Chapter 44

With a light thud, Helian landed on the plain with Selene.

Approaching the rescued girl, she turned out to be a human girl, just as Selene had said.

Her ears were short, she had no tail, and of course, no horns or scales. From any angle, she looked like a "human." Helian had thought she would be younger, as Selene had called her a child, but she appeared to be over fifteen years old. Her clothes were dirty, and the fabric around her chest was cruelly torn, but she didn't seem to have any serious injuries. Helian couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

"…I'm glad you're safe. It's really a relief that we made it in time."

They had managed to rescue the girl who was being attacked. Thinking about that fact, Helian naturally found herself speaking in a gentle voice. She managed to smile, even if it was a poor attempt, she thought she had managed to form a smile.

The girl was quite well-dressed. While she was dressed in a way that seemed easy to move in, the quality of the fabric was different from what the people of Lateswood wore. Even Helian, who had no great eye for aesthetics, could tell the difference. It was clearly of a higher grade.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you just now. Please accept my apology."

Helian pulled back her hood and continued speaking. Although the situation had been tense, she had indeed shouted at the girl in a harsh tone. Even though she had saved her, it was important to apologize to avoid causing any trouble. As she was about to bow, the girl looked shocked.

…Was the apology that surprising?

Confused by her reaction, Helian noticed the girl mumbling something. Her arms, which had been covering her chest, now hung limply, and the torn fabric revealed glimpses of her smooth skin.

…This was very awkward.

Avoiding her exposed skin, Helian took off her coat and approached the girl. She didn't have the nerve to continue the conversation calmly.

"Ah… by the way, um… your appearance is… quite indecent."

Not wanting to be too direct, she mumbled as she offered her coat. However, the girl continued to stare at her in a daze. Wondering if she had done something impolite, Helian took another step forward and draped the coat over her thin shoulders.

"…May I ask your name?"

Suddenly, the girl asked a question. Helian was surprised that her first question was about her name, but she replied with her own.

"I'm Helian."

She fastened the coat to cover the girl's chest. Once that was done, Helian took a deep breath and observed the girl more closely.

To put it bluntly, she was a cute girl. Her features were well-defined, and she had a gentle, serene face. Her large eyes, peeking out from her neatly cut bangs, were particularly striking. She seemed like the kind of girl who would grow up to be a graceful beauty in a few years.

However, her most distinctive feature was not her face, her clothing, or her eyes. It was her hair, or rather, its color. It was a color that was rare in this world, just as Selene had reported. It was a lustrous, jet-black color, like ink had been poured through it.

"Excuse me, but what is your name?"

"…Sion."

The girl, still in a daze, answered almost reflexively. Sion. Helian had never heard the name before. However, her reaction upon seeing Helian was still on her mind. That's why Helian asked her, with a glimmer of hope, the black-haired girl Sion:

"Are you… a player?"

Helian recalled her first conversation with Reiva. Reiva had said that black hair was very rare among humans. She had heard that there were no black-haired humans among the adventurers who visited Lateswood.

Here was a black-haired human. The first human she had met in this world had the same black hair as her. It seemed too much of a coincidence. She didn't want to believe it was a coincidence. In the game [Tactics Chronicle], there were more male players, but there were female players too. And the player name [Helian] was well-known in [Tactics Chronicle]. After all, she was the ruler of a world. There were probably a fair number of players who knew what she looked like. If the girl in front of her was one of them, her reaction would make sense. That might be why she had asked for her name first.

So, maybe.

Maybe she was a fellow traveler from another world.

With that sliver of hope, Helian asked the black-haired girl.

—However.

"Player…?"

The black-haired girl repeated the word, as if she had never heard it before.

(…Ah.)

Helian realized.

She understood.

The girl's reaction was genuine.

She wasn't acting.

Even Helian could see that.

So,

"…What is a player?"

Even when the girl asked this question, which contradicted her hopes, Helian didn't feel a great shock. She had already felt disappointed.

"No… don't worry about it. It was just a mistake on my part."

She smiled again.

The girl was innocent, so even if the answer to her question wasn't what she had hoped for, she shouldn't show her disappointment.

Besides, it wasn't a complete waste.

At least she had rescued the girl.

She had saved a human life, as she had commanded.

That was enough.

That was good enough.

"I'm sorry for asking such a confusing question. Anyway, you're safe now. We'll take responsibility for getting you home. Don't worry. —Reive, Selene. Could you take care of her clothes?"

"Understood. —Selene, can you lend me your jacket?"

"Sure, but… it won't fit her at all. This girl."

"It's fine for now. Just a temporary fix. We'll take care of the rest here."

Reive and Selene approached, but the girl still had a dazed expression. She was probably still in shock from being attacked and almost assaulted. In any case, it would take time to calm down and have a proper conversation.

Helian turned away from the women, deciding not to interfere. Then, she faced the remains of the bandits, which she had deliberately avoided looking at until now.

"……"

She had no regrets.

This was the result she had wanted.

Selene had shot as she had wanted, and Reive had rescued the girl as she had wanted.

The bandits ended up dead on the plain as a result.

"…But even so… death is the end."

—So.

This time only.

Please allow me to pray for the dead—

.

.

.

The black-haired girl watched.

She watched the black-haired, black-eyed young man standing solemnly before the bandits' corpses.

She remembered a certain story that her mother had repeatedly told her.

A very important story related to the Gardiner family's mission.

When she first saw the young man, she thought it might be a mistake.

Then, she thought it might be an illusion.

But no matter how many times she blinked, the young man in front of her didn't disappear.

Despite her disbelief, the girl realized this wasn't an illusion.

And with a dazed expression, the girl—daughter of the Gardiner Margrave—whispered from her small lips.

"…Lord Arato."

The whisper was so soft.

It was carried away by the wind of the wilderness.