Chapter 139 – Old Lanchester Territory

We rode the bike further in, and stopped once we got near the high wall.

Roxy said while she looked up.

[Apparently, the Holy Knight who governed this place died from an unknown cause.]

[Ah…]

As I was involved in that ‘unknown cause’, I could only responded dryly.

Rudolph Lanchester who was the governor of this area, went against my promotion to become a Holy Knight. After an exchange of words, he drew his Holy Sword and challenged me to a duel while we were in Eris’ presence.

Afterward, all I knew was that the White Knights punished him for acting brazenly in front of their beloved Queen.

[I heard that they applied a terrible class system that made the people living in the territory suffer. Eris destroyed the entire Lanchester family for that. Now another holy knight has been sent from the Capital to temporarily govern the territory…]

[I see. Eris-sama might want to see if everything went well after that.]

That same Eris was still riding the bike with Mimir trying to catch up to us though.

It’s because we forced our bike to travel in its utmost speed that we got so far ahead of them.

[But, it’s too quiet here. I don’t see any travelling merchants going in or out.]

[This feeling is similar to what happened back at the capital.]

[Now that you mention it… it is.]

Those travelling merchants were very sensitive to danger. They loved to make as much money as they can, but they still loved their life even more. It’s only natural, since you won’t be able to use your money, no matter how much you had, once you died.

[Shall we go in to ask about what is going on here?]

[U~n… we can go and ask the knight in charge of the temporary governing… but]

[We should wait for Eris and let her do the talk?]

[Yes]

That Eris who reeks with overwhelming sex appeal was also a Queen of a country.

Since me and Roxy were her vassals, we should not disrespect her. Though I could afford to be a little bit rude since I’m also a holder of Mortal Sin skill.

Roxy was not one though. For example, even if Eris insisted Roxy to act informal while around her, Roxy’s serious nature wouldn’t allow it. She would act respectful either way.

[Waiting for Eris will be too slow. Let’s just go in first.].

[No can do. Even if she is like that, Eris-sama is still our Queen.]

[Even if she is like that!?]

[Ermm… I let that slip without realizing. Please do not tell Eris-sama about it]

[I wonder about that~]

[Mouu, Fai!]

Roxy hurriedly took back her statement. Apparently she doesn’t really like Eris’ loose and elusive attitude. Perhaps she had her fair share of being annoyed by Eris when she came to work at the palace.

[Are you still listening!? Fai!]

While I was reminded of how hard working Roxy was, I realized that she’s glaring at me.

She had this uncomfortable look on her face, which is also cute in a way.

[Fai!]

[Ouchouchouch… I’m listening]

She pinched my ear because I forgot to respond. She could be unrelenting like this sometimes.

With my ear still tingling from pain, we looked around the high wall surrounding the old Lanchester Territory. Roxy still showed no intention of entering the city.

The entry and exit points became strictly controlled because when I and Myne visited here before, she defeated the former Lord of this territory so easily, and escaped just as easy.

Furthermore, the Lanchesters were not on good terms with the Hearts family. Not only they provided little to no supplies when Roxy was heading to Gallia, they also forbade her from entering the city.

[It was really horrible back then.]

[I’m also partially at fault for that to happen…..sorry. I’ll tell Myne about it when we meet her.]

[Fai and Myne must not have been at fault. That Lanchester guy was originally a troublemaker. I am sure he was the one who provoked you first, right?]

[Yeah, I guess you can say so.]

Certainly back then… Rudolph treated Myne like a mere kid. On the other hand, she had some insecurities regarding her physical look (especially on the chest area). So he’s just seeking trouble for himself.

Myne launched him high into the sky with a single slap of her black axe Sloth.

I remember that I was standing by her side, mouth agape as I witnessed the scene unfolded. Before I knew it, Myne already pulled my hand and dragged me to escape.

[Seeing you sigh like that, it must be something bad, is it not?]

[Myne’s personality is one that does not take provocations well. Not only here, it got us into trouble on many other places…]

[From what I have heard so far, she seems easy to anger, does she not?]

[That’s only natural, as she’s the holder of Mortal Sin skill Wrath. That being said, I never knew the full extent of Wrath skill yet.]

[Ehh!? Is that so?]

Roxy looked into my face incredulously, as if I’ve said an unexpected thing.

Not like I can do anything about it.

[What can I say… she’s someone who doesn’t talk about her abilities nor her past.]

[Fu~hn. In regard to a skill as special as that, it would be hard to talk about it to others. As for the past… everyone might have a hard time to talk about it. Especially if it was a bitter one…]

[I guess so.]

Now that I think about it, Luna told me about various things regarding her past when I met her last night.

She also said something similar to what Roxy said just now.

Myne has lived for a very long time. So she can be particularly stubborn about many things.

[The next time I meet Myne, I’ll do my best to make her talk.]

[Un, that is the spirit! Good~ good~]

Roxy stroke my head while smiling.

[Somehow… I felt like being treated like a child.]

[Fufufu~! More like me acting like a big sister to you.]

[You’re only one year older though.]

[That still counts.]

Roxy mood seemed to lighten up a bit. Did she want a little brother that much?

When I was about to ask, the sound of the bike’s engine could be heard coming from behind us.

As we noticed, Eris who is so much older than me, and Mimir who is a year younger than me finally caught up to us.

[Fate-sama! Please don’t leave me alone!]

[Right, right! You went so fast that Mimir is almost out of magic power trying to catch up.]

The two, understandably, were annoyed that they were left behind,

[It’s only natural! Anyone would’ve also run away if someone were to shoot at him!]

[But those were love bullets, you were meant to receive it properly.]

[I’d be dead if I did!!]

Her power of love was too strong, it could tear a hole in my body!

Eris smiled fearlessly. She didn’t seem to be joking when she said that.

Even Mimir who was sitting at the front seat had a similar expression. This is… I’m afraid that she’d ask for my blood tonight.

Roxy read the atmosphere, got in between us, and bowed to Eris.

[Pardon me. I am new to this whole bike-riding thing…]

[It’s not Roxy’s fault. The bad one is just Fate. Right~, Mimir?]

[Yes, that’s right, Eris-sama!]

Somehow… it appeared to me that they developed a sense of solidarity during the time we left them behind.

What will happen to me if the equally feisty Eris and Mimir began tag teaming on me? Not wanting to think about it, I pretended to ignore it.

Anyways, tonight Roxy will sleep in my room. I’m a bit nervous when I think about that, but despite that, I still couldn’t shake off the feeling of danger since I had doubts that she could protect me from those two.

[Both of you, please stop. If we keep dawdling here, we’ll only make our way to the old Lanchester territory by noon.]

[ [ Mu… well said ] ]

Seeing those two had calmed down, I pushed the bike to the great gate that’ll lead us beyond the high wall.

Mimir also pushed the bike, following my example. Roxy and Eris followed from behind us.

The duo seemed to engage in some conversations with Roxy. I couldn’t quite tell about the content of their talks, but I caught Roxy blushing from time to time.

That sparked my curiosity, but we must make haste.

There were soldiers guarding the great gate. But as soon as they saw the emblem of holy knight and the royal family crest, they immediately fixed their posture and let us through.

Perhaps the news about Eris coming in for inspection had preceded our arrival.

[We’ve been waiting. Immediately inform Lishua-sama about Her Majesty’s arrival!]

[Yessir.]

[Is that the magic bike…? I’ve only heard about it before. You can park it right here.]

The soldier whistled and spoke to another soldier, who in turn led us to where we could park the magic bikes.

For the time being, Roxy and Eris waited there. When me and Mimir returned from parking the bike, another person, the new city Lord was already there. She was out of breath, and her short hair was a bit disheveled.

All in all, she seemed unreliable, but it’s probably because of her young age.

[Pardon me for not greeting Your Majesty’s personally! I am Lishua Versario, the new officer sent to manage the territory. I was informed about this group’s arrival, but…]

Lishua appeared to be having some problems. It’s obvious from the way she talked after she introduced herself.

[What happened? I knew something was up after observing the city from outside.]

This was the gate where merchants were supposed to go in and out from. But there are only us and the soldiers here.

The eerie silence did not help either.

[That’s… because a monster appeared on the eastern desert…]

[Monster!? Do you mean the sandman?]

[No.]

[Or perhaps it’s the sand golem again?]

[That’s not it. If it’s just a sand golem, I could’ve handled it myself. I’m still a Holy Knight after all]

The sand golem was causing a lot of trouble for the previous city Lord. It was clever enough to escape and hide in the sand whenever it felt endangered. I wondered if the same thing is happening again, but I was off the mark.

Lishua may not seem unreliable, and she gave off the feeling of being weak. But when she said that she [could have defeated a sand golem] on her own, she spoke with an utmost certainty.

[My bad. Then what kind of monster is it?]

[It has two large pincers, and has been roaming around the desert at an incredible speed. Its skin is also very hard that a Holy Sword couldn’t even nick it at all. I’ve been researching about it, looking for any weakness… but there’s no record of it in every literature I have access to.]

[I see.]

Probably yet another supposedly extinct ancient monster. It would be reasonable to think so since the Door to that Land could possibly revived it.

When I looked back to Roxy, she seemed to have the same thought.

[Very well. We’ll handle that monster. It’ll be bad if something were to happen to you, who is entrusted with governing this territory.]

[Really!?]

[Yeah, leave it to us!]

[Uaaaa, thank you very much. This problem has been haunting me for a while now.]

Lishua held and shook my hand vigorously. As if that wasn’t enough, she hugged me on impulse as well.

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Apparently this problem has been miring her mind for some time.

Since it’s related to the Door to that Land, there is nothing much to be done about it. I thought so. But when I looked back, I was greeted by cold glares of the three girls all at once.

Mimir deliberately showed off her fangs, while Eris hefted Envy up, ready to enter shooting stance at any time…

And even Roxy… She was smiling… but the glare in her eyes told me otherwise.

The atmosphere suddenly became cold, despite it’s not night time yet. I could hear Greed’s laughing at the back of my mind.

『Hahaha, a popular man really has it hard, doesn’t he?』

[That’s not me for certain.]

『That’s it! Aaron had bestowed the title of Sword Saint to you. Probably, some of his popularity with women also carried over to you.』

[You can really make a joke out of anything, can’t you?]

『I wonder. But, this is fun to watch! Just be careful not to be stabbed from behind some day.』

Even with his old age, Aaron was still popular amongst the women. Surely it’s not because of the Sword Saint title.

But could it really be that…? After separating herself, Lishua guided us to her mansion.

[Come, through here Fate-sama!]

[You don’t need to pull that hard.]

[It’s nice to have someone who can be relied upon.]

I felt like she’s a bit forceful there. But if we’re going to talk more about this monster, then what’s better than to talk about it relaxedly on a mansion?

While the one at the front was happy and excited, those behind me were…

[Fai…]

[Do you want me to shoot at you again, Fate?]

[Fate-sama, you’d better be prepared for tonight.]

Hiii!? It might be just my imagination, but I saw black aura looming behind me.

I turned around and let myself be half-dragged by Lishua to the mansion.

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