as priests.

“Let us search for it. The path you will walk from here on… I will think it through with you.”

“Is… is that all right…? We… We can… choose…?”

They had not even been given choices. But now, things were different.

“Yes. However, choosing death is not permitted. Please carve that into your hearts.”

“Yes… Yes!”

“Lord Ryublan… Thank… thank goodness…”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Even though they had understood that this was the only path they could take, they had not been able to accept it. At last, they had reached a place where they could release the breath they had been holding in and breathe freely again.

They gathered around Ryublan and rejoiced together. They were relieved that they now had a safe place to flee to.

“Please rest at ease. This campsite is safe. If anything happens, I will be in the neighboring tent, so come to me anytime.”

Outside this tent, the ducal domain’s knights were standing guard, and there were no problematic adventurers either.

“Tomorrow morning, once breakfast is finished, we will return to the domain capital. Please keep that in mind.”

“Understood… Thank you for everything.”

Ryublan and the others quietly lowered their heads. The Head Priest smiled at them and turned to leave the tent. However, just before he stepped outside, he glanced back slightly and told them,

“If you cannot sleep, I think taking a short walk would be good.”

After saying only that, the Head Priest went outside. He lifted his face slightly, looked up at the sky, and murmured,

“I suppose this will do for now… As for the rest… things will work themselves out somehow.”

His lips curved into a smile. Then he turned his gaze in the direction where Biz and Philz, who had gone out for a nighttime stroll, likely were. He was certain that if they met Philz, they would be able to change as well.

“He is the beloved child, after all.”

God had expectations too. Deciding that he would have expectations as well, the Head Priest recalled the expression Philz would likely make in annoyance, nodded politely to the knights on watch, and entered his tent.

—

Around the time the moon had sunk considerably lower, Ryublan woke from shallow sleep and quietly sat up.

“…Lord Ryublan…? Can you not sleep?”

“Ah, no… I slept more than usual…”

“I see… I feel as though I slept more than usual as well…”

Because they had lived with the idea that they had no allies, their sleeping hours had grown shorter. Even when they slept, their sleep was shallow, and they woke quickly.

“…I’m going to walk for a bit…”

“May I accompany you, even if it is only me…?”

“…Yes… Sorry, Coran…”

“No. I am simply a coward.”

He tried to stay by Ryublan’s side as much as possible so that the prince would not be left alone.

Coran was the third child of a Marquis’s family. However, the second child, born only a few days before him, had been a child between his father and a maid attached to the first wife, so his mother, who had been the second wife, flew into a towering rage. Because of that, his father grew disgusted with her.

It was possible that the relationship with the maid had been arranged by the first wife. Once Coran’s mother convinced herself of that, she became even more deranged. By the time Coran was old enough to understand the world, the first wife’s child and the maid’s child had a good relationship, and no matter how one looked at them, they appeared to be nothing but the future head of the house and his aide. She should have given up then, yet Coran’s mother could not let it go. She even began thinking of dragging down the first child.

Coran found that his mother was miserable and irritating, and he wanted to simply be alone. Perhaps it was inevitable that he would meet Ryublan, who was similarly fleeing from his own mother. Ryublan had gone on and on without ever having an attendant settled for him, so Coran began accompanying him and imitating that role.

After that, although there was never any formal announcement, it did not take long for everyone to think of Coran as Ryublan’s attendant. To Ryublan, he was his only friend, and to Coran, Ryublan was the same.

When the two of them left the tent, a knight noticed them and called out.

“Can’t sleep?”

Coran answered him. The reason he was slightly wary was because the knight had spoken to them far too casually. In the royal palace where they had been, there had been no one who looked after them like that.

“Y-Yes… We will make sure not to go far.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I heard from the Head Priest too. Oh, right. If you’re going for a walk, you should try heading that way.”

“…What is there?”

Ryublan could not help becoming curious and asked. The knight smiled without a trace of reserve.

“I thought you might want to talk to him. The pretty-faced kid adventurer who saved you all.”

“!”

“Ah, don’t tell him I called him a kid adventurer, all right? The young master is scary.”

“Young master…”

“Oh, and even if he’s got a pretty face, be careful not to think he’s a girl and approach him like that. He’ll kick you flying.”

“U-Understood…”

The knight waved them off, and Ryublan and Coran began walking.

“…Hehe. So there are knights like that too.”

“Yes… Somehow… we ended up speaking with him normally.”

“We really did… Perhaps it is because they are knights of the ducal domain… If I remember correctly, the one who commands them is Sir Villans, called the 『War Demon』. I have heard he is an unconventional man, but…”

Every other knight they met also called out for them to be careful and pointed, saying that Young Master Fil was that way.

“And what sort of person is this ‘Young Master Fil,’ I wonder?”

“Yes…”

What they saw when they reached their destination was a beautiful boy sitting on what looked like a warm rug, using a fallen tree as a backrest while earnestly making something. Beside him stood a magnificent Bicorn, poised with dignified grace beneath the moonlight as though standing guard.

◆　◆　◆

Time rewound slightly.

After finishing his meal, Philz went to scout the surrounding area while taking a walk. There was something that bothered him. Riding on Biz, he checked from the sky.

“This is my first time flying through the night sky.”

This was also his first request that would require him to stay out overnight. Since Canal would worry if Philz was not at the mansion in the morning, he had never accepted requests that would cross over into the next day. Or rather, even requests that would take other people multiple days had ended within a single day when he rode Biz.

This time, Canal knew about the situation as well, so there should be no problem. As the pleasant night wind streamed through his hair, his eyes sparkled at the bright starry sky.

《Neighhh.》

“Yeah. It’s wonderful.”

Philz understood what Biz wanted to tell him. Depending on the strength of Chief God Rizaft’s divine protection, one could apparently understand the will of a 『Guardian Beast』 even without a covenant. However, Philz had understood Biz’s will even before receiving his Blessing, so this was probably the effect of the covenant instead.

Up in the sky, with no one else around, he could speak freely with Biz. Biz must have wanted to show Philz the joy of a nighttime stroll through the sky. She was in a very good mood.

“The starry sky is this bright… Your body is glowing too. It’s beautiful.”

《Neighhh!》

Because she had been brushed after the battle, Biz’s blue-black coat gleamed lustrously.

And so, while leisurely enjoying their walk as well, he looked down at the ground. When he did, he could tell the path the Ogres had taken. As far as he knew, there should not have been any place near here where an Ogre nest could form. That was what had bothered him.

“…As I thought, they came from the Baron’s domain…”

This ducal domain bordered both a Count’s domain and a Baron’s domain. The Baron’s domain apparently did not have very good public order, and many of its adventurers were rough-tempered. He had heard that requests were also piling up there, and damage from magic beasts was increasing.

《Brrr.》

Then Biz told him that something smelled.

“Don’t tell me it’s lure incense?”

《Brrr.》

Lure incense was incense that gave off a scent magic beasts were attracted to. Since it had a hallucinogenic effect on magic beasts, it could also make them violent. This incense was banned across the entire continent. However, being banned did not mean it would disappear. There were surely people who made it and sold it in the underworld. Incidentally, for 『Guardian Beasts』 like Biz, it apparently smelled unpleasant.

“Was it aimed at the ducal domain… or else… For now, let’s dispose of it.”

Even as he pondered the intentions of whoever had schemed to use the lure incense, he checked the locations where the incense had been burned and poured water over them. Burning it to dispose of it would have the opposite effect. The smoke, which intensified the scent, was bad, so the proper disposal method was to soak it in water and mix it into the soil. Since it had originally been a medicinal herb, it would return to the earth as it was. Above all, the scent did not last very long. That much was a relief.

“I suppose I need three reports, one each for the Guild, the knight order, and the church… It’s a pain, but if it lets me dump everything on them, then so be it.”

Who had this been set up against? He decided to leave thinking about that to the adults. They were always telling him so persistently to rely on them, so doing it once in a while should be fine. As he checked the places where the incense had been burned, some were difficult to discern, but it was obvious at a glance that the Ogres had moved in from the Baron’s domain.

“Someone familiar with the land guided them… They really lured only the Ogres quite well…”

Whoever chose the route must have been thoroughly familiar with each magic beast’s territory.

“…That must be the nest. Biz, take us down.”

《Neighhh.》

He also found the remaining Ogre nest and disposed of it.

“This should do. That was quite a large nest…”

After recovering the personal effects and other items left inside, Philz decided to do some gathering as well to clear his mood.

“Sorry, Biz. Stay with me a little longer.”

《Neighhh.》

He needed a mineral that conducted heat easily and hard wood. When Philz said that Treants would be ideal, Biz took him to a place where several Treants were. It was deep in the forest, so it was not a location where a subjugation request would be issued.

“You know so much, Biz.”

《Neighhh.》

After that, they returned to the campsite. Philz decided to spend the night at the fallen tree he had used as a chair while eating.

First, he spread out a thin cloth with embroidery of the 【Body Recovery】 divine protection worked into its four corners, which his mother, Clarus, had made. On top of that, he laid a carpet engraved with a formula for heat retention. It was large enough for two or three adults to lie down on comfortably.

It was already known that Philz earned enough to own a Magic Bag. Therefore, there was no need to hide these either. He took off his shoes and channeled mana into it. When he sat down, warmth slowly spread from beneath him. It was unmistakably a heated carpet.

“This really is nice. The divine protection embroidery is… working properly too.”

He felt as though his fatigue was draining away all at once.

“Biz, try placing one hoof on this edge for me.”

《Brrr… Neighhh.》

“So it works on you too… In that case, is it too strong? It would be nice if it could be adjusted…”

This was a piece that Clarus had made in order to recover the feel of her old craft. Even as practice, it seemed to have produced more than enough effect.

“She was singing too, and in such a good mood… That song itself seemed dangerous too…”

Clarus apparently had a great deal of mana. Among the nomadic people, there were apparently those with the blood of some former royal family mixed in, and surprisingly, many possessed mana. Clarus was specifically one of them.

“Haa… Well, I suppose I’ll try various things…”

Muttering that, he looked up at the sky. Finding himself beneath the bright starry sky made his heart lift despite himself.

“Doing this outside… sounds fun.”

Only Biz noticed that his voice sounded a little buoyant.

“I don’t plan to sleep, so it should be fine.”

Philz took out his tools and lit the lamp for his hands. Then, delighted by the prospect of doing what he loved beneath the starry sky, he began working with single-minded concentration.

That was where the Third Prince, Ryublan, and Coran arrived.

—

To avoid generating waste, Philz placed the shallow lid of the toolbox underneath and began carving wood. He was working on the lid of a pocket watch.

He had made the internal mechanism from metals and the like, but he had decided to make the outer cover from Treant material, which was hard, pleasant to the touch, light, and resistant to both fire and heat.

The design sketch placed beside him showed pictures arranged in pairs. On the back lid, he would carve a small divine protection pattern.

On the front, the composition arranged the 『Guardian Flower』 said to represent each God together with the “plants” corresponding to the words he wished to give. On the back of that lid, he intended to engrave the owner’s name. It was a delightful time for his hobby, and he could not stop smiling. Since he had already finished the rough carving, he was steadily carving the small details when a voice came from nearby.

“…You’re quite skillful.”

“…”

He hurriedly lifted his face. If Biz was not threatening them, then they were not enemies. Because he trusted that, he was only purely surprised. However, the person whose eyes met his looked apologetic and took one step back.

“I’m sorry. It’s just… I’ve never seen something like that before…”

“…”

Blond hair and blue eyes. Since the lamp Philz had prepared was a white light, he could immediately confirm those colors. A young man in his mid-teens was enough for him to judge that he was a member of the Third Prince’s knight order.

“Ah, I am… Ryublan. I am someone… someone you saved.”

“…So you’re the Third Prince. I’m Fil. I usually work as an adventurer.”

Only now did he realize that the person he had kicked away from in front of the Ogre out of irritation might have been him. However, he did not think there had been anything wrong with his actions at the time, so he felt no worries over it. Besides Ryublan was a calm-looking young man with light brown hair.

“My name is Coran. Thank you very much for saving us.”

Coran bowed his head politely. Philz silently stared at him. Ignoring the two, who looked back at him in puzzlement, Philz smoothly returned his gaze to his hands and spoke tersely.

“Sorry I didn’t let you die.”

““…!””

Paying no mind to the two as they caught their breath, Philz resumed his work.

“I don’t know what kind of discussion is going on up top, but if people like you die at an expedition site, there will be people forced to take responsibility. And those people will be unrelated Adventurers’ Guild members and knights.”

“…”

It was precisely because he had thought of that that Philz had acted first. If he could also get the temple involved, they could be somewhat reassured, but even so, he could not say there would be no consequences at all.

“Even if it gets covered up, rumors will remain. For common people, even mere rumors can divide life and death, so they’re sensitive to them. If the Adventurers’ Guild were to lose trust, adventurers would drift away. That alone would weaken the safety of the people’s lives.”

“Ah…”

Those below always ended up paying the price. A single action or statement from a noble could greatly change the lives of the people.

“Since you were born nobles, take responsibility for your own lives first. Don’t leave that to others. Your thoughts and your way of life are your freedom, but stop living in a way that lets others use you. The kinds of people who plant such intentions in you aren’t thinking about those beneath them.”

“…”

Those who prioritized profit by sacrificing others grew accustomed to that way of thinking and stopped feeling pain. They stopped agonizing over it. Someday, they would become able to discard anyone but themselves without hesitation.

“…Well, about half of this is just what that noisy Head Priest says.”

“…The Head Priest…”

He was surely different from the priests in other towns. Perhaps because he stood close to God, there were times when he viewed the world from a cynical perspective. Philz did not dislike his way of thinking.

“There’s nothing more ridiculous than being used by ignorant nobles who only understand the current state of affairs on paper. God doesn’t grant Blessings just because someone is a noble either. He should be looking at them as an individual and choosing them as one person…”

That said, the present reality was that noble sons who could not expect much from their upbringing received weaker divine protection. Of course, it seemed that the strength was increased or weakened somewhat depending on how they grew afterward, so the result might not change.

“You have enough brains to choose an action like this. Try living up to the amount God expected from you. Then if you make Him laugh, you might get an extra bonus. After that, go boast about it to those idiot nobles. Noble society might become a slightly easier place to live.”

““…””

As Philz told them that with a sardonic smile, the two flushed. It seemed beautiful people looked attractive even when making that sort of expression. Then Ryublan and Coran began thinking properly about what they had just been told.

They realized that the thought, “I must die,” had become the only thing in their minds, almost like a fixed idea. At that moment, they felt as though something was spreading open inside them. It was proof that their hearts had opened.

“…What foolish things… we were thinking…”

“Yes… I feel as though we were thinking only of running away…”

The two stood there in a daze. Philz called out to them with a sigh mixed into his voice.

“Hey. If you stand there like that, it’s distracting. Take off your shoes and sit on the carpet. Then you can worry as much as you like, but the answer won’t come out right away. Give up already and sleep.”

“…Thank you…”

“…My apologies…”

The two had come to trust Philz completely, and they obediently took off their shoes and stepped onto the carpet. Then their eyes widened.

“Eh… It’s warm…”

“…It seeps in gently…”

It felt pleasant to the touch too, and once they sat down, listening to the shuck, shuck sound coming from Philz’s hands, the two of them fell asleep in no time.

By the time Philz noticed the sound of their steady breathing and looked over, they were curled up and lying there happily, fast asleep.

“…As I thought, the embroidery’s effect seems too strong…”

It had likely acted on their mental state as well. Since their physical fatigue had also come out, the effect on them was tremendous.

《Ngh…》

“Yeah… I need to cover them with something.”

Biz told him that although it was warm beneath them, they would catch a cold if left alone like that. Agreeing with her, Philz took out a cloth and placed it over the two of them. Then he returned to his work once more.