I Got Reincarnated as the Villain and Saved the World, but After the Ending I Was Betrayed and Exiled. I Just Wanted a Peaceful Life in the Frontier, but for Some Reason My Former Companions Started Chasing Me with Yandere Eyes… - 13

Chapter 13: A Talk with Elena

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We returned to the Adventurers’ Guild in silence and gave a brief report on the rescue of the adventurers and our encounter with a demon. Gyamel and the others seemed to be severely injured, so they were loaded onto a carriage to be treated by an excellent priest in the neighboring town. 

The young heavy knight had been bleeding so badly that I had given the knight emergency treatment with a handkerchief—though I could only hope the knight survived. Sure, they were irritating people, but seeing familiar faces die was never pleasant.

And now, we were facing each other in the Adventurers’ Guild’s VIP room. Incidentally, I had already given Tia-chan a brief explanation of my true identity.

“As expected of my Master and the Great Sage. You can’t rent a private room like this unless you’re someone really special. Ahahahaha—”

“……”

“……”

Tia-chan tried to lighten the mood with playful banter, but I couldn’t respond at all. I simply kept my gaze locked, filled with killing intent, ready to move at any moment. 

Master—no, Elena—was looking at me with sorrowful eyes, but I couldn’t allow myself to be swayed. After all, the woman in front of me had exiled me and might still be trying to take my life as of now.

“So then… Elena-san, why exactly were you looking for me?”

“Elena-san, huh…? So you won’t call me Master anymore?”

Her pained expression made my chest ache, but I steeled my heart. My relationship with her was no longer what it used to be. Elena stared at me for a long moment, then let out a deep sigh and spoke.

“Because Phantom left without telling us, I wanted to look for you…”

“What the hell are you talking about!? You’re the ones who exiled me!!”

Elena’s vaguely accusatory tone made me raise my voice without thinking. Why did I have to be blamed when it was them who had cast me aside?

“I even heard it with sound magic! You all agreed to my exile! Don’t you dare say you don’t remember it!”

It had undeniably been their voices. And sound magic had no ability to alter what was said. It could only replay it exactly as it happened. Elena’s face twisted, as if she knew exactly what I was talking about.

“That was… That was… That was a misunderstanding!! That damn Cain tricked me!!”

“Eh… She’s cute…”

Tia-chan muttered quietly when she heard Elena’s suddenly childish tone. Yes… Elena had always been self-conscious about her childlike manner of speaking. To appear more mature, she usually adopted a haughty way of talking, but this was her real voice.

“I did say it, yes. But that’s because… Phantom’s power is too strong, and I thought you’d stand out too much in the human world. So I decided I would watch over you myself! I even made a special spell for that! But then… But then…”

“Wait a second…”

Normally, she only spoke this way to people she had completely opened her heart to, specifically to her elven family and me. For her to speak like this in front of Tia-chan meant she was probably far more shaken than she realized. But still…

“But Elena-san, you’re a Court Mage now, right? Weren’t you here to kill me…?”

“Of course not!! Besides, I can only use magic! There’s no way I could beat Phantom with his Evil Eyes if I came alone! I just wanted to see you, Phantom!! I wanted to apologize for hurting you!!”

With tears streaming down her face, Elena threw herself into my chest. Indeed… She alone wouldn’t be enough to kill me. And if Cain was involved, he’d probably use my family as hostages or take some other underhanded measure.

“But Elena-san, didn’t you lend your power to Cain and the others to serve as a bridge between elves and humans? What about that? Is everything okay…?”

“Of course it is not okay!! But Phantom is more important to me than the mission of the elves!!”

My Master pleaded desperately with her expression, but I still couldn’t take that final step to believe her. No matter what, the thought that it could all be an act kept creeping into my mind.

Perhaps sensing my hesitation from my expression, Elena stepped back from me. Her face was the epitome of a sorrowful look and then, she began rummaging through her robe’s pocket. Her resolute expression gave me a bad feeling.

“But… It’s only natural you can’t forgive me, right? Even though they call me a Sage, I couldn’t even see through the schemes of that idiot minister and Cain… That makes me a fool… I’ll take responsibility.”

“Wait, wait, wait!!”

She suddenly pulled a knife from her pocket and tried to stab her own neck, so I reflexively knocked it away with my sword. From that angle… She would’ve really died if she stabbed herself!

“What the hell are you thinking?”

“I thought maybe this way, you’d remember me forever… Besides, a world without Phantom by my side has no meaning for me.”

“Fine!! Fine, I’ll believe you, Elena!”

“Really!? I’m so happy… But I still want to take responsibility… Should I curse Cain and the others to death? Or maybe drop a meteor on the castle?”

“No, it’s fine… I don’t hate them that much…”

“She’s…She’s quite an adorable person, isn’t she…”

Elena hugged me happily, but her eyes looked terribly clouded…Hopefully, it was just my imagination THOUGH.

“So then, Master. What are we going to do now?”

“Ah, right… I’ve grown attached to this city. So I want to protect it, even if it means fighting demons. I think the Guild will decide on what to do tomorrow, so let’s wait for that.”

“In that case, I… No, my magic shall be of use.”

Blushing slightly, Elena returned to her usual speech style. Seeing this, Tia smiled warmly, as if watching something endearing.

“Fufu, Elena-san is cute too.”

“No I’m not!! I’m not the cute type, I’m the cool type!!”

Well, in any case, it seemed like she and Tia would get along. But… The haze in my heart still hadn’t cleared. Even though I knew in my head that Elena had cared so much for me, I couldn’t stop the memories of being exiled from surfacing… And of course, Tia-chan, who was so perceptive about people’s feelings, couldn’t possibly fail to notice my dilemma.

★★★★

“Mmm—mmph!!”

“Master… I’m sorry, but this is a necessary step for the two of you to truly make up…”

The last thing I remembered was Tia-chan calling me over to talk, and me drinking the drink she offered… And yet, for some reason, I now found myself bound with rope and my mouth gagged.

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