CHAPTER 1
My Four Guards and I
1
Imperial territory. Easternmost Altoria jurisdiction.
A hotel room in a town on the eastern tip of the Empire.
“It’s me. Can I come in?”
“Iska?” Nene answered from beyond the door. “Of course! I’ll open up right away!”
Then Iska heard the sound of footsteps, and the door burst open in front of him.
“Morning, Iska!”
A girl with a voluminous red ponytail greeted him. Like Iska, Nene was part of Unit 907. She was in charge of its communications equipment.
“Hurry, come on in. The commander just got started on breakfast.”
“And how is she doing?” Iska asked.
“Sleeping on the sofa. She hasn’t managed to get up quite yet.”
“I guess I should have expected that…”
He headed inside while they talked.
Morning rays filtered into the room. The first thing Iska noticed was the commander buttering freshly toasted bread.
“Good morning, Commander Mismis,” he said to her.
“Oh, morning, Iska,” she replied.
“Is Jhin still asleep?”
“He’s been awake. He even went out for a run around the hotel. I just saw him get back and start taking a shower, so he’ll probably be here any minute.”
“Got it. Then we’ll start the morning meeting once he gets in.” Mismis nodded, biting down on the toast in her hand.
“Any appetite?” Iska asked.
“Me?” she asked. “Oh, same as usual. I think I could have two slices of toast for breakfast, easy-peasy.”
“Oh…um. I meant her.” Iska glanced at the girl splayed out on the sofa behind them. Her strawberry-blond hair glittered gold in the sunlight showering upon her. She looked as charming as a doll while she slept.
Sisbell Lou Nebulis IX.
She was a witch, the enemy of Imperial soldiers. For the time being, however, Unit 907 had promised to protect her until she was able to return to the Sovereignty.
“How is Sisbell doing?” Iska asked again.
“Oh, I guess she didn’t have any dinner yesterday… Nene got a nutrition drink for her from the hotel restaurant, and she managed to get that down, at least.”
“Does she have a fever?”
“It was about ninety-nine or a hundred degrees when we took it at dawn.”
“That’s higher than last night…”
Someone had placed an ice pack on Sisbell’s forehead. The night before, she’d fainted and developed a fever. Sisbell refused to be seen by any Imperial doctor, so the group could only guess what could have caused the sudden bout of illness.
“I think it’s from fatigue…,” Mismis offered.
“I agree,” Iska said. “She was tied down to that bed in the astral-power research facility the entire time, so that must have something to do with it. And she didn’t have anything to eat.”
Indeed, Sisbell had been taken prisoner because of the great astral power that dwelled inside of her—because she was a witch. After being kidnapped and taken to a mad scientist named Kelvina, Sisbell had been alarmingly close to becoming a subject of human experimentation.
“I want subjects who are purebred. Very difficult to find in the Empire, I’m afraid.
“I won’t let you escape.”
Kelvina had locked her away in a room thick with dust and mold. Sisbell must have been scared to death during that time, not to mention being hungry and immobile because her captor had tied her to a bed.
…Plus, the Empire is enemy territory to her. She was all alone while she was imprisoned.
…The anxiety must have taken a huge toll on her body and mind.
Actually…it was practically a miracle she’d fared this well after going through all that. Iska had feared the worst when Sisbell was spirited away by the Hydra’s mercenaries, so he’d been surprised but grateful for the state they’d found her in.
“…Ngh.” Sisbell shifted slightly in her sleep.
Her sweet eyes fluttered open ever so slowly as the present members of Unit 907 watched.
“…Good morning, Iska,” she said after a long pause.
“Are you up to talk?”
“My head hurts. And…I see four of you, Iska. You’re out of focus.”
“Sounds like you’re really dizzy, then.”
“Yes. It’s terrible.”
A weak smile crept across Sisbell’s face. Her eyes still looked red and puffy, an indication that her fever had yet to break. She faltered just speaking to him, almost as though she were out of breath.
“I feel horrible…but I’m already much more at ease than when I was Kelvina’s prisoner. The research facility was abhorrent. She bound my arms and legs to the bed, and the smell of the mildew in the room made me cough.”
“Right. The building was disguised to look abandoned, after all.”
“It actually was abandoned. Spiders and centipedes crawled all over my arms, legs, and even my neck as I lay there unable to move. I was hoping for death to claim me.”
“Blech…”
“And then there was the restroom situation, of course. Now, if you’d like to know exactly how I managed when I was immobilized for three days—”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Iska lifted a hand and put an end to Sisbell’s rant. “We know it was a harrowing experience. I’m sorry we took so long. So just sleep for now. You’re using up your strength by talking.”
“……You’re right.” A demure smile flitted across Sisbell’s face as she covered herself in her terry cloth blanket. “But you don’t need to worry about me. This is all part of my strategy.”
“Your strategy?”
“Well, if I win everyone’s sympathy right now, you’ll all be nice to me, yes?”
“…”
“And I mean you as well, of course, Iska.”
“…Well, fever or not, I’m glad you could muster enough strength to come up with a scheme like that.”
Iska meant it. He was genuinely relieved she hadn’t been mentally scarred from the terror of being kidnapped. Better for her to be overly talkative than mute from trauma.
…She isn’t even crying or complaining in the slightest.
…Sisbell really is Alice’s sister.
Though she looked delicate and almost ethereal, he could tell she was resilient, a quality befitting a Sovereign princess.
“But…” Sisbell hesitated. “Rin was captured because of me. And by the Lord, of all people.”
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room shifted. When Sisbell mentioned the Lord, Nene and Commander Mismis shot their eyes open.
“Third Princess Sisbell. Let us have a conversation in the Imperial capital. This also concerns you.
“I will be waiting, Successor of the Black Steel.”
It had happened immediately after their battle with the malevolent angel Kelvina. Just as abruptly as he had arrived, Lord Yunmelngen had whisked Rin away as his hostage. That was what the beast had said to Iska and Sisbell at the time: Let us have a conversation in the Imperial capital.
Rin’s life was on the line.
Though they could have made their way straight to the capital, Unit 907 was conflicted. The invitation hardly guaranteed it was safe for them to go. Regardless of the circumstances, protecting a witch princess was as good as betraying the Empire.
…We need to be prepared when we go to the capital.
…They might capture us along with Sisbell and send everyone to the gallows.
“Hey, boss. You here?” Jhin, a young man with silver hair, carried a black device as he made his way over to them. “You left your comm in our room.”
“Uh, what?! Oh right, I was looking for that. I’d lost track of where I left it. I’m glad you found it.”
“It started making this ridiculously loud noise earlier. I dunno who was trying to call, though.”
Jhin tossed the communications device at her. Mismis caught it and stared at the screen.
“…Huh?”
Her eyes went wide. She blinked.
“What is it, boss?”
“I’m not sure who this is. There’s no sender ID. It can’t be from anyone I know or HQ, either. Nene, do you know who this could be?”
“All right, let me take a peek, Commander.” Nene took the device from her hands. “They’ve purposefully set this up so the sender’s details won’t be displayed.”
“Huh? You can do that? But this is standard Imperial equipment.”
The caller had been obscured. An Imperial forces communications device shouldn’t have needed that function. The comms were supposed to show the name of the caller, along with their affiliation and rank.
“Come on, boss. Hurry up and read the message,” Jhin said.
“…R-right. I’m a little scared to, though.” Commander Mismis started to operate the device.
“What?!” She couldn’t hold back her scream. “W-wait a sec?! Everyone, look at this! Iska, Jhin, and you too, Nene!”
As Mismis clutched the device in her hands, the screen glitched. Iska’s breath caught when he read the text displayed…
“I’m having fun with the earth witch, so please take your time.”
It was just that single sentence.
Just as Commander Mismis had said, there was no identifying information about the sender. Now they finally understood why. It was because there was no need to state whom it was from.
“This is…” Nene gulped.
“Their Excellency, the Lord… It must be… And ‘the earth witch’ has to be Miss Rin…”
“P-please show me as well!” Sisbell leaped up from the sofa. She staggered and swayed as she walked toward Commander Mismis to see her comm.
“…Shameless,” Sisbell said. “It’s like they’re reminding us they have Rin held prisoner.”
“You seriously think so?”
“What?” Sisbell turned around. She faced Jhin, who had been behind her. “Wh-what do you mean…?”
“I took it literally. I’m pretty sure the Lord must’ve sent this. Which means we haven’t got to worry since Rin’s still guaranteed to be alive. If they were planning on executing her, the Lord would have told us to hurry up before they offed her, right?”
“I—I suppose…” Sisbell raised her brows as she thought it over. “I’ve never heard of anyone telling you to ‘take your time’ after they’ve abducted someone—not even in a book. But why would they tell us that…?”
“How should I know? I think the part about ‘having fun’ with her is disturbing as hell, though. What do you think, Iska?”
“…”
When Jhin pointed that out, Iska slowly exhaled. “I’m…really conflicted, but I think I agree with Jhin. It doesn’t feel like the message was meant to disconcert us or make us go faster. If anything, they might even be doing it out of consideration for your well-being, Sisbell. Like, telling us to make our way over slowly.”
“M-my well-being?!”
“I think it’s only natural to assume based on the timing. Seems like an idiosyncratic way of thinking, though.”
Sisbell couldn’t travel because of her fever. Yet as luck would have it, the message arrived just as she was about to rush to the capital out of worry for Rin.
“…I struggle to even comprehend it.” Sisbell let out a large sigh.
She sat down on the sofa she had just been sleeping on.
“The Empire would execute or imprison any witch they got their hands on. Even Kelvina was on the verge of making me her plaything. So why would the Lord worry about my health? They’re leading the very country that oppresses mages!”
“We don’t get it, either…,” Iska said, shaking his head as the agitation started to show in Sisbell’s voice. “We’re just an Imperial unit in the end. Nobody’s going to tell us secret intel about the Empire. We don’t have that standing. That’s why none of us expected the Lord to look like that.”
A beastperson with foxlike fur. If the Lord wandered through the capital looking like that, the Imperial patrol would come running immediately and make a scene.
“The Lord is portrayed as a middle-aged man with a beard on TV. No one in the Empire would think that isn’t them. Even when I was promoted to Saint Disciple, Their Excellency remained behind a giant bamboo screen the entire time, so I couldn’t get a glimpse of them. I only heard their voice.”
“Did they sound the same?”
“No, their voice was completely different. They sounded like a gruff man. But now that I think about it, they might have been using a voice changer.”
Iska hadn’t even known what the Lord looked like. There was no way he could guess what the real Lord was up to.
“Curiouser and curiouser… I cannot believe Imperial soldiers like you wouldn’t know who the Lord is,” Sisbell murmured.
“Well, we know what we have to do to find out who he is. Go to the Imperial capital,” Jhin replied, despite knowing Sisbell had been talking to herself. “But what I want to know is: Who are you?”
“……Huh?”
“This is the perfect opportunity. Let’s clear this up right now,” Jhin continued matter-of-factly from where he was standing. “Who are you, really?”
“C-come again?” Sisbell’s eyes went wide, and her eyelids fluttered.
Jhin looked down at the darling girl, unfazed. “Remember yesterday? Kelvina called you Princess Sisbell. Right in front of us.”
“Huh?! Th-that was…”
“And the Lord did, too. They called you the Third Princess Sisbell. Am I wrong?”
“…”
The strawberry-blond girl went silent.
Sisbell had been billing herself as a servant of the royal family since they had first crossed paths with her in the independent state of Alsamira. But that had all been a lie. She could no longer hide the fact that she was a Nebulis Sovereign princess. Her identity had been exposed.
“……Uh.”
Sisbell, the third princess of the Sovereignty, bit her lip. She had pretended to be someone she wasn’t. Unit 907 had believed they were protecting an envoy when it turned out they had been guarding a princess the entire time. This was a monumental breach of their agreement.
“Iska! What should we do…?” Commander Mismis whispered. “…I never would have guessed things would end up like this.”
“…Neither did I,” Iska said.
Luckily, Nene and Jhin had been focusing only on Sisbell.
Iska nodded so faintly that neither of them noticed.
…The commander and I decided not to tell them who Sisbell is.
…Because revealing that would have only dragged them into this mess.
He hadn’t told Nene and Jhin—because he’d been afraid of this very situation.
He and the commander would likely be subject to disciplinary action once that fact they’d been guarding a witch princess came to light. Jhin and Nene, on the other hand, could have gotten off with a lighter sentence by simply claiming ignorance to headquarters. For this reason, Iska and Mismis had decided it was better if the other two were none the wiser.
…It would have turned out better.
…Just until we could take Sisbell back. If only Jhin and Nene hadn’t figured out who she was.
He could never have guessed that the Lord himself would inform them of the truth. Even Sisbell could not have imagined the situation would pan out the way it had in her wildest dreams.
“We chose to be your bodyguards. But guarding a princess is entirely different than protecting a servant of the Nebulis royal family. Guarding you has a different implication now.” Jhin stared down at the silent Sisbell. “It wasn’t fair to us, at the very least. Don’t you agree?”
“……What if…it were true…?”
Sisbell clenched her fists over her lap. Her face was flushed from her fever. She stared up at Jhin with large, quivering eyes.
“…Then what would you like to do…? Keeping this from you was my mistake. So would you like to cease protecting me?”
“…”
“Are you going to…disparage me because I’m one of the loathsome witch princesses?!” Her voice came out in a strangled rasp and echoed throughout the living room. “Please tell me. What will you do with me now that you know I’m a witch?!”
“Okay, but really,” Jhin said as he looked down at Sisbell, who was deathly serious. By contrast, Jhin looked almost exasperated, as if the whole thing had been a letdown. “Did you really think we hadn’t figured out your identity?”
“…”
“It was obvious.”
“………What?” Sisbell’s mouth hung open. “Uh, um?”
“I don’t know any servant who speaks as high-handedly as you do.”
“And Shuvalts called you ‘lady’ even though he’s older than you,” Nene added. “I was just talking with Jhin about it. We were fine with feigning ignorance until after we finished guarding you. But then Their Excellency called you Princess Sisbell, so it would have been a lot stranger for us to pretend we hadn’t noticed, right?”
“…I—I…,” Sisbell stuttered. “I suppose when you put it like that…”
“So there you have it. Your identity was obvious from the start. We just weren’t completely sure yet.” Jhin wore a straight face and crossed his arms. “We weren’t going to bring it up, but then the Lord went and called you a princess, so we couldn’t keep up the ruse anymore. It would’ve been weird to not question it.”
“I—I see! In that case—”
Sisbell leaped off the sofa. Despite her fever, she stood up and placed her hand on her chest. She posed in the same way her older sister Alice did while declaring something.
“We’ve come all the way here,” Sisbell said. “Our hearts practically beat as one—no, in fact, I daresay we were brought together by fate! Because of that, I will tell you everything about who I am as proof of my trust in you. In fact, I—”
“No thanks,” Jhin mercilessly replied.
“Excuse me?!” Sisbell cried at the top of her lungs. “What do you mean?! I am a Sovereign princess, you know!”
“Yeah, and you admitted it, so I’m already satisfied.”
“What?! Wait, where are you going?!”
“Back to my room. C’mon, Iska.” Jhin moved away from the wall. He turned his back to Sisbell and left as though proclaiming his indifference. “I’m not interested in my clients’ private lives.”
“At least give me the chance to say my real name!”
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