The festival was still bustling.
It was said to be a kind of harvest festival that lasted for a week.
On the second day of the market, there was more energy than the day before. The first day had been quite crowded too, but today it felt even more so.
Perhaps because of that, the knights bustling about stood out, moving here and there.
With so many people around, it seemed like things weren’t very well managed, and impatience was evident on their faces.
They were incredibly busy, darting around with hardly a moment to breathe.
As I watched them, Estelle approached me.
“It’s quite lively, isn’t it?”
“Indeed.”
And just like that, our conversation awkwardly fizzled out.
Not particularly bothered, Estelle kept humming a little tune as she continued to wander about.
Despite having been walking around for nearly two hours, she didn’t seem to be getting tired at all and appeared as energetic as ever.
If she hadn’t trained her stamina over the past times, she might have collapsed halfway through.
That’s how formidable Estelle’s stamina was.
It seemed as if she had some kind of fresh battery attached to her, as she showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever.
Her appearance reminded me so much of a typical girl her age, and it made me chuckle a bit.
She moved and moved without ever running out of energy like a little child.
“Is this your first festival, Estelle?”
“Of course! If it weren’t for Adele, I might have never come at all.”
Estelle answered with a bright smile. Her response piqued my curiosity, and I asked her.
“Did you come because of me?”
“Yes. I was worried you might have gotten badly hurt from that battle.”
Now that I think about it, Estelle knew I was involved in the Monster Extermination War.
She seemed to have gathered that I was the knight who saved Yurph.
I was curious how she knew, considering my face hadn’t exactly been plastered all over the newspapers.
Well, she said she’d tell me later.
‘Speaking of which, I heard that Yurph is doing fine now.’
I had been worried about whether Yurph was safe since she woke up in the mansion.
Fortunately, Abel had sent a letter from the Holy Kingdom confirming that she had all her memories intact.
Thanks to that, I had a huge sigh of relief.
It really did feel rewarding for all the effort I spent running like crazy inside the Forgetting Whale back then. Though, diving without a parachute was a mistake due to my eagerness.
But let’s set that aside for now; reassuring her comes first. After all, we’re friends, kind of.
“I’m okay, really.”
As I said that, I tried to stretch my arms wide, but a sharp pain shot through, making me unwittingly furrow my brow.
With a small grunt, Estelle rushed over to me.
“Aha ha! Your muscles are still tense…”
It seemed I still wasn’t fully recovered.
My mentor, Arin, had told me not to overdo it for a while, so this was only natural.
“Heal.”
With a resonating sound, the muscle pain began to ease little by little. I never thought Estelle could use healing magic.
“Is it feeling a bit better?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Haha, no problem.”
She replied with a gentle smile. After a moment of silence, Estelle continued.
“To continue with what I mentioned earlier, noble young ladies tend to shy away from participating in such festivals.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s simple.”
Her explanation was straightforward.
Since the festival is open to commoners, the first reason is that it seems lowering to mingle with them.
Well, that kind of thought feels very medieval, to be honest.
“The second reason is a bit more pragmatic.”
“What is it?”
“It’s one of the easiest places for kidnapping and abduction to happen.”
Her voice turned slightly cold. Though her lips curved upward, her tone was definitely not friendly.
Just as I was beginning to feel her sudden hostility, I sensed a murderous intent.
Though it was much more crude and sloppy than the intent emanated by Abel, it was still definitely something lethal.
Kaang!
I reflexively pulled out my rapier from my side and parried the attack.
Looking up, I saw a man wearing a black mask staring at me with a flustered expression.
I guess he never expected I would pull out a weapon to defend myself. I mean, based on my current outfit, it would be a surprise.
It might look pretty modest, but I was still wearing a dress.
‘Bringing the rapier was the right choice.’
Since it was a weapon I always carried around, it was instinctive to grab it. I didn’t expect such a habit to prove useful like this.
I suppose it’s best to always carry a weapon.
“Ugh, what is this!”
I swung the rapier. I hadn’t yet unleashed Silphy’s power.
After having had a conversation with Silphy, she’d told me that she wouldn’t be able to show up for a while after facing Katra.
Besides, I had no reason to use Silphy’s power in the first place.
With my current physicality, I could easily handle this low-tier goon.
A dagger was aimed at my neck.
With the way he seemed to target my vital points as if he’d given up on kidnapping me, I swept his legs.
In that instant, I delivered a knee kick to his face as he staggered.
“Cough!”
His teeth flew out in all directions. I felt a heavy sensation beyond my knees, but I didn’t care.
I had zero sympathy for someone trying to kidnap me.
If it were up to me, I would have liked to decapitate him right there, but I held back.
I didn’t want to see blood at such a festive occasion.
“Cough…”
The assassin collapsed, his eyes rolled back. Something that looked like an artifact slipped from his possession.
Was that an artifact of stealth or something that obscures presence?
Well, I suppose with a piece like that, he thought he’d be able to attempt a kidnapping with those skills.
Clicking my tongue, I turned to look at Estelle.
“Estelle, are you okay?”
She stood there, staring at me with wide eyes, her hand covering her mouth.
Somehow, I felt like her golden eyes were sparkling.
She seemed a bit excited as she fidgeted her feet, letting out little gasps.
“That was amazing, Adele!”
“Aha ha… You’re overreacting.”
The truth is, I wasn’t amazing; it was just that this guy was a total loser. You don’t see many assassins who fall over just from having their leg swept.
Yet he dared to attempt a kidnapping during a festival.
Were they foolishly brave or just plain stupid? Either way, the result was the same.
While it seemed like the crowd’s attention was focused on us, a few knights pushed through the people.
One knight, catching his breath, halted in his tracks.
“Sorry for being late, is there a problem…?”
“Wow.”
The blonde knight looked at the fallen assassin, then turned to me.
Recognizing me, he seemed ready to open his mouth in surprise, but I quickly pressed my finger to my lips to silence him.
I couldn’t imagine how things would turn out if the identity of Adele was exposed here.
The knight seemed to catch my urgency, nodding quietly before whispering to his colleague who was catching his breath beside him.
“Let’s take this one away.”
“Huh? Uh… what about the incident report…?”
As I whispered something in his ear, the fellow knight’s eyes widened, and he looked at me.
After a moment’s hesitation, he hoisted the assassin over his shoulder and left with his partner.
Once the two knights disappeared, all eyes in the crowd were suddenly back on me.
Feeling a bit awkward, I scratched my cheek as a loud cheer erupted.
“That’s impressive, miss! That was a clean kick!”
“Wow… I don’t think any ordinary man could handle that.”
The men laughed and said such things. Meanwhile, the women who had been watching on the side bowed their heads and thanked me repeatedly.
“Oh, thank you! I can’t believe there are still scoundrels like that around.”
“If it weren’t for you, I might have been in trouble too… truly, thank you.”
The crowd cheered for me. Among them, Estelle was looking at me with a smile.
I winked at her as if to ask for help, but she just chuckled and mouthed something.
Although I didn’t know the art of silent communication, I could make out what Estelle said.
“I’ll see you a bit later.”
Muttering that, she flashed another smile. It took over an hour before I managed to meet up with her again.
After most of the people had dispersed, I leaned against the wall of a building, completely exhausted.
Estelle approached me with a glass bottle filled with a drink in each hand.
“Estelle, isn’t this a bit much…?”
I looked at her with accusations in my eyes, and she handed one of the bottles to me with an awkward laugh.
The bottle contained orange juice that looked refreshing just from looking at it.
“Sorry. I’ll give you this instead.”
“Thank you.”
I opened the bottle cap and gulped it down. It felt as if it had just been pulled out from ice, the cold orange juice sliding down my throat.
The refreshing feeling was something I hadn’t experienced in a long time, prompting an involuntary “Ahh!” to escape my lips. Estelle chuckled at that.
“Adele, you have a bit of an old man side to you, don’t you?”
“Huh? What do you mean by that…?”
“I’m just kidding.”
No matter how I looked at it, that didn’t sound like a joke. I thought she’d spoken in a serious voice, but maybe it was all in my head.
Her face remained unchanged, as if she had a steel plate on it.
“What was the meaning of what you said about my eyes being nice?”
“Well, I guess it’s about time to talk about that.”
We had both been enjoying the festival quite a bit. Although most of the food and drink had come out of my pocket.
Honestly, I wasn’t impoverished enough to worry about my wallet, so it didn’t bother me much.
It’s just that Estelle’s unusually bubbly and excited demeanor throughout the festival intrigued me a bit.
Tap.
When she snapped her fingers, all the surrounding sounds instantly vanished.
The clamor of the people, the voices urging one another to try food, even the lively buzz of the festival disappeared.
Was this some kind of barrier blocking the sound from the outside?
When I turned my head, I saw Estelle with a smile now missing from her face, her expression chillingly cold.
Is this really her true self?
“I have the blood of an emperor flowing through me.”
“…What?”
“And when I say my eyes are nice, that’s quite literally the meaning of it.”
Her golden eyes began to ignite. It was as if they sought to penetrate right through you.
I didn’t know much about magic or auroras, but I could tell that wasn’t an ordinary kind of aura.
“This is my royal power.”
After taking a brief pause, Estelle continued speaking.
“Now do you kind of get it? You, who came from another world.”
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