CH 95

“Bring Aria-sama this way.”

“Pardon the intrusion.”

A while after the gatekeeper ran into the mansion, a person who looked like a butler arrived.

Apparently, he was the most senior among all butlers in-charge of this mansion.

We were guided into the mansion by him.

We were lead through the guest area, to the room where Aria would stay.

It was a simple room with a large bed and other small items like a desk.

We were probably lead here first to let Aria rest, since she was still unconscious.

I lay her on the bed.

“She’s sleeping with such a pleasant expression.”

“She is.”

Aria had a very peaceful expression as she slept.

You couldn’t have guessed she was almost killed just moments ago.

I’m really glad I made it in time.

“Now, the two of you, I’ll have you change your outfits before you go and greet Margravine-sama.”

“Ah, yes.”

As Milia and I stared at the sleeping Aria, the butler called out to us from behind.

To begin with, we were here to meet Margravine-sama after all.

However, we came in our travel clothes, so we needed to get dressed.

“Eh?”

As I try to step away from the bed, I felt my clothes being tugged at.

Looking back, I saw Aria gripping my clothes tightly.

I didn’t notice at all.

But I have to go meet the Margravine now.

Surely I couldn’t do it while carrying Aria with me.

I slowly try to move her hand.

“No…”

Aria made a disturbed expression as I pulled on my clothes.

“…Aria.”

She faced a near-death experience before coming here.

It’s natural she’d feel uneasy.

However, this was a problem.

I couldn’t leave Aria’s side like this.

Should I try to just leave my clothes here?

“…Please wait here, Lain-sama.”

Seeing me troubled, the butler says so in a kind tone.

He too must have more or less realized what had happened.

Margravine-sama was originally looking for Aria as well after all.

“Is that fine?”

“I believe so. The Matriarch is more or less informed on everything regarding Lain-sama. It is alright for Milia-sama to report by herself. The report regarding Aria-sama’s incident can wait until after she’s awake. Does Milia-sama accept?”

Milia looks over at me and nods.

Certainly, I had come here together with Milia, and we had also exchanged opinions while on our way here.

There weren’t any big problems while coming here either, so it’s fine even if she made the report herself.

“I am fine with that.”

“Then let us go.”

Milia goes after the butler to leave the room.

Seeing here leave, I suddenly had a thought.

“Ah, wait, Milia.”

“What is it Lain?”

I should hand over what I made to Milia.

I take out a green gem from my pocket and toss it over to her.

If she had this, she should be able to explain Aria’s situation as well, so it would be killing two birds with one stone.

“Give that to Margravine-sama.”

Milia catches the green jewel I threw and looks at it curiously.

This was her first time seeing it, so there’s no way she could have known about it.

“It’s a recording magic tool. Ah, but you wouldn’t know what that is. It’s a tool for recording scenes and sounds. It recorded all the moments when Aria’s heart was greatly shaken these past 2-3 days.”

“!?”

“It will play if you pass magic through it, so take it like that to Margravine-sama.”

The necklace I gave to Aria had a function to record the situation around its owner if they were in danger.

If anti-demon aristocrats were ever in a risky situation, this tool could be used to reaffirm tactics with their mentor so that it never happened again. Though I suppose, it will be used as evidence this time.

“Are you fine with that? If Margravine-sama laid her eyes on such an amazing tool, you might never get it back.”

“I have some spares, so it’s okay to hand that over to Margravine-sama.”

In reality, the video was stored inside the necklace, but that is an extremely valuable magic tool.

Besides, it’s one of the few things I received from my mom, so I didn’t want to give it away.

As such, I saved the video on a tool, which only had the function for saving, and handed it over.

I have quite a few spares still left for that tool.

When I inherited it, about half of them contained selfies of my ancestors three generations ago.

If I needed the tool for recording, I could erase those as well.

The tool I used today was one of those.

“…Is that so. Then I will be taking it.”

“Sorry for leaving it all to you.”

Milia was lead out of the room by the butler.

There were only me and Aria here now.

I drag a nearby chair beside the bed, and sit down on it.

“…You really worked hard.”

As I patted her head softly, it felt like her expression softened just a little.

I continued patting her.

Before I copied it to the jewel, I quickly checked the video from her necklace, where it was stored.

The sights which Aria saw in the royal capital were pretty harsh.

If I knew this would have happened, I wouldn’t have let her go in the first place.

As always, aristocrats aren’t good for nothing.

Still, Aria did her best.

She entered the tournament without running away, took part in the first match, and earned her victory.

She seemed to have been caught in a trap after that, but she had undoubtedly earned the right to be called an aristocrat.

Since she’s joined up with Margravine-sama now, it’s fine if she just lost the next match now.

Margravine-sama would be thinking the same, since she was looking for her.

“Good work.”

I continued staring at Aria’s face while thinking like that.