I waited a little longer to see if she would show up.
But there was no sign of Seras appearing.
The time was approaching three thirty in the afternoon.
She had said she would return by one o'clock at the latest.
"..."
This was definitely taking too long.
Last night, Seras had arrived at my room exactly on time for our appointment.
She struck me as someone strict about punctuality.
I spoke to Pigi-maru under my robe.
"What do you think?"
"Pi... pyuuu〜..."
Pigi-maru let out a feeble cry.
"Do you think she broke the promise and just disappeared?"
"Piiii〜"
Red.
The color of denial.
But it was weak.
She had grown quite attached to her, after all.
"Well, deciding she broke the promise without even checking would be jumping to conclusions too soon."
"...Pi?"
"Either my judgment was wrong——"
Or something
"happened to Seras."
I should confirm what had occurred.
If only to judge whether my ability to read people was lacking here.
"Which way are you betting?"
"Pi?"
"If you think she quietly ditched us, cry twice. If you think otherwise, cry once."
"Pi."
There was no second cry.
"Looks like both you and I are leaning heavily toward the softhearted side this time."
I started walking.
"This bet is off, then."
▽
There were other doubts as well.
At this point, Seras had little motive to deceive us and disappear.
If she had no intention of traveling together, she would have refused the escort offer from the start.
Was she worried about her identity being exposed after last night?
If so, she should have slipped away before I woke up this morning.
If she feared being exposed, she should have left Mills much earlier.
Unless she intended to eliminate me first.
Or perhaps she planned to disappear after collecting the three hundred gold coins?
That too raised questions.
Last night, I had given Seras a Seiryu Stone.
She had said this about its circulation:
"It should not be circulating on the open market."
In other words, Seras knew about underground markets.
She had connections for converting it to cash.
If she truly wanted to leave Mills as quickly as possible due to her identity...
She could have departed during the night or early morning with the Seiryu Stone in hand.
The travel funds might not last all the way to Yonato.
But she could probably make it to a large city where conversion would be possible.
If she reached the royal capital of Urza, for example, she could likely cash it in.
Above all,
"If she had intended to deceive us from the beginning, there were far too many unnecessary actions."
From the perspective of someone with a bit of acting experience, Seras had made too many mistakes.
There was still the possibility that she was a natural-born actress with exceptional talent...
In any case, I wanted to confirm what had happened.
I recalled the location of the marquis's mansion that she had told me about.
"It was a little ways outside of Mills, if I remember correctly..."
...
With only hearsay information, I couldn't form a clear mental map.
I had only been in Mills for a short time.
I had no sense of the local geography.
"I might need a detailed map of the Mills area after all."
Just as I turned toward the main street to buy one,
"Hey, did you hear!? About the woman who found the Dragon-Eye Goblet!"
My feet stopped.
A crowd had gathered in the central plaza of the main street.
It seemed a sudden piece of news had everyone buzzing.
"I heard too! That woman was actually the fugitive princess knight, right!?"
"――――――――"
No way—had she been exposed?
Her identity.
"..."
What happened?
I listened closely.
Then, one man began explaining to a newcomer who hadn't yet heard the fresh scoop.
Sharing new information with someone who didn't know was apparently enjoyable.
Human nature, probably.
"Apparently, when Seras Ashrain went to the marquis's mansion to collect her reward for the Dragon-Eye Goblet, a famous illusion-breaking mage just happened to be there! And her disguise was dispelled!"
"And when the illusion came off... guess what! Her face matched exactly the wanted sketch of the former Holy Knight Commander!"
"Huh!? So elves can change even the shape of their faces with illusion magic!?"
"No way! That woman really was the rumored Holy Knight!"
Among the conversation were also mercenaries who had attended the ruin conquest briefing.
"Word just came in—she fled toward the dark-colored forest!"
"Hey, wait! Doesn't that mean if we catch her now, we'll get a massive bounty!?"
"Hell yeah! Let's head to the dark-colored forest right now! Holy Knight hunting!"
That was when it happened.
"Stop it!"
A mercenary who had only just joined the crowd raised his voice.
Another mercenary, momentum broken, turned on him irritably.
"Hah? What're you on about...? That woman took the Dragon-Eye Goblet from us in the ruins! The least we can do is catch her and collect the bounty!"
"I'm telling you to stop! Word's already spreading, and people are moving!"
"Huh!? You saying the marquis is sending his own soldiers to capture her!?"
"No, that's not it!"
"Then what is it!?"
"The White Walkers—the Sacred Sentinels who were pursuing Seras Ashrain—seem to have tracked her as far as a nearby city! Listen! This isn't our stage! No——this isn't a stage we can even step onto!"
"So what the hell are you saying!? We're mercenaries with confidence in our skills! Unless it's the marquis's private troops, what else could there be!? What the hell is coming!?"
"It's——"
*KreeeeeeeEEEEEEEEE——!*
A high-pitched yet muddied screech.
The sharp cry echoed from far overhead.
Everyone in the plaza looked up at the sky in unison.
A black dragon was soaring through the air.
*Gyaa! Gyo! Gyogooo!*
*Gugeee! Gueaa! Gyoaaa!*
*Gieee! Gue! Gueeeee!*
A series of ferocious dragon roars chained together.
From this distance, only silhouettes were visible, but people were riding the dragons.
The dragons disappeared in the direction of the dark-colored forest.
It was over in an instant.
The mercenary who had been so eager for Holy Knight hunting had now fallen silent.
The bravado from moments ago was gone from his face.
"Th——"
Finally, in a voice that sounded forced out, he spoke that name.
"The Black Dragon Knights..."