Chapter 535: Repeated Curse

「Everyone is looking for you, Lugis. Are you sure you don’t want to go? 」

Eldith gently rubbed her fingertips while leaning her slender body in a small chair.

Her blue eyes gazed out the window at the royal capital. She could see the guards running around through the window.

I shrugged my shoulders and put a stick of chewing tobacco on my lips.

「It’s all Philos’ fault for saying something so outrageous. Hide me until she calms down. 」

Eldith giggled at my response.

It was true that Philos had done something outrageous.

Somehow, I couldn’t accept it.

「It’s true. It would be absurd to make a young man with no status in the Gharast Kingdom and no military history a General. It would inevitably cause backlash, and it would irritate many people. Besides, you’re my knight, not a General of the Gharast Kingdom. 」

However, Eldith continued, looking through the window again. The smile on her cheeks seemed to deepen.

「She’ll never settle down, Lugis. The princess will definitely make you a General. Being rebellious won’t matter. Plus, you’re a hero here. The citizens and soldiers will support you. 」

「…You’re speaking as if you’ve read Philos’ mind. 」

「I know. She and I are the same. 」

Her blue eyes stared intently at me. Then, Eldith changed her position in her small chair. Her hair, illuminated in the soft sunlight, looked awfully beautiful.

I thought that was an unusual thing to say.

It was rare for Eldith to identify with humans. Or, in other words, for the elven species itself.

Even if they were neighbors with humans, they were by no means housemates. As living beings, they draw a final line somewhere.

So it was extremely rare for an elf, especially an elf queen, to identify with humans.

Both Eldith and Philos were royalty. Perhaps, she had some similar thoughts.

I twisted my shoulders and looked back at Eldith, who suddenly touched my cheek with her hand.

「What do you mean by you’re the same? You don’t mean you physiques, do you? 」

「Of course not. We’re the same in that we both sulk. Isn’t that right? 」

「…What are you talking about? 」

Her long, slender fingers grabbed the chewing tobacco from my lips.

What was she doing? That was my lifeline.

Even though she clearly had no intention of tasting it, Eldith lightly touched the chewing tobacco with her lips before turning her gaze back on me.

「You heard me, right? I said that we both sulk, Lugis. 」

What did she mean? Sulk? Where did all that talk about the General go?

Perhaps it was because of the influence of the magical devilish being Drigman, but the real Eldith I met again after returning to the royal capital had a different air about her.

She didn’t have the threatening presence of the former hero Eldith I knew. Nor did she possess the dignified aura of a queen of this era.

She had a somewhat fragile air about her.

「Everyone’s sulking because you do whatever you want. If you keep doing this, you’ll eventually suffer a painful backlash. People are sick of it. 」

As she spoke, Eldith leaned forward, tilting her body onto me.

I held out both hands, wondering if she was anemic or something, but it seemed she wanted to sit on my lap. I couldn’t tell at first.

With Eldith sitting on my lap, her body seemed much smaller than I’d imagined.

Perhaps I was still biased by my past, or perhaps her dignity as queen made her appear larger. In reality, she was so petite she could easily fit in my arms.

「…C’mon, don’t be sulky. Now isn’t the time for that. The Great Demon Zebrililith is on the move at a rapid pace. The Great Holy Church army has also begun to move more actively. They’re proclaiming their hostility toward us. You see, things will get dire if we let them do whatever they like. 」

Naturally, 50,000 Gharast regular soldiers could join forces with the Holy Church army. They had avoided the Demon War and were conserving their forces, so they could attack us. The Holy Church itself had declared its goal of destroying Zebrililith, but I wasn’t sure how effective that would be.

From what Ann had told me, the Great Demon Zebrililith was slowly moving south, devouring everything even now.

In other words, it was eating livestock, people, plants, rocks, houses, buildings, everything. This was causing Zebrililith to continue to grow larger and larger.

And it wasn’t asleep unlike Vrilligant. I would describe it gluttony after gluttony, so it was likely its magical powers were more than enough for now. Just finding a way to counter it would be a pain.

And then there was that evil woman…Altia. I couldn’t imagine she would simply advance. She had something planned.

「We have to take action. Now. 」

Eldith turned around in my lap, distorted her lips and said the following.

「Hmm. Is that so, Lugis? Are you doing it for humanity? Or…」

…Are you doing it for your beloved childhood friend?

My eyes widened in an instant. My heart thumped violently.

I was at a loss for words. I didn’t know what Eldith was trying to say.

But anyway, how did she know about Ariene? I was sure I had never talked to her about anything like that.

Eldith spun around on my lap and faced me. There was a smile on her cheeks, but her eyes were anything but smiling.

「Lugis, neither I nor the girls are as carefree or ignorant as you think. You seem to really like keeping secrets, which makes us all the more desperate. The more you do as you please, the greater the backlash, don’t you see? 」

Her long arms wrapped around my neck. It was as if she was embracing me and entrusting her body to me.

I was beginning to understand what Eldith was trying to say.

But I couldn’t think straight. Maybe I just didn’t want to understand.

「…So, is that what you’re trying to say? Don’t act selfish. You are doing the same thing as Matia…」

「Are you talking about another woman in front of me? 」

Her blue eyes narrowed visibly and lost their light. I felt the arms around my neck tighten slightly.

This was bad. There was clearly a different air about Eldith today.

She wasn’t harming me. It wasn’t anything like that. But she was simply forcing herself to suppress the rage that was quietly seething within her.

An elf’s rage wasn’t as gentle as a human’s.

「What I’m trying to say is, the reason you’re allowed to do whatever you want is because we allow you to do whatever you want. That’s true for me too, okay? 」

Eldith’s words were very gentle, but her voice was lower than usual. Her blue eyes, staring straight at me, seemed to say she wouldn’t let me go.

No, in fact, she probably had no intention of letting me go.

Eldith cleared her throat and paused for a few seconds.

「So, you want to defeat Zebrililith and drive away the evil spirits. If so, of course I’ll help you. You’re my knight, after all. That won’t change even if you become the General of the Gharast Kingdom. But are you really my knight? 」

「What do you mean? 」

Her face moved closer to mine. We were now close enough to feel each other’s breath.

「We’ve done this before. It’s a repetition, and it has a powerful meaning. Don’t just nod when you hear I say, “you’re my knight”. You have to say that you’re my knight of your own free will. If you can’t say it, then that’s fine, though I don’t know what will happen after that. 」

She was sulking. It was no exaggeration to say it like that, as Eldith continued to distort her lips.

This was her mansion, yes the mansion where the elves lived. That was why I thought the Gharast people couldn’t enter this place.

That would mean no help would come to me.

A chill ran down my spine. Eldith whispered the words I needed to say in my ear.

My lips parted awfully slowly.

「…I’m Finn Eldith’s knight. Without a doubt. 」

I felt a tinge of pain deep in my chest the moment I said those words. Something clicked. I couldn’t figure out what it was. Nothing else changed in my body.

Only her blue eyes flickered happily before my eyes.

「That’s a relief, Lugis. Very well. I’ll help you. But you can’t just keep running around. Let’s talk to Matia and Philos. They won’t be reckless with me here. We should call the others, including Ann. 」

That was certainly reassuring. Or so it should be.

I wondered why. Strangely, I accepted Eldith’s words so easily. Until just now, I was sure I’d been thinking, “I don’t want to be a General”.

No, actually, if I wanted to take Helot Stanley’s place and play the role of a hero, then I knew it would be best to let me control the army however I wanted.

But even so, there must have been some part of me that couldn’t accept it.

I couldn’t help but say…

「Eldith…you did something to me, didn’t you? 」

「…I told you there’s meaning in repetition, didn’t I? 」

My cheeks twitched, and my eyes went numb. As usual, Her Majesty the Queen was laughing happily in front of me.

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