LIGHT NOVEL
LIGHT NOVEL
— Rigor’s perspective —
I woke to a searing pain through my entire body.
“Urghhh…!”
A groan of pure agony burst out of me at the sheer pain.
“L-Lord Rigor!”
“Are you all right?!”
“Do you know who you are, sir?!”
Voices called to me, and when I cracked my eyes open, my cronies were peering down at me.
So I asked in a rasping voice.
“Wh… what’s going on…?”
“Lord Rigor, you took a counterattack from that Alde bastard, and you were left with severe burns over your entire body…!”
“A c-counterattack…?”
“Yes. The man had a magical implement hidden on his person, and that’s how he wounded you, my lord.”
“A m-magical implement…”
Every part of me felt as though it were screaming. Grimacing through the pain, I checked my own body.
Bandages were wrapped around every part of me; I looked like a mummy. And lying down in that state… was this the royal castle’s infirmary?
Even trying to sit up slightly to look around sent fierce pain through every part of me, and I groaned despite myself: “Aaarghhh…!”
And merely groaning sent fresh pain through my body—by then I could not even manage a sound.
One of the cronies addressed me.
“Pl-please, hold on a moment…! I’ll fetch a doctor at once!”
“Q-quickly…!”
I was so far gone with the pain my breath was coming in shallow gasps.
After enduring the pain—enduring it for what felt like hours—at last a doctor arrived.
So I said without thinking:
“S-so slow…!”
“Slow, you say. I came within a few minutes. I was called because you were apparently on the verge of death, but…”
What is this doctor saying?! Keeping a man waiting for hours…!
I started to lodge a further complaint, but the moment I saw the doctor’s face, I shut my mouth.
Th-this man—no, this lord—was of higher station than my own house. He was skilled in medicine and was a superb healer; he held no political post, but he served as director of this royal castle’s hospital. Not someone you complained to lightly.
So I bit it back and apologized for the discourtesy with no more than a lowered gaze.
“M-my apologies… the pain was so great… please forgive my impudence.”
“If you’re going to apologize, I’d prefer you not call me out in the first place. I’m extremely busy right now.”
“B-busy… how do you mean…?”
“There are a great many Royal Guards in your same condition—wounded by that criminal’s explosion magic. Treating them and you has the whole department in chaos.”
“R-really…?”
“Really. So please, don’t call me out when you’re not on death’s door. Your treatment is already complete.”
“P-please wait…”
To the director, who was already turning to leave, I begged in a rasping voice:
“Th-the pain… the pain is so bad I feel I’m going to die…!”
“The pain is too bad? I just told you, the treatment is finished. Pain of that level—bear it.”
“B-but… the pain is going to drive me out of my mind…!”
“Out of your mind from this… that pain is barely a step above muscle soreness, you know?”
“But…!”
“All right, all right, fine.”
The director chanted “Pain Suppression — Dolorem,” and my body glowed faintly.
The pain—slightly—eased.
“There. That’ll do. Now stay quiet.”
With that, the director left the room.
Even with the pain-suppression magic active, my body still throbbed dully… but I could hardly complain further to a man of higher station, and could only grimace.
“Damn it… and it still hurts…”
“Lord Rigor, you’ll aggravate your condition—please lie down—”
“As if I could lie down hurting this much!”
Ghk…!
Raising my voice made the pain flare back up!
I clenched my back teeth and waited for the pain to subside again. After several minutes, it eased, and wiping the cold sweat off my face I asked:
“So—what exactly has that Alde bastard pulled now?”
After taking the counter from the magical implement Alde had hidden—a cowardly trick—I had apparently been laid up for a full day.
In that time, Alde had gone on a rampage inside the royal castle, and on top of that, had fled with Her Highness the princess.
“Wh-what in the world…”
It was a story almost impossible to believe, but if the magical implement Alde was holding had been developed by Her Highness, then perhaps it was not impossible after all.
Yes—with a magical implement of that caliber, my being caught off guard was, you could say, unavoidable.
While I was processing the story, a messenger suddenly arrived.
“You are Lord Rigor?”
“Indeed I am.”
“You are hereby summoned by Lady Lily Theresia. Please proceed to the Third Study at once.”
“Lady Lily…?”
I had no connection with Lady Lily, no acquaintance whatsoever. At so sudden a summons, I could only tilt my head.
So I said to the messenger:
“As you can see, I am in this state. I am hardly in any condition to walk. Tell Lady Lily she will have to give me some—”
“The instructions are ‘as soon as you wake.’ My apologies, but please make your way there.”
Given no opening, I went silent.
I sighed and grumbled.
“Honestly… I’m a wounded man… oi, get my clothes ready.”
When I addressed one of the cronies, they brought my full kit at once.
“Hm? Where is my sword?”
Noticing that no sword had been included with the gear, I asked.
“Th-that is…”
“Out with it. That sword is of considerable value.”
“I-in truth…”
The crony held out the sword in its sheath—
—Hm?!
“H-hey! What happened to the decoration on this sword?!”
The beautiful, elegant ornamentation that had adorned the guard of the sword had been stripped clean off?!
“I-in truth… Alde…”
“Alde?!”
“Removed them, we believe…”
“What?!”
Eyes wide, I rose to my feet!
The pain throughout my body had been blown clean away!
“Do you have any idea what this sword cost?!”
“H-how much was it…?”
“This one blade is a top-tier item that could buy you an entire mansion in the royal capital!”
The cutting edge was beyond reproach, of course, but the sword was famous as a work of art as well; a one-of-a-kind piece, forged by a master craftsman from a kingdom far from our own!
I snatched the sword and sheath from him and gazed at them.
“Aaah… wh… what have they done…”
Tears welled up at the wretched sight of it—
—and when I slowly drew the sword from its sheath—
“…What?”
The beautiful blade was not there.
“…Eh?”
The blade—that had been the equal of, if not surpassing, our kingdom’s treasured Fragarach—had vanished, as if melted away.
“Um…”
I looked at the cronies around me.
“So, uh… what’s this, exactly?”
“I-in truth… Alde used that sword in his duel with Her Highness, and… as a result, it was melted by Her Highness’s offensive magic.”
“…………Uuugh…”
I felt my consciousness slipping away.
* * *
— Lily’s perspective —
Even though I had summoned him, this “Rigor” Royal Guard had passed out from losing his precious sword, and I had been kept waiting an entire day on top of it.
To be laid out by the loss of a sword… just how soft are you!
So I waited a full day in increasing irritation; when the Royal Guard in question finally arrived at my study…
He had dark circles under his eyes, and was visibly unsteady.
To think such a frail noble was a Royal Guard, the very pillar of the castle’s defense… I could now well understand dear Sister’s concerns.
To Rigor, who dropped to one knee in the deepest bow, I—seated at the study’s desk—spoke.
“Raise your head.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Rigor rose to his feet, grimacing and listless.
The director had told me the pain was “barely a step above muscle soreness.” Why, then, was this man moving so very sluggishly?
So I, irritated, said without thinking:
“Move smartly, it is unsightly!”
“M-my deepest apologies…!”
Rigor stood to attention.
“Now then, Rigor. You understand why you have been summoned before me, do you not?”
“I-I… I have not the slightest idea, my lady…”
“You do not understand what you yourself have done?”
“I-I… pardon?”
Rigor stood there, sweat beading on his forehead—and yet he genuinely did not understand.
This man… his head, it seemed, was also remarkably dull.
So my exasperation overtook me, and my anger began to fade… but that would not, of course, mean overlooking this man’s offenses.
“You stand suspected of the crime of aiding the escape of a criminal—that is, aiding a fugitive—in the case of Alde.”
“Eh…?”
“We have already obtained testimony from another Royal Guard that you unlocked the cell of the man in question.”
“Wh-wh-what?!”
Apparently grasping the gravity of the situation at last, Rigor broke posture and rushed to make excuses.
“P-please wait! I was only conducting interrogation—”
“You, as a Royal Guard, have neither the duty nor the authority to conduct an interrogation.”
“B-but Alde was a former colleague—”
“Even being a former colleague grants you no right to conduct an interrogation.”
“B-but—”
“Which means you also stand suspected of abuse of authority.”
“Pl-please wait! I—”
As Rigor advanced toward me, two of my own Princess’s Guard, standing behind me, seized him by both arms.
Even so, Rigor twisted and struggled.
“P-please hear me out, Lady Lily! I only did what I thought was best—”
“Whether you thought it best or not, allowing the escape of Alde, who possessed Her Highness’s magical implement, is more than sufficient negligence.”
“To begin with! The negligence of whoever imprisoned him while he still had the implement—”
“Be silent—enough!”
At my sharp rebuke, Rigor’s shoulders jolted and he went still.
I rose and looked down at him.
“Your offenses shall be made plain in the trial to come.”
“I-I did nothing! There must be some mistake!!”
“But your negligence in allowing Alde to escape is more than enough cause for dismissal from the Royal Guard.”
“Th-that cannot be?!”
“Hence—by my own authority, I hereby dismiss you from the Royal Guard! From this point on, you shall be handed over to the Security Corps; reflect on your conduct in the holding cells until your trial!”
“I-impossible?! I did nothing! It is a false charge! You must be joking?!”
Despite his injuries, Rigor thrashed and struggled; the Princess’s Guard dragged him out of the room.
Once the study’s door closed and silence returned, I let out a sigh.
“Haa… truly, this is precisely what dear Sister had been worried about…”
Allowing such a thoughtless man into the royal castle may have been the mistake in itself. And if there were other Royal Guards of the same sort… just thinking about it sent a chill through me.
Well, in any case, the best that man could hope for was loss of station; the worst, imprisonment.
Unless Alde Rama himself turns out to be falsely accused.
“Well… not even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of that.”
And so, worrying after the kingdom’s future and dear Sister’s whereabouts, I let out yet another sigh.
(And that’s that.)
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