Chapter 3

Just one worry remains.

It seems this is a secret potion of the Demon King that had been sleeping in the royal treasury.

Since it’s definitely been decades, is it safe to drink? Is it okay like a long-aged wine?

But there’s no choice but to drink it.

Prince Sarian told me it would help me change my appearance and be useful for escaping.

If things go well, I can insist it’s a case of mistaken identity. Even if they try to silence me, I can find an opening.

I gulped down the potion. It tastes a bit like wine?

Suddenly, I felt dizzy.

"What is this? It’s a strange potion... or something?"

As I tried to hold back from collapsing, the outline of my hand on the ground started to blur. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it was different.

When I blinked—somehow, my hand had become smaller.

"Huh?"

The color of my hair flowing beside my face remained the same.

But my body size was different.

I was so surprised by the shrinking sensation that I could easily fit into the cliff hollow I had just crouched into. My clothes became baggy.

"Because it’s a magic potion...?"

With this, I can insist it’s a case of mistaken identity... right?

But I’m worried about my hair color. Everyone knows I can only use minor magic, and it would be troublesome if they immediately realize my body size has changed.

I suddenly spotted some blackberries nearby. I hurriedly crushed them and smeared them on my hair. From a distance, it should look like dark red hair, making me appear as someone else.

...Right?

Feeling worried, I noticed a puddle nearby.

With no wind and the sun shining a bit, the sky was reflected in it.

I peeked in, and though it wasn’t clear, I saw myself as a child.

I think I managed to disguise my hair color a bit.

I adjusted my baggy clothes, cutting the length and retying the waistband.

Then, I checked the position of the sun through the gaps in the trees and headed north.

As long as I go north, it’s the territory of the Einveil Kingdom.

I ran and ran, losing track of how far I had gone when—

"Stop, suspicious child!"

"Maybe she used magic to change her appearance."

"But that holy maiden can’t use magic..."

"She might know something!"

They found me.

I was running, almost crying, when I tripped over a tree root and fell.

My scraped and bruised knee hurt.

(I’m done for!)

Just as I was giving up.

—A sound of something slicing through the air.

"Ah!"

Turning at the scream, I saw several arrows standing in front of the pursuing soldiers.

Looking in the direction the arrows were fired from, I noticed multiple people approaching.

Through the sparse trees, a group with black mantles with red patterns approached.

Those are the colors of the Einveil Kingdom.

One person rode forward, surrounded by a dozen soldiers. The person on the horse, who looked like a knight, looked down at us and declared,

"What are you doing in my territory?"

(!!)

Did he just say "my territory"? Wait, have I already entered the Einveil Kingdom?

While I was in a daze, someone ordered,

"Kill them."

The Einveil Kingdom’s knights cut down my pursuers one by one.

In an instant, the pursuing soldiers fell lifeless.

I could only hold my breath, clinging to a nearby tree, almost fainting at the sight.

Because next was my turn.

The knights with their swords drawn.

But they hesitated, perhaps because I was a child.

"What are you doing? Dispose of that one too."

At the command from the person on the horse, I shrank back.

The cold, ash-red eyes made my spine shiver. I remembered the king’s gaze from the audience chamber, where he made his decision about me.

He himself didn’t look like the king.

With black-gray hair and ash-red eyes, he was probably two or three years older than my original self.

His face, perfectly sculpted like a doll, showed no expression, making him even more terrifying.

Given his good looks, he must be a noble? Nobles and royalty often choose beautiful partners, so they tend to have good looks.

But this color combination... I’ve heard it somewhere before...?

"Sir, it’s a child. Probably around twelve years old."

"A child?"

One of the knights who hesitated to kill me said this to the young man on the horse.

The young man then said, "It can’t be helped."

"You don’t have to kill her."

The knights relaxed and lowered their swords.

I felt relieved and almost collapsed.

Maybe I wasn’t killed because I’m a child?

(Thank you, Prince Sarian!)

Thanks to that suspicious potion of the Demon King, I avoided being killed by the Lafen Kingdom’s people and the Einveil Kingdom’s people!

I’ll be grateful for the rest of my life...

It’s a bit painful that I have no way to repay the favor.

"Then, child, tell us what happened."

The young man on the horse seemed to decide to hear my story.

What should I say? As I was thinking hard, it seemed they thought I was too terrified to speak.

"It can’t be helped. Someone, bring the child... no, bring her here."

Following the order, a soldier approached.

A soldier about my father’s age picked me up, confused, and moved me in front of the young man.

"Put her on the horse. It will be faster."

Following the instruction, I was somehow placed on the young man’s horse.

I was in a daze.

I was definitely saved, but is this okay?

The young man, who had me sit in front of him, said,

"I’ll introduce myself. I hold the title of Duke in the Einveil Kingdom. My name is Dears Alth Kraige. I’ll take you to the fortress for now."

Without waiting for a response, he started the horse.

(Huh... Huh!?)

I recognized that name.

The ruthless Duke of the Einveil Kingdom. The knight of slaughter. Mercy to the enemy is death.

The terrifying name of the neighboring country’s duke.

(...Dead)

If they find out I’m from the Lafen Kingdom or about the holy maiden, I’ll be killed immediately, right?

Even as a child, I might be killed!

The shock must have caused my consciousness to rapidly fade.