I'll talk to her.　I'll get to the bottom of it," he said, a hint of murder in his voice.

I told you at the beginning that you should understand me as Walth Rhino.

But, ......, I can't believe Master Walth is a slave.

　Fiehl's shoulders shook and his face grew flushed.

"If we can't talk about it, ...... I'm pretty sure the only way to stop being a slave is to ...... kill the master, Her Highness.

"No, I can't do that, I'm bound by the blood curse. If Celestia dies, I die too.

The princess's name is Celestia. ...... It's terrible ...... that you would use such power to deprive Lord Walth of his freedom.

　It's not as if you've lost your mind when it comes to me.
　I remembered when Fiel ran out of the forest of the divine tree, overcoming the opposition of those around him. I had saved her life and changed her life forever. If it had been the Elves who had saved her instead of me, she wouldn't have been in this situation.

"Don't get me wrong, I have a certain amount of freedom. The only reason I'm here now is because Celestia sent me away without saying a word," I said, and Pheuel looked relieved.

She doesn't like the difference in status between a princess and a slave, so she makes us treat each other equally. I'm not sure what to make of that.

I'm sure you'll find something to like about her." "---- You're buying a lot of things, aren't you, Walth?

　I'm not sure what to make of this.

I don't think so. I'm giving you an objective and unbiased assessment.

It's unusual for Mr. Walls to get so worked up about .................., well, you know, Mr. Celestia. Do you like ...... her?

What?　I'm not sure what you're talking about," I said, laughing lightly.

I'm not sure what you're talking about. I may be young on the outside, but on the inside I'm just a forty-seven year old man.

What does it matter? ...... What will happen to me if I care about my looks and age? ............ I can't even fall in love with a human being. Are you saying I can't even fall in love with a human being? ......

No, no one is going to go that far. ......

　I'd lost track of the fact that Fiel was older than me.
　She hadn't given me any details about her age, but she'd been a little girl since I'd rescued her, and her attitude was just as she looked, so I couldn't help but treat her like a child.

"Fiehl, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry." "...... apologies are fine. So please don't use that as an excuse to run away.

Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. I'm sure you don't, but it would be disrespectful to Celestia if you didn't take her seriously," I said, and Fielder's face tightened.

　Fiehl turned his head down with a drawn face and for some reason stopped talking.
　I took out the knife that I had collected from her.

"Fiehl.

It's .......

　I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but it's a good idea.

I burned out the magic circuits while I was healing you. I'll tell you one thing, why did you run away with it? You knew you couldn't escape.

　Fiehl looked at the knife with a very happy expression and said, "Because it's the most important thing in the world. It's the most important thing in the world to me, and I wasn't going to give it up, even if it meant that the current Ars would kill me.

...... Well, I'm glad that you care for it so much, but I'd rather not see Fiel get hurt. If your life is in danger, put your life first, that's all I'm asking.

---- Yes, but please forgive me this time. But please forgive me this time, for this is how I came to see Mr. Walth again.

...... Yes.

　As the majority of the glowing balls of light that had illuminated the river faded and it became quite dark, the stars that had been shining in the night sky began to assert themselves.

It's too late for today. It's late today. We'll do the rest tomorrow," I said, pointing to a large tree by the river a short distance away.

"...... Yes. May I hold your hand and go to bed with you? ...... I'm afraid I'm going to lose you again.

I don't mind.

　I took Pheuel's hand, and for the first time in twenty-five years, since the night I first met Pheuel, we decided to spend the night together under the tree.



　　　　　　　I hadn't spent the night with her under the tree in twenty-five years.

　I was awakened by the light filtering through the trees and the sound of man-made water flowing, different from the sound of a great river flowing.
　When I woke up, I didn't see Pheuel sleeping next to me, but his burnt clothes were folded on the riverside a short distance away.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," Pheuel said, peeking out of the river.

　The golden dye that had dyed her hair had melted away, and her hair had already returned to its original silver.
　As a High Elf, Phiel did not want to be seen as special among the Elves, so she used to dye her hair to cover herself up. By stopping now, she is probably trying to distract the attention of her pursuers.
　Ars must not have thought that Fiel would go this far.

I'm sorry.

　As I turned around, I heard the sound of Pheuel climbing out of the river.

Pheuel, ...... where were you planning to go yesterday?　Of course, the forest of the divine tree," I said, closing my eyelids for good measure.

"No, sir. I was going to travel the world and find out if Lord Ars had really failed to reincarnate.

How many years do you think it'll take? And Ars is in the palace.

I'm an elf. I'm an elf, I have a different sense of time than humans.

　The sound of my clothes being put on tickled my ears along with Fiel's voice.
"When Aeneas left Lord Ars, he said to me. I don't recognize it as Ars. So I was wondering if there might be an Ars-sama out there somewhere that Ainez would recognize.



"Oh, yeah, I thought Ainess left Ars. Well, why does Dallas follow Ars now?　He would be the first to blame Ars.

　As soon as I mentioned Dallas' name, Fiel stopped moving.

"Perhaps it's for the sake of Master Festerlise.

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're doing.
　I could hear Pheuel chuckling at me.

"So the one we've heard so much about is Lord Walth. I heard he defeated Lord Dallas.

Oh, the old man hasn't lost his edge, has he?

He trained hard every day to protect Master Festerlise.

　If Dallas were to challenge Ars, it would put Festerlise in a bad position.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to do with the money you've got.

You're the king now. I'm not sure what to make of it.

I've never seen ...... Ils defy Arus. I'm sure you'll find a lot of people who'd like to know more about this.

　I don't remember Ils and I getting along that well. I don't know how you can have such a good relationship with Ars, who seems to have changed even more.
　There are so many things I don't understand.

"Just a small thing, but did you notice any movement that might indicate that Ils is connected to paganism?

I don't remember any such movement. ---- Oh, I'm done changing, so I'm probably fine. ......

　I thought that Ilsu was suspicious, but it seems not so.
　I turned around to see that he had finished changing, and there was Pheuel in a very badly worn outfit. I couldn't see much because I was too busy yesterday and it was dimly lit, but her burnt clothes were damaged in many places, and her bare skin was conspicuously exposed.

I can't help but wonder if I should do something about those clothes first.

Yes, I'm embarrassed too .......

　Perhaps I was looking too hard, but Pheuel squirmed, hid behind a tree at his side, and only turned his face toward me.

After you buy your clothes, you must return to the forest of the divine tree.

I don't want to. Why would you do that?

Because it's dangerous, of course.

I'm a former captain of the Order of Magic.

----, but still.

I can't ask you that. I have no intention of leaving Master Walth.

　I'm not going to leave Mr. Walth," he said, sticking out his tongue cutely and making an "ah-ha" face at me, before disappearing completely behind a tree.