I refuse to be your enem.., p.1
I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! Volume 4, page 1
Table of Contents
Cover
Color Illustrations
Chapter 1: A Formal Introduction and a Reunion with an Oddball
Interlude: Her First Impression
Chapter 2: Battle on the Alesia River
Interlude: What Was Touched by Flame
Chapter 3: The Delphion Festival
Interlude: The Scars of the Festival
Chapter 4: The Incident’s Unexpected Aftermath
Chapter 5: The Fires of Farewell
Side Story: Flustered on a Full Moon Night
Afterword
Bonus Short Story
Bonus Textless Cover
About J-Novel Club
Copyright
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Chapter 1: A Formal Introduction and a Reunion with an Oddball
“I did NOT see that one coming.” Worn out from running, I braced myself against the stone wall, panting as I caught my breath.
We were currently west of Évrard—or more precisely, at Delphion’s Fort Inion, which we had just recaptured in order to save a group of hostages. Until a few minutes ago, I had been looking for Reggie because I had something to ask him; I wanted to know how he was going to deal with the ex-Delphion soldiers who had been working inside the fort.
I’d found Reggie in one of the towers. Cain, my bodyguard and a knight of Évrard, was there with him. The prince had been in the process of interrogating Cain about how he and I had jumped into action without any prior warning.
It was no surprise that Cain had gotten yelled at.
I did it because, at the time, I thought the captives were in danger of getting killed before we could go save them. If we had waited until after the Farzian army had broken down the gates and stormed the fort, it would have taken a good bit of time to reach them. In the meantime, there was the risk that the Llewynians would realize they were at a disadvantage and kill the girls.
However, if I had said I wanted to charge in alone, someone certainly would have objected. Cain likewise had come to the conclusion that our only option was to go ahead without notifying anyone—hence why we had stealthily charged in all by ourselves.
I assumed that Reggie had gone to Cain with his grievances simply because it had taken me forever to wake up, what with all the mana I’d used up during the battle. If that had been all they talked about, I would have cut into their conversation and explained that it wasn’t Cain’s fault.
However, when Cain asked why Reggie always tried to stop me from protecting him... I ran away without speaking a word to them. I was too scared to hear Reggie’s answer. It made me think of how Reggie had told me that in exchange for allowing me my freedom, I had to let him be free too, and I could feel my resolve wavering.
In the end, I missed my opportunity to ask what I’d wanted to know.
My shoulders sagging, I looked around to see where I was. Apparently, I’d wandered close to one of Fort Inion’s fortified towers—the one where the hostages were staying. I wanted to know how they were doing, too, so I headed inside.
Before, I’d had the impression of it as a dark and dingy place where I couldn’t make a sound, but today it was brimming with energy, and visitors abounded. Still, while I saw plenty of smiling faces among the crowd, some of the women were crying. More than likely, they’d just been informed of their families’ passing.
For the record, living conditions in the tower weren’t all that bad. Llewyne didn’t want the girls getting sick or dropping dead, for their part. The hostages had been provided with all the furniture and bedding they needed, so it served as a fine place for them to sleep.
When I climbed to the very top of the tower, I found a girl about my age with long, straight hair the color of black ash. It was Emmeline, the daughter of Lord Delphion’s brother, Ernest. She had been held hostage here until just yesterday. Standing beside her was a little girl with dark-brown hair tied back with a green ribbon. That one was the baron’s daughter, Lucille. The two cousins were sitting side by side on a bed, chatting.
I caught sight of them as soon as I reached the top of the stairs. There was a reason it was so easy to see inside the room: all the doors and walls of the corridor were made up of iron bars. Now that the Llewynians were gone, cloth had been draped over all the bars except the doors, but that still wasn’t terribly secure. I wished I could take care of the issue myself, but the only walls I could make were stone. What we really needed up in here was a carpenter.
While I was absorbed in such thoughts, the girls spotted me.
“Oh, Lady Kiara!”
“Please, come in.”
After glancing in my direction, Emmeline stood up and walked over to me.
“As long as I’m not interrupting anything, sure. Sorry for dropping by without notice.”
“Not at all; I’m delighted you came by. We have yet to finish cleaning up after that battle, not to mention that all the soldiers here are men... I’ve been warned that it’s not safe for women to be wandering around, so I haven’t been able to leave the tower. But I wanted the opportunity to have a nice, long chat with you, so this works splendidly.”
“I wanted to talk to you, too! Watching you tell off that Llewynian soldier yesterday was absolutely fascinating.”
Emmeline had leveraged Farzia’s attack on the fort and attempted to strike a deal with a Llewynian soldier along the lines of If you do as I say, I’ll put in a good word for you and see to your safe release. It was a pretty effective threat, coming from a hostage.
Emmeline blinked at the word “fascinating,” and Lucille laughed. “See? I told you she wouldn’t be scandalized.”
“It looks like you were right, Lucille.” Judging by what they were saying, Emmeline’s actions had a tendency to put people off. Then, she went on to say something strange. “But then again, I knew you were that sort of girl.”
I didn’t quite understand what she was getting at, so Emmeline cut straight to the point. “As a matter of fact, you and I have met before, Miss Kiara Patriciél.”
Given that she was using my former last name, there was no question she knew who I was. But where on earth had we met? I had zero recollection of it.
“I’m not surprised you don’t remember. We never interacted much, and we were only there at the same time for about three months.”
“Where?”
“The boarding school in the southern royal domain—though I was one grade above you.”
“What?!”
I was so astonished that I didn’t know what to say. But that checked out; of course she would recognize my face, and on the other hand, it also made sense that I wouldn’t know about her.
“Why did you remember me, though?”
Frankly speaking, I had never done anything of note during my years as a student.
“You were such a strange girl! You doodled in your Bible during the services, remember?”
“Hrk...” I cupped my face in my hands and groaned. Shoot. The sermons had been so boring, I couldn’t help drawing in the margins of the scripture.
“That reminds me! I heard from Lucille. My terramice flocked to you, didn’t they? Quite impressive,” Emmeline went on, delighted.
Lucille! Why did you have to go and tell her that?! I really wished she had kept quiet about that particular detail, but the cat was already out of the bag. Instead, I dared to ask, “Say, Miss Emmeline, how did you come up with the plan to breed terramice in the first place?”
Rearing a bunch of monsters wasn’t an idea that would occur to your average noblewoman.
“It doesn’t seem like something a daughter of nobility would do, does it? But as a matter of fact, it was all thanks to you.”
“What?”
“You inspired me to use terramice to take care of the problem.”
What? Why? What did I do? When I stared at her in wide-eyed wonder, Emmeline shyly averted her gaze. With a cute reaction like that, I could hardly believe she was the same person who had threatened those soldiers.
“You stuck in my memory because you were a strange girl, but if that was my sole impression of you, I wouldn’t have come to respect you so much. Not long after I returned home from our boarding school, I was floored by the rumors I heard about you.”
“What rumors?”
“Ones about your betrothal. I was shocked to my core! I had never imagined anyone would run away rather than be married. It was thanks to that, however, that I realized I was far from a free spirit. Both I and the people around me believed that we couldn’t or shouldn’t do certain things. We were nobles, after all.”
At the time, Emmeline had a suitor for her hand. The would-be groom was a young man from a Delphion branch family. Ernest had claimed that it wasn’t a bad deal, and Emmeline herself had believed her husband was meant to be decided by her father; thus, it didn’t matter if she herself couldn’t stand the man.
However, after hearing the rumors about me, she’d realized she didn’t have to take it lying down. Moreover, the terms of the engagement hadn’t been all that favorable. Emmeline had been convinced that she could find another man who would better serve their territory, so she’d told her father to leave the matter in her hands. She had sworn she would find a worthwhile partner, both for their land and for the province of Delphion as a whole.
Nonetheless, her prospective fiance had refused to back off. After brainstorming “an audacious plan to surpass even K iara Patriciél,” her attention landed on some terramice that just happened to have been caught.
But how did my story lead her to THAT?
Any normal noblewoman would have just negotiated with her father to pick a different man. As I’d assumed, Emmeline had to have been a pretty eccentric girl from the get-go.
“Oh, but you’re always so full of surprises! I never would have imagined you were fighting as a spellcaster.”
“Well, it’s not something most people would do...”
I had become a spellcaster because I’d been positive I could do it, but even a commoner wouldn’t consider the path of sorcery unless her life was in immediate danger.
“But isn’t that what makes you so intriguing? You’re not you if you aren’t fighting.”
“Huh?”
I’m not me... if I’m not fighting?
I stared at her blankly. I hadn’t expected her to say that at all.
Seeing my reaction, Emmeline elaborated on what she meant. “Raising your sword in rebellion isn’t the only way to fight. Sometimes running away is the same as struggling against your lot in life.”
When she put it like that, it finally made sense. The possibility that I would lead the miserable life of a villain, and the possibility that Reggie and Lord Évrard would die—I had taken action to escape from those fates.
I see. So running can be another means of fighting.
“By the way, I was hoping to talk to you about the days to come,” Emmeline went on. “None of us are in any position to return home yet, given the current situation. It would be a waste to simply sit around being protected in the meantime, so I was wondering if there was something we could do to help.”
“Hmm... We probably don’t have enough people on hand to treat all the wounded.”
We were sure to be fighting Llewyne again soon. We would need all the manpower we could get.
Then, Emmeline said something strange. “Do you have enough people to look after His Highness?”
Enough people to look after Reggie? I gave a puzzled tilt of my head. There wasn’t much time to relax on the front, so there weren’t that many things he needed help with. In fact, having a lady-in-waiting around seemed likely to get in the way of our march more than anything else. I figured Emmeline would have known as much, so I was surprised by the question... but it turned out it was someone else’s proposal.
“I’m not asking for myself. I have every intention of joining the ranks of your archers. Do you remember the girl from yesterday who was about to be used as a hostage? Her name is Ada. She was in low spirits, what with the precarious situation she was in, but she bounced back the moment she saw His Highness’ face, declaring that she wanted to stand by his side.”
That brunette lady—the one who had been restrained by a soldier yesterday—was called Ada, apparently. Emmeline explained that she had been brought in from Trisphede as a hostage.
I certainly did feel sorry for her, and if it would give her the motivation to work hard, I wasn’t necessarily opposed. That said, it wasn’t a matter I had any particular say in. How was I to broach the topic with Reggie?
“If it’s too much trouble, you can just say no, Lady Kiara,” Lucille commented when she noticed my conflicted expression.
“Hmm... To be honest with you, Reggie has all his needs taken care of by his lord-in-waiting. Besides, he prefers to do most things for himself,” I answered, explaining why I didn’t think it was necessary.
“Oh!”
“My.”
Emmeline and Lucille exchanged glances, hiding their mouths behind the tips of their fingers. Err, what did I say?
“You refer to His Highness by a nickname? Interesting.”
“Ack! Oh nooo...”
Emmeline called attention to my slip of the tongue. I had called him “Reggie” out of habit; of course they were going to jump to some conclusions.
“Wait, it’s not like that!”
“Hm? I didn’t say anything.” Emmeline played dumb.
“You two must be very close,” Lucille remarked with all the bluntness children are known for.
We were good friends, sure, but the word “close” sounded like it could have other implications.
“He’s like a guardian to me! That’s all!”
“The prince is your guardian? I’d love to hear how that came to be.”
Emmeline’s eyes shone with the glint of a predator cornering her prey. I prepared to make a run for it.
“Try not to give her too hard a time. She’s my army’s most valuable spellcaster.” Did that new voice count as throwing me a lifeline or dropping a bomb?
Emmeline and Lucille stood up, then dropped to one knee and bowed their heads in respect as Reggie came up the stairs alongside Groul. “You have our deepest thanks for coming all this way, Your Highness.”
Meanwhile, I slid into the background. It wasn’t that long ago that I had overheard Reggie and Cain’s conversation. Luckily, it didn’t seem like Reggie had ever noticed me there, but that didn’t make this any less awkward.
That was when I noticed one other person standing even farther behind Groul, who was waiting behind Reggie.
It was the very Ada we had just been talking about. A woman best described as a classic beauty, her brown hair was tied up in a bun, and she was gazing at Reggie with sheer passion in her eyes. One look at her face made it clear that she felt something for Reggie—or to take it a step further, that she was in love with him.
I felt a prick of pain somewhere in the depths of my heart.
At the same time, I couldn’t help getting distracted by the stone hanging around Ada’s neck. That had to be a contract stone... but where had she gotten one from?
My imagination went to a dark place. Could it be she had some sort of connection to a mage? As far as I’d heard, the only other spellcaster in Farzia was Lord Credias, but there was no reason for an ally of the viscount’s to be taken prisoner. He was, after all, on the side of our enemy—the queen. The Llewynians ought to have welcomed any friend of his with open arms.
In that case, was she just walking around wearing a pretty gem without knowing what it really was? I wanted to ask, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up.
Once they had said their greetings, Reggie instructed Emmeline to rise to her feet. He then told her, “It’s just as Kiara said. I don’t need anyone new to look after me. Besides, we’ll be marching on the royal capital before winter comes, so we’re bound to be traveling all over the place.”
After politely declining Emmeline’s request, Reggie took a few steps forward, placed a hand on my shoulder, and brought his lips close to my ear.
“Let’s have a chat about what you did yesterday in a bit, Kiara.”
That hit me where it hurt. Upon delivering that warning, Reggie took his leave, never sparing Ada so much as a glance.
Naturally, Ada’s gaze shifted to me. Yikes. I think she just locked on to her target.
To make matters worse, Lucille chose that moment to make things weird. “I see His Highness refers to you without title, too. Yet he always calls my cousin here ‘Lady Emmeline.’”
“Uh, remember what I said? He’s like my guardian!”
“And why is he your guardian again?” Emmeline demanded.
That was when Ada suddenly spoke up. “I’d be interested in hearing that story myself. May I intrude upon your conversation?”
I caught myself staring long and hard at Ada’s face. This wasn’t our first encounter, but it was our first conversation. Did I need to introduce myself?
While I was busy with my internal debate, Emmeline cut in. “Ada, this is our spellcaster, Kiara. Come, introduce yourself,” she urged.
Ada gave her a nod. “My name is Ada. I come from a branch family of the House of Trisphede. You have my thanks for rescuing me yesterday, Lady Kiara.”
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kiara Cordier, Évrard’s spellcaster.”
“Cordier?” Emmeline raised a voice of skepticism.
Oh right, I never did finish telling her that story.
“Erm, I’m now officially a relative of the House of Évrard.”
While omitting and abridging various parts, I told the story of how Reggie had come to be my caretaker. Of course, I couldn’t mention that I had stowed away on a carriage belonging to the House of Évrard. Mentioning that I had been chased down by someone from the House of Patriciél was fine, but I couldn’t touch on anything magic-related, and I didn’t want to bring up the Forest of the Thorn Princess either. In the end, it turned into a very bowdlerized version of the actual story, but Emmeline was still plenty amazed.
