Chapter 6: The Plains of Grief(1)

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.