The day when Minerva, the daughter of the Duke of Nilesteria, has arrived on a journey has come. Aggression There was a large house that asked for a total of 200 people, including accompanying people and escorts from the church, and although it happened at the time of departure, I was able to leave the royal capital as planned.
Private Duchess soldiers have solidified their surroundings, protecting the carriage of the Duke's daughter, and mercenaries guarding the outside. The wagons of the church priests and the monks ran back and forth across the duke's carriage, and there were also escort mercenaries.
Aldis, unlike other mercenaries, is escorted right next to the Duke's daughter, along with the duke's private soldiers. It was a proof that Aldis had earned the trust of the Duke and the Duke's daughter himself.
The carriage on which the Duke's daughter rides has a more brilliant decoration than other carriages. At first glance, it can be seen that noble people are on board. It is not desirable from a security point of view, but it is inevitable from the point of view of going around to the prayer service. .
What is important is not the actual prayer service, but the public's recognition that the Duke of Nilesteria performed the prayer service. It doesn't make sense if you don't stand out.
In such a carriage, two people were sitting facing each other.
One of them is, of course, a duke's daughter. Normally, a side-serving woman who cares for her daughter should be on board. However, it was not the duke who was sitting in front of her daughter.
As for why this has happened, Solte, dressed in a monk's uniform, leans her head only in her mind, taking care not to show any confusion. In the carriage, there were two duchess and a candidate for a saint who had never had any contact, and a beast with golden hair sandwiched between them was crouched at his feet.
"Kuaa"
The beast yawns greatly. In silence, it was the Duke's daughter who first opened her mouth.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Sister Solte, because those kids are still scared ..."
"Ah, no ... I don't care"
It all began when the Duke invited the beast to the carriage. No matter how much mercenary is at work, an ordinary woman will not be able to entertain with the appearance of a carnivorous animal that is over a meter long. Even if it comes close enough to touch the body, even adult men must dislike it.
For some reason, the Duke's daughter is stroking the beast's body without fear, but the surrounding servant seems to have a very common feeling-fear-and she can't stand up because of the possibility Was. That was not enough to leave the Duke alone in the carriage, and the only one in the group who was not afraid of the beast was named a passenger.
Beasts are not scary to Sorte. Because the beast was once the saver of his crisis and a friend of a mercenary who became familiar.
"But it was good. Sister will be with me."
The opponent is a daughter who has no bloody line. Normally, it is impossible for one sister to ride on a carriage. The duke's people do not express their dissatisfaction simply because it is a solitary candidate.
That said, he's definitely different. It wasn't a good person to contact casually.
"But don't overdo it."
Solte replied, with a short pause, to her caressing daughter.
"... I'm OK. I won't overdo it."
The conversation breaks again, and silence comes in the carriage. Though not awkward, Sorte feels a bit uncomfortable and takes the beast out of the basket in the seat, as the Duke recalled suddenly.
Noodles: "The chef gave me a snack. Which one is better, baked sweets?"
Feeding Apparently, this daughter seems to be beating the beast. At that time, Salte felt that he was very cute, and a human word was uttered from the mouth of the beast.
"I like baked goods. Do you want to eat salte too?"
"e?"
"e?"
The eyes of Salte and the Duke's daughter round at the same time. He then asked Rona the same question, repeating different words.
"Rona, are you okay to speak?"
"Lona, are you sure you want to talk?"
"e?"
"e?"
Once again, Salte and the Lady of the Duke make a short, confused voice. Now look at each other.
Between them, Rona had a laugh that couldn't be killed.
"If I knew, I should have told me."
The duke's daughter who shows herself to Rona is showing an age-appropriate expression, unlike when she was wearing the external mask as before. With a glimpse of her daughter's face, Solte felt that the power she had on her shoulder was coming off a little.
"I didn't think Sisters Solte knew Rona."
"That's the same feeling for me. I was really surprised."
"But knowing about Rona is that Sister met not only the teacher-but Aldis?"
"Yes. I first met Aldis when I was still a student at Mariureth Academy. It was embarrassing, but I didn't know much about it and challenged my friends and students to the Caucasus Forest to help me in danger. That's five years ago, six years ago. "
Thinking back now, Salte thinks it was really reckless. It seems like it was just in the meantime, but if you think about it, it has been six years. Hanslick, who had been leading his friends at that time, has already become a person who will not return in the war with the empire.
Sorte himself is different from those days. Thanks to daily training and service, healing techniques are so proficient that they are incomparable to those days, and with their many years of experience, they can no longer panic without knowing the selfishness of the festival. Recognized as a formal sister rather than an apprentice, he was no longer half-private. The only disappointment was that I didn't grow much.
"I wasn't there at the time. I first met Salte a few months later."
Lona's supplement brings Salte back from short reminiscences to reality.
"I see ... I've been with you much longer than me."
The Duke's daughter had a somewhat enviable look.
"When did you know Aldis?"
"I've been around for about two years now, and now I'm regularly teaching swordsmanship and I'm called my teacher. I've been with Rona since that time."
Solte asks an unexpected story while clogging words.
"Ke, swordsmanship ...?"
"Yes"
Salte again asks the answer immediately, in a reassuring manner.
"You are a young lady, right?"
"Yeah, I'm aware that it's not like a daughter."
"Oh no, I'm sorry. Even though your daughter is swordplay, it's too surprising to see Aldis giving swordplay guidance to others."
As expected, the flow of the story was bad, and Solte corrected the direction of the story to cheat.
"That's right. That's true. I thought it would be impossible for Al to teach swordsmanship to the aristocracy's daughter. Well, Al just loves Minerva. `` It's not a weird meaning, but a worthwhile teacher. ''
Rona comes to the story with a happy voice, knowing or knowing the inside of Sorte.
"I wish I could ..."
Rona tells her uneasy appearance to the Duke's daughter.
"I can't help getting to those who don't like Al. Even if she's a noble lady, maybe Al doesn't even know what she knew."
"Oh, that's true if you're a teacher ..."
When the Duke's daughter showed a convincing expression, Rona quickly left the subject behind.
"Well, that's good, let's eat snacks. I'm hungry."
"Hey, yeah. It's a baked confectionery that the chef chewed his arms on, so let's taste it before it hardens."
The duke's daughter hands the baked goods from the basket to Rona's mouth.
"Oh, sweet!"
Rona's tail sways to the left and right in a narrow carriage even though it is annoying. The tail was slapping back and forth between the two seats, next to the salte and the duke's daughter.
"How about a sister if you like?"
"Eh .... Oh, I'm afraid, young lady. Thank you for your kindness."
The duke's daughter smiled softly at Salte, who was still hard.
Inconvenience "It's okay to call me Minerva, Sister. From now on, we'll be together on a long journey. Here's only Rona and us.
With its elegance and elegance, Salte once again realizes the difference in growing.
The duke's daughter is definitely 15 years old. It is the same age when Salte once died in the forest of Caucasus. Sorte feels a little contemplative of the distance between himself, a native of the savage, and the aristocratic daughter in front of him.
At the same time, she understands that the offer from the Duke's daughter will greatly reduce that distance, and asks with joy and confusion.
"... Are you sure?"
"If there is anyone other than the teacher and Rona, please do as usual."
"……understood"
As expected, Salte agreed that the distinction between public and private was true.
"Thank you, until you return to the royal capital, Minerva. Please call me Salte."
"Yes. Thank you, Salte-sama."
To Minerva, who expressed a happy expression, Solte also returned a dear smile.