7

“I’m Ains. I’m traveling, and I had just entered Elias a little while ago, but I got caught up in this chaos. I don’t really understand what’s going on.”

The female lord observed Ains’s attire. There were many suspicious points to be seen there, but she was in a position where he had helped her. She judged that pursuing that here was not important.

There was something she had to do before that.

“This area has settled down for now. Leave a few people here and immediately go defend the city and protect the residents!”

““Yes, ma’am!””

At the female lord’s command, the knights formed groups of three and disappeared into the city.

The remaining knights went to aid their injured comrades.

“Forgive me. I thank you for helping us earlier. I am Arabetta, the lord of this harbor city, Elias.”

The female lord—Arabetta—returned her sword to its sheath and gave Ains a light bow.

Ains felt that, like the Brandy Marquess, she seemed to be a noble who gave a favorable impression.

“And those people there are…”

Arabetta looked at Sophia and Talidge, who were waiting beside Ains.

“They are my companions who are traveling with me, Sophia and Talidge.”

Beside Sophia, who bowed, Talidge stood with his hands behind his head. Only after Sophia nudged Talidge with her elbow did Talidge finally lower his head slightly with a sigh.

“It seems you came from outside, but where did you and your companions come from, Lord Ains?”

“From Kirk.”

“From the royal capital, then. That must have been tiring.”

Arabetta checked her surroundings once more, but after confirming that no new fish-men seemed to be appearing, she sat down on a nearby wooden crate.

Following her example, Ains also sat down on a wooden crate. Sophia stood quietly at attention beside Ains, and Talidge leaned his back against the wall of a red-brick warehouse.

“Yes. So I was taking a rest and was just about to enjoy the Elias fish dishes I had been looking forward to when I got caught up in this chaos.”

Ains gazed at the sea before him. For now, the sea did not appear to be unnaturally rough.

“As the one who governs this land, I am sorry for that. However, I cannot answer the question you asked earlier either, Lord Ains.”

“What do you mean?”

“I only heard about this commotion a little while ago myself. I do not have an accurate grasp of the cause either.”

While brushing up her golden hair, which was slightly damaged by the sea breeze, Arabetta turned her eyes toward the sea.

Arabetta’s build resembled Sophia’s. It was a woman’s uniquely flexible, whip-like, supple muscle, made efficient so that a woman, who gained muscle less easily than a man, could wield a sword.

Arabetta’s arms were not thick by any means, but it was obvious at a glance that they were muscular. Her physique made it clear that she swung a sword on the front line.

“The people in the city were saying something about the ‘guardian of the sea,’ though?”

“Yes, I also believe that thing is likely the cause. Until now, it had never gone on such a rampage… Judging from this situation, I believe there can be no other cause.”

The place Arabetta looked toward.

The sea was quiet, with gentle waves. However, large planks and all kinds of wreckage were floating on the surface.

The “guardian of the sea” that Arabetta and the residents of Elias spoke of seemed to be a giant kraken with many legs.

It apparently had a basically gentle nature, and even when it attacked ships that had intruded into the kraken’s territory with its long legs on extremely rare occasions, it had not gone so far as to sink them.

Depending on the season, the kraken would also eat large quantities of fish throughout the waters around Elias, often causing food shortages, but since there were no swordsmen or mages skilled enough to subjugate it, and since it had never spread such terrible disasters, they had more or less left its existence alone.

“But now…”

The wreckage drifting in the sea belonged to the ships that had been docked there.

The kraken had already wrapped its legs around the ships and sunk them to the bottom of the sea.

Only a very small number of ships remained. Even those had suffered damage to their hulls from the kraken’s attacks and the fish-men’s attacks.

“I do not know why that thing has gone this wild… But before this happened, we should have slain it. We should not have left it alone just because things were safe at the time…”

Arabetta lowered her head.

Her dry, rough hair fell from her shoulder in a bundle with a soft rustle.

“Does that mean the fish-men who came ashore entered the city of Elias as if fleeing from that rampaging kraken?”

Sophia, who had been waiting beside Ains, listened to Arabetta’s words and made a conjecture.

“That may be true. I do not understand their ecosystem either, but it may be natural to think of it that way.”

“So,” Ains called out to Arabetta.

“So what will you do from here? Now that you know the danger of that kraken, and considering the state of the city, what will you do, Lady Arabetta?”

At Ains’s question, Arabetta raised her face.

“Judging from the fact that no new fish-men have appeared, the action we should take for the moment is to subjugate the fish-men that have come ashore. In addition…”

However, Arabetta could not say the rest.

Ains and the others also understood what Arabetta was trying to say.

However, with an enemy before her that would be difficult to subjugate, for the lord of Elias to speak of subjugation meant imposing a considerable burden on the knights who served her and the residents who lived here.

Especially for the knights, it would be to the point that they would have to be prepared for death.

Arabetta could not voice an order that was almost like telling them to throw away their lives.

“…”

As Ains looked at Arabetta’s face before him, it was not that he did not feel sorry for her. But Ains was an outsider. There was no point in interfering with the lord’s decision, nor did he have any obligation to help her.

He did feel sorry for her, but from Ains’s perspective, it would be enough if he could eat his fill of fish dishes, and if the city became uncomfortable to stay in, he only had to leave.

Sophia beside him looked as if she wanted to say something, but perhaps because she knew Ains’s personality, or perhaps because she thought it would be rude to interfere with her master’s decision, she kept her mouth shut.

In any case, Ains understood the situation.

He thought that he would not be able to stay in Elias for long at this rate.

“At this rate, the residents of my domain will likely struggle with food shortages from now on… I must do something.”

Arabetta let that slip with a sigh.

“Hm? What does that mean?”

Ains could not help asking again, feeling certain that Arabetta had said something he could not let pass.