CH 200

Chapter 200

Those Who Take Each Other's Hands : Three Dragon Knights, Part 7 — The Princess Dragon Knight

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

「Second Princess… Does that mean…」

「A princess!?」

Alfiris shouted out in a crazy voice. Annecroze looked a little embarrassed, but quickly looked at Alfiris and the others and nodded.

「How so. I’ve been a soldier since I was 12, so I’m far from being a common princess. And I’m not very good at court etiquette either.」

「Wow—! I think I might be the first princess friend or something!」

「No, I’m not talking about people…」

「Hey, hey, what’s life like in a castle?」

Alfiris no longer hears Annecroze’s story. Alfiris is also a woman and has longed to be a『princess.』Fenna was also royalty and graceful, but the forest people had a different flavor than the humans. In Alfiris, a princess would still mean human royalty.

Alfiris, who was excited like a child in front of Annecroze, looked at Alfiris with a puzzled but helpless expression on her face.

「Alfie looks a lot like my sister.」

「Anne has a sister?」

「We’re ten years apart, though.」

「Eh, I’m not that young, you know?」

Annecroze giggles at Alfiris, who swoons like a child. Here Annecroze had also completely let down her guard against Alfiris. She was a strange girl, and inwardly Annecroze seemed to have taken an interest in Alfiris.

「But, is it okay? A person of the stature like the Second Princess taking a bath with a mercenary without an escort?」

Miranda asks the question with some dismay.

「I don’t care. If anything happens to me, 30,000 dragon knights of Romansland and an army of 300,000 will chase you to the ends of the earth. Who would be foolish enough to make such a mistake?」

「I see. So you’d rather give up your identity to be safe?」

「You could say that. I guess it depends on who I’m dealing with.」

Annecroze grinned, and Miranda shrugged and said nothing more. She is, after all, the princess of a great country, and she is also a very tactful person. Alfiris was talking to Annecroze without worrying about such things.

「Why is the Princess here?」

「I’m going to make an inspection, to see if the gentry are behaving themselves. There have been many disturbing rumors recently. But my visit is confidential. Well, I guess you could call it an unannounced inspection. I heard rumors of Alfie and the others on the way here, so I thought this might be a coincidence, but it looks like I was wrong.」

That statement from Annecroze made Alfiris wonder if that might not be the case, but she decided not to tell the truth. Annecroze seems to be willing to ask her nothing more than she need to know, and then she won’t have to tell Annecroze about her complicated situation. Alfiris didn’t dislike Annecroze for some time, but she still didn’t trust her that fully, nor did she trust the country of Romansland. And she don’t see how talking about Aurangzebul is going to help.

Alfiris was bubbling and bubbling in the hot water up to her mouth, but Annekroze, perhaps having let her guard down, finished washing herself all over and got into the bathtub and started complaining.

「Moreover, if I had to petition my father every time I had to leave the country for duty while in the military, my military service would be delayed. Despotic monarchy is troublesome in that respect. He have so many children, he could at least let me do as I please.」

「Heh, I don’t remember Romansland having that many direct descendants.」

「There are five men and three women.」

Annecroze replies tersely.

「I’m fourth from the bottom, so I’m probably allowed to like it the most. The youngest, Willania, is only one year older than the others, so our older brothers and sisters are always placed in the palace, even in a royal family with a military temperament, as if she was too adorable for them. Thanks to this, Willania has become so selfish that even the people in the castle are having a hard time dealing with her. Even so, she is friendly to the other siblings, but for some reason, she is always at my heels.」

Annecroze mumbles and complains. She wondered if Miranda and others would be willing to talk about the situation in Romansland to a group of stranger mercenaries like this, but for some reason she couldn’t hate Miranda, who apparently has some similarities with Alfiris. It was partly unexpected, since Miranda had expected the royalty of Romansland to be more difficult people. Miranda thought that if such a person was in charge of diplomacy, it would be somewhat easier for the Church Of Arnelia.

「（Ah, but the first meeting was the worst, and maybe this is the kind of race that Romansland is.）」

Miranda was pondering this as she half removed her body from the hot water. On the other hand, Alfiris seemed to be very interested in what Annecroze had to say, asking her more and more questions.

「Anne is a Dragon Master, right?」

「Yeah, I was decorated about 6 years ago.」

「Wow～ That’s how good you are with dragons, isn’t it?」

「…I wonder about that.」

Alfiris turns her head as she sees Annecroze’s face fade a little. Then Annecroze noticed the Curse Mark on Alfiris’ arm.

From this time on, Alfiris had stopped bothering to hide her Curse Marks. She was always wearing long sleeves, which would make her look suspicious, and her black hair made her stand out anyway. Rather, she decided that if the Curse Marks are so obvious that even if Fairtuse sees it, she cannot tell the details, it is safe to be seen by those who have no knowledge of magic, and if she was going to gather her fellow mercenaries from now on, there will be no need to hide it. She had discussed this with Miranda and Lisa, and they decided to make it more conspicuous.

「Is that?」

「Oh, this. It’s called a Curse Mark, and it’s meant to seal my powers.」

「Seal… I don’t know much about magic, but may I ask?」

「Hmmm, wouldn’t want to be asked too many questions?」

「Then I’ll stop. Come to think of it, I have a strange mark too.」

「Eh? Where, where?」

「Back of the neck…」

Annecroze snapped and didn’t pay attention to the Curse Mark from then on, and Alfiris seemed to like her refreshing personality more and more. Even for Annecroze, Alfiris seemed easy to talk to, an honest little sister if you will, and the two hit it off over dragons and rapidly became good friends.

＊＊＊

「Well, Anne. Good night to you.」

「Yes, Alfie. Have good dreams.」

The two, who had no end of conversation after getting out of the bath, were talking amiably without regard to their status. They were already comfortable calling each other by their nicknames. She is a strange girl, Annecroze thought. It was even stranger to think that under different circumstances they might have killed each other. She might consider that Dolce brought them together.

And once there, after the treatment, Euthy and Lanna returned and told them that Dolce was safe, Annecroze went to check on Dolce once. Dolce was sleeping peacefully, and her abdominal wound had already been treated so well that no trace of it could be seen.

Annecroze patted her chest in relief, told the guards to contact her immediately if there was any change in Dolce’s condition, and returned to the inn to sleep. When Annecroze returned to the inn, there were already few customers in the bar, probably because it was late at night. Then she casually looked at a corner of the bar, where Rui and Lexus were still chipping away. Annecroze is surprised to see Rui.

「（Is it possible…?）」

Annecroze walks up to the table and calls out to Rui.

「Excuse me. I don’t mean to be indelicate, but are you Rui Nitroux Highlander?」

「I don’t know such grandiose name. I am just『Rui.』」

「I’m sure that’s the way you speak. Rui-senpai, it’s been a while. It’s me, Annecroze.」

「I want to pretend to be someone else, but you’re so pushy, Anne. It’s been a while.」

When Lexus saw the exchange, he silently left his seat. He probably thought it would be a better story without him. He is properly attentive in these situations.

Then Annecroze sat down in the seat where Lexus had been, and Rui looked at her as if to rebuke her.

「No matter how intimidating it may be to the other party, it’s not something that the princess would use her name lightly.」

「I thought Rui-san had forgotten about me.」

「How could I forget about you, my sweet junior? I’ll remember you properly.」

「If then… ah!」

Rui stroked Annecroze’s head, and Annecroze was amused, but did as she was told.

「I miss this. When Anne first came to me, I used to pat your head like this.」

「Yes, Rui-san, you were my first educator. You were the only one who had no reservations when you found out I was a princess. Others treated me as if I were a tumor.」

「There is nothing to be afraid of, though. It is said that in battle, even the sovereign’s orders must be obeyed.」

「That said, I didn’t expect to get my ass kicked the first time we met.」

Annecroze makes a nasty face. Rui smiles at her face.

「Talk about nostalgic again.」

「But because of that you have raised your own stock in the opposite direction. As a person with the fairness to kick even the Princess’s ass.」

「That was Anne’s fault. In the beginning, Anne was selfish and could not act collectively. I guess the reason is that your instructors didn’t teach you properly until then. But it has been almost four years since I left the country. How is Anne doing now?」

「I am now the commander of the 3rd Air Defense Division.」

「A division commander. Well, when you’re the Dragon Master, it’s only natural.」

Rui gulped down her drink. When she offered a glass to Annecroze, she also took a sip.

「Mmhm, now that’s a mouthful.」

「You’ve trained me well.」

「I miss those days when we used to drink and swill.」

「We aren’t yet old enough to miss the old days, are we?」

Annecroze tried to correct Rui’s words. But Rui didn’t care.

「I’m getting old. Too many things have happened in the past few years. Amarina-san quit the army, and I quit too. There was a time back then when the three of us talked about supporting Romansland.」

「Yes. Each of us is trying to become a division commander.」

「Anne fulfilled it.」

「I didn’t do it by my own will.」

Annecroze looks apologetic.

「But the fact remains that you became a division commander.」

「If only it hadn’t been for that…」

「Stop, that’s just politics. I was angry at the time, but now I can see it that way.」

「…Is it because you are a mercenary?」

Rui looks surprised at Annecroze’s question.

「You knew?」

「I got wind that the captain of Blackhawk has a female swordsman who uses an ice sword. There’s no second sword user who’s similar to you.」

「I see, I am famous now. But I haven’t heard from home yet.」

「That…」

When Rui saw that the liquor bottle was empty, she took the liberty of bringing another bottle. The master had probably already gone to bed, and was no longer in the store. All the customers have left before long. Rui wishes he had a word if he was leaving, but then reconsiders that if she gets free drinks, she shouldn’t complain.

She took her seat again, poured herself a glass and began to drink.

「Well, if you don’t hear from me, I’ll take it easy. I don’t want anything to do with that house anymore. If anyone should be concerned, it’s my older sister and little sister.」

「They are both alive and well. Rilsha-dono recently gave birth to her second child.」

「That’s a blessing. What about Mira?」

「Mira… has officially enlisted in the military.」

「What?」

For the first time, Rui’s complexion changed. Her hand, which was about to take a drink, suddenly stopped and she looked at Annecroze with a serious expression on her face.