Foreigner Volume 7, Chapter 112

Volume 7 Chapter 112, Magic Sword ~ 20

　After Satoru's declaration, the magical slaves immediately began preparing for their departure. Since Satoru had collapsed, all the goods that had been stored in Satoru's shadow were once taken outside, so they were also sorted out.

「Leia.」

　Rico called out to Leia from behind her as she was putting away her belongings, which she had once taken out of the shadows, back into the shadows. Leia glanced back at Rico and resumed her packing. Rico was a little lost in Leia's attitude, but she called out to the small back.

「Earlier, you were about to say something, right?」

「...... Rico is very perceptive.」

　Leia muttered with a bitter smile. Rico had also noticed that when Satoru told them why he had to face the Academy of the Wise, Leia had started to say something and then stopped. Rico guessed that the fact that she stopped after saying something meant that she did not want anyone present ― Satoru, Liz, or both ― to hear what she had to say. However, she was curious about what she was about to say, so she called out to Leia when she was alone.

　While sorting out her belongings, Leia opened her mouth.

「I don't know. Those bastards who killed Liz's mother. I can't ask them anymore because they are dead, but I don't think that the Academy of the Wise ordered them to kill Reine, I think.」

「Huh?」

　Rico's mouth dropped open at Leia's comment, which she had not expected. At the moment Satoru exploded his magic power, Rico was riding on Minerva's back and a short distance away, so she did not know the details. Those men who were waiting for Satoru at Reine's house looked like mere ruffian mercenaries.

　She doesn't doubt the relationship between the Academy of the Wise and those men based on the evidence Satoru mentioned that the man in the leadership position was wearing the same type of ring as Sheryl, a woman on patrol at the Academy of the Wise whom she had learned about at Ares. Leia does not seem to doubt this point either, but it is a little tricky to say that the academy did not order them to do so.

　Leia's words were filled with contempt.

「It is true that the academy has been up to no good. They had forced the elves in the neighborhood to flee into the Deep Green Forest and warned the village of the World Tree about my Lord. Therefore, my Lord's anger is quite justified for ignoring the warning. There is no excuse for that.」

　Leia's words suggest that she is not trying to protect the Academy of the Wise. Her eyes are on her luggage and she seems to be sorting through it, but her heart is not in it.

「But you know what? The Academy of the Wise is basically a moderate group. One of the reasons is that they are not a group that would be okay with killing a third party, even if it was the person ― in this case, my Lord himself. Another is that ......」

「What it is?」

「......Reine entrusted Liz and my Lord with a 【Last Word】 that probably had the key to activating it being Liz's touch on Reine's body. That art is used when one's soul is destroyed.」

　Rico slowly chewed over each word that Leia blurted out, and then she suddenly realized.

「Does that mean ...... that Reine-san committed suicide?」

　Leia nodded.

「Of course, there is no reason to kill yourself if it's normal, so those men ...... probably tried to commit some kind of violent act. There were signs of such an attempt. However, the academy did not encourage them to go on violent on Reine」

　In fact, when the men were facing Satoru with Reine and Liz as hostages, Leia had noticed that Reine had already dead, although Satoru was unaware of it. It was obvious that telling Satoru would have caused a tremendous uproar, so Leia simply didn't say anything at that moment ― although her concern proved to be in vain.

　Satoru's anger was also her own anger, Leia thought. If the Academy of the Wise were to be destroyed, the magic guilds scattered throughout the world would cease to exist, and the evolution of sorcery would come to a halt, but even so, she was fine with that.

　However, Satoru did not say so. He just wants to destroy the symbolism and make the chief executive take responsibility. Perhaps there is also a fear of destroying one part of the system that makes up this world.

　Satoru's anger toward the Academy of the Wise is most weighted toward the fact that they killed Reine. Of course, he is angry that they ignored his warnings, but that alone is not enough to go head-to-head and destroy the symbolic Chalk Tower and make the High Mentor take responsibility. It is precise because of the death of Reine that Satoru is furious.

　However, if those men did not directly kill Reine and the cause of her death was suicide, then it would be wrong to blame the academy for the matter. However, there is an assumption that Raymond was associated with the Academy of the Wise, so there is some doubt about the responsibility for the supervision of the academy. The thought of the deaths that might result from a future dispute with the Academy of the Wise makes her a little restless.

　With a furrowed brow, Rico looked at Leia a little accusingly.

「...... Why didn't you say that earlier?」

　Leia stopped her hand there. Her gaze still dropped to her luggage.

「It is obvious. It's for my Lord. My Lord is quite perceptive, though, so he may be aware that this was not ordered by the academy. In any case, if we destroy the Chalk Tower, it will avenge Reine's death, and my Lord's wrath will be reduced, even if only a little. In the form of bringing down the hammer on those who did terrible things. I dared not to say this earlier in order to make my Lord's wrath reduced.」

　Leia said it clearly. If Satoru finds out the cause of Reine's death, he may have reservations about the Academy of the Wise. If Satoru destroys the Chalk Tower without knowing it, he will lose some of his wraths. If that is the case, Leia doesn't care if the Academy of the Wise collapses or is destroyed―Rico whistled lightly at Leia's strength because she totally agreed with that opinion.

　And then Leia and Rico heard a small sound of tapping and running away. Leia finally turns to Rico and gives her a reproachful look.

「Rico, you noticed that, didn't you?」

　Rico shrugged her shoulders and returned.

「Beats me. Even Leia must have noticed that, right?」

　Realizing Rico's true intentions, Leia also laughed. She realized that she had been thinking the same thing. If you think about it, there was no way that Rico, with her keen senses, could have been unaware of the presence of anyone other than the two of them.

　She had deliberately made Liz, who had been eavesdropping, hear it.

　Leia snickered and shrugged her shoulders.

「I don't want Liz to get dirty. If that happens, my Lord will be hurt.」

　The two feared that Liz would be consumed by black feelings of revenge. If she was swallowed up by those feelings, she would be helplessly tainted. They even thought that Satoru would not want to see Liz's blackened face, and if she did not want to go along with Satoru's revenge, that would be fine, too.

「That was very kind of you. But, Leia, aren't you being too soft on Satoru, too?」

「Perhaps. After all, I am responsible for inviting him to this world.」

　Rico gives a small laugh. That's always been the case with Leia. She has such a strong affection for Satoru that even others can see it, but she always talks about responsibility. It is not that she is shy, but that she is inherently clumsy.

「I'll leave it that way ...... Today, Leia, go ahead and spoil yourself.」

　Leia looked over at Rico, a little surprised at his offer.

「Are you sure?」

「There's an order, right? Today should be Leia. I'll take care of the other three.」

　Rico laughed cheerfully. Rico is the one who is most possessive of Satoru. The fact that she is now able to tell Leia to go and be spoiled by Satoru is nothing but growth.

「......You have grown up too」

　Leia looks softly at Rico with a sigh. Leia's inner life has also changed somewhat since she welcomed Rico as a magical slave when they left Galhassan. The biggest factor is anxiety. At that time, Rico was honestly nothing more than a troublesome child. Satoru scolded her at every opportunity, and as a result, she sometimes overdid things and became mean, but now she is a completely independent adult woman.

　However, Rico's reaction may not have been that of an adult, as she did not expect Leia to say such a thing to her.

「Oh no, it's embarrassing to be told straight out.」

　Rico turns red in the face and averts her gaze. Leia laughs with a Kuku.

「I guess so, considering how you're leaving the town of Galhassan.」

　She is a troublesome being with a twisted naivete, but as long as Satoru has accepted her, Leia will accept her too. She had made this decision and faced Rico, but at first, she thought Rico was a bit troublesome for a little sister.

　However, when Minerva became humanized, Leia saw how Rico took good care of Minerva, and when she entered the town and played an active role in all aspects of the town, Leia gradually came to see her not as a younger sister but as a person of equal status. If it had been Rico at the time of their meeting, she would not have been able to give up her time with Satoru, and probably would have been unfaithful to Satoru and Leia, watching their sweet time together from the side.

　Perhaps remembering that time, Rico's smile faded and her gaze dropped a little.

「......That time. Jim and Kai both made it a point to get rid of me on purpose.」

　Leia is surprised.

「You noticed?」

　Rico muttered, "I knew it," and then shook her head from side to side.

「No. I only recently realized that wasn't the case. When I did it with my butt. ...... I see, so that was the case」

「...... What a leading question. You've become very cunning, aren't you?」

　As Rico muttered to herself, Leia realized that she had been taken for a loop.

　At that moment, Satoru went to talk to her, realizing that Jim and Kai had intentionally set Rico up to be kicked out. Leia, who had thought that Satoru was going to retaliate for Rico, was impressed by the manliness of the two thin men, Jim and Kai. Satoru accepted Riko for their manliness and promised to protect her. Satoru said that he would not talk about their manliness, but Leia recalled that Rico might eventually notice it.

　It may have been her own carelessness that led her into that leading question, but Rico was aware of it. This must be another sign of growth. Leia was amazed. With Rico, as she was now, there would be no problem even if she returned to Galhassan.

「So, what are you going to do? Do you want to go back to Galhassan? It's a bit of a distance, but I'm sure Solor would be able to transfer―」

　Rico shook her head from side to side before Leia could finish everything she said.

「No. I'm only allowed to be around Satoru. Not Galhasan. Besides, it's not good for Kai―my little brother if I stay in that town.」

　The younger brother, Kai, is also indebted to Rico, and also has a twisted naivete.

　When both siblings were abandoned as children, it was the older sister, Rico, who stole because she could not bear the hunger. Kai simply watched and followed Rico when she was captured by the authorities. The boy had a distortion in his mind that his sister was there to protect him. After the sudden death of Threnody, who had been their father figure, he was played by Zales and realized that his sister was not omnipotent, so he became dependent on her in a different way. Rico must have understood this as well.

　Leia looked at Rico with deep admiration.

「Honestly... You've become so strong」

「Really? I'm glad to hear Leia say that.」

　Bashfully, Rico turned her shy smile to Leia. Rico properly understands that this 【Immortal King】, who looks younger than she is but has actually lived much longer, has guided her, sometimes harshly and sometimes gently, to embrace her. The joy of being recognized by her sister tickled Rico's heart.

　Fufu, smiling back, Leia interrupted her packing and stood up, then suddenly remembered.

「Strictly speaking, today was the day for Solor. Well, we've heard enough.」

　Originally, the whole day was assigned to Solor to hear about Satoru's world. At Solor's request, Leia and Solor listened to various stories about Satoru's world, and while there were certainly many points that were not fully explained, there were indeed many eye-opening points, even for Leia. Although the conversation was interrupted by Minerva's trouble, Leia was also quite satisfied. Perhaps the same was true for Solor.

「It was a difficult task, wasn't it? I knew Leia was smart, but Solor is as smart, too」

「Well, of course. It's as expected of a being that has gathered the best of technology from the days of the Ancient Magic Kingdom.」

　However, Leia was a bit skeptical about whether Solor had the flexibility to feedback on the knowledge she gained in the form of sorcery, as she did. Even though she has a small amount of emotion, Solor, a Magic Doll, is still a bit hard-headed. However, Leia also believes that if Solor had such flexibility of thought, she would probably be far more powerful than Leia is, and she has a slight fear that she would become useless. Solor herself probably doesn't care about it, and neither does Satoru, but it surely made Leia feel a little bit―and then it occurred to Leia that perhaps Rico had noticed that much and told her to go ahead and spoiled by Satoru? She looks at Riko.

　Rico just glanced at Leia with a curious expression on her smile.

「Well, let me take you at your word.」

　――Well, that's okay.

　Leia thought to herself. Just as Satoru has already accepted Rico, she has also accepted Rico's existence. This brown-skinned girl has nothing in particular to hide. If she is aware of that and is taking it into consideration, that's a big fold.

　Rico nodded and patted Leia on the shoulder. The appearance of the two of them was probably the appearance of a solid bond between two people who trust each other.

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