Chapter 33

〈 Chapter 34 〉 Elsie (1)

*

“I guess I’m never getting married now…”

I said to Elsie, who was sitting there looking like she had lost the world.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t really that moved by it anyway.”

It’s true.

It felt like distinguishing between a male and female cat.

I didn’t feel anything strange.

After all, having weird feelings for a kid like her would be a crime.

“Garbage.”

Yeah, even I thought it sounded weird.

I scratched my head.

I couldn’t even come up with an excuse anymore.

Looking at me, Elsie, who had been quiet for a while, said,

“Well, I’ll forgive you.”

“Huh?”

“I said I forgive you. Since you didn’t do it on purpose. You thought I was in danger, so you tried to help me.”

That was definitely true.

Thinking back, I hadn’t really done anything wrong.

I just…

“You didn’t even know I was a girl, right? That’s probably why you let me sleep in the same room.”

Not exactly?

I knew she was a girl, but she looked like a poor alley cat, so I let her stay.

But bringing that up would definitely cause some problems, so I decided to stay quiet.

“I’ll forgive you, but there’s one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Please keep the fact that I’m a girl a secret.”

“Of course. But…”

There seemed to be a problem with that promise.

“I might be able to keep it a secret, but I don’t think others will fall for it, right?”

If it were the old Elsie, with her messy appearance, maybe some people would fall for it.

But she had changed completely, washing away all that dirt from before.

Her fair skin and bright blonde hair seemed to shine on their own.

‘Could it be because of her trait?’

The trait listed in her status.

[Authority of the Leim Royal Family (Great)]

It was a trait that I couldn’t feel while playing as a player, but facing her like this, it was quite vivid.

‘So that’s what it was.’

It seemed that hiding such a trait wouldn’t be easy.

But with that bright blonde hair, she would stand out wherever she went.

I unfolded the handkerchief I had. Since her hair was short and her head small, this should be enough.

“Let’s cover your hair first and head out.”

*

The place I went with Elsie was a dye shop.

“What color do you want? Black seems like a safe choice, right?”

As I was picking the dye, Elsie, looking flustered, quietly asked,

“W-wait a minute. Why do I have to dye my hair?”

“Are you planning to walk around with ash on your head forever? If it rains, it’ll all wash away.”

“Well…”

I asked the hesitating Elsie again.

“So what color are you going to choose?”

“…Black.”

After she chose, I bought the black dye and got some advice from the shopkeeper about dyeing her hair.

It was more trouble than I thought, but nothing I couldn’t handle.

“Let’s head back to the inn and dye your hair.”

As I grabbed the dye and headed back to the inn, Elsie anxiously asked,

“When did you know?”

“Know what?”

“That I’m… a fugitive.”

If I said that I knew because I was like a Divine Seat, I’d just get weird looks.

But luckily, I could explain without having to say that.

“It was obvious you looked like someone fleeing from someone. And your hair color is not one you’d see around here.”

“That’s how you judged?”

However, Elsie didn’t seem easily convinced.

In the end, I decided to use what I had saved up.

“I heard about the coup in the Leim Kingdom.”

At that, Elsie’s eyes widened.

“You…!”

“Let’s talk more when we get to the inn. No matter how quietly I speak, there might be listening ears.”

*

“What exactly do you know?”

The difference in information.

This was a pretty powerful weapon I had used when I made a deal with Gwen.

Of course, there were many things I had to be cautious about, so I preferred not to rely on it over brute force, but I knew when to use it when necessary.

“Close your eyes, the dye’s going in.”

“Can I get an answer first…”

“Didn’t the dye just go in your mouth?”

“Ugh, bleh!”

I didn’t know what it was made from, but just smelling it made me feel like it was intense.

“So what do you know?”

“That there’s been a coup in the kingdom, the royal palace is closed, and the third princess has gone missing.”

At that, Elsie’s mouth fell open.

Dye’s going in.

I silently applied the black dye to Elsie’s hair.

The warm spring sunlight coming through the window felt nice, and her hair was short but reasonably soft.

“So you helped me knowing that I’m a princess?”

Not really.

“Well, it’s not related to that. Whether you’re a princess or not doesn’t matter to me.”

“Are you not after something in return?”

Finding out where she was heading could be a price, but I could have figured it out without going through all this trouble of helping her.

If I hadn’t helped her, she wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near Sakh anyway.

Still, the reason I helped her was simple.

“I told you last time. I helped you because I felt sorry for you.”

There was no other reason.

Meeting Gwen and living with Wise made me think about the people in this world.

And encountering her made me realize she was among the most unfortunate individuals in this world.

If I could help her, I wanted to.

Maybe that’s why I had been putting off asking her about her destination.

If I found out her destination was Sakh, I still wouldn’t know how I would act.

But one thing was for sure, I didn’t want her to die in her fugitive state.

“I just want you, as a person, to survive.”

When I killed the 71st Demon King, Finn’s death was unavoidable.

But through his death, I faced death for the first time.

If I ignored Elsie and she died, I would regret it deeply.

“I think this is enough.”

After thoroughly applying the dye to her hair, I wrapped a handkerchief around her head.

Now, all that was left was to wait a bit and rinse it out.

“You said you wanted me to survive.”

“Yeah?”

Elsie looked quite serious.

“If my survival means you might die, would you still protect me?”

That was a question worth thinking about.

‘If I might die…’

Of course, I wouldn’t protect her.

After all, what I was prioritizing most right now was my own life.

The last Demon King hunt had odds in my favor, and the SP I could gain from it was because I wanted it, not because I was risking my life purely to protect the village.

But…

“If you don’t die, that’s good enough, right?”

At that, Elsie looked stunned again.

“Think carefully. The pursuers hired by the kingdom are all armed with deadly weapons. Even the heroes from Saint City Hailen are after me.”

As far as I knew, those heroes weren’t real heroes.

They were probably hero candidates. Real heroes would find it way more profitable to hunt Chaos Beasts than collecting money from the kingdom.

If real heroes started targeting Elsie, her death would be inevitable.

‘With my current strength, I could beat those guys easily.’

The problem would be how to convince Elsie of that.

I might be able to persuade her by showing her some relics or swordsmanship.

However, that could make her feel even more burdened.

“Elsie, listen carefully.”

So what I’m about to say is half true and half false.

“The truth is, I have a place to go too. I just ended up staying here for a while. Once I help you survive without getting caught, I’ll have to leave for that place.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Probably tomorrow. So you don’t need to worry about me.”

I untied the handkerchief that had been covering her hair.

Then I brought a basin of water and started rinsing her hair.

‘The dye turned out well.’

With this, it would be hard for anyone to think she was a princess.

The pursuers hired by the kingdom also probably hadn’t seen the princess’s appearance directly.

“Ah…”

Elsie seemed uncomfortable with her black hair and was tugging at her bangs in front of her face.

“D-do I look weird?”

“Of course not.”

Even though it was black hair, the aura emanating from her couldn’t be hidden.

I needed to think more about how to conceal that.

“Are you really sure it doesn’t look weird?”

“I’m telling you. It looks like you’ve always had black hair. Whoever dyed it did a great job.”

“Then… would you like to go out again?”

“Out?”

What sudden change of heart came over her after talking about pursuers and all that?

‘Well, I was planning to go out anyway.’

I couldn’t keep wearing these ill-fitting clothes forever.

I had been thinking about going out again to buy necessities like clothes.

“But are you sure it’s okay for you to go out?”

“I just dyed my hair. I’m not completely safe, but I still want to go out.”

After hesitating for a moment, she added,

“…You said you were leaving tomorrow, so today should be okay, right?”

*