“We barely get to see your face as it is, and now you’re saying you’re moving to the magic research department? What is that supposed to mean!”
Gabriel’s high-pitched voice rang out through the lounge. Instead of covering her ears, Elisha simply raised an eyebrow and stared blankly at her.
Hadn’t she just finished registering her mana and returned to the knight order’s quarters? It hadn’t even been an hour since she’d received permission to access the research department.
“Don’t even think about playing dumb. Thompson said he heard everything Lucy said himself.”
“I just stop by the lab occasionally to help with research.”
Thompson scratched his cheek awkwardly, picking up where Gabriel left off. Elisha continued to look back and forth between Gabriel and Thompson without saying a word.
So that was why there was a face in the lab that looked somewhat familiar; it was this man, Thompson. She hadn’t encountered him much, so it seemed she hadn’t recognized him right away.
“……I’m not moving departments entirely.”
Elisha opened her mouth slowly.
Come to think of it, she didn’t really owe Gabriel an explanation.
She wasn’t actually transferring departments, and besides, Elisha had never been the type to offer “explanations” from the start.
She hadn’t built enough of a relationship to warrant one. Explanations were things you gave when you wanted to maintain a connection with someone.
She hadn’t acted in a way that required an explanation within the scope of their relationship. At least, not by her own standards.
Did this mean Gabriel had now reached “that level” of relationship?
As Elisha sorted through her thoughts, she continued.
“I have some personal research I’d like to conduct, so I simply asked if they could spare a corner of the lab. I plan to handle my knight duties as usual and head to the lab during my breaks.”
“But we don’t really have much work to do on a daily basis…….”
That was why she was always hanging around the library, too.
Gabriel grumbled in a gloomy voice. Thompson, while thinking, ‘Is it really okay to say we have no work?’, followed Gabriel’s lead and softened his expression, feigning pity.
How could he possibly send someone whom Vice-Commander Gabriel respected and cherished enough to use honorifics with to the research department?
“……Well, fine.”
How much time has passed since then?
Just as Elisha, having decided that no further explanation was necessary, was looking down at Gabriel, the latter spoke up tentatively.
“Actually, I thought a day like this would come eventually. Lucy, you’re just too capable. Besides, you aren’t leaving the imperial palace, and if what you say is true, you aren’t leaving the knight order either.”
Of course, she had a feeling that if nothing special happened, Elisha would just stay in the library and the lab, but since permission had been granted, she had no right to interfere.
“Alright, Lucy. I’ll let you go with style.”
“I never intended to leave in the first place.”
“Just join us for a meal sometimes. And don’t forget to call our division members when the temple bestows its blessings.”
“Ah.”
Now that she mentioned it, there was the matter of the temple.
At Gabriel’s words, Elisha began to rearrange the order of her plans in her mind.
If she could understand the principles of monster-summoning magic, she could potentially force summoned monsters to return, so the first thing she had to do was research that summoning magic. Furthermore, she hadn’t finished investigating the culprit she’d caught yet.
‘I should try to visit the temple in the meantime, too.’
Gabriel thought Lucy Forte would be receiving a blessing soon, but in reality, Elisha was quite skeptical.
If they had any intention of bestowing a blessing upon her, they would have summoned her immediately after the allied nations’ conference ended. Yet, the temple had shown no movement whatsoever.
She had even encountered priests a few times while going to and from the prison, so even if she had been overlooked, they should have noticed by now.
‘It’s not an oversight.’
Neither Elisha nor Lucy Forte.
Perhaps the temple knew something she didn’t even know herself.
Elisha narrowed her eyes slightly, recalling the reaction of the High Priest she had encountered last time.
Perhaps it was connected to her own memories…….
“Lucy? Lucy?”
At that moment, Gabriel’s bell-like voice settled into Elisha’s ears. Elisha snapped back to reality and looked at her.
“You’re not mad because I asked you to go out together during the founding myth festival, are you?”
Gabriel asked in a thoroughly dejected voice. Elisha shook her head immediately.
It seemed they had been talking about that while she was lost in thought.
“I was just thinking about something else. More importantly, the founding myth festival…….”
“The festival is coming up soon. Though it seems they don’t plan to open the imperial palace gates this year because of what happened at the allied nations’ conference banquet.”
“On the contrary, that means our duties will be reduced.”
Thompson chimed in, picking up where Gabriel left off, and smiled broadly. Elisha blinked, unable to find a proper response.
Now that she thought about it, there was always a time of year when the imperial palace became noisy. She had never gone to see it herself, as the distance from Soltaire Palace, where she used to stay, was quite significant.
“Since you haven’t been in the capital long, Lucy, I think it would be nice to walk around the streets together on your day off. We give our members a day of vacation in turns, after all.”
“…….”
“It’ll be really fun. There will be tons of delicious food, and they’ll be selling all sorts of fascinating items.”
The founding myth festival was the one event the people of the empire waited for all year long.
Faced with Elisha’s lukewarm reaction, Gabriel finally began to look up at her with sparkling golden eyes. She looked exactly like a rain-soaked puppy.
Elisha met Gabriel’s gaze fully and fell into thought.
She loathed noise. She loathed crowds. Of course, if it were a mission, she wouldn’t mind such an environment, but she didn’t want to walk into an unpleasant situation during her precious time off.
Besides, didn’t she have plenty of things to do?
“I’m sorry, but I…….”
It was the very moment Elisha finished her thought and opened her mouth.
“What are you two talking about?”
Dante Renard asked as he entered the lounge just in time. Gabriel immediately changed her expression and turned her head.
“The commander always says the same thing whenever he comes in here. ‘What are you talking about? What were you doing? Let me in on it.’”
“That’s because you lot are always chatting instead of doing the work you’re supposed to be doing. If you were working, I wouldn’t say a word.”
“‘Work you’re supposed to be doing,’ you say. When have we ever had work?”
It wasn’t the subjugation season, nor was it a time for expeditions. It wasn’t as if anything was happening in the imperial palace, either.
Of course, it was true that they had to be on standby at all times because they never knew when or where something might happen, but didn’t the imperial palace already have other magic knight divisions and the Royal Guard besides the 1st Magic Knight Division?
“I could increase your workload if you’d like.”
“Commander, please, anything but that!”
At Dante’s words, Thompson shouted, his face turning pale.
Whether they cared or not, Elisha spoke to Gabriel with a face that suggested she didn’t care at all.
“Vice-Commander.”
“Yes, Lucy! Have you decided to come see the festival with me?”
“No. I think I’ll have to do my magic research then, too.”
“That’s a cold rejection…….”
Gabriel muttered with a face even more sullen than before. Elisha was struck by a sudden urge to pat her hair.
Even so, no meant no.
“Hmm.”
Dante, who had been listening to the conversation, curled the corners of his lips.
It seemed Gabriel had asked Elisha to enjoy the festival together and had been turned down.
‘Come to think of it, Elisha has never properly enjoyed the founding myth festival.’
She had always been holed up in the library with Erich.
In the first place, Elisha probably hadn’t even explored the capital properly. It was a wonder how she had even found an inn to stay in when she first left the palace.
‘……The founding myth festival, huh.’
Perhaps Elisha was resistant to things she wasn’t used to. But she couldn’t live in a nest like a baby bird forever.
She needed to see more, hear more, and make judgments from a wider range of options.
And it seemed Erich wanted that, too.
“Lucy.”
Having finished his assessment quickly, Dante called out to her. Elisha lifted her stoic face and stared at Dante.
Soon, her indifferent, light green eyes turned toward him.
“If……, if you don’t have anything to do…….”
Dante momentarily forgot what he was going to say and let his voice trail off.
He couldn’t understand why those green eyes kept appearing blue to him. Elisha’s disguise had never been flawed, but if he let his guard down for even a second, it felt as if “Elisha” was standing before him instead of “Lucy Forte.”
And every time that happened, he would forget all his thoughts.
It was truly, strangely, bizarre.
“If you don’t have anything to do…….”
It was the moment Dante spoke slowly once more.
“I have plenty to do.”
Elisha replied, narrowing her brows slightly as if to ask what he was talking about.
Dante released his held breath and blinked his eyelashes rapidly.
“Oh, oh. Right. Well, take care.”
Am I going crazy?
Why does this keep happening?
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