I look for their presences, and apparently they’re by the river after the forest.
It’s not too far from where I usually fish, so I can’t miss it.
I run until I clear the forest, and find Cara tending to Chorus’ wounds.
“…Who’s there!?”
As I approach them, Cara turns around quickly and raises her guard.
That’s a lot of hostility. She probably thinks Krr and Grr are coming to attack again.
“…It’s you, Arata.”
She lowers her hand and looks a little relieved when she sees it’s me.
“Are you okay?”
“Well, despite what you might think, I am a nun. I’m not as good as Merlin, but I’m still pretty good at healing.”
A dark shadow is enveloping Chorus, and the bleeding has stopped.
I think this shadow might work like a band aid.
But it can’t help recover lost stamina, so it’s still languid and its breathing is a little ragged.
Cara hears groans, and turns her back to me to continue healing.
“So, what do you want? As you can see, I’m a little busy.”
“I was wondering what you were going to do from now on.”
I don’t think she should take it home, but I feel like enforcing that is wrong.
If I favor Krr and Grr, I might be throwing her out, and I don’t want that…
“It looks like you’re worried about something, but I won’t take Chorus home.”
“Eh?”
“Isn’t it obvious? The next time those dogs see it, they might really make minced meat out of it, so I’m going to have it stay in the forest.”
“…I don’t think they would.”
“I’m not so sure.”
She sounds cold, but it’s because they hurt her pet.
I move a bit and look at her face, and she looks serious while healing.
I don’t think I should bother her, so I stay silent for a while until Chorus has calmed down to a certain extent and falls asleep.
“Ahh… It should be okay now.”
Cara exhales, sounding relieved, and gently strokes Chorus’ head.
I thought she was the type to sacrifice it to ensure her survival, but I feel like I saw a different facet of her.
“It’s surprising.”
“That I didn’t leave Chorus and run?”
“That too, but that you take such good care of it.”
“Well, I’m generally what you think I am, but…”
She stops moving her hand, and continues.
“I decided to protect the ones I use the vassalage spell on.”
“Is there a reason?”
“Well, various, but it’s like my policy.”
She goes quiet, feeling like she doesn’t want to say any more.
Unlike the others, I feel like I can’t close the distance with her. It’s not just me, it’s like she drew a clear line between her and Reina and the others too.
The only person who can cross it is Edinburgh.
“So how long are you going to stay here? Just so you know, I’m not as soft as Reina. I won’t let my guard down just because you’re a little nice.
As always, she talks like she’s looking down at me.
I’m a little relieved to see her back to her normal self.
“It’s not that far, but you have to cross the forest… Can you go back on your own?”
“…Yes.”
Even if Chorus wakes up, Cara can’t protect it if it’s swarmed by rabbits or something.
It looks like she regrets her decision a little, like she didn’t think it through that far.
“…Look out for us a little longer.”
“Then in the meantime, tell me about that policy of yours.”
“Keeping a lady’s past hostage is the worst!”
I can’t help but be curious.
But if she really doesn’t want to talk about it, she probably won’t.
And so, I listen to her until Chorus wakes up.
◇ ◇ ◇
Chorus wakes up after a while.
It looks around like it’s still sleepy, and it looks cute because it reminds me of a kitty despite being huge.
“Ah… I ended up telling almost everything…”
She looks a little depressed.
It was agreed she’d talk until Chorus woke up, and before we knew it, it’s evening.
It wasn’t waking up at all, so she told me everything.
“Don’t tell anyone about this! Only Edinburgh knows!”
“It’s okay, I won’t.”
She was born to a man and woman enslaved with vassalage magic, so she was born a slave.
That’s quite the tragic start, but it wouldn’t get better.
Being a female slave meant her future was settled.
She had half given up, but her saving grace was that she was born with high magic energy.
Her father used to be a higher up in the holy church.
How did someone like that become a slave? Apparently because he didn’t come out on top in a power struggle.
Her slave parents passed away when she was young, but her high magic energy earned her the opportunity to learn magic, because she was a good prospect.
After being betrayed by various people and tasting bitterness, she met Edinburgh and was released from slavery.
She continued her magic studies, and rose up to become one of the seven great mages.
“That sounds really tough…”
I say as she rides Chorus in the forest and I walk next to them.
“That doesn’t begin to describe it! When I was a slave, I had to choose between having rotten bread or nothing! Everyone who got close to me tried to use me! When Edinburgh found me I had two choices, master magic or die! And when I finally found freedom, I was thrown into an island full of monstrosities… When am I going to live peacefully!?”
“Hahaha, I think you can do that here.”
“You say that because you’re a monster, it’s not possible normally!”
Cara laments, but she’s probably right.
Reina and the others are used to it now, but they also had trouble at first.
“But there you have it, that’s why I want to look after the ones under my vassalage. They won’t betray me.”
“I see…”
Is she trying to be kind because they’re also going through a period of slavery?
Then I start wondering why she dresses like a nun.
What I just heard doesn’t sound like it would leave a good impression of the church…
“What?”
“I was just wondering why you dress like a nun.”
“Ah, so people from the church wouldn’t get close to me. I was the daughter of someone who used to have a high position there, so there were people who tried to take advantage of me.”
I feel like that would have the opposite effect…
Dressing like a nun probably makes it seem like she’s interested in the church.
Cara smiles awkwardly like she knows what I’m thinking.
“Would you think a girl rampaging in a bloody nun outfit is right in the head?”
True, come to think of it, I imagine people would either pick fights or treat her like she’s insane.
I thought for sure she just liked it or something, but there’s an actual reason…
“I do like sending lost lambs to the other world.”
“…So it really is just an outfit.”
“No, I do act like a proper nun. Just in a bit of a different way than the church.”
“And it looks like you have some pride in that.”
“Yes.”
She smiles, and comes down from Chorus, because we’re almost out of the forest, and we’ll get home soon.
“See you later Chorus. Make sure you don’t let those wolves see you, and get stronger.”
Chorus nods like it understands her, and runs off in the opposite direction.
Cara sees it off with a bad smile on her face.
“Like I said, you should probably stop thinking about that.”
“…I-it’s okay, I meant for self-defense.”
“That’s fine then.”
Even so, I can imagine this person doing something she shouldn’t and having a bad time.
But if it’s not with my friends or family, she can do whatever.
Thanks for the treat.