Vol 3 Chapter 70 – Sophia and the Black Ring【Empire War Arc】

Roy sat in Sophia’s private room, looking at her sleeping in her bed. She seemed to be in great pain, and her face was very flushed…

“Uu… ugh… Ro…y…”

Sophia had been calling his name in a feverish mumble for a while now, and seeing her like this made Roy bitterly regret the choice he had made.

“Sophia, I really am sorry for sending you to Dart alone. I will do anything you ask, so… please, wake up…”

Roy gripped Sophia’s hand and focused on that one wish.

According to the doctor who examined her, Sophia had been hit by a Basic Dark Magic spell. It was a type of magic unique to the Empire and not very widespread in the kingdom. Most of its effects target the mind, and Geas was apparently created in ancient times as part of that same line of magic.

On the other hand, there were few direct-attack spells in the Empire’s repertoire. During their clash with Ganalkin, the knights directly under his command used bows as their main force, and the offensive magic had been handled by mercenaries from other countries.

Even though it was only Basic-level, being struck from behind by a spiritual-body attack, Astral Attack, had inflicted severe damage on Sophia’s mind. On top of that, the doctor judged that the spell had been slightly modified.

Putting together everything they had heard from Yukino and the others about Dart, Roy concluded that Dart’s objective was Sophia. He had planted a low-level dark spirit to rob her of consciousness and then planned to abduct her.

When they analyzed the modified portion of the spell, they found it had been altered to make the target more susceptible to mental magic after the Astral Attack. According to the doctor, it was highly likely the goal had been “enslavement.”

However, Yukino had appeared unexpectedly, putting Dart at a disadvantage and forcing him to burn that scheme just to slow them down. The one silver lining in all this was that among Roy’s collection of daggers there had been a holy-attribute one, and he had transferred about half of them into Yukino’s Item Box beforehand.

Thanks to that, Yukino was able to use the holy dagger and cut away the dark spirit before it could completely take root.

Even so, Roy was consumed by guilt and had stayed by Sophia’s side, nursing her for more than half a day now.

—Whether from his prayers or not, Sophia finally opened her eyes.

“Nn… huh…? …Roy?”

Sophia turned her face to the side, saw Roy, and tried to reach her hand toward him, but she could not move it because he was still holding it tightly.

“Sophia!?”

“Ah… ugh…”

Sophia’s eyes were unfocused. She did recognize Roy, but her mind was still hazy. Even so, Roy spoke to her.

“Sophia, I am sorry… If I had stopped you back then…”

Sophia’s consciousness still had not settled, and a proper conversation was impossible. In her dazed state, she began to perceive Roy as something out of a dream.

“I have to give it to Roy and Yukino… and I… need one too…”

“Give me? Give me what?”

Sophia did not answer his question, her gaze drifting as she started reaching toward the nearby desk.

“Wait, I will get it. You stay still.”

Hearing Roy’s words, Sophia fell asleep again. Roy remembered what the doctor had told him.

Anyone struck by Astral Attack would, for a while, have unresolved issues and memories they wanted to forget surface more easily. That was why someone had to watch over them at all times.

When he opened the desk drawer, he found a small pouch. Roy picked it up to hand it to her, but the string was loose, and he accidentally spilled the contents.

“This is… a ‘black ring’? And it is the kind they use in the Threefold Marriage Rite. Sophia, when did you… find someone like that—”

He trailed off as he remembered what she had said just a moment ago.

—“I have to give it to Roy and Yukino… and I… need one too…”

Realizing what that meant, Roy’s face went bright red. He had no idea what he was supposed to do and clutched his head. And just then—

Knock, knock!

—The door was suddenly rapped on.

“…Has Sophia-san woken up yet? Wait, huh? Did something happen?”

Before the door opened, Roy shoved the ring back into the desk and closed it, returning everything to its original place. But Yukino had caught just the slightest blur of high-speed movement, and it seemed to have made her suspicious.

“Hmm. You were not… taking advantage of her being unconscious to do something naughty, were you—”

“I was not! S–Sophia just let out a shout, that is all. It surprised me. More importantly, did you find out where Lydia is?”

With a doubtful squint, Yukino moved a chair next to Roy and sat down.

“No… It sounds like she has not reported to the guild even once since that day. The guild has apparently already put out a capture quest for her.”

The guild prided itself on being fundamentally fair. So for a capture quest to be issued in less than three days meant she had already been involved in some kind of wrongdoing. Once they caught her, she would likely face the same punishment as Ganalkin—or worse.

As she adjusted Sophia’s blanket, Yukino asked Roy what he really intended to do.

“So… are we going after them?”

“Dart said he would not give up, right? If that is true, then there is a chance he will target her again. If trouble is going to fall on us, we should brush it off ourselves. And I think Dart and Lydia are cooperating for their own, separate reasons.”

“Yes. And… Eiden-san being so late getting back is worrying too, is it not…”

“As for that, it is possible he is just taking a detour. Either way, this is not the time for us to move.”

After settling on that course of action, Roy and Yukino continued to look after Sophia.

Perhaps because she had woken up once already, Sophia’s spiritual body was on the mend, and the doctor said she would make a full recovery in three days or so.

Relieved, Roy and Yukino handed off her care to Ange and Sarina, then stumbled back to their own rooms and fell into bed like they had collapsed.