Brother
"The moment Lord
At Brother Eckhart's low, resounding words, everyone nodded in unison. I gripped the lesser beast's handle tightly.
Up ahead, the Chief Priest drew his staff and aimed it at the Aidelort.
The instant the weapon was pointed at it, the Aidelort opened its mouth wide and spat out flames.
"Hyah!?"
"Gettiruto!"
The flames belched from the Aidelort's mouth looked like those of a street performer's torch—neither very large nor long-range, but more than sufficient as a deterrent.
I reflexively tried to dodge the flames, raising one arm to shield my face and squeezing my eyes shut.
The next moment, a sharp clanging sound rang out, followed by a low, monstrous shriek of "Gugeeeh!"
When I lowered my arm and opened my eyes, the Aidelort had been blown back several meters and was frantically trying to regain its footing.
It seemed to have intended to scare us with the flames and then charge with a body slam, but the Chief Priest had been faster at conjuring
It was exactly the same as when I had caught Golce during that Schutzaria's night. The difference was that, unlike me, the Chief Priest was skilled with and accustomed to handling Magic Power, so he gradually shrank Schutzaria's Shield.
"Go!"
Passing the Chief Priest who was maintaining Schutzaria's Shield, we ran past the Aidelort thrashing inside the shield, and dashed toward the hot spring at the back.
"Chief Priest, there's another one!"
I spotted a second Aidelort in the rearview mirror. I shouted backward, and a powerful voice came back: "No problem."
We raced through the narrow passage and emerged into a slightly open area. An entirely different landscape from the cave we had been traveling through spread out before us.
While everything around us was stained a dark orange from the eye drops, only the hot spring glowed a pale, faintly luminous blue. White steam rose in gentle waves from the high-saturation blue water surface, and the steam misted our vision with a thin white haze, making the scene appear even more ethereal.
With a faint plop-plop sound, I could tell that hot water was welling up from underground. Water seemed to be bubbling up from multiple places, so the surface was in constant complex motion.
When I peered at the gently rippling surface, I could barely make out the faint outline of eggs—some so barely visible it was hard to tell. Nearly a dozen eggs appeared to be clustered together.
"That's the Liesefalke eggs."
Brother Eckhart pointed at the hot spring and said. Having been looking at the same thing, I nodded in agreement.
"We can't have other people's Magic Power mixed in, so
"...Yes. But we're going in there? It looks awfully hot."
Without a thermometer, I couldn't determine the exact temperature, but from the ambient heat alone, I could immediately tell it was hotter than my usual bath.
"You're not going in like that."
Brother Eckhart said with a wry smile, removing his gauntlets and pulling on leather gloves that cut off Magic Power instead. Then he pulled out a drawstring net from the leather pouch the Chief Priest had given him earlier.
The net was packed full of magic stones. These must be the drained magic stones the Chief Priest had mentioned. They reminded me of the oranges I used to see packed in nets for sale back in my time as Ehrenfried.
Brother Eckhart looped the drawstring around his wrist, took out a single magic stone slightly larger than a fist from the leather pouch, and tossed it toward the eggs.
Then, with the net of magic stones still looped on his wrist, he entered the hot spring in his armor.
"Brother Eckhart?"
"The magic stones are absorbing the heat, so it should be safe to enter now. Come, Rozemyne."
Doing as Brother Eckhart instructed, I gently dipped my fingertips into the hot spring. It was about the temperature of a moderately hot bath. The magic stones were amazing.
"The temperature will only stay down while the magic stones are absorbing Magic Power. Once they're full, the temperature of the spring will rise again."
As I hesitated to enter the hot spring in my clothes, Brother Eckhart scooped me up and waded in. Before I knew it, I was in water deeper than I could stand, and I clung to Brother Eckhart's arm.
...Wow, lovely hot water.
The temperature was just right, but the billowing fabric of my clothes made it impossible to sigh contentedly with a satisfied "haaa." I wanted to just strip naked and bathe, but I was hardly in a position to do something like that, and I couldn't leisurely soak in a hot spring that would heat up again once the magic stones filled with Magic Power.
Once we reached the spot where the eggs lay at the bottom, the water came up to around Brother Eckhart's shoulders.
"Rozemyne, I'm going to submerge us in a sitting position, so grab the eggs right away."
"Yes."
"Take a big breath..."
The moment I inhaled deeply, Brother Eckhart squatted, and my body plunged into the water with a splash. I dove down toward his feet.
In the slightly murky, whitish, swaying waters where visibility was poor, I grabbed the nearest egg. It was about the size of an ostrich egg, perhaps. For me, it was large enough that I needed both hands to hold it. The bizarre marble coloring made me hesitate for a moment about whether anyone would actually eat this.
...Collection complete.
I turned back and nodded to Brother Eckhart, who tightened his grip on my side and surged upward with a great push.
On the way to the surface, I caught sight of something approaching in the water. It seemed to be following me up.
I broke the surface with a gasp, and a small monkey popped its head out of the water, looking friendly as it blinked its eyes around and swam closer with swift strokes.
...A baby monkey?
For just a fleeting moment, I thought it might be cute—then the next instant, its eyes gleamed sharp, it aimed for the Liesefalke egg, and its front paw shot out.
"Rozemyne!"
Thanks to Brother Eckhart yanking me back, the monkey's paw couldn't reach, and the egg was safe.
"That's a fey beast called a Batteffe. Rozemyne, you absolutely must not let them steal the egg this time!"
Though they weren't particularly strong, Brother Eckhart couldn't exactly stop to kill them here, so he tucked me under his left arm and used his right to part the hot spring water, immediately striding toward the shore with long steps.
"Batteffe travel in packs. If you spot one, assume there are at least thirty!"
They were practically like one of my natural enemies from my Ehrenfried days—the black demons. Brother Eckhart's words only deepened my aversion to the Batteffe. At the same time, I remembered how they had stolen my Luerel fruit that I had dyed with my own Magic Power.
...I will absolutely not hand this over. These are my hot spring eggs.
I clutched the egg tightly to my chest and glared at the Batteffe.
Having missed the egg, the Batteffe twisted its face hideously, bared its teeth, and swam after us. There was not a trace of cuteness left in that threatening expression.
"Fukiih! Ukiioh!"
Trying to look as fierce as possible, it slapped the water surface hard as it swam—unlike before—and made for the egg.
"This is mine!"
The Batteffe let out an intimidating "Ukiioh!" and this time extended its front paw not at the egg, but at me.
I hugged the egg to my chest to protect it, then unleashed all my Magic Power in a furious burst of intimidation: "Mukiih!"
Perhaps it hadn't expected to be fought back, or perhaps it was simply startled by the blast of Magic Power—the Batteffe's eyes went wide.
...Heh heh heh, surprised? I can hold my own when the occasion calls for it.
As I watched the Batteffe with a triumphant look, it foamed at the mouth and went limp, floating in the hot spring.
...Oh no. Did I go too far?
Looking around in a panic, I saw a swarm of Batteffe baring their teeth and leaping into the spring from the holes on the opposite bank from where we had entered.
On closer inspection, there were multiple shadows in the hot spring water, all swimming toward us.
"Brother Eckhart! There are tons of Batteffe coming!"
"Lord Eckhart, the Liesefalke!"
Almost simultaneously with my shout,
From a hole far above, a very large bird with the shape of a raptor was diving toward us at full speed. Despite its size, it had thick, large legs, sharp curved talons shaped like magatama beads, a sharp beak, and keen eyes that had locked onto prey.
It was more formidable than the Aidelort the Chief Priest had captured, more dangerous than the swarm of Batteffe closing in—this Liesefalke that was now flying toward us seemed the strongest of all.
And that Liesefalke had identified me, clutching the egg, as its enemy. The sheer momentum with which it dove straight toward us made that unmistakable, and I involuntarily held my breath.
"Tch!"
Brother Eckhart grabbed the floating Batteffe with his free right hand and hurled it with all his strength at the Liesefalke.
"Gobbeh!"
I was sent plunging back into the hot spring from the recoil of being held under his left arm, but the Liesefalke, having dodged the thrown Batteffe, rose into the air as if reassessing the situation. That was good enough. My nose hurt terribly, but I'd let it slide.
The Liesefalke circled above, comparing us—now on shore—with the Batteffe that had surfaced near the egg and was thrashing about trying to retreat while screeching "kee-kee." Then, as if locking onto the Batteffe that was currently going for the egg, it began its dive anew.
"Cough, cough..."
On shore, the Chief Priest flicked hot spring water from his nose and stuffed me into the riding beast, tossing in the net of magic stones and the leather gloves one after another.
Then, reattaching the gauntlets Damuel had been holding, he roared, "Run!" and took off himself.
My nose hurt too badly to bother blowing it properly. I stuffed the egg into my leather pouch and quickly grabbed the handle, chasing after
We burst through the narrow passage back to the Chief Priest, who had been activating multiple Schutzaria's Shields at once to capture around five Aidelort. The Aidelort trapped in the same shields had recognized each other as enemies and were attacking one another.
When I had caught Golce, I had struggled desperately to prevent its escape, but the Chief Priest had five of them restrained separately with ease.
Noticing our return, the Chief Priest asked, "Success?" and Brigitte, who had been leading the charge, answered immediately.
"The retrieval was completed successfully."
"A Liesefalke has returned to the inner spring. We confirmed it heading toward the Batteffe that were targeting the egg and withdrew, but it has recognized that Rozemyne stole the egg. We don't know when it will come after us."
Brother Eckhart, catching up from behind, provided a further report on the situation. The Chief Priest frowned upon hearing the status of the inner spring.
"Then we should withdraw quickly. I'll hold the Aidelort until the last possible moment. Put as much distance as you can and run!"
"Yes, sir!"
Brother Eckhart nodded at the Chief Priest's words and this time took the lead, heading for the exit. The Chief Priest, still capturing the Aidelort, would serve as rearguard.
The path we had walked with occasional brief rests on the way in, we now ran straight through without stopping. I was merely riding the beast, so it wasn't so bad, but everyone else was having a terrible time.
The Chief Priest judged they were no longer being pursued and finally stopped his stand near the entrance.
While I was blowing my nose and wiping my face, the group apparently decided that since they were resting anyway, they might as well exit the cave and eat lunch.
Everyone walked toward the exit while gasping for breath.
Outside, it was hot, but the air was crisp and dry with no smell of sulfur—fresh air spread out all around us.
The knights summoned their riding beasts and returned to the area where they had camped.
For the slightly late lunch, everyone was busy boiling water and preparing portable rations. I alone was feeling groggy. I had prioritized escape over everything after leaving the hot spring, not even properly wiping myself down or changing clothes, and sure enough, I had caught a cold.
Brigitte, concerned, used cleansing magic to tidy up both my body and clothes, but the strange chill wouldn't stop. My neck was tingling, and goosebumps had risen all over my body.
"Here, Rozemyne. Eat. You can't take medicine on an empty stomach."
The Chief Priest handed me the same portable rations as that morning. Honestly, I had no appetite and didn't want to eat, but I wouldn't recover without taking medicine.
Reluctantly taking a bite, it somehow tasted better than it had that morning. The porridge-like mush probably tasted good precisely because I was feeling ill.
"...These portable rations taste better than this morning. How strange."
"That's because you said this morning you put in too much water, remember? You used the same amount of water as us even though you eat barely half as much. Of course it tasted bland."
"Oh, so that's what you meant. I couldn't understand what you were saying since we had put in the same amount. It must taste good this time because the Chief Priest, who knows the proper amount, made it. Thank you."
The Chief Priest let out a deep, utterly exasperated sigh and began eating his own meal.
"...Ah... ah-choo!"
"Expected. No problem."
He said this and forced me to take a bitter medicine. I no longer had the energy to retort that "even if it's expected, there's still a problem." I was exhausted.
Clearly running a fever by anyone's standards, I enlarged the riding beast so everyone could rest, reclined the driver's seat, and lay down. The worried-looking Brigitte placed a towel that had been chilled in the ice room on my forehead, asking, "Does this make you feel any better, Lady Rozemyne?"
The kindness was something neither the Chief Priest—who always demanded efficiency even when dealing with illness—nor Brother Eckhart—who had been chased around by Grandfather
"Eckhart, where's the leather pouch?"
"My apologies, Lord Ferdinand. Here it is."
The Chief Priest had been tossing the leather gloves Brother Eckhart had been cleaning from the riding beast back at him with a "tidy this up" gesture, and now he noticed my leather belt lying on the passenger seat.
He detached the collection bag from the belt and held it out to me.
"You won't be moving until the medicine takes effect. In that case, you should sleep while holding the Liesefalke egg. Inside a riding beast saturated with your Magic Power, it shouldn't take long to dye."
Even with a sick person, the Chief Priest demanded efficiency. I accepted the collection bag with a sigh, took out the Liesefalke egg, and cradled it.
"All that's left is the autumn Luerel fruit, isn't it?"
"Yes, exactly."
"This time, I will absolutely collect it."
I furrowed my brows remembering last year's failure, and the Chief Priest furrowed his in the same way.
"Naturally. I have no intention of failing twice. I will make sure you collect it, so just lie quietly for now. If you don't recover, we can't move from here."
"Yes."
I fell asleep cradling the Liesefalke egg and pouring Magic Power into it. By the time my fever subsided, the egg had become a blue magic stone.
The egg was successfully collected.
It's a bit short, but it ended cleanly.
Next time,