Vol 4: Chapter 37
** Queen of the Night – Guest Room **
The information collected by Earl Sillys and the information shared by the Levs at the meeting earlier was consistent.
The current front line could only be maintained because of one young girl – Lark.
The monsters falling from the Red Gate were stronger than the average monsters found in this side of the world. And some of them were too strong even for veteran adventurers.
The current front line can only be maintained because Lark uses her rare skill to destroy such formidably strong monsters that none else can handle.
(But she does not fit that image at all.)
The girl sleeping before Eva was thin. And it could be seen from the girl’s skin tone that she was malnourished. Her long blonde would be beautiful if properly cared for, Eva thought to herself.
「!」
When Eva gently reached out her hand and tried to brush the bangs from Lark’s eyes, her hand was suddenly grabbed.
「——Who are you?」
Lark, who should have been sleeping, was glaring at Eva. But Eva was not frightened, rather–
(What beautiful eyes.)
She thought.
Her bright and deep violet eyes, reminiscent of amethyst, were large, and her long eyelashes added some sorrow.
Eva understood that the words coming from Lark’s thin lips did not contain hostility, but that she was simply asking a question.
「I am Eva Sillys. I obtained special permission to be here.」
「Permission? Did that Emperor send you here?」
「Yes.」
She did not lie.
From the Empire’s perspective, Lark is a thieving sky pirate who stole the Queen of the Night. But she returned it and even announced her support to fight in the front line.
The outcome was tremendous, and Lark suddenly became an irreplaceable existence to the Empire.
Therefore, it is natural that Lark thinks that the Empire would not allow people to easily approach her.
There is a reason why the Emperor gave permission.
One is that Eva is a young girl and also the daughter of a noble, so she won’t do anything strange. And the other was because of her special ability.
「Hmm… I see no more than a child, but…」
Lark said, letting go of Eva’s hand, and got up.
「I don’t mind if you continue sleeping.」Eva said.
「Don’t joke around. I’m not so shameless to sleep snoring loudly with an unknown girl in my room. So? What did you come here for?」
Eva chose her next words.
「To listen to Lark-sama’s story.」
「My story, you say? Haha〜n…, so the Emperor sent a human girl to pry the secret of my skill, huh. Those sly Levs.」
「N-No, you are misunderstanding. I came from the Kruvan Holy Kingdom. To participate in the battle at Red Gate.」
「…A little girl like you?」
「I am a full-fledged noble in the Holy Kingdom, you know.」
「Hmm… I don’t really understand nobles.」
Lark does not unconditionally trust Eva, but her wariness seems to have more or less decreased. That was also Eva’s aim.
「But is the Holy Kingdom so short on people that they have to send a little girl like you?」
Lark seems intent on treating Eva as a “little girl”.
「No, I came of my own will.」
「Why? You don’t look like the type who likes the smell of blood and war.」
「Because a very precious person to me is here.」
Eva put her hand on her chest as she thought of that person.
Just thinking about that person warmed her heart.
「Is that so? I guess you have your own worries…」
On the other hand, Lark was thinking, “This is no doubt love. Moreover, the guy is a Lev. Love that transcends race must already be shitty hard… and she’s a noble to boot? Must be a load of trouble.”
「What’s the name of that lucky bastard?」
「He is called Reiji.」
「Reiji, huh… that’s a pretty good name, ain’t it…」
「Lark-sama–」
「Just call me Lark. A noble calling me “-sama” just feels creepy.」
「Well, then… Lark-san. I heard that you voluntarily returned this airship and went on to fight on the front line. Why did you do that?」
「Why, huh…」
Lark exhaled a little, and turned her gaze to the wall in the narrow room. There was no one there, but she certainly had a particular person in mind.
「…I have a little brother.」
「A brother, I see.」
「He is nothing like me and is a very good person… I’ve been separated from him for a long time, but I believe I’ll meet him again someday. If he was faced with this situation right now, I’m sure he will do everything in his power to help as much as he can. That’s why I want to do the same. When we meet again, I want him to be proud to call me his “big sister”.」
Lark’s words were straightforward and honest, which was a fresh feeling for Eva who lives in the noble society. Lark’s story touched Eva’s heart.
「Everyone in the Empire knows how hard Lark-san is working. I am sure your brother will definitely be delighted.」
「Is that so? Hehe, I’m feeling shy… How strange, I can open up to you honestly.」
Lark scratched her nose shyly, with a broad smile.
Looking at Lark, Eva thought, “Lark-san’s younger brother must be a person with blonde hair and beautiful violet eyes similar to her.”
「By the way, what is your brother’s name?」
「Name? Oh, my little brother doesn’t have a name.」
「……Eh?」
A terrible answer came back. Eva was taken aback. Apparently, due to the tremendous recoil from Lark’s unbelievable strength, she is mentally weakened. Perhaps she sees an illusion whom she considers her brother due to that?
Otherwise, there is no way she would say her brother “doesn’t have a name”.
「Well, don’t worry about the details! Ahahaha!」
「Y-Yeah, that’s right.」
Lark laughed, so Eva followed suit.
「I am sure you have a lot of hardships too, but don’t give up, okay?」
Lark meant “Love with a Lev guy will surely be difficult.”
「Thank you, Lark-san. I-I hope you can see your brother soon.」
Eva meant “You are an admirable person for doing your best for a non-existent younger brother.”
Of course, neither of them realised they were talking about the same person.
「Lark-san, I have a special ability.」
「Ability… Do you mean skill?」
「No. It’s a special ability that is passed down in House Sillys. This eye.」
Eva said, pointing to her scarlet eyes.
「It’s called “Magic Eye of Inspire”. When I gather mana in my eye, it has the ability to increase the fighting motivation of those who look at these eyes. And I recently learned that there is another ability that accompanies it.」
It was only recently that Eva started training to control her “Magic Eye of Inspire”. It was because Reiji encouraged her and said that the “Magic Eye of Inspire” can help other people unlike her father’s “Magic Eye of Inquiry”.
“Magic Eyes of Inspire”, which became controllable thanks to the【Mana Control ★★★★】skill, blossomed into a new ability.
「I can supply vitality and mana without using magic. I heard that Lark-san’s physical weakness is severe, so I thought that it could be useful to you.」
Because of that ability, the Emperor promised that Eva could meet Lark on a one-on-one basis.
And in order to use the new ability of the “Magic Eye of Inspire”, the distance between the two hearts must be shrinked. That is why the small talk Eva shared with Lark was necessary.
「…Really??」
Lark eyed Eva suspiciously.
Lark even stole the “Queen of the Night” to fly to a well-known doctor in order to cure her otherwise incurable illness.
「You don’t have to trust me. Why don’t you just give it a try?」
Eva’s eyes extolled a different kind of beauty from Lark’s eyes.
Drawn to those eyes, Lark nodded.
