Life as an Adventurer with the Banished Marquis' Daughter

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Chapter 07: The Return of the Marquis’s Daughter, Part 3

“What is the meaning of this? Here I am, trying hard to regain my composure amidst these difficulties, and there’s all this commotion.”

Was that muttering of curses part of her effort to regain self-control?

Erika Solnzari gracefully stepped down from the carriage, and with a swift motion, she smoothed her hair, which had gotten disheveled from using magic in the confined space.

Her outfit was more suited for travel than her usual attire at the academy, lacking its usual flair. However, this plainness seemed to only enhance her beauty.

She glanced back at me and Merseja, who was standing there dumbfounded, and me, who was staring at her in admiration.

“Are you the coachman and… the guard?”

I wanted to say that I was a classmate of hers, but I held back.

“Do you know where my sword is?”

As I stepped down from the coachman’s seat, I replied,

“Unfortunately, your sword is with the luggage.”

I carefully handed her my sword, making sure not to get any of the bandit and demon blood on her.

“Please use mine instead.”

Erika Solnzari looked at the handle of the sword and then at my face before smiling gently.

“Thank you, I’ll gladly use it.”

Merseja’s voice, filled with unease and suspicion, interrupted our exchange.

“Young man, are you sure this is okay?”

I understood what he meant, even if his words were a bit unclear.

For me, as long as Erika Solnzari was standing on solid ground with a sword in her hand, there was nothing to worry about.

It’s natural to feel uneasy if you don’t know her well.

I told Erika that I would leave the rest to her, and as she assured me with a confident “Leave it to me,” I took my seat on the coachman’s bench.

By the way, I had stopped using physical enhancement before handing her the sword.

Merseja looked at me as if he wanted to say something.

“Don’t worry, Merseja.”

I said, glancing at Erika, who was now walking ahead of us.

“She is ‘the’ Erika Solnzari.”

Golden magic rose from her.

“There’s no chance she’ll lose.”

“That may only be convincing to you, young man.”

Seeing the horses finally calm down, Merseja seemed to think for a few moments but eventually decided, like me, to just watch her back.

I saw the horse-faced demon, who had been knocked down at the edge of the barrier, suddenly stand up with force.

Behind me, I could sense Merseja getting restless, but I wanted him to stay calm.

Even if he was a rank 6, could he not see it? Erika Solnzari was obviously too strong.

Or perhaps he recognized her strength but was deceived by her beauty?

If that were the case, Merseja’s sense of aesthetics should be praised, as he understood that she was not only strong but also beautiful.

As I was thinking that it couldn’t be helped, I noticed Erika Solnzari smiling. Even though I could only see her back, I could tell her magic was shining joyfully.

She must be smiling.

Ah, it’s a pity I didn’t go with her; I could have seen that side profile again.

The horse-faced demon, now on its feet, seemed to prioritize targeting Erika Solnzari.

It didn’t even glance at us, who were full of openings.

The attack method chosen by the demon was a straightforward charge.

It was odd that, despite having the intelligence to prioritize its target, it still chose such a simple attack.

In the narrow barrier, the demon as large as a carriage charging straight ahead might lack finesse, but it would still be effective.

After all, simply dodging wouldn’t be enough to avoid the attacks from its tentacles.

If we tried to dodge widely in the narrow barrier, we would eventually be cornered.

The horse-faced demon, with only enough magic to maintain the barrier, probably wanted to engage in a physical fight since it couldn’t use magic.

I watched the flow of magic from the demon to the top of the barrier and thought about it.

It was truly foolish.

If that demon had any real intelligence, it should have undo the barrier and fled.

If it had chosen to run as soon as it stood up, it might have had a chance to escape.

But to challenge Erika Solnzari head-on, especially when she was armed with a sword, was utterly foolish.

To me, it seemed like the demon had vanished because I had stopped my physical enhancement, but Merseja, who hadn’t stopped his, muttered in awe that it was too fast.

How much of her movement did the horse-faced demon, now falling apart before us, actually see?

While thinking about this, I called out to Erika Solnzari.

“Be careful, it has high regenerative abilities—”

Before I could finish, a pillar of fire rose, and the pitiful horse-faced demon turned to ash.

As expected of Erika Solnzari, she was flawless.

The pillar of fire, created by swirling flames, also broke through the barrier as if it were an afterthought.

Seeing all this, Merseja spoke up.

“You’ve got yourself quite a wife there, young man.”

His voice carried a hint of exasperation.

But it’s true—I am, in name at least, her husband.

Being reminded of this made me smile involuntarily.

Or perhaps my smile was more than a bit odd.