Although, said base was just a cave.
“Is that so? Even then, we still have some time, do we not? Tell me about the topic from just now. Also, I have not yet heard why you have your sights set on becoming a paladin. Given your talent for the bow, surely there must have been some other path you could have taken. Why aim to be a paladin? For the sake of justice? Or perhaps to be the pride of your nation?”
“No—” When she narrowed her eyes, what came to mind was her personal experiences. “—My mother was a paladin.”
She was a paladin who was skilled with the sword, completely unlike Neia.
“I see, so you heard something from your mother, or you admired her, hm.”
“Ah, no. My mother often said I shouldn’t aim to be a paladin. And my mother couldn’t do the work of being a mother, and while she could do the laundry and sew, she was completely inept at cooking and that sort of thing. She did everything sloppily, the roast meat was always undercooked, that sort of thing was common.”
Therefore, it was only natural that her father had been the one who cooked in their household. When she was young, she even thought that it was true for all families.
“...Is that so? Well, she still didn’t stop her daughter from becoming a paladin, so I guess she was still a good mother.”
“Ah, no. When I told my mother I wanted to be a squire, she went and took out her sword and said, ‘I’ll let you if you can defeat me!’ and so on. The only reason why I was allowed to become one was because my dad desperately blocked for me. If I had fought her normally I could never have beaten her.”
That was the first time she had understood the meaning of killing intent.
“...Ahhhh, mm, good, how shall I say this… it was a good family… mm.”
“Yes. While the neighbors often looked strangely at us, I thought it was a good family.”
“...Really, how nice… th-then, why, why become a paladin? Did you not think to follow your father’s path— Hm. Was your father a househusband?”
“No, my father was also a soldier who served his country. However, I never really thought of following in my father’s footsteps… why was that. Maybe it’s because dad gave me these eyes, so I sort of ended up resenting him for it…”
Neia pressed her index fingers to the corners of her eyes and tugged them around in circles.
When she was young, her friends often said, Why are you staring at me? Are you angry with me? and the like, and she had often complained to her father for it. After that, Neia had been beaten by her mother, who had overheard her saying so.
Thinking of them was quite nostalgic, Neia thought.
“But perhaps after becoming a squire, I became more open-minded. At some point, I started to think that this was a gift from my father. Well, I could do without the fierce glare, though.”
“How are your parents now?”
“My father fought Jaldabaoth’s army at the wall and died. I lost contact with my mom, and I don’t know what happened with her, but I think she must have died during the defense of the city. After all, she was the sort who would have struggled to the bitter end.”
“It seems I have inquired about a painful topic.”
The Sorcerer King bowed to her once more. Since this was the second time, the impact was not so great. However, it was enough to make Neia feel anxious.
“Please, please raise your head! How could you bow to someone like me!?”
“I thoughtlessly inquired about your dead kin. Although I did was not aware of that beforehand, now that I know the facts, an apology is still in order.”
The Sorcerer King tilted his head after he raised it.
No, that’s not right, that’s how it should be between equals. A king is not the equal of a citizen from another country. Moreover, we’re the ones requesting his help...
“Erm— well, such exceptions are everywhere. Er, if someone sees Your Majesty bowing to me — ah — they might look down on Your Majesty, because I’m just a squire, after all.”
“...Umu, I see, you do have a point. That’s how kings are.”
These things are complicated, the Sorcerer King muttered.
He must have meant that it was difficult to mix with people from other nations even if he wanted to show his sincerity, probably.
“Yes. While this cannot begin to count as an apology, I shall lend this to you, Miss Baraja.”
The Sorcerer King swiftly reached into his robe and produced a bow.
—Hah?
It was bigger than what could have been hidden inside his robes. Neia blinked several times, but reality refused to change.
“This is a magic weapon. Use it to protect me.”
Portions of the bow were made with animal parts, but it did not feel raw or gory; instead, she felt an air of holiness around it.
She could tell at a glance. In other words, this bow was a masterwork which needed to be described with the word “super.”
“This is the Ultimate Shootingstar Super, made with the ancient art of runecrafting. For various reasons, I was carrying it on me to lend it out to someone else. Ahh, normally there would be runes carved here, but you can’t see them now because of wear and tear. What do you think?”
Neia used all her strength to suppress the urge to cry out.
Typically speaking, she ought to refuse it. This was very likely to be a national treasure of the Sorcerous Kingdom. However, would anyone lend such a treasure to a follower from another country?
Maybe it just looks amazing — as if! This, it’s definitely a very powerful weapon!
“What do you think? Will you not accept it? Your job is to keep me company and protect me, is it not? In that case, it would be good to equip you with a better weapon, am I wrong?”
“Ngh!”
He was right.
Neia felt her head spinning around.
“Ahh, my apologies. Is it because it looks too showy? In that case, I have something more sedate, the Great Bow Special, which is also a product of runecraft.”
Saying so, he reached into his robe again—
“P-Please do not trouble yourself! I am more than satisfied with this one! Please allow me to politely decline!”
Neia’s words came out as a mournful cry as she begged the Sorcerer King to stop producing any more weapons. If he took out another weapon in front of her, Neia did not think she would be able to retain her senses, and lending it to her would probably entail that she had to spend the whole day on maintaining it.
“Your Majesty! I humbly accept this Ultimate Shootingstar Super which you have bestowed upon me!”
She took the bow with trembling hands.
Given its accessories and decorations, it looked to be very heavy, yet it felt surprisingly light in the hand. In the moment she took hold of it, she felt her body strengthening, as though power were coursing into it, or was that just due to the shocking lightness of the bow?
Ah, this is bad. I wanted to reassure myself with the thought that this was nothing more than a fancy-looking magic item. This… this is definitely a bad thing. For all I know… This might be better than the holy sword… eh? Wait, wait a minute… no, surely it can’t...
“Do you? To me, that’s hardly worth being proud of, you know? If you’d like some other — if you’d like a better weapon, please let me know.”
This was bad. If this sort of thing continued, if she kept hearing about it, things would become extremely bad. She could not begin to imagine what would happen if a squire ended up with better gear than the top ranking person in the Holy Kingdom.