The Invincible Aloof Yandere Princess Falls in Love with Her Younger Court Mage's Fatherly Warmth! ~She Clung to Him So Much That the King Fired Him. When He Made Marriage His Official Reason for Resigning Under Royal Order, the Light Vanished from the Princess's Eyes~ - Volume 2 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Oath of a Slightly Unhinged Knight

The corridor painted pure white stretched on, long and twisting.

There wasn’t a single window the whole way we’d walked, so it seemed we were underground. No voices other than ours reached our ears.

But the “ours” in this case—

“――W-will we really be able to get home safely…?”

“I’ve got a newborn baby back in the village… I thought it was all over for me, but if we made it out of that cell, then maybe…”

Trailing behind me and Suu-san were about ten villagers who said they had been kidnapped by the bandits and brought here. It looked like they came from various different villages.

Since our goal was to stop the damage caused by the bandits—the old royalist faction of Jikir—we naturally intended to rescue them too. Just as I opened my mouth to try reassuring them—

“…I don’t like it. I haven’t forgotten the way they were looking at Al-kun earlier…”

“Suu-san… I’m really not bothered by it. When you’re locked up in a place like this, it’s only natural to get a little oversensitive. Besides, rescuing them is part of our mission anyway.”

“I know, but… Al-kun, you’re too kind.”

Suu-san sounded somehow dissatisfied. She was probably worried about me, but it didn’t feel like that was the only reason…

I glanced quickly over my shoulder.

“――! I-is something wrong…? Um, Sir Knight—no, Sir Mage?”

“No, nothing. Like I said before, I will take full responsibility for getting everyone out of here safely. So please don’t worry—just stay close and follow along.”

“Ah, ahh! Thank you, please, we’re counting on you, Sir Mage…!”

The young man bowed his head, but somehow he still seemed to have mixed feelings about me… To put it bluntly, he wouldn’t meet my eyes.

The looks Suu-san mentioned—the way they were looking at me. It was probably for the same reason.

――After Suu-san and I got out of the cell, the first thing we did was check the surroundings.

We looked for enemies, tried to figure out which direction the exit might be in. We explored the unnaturally white corridor and eventually found other villagers locked up just like we had been.

They were imprisoned in anti-magic steel cells too, so I tore the steel apart bare-handed again with crunching sounds. Everyone was completely terrified.

I explained who we were right away and told them we were getting them out… but they seemed to have lived lives far removed from magic or combat, so I guess it couldn’t be helped.

Back in Call village, the way people looked at me—the only mage there—was pretty much the same…

But Suu-san clearly disliked their attitude and had stayed prickly toward them from the very beginning.

Maybe because of her role as part of the “Shield of the Mane,” which handled domestic security, she had grown especially sensitive to looks like that from fellow citizens of the kingdom.

“Suu-san, if you feel uncomfortable working for their sake, you don’t have to force yourself.”

“! No, but… I can’t let all the burden fall on Al-kun alone. The strength I worked so hard to build—I have to use it for the people who deserve it…!”

“You mean I’m… one of those people who deserve it?”

“Only Al-kun…! Only you are worthy—”

Her voice carried such intense emotion that I stopped talking.

Suu-san had been acting a little strange since yesterday, but now it was even more so—

“…I thought about it again today after coming here. In this world full of nothing but mean weaklings and bad people—Al-kun is the only one who’s truly right.”

Her eyes were fixed on me, yet they seemed to gaze far away, as if remembering something.

“A strong, gentle, and noble person who protected me with his own body. Someone who knows the loneliness of talent, just like me—”

Without any longer paying attention to the villagers following behind, Suu-san stopped walking down the corridor.

“…Yes, that’s it. No matter how many times I think about it, that’s the answer. It has to be Al-kun… Someone like the hero in that story—”

With that small but somehow obsessive murmur, Suu-san turned back toward me.

For some reason she bent her taller frame and dropped to one knee.

The deep red eyes looking up at me seemed filled with a kind of fanatical light…

To my startled face, Suu-san drew her sword, held it up in both hands, and offered it.

With an entranced smile, she said—

“I’ve decided. From now on, my heart, my body, and this sword I’ve trained with—everything, everything, without leaving a single piece behind—I dedicate it all to you, Al-kun… no—to my lord.”

After that.

After a somewhat bizarre, almost ritual-like exchange—our group changed a little.

For some reason the villagers trailing behind us started treating me like the son of a noble.

“I did think he had the refined face of a noble,” or “No wonder he’s so strong,” things like that. They seemed to decide we were people from a different world entirely, so while their attitudes became stiff, at least they stopped being openly afraid, which was an improvement.

And it wasn’t just them who changed—there was one more person.

Whoa.

“――Aal-kun~ Fufu.”

“Suu-san… that’s no good, you know? Linking arms like this in a place like this. We don’t know when enemies might show up.”

“Ehh? But Al-kun is my lord now. A knight who has offered everything gains the right to be spoiled by her lord in return.”

“What is with this master-servant image you keep talking about…?”

Suu-san grabbed my arm and pressed it firmly against the chest plate of her armor. Her breathing sounded rough.

“Ufufufufu—”

With no other choice, I gave a helpless smile while Suu-san grinned happily.

And so we continued advancing through this vast underground facility.

“…Still, what is this place really?”

There were no other people besides us, just endless rows of prison cells, and sometimes even strange monsters locked up inside.

Every now and then I noticed a certain design along the corridor walls—a mark like a woman holding a star. It felt vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it…

“Al-kun, I’ve heard that in mazes like this, you can find your way by keeping one hand on the wall.”

“You’re right… It might take a while, but let’s try that. Worst case we can just smash through the walls and ceiling, but since we don’t know what’s on the other side, better not.”

“! Right now I just gave my lord some very useful information. Please give me a reward—”

She actually bent her tall frame again and offered her head… Should I pat it?

“Mmm, hehe, that tickles…”

I couldn’t help giving a wry smile when Suu-san let out delighted little giggles.

I had worried that being called “my lord” would change our friendship, but surprisingly it didn’t.

If anything, it felt like we’d become even closer than before.

“…Hey. Do you think that knight lady and the mage guy are… you know, together?”

“Definitely! …Just look at her face. Any woman can tell—that’s the look of a woman who’s monopolizing the kindness of the man she loves and floating on cloud nine…!”

“But with that height difference and age gap, it feels a little… criminal—”

“――What are you saying! Isn’t it wonderful? Height difference, age difference, status difference couples…! All we should do is pray for their happiness…!”

Somehow the people behind us were getting really excited. It was way better than them being scared like before, but I still thought we should all stay more alert—including Suu-san.

There was too much anti-magic steel here, so even my wind-based detection magic barely worked. Enemies could jump out at any moment.

…But maybe. If I used that mysterious power, it might work somehow.

Why didn’t I think of that earlier? Let me give it a try.

“――Everyone, I just thought of a magic I’d like to test. I’m going to try it now, okay?”

“…M-magic? Is it… safe? I don’t really understand these things…”

“You all just need to quietly follow Al-kun. Whatever Al-kun says—there is absolutely, positively no chance he could ever be wrong—”

Suu-san, your eyes are way too serious. I make normal mistakes too, you know…

“Please ignore what Suu-san just said… Um, basically, I think I might have figured out a magic that could get us out of here. It’s not an attack spell, so it’s perfectly safe.”

When they heard that, everyone nodded—even while giving Suu-san a slightly wary glance.

Alright then, here we go.

I simultaneously aroused and wove together the four elements, creating something like a door to the other side, and then—

“――Pseudo-【Stellar Heaven】”

Right after I chanted those words.

“――――No way! Onii-san, you can use star magic?!”

“――!”

From farther back—somewhere we had already passed.

A voice called out.

It belonged to a girl whose voice still carried a hint of childishness, and I had never seen her before.