Translator: Nox

51 - Marquis Maron

Episode 51

The Spirit Bird, upon seeing me, became extremely enraged and whipped up a wind like blades, but Doraji, who had rushed over, spread her arms and blocked my path.

Then, she shouted even louder.

"Get lost, you bird-brained thing! How dare you squawk like that with your bird-meat self! Just try touching Hayley! I won't let you get away with it!"

[How dare, how dare… indeed!]

"You get lost too, human woman! Get out of here right now!"

It was chaos.

The wind Ventus stirred up wreaked havoc in the courtyard of Maron Keep. Old windows shattered and flew everywhere, and the pepper trellises that Doraji and the women had carefully erected one by one all collapsed at once.

My black hair shot up from the bottom. Watching Reikart, enraged, finally draw his sword, I had no choice but to say,

"Asta, come down."

Asta met my eyes.

"Let's talk."

Asta, who had sent Ventus back to the Spirit Realm, fell from the sky.

Reikart caught the falling Asta with a deep frown. Then, as if he had touched something he shouldn't have, he quickly threw her to the ground.

Asta was a mess. Her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were twisted and crumpled. I approached Asta, who had barely regained her senses, and abruptly held out my hand.

"Get up."

"H-How are people living here? This is the middle of the Contaminated Zone. And, why is Ventus acting like that?"

"I said, get up."

"You're Hayley, right? You are, aren't you?"

"Didn't you know that when you came?"

Asta took my hand and stood up briskly. Her pretty pink eyes held a perfect balance of fear and curiosity.

"Hello! It's nice to see you again. I'm Asta."

"Rosa Kasnatura. I know."

"You are… Hayley Maron."

Oh, so you know that now, do you?

The blades of grass that had been swirling in the wind slowly settled. Early autumn leaves, starting to turn color, were sparsely mixed in, surrounding the area with green and yellow foliage.

Seeing the protagonist standing like a painting in the middle of it all, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Pretty."

As I chuckled, Asta relaxed her stiff face and managed a smile.

"Excuse me, why is your hair black? I heard that there was only one person in the world with hair as red as a rose… as red as wine made from carefully selected ripe plums."

"Who said that?"

"Cyril said it at first, and when I looked it up out of curiosity, people everywhere were saying it."

"Why is that bastard still talking about me after betraying me like that?"

"……."

Asta closed her mouth, startled by my words as if I had poked a sore spot. I clicked my tongue and asked.

"Do they know you came here?"

"Who?"

"Cyril, Michelan… things like that."

"No one knows. Ah, my brother will find out soon. I left a letter. He gets worried if I'm not around."

"Brother…?"

Who was that again?

I grabbed Asta's hand and dragged her along as I walked.

As I did, I thought about Asta's brother in the original story. I couldn't remember his name, but I remembered that he was a beautiful young man who looked like Asta's twin, and a pushover who would give his sister anything she wanted.

Fatima asked.

"Lord, who is that?"

As people stared at Asta with faces full of curiosity, Fatima seemed to step forward as their representative.

I told her honestly.

"The princess of Kasnatura, Asta Rosa."

"Pardon?"

"She's a princess."

The people's faces darkened rapidly.

Why is the atmosphere so grim when she's a princess? Puzzled, I looked at Fatima, who chuckled and said.

"Not only did she turn someone's house upside down, but she also swore so badly…. We can't argue with her because she's a princess. We can't even complain."

"Ah."

"Hahaha! We'll go set up the broken pepper trellises now. You two talk."

Her tone was full of resentment.

"Oh, my back. I'll have to work all day to restore that field."

Who makes such a loud soliloquy?

"Hey, you guys! Go get the hammers and tools! Gather the broken windows! Aish, tsk tsk. When are we going to fix all that?"

Hmm….

"If you're going to fly in, at least fly in nicely."

It seemed our protagonist had made a bad impression on my Omnivores.

I was about to advise them that they should love the protagonist if they wanted to live well in this world, but Asta was fidgeting and sighing deeply, so I took her inside for now.

"Asta."

"I'm sorry. I thought it was strange that Ventus was being so proactive for once, and I told him several times that we weren't coming here to fight, but…."

"It's okay. Nature Spirits are naturally inclined to hate beings tainted by Magical Energy. It's a bit annoying, but well, it's part of the setting, so it's a natural reaction."

"Hayley."

"Why are you so polite to me when you're a princess?"

"Because I'm indebted to you."

"Indebted for what?"

"Thanks to you, I was able to defeat the Demon that appeared in Enif and save the kingdom. Everyone is talking as if I saved the world…. I feel so guilty."

"Why feel guilty? You're the one who fought."

"How many people would have died if you hadn't told me in advance?"

"Uh…."

She had a point.

Strangely, I felt a pang of guilt too.

"And… Michelan proposed to me."

I see.

"The church is calling me a Saintess and trying to create titles to praise me."

I figured.

"It's all thanks to you, Hayley."

"No, it's not!"

What terrifying thing is she saying!

I shouted.

"I'm too weak to fight Demons! I'd faint from fear! It's not a big deal that I just told you, why are you doing this to me! You take care of the Demons from now on!"

"Pardon?"

"Listen carefully, Asta. You are the protagonist of this world. You're the only one who can defeat the forces of evil! This story can only have a happy ending if you do well!"

"Why am I the protagonist?"

Asta smiled brightly.

"You seem like the protagonist, Hayley."

Something was definitely wrong with her. Feeling uneasy, I grabbed Asta and asked seriously.

"Why did you come here?"

"Because I have something I'm curious about."

"What is it? Tell me."

"Are you really… an evil Wizard?"

Asta asked.

"Did you massacre the Winter Dukedom on the battlefield and kill innocent people? Did you behead the eldest son of the Vendicion leader who surrendered, saying he would give up his claim to the throne? Did you secretly poison the King of Holt? Yes?"

"Why are you curious about that?"

"It's just strange."

Asta was steadfast. Her eyes were clear and straight, as if she wouldn't back down until she knew the truth.

"It's as if someone deliberately created a bad reputation."

Why does she keep doing this?

I stood in the darkest shaded area of the hallway leading to the dining room. In contrast, Asta stood by the window where the sunlight streamed in diagonally.

Amidst the stark contrast between light and shadow, the bright pastel tones of Asta and my own terribly monochrome self looked at each other.

At that moment, I was thinking about the real Hayley.

So that's why she came to me in my dreams. Was her singing about wanting to eat spicy food a dream-prophecy that the pepper trellises would fall? Thinking about it that way, she seemed a little less foolish.

And I thought about Cyril, Michelan, and Eugene.

If I were the real Hayley, would I want to tell Asta all about my grievances or anger here? Or would I reject even Asta because I didn't want to be involved with those traitors again?

Or would I still love them and be jealous of Asta with a twisted heart?

Either way, the fact that Hayley was pitiful remained unchanged.

However, I had no intention of defending the evil deeds that the real Hayley had committed, nor did I have any intention of clearing up the evil deeds that Hayley had not committed.

That kind of thing was only suitable for an ambitious protagonist trying to go out into the world.

I only intended to live here until I died.

"I don't know."

So I just smiled.

"I don't remember."