Everyone's looking for you, Lugis. Don't you want to go?

　Leaning her slender body back in the easy chair, Elddis rubbed her fingertips lightly.

　Her blue eyes gazed out the window at King's Landing. From the corner of her eye, she could probably see the guards running around.

　He shrugged his shoulders and pressed a chewed tobacco to his lips.

It's Philos' fault he's being so crazy. Hide me until I calm down.

　Elddis's cheeks crumpled in a grimace. It's a very suggestive chuckle.

　You're right, Philos did do something rash.

　Somehow, it didn't add up.

Surely it would be foolhardy to appoint a young man to the position of marshal with no previous military service in the Garlist Kingdom. There will always be a backlash, and I'll be angry too. You're my knight. You're my knight, not the marshal of the Garleyst.

　But," Erdis said before looking out the window again. The smile on her cheeks seemed to grow deeper.

"I'll never calm down, Lugis. That princess is going to make you a general. Repulsion is irrelevant. Besides, you're a hero. The people and the military will support you.

...... You talk to Philos as if you read his mind.

I know. I know. We're in this together.

　The blue eyes stared at me. Erdis leaves the easy chair and climbs into it. Her hair color, illuminated by the pale sunlight, looked unusually beautiful.

　I thought it was an unusual thing to say.

　It's not often that an Elddis sees herself in a human. Or even the elven species itself, for that matter.

　They may be human neighbors, but they are not roommates. As creatures, we draw the last line somewhere.

　That is why it is very unusual for an elf, or a queen for that matter, to see herself as a human being.

　Both Erdis and Philos are royalty. She may have had some thoughts on this point.

　She twisted her shoulders in response to Elddis's sudden touch on her cheek and returned her gaze.

What part of the resemblance? You're not talking about your physique, are you?

Of course not. The resemblance is that you're sulking. She's sulking, I'm sulking.

...... No, what are you talking about?

　A long, thin finger grabbed the cigarette from my lips.

　What the hell are you doing? That's my lifeline.

　Not even bothering to taste it, Elddis brushed her lips lightly over the tobacco and looked at me again.

You heard me. I said you're sulking, Lugis.

　What do you mean "sulking"? Where's the talk about the General?

　The actual Erdis that I met again after returning to the capital, perhaps due to the influence of the demon Drigman, had a different air about him than usual.

　He didn't look as threatening as the heroic Elddis I knew in the past. On the other hand, she was not the dignified Erdis, the queen of this age.

　There was something fragile about her.

She looked fragile. "You do what you want so much, people will get upset. You're going to pay for that sooner or later. It's disgusting.

　As she said this, Erdis leaned forward so that she fell on her back.

　I held out my hands to see if she was anemic, but she seemed to want to sit on my lap. I was too poor to understand.

　In her lap, Erdis's body seemed much smaller than I had expected.

　Maybe it was the colored glasses from the past, or maybe it was the dignity of being a queen that made her look so big. In reality, she is so petite that she can easily fit in my arms.

"...... sulk or not sulk. It's not the right time. The Great Demon Zebra Lilith is moving fast. The Daishonin's army is on the move. Saying they're against us. It'll be bad if we let it.

　Naturally, 50,000 regular Garristo troops would join the Daishonin army. We've saved our entire army to avoid the Demon War, and now they're going to attack us. The Archdiocese itself is committed to defeating Zebraelis, but I'm not sure if that's true.

　According to what Anne told me, the Great Zebraelis is slowly moving south, eating everything, even at this very moment.

　In other words, it eats livestock, people, plants, rocks, houses, buildings, and everything else. The zebra lily continues to grow larger and larger.

　It's not asleep, like Vryligant. It's more than enough magic to eat and eat and eat. It's going to take a lot of work just to figure out what to do.

　And then there's that evil b*tc* Althea. I don't think she'll just march in. I'm sure she'll have something up her sleeve.



We've got to take action. I know we do.

　Elddis is on her knees, her lips rippling as she turns around.

"Hmm. What's that for, Rougis? For humanity? Or--

　--Or is it for your beloved childhood friend?

　Instantly, my eyes widened. My heart palpitated strongly.

　Without meaning to, I choke on my words. I didn't know what Erdis wanted me to say.

　No, how could she know about Alueno in the first place? He hadn't talked to her about that sort of thing.

　Erdis flips around on his knees and turns to face me. She even had a smile on her cheeks, but her eyes were not smiling.

"Lugis. I, and they. I'm not as carefree or ignorant as you think. You seem to like to keep things from us. It makes us even more eager. The more you do, the more repercussions there will be, won't there?

　Her long arms wrapped around my neck. It's as if you're hugging her and she's leaning into you.

　I was beginning to understand what Elddis was trying to say.

　But I couldn't get my head around it. Maybe I didn't want to understand.

You're trying to tell me that ...... is clogged?　Don't be so selfish. You're like Mattia--

"Are you talking about other women in front of me?

　His blue eyes narrowed and lost their light. I felt a slight squeeze in my arms around her neck.

　That's not good. Clearly Erdis is in a different mood today.

　No way was she fragile. It was nothing like that. She's just forcing down the quiet rage that's rising in her.

　And the rage of an elf is not gentle like a human's.

I'm just saying. What I'm trying to say is that you're allowed to do whatever you want because we're allowed to do whatever we want. So am I, right?

　Erdis' words were very gentle, but his voice was lower than usual. Her blue eyes stared straight at me, as if to say that she would not let me go.

　No, in fact, she probably didn't want to let me go.

　Elddis cleared her throat once and paused for a few seconds.

Now, you want to get rid of the Zebraelis and get rid of the demons. Then of course I'll help you. That's what my knight said. Becoming marshal of the Garleyst Kingdom won't change that. But are you really my knight?

"...... What do you mean?

　Her face is getting closer and closer to mine. I could feel her breath on my face.

We've done this before. You've done this before. It's repetitive, it's meaningful. Don't just nod when you hear I'm a knight. You say of your own volition that you're my knight. If you can't say it, fine. I don't know what's gonna happen next.

　She's sulking. A sultry look crossed Elddis's lips.

　This was her home, the home of the elves. That's why I thought no Garristian could get in here.

　That would mean no help for me.

　Something cold ran down my spine. Erdis whispered in my ear what I needed to say.

　Her lips opened, very slowly.

"...... I am a knight of Finn-Erdis. Definitely.

　As soon as I said it, I felt a pang in my chest. Something made a cracking sound. I don't know what it is. There was no further change in my body.

　Only her blue eyes flickered happily before her eyes.

"I'm relieved, Lugis. Good. Then let me help you. You can't just run around. I'll talk to Mattia and Phyllos. They won't do anything rash if I'm with them. I'd better call Anne and the others.



　That's certainly reassuring. It's supposed to be.

　I don't know why. Strangely, Erdis's words were accepted easily in his heart. Just a moment ago, he'd been wishing that he hadn't been a marshal at all.

　No, actually, if I'm going to play the role of a hero on behalf of Heldt-Stanley, I know I should be able to run the army any way I want.

　But still, there must have been a part of you that couldn't accept it.

　He twisted his cheeks and said involuntarily.

"Elddis, you did something to me.

The first time I saw him, I knew he was going to say something.

　My cheeks fluttered and my corner of my eye went numb. Her Majesty was still smiling happily in front of me.