Chapter 12

"Wheel♪ Cha-cha-cha♪

Wheel♪ Cha-cha-cha♪"

Nina walked down the street, looking cheerful.

People passing by smiled at her.

"Wheel♪ Cha-cha-cha♪ Whirl-whirl♪"

"What song is that, Miss Nina?"

As Elise, who was walking with her, asked, Nina turned around.

"It's the Will song."

She answered with a broad smile, then started humming and searching for the next melody, walking energetically down the street.

"Miss Nina is so energetic."

Aika, walking beside her, matched her pace while keeping an eye on Nina's back.

The three were now walking down a street in the city district of the capital.

It was a street two blocks away from the main street, lined with ordinary houses and small shops.

If they walked a little further down this street, they would reach the school where Serena attended.

Aika had decided to accompany them to show Elise the way to the school, but since Nina wanted to go for a walk, the three of them had come to pick up Serena.

Incidentally, Will was so captivated by the magic shown to him by Cecilia that he ended up being taught several spells from the magic book "Magic for the Home Garden."

The garden might look miserable when they got back...

They passed through the square, crossed the shops, and walked towards the school. A few passersby had stopped to look at something in front of the school gate, where someone was causing a commotion.

"Senior Elise, that..."

"!"

Aika and Elise's gaze fell on a young man holding a child and pointing a sword at him.

"Don't come any closer!"

The man, on guard, shouted. In his arms, the boy, with a sword pointed at him, had lost all color from fear.

"Miss Nina..."

Aika called out softly, and Nina hurriedly hid behind her.

"Miss Aika, Sister Serena is..."

Upon closer inspection, Serena was among the teachers and children watching the situation from a distance.

"Calm down...!"

A knight who happened to be there raised his hands, signaling that he was unarmed, and called out to the man.

However, the man showed no signs of lowering his weapon.

"I told you not to come any closer!"

The man skillfully maintained his distance. Upon closer inspection, there were about three others who seemed to be his companions around him. Though they differed in appearance, they were all armed, suggesting they were adventurers.

There were two knights, who had blocked the man's path from both sides.

The street where Aika and the others were had no suitable hiding places, and the direction for escape was the opposite way.

(If he barricades himself in the school and involves Miss Serena, it will be troublesome.)

Elise's gaze turned to Nina. She was holding Aika's skirt tightly but didn't look frightened. She was just looking worriedly at the hostage child and her sister, Serena. For a normal child, it would be understandable to be frightened and not understand what was happening.

(She's a strong girl.)

Elise smiled at Nina, who was more concerned about others than herself.

(Still...)

Elise looked around again, puzzled. Why weren't the adventurers who had taken the hostage running away? Numerically, they had the advantage. No reinforcements had arrived for the knights. Without taking a hostage, they could have broken through one side and escaped.

The knights must have realized this. The usual tactic would be to surround them with a large number of people to block their escape route. Why were only two knights trying to corner them? Indeed, patrols were usually done in pairs, but it seemed they had come from different directions. Even with a small number, they could have cornered the man at the gate and attacked from both sides.

Aika, standing beside her, also seemed unable to grasp the situation.

(Do they not know they need to run? Are the knights not trying to catch them?)

Either way, it was just speculation. But if they did nothing, the situation would only get worse.

Elise turned to Aika with a determined look.

"Aika, stay by Miss Nina... I will intervene. If anything happens, you protect Miss Serena and Miss Nina."

"Senior Elise... I understand."

Aika, who had hesitated for a moment, quickly pulled herself together. Elise patted Nina's head, which was looking up at her worriedly.

"What are you doing?"

A voice came from the side, making Elise and Aika jump.

Shiro was suddenly standing right next to them.

"Father!"

"Shiro-sama!"

All three were surprised by the unexpected arrival of Shiro. However, the next moment, Aika and Elise's gazes turned suspicious.

"Your duty...?"

"Ah!? I'm being suspected!?"

Shiro, accused of slacking off, panicked, and Nina, who didn't understand, tilted her head.

"I was just running an errand for the Knight Captain."

Shiro's explanation was enough to satisfy Elise and the others.

His appearance had completely dispelled the tense atmosphere among them.

"We came to pick up Miss Serena..."

Elise's gaze turned to the center of the commotion. Shiro followed her gaze and looked at the adventurers and the knights who had cornered them.

"Ah... I see..."

Shiro nodded in understanding.

"You see... Can you tell what's going on just by looking?"

Aika's question was quite reasonable. She had noticed the oddities at the scene before Shiro. However, Shiro had more information about the situation than they did. He scratched his head and closed his left eye.

"The knights negotiating are actually from my team..."

Shiro's words made Elise and Aika exchange glances. They then looked at the knights again. The knights were still persistently trying to persuade the man, just as before.

"Third Knight Regiment...?"

The knights of the Filfarria Kingdom could be identified by the color of their armbands. The uniforms, which were based on brown and white, representing the earth element of the royal family's guardian spirit, were assigned different armbands for each regiment. The armband of the Third Knight Regiment was sky blue, while that of the Second Knight Regiment was indigo.

The armbands of the knights who had cornered the man were indigo, indicating they were from the Second Knight Regiment.

Elise looked up at Shiro, worried.

"In the capital... in disguise? What's going on?"

It was unusual for a knight regiment to operate outside its jurisdiction, let alone for knights to be disguised as other knights. Clearly, something was wrong.

Shiro sighed deeply.

The fact that disguised knights were already involved in the scene suggested that this incident was related to the son of a count. Somewhere in his heart, Shiro had hoped that the matter would resolve itself somehow.

Shiro was indeed a bit lazy, but he was basically a worrier.

Fighting monsters was fine; they didn't have much intelligence.

However, if the opponent was human, there was a possibility of retaliation against others. This was scary for Shiro, who had a family.

However—

"Elise, Aika. Can you help me?"

He was also a kind-hearted person who couldn't stand to see someone suffer unjustly. The two were taken aback by Shiro's hesitant request. Unbeknownst to him, he was their master, the head of the household. The fact that he was asking them from below made Elise and Aika smile.

"Yes, Master♪"

"Whatever you need, Master♪"

The two nodded in agreement with cute gestures, and Shiro turned away, scratching his cheek, blushing.

"Let's go, then."

Elise, Aika, and Nina followed behind Shiro as he walked ahead.

The crowd noticed the four of them and started murmuring, and Shiro's name began to spread among them. Nina, noticing this, tugged on Aika's skirt, looking curious.

"Miss Aika. Is Father, perhaps, famous?"

Aika smiled slightly at Nina's question and glanced at Elise, who was surprised.

"Yes, very. Miss Nina will find out someday."

Aika's expression, as she turned back to Nina, was somewhat proud.