Chapter 15: I Will Find You No Matter What
(Adolphus’s Side)
The royal capital.
The headquarters of the Royal Army, adjacent to the royal castle grounds.
In the office of the general who commanded the monster-subjugation forces sat Adolphus Duer.
Documents awaiting his approval were piled high atop the heavy desk.
Adolphus skimmed through them at speed, stamping approval one after another, all while listening to his aide’s report.
“—In short, it appears certain that a large-scale outbreak of magical beasts has occurred in the ‘Forest of Calamity’ within Baron Barrow’s territory.”
Nathaniel, the secretary with a narrow face and round spectacles, presented a bundle of reports.
Adolphus accepted them and scanned the contents.
“It seems the defense force led by the Barrow household managed to hold them back for a time, but recently they finally allowed bird-type magical beasts to breach the walls of Diudo.”
“Casualties?”
“Many injured, but fortunately no fatalities.”
“I see.”
“Baron Barrow has requested full cooperation from the Adventurers’ Guild and is doing his utmost to defend the town, but they are short-handed, hence the request for reinforcements from our monster-subjugation corps.”
“I understand the situation.
Dispatch a platoon at once.
Inform Baron Barrow accordingly.”
“Understood.
As for selecting the platoon commander—”
“Nathaniel, I’ll leave that to you.”
“Yes, sir—though before that, there is something I believe you should hear, Lord Adolphus.”
“What is it?”
Adolphus asked without pausing the hand turning pages.
“This was not included in the official report, but when the magical beasts entered Diudo, someone reportedly saved a child who was on the brink of death from poison using holy magic.”
“Holy magic…?
To my knowledge, there are no holy magic users in that town.”
There were only about thirty holy magic users in the entire kingdom, mostly among the royal family.
As a general of the Royal Army, Adolphus knew the whereabouts of every one of them.
All resided either in the royal capital or within their own territories, and none should have been anywhere near Baron Barrow’s lands.
‘Could one of them have happened to be passing through Diudo on a journey or something?’
‘If so, that child was extraordinarily lucky…’
As Adolphus considered this, Nathaniel’s next words made him stop turning pages.
“It seems, however, that this was not an existing holy magic user, but someone who newly awakened to holy magic.”
“What?
I’ve never heard of such a case.
Was it someone related to the Barrow family?”
As he spoke, Adolphus searched his memory, wondering if Baron Barrow’s lineage had ever mingled with the royal bloodline.
Most magic users were nobles, and holy magic in particular was said to manifest almost exclusively in those of royal blood.
He had never heard of the Barrow family forming ties with the royal house, though tracing far enough back, it would not be strange to find royal blood somewhere in any noble line.
“No.
It was not a member of the baronial family, but a commoner living in Diudo.”
“A commoner?
Are you certain?
What sort of person?”
Even throughout recorded history, the number of commoners born with holy attributes could be counted on two hands.
All of them had been illegitimate children of high-ranking nobles closely related to the royal family.
If a new holy magic user had truly appeared, it should be reported to the Ministry of Magic.
An investigation would be conducted, and if confirmed, that person would be taken under royal protection and granted an appropriate rank and status.
“We don’t know her background in detail, but she appears to be a young woman around twenty.”
Nathaniel paused there, then curled his lips into a meaningful smile.
“She had red hair and green eyes.”
At those words, Adolphus shot to his feet.
His deep blue eyes widened.
“Impossible…!”
“Yes.
Her outward features match.”
“But she wasn’t holy-aligned.
She should have been fire-aligned…”
“I’ve heard there are rare cases where a second attribute awakens after one matures.
Extremely rare, but not unheard of.”
“So you’re saying… it’s possible.”
Nathaniel nodded.
“After all, she is the daughter of His Majesty the King.”
Among the king’s children, the only one unable to use holy magic, and thus derided as a “failure.”
Rosalind, the princess who, for that reason, had been married off to Adolphus—a mere count.
She despised Adolphus and vanished just five days after the wedding, leaving behind only a note and divorce papers.
“…We had Diudo investigated.”
“Yes.
Both the convent and the brothels.
We received no reports of anyone matching Her Highness’s features.”
“…Meaning she’s living as an ordinary commoner?
Could it really be that she, a former princess…?”
He muttered in disbelief.
The moment Rosalind disappeared, Adolphus had ordered his loyal and capable secretary Nathaniel to secretly search for her, while publicly claiming she was recuperating on the count’s estate.
Rosalind, the unloved princess, had an extremely limited circle of acquaintances.
It was obvious without investigation that she had no close ties among royalty or nobility.
That being the case, there were few places an inexperienced woman like her could turn to besides a convent.
Though closed-off and difficult to investigate, Adolphus had painstakingly checked convents across the kingdom.
Yet no information surfaced of a woman matching her description.
He then expanded the search to convents in neighboring countries.
At the same time, he began investigating brothels within the kingdom.
The possibility that she had been deceived or abducted and sold into one had occurred to him.
Stories of fallen noblewomen ending up in brothels were not uncommon.
Whenever he heard of a prostitute with red hair and green eyes, he went in person, no matter where.
Each time, he confirmed it was not her, feeling both deep relief and crushing impatience.
Three years passed with no leads whatsoever.
The possibility that a former princess was living as a commoner had scarcely crossed his mind.
“…No.
It’s not confirmed to be her yet.
We must verify this immediately.”
“What will you do?”
“I’m going to Diudo.”
He answered instantly, fixing Nathaniel with a sharp look.
The secretary gave a wry smile.
“I thought you might say that.
I do hope this time it truly is Your Excellency’s wife.
I would very much like to be freed from this assignment already.”
Nathaniel shrugged, then added:
“Ten days.
You cannot be away from the capital any longer than that.”
He glanced at the mountain of documents awaiting approval.
“Understood.
After that, I’ll leave command to the vice-captain.”
“Then I’ll begin preparations for the expedition at once.”
Nathaniel bowed and left the office.
Alone, Adolphus lowered his gaze to his left hand.
On his ring finger gleamed a silver ring set with a small green stone.
“Rosalind…
I will find you, no matter what.”
As he kissed the green stone that reminded him of her eyes, a knock sounded at the office door.
“Enter.”
The door opened to reveal a young woman from the Royal Army’s medical corps.
She hailed from a baronial family and was a highly skilled water-magic user.
They had worked together on several expeditions.
“Our unit has been assigned to the Diudo expedition.
I came to offer my greetings and discuss the details.”
“I see.”
He guided her to the guest sofa and took a seat opposite her.
Her pale gold hair swayed softly over her slender shoulders.
Large peach-colored eyes, framed by long golden lashes, looked straight at Adolphus.
“I’m happy we’ll be working together again, Lord Adolphus.”
A white, delicate hand was extended toward him.
“The feeling is mutual, Lady Liliana.”
When he took her hand, Liliana’s peach-colored eyes softened with a languid smile.