Volume 3 Chapter 10 Part 2 (1/2)

Volume 3 Chapter 10 Part 2

Translator: Kurehashi Aiko Editor: Queenie

It was a young man, Yulifalet Lila Schtorenvihein, a young Hero chosen by the Holy Sword who defeated the Demon Lord. His green eyes were sparkling like a pair of gemstones.

Small wonder that the hostile girls fled the scene with their faces flushed crimson. Even though they didn’t have to know who the newly arrived man was, he was rather handsome. So much so in fact, that the heart of any maiden would skip a beat at his sight. He was almost like a genuine prince.

Last time we met, it was the day after my wedding, when he left the capital city for some time in order to return home. Both of us were members of a certain “alliance” of sorts, namely the one that would cause Agedilus some rather serious headaches. We were genuine friends and our relations were good and laid-back even. I honestly had no idea that he was coming back.

I wonder what caused him to come back here from his hometown?

Without being aware of my problems and dilemmas, the Young Hero smiled at me with a smile that would cause any other woman to grow weak in the knees.

「It’s been a while. How you’ve been?」

「…… Oh, yes, that’s right, so-so, I guess.」

I couldn’t simply tell him that I was cursed and almost died during his absence. I knew that he didn’t mean anything ill by that question, hence lying to him was making me feel all the more guilty.

「You seem to be doing well yourself, Yuli-sama. Why are you here in the capital city?」

「Oh? Agedilius didn’t mention that to you? It’s not like I came here of my own will, but rather I was forcefully brought back. Since I am the Hero who defeated the Demon Lord, they want to use me as a nice-looking ornament to decorate this festival with.」

「You saw Edi?」

「Yeah, I was meeting with him just recently.」

Now that you mention it, that man was not in his Edilka disguise today, but his normal self. He said that there was a reason for him to look like that and that he had to change back into Edilka as soon as that business had been taken care of. It must have been that meeting with Yuli.

Other members of the royal family must have also been present at this meeting, so it wasn’t really all that big of a surprise that he was forced to come back to the capital.

「Yuli-sama, while I am grateful for your help, what are you doing in a place such as this……?」

For Yuli-sama it must have been pretty overwhelming to have to deal with the royal family members in their full royal attires, not to mention knights and maids. I sympathized with him because of that, because I knew just how tedious that could be, especially with the festival right around the corner.

Hearing my question the Hero laughed, seemingly feeling refreshed.

「Don’t worry, don’t worry. Although I called it a meeting, it was a rather brief one. I will basically need to smile for a bit and swing my Holy Sword towards the crowd to get them fired up…… At least that’s what I thought. And since I had some spare time on me I thought I might take a walk through town. I didn’t really expect to meet you here, Filmina. Talk about a coincidence.」

「Again, thank you so much for your help.」

「Okay, we should probably get going now. Are you heading towards the Great Temple?」

「That’s right.」

As Yuli-sama wore his hood again, I picked up the apples from the ground and put them inside the basket again, and then we started walking towards the Great Temple together. Along the way, Yuli-sama took the basket from me and offered to carry it in my stead, saying that a woman shouldn’t carry around such heavy luggage. We walked in silence for a while before eventually Yuli-sama spoke to me from under his hood.

「I was getting the impression that Agedilius was really grumpy for some reason. Was it perhaps because you weren’t at his side, Filmina?」

He asked, looking over the clothes that I was currently wearing curiously. For some reason, I was finding that question very difficult to answer for some reason.

「Well, yes, I think that might be the reason, probably.」

「I see. That is a relief actually. I was thinking that he might have started to lose his cool.」

The Hero laughed inside of his hood, and as we continued to walk like that, we soon arrived right in front of the Great Temple. I bow my head before him.

「Thank you so much, Yuli-sama. What are you going to do now?」

「Think nothing of it. I want to walk around town some more, see some sights since the opportunity presented itself. While I’m at it, I also want to buy some souvenirs for my family and my friends.」

「If you ever need help with anything, then don’t hesitate to ask me. I will help you the first moment I have time.」

「Don’t worry about it. If I took you with me on my tour over the town, I am sure that Agedilius wouldn’t be happy about that at all.」

「…… I am so sorry……」

I was sorry that I wouldn’t be able to pay him back, but his words were very much true. Now, I know that Yuli-sama was a Hero, but would he have saved me all the same if we didn’t know each other?

Seeing how red my face was becoming, Yuli-sama handed me the basket with apples and after saying a brief “See you around” he was gone, disappearing into the crowd.

It was really nice of him to walk me back to the Great Temple even though he wanted to see some sights on his own. Whoever ends up marrying him in the future is going to be one lucky girl, and a whole lot of maidens would be left crying. Such is the fate of the Hero.

Deciding that I must thank him later, I show the permit to the guards standing in front of the Temple and go inside.

Compared to the outside world, the inside of the Temple was filled with silence and tranquility. Normally such silence would be suspicious and ominous, but after being outside with so many people, it was a nice change of pace for me.

With every step my shoes clash against the marble floor, making a pleasant sound. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t see anyone else since I came inside. The Temple had many priests and servants at their disposal, and with the upcoming festival they should have had their hands full of work. So why wasn’t anyone here? No matter how I was trying to wrap my head around that matter, I couldn’t think of a possible reason.

「………?」

I stop in my tracks. From somewhere, I could smell a sweet fragrance. The smell was almost nauseating, different from the fragrance of flower nectar or freshly baked sweets. It smells of fruits that were so overly ripe that they could actually be called rotting.

「Ah.」