Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyou Survival (LN) - Book 6: Chapter 14

The Meaning of King

「Lena!?」

Ron raised his voice with some bewilderment hearing “Lena” saying that she would also go outside to search for the child.

Ron was going to personally search for Nar because he thought it was necessary as the one who decided to shelter the kids. But, Lena was with them here with the purpose of avoiding danger. He was vaguely thinking that she would choose to stay behind.

And yet why did Lena choose to head to a dangerous place by her own choice?

Ron was suspecting that the girl who called herself [Lena] was a noble of foreign country.

She was hiding it but, her appearance, her behavior, and then her having a bodyguard of that level who was the same age and same gender with her. It was impossible that she wasn’t a noble.

He suspected Lena and Aria as spy when he first saw them. There were people who gave off that kind of atmosphere among the wandering merchants, though he never interacted with that kind of people.

But that suspicion immediately vanished. Because the two girls who looked like a young lady of good family and her bodyguard were too conspicuous in various aspects.

If he wanted to doubt them then there would no end to it but, if he looked at them without any suspicion, then it would be valid to think that they were noble from somewhere who got dragged into an accident or incident.

If that was the case then he could understand why they wanted to escape from this town.

Ron too didn’t want to get involved with them at first, but after learning their capability he thought whether it would be possible to make use of them for his own purpose. Kamil who was working together with Ron because of a certain reason seemed to feel touched by the words and actions of the bodyguard girl Aria, but Ron was more interested with the discernment and negotiation ability that Lena possessed.

Ron was a noble of Carlfan Empire. His age gap with his older brothers was wide, but there was a possibility that his life would be targeted by the members of his brothers’ factions as long as his own standing wasn’t clear.

Because of that Ron made a gamble with undertaking a dangerous mission by himself. Originally he was someone in a position that wouldn’t be allowed to go off by himself, but what made it possible was because the members of his brothers’ factions who were working from behind the scene. It was something that he noticed later on.

He was permitted to make use of the hot-air balloon that was the only one in existence and headed to this place. He was attacked by the servants who were serving as his bodyguards, but he was able to survive by destroying the hot-air balloon himself.

Most likely those servants had also gotten won over by his brothers’ factions. The servants died during the balloon’s fall. Ron who was the only survivor started to struggle in order to survive in this town.

Nearly two years had passed since Ron came to this town. He couldn’t even contact his home country. The limit should be near before he was thought dead and his noble status was written off. Before that happened he would definitely return home alive. His reasoning to escape from this town was the same with Lena and Aria, but Ron was feeling that the “reason” that he could feel from them was different from his.

Ron had gotten attached toward the orphans in these two years. He understood that he couldn’t save everything, but he couldn’t abandon Chako and others who he became acquainted with. Kamil must also be the same like him in that respect.

Most likely this wasn’t the right way of thinking for noble. But, in the eyes of Lena who was looking straight into Ron, even though she was saying the same word [save] like him, it was different from Ron. It felt like she had a wider field of vision just like Ron’s father.

At first he only thought of her as a mere “noble lady”.

After living together here, he came to understand that her true smile was that of a lovely girl, and when he noticed his gaze was always following her figure.

But, this younger girl understood the meaning of being a noble even more than himself.

「……Got it. Let’s go Lena.」

「Yes-」

***

「All hands, go all out-!!」

『OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!』

Jesha’s voice that was filled with fighting spirit resounded. The adventurers of the adventurer guild yelled back.

They were the adventurers who were mobilized to deal with the stampede.

Rock dwarves holding huge shield and axe, mountain dwarves holding halberd, it was a force of dwarf heavy warrior. Contrastive to them was the group of bastman light warrior that was centered around Munza Gang members equipped with sword or spear. Including the humans there were more than 150 adventurers of rank 2 and above here. They were marching toward the ancient ruins Resvel.

But…….

「……Tsk, something stinks.」

Jesha was carrying two hand axes made from magic steel that she rested on her shoulders. She looked at the adventurers who were following her order and spat out that murmur.

There was no problem with the dwarves who were her long time subordinates. The beastmen who were showing abnormal urge for fight were also under the leadership of Munza Gang that formed an agreement with them once more after the “rose” incident last time.

But for the rest of the force, with the disappearance of the dark elves, around twenty percent of this force was made up of human adventurers. She was catching glimpses of unsettled emotion from them.

「Young lady……」

「I know Jilgan.」

Jesha replied at the voice of her chaperone who was walking at her side with a tone that was holding back her irritation.

Unlike the sturdy dwarf or beastman, not many human became adventurer in this desert’s harsh environment. There were some of them but, most of them were orphans or out of luck people who were unable to make ends meet. Those low ranked adventurers would only get in their way even if they came.

Even so, the rank 2 of those few human adventurers were participating in this quest but, she could feel a disquieting atmosphere from some of them.

「I can’t speak it out loud. ……Is it Riezan Family?」

「It’s fine if you know.」

「Hmph」

Jesha scoffed at Jilgan who was treating her like a kid.

Jesha too was nothing more than a little girl who just became of age if her age was translated into human age. She understood that it was pointless for her to grumble at Jilgan who had been chaperoning her for nearly thirty years.

(……Whoops, this ain’t the time for that.)

Hogros Company was a company in the occupation of selling weapon and armor and doing smithing work, but it also had the role of protecting this town from external enemy as adventurer guild. Nobody was asking them to do that, but exactly because they were fulfilling that role that they were showing off their fighting strength and could act overbearingly in this town despite being the organization with fewest members among the four factions.

Because of that Hogros Company had to stop the stampede this time no matter what. Their dignity was on the line. Even if the cause was really the earth dragon that should be in the depth of the ruins, Jesha had no intention of retreating for even a single step.

She could feel the purpose of the people maneuvering behind the scene coiling around them like sand. Perhaps it was the evil race or Riezan Family……. It was dangerous to make conclusion without any proof but she also couldn’t let her guard down.

But, if the objective of those people was to send away Jesha and others, Hogros Company and the adventurers from the town…….

「What should we do with those shady guys?」

「I assigned them to the rear just in case. But, I don’t know whether it’s the right move with how we’re in the dark in regard to their objective.」

「Yeah……」

Midway they took rest just once for eating, then the adventurers started walking once more.

In this region a subtype of shell dragon that was relatively calm was used in the place of horse, but it was impossible to gather them quickly in sufficient number for this many people. Because of that usually adventurer travelled by walking almost without any rest. Considering that aspect it was judged that making the humans stayed in the rear to protect the food supply that was loaded in the dragon carriage would be the appropriate decision.

And then several hours later──.

「Guild master! There’s sand cloud far ahead!」

「It’s here huh!」

A beastwoman who looked like female leopard and had went ahead as scout reported to Jesha. She put on a hearty smile hearing that.

The cloud of sand was visible even from this far away which showed there were just that many monsters running out of control. But, Jesha still smiled despite that because swinging her battle axe suited her more rather than tediously thinking of the plan in details.

「Men, form the line!! Shield bearing rock dwarf is at the front. Stop them even if you die! Mountain dwarf standby behind and annihilate them the moment they get stopped! Beastmen, go wild and murder them!!」

『OOOOOOOOOOOOO!!』

「Guild master, there aren’t just men here!」

Several female beastmen including the scout just now raised their voice playfully.

Jesha fundamentally prized her fellow dwarves more in the guild, even so she also often personally gave quest when it was convenient to the few female adventurers in Cutlass. Right now she had formed a relaxed relationship with them to some degree despite their different species.

「It ain’t the time for joke! First let’s slow them down with sorcery!」

The majority of those female adventurers were sorcerer. With Jesha’s command the beastman and human sorcerers started preparing their sorcery behind the shielders.

「I see them now!」

Approaching them while causing thick cloud of sand to rise behind was the fast-footed shell dragons and some insect monsters that could fly.

Jesha confirmed that no desert lizard or the like that was strong against heat was among the group of monster. She ordered the sorcerers to chant fire spell.

「Stop their momentum-, fire!!」

***

「──Air Bullet──」

The wind bullet that Elena fired tore away several beetles from the ground, exposing their stomach part.

「Taaa!」

Ron closed the distance in that moment and slashed the stomach or lop off the head from their lower jaw with his sword.

Even if she was alone Elena could possibly defeat the monsters if she used powerful spell. Even so she had learned to fight while preserving her mana when she was accompanied by a warrior to be the vanguard.

Ron wasn’t as strong as Kamil, even so he had experience surviving in this town for two years. His strength had reached rank 3.

But, there was color of anxiety on Ron’s expression even after defeating several monsters easily.

「I can’t believe there’re monsters even here……」

「Yes. Something is strange. Let’s hurry.」

The information about large outbreak of monsters that caused stampede still hadn’t reached the two.

Both Elena and Ron trusted the bad premonition that they felt on their skin and they were on their guard. But, Ron was feeling anxious partly because of Nar, and partly because of his pride as a man from dragging Elena into this kind of situation.

But, a woman of Claydale wasn’t that weak.

Perhaps the previous Elena would feel some anxiety in this situation, but the current her who had resolved herself was able to maintain her composure to a degree that surprised even herself.

(The me from before……had the resolve to die, but not the resolve to put my life on the line wasn’t I……)

As a princess, in case Elena judged that her brother the crown prince was “unfit” to be king, she had resolved herself to become a [stopgap queen], where she would either raise the crown prince’s son or a relative of the royal family to become the next king.

The little Elena directly appealed to her father the king how that would be the best way seeing that she was sickly and unable to give birth to a child, but thinking back now she saw that it was just a passive resolve……an escapist resolve.

Even if that decision would be good for the country, it wouldn’t be good for the “people”.

She would choose death rather than being used by her political enemy, for the sake of the nation. But wasn’t that just “running away”? If she was really thinking about the people, then she should struggle to live as a princess.

She was thinking that even that big brother who was raised by that peace-loving idiot first queen which made him grew to only have the awareness at the level of a third son of a count house would become quite a good king if Elena was at his side assisting him.

But, if he was really thinking of the good of the people, was there a need to make that big brother to be the king?

Elena’s body was already healed. In that case “who” should be the king then?

A king was a solitary existence. But they couldn’t establish a country on their own.

A nation could only stand when the solitary king had earnest retainers supporting them.

The adults who paid tax. The children who were helping them and would succeed them later down the road. The nobles protecting them. All of them were the “people” that the king ought to love. Anyone who preyed on them, even if they were also people of the country was enemy.

That was why, the young Nar too who wished to be of help for her and tried to do that by his own will even without knowing that she was a princess, to Elena he was already a retainer that she ought to cherish.

Even so, she had the resolve to discard him.

Even so, she had the resolve to put her life on the line.

She wouldn’t be moved by her emotion. Even so, Elena thought that how many people she could save with her hands would decide “the size of her caliber” as someone who had decided to stand as a queen.

.

「Lena, look over there!」

They could see a pack of monster near the rocky place that was their destination. The place where Nar headed to.

「……We cannot face them all. Let us circle around as much as possible, secure Nar, and then make our escape.」

「Guess that’s the only way……」

The red grass that Nar was searching was growing en masse around here.

There would be no problem if Nar had only taken the amount that his small hands could take and then left. Any child who lived around this area should know how to escape even if they ran into monster.

But, the more monster there was, there was a risk that escape was impossible even if the monster was the slow caterpillar.

「This is……」

They circled around the monsters and kept moving. Midway, they found a caterpillar that was crushed by something thin like a stick.

「……Is there also adventurer here?」

「No, there’re marks of it getting hit many times. Perhaps, this was done by someone who lived around here.」

「Can there be anyone living in this kind of place? In that case, perhaps Nar has also run away toward that place.」

「……I, guess.」

Elena’s face brightened after finding some hope. In contrast Ron was speaking a bit vaguely.

「Don’t, expect too much okay.」

「……?」

Ron headed toward that place where someone might be living. He seemed to know the location. Elena too realized the reason of Ron’s vague words.

Frankly speaking, the residents in this place might be the bottom rung of this town in the bad sense.

「「「…………」」」

Several “eyes” were looking toward the two warily.

They weren’t weakling. But they also weren’t strong. It was because they were half-baked like that they couldn’t join any of the four organizations, but their useless pride also didn’t allow them to do lowly work like the weak.

They could only live by taking away from the weak like children or old man, and living in hiding from the strong. They were that kind of people.

There were around ten humans. They looked scared at the appearance of the armed Ron and Elena. They readied their clubs that looked handmade.

「W-who the hell are you guys?」

「We are looking for our acquaintance. He is a beastman boy. Have any of you perhaps seen him around here?」

「D-dunno……if that’s all then scram already.」

A middle-aged man averted his gaze from Elena.

Elena sensed that the man knew something based from how he acted. But Ron pulled on Elena’s sleeve to stop her from asking any further.

「Let’s go. We better not provoke them too much.」

「But……」

「It’s fine. I think I have an idea.」

When Elena spoke the words 『beastman boy』, Ron saw several of the residents turned their gaze toward a certain direction.

「Let’s hurry. I’m afraid they used him as bait.」

「…………」

Elena gulped hearing Ron’s words. She also hurried up heading toward that direction. And then not long after they heard the voice of a small child.

「Nar-!?」

「At the other side!」

The two broke into a run and less than ten seconds later, they heard the familiar voice of a child and found the figure of Nar. He had climbed up a rock and currently he was throwing rock fragments on several caterpillars that were going up the rock.

「──Water Ball──!」

Elena quickly fired a mass of water to push away the caterpillars.

「Ron!」

Ron reacted to her voice and rushed toward the washed away caterpillars. Meanwhile Elena secured Nar.

「Nar!」

「Lena-neechan!」

Nar noticed her and jumped from the rock into Elena’s embrace. His body was dirty but there wasn’t any wound on it. Elena looked relieved seeing that and peered into Nar’s eyes.

「I am glad you are alright. Why……did you go out alone?」

「Umm, look this!」

Nar responded to Elena’s question by proudly showing her a sack that was filled to the brim with red grass.

「We need this right? I found, lots of them!」

「Nar……」

*Pechin*

Elena looked like she wanted to cry and lightly slapped Nar’s cheek.

「……eh」

「Do not……make us worry. Everyone will be sad if you get hurt.」

Nar knew what he could and couldn’t do, but he couldn’t differentiate between what was right and what was wrong. It wasn’t just because Nar was still three years old, but also because there was no adult to teach him about that.

Chako and Noi who had their hands full with making a living also couldn’t teach him. That was why Elena hugged Nar’s small body with all her strength in order to convey that to him.

「I am really glad that you are safe……. Also, thank you. You are really a wonderful boy.」

「Nee-chan……sorry」

She didn’t know whether Nar really understood or not. Even so Nar seemed to feel something and burst into tears as he hugged her. And then he fell asleep from relieve.

.

「……Lena. We should go back.」

「Yes. Thank you for waiting.」

After defeating the caterpillars, Ron was waiting until Nar calmed down. Elena smiled at him because of that, but Ron slightly pressed his lips together and averted his gaze.

「……No, it was nothing big.」

「Yes……」

Elena’s smile deepened a little bit more seeing Ron like that.

They only needed to return now. Like that the two started to return back through the path they came from, but the residents from before stood up there to block their way.

「……What do you want?」

Ron stepped forward to put the two behind him while his hand hovered over his sword’s handle. The residents were feeling pressured and back away, even so the middle-aged man from before stepped forward from among them.

「Y-you two’re strong right? Kill the monsters around here for us」

「Monster’re starting to show up at the town too!」

「We ran away from the town here, and yet monsters’re also here-」

「If you guys’re strong then kill them!」

The slightly dirty residents were rattling on with looks of desperation.

「……You guys」

They could kill a single monster by surrounding it and beating it up, but they had no courage to face more than one monster. That was why they were used to run away even if they had to use a kid as bait, and this time they were demanding “responsibility” from the strong using the “logic” of the weak. Ron unconsciously clenched his fist in anger seeing that.

But──.

「Wait Ron.」

「Lena……?」

For some reason Ron felt a chill hearing that tone and turned around. There the smiling Elena handed the sleeping Nar to him before stepping forward.

「Why do we have to do as all of you demand?」

Elena spoke not with her usual polite way of speaking but with wording that matched the other side. Ron wasn’t the only one who sensed her atmosphere. The residents also felt it and slightly held their breath.

「You can just defeat the monsters on your own right?」

「W-we aren’t strong-, so it can’t be helped! You guys can say that just because you’re strong! That brat too ain’t your own kid right? Then help us out rather than that brat!」

「No way.」

The air froze instantly from Elena’s swift reply.

「This child pondered what he can possibly do for his friends and my sake, then he put in effort to do that. Why do you think we will be able to forgive you guys after getting in the way of that?」

She was speaking indifferently without any emotion in her tone. But that was exactly why there was also emotion that could be conveyed in that way.

She would protect her people as their king. But, she would have no mercy against the enemy. The residents fell silent when they felt the chilling will inside her words. Elena smiled sweetly toward them.

「To whom Cutlass belong to? It’s the town where all of you lived right? What are all of you doing abandoning it like this? Isn’t it……your home?」

「T-that’s……we……」

The man’s eyes wavered in bewilderment. He hated this town where just living in it was painful. He wanted to run away from this kind of place one day.

But, the word [home] that was said by this smiling girl made him felt something hot that he had almost forgotten at the bottom of his heart.

.

「It’s troubling that you’re telling them that.」

「Tsu!?」

Ron and Elena turned around toward the voice that suddenly interrupted them.

They looked up and saw a man whose face was hidden by the hood of his cloak, looking down on them from on top of a rock. They could see under the hood from below, but his face was covered by the backlight. But, they felt that he was smiling even though they couldn’t see his face.

「……And who might you be?」

「A Melsenian girl……are you the girl who’s called [Rose], or her friend? I was told that if there’s someone like that then they’ll be a bother so go crush them……. I thought that I pulled the short end of the stick but……to think that there’s really someone like that here.」

「…………」

The man seemed to be someone talkative, or perhaps he thought that he had the upper hand here. He only said what he wanted to say with sadistic feeling that they could slightly sense. Then several more Cruz people appeared from behind him.

「Oi, mister. Don’t talk too much……」

「It’s fine. The young miss there must also want to at least know the reason why she die right?」

All of them were rank 2 and above. Elena couldn’t really appraise the man because of the cloak, but her experience in the dungeon and everything else until now was telling her that this hooded man was around rank 3.

If she believed what they said, something was going on in the town or it would happen in the near future. Also they appeared here not for capturing them, but to kill them right away.

This unexpected situation made Elena and Ron started calculating whether they could win with just the two of them.

Their chance to win would go down drastically if a melee broke out. Ron should be able to use sorcery too but, he couldn’t use sorcery that could defeat all of these people in one attack.

With Elena’s skill, lightning spell would disperse and weaken from this range. Her only choice was to use ice spell to defeat them with one attack, but there was a risk that they would dodge from this range.

(Isn’t there something……any opening that I can use)

It was also possible to use Ron’s sorcery to hold them back, but she also couldn’t possibly give him that instruction by speaking. And they also weren’t that close that Elena would be able to convey her thought to him wordlessly.

But it was then──.

*Hyun!*

「Hm……gah!?」

The hooded man raised his face when he heard the sound of something cutting through the air. In that moment a small arrow pierced his right eye.

「──Ice Lance──」

In that instant Elena constructed her Ice Lance and fired it. it pierced the man’s heart and the face of a dark elf was exposed from under the hood as his body rolled down the rocky place.

「Wha……」

The man’s companions speechlessly looked around, but Elena was the only one who turned toward the right direction and saw the girl who was aiming a small crossbow while looking out of breath. Her hair was dyed like burning ashen iron. She appeared on top of a rocky place from the opposite side.

.

「Did I make you wait?」

「No, your timing were impeccable, Aria.」