Chapter 24

All the way to Mount Friya, Seiran, who had spent his strength driving the carriage, watched the two men and women who paid no mind to his presence. Although they had grown much closer during the spring this year, they hadn’t been this close back at the castle, had they? The bond between them, into which he could not possibly intrude, was not something Seiran particularly welcomed.

Mount Friya was not a rugged mountain range, but there was no real path for people to walk on. It was, quite literally, a neglected, insignificant hill.

Seiran, holding the long sword he had prepared in advance, cut through the branches himself to make a way.

While he struggled to cut through the thick foliage, a worried male voice sounded from behind.

“Follow carefully, Elcia. Be sure to step only on my footprints.”

“Alright.”

“If it gets too hard, just say so. I’ll carry you back down to the carriage.”

“Oh, my legs are still just fine, you know?”

Their conversation was so childish it could have come from lovers crossing stepping stones over a shallow brook.

Really, things were too rosy back there. Seiran swallowed his mild irritation that was rising up his throat and focused solely on clearing the way. Fortunately, before noon, they found the entrance to the cave marked on the simple map.

Although she had lived in the countryside, Elcia was not particularly familiar with the wild, and her eyes widened.

“If we go in here, will we find the item the High Priest mentioned?”

“An item, huh? Who knows. It could be a mural or even bone fragments.”

“Bone… bone fragments?”

Having bravely followed them this far, Elcia’s eyes trembled with fear at the mention of bones, and Ian felt a sudden urge to tease her.

“Yes. If we’re unlucky, it could be neither, and we’ll just find a grizzly bear waking up from a long hibernation. It’s quite hard to finish off a bear even with a sword. Do you want to stay out here?”

“…There’s no bear smell at all, Master. Please don’t scare Miss Bennett for no reason.”

Unable to stand it, Seiran quietly cut in. Feeling a bit awkward, Ian fell silent, then took an oil-soaked wooden club from the luggage, unwrapped it, and lit it.

Ian took the lead, Elcia was in the middle, and Seiran brought up the rear. Elcia left Udis waiting outside the cave and summoned White Bunny, holding her tightly in her arms.

「What’s this musty smell?」

“Bunny, shh.”

Ian, shining the torch here and there, soon approached a deeply indented stone wall and stopped abruptly. He knocked lightly on it a few times with his fist, then stepped back.

After a moment, the wall crumbled and several evenly shaped stones fell at once. After Ian cleared away a few stones from the top, a box sitting underneath came into view.

“Ah!”

“So this was it.”

Seiran exclaimed in admiration. Ian touched the top of the box and murmured,

“I can feel an unknown holy power—this must be it. Then, now….”

Thud.

Just as Ian was about to lift the box, a rumbling sound echoed from deeper inside the cave. Seiran instinctively drew his sword, and Ian glanced sharply that way. When Ian saw several pairs of faint green lights inside, he hurriedly drew his sword.

“Elcia, get out right now and stay behind Udis…!”

Clang.

Just as Ian was telling Elcia to leave, he leapt up, locking swords with the oncoming threat. Glowing green eyes, a body made of stone—these were golems, crafted especially to resemble giants! But how could golems move so quickly?

“Ah!”

“Hurry, get out!”

Seiran shouted as he swung his sword at the golems charging in. Ian and Seiran fought frantically. Elcia, almost overcome by fear, glanced at the box that neither Ian nor Seiran could retrieve in the chaos. They’d come all this way for that box, and if it was destroyed in the fight, it would be a disaster.

White Bunny shouted urgently,

「Elcia, Elcia! When those things came, the ground shook too! We don’t know when this cave might collapse, so you have to get out now!」

“What? Ian, Sir Seiran! The cave is about to collapse, we have to get out. I’ll take care of the box!”

She shouted in urgency, but the two men were too busy fighting the endless golems inside. Could she just take the box and leave them? What if, because they were fighting, they lost time and couldn’t escape before the cave collapsed—then!

If Ian died, she would have nothing left.

Elcia turned back and shouted,

“Udis! Udis, come in and help, quick!”

When Udis, who had been waiting outside, came in, Ian, fighting desperately, finally managed to speak.

“Get out, Elcia! Wood can’t beat stone!”

“No! Bunny, throw something to distract the golems in front!”

「Got it!」

White Bunny climbed onto Elcia’s shoulder and mimed throwing something at the heads of the tall golems. As fluffy white bubbles formed around their eyes, the golems slowed down for a moment, and Elcia gave her order.

“Udis! Now, push the golems back!”

「Yes!」

Udis slipped between Seiran and Ian, using her wooden arms to forcefully push the golems back and create space. With a brief opening in the fight, Elcia looked back at the box.

“I’ll take the box now, so hurry and get out! Bunny? Sorry.”

「Hey! Ow, are you really going to throw me away?」

Elcia set White Bunny down on the ground and quickly pulled the box out from between the stones with her bare hands. Her fingers were pinched and hurt between the rocks, but there was no time to complain.

The box was quite heavy, whatever was inside. She dashed out of the cave, with White Bunny following. Udis stood ready, arms out, in a boxing stance. The cave entrance was narrow, so if the golems came out one by one, the three of them could probably handle it.

After confirming Elcia had made it out safely, Ian shouted,

“Seiran! Let’s push the one in front so it knocks down the rest, and then get out. We’ll finish them off outside.”

“Yes!”

Ian and Seiran waited for the right moment, ducked under the golem’s swinging arm, and struck at its legs in turn. The golem, losing its balance, crashed backward, making the others behind it stumble as well.

Without letting their guard down, they quickly escaped from the cave. Ian immediately checked Elcia, who was clutching the box tightly. She looked shocked, but her lips were firmly shut. Ian briefly thought her judgment was as good as any knight’s.

“Elcia!”

“Ian.”

“Be careful, we’ll keep the rest from coming out all at once, so stay further back. Seiran and I will…!”

“They’re coming!”

Thud, thud, thud.

The golems that had fallen now stomped toward the cave entrance. White Bunny stepped forward, sticking out her small belly, to stand in front of the tense Elcia. Udis joined the two knights’ formation, ready to surround the golems.

At last, the lead golem’s huge leg stuck out of the cave.

“Huh?”

But at that moment, as soon as the golem was hit by the dazzling sunlight, smoke rose from it as if it were being heated, and it began to crumble. Its massive stone body instantly turned to dirt, vanishing as if it had never existed.

The other golems that followed, pushing through the pile of dirt, met the same fate. The golems that had fiercely attacked intruders inside the cave all melted away the moment they stepped outside, just like snow in the sun. Seiran muttered in disbelief,

“I’ve never seen golems do this before. It’s as if they were haunted by ghosts.”

“They looked just like the giants described in the scriptures.”

“Excuse me?”

Thud.

Once again, the ground rumbled and White Bunny panicked.

「Ahhh, the cave really is going to collapse! Just in case, let’s hurry and move back.」

“Ah, okay.”

“Elcia, this way!”

Still holding his sword, Ian grabbed Elcia’s hand to protect her. Just as White Bunny had said, the cave, now emptied of golems, collapsed with a tremendous noise. Seeing the entrance blocked by huge rocks, Elcia sighed in relief.

It was a blessing that they were able to bring out this holy relic safely.

If she hadn’t been brave earlier, she might have lost both Ian and Seiran after all that trouble…

They descended Mount Friya, and Seiran immediately drove the carriage toward the Vanir Temple.

After the ordeal, Ian, worried about Elcia, asked belatedly,

“Elcia, how are your legs? Your feet didn’t hurt? Are you injured anywhere?”

“I’m fine.”

Ian hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

“Thank you. I was only thinking about protecting you, but I didn’t expect to receive so much help. You really are the dollmaker discovered by His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“No, it’s just… if you were hurt, I’d be sad too. Oh, and there’s something I wanted to ask.”

In truth, her hands were a bit scratched from pulling the box out of the rocks. But with White Bunny’s healing, it would be fine, and she wasn’t seriously hurt, so Elcia hid her tingling hands behind her back. She thought about how to change the subject and found a good excuse.

“Hmm?”

Without looking directly into Ian’s blue eyes, Elcia hurriedly asked,

“About Sir Seiran… will he go back to Usley Castle after this is over?”

She had finally initiated a conversation, only to bring up Seiran again. Ian felt truly strange. Why did Elcia’s cute lips keep saying another man’s name, ‘Seiran’, instead of ‘Ian Kypris’? He didn’t realize he was feeling pure jealousy. Even if he had, with his earnest nature, Ian would have found it hard to accept.

“No. Now that I’m back, Seiran doesn’t need to stay at the castle, so he’ll probably remain in the capital.”

“Then, will he stay at the marquisate residence from now on?”

When Elcia again showed interest in Seiran’s affairs, Ian answered a bit curtly.

“Seiran was never under my command, but was a renowned knight. Before joining the expedition, he was the chief knight of Duke Sesha’s duchy, but he broke his contract to come with us. For now, he’s my guest, so after the temple’s business is done, he’ll go to the marquisate residence… After that, I don’t know.”

“Then, I should go to the marquisate too this time.”

Again, she wanted to follow Seiran? When Ian was there, she’d quietly left the marquisate! Ian suppressed the strange, growing feeling inside. He hated how Elcia seemed to be drifting away from him.

* * *

After two more days’ travel, the carriage arrived at the Vanir Temple. Though she had eagerly set out, Elcia, startled and exhausted by the golem incident, tried to hide her fatigue as she met the High Priest.

Fortunately, the High Priest, who had heard the voice of the god in his dream, seemed somewhat revitalized. Unlike before, he stood up from his chair, leaning on his staff, to greet Ian and the others.

“Oh, welcome.”

“You don’t need to stand. The mission was a success.”

Ian, who respected the Vanir High Priest, quickly moved to help him. The High Priest patted Ian’s roughened hand and praised him.

“You’ve done well, Ian. And Miss Elcia Bennett… Oh, even the chief knight of Duke Sesha’s duchy is here.”

“You flatter me.”

Recognizing Seiran, the High Priest commented, and Elcia’s eyes darted busily again. Ian noticed it all too well. Each time her gaze wandered elsewhere, he pressed down the growing displeasure and spoke up.

“I didn’t do much. There were golems in the cave you mentioned, but as soon as they saw sunlight, they turned to dirt. More than that, Elcia had a tough time.”

“Miss Elcia Bennett?”

The High Priest was surprised.

“Yes. While Seiran and I fought the golems, Elcia pulled this box out of the pile of stones. She even used her dolls to block the golems’ attacks. Thanks to her, we escaped safely before the cave collapsed.”

Ian placed the box before the High Priest as he spoke. Though it was called a holy relic, it was a precious item obtained at the risk of their lives. The High Priest, looking apologetic, glanced between the box and Elcia.

“You must have struggled to get the box out from between the stones. Now then, child of the goddess, may I see your hand? I will heal it myself.”

“Huh? Oh… I’m fine, really.”

Elcia was embarrassed but held out her hand anyway. Seeing Elcia’s slightly scratched hand, the High Priest took it and focused his mind. It wasn’t truly necessary, but he wanted to heal her himself.

“Hmm?”

But as he tried to heal her with holy power, the High Priest noticed something strange and opened his eyes wide.

“…Is something wrong?”

The High Priest placed Elcia’s hand on the box. The faint holy power from Elcia’s body and the holy power from inside the box were exactly the same.

“Miss Elcia Bennett, have you received anyone’s blessing recently?”

She shook her head.

“No. Other than the one you gave me last time… Oh, before coming to the capital, a child named Haden prayed for me.”

“Haden, you say.”

“Yes.”

The High Priest muttered the unfamiliar name, then healed Elcia’s hand and stood up. With a gentle smile, he said,

“That Haden must be a blessed one. Perhaps your bringing this holy relic at the risk of your lives is related to him. Ian, I’d like to open the box now, so could you help?”