Maybe my way of thinking is too naive.
Yet, it's hard to accept killing a defenseless girl.
If this was a menacing, burly man, I might not have intervened.
Men tend to be soft on women. Even if it's a fatal flaw, it's better not to leave a bad taste.
"I understand, Instructor! I've given up on trying to make her an ally!"
"Then let her go."
"Instructor, I need to talk to you. Outside the room."
Saying that, I pulled Instructor Cattleya's hand, leading her out of the room.
After walking down the corridor for a bit and distancing ourselves from the room, she said,
"Hey! Why are you leaving the assassin alone in there? If she has a skill to escape binds, she might flee."
"Let's let her escape."
"What?!"
"If an assassin who failed her mission and had her saintly sword taken returned to her employer, what do you think would happen?"
"Well, she would be... silenced, as an example."
Instructor Cattleya stopped speaking mid-sentence.
"Yes. Most likely, her employer would kill her."
"But that's only if everything goes as you predict. Isn't that a bit naive?"
"I don't plan on just letting her go. We'll tail her once she escapes."
"Even if we kill the assassin, it won't mean much. Identifying and killing her employer is more crucial."
"Instructor, let's tail her and find her employer together."
"Fine."
Instructor Cattleya, who had been silent, smirked.
To change from her negligee, Instructor Cattleya returned to her room. "Crow, if you plan to tail her, you'll need my help, right?"
When it was just the two of us, Holly spoke.
"Yes, ideally, I'd like you to lead the tailing. They'd be less likely to notice you."
"But right now, I can't be too far from the divine sword that Sion holds. And if we separate the divine sword from Sion, my power diminishes. That means I won't be able to enhance your physical abilities as I did earlier."
"... It's unfortunate, but we should wake Sion and bring her along."
"There's no need for that. Let's go to Sion's room now."
"Didn't I mention before? There's a good way for me to go to a distant place while keeping the Divine Sword with Sion."
Although I was worried about the assassin escaping, I followed Holly's suggestion. Following Holly's instructions, I went to the room where Sion was sleeping and found myself gaping again.
Inside, on the bed, Sion was asleep.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, but whether due to a bad sleeping position or something else, Sion had thrown her blanket onto the floor and was sleeping sprawled out on the bed.
And her legs were spread out, revealing her underwear.
Sighing, I thought to myself,
This girl is already more than a handful than anyone else.
I covered Sion with the blanket.
"Crow, do you see the gem at the base of the divine sword's hilt?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah."
As Holly mentioned, there was a large gem at the base of the divine sword's hilt that lay beside Sion's pillow.
"Actually, this gem is my true form."
As she spoke, Holly removed the gem from the hilt of the divine sword.
"Hey, is it okay to do that?"
"It's fine. Only I can separate it."
While saying this, Holly handed the gem to me.
"This is a feature for when the hero wants to protect someone from afar. It's meant for placing my eyes near the person you want to protect."
"So, if I carry this gem, even if you're away from Sion and the divine sword, you won't lose your power?"
"Exactly. Keep it close at all times. This way, I can possess you anytime, ensuring safety, right?"
I looked at Sion, who was sound asleep.
"If we do this, won't it be dangerous for Sion if she's attacked...?"
"It's okay. Regardless of how far the gem and the divine sword are from each other, I can move between them instantly. Also, even without me, Sion can currently draw out half of the divine sword's abilities. It's like other divine sword users being able to use its power even without a spirit."
I did wonder if reducing Sion's power by half was okay, but remembering her rampage that nearly destroyed the castle and town, even half seemed more than enough. Besides, Holly can rush to her side in an instant if things get dicey.
Hold on a second.
"Holly, when you stole the divine sword to search for Sion before, if you had just taken this gem, wouldn't things have been simpler?"
"That wouldn't work. Separating requires both the hero and the divine sword to be in the same location. Besides, how would you verify the sword's glowing without carrying the essential sword itself?"
"I see..."
"In many cases, this gem was sent to the hero's lover. Ever since the first hero's lover was kidnapped by the Demon Lord and held hostage, it has been used this way."
The conversation suddenly became heavy.
"So... what happened to the first hero's lover?"
"After the Demon Lord was killed, she and the hero had children."
I facepalmed right there.
"...Brother..."
It seemed like Sion had woken up because of the noise.
I felt guilty for waking her.
"Brother... scratch my back..."
No, it was just sleep talk.
Moreover, in her dream, she seemed to be ordering me around.
"Ugh, can we really tail someone with her like this?"
Late into the night, as we sneaked out of the castle and walked through the town, Instructor Cattleya, now dressed in a red tailcoat, muttered beside me.
I felt bad for keeping her up all night, but I didn't want to tail the assassin on my own.
As I had expected, the young assassin girl, left alone in the room, had managed to remove the ropes binding her and seemed to have escaped the castle.
Holly was tailing the girl, and I, from a distance, was keeping an eye on Holly as we walked through the town under the cover of night.
With this setup, the chances of the assassin noticing Instructor Cattleya and me were low.
Even if I lost sight of Holly, it wouldn't matter. Holly would likely be able to guide me after identifying the destination of the assassin. For me, who has good night vision, the town during the deep night feels like my home ground.
"But really, Crow, we have a weird connection, don't we?" Instructor Cattleya, perhaps feeling idle, kept initiating conversation with me. Even though the assassin and we were quite a distance apart, voices can echo far in the night. Engaging in too much small talk wasn't ideal.
"What do you mean by 'weird connection'?"
"I've overseen the graduation of a significant number of students. Out of all the students I've interacted with, you've left the most profound impression."
"Really? I always thought I was rather plain."
"Well, you weren't particularly skilled in martial arts or academics, and you had no friends. Normally, you'd just be seen as an ordinary, perhaps pitiable, guy."
"You saw me as pitiable?"
"Not at all. Despite what everyone said, you were always defiant. More importantly, you were surprisingly easy to talk to, even for someone older like me. Of all the students from various backgrounds, you were eloquent. I thought you were a strange kid."
"Eloquent, you say?"
I never thought of myself as particularly articulate.
"To think that after graduation, I'd still be hanging out with someone as memorable as you. Must be fate."
"Do you think so?"
"I've always wanted to ask, what were you doing before you came to the Royal Officer Academy? Even when students were given permission to return home, you never went back, right?"
"That's still the case. Even after being recognized as an honorary noble, why don't you call your relatives?"
"Well, it's not something I really hide. It's not like I have a dramatic backstory."
"I don't have any relatives. I'm an orphan."
"Huh? How can an orphan afford the tuition for the Royal Officer Academy?"
"The owner of a tavern I used to work at was like a foster parent to me. When he sold the tavern, he used the money for my tuition. He's passed away now."
"I...I'm sorry to hear that. You've had a complicated life."
"Not really. In the end, I feel like I couldn't live up to my foster parent's expectations. He believed I had potential, told me to graduate from the Royal Officer Academy and become a good soldier, but it was impossible for me."
"What happened with your real parents?"