MISTERLP
In the northwest of the Kingdom of Friedonia was what would, in later
years, come to be called the Plains of Grief.
It was said that the name originated with a beautiful girl who, crying
for her lover who would not return, had created a pond with her tears.
There was, as a matter of fact, a pond in the Plains of Grief, and the local
farmers used it as a source of water for agricultural purposes. It is said that
this dramatic legend of tragic love has made the heart of many a young
maiden who visited this land flutter.
However, those who knew the truth behind the legend could only smile
wryly.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Wow," Liscia said, admiring the view outside the window of the
gondola.
Right now, we were up in the air. I could ride on Naden's back, but if
Liscia joined me there, the ryuu's protection wouldn't cover her, and she
would be exposed to the wind and cold. Because of that, Liscia and I rode
in a gondola designed to be carried by wyverns, and we had Naden carry it
in her ryuu form.
Naden swam through the sky far faster than a wyvern could fly.
Watching the scenery race past, Liscia said somewhat excitedly, "Look,
Souma. She's way faster than a wyvern."
"Gwah!" I exclaimed.
"Hold on, what's wrong?! Why are you suddenly grabbing your
chest?"
"No... I only know it as a line from an old RPG, but hearing it come out
of your mouth was a shock..."
"But why?!"
Yeah, she was never going to understand why I felt so pained to hear it,
and she didn't have to understand it. I hugged Liscia close as she looked at
me with a perplexed look.
"Please, stay with me," I told her.
"I don't know what's gotten you so worried, but... of course I'm going
to." Liscia rested her head on my shoulder. "The two of us... will be
together forever."
"Liscia..."
"Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" When we started getting a good atmosphere
going, there was an angry roar from up top. "You make me carry you
around, then you go and flirt with each other?!"
"Oh, sorry," I said. "Couldn't help myself..."
"What do you mean you couldn't help yourself?! For a start, you could
ride up on my back!"
"Then the three of us couldn't talk, though."
In her ryuu form, Naden spoke using something like telepathy, so she
could talk without regard for the walls of the gondola, or the sound of the
wind whipping by. But if I rode on Naden's back, I couldn't talk to Liscia
in the gondola.
Liscia leaned over and whispered in my ear, "You're doing this on
purpose because Naden's reaction is so cute, aren't you?"
"Nah," I whispered back. "Well, maybe a little."
"You've developed a bit of a nasty streak yourself, you know that?"
"Well, being surrounded by such a difficult group of girls, I've had
plenty of training."
"...Are you including me in that?"
"Come on, I told you not to leave me out of the... Huh...?" Naden's
complaining cut out midway. While I was wondering why that might be,
Naden suddenly added, "Hey, could you two look at the ground for a
moment?"
I opened the window, and Liscia and I looked down at the ground
below while flinching at the wind that rushed into the gondola.
""Wha?!""
In the fields beneath us, there were a number of big holes. Craters, big
and small, had formed there. It looked like the area had been hit by a
localized meteorite storm.
"It's like the area was bombarded by a wyvern unit..." Liscia
whispered.
"Bombarded?! I never heard anything about that from Hakuya!" I
cried.
"Wait, Souma! This is right next to the village where Aisha and the
others were waiting, isn't it?!"
"Ah! Let's hurry. Naden, I'm counting on you!"
"Roger that!"
Naden performed a sudden dive down to the village where Aisha and
the others were waiting.
We had Naden let us off near the village and assume human form, then
we went through the entrance to the village. Unlike the beaten-up fields,
the village showed no sign of being any different from how it was when I
was last here.
Well, what were those big holes all about, then? While I was
wondering that...
Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp. I heard the sound of heavy footfalls, and
then, "Your Majestyyyyyyy!"
I saw Aisha racing toward us at an incredible speed.
With the amount of inertia she had behind her, she was almost like a
runaway horse or a wild rhino, and as she got closer, I could hear alarm
bells sounding in my head. This was bad. I tried to turn and run the other
way, but...
"Your Majestyyyy! I finally caught youuuu!"
"Gwah!"
""Souma?!""
Without even the time to fully turn, she rapidly closed in on me, and I
caught a flying tackle-hug with my side. The impact was like being run
over by a small car.
...Is this going to be okay? Did she just break, like, two of my ribs?
However, my hell had only just begun.
"Why did you suddenly disappear?! That was so mean of you,
deserting me like that! Let me stay with you always!" Aisha hugged me
tightly through her tears.
The words she was saying were cute, and she looked like a young girl
trying to get me to indulge her; but this was Aisha, the mightiest warrior in
our entire country. With her strength, when she squeezed me tight, I could
feel my bones creaking.
"Aisha! This isn't just a hug anymore! It's a bear hug!" I wailed.
"Ohhhhh, sirrrrrrrrrrrrrre!" she cried out, squeezing me even harder.
"I give, I give, I give!" I tried tapping the ground, but Aisha wasn't
about to stop.
Unable to watch us any longer, Liscia said to Naden with sigh,
"...Naden, would you?"
"Can I? In their current state, I'll end up hitting Souma, too, you
know?"
"I'd say it's partially his own fault. You have my permission."
"...Roger that."
With that, Naden leveled a finger at us. Huh?! What was she planning
to do?!
"It's okay, I can adjust the power level."
"No, no, that's not the issue..."
"Take that!" Bzzap!
""Gyahhh!""
Taking a hit from Naden's electric shock, both Aisha and I ended up
sprawled out on our backs.
Though I had finally been released from that bear hug, I did wish she
could have saved me in a more peaceful way. Honestly... I'd gotten
tackled, squeezed, crushed, and finally electrocuted. These past few
minutes left me completely exhausted.
When we arrived at the inn where Aisha and the others had been
staying, Tomoe welcomed me with a smile that was like a flower
blooming.
"Big Brother! Thank goodness you were all right!"
I gave her a gentle pat on the head. "Sorry for worrying you. Where's
everyone else?"
Tomoe said, "About that..." glancing behind her.
Following her line of sight, I saw Hal, Kaede, and Carla passed out at a
single table. The three of them had looks that seemed to say, "I'm burned
out, like white ash," with all the energy and vitality gone from their faces.
Their clothes looked a little beat up, too.
"Wh-What happened...?"
"All three of them... They tried their best."
Tomoe got a far-off look in her eye as she related what happened in the
time I was gone.
◇ ◇ ◇
The story turns back to a few days earlier...
"Sire... Sirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre!"
Halbert narrowly dodged Aisha's greatsword which she was swinging
around as she cried. "Whoa! That was dangerous!"
Having cut through nothing but air, Aisha's sword continued on to slam
into the ground, leaving an indentation about five meters across. Seeing
that power, Halbert's cheeks twitched.
"Th-That's getting into one-hit kill territory. Wasn't this supposed to be
training?"
"Stay on your toes," Carla said, holding her sword at the ready. She
was standing beside Halbert. "This is genuine combat now."
"Oh, cripes. How did it come to this...?" Halbert said with a sigh,
holding his favorite short spear in both hands. "Honestly... I'm holding a
grudge for this one, Souma."
"It's not Master's fault, but... I can't say I don't understand the
feeling," Carla agreed.
"You can say that again," Kaede added. She was behind the two of
them with both her hands on the ground. "I think I'll be asking His
Majesty Souma for hazard pay... you know!"
Crack! Crunch.
When Kaede pressed down with both hands, the ground around Aisha
swelled up, forming walls to surround her. They thought that would be
enough to bind her, but...
"Why, sire... Why...?" With teary eyes, Aisha swung at the walls
enclosing her again and again.
Seconds later, the earthen walls came tumbling down, falling apart like
a carelessly assembled pile of wooden blocks. On closer inspection, the
earth had been cut into brick-sized chunks. Hard rocks and soft earth were
both cut into exactly the same shape. This couldn't have been done
without a sharp edge and a frightening degree of strength.
When they saw that sight, all three of them felt their cheeks twitch.
"I like to think I'm pretty strong myself, but..." Halbert began.
"I can feel my pride as a military woman weakening," Carla confessed.
Though, I do realize I'm a maid now."
"I'm seriously considering a strategy where we just throw Madam
Aisha into the middle of an enemy army on her own," said Kaede.
Without paying any mind to her three clearly disturbed companions,
Aisha wailed, "Sirrrrrrrrre! Why, why did you leave me and go on by
yourseeeelf?!"
"""She makes it sound like Souma/Master/His Majesty is dead!""" her
three companions exclaimed.
"What am I to do now that you've left me behiiiiind?!"
"""No, Souma/Master/His Majesty isn't dead, okay!"""
The three of them kept pointing that out, but Aisha wasn't listening.
Now, as to the question of why Aisha and the other three were fighting,
it had all begun the day before yesterday, when Souma ended up going to
the Star Dragon Mountain Range alone. Even though the people from the
Star Dragon Mountain Range had circumstances that made it inevitable,
the fact was still that Souma had suddenly been abducted. Aisha, who was
also Souma's bodyguard, in addition to being the candidate to become the
second primary queen, was distraught over it.
When one of the dragon priestesses in the service of Mother Dragon
Tiamat had been dispatched to meet with her, Aisha tried to grab the envoy
with a focused look in her eyes. Thankfully, Halbert and Carla managed to
restrain her, so it hadn't turned into a major incident.
Because the fault lay with the Star Dragon Mountain Range in this
case, the dragon priestess had been apologetic, but it was a situation that
could have easily developed into a diplomatic incident.
Even after receiving an explanation, Aisha was still crestfallen. She
was soon so worried about Souma that her mind always seemed to be
elsewhere.
When Tomoe became concerned about her, she consulted with Carla
about what to do, and they decided that training would help take her mind
off things.
Yes, this had started as training.
"Wahhhh... Sirrrrrre..."
Once they had gotten started, though, it turned into Aisha blowing off
steam.
Aisha had always been known for her martial prowess, but it turned out
she'd been holding back. Now, with her feelings let loose, and the limiter
that kept her true power in check not functioning, the ground was pounded
full of holes by her unrestrained prowess, and her training partners,
Halbert, Kaede, and Carla, were beaten up and exhausted.