No Need For Love

When she stepped outside to see Kardia off, Ornis was there.

Just like on the floating isle, he was dashing about busily, shouting orders to the carpenters who were putting up temporary housing outside.

“Master! You’ve woken up!”

So that’s where he was starting from. As Noi looked at the thoroughly left-out Ornis with pity, a high, ringing voice came from the direction of the hills.

“Kardia-samaーーー!!”

Noi turned toward the voice—and froze. The voice came from the sky.

From high above, a Zephyrai glided with wings spread.

Leaping lightly from its back was a girl dazzling in her loveliness—

“Aidoni!”

Ornis didn’t even try to hide his grimace as he said her name.

It was Aidoni, who had looked after them at Kukuvaya’s Weavers’ Enclave and again in the capital.

While Noi stood slack-jawed, Aidoni ran straight to Kardia, her adorable sky-blue eyes brimming with tears.

“Kardia-sama—! You’re safe, you’re truly safe…! When the sky was swallowed by darkness, I—I…!”

Aidoni, clinging to Kardia and weeping, was so brave, so dear, so charming.

The sight of a beautiful man and woman pressed close drew tears from everyone. The royal soldiers around them were surely thinking Kardia’s fiancée had bolted from home, unable to sit still with worry for him. Gentle gazes poured over the two.

(…How nice for Aidoni.)

Noi drooped, feeling a little sulky.

(If she clings to him like that, no one looks at her strangely.)

Even though, tailing along with “(temporary),” the real fiancée was her, Noi griped inwardly.

(…I thought all the chaos had made me forget.)

Her feelings of love, shamefully enough, were still alive.

Unable to keep watching the two, she stepped back.

“Don’t worry. Everyone’s safe. Look—Noi is right there.”

“Noi-sama is here as well—?”

Kardia patted Aidoni’s shoulder and pointed to Noi. Perhaps she hadn’t expected Noi to be in the Hyuetos domain; following Kardia’s finger, Aidoni looked to Noi—

—and her cute face crumpled into tragedy.

“—Kyaaa!? E-e-even with Kardia-sama at her side, how could—how could Noi-sama be in such a state!?”

Seizing Kardia by the front of his coat, Aidoni started shaking him violently. Alarmed, Noi ran to her.

“H-hey, Aidoni! This is just a lot of bandages for show! Take your hands off Kardia—!”

“For Kardia-sama of all people to let Noi-sama be injured—!”

“Aidoni, stop! Aidoni! Let go!”

Kardia was far more seriously hurt than Noi. Noi pried Aidoni’s fair hands off Kardia as best she could.

Until now, everyone had seen Aidoni as Kardia’s fiancée; now, it seemed they didn’t know what to make of her, and their faces showed confusion.

Aidoni stared at the bandages wrapped around Noi’s arms and neck and fell speechless.

“…Oh no… Noi-sama… how pitiable…”

As Aidoni trembled and tears spilled in fat drops, Noi, at her wits’ end, opened her arms wide. Aidoni timidly stepped into them and started sobbing all over again.

Kardia looked down at Noi with a damp, accusing gaze.

“…”

“W-what?”

“Haah… haah…”

“I didn’t do anything, did I?!”

“Haah…”

With theatrical exaggeration from the bottom of his chest, Kardia sighed, again and again.

“I really hate this… You go and make new devotees wherever you go…”

“I told you that’s not it!”

Noi’s small-bodied wail, hugging Aidoni tight, echoed uselessly over the hill.

Ornis, face twisted, shot Aidoni a sharp glare.

“What did you come for? You even dragged out Lady Kukuvaya’s Zephyrai.”

“Why, to help, of course. And Safi is on loan from my great-grandmother. I have no reason to sit here and be scolded by you, Ornis.”

Apparently, Aidoni had come without sending word ahead. The Zephyrai called Safi nuzzled its head against Aidoni around the knee.

Kukuvaya had possessed knowledge about the Demon King. How much of that Aidoni herself had, no one knew—but from the distant Weavers’ Enclave she must have sensed something amiss and been unable to stay put.

Yet even Aidoni’s earnest worry seemed not to reach Ornis.

“If you’ve got eyes, you can see the royal soldiers are here.”

A vein stood out on Ornis’s forehead; Aidoni chuckled.

“So it seems. But you can never have too many mages underfoot, can you?”

From her smile, one could feel the level of skill Kardia had once hoped for in a disciple.

In truth, the mana filling Aidoni was that of a highly polished mage. She must have honed herself hard at the Enclave.

Ornis scowled. Kardia patted both their shoulders, pom-pom.

“We’re done, yes? Then let’s go.”

“I shall accompany you.”

With a flutter of her robes, Aidoni fell in behind Kardia. Noi narrowed her eyes at the sight of her golden hair streaming down her back and shining in the sun.

“Ornis. I’m leaving this to you.”

“Understood. Please be careful.”

Leaving Ornis in charge, Kardia turned back to Noi with Aidoni at his back.

Noi’s heart gave a jump.

Kardia smiled a flawless smile and waved to Noi.

“Then, we’re off.”

“…Take care.”

Allowed nothing more than that, Noi smiled quietly and waved back.

The lord’s manor where Noi remained was its own whirlwind.

After all, nearly a hundred guests had arrived without warning. Even if most of the royal soldiers were encamped outside, they could hardly be ignored.

And a dozen or so would be staying in the manor. Hosting those people fell entirely to the manor.

After decades of quiet as if all fires had gone out, the manor was a hubbub. From top to bottom, right to left, east to west, north to south, the household staff ran without rest.

But Noi had never worked as a servant, nor was she the mistress of the house; she could not be useful labor, nor could she hand down decisions.

Thinking she might at least help in the kitchens, she went there—only to be thrown out in five minutes. She had simply tried to cut carrots as told—and ended up unleashing a piercing scream across the kitchen.

In the same fashion, she got chased out of the laundry and the linens room. So Noi headed to Ornis, who was coordinating the royal soldiers.

“You’re in the way.”

He swatted her down the instant they met.

Even after learning that Noi was Noi Galenée from a hundred years ago, Ornis didn’t change his demeanor.

“I thought I might help with something.”

“There’s nothing a mana-less child can do. Stop wandering around.”

Talking with the construction crew, Ornis shooed Noi away with a flick of his hand. Behind him, royal soldiers were hauling building materials to and fro.

“You mean it’s dangerous?”

“I mean you’re in the way.”

A vein popped again on Ornis’s brow. Being sensible, Noi clamped her mouth shut.

“…Please really don’t get in the way. Master is giving me a chance to make this right.”

Ornis tightened his grip on the papers in his hand.

“…You mean with His Majesty?”

Ornis had once tried to cooperate with Panselinos to get Noi down to the surface.

“If I’d known Master’s plan ahead of time, I’d have lied to His Majesty if I had to and kept you there.”

Ornis gave a dry little laugh.

His words and face were rather cold, but while Noi was running in circles on the floating isle—misunderstanding Kardia’s plan—Ornis had stayed firmly on her side. He hadn’t asked what she had learned, and he hadn’t pushed her to answer Panselinos.

Noi clearly remembered how reassuring that had been.

“That’s… not it…”

Ornis’s expression sank and sank.

“Before I became Master’s disciple, I had another teacher. You met Lady Tsera at the Weavers’ Enclave, didn’t you?”

Noi recalled the next head of Kukuvaya’s Enclave.

Mages rarely took more than one master. Usually there were unhappy reasons—sometimes disgraceful ones.

“I was Master’s disciple… but I couldn’t refuse Lady Tsera’s orders.”

Mages bore a deep love for their masters.

Ornis must have been caught between his love for Tsera and his love for Kardia.

Ordered by Tsera, Ornis had probably been watching Kardia. Only a disciple could have kept watch on Kardia, who had isolated himself so thoroughly he wouldn’t even let people climb to the floating isle.

In other words, at Tsera’s command, Ornis had entered Kardia’s tutelage.

Knowing about Kardia’s chrysalis, Tsera had set Ornis to keep an eye on him so that if the Demon King began to awaken, they could move first.

(…Aidoni said Ornis stole the disciple’s place from her.)

Perhaps Ornis accepted Tsera’s order because he didn’t want to make Aidoni betray Kardia.

No one could expect Aidoni to endure the position of having to constantly watch the master she trusted and revered more than anyone.

(…If that’s true, then this pain in my chest won’t go the bad way, will it?)

Ornis surely knew that by becoming a disciple himself, he would hurt Aidoni.

But he hadn’t wanted Aidoni to be hurt any worse than that.

Smiling, Noi asked Ornis:

“When are you going back to the Weavers’ Enclave, Ornis?”

“You. Are you trying to kick me out?”

“No, that’s not—!”

No, Ornis! Noi hurried after him as he set off at a brisk walk—but he ditched her cleanly.

(Helpless…)

How many times now had she felt the sting of her own powerlessness?

(Because I thought I managed to help a little during the Demon King affair… I started to think I’d changed, just a little.)

—Noi had purified the Demon King together with Kardia and Ornis.

But Noi had only been able to wield magic because the Demon King’s mana had been spilling out of Kardia’s body.

There was no such thing as a method to draw mana out of ordinary people.

And even if there were, mana was a mage’s flesh and blood—and their capital. It was not something to take from others for one’s own convenience.

Though Noi still had knowledge of magic, she truly could no longer wield it.

While Kardia—and even Aidoni, who had come all the way from the distant Weavers’ Enclave—worked on the front lines of reconstruction, Noi could do nothing at all.

Pressing a hand to the anxious sprout budding in her chest, Noi did nothing but wander the garden until evening.