The next day was rainy.
Eleanor knocked on the door of Louis's bedroom, though she didn't expect a reply. She strained her ears, but she didn't hear a single word, so she gave up, entered, and tiptoed over to the bed, which was bulging in the shape of a person.
She almost got captivated by the beauty of his sleeping face. But that innocent face, stripped of every trace of caution, was just as it had been in the past.
"Not... up yet, are you."
Unlike Lumina, Louis is not a good riser.
Eleanor lifted the corner of her mouth slightly and whispered, "This is why humans." The unreasonable grumble that had become her catchphrase sounded gentle these days. She had watched over him since he was small, after all. She wasn't about to deny the fondness she felt for him now.
She tried saying "Breakfast is ready" over his head, but of course that wasn't going to wake him.
She sat on the edge of the bed and put a hand on his shoulder. As she leaned over, her loose hair and her drooping wings slipped down her back and into the edge of her vision.
"Come on, boy."
"... Mm."
She shook him.
With a faint moan, Louis slowly opened his eyes.
His mind was still half-asleep, and he gazed blankly at Eleanor's face. Under the quiet, steady stare, Eleanor flinched, and an arm slid out from under the covers and reached slowly towards her.
"—! Eeeyaaaaahaaaaahaaaaaaa!"
The instant his hand touched that, she shrieked and leapt away.
"Y-you... my wing, my wing, touching it... are you out of your mind!?"
"You don't need to get that angry."
"Idiot! Research-addict! Dunderhead! How many times do I have to tell you, you pervert!"
On days when Eleanor has no plans to go out, she often leaves her wings out. Today happened to be one of those days. When she's feeling relaxed, her wings droop down like a veil, which is how accidental contact like this can happen.
"If they matter that much, you could just keep them hidden."
"Would you tell a cat to hide its tail to live, boy? Exposed does not equal 'free to touch.'"
Glaring at Louis with tear-filled eyes, Eleanor hugged her own body in the corner of the room. As if she'd been assaulted.
"I've said it before, but a fairy's wings represent the quality of their mana. They're pathways through which magic flows. If my wings got torn off, I'd drop dead on the spot...!"
"That would be quite inconvenient."
Louis sat up with a heavy sigh.
"But it's thanks to me that your wings are so beautiful. My mana is what raised you. It's okay if I just touch them, isn't it? It's not like I'm trying to crush them or pluck them out."
"That's beside the point. Would you say the same thing after touching a woman's chest?"
"Oh, so a fairy's wings are that kind of..."
"You humans wouldn't understand, would you!"
There is only one way to keep a fairy captive other than locking them in a silver cage.
It was by tearing off their wings.
This, however, is an extremely violent and brutal method, a means of restraining them without caring if they live or die. A fairy's wings are the pathway for their mana, and all the main mana vessels (the fairy equivalent of blood vessels) throughout the body pass through the wings. Those are the fairy's wing-veins.
A fairy who loses their wings is as good as having all their life lines severed. Even an individual with high vitality is said to die within around two days.
"Since the first thing I ever touched when we met was your wings, the gravity of it doesn't quite land for me, you know?"
"Don't 'you know' me, don't tilt your head like that, it's cute."
"You really are disappointing."
"How dare you call your mother disappointing."
"That mindset alone is disappointing beyond all measure."
"There's no way the boy I raised isn't cute," she spat, and Louis watched her back with a mixture of emotions as she left the room. He felt both pleased and annoyed.
"I'm already taller than her now so how long is she planning to act like my nanny...?"
Louis buried the upper half of his body back under the covers.
From downstairs came the voices of two women. His sister, who seemed to love breakfast and was full of energy, and Eleanor, whose calm voice was trying to calm his sister down.
From the window came the damp sound of droplets falling on the roof and on the ground.
Listening to those, Louis slowly closed his eyes.
"Now then, young Louis. The noon bell rang a while ago. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"... I was tired."
"Don't you feel bad for wasting half of your rare day off sleeping?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Mother doesn't recall raising you to be that kind of child."
"And I don't recall ever thinking of you as a mother."
"How awful! Lumina, your Onii-chan seems to be going through his rebellious phase!"
"W-what!? That legendary rebellious phase is finally rearing its head at Onii-chan!"
"I'm going back to bed."
The Stillus household, which has never experienced rebellion, is somewhat in awe of rebellious phases.
Louis thought that nothing was duller than a morning council the day after a holiday, but even so, the King trusted him a lot.
The long tables were arranged in a U-shape from the King's seat at the head. The layout, with the Institute and the Knight Corps facing each other, mirrored the structure of the court itself.
From the king's seat at the far end, on his right, sat the Grand Sorcerer, the Chief Sorcerer, and three others; the top five court mages. Facing them were seven knights. Following the Grand Marshal were the Captains of the First through Third Knight Corps and their respective lieutenants, seated in a row.
When Louis was called on by the middle-aged man next to the King's, Chancellor Nandiel, he stood up from his seat and began reading from the document in his hand.
"It has been pointed out that the common brief that light magic is generally effective against most monsters regardless of their attribute may be incorrect. There is a possibility that there exist monsters upon which no light magic works at all. The truth of it is unclear, however."
He paused once here, subtly hinting for people to ask questions. After a short interval, Grand Sorcerer Hawk, age fifty-three, seated to his left, said nothing, so he went on.
"At the Magic Research Institute, alongside verifying the effectiveness of light magic against monsters, we have been placing strong emphasis on the formation, training and strengthening of a mage corps capable of opposing the Demon King."
"... We've lent you a First-Class research facility, haven't we."
In response to the Grand Sorcerer's question, Louis nodded with a "Yes."
"However, covering all of several elements and several hundred species at once is impossible, and progress has not been promising. I am deeply ashamed."
"No, there's no need for you to feel ashamed, Stillus. This is the first time in human history that we have even attempted to take an offensive approach to monsters."
His Majesty the King himself reassured Louis. He was young for a king and had black hair and clear green eyes. There was a hint of wariness around his eyes, likely due to managing the nation and the weight of his responsibilities.
"I am honoured."
"Mm. If there are no further reports, we shall move on to the Knight Corps' reports. I look forward to your future efforts."
"Most gracious of you."
Seeing that Louis had taken his seat, the Chancellor called another name.
"Captain of the Second Knight Corps, Claire Weavy."
The person seated directly across from Louis stood up suddenly, or tried to, and let out a small "whoa."
She was so short that she looked a bit unsteady holding a sword; her feet didn't even touch the floor when she sat in her chair. She nearly tumbled out of the chair, threw a hand on the table, and immediately regained her composure.
When her eyes met Louis's, who was watching the scene in exasperation, she blushed instantly.
"I, C-Claire Weavy, will make the report on behalf of the Second Knight Corps."
The voice ringing through the council chamber was that of a young girl.
When the morning council was adjourned, Louis swept his black robe and headed for his own laboratory.
He was aware of the footsteps following him from behind, but he had no intention of stopping unless called.
"Oi, you there. Stop."
"..."
"I said wait."
"..."
"Please, I beg you, wait!"
His conscience finally got the better of him and he came to a stop. When he turned and lowered his gaze, he saw a girl who looked barely out of her teens standing there with her hands on her hips and glaring at him.
She was a young girl with flaming red hair tied into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. Only in appearance, however; in reality she was a fully fledged knight the same age as Louis.
She hadn't grown much since five years ago. Her chest was small too.
Their paths differed, but she was a long-standing acquaintance.
"Why can't you just call out to me normally for once? Captain of the Second Knight Corps."
"... One must not expect straightforwardness from the Captain."
The quiet remark came from the lieutenant standing behind Claire. His foot had been stepped on hard by his superior and he let out a groan.
"Don't stomp on me."
"Hmph."
Claire crossed her arms and turned her face away, but she still looked nothing more than a child.
She had been granted a sword directly from the royal family; she had been born into a renowned knightly lineage. Her talent had been recognised at a young age, and she had entered court service at the same time as Louis and risen through the ranks alongside him.
The medal shining on her chest was a testament to her extraordinary first battle, where she had charged across the battlefield overrun by monsters and slayed the Orc Lord. Since then, she had distinguished herself in monster-subjugations again and again, and only a few days earlier she had been promoted to the post of Captain of the Second Knight Corps. A prodigy of the sword.
"Belated though it may be, congratulations on your promotion. The tiny Claire has grown so much... though her height never did grow."
"I'll accept the well-wishes, but don't say 'tiny.' We're the same age. You get that? The same age."
"Yes, yes. So what is it you need?"
Claire gave a reluctant "hrm," and,
"... I would like to request teleportation passes. We're holding a training camp for the new recruits and want to set up camp in an open area along the great river to the west, but we plan to travel via teleportation magic."
"I don't mind, but if it's a training camp, I'd think having them travel there on their own would be more effective."
"Yes. That's why we only plan to use it if someone gets injured or in an emergency. Monsters have been growing more active of late. I'd like to prepare for the worst-case scenario."
"Then why don't you just cancel the camp?"
"It's tradition. The recruits go through this every year around this time. I don't know how it is at the Institute, but we must honour and follow our predecessors."
"At the Institute, our creed is 'predecessors, parents and masters alike, are merely stepping stones.' That said, I'm not dismissing your opinion either."
It goes without saying that I take no responsibility, so please decide matters on your end.
When he put it lightly like that, Claire replied bluntly, "Of course." True to her nature as a knight, she displayed a strong and unwavering will. A rare breed around Louis.
"I'll submit a formal request later. I estimate we'll need about fifty passes at the very least."
"Understood. Well then, I'll be going."
"Ah, wait."
"Yes?"
Faced with a puzzled Louis, Claire fell into a brief stammer. Her cheeks flushed. The only one who could understand her feelings was her lieutenant.
"Do you already have plans for dinner tonight?"
"I think so. She might even be finished with the preparations."
Louis glanced outside. It was still early enough to be considered morning, but the housekeeper at home sometimes had the dinner prep done before noon.
"... I, see. Got it."
She looked disappointed for some reason, but Louis didn't press.
He tried once again to head off to the Institute, but stopped himself a second time. He'd remembered there was still something he needed to tell her.
"The other day, I saw a Troll in the Nild Hills."
"A Troll... They're not supposed to live in this region."
Trolls normally live within labyrinths. They don't appear in an open place like the Nild Hills.
The reason Eleanor hadn't noticed this was likely that, by her common sense, it was perfectly normal for Trolls to be at the Nild Hills. The world of the game she knows: the timeframe in which the protagonist, the Hero, becomes necessary.
--- A world in which monsters grow active, throwing human society into chaos.
That time is approaching. Louis thought.
"There's a chance you may encounter unexpected monsters on this intensive camp of yours, so please be careful. Well, fodder is fodder. They'd be opponents you could take out in one strike."
"I see, I'll keep that in mind!"
"Why do you look so pleased."
"I-it's nothing, really."
You could take them out in one strike. That was one of the few compliments Louis had ever given her.
Even though she was a knight, Claire was a girl of her age as well. There was no way she wouldn't be happy to be praised by the one she had a crush on.
"Being praised doesn't make me happy or anything...!" she protested as she turned away with her red face; but it did nothing to hide her expression.
She knew it all too well.
That the one she held feelings for had feelings for someone else.
With the conversation over, both sides turned back towards their respective posts.
Louis's voice came from behind her again, so when she turned to look, he had been stopped a second time.
He is popular. His charm seems to work even on the King, because the same King who had been solemnly presiding over the council moments ago was now eagerly inviting Louis over. Something about wanting a cup of tea together for the first time in a while.
"... His Majesty and Louis get along well, don't they?"
"Apparently he's summoned often."
They do give off a similar vibe. Perhaps they share similar interests or values.
Without making much of it, Claire turned back in the direction she had been heading.