Alke's Daughter
~Guildmaster Zacks’ Point of View~
"I reckon I'd like the Vice-Guildmaster to cast some healin' magic—would that be alright with you?"
That’s what Alke said to me first thing in the morning. Wondering what had happened, I asked, only to be told that his daughter couldn’t move due to muscle pain. I thought that was quite overprotective of him, but Aslan eagerly went off to cast the spell, so I came down too, half out of curiosity.
“Miss Vio, the magic I’m about to cast on your legs is the healing spell called Heal. Please try to observe what changes occur in your body.
By holy power, I pray for this one’s recovery—Heal.
So? Can you feel it?”
Aslan knelt at Vio’s feet, happily casting a holy magic spell he rarely used. Vio, the recipient, was seriously watching her own legs. Whitish sparkles were absorbed into both of her legs and vanished. She leapt down from Alke’s arms, began to squat in place, and bounced lightly on her feet.
“Thank you, Vice-Guildmaster! The heaviness and pain are completely gone. I felt a warm sensation—how do you think when you cast the spell? Do you just chant it? Or do you think about where and how to heal the injury?”
Huh? Isn’t casting magic just about chanting the spell? Aslan is skilled at shortening incantations, and I thought the thing to be surprised about was how short that spell just was. A holy attribute spell with such a short chant is unheard of.
“Ahaha, is that so? You really are interesting, Miss Vio. Well now…”
"Ahh—Vice-Guildmaster, sorry to interrupt, but Vio's gotta mosey on to school now. How's about we save that chat for later, huh?"
Aslan had started letting out a creepy giggle, but Alke stopped him. Phew, saved. Don’t make such a disappointed face, damn it.
Just before he stepped out the door, Alke quietly said to me, "I need to pick your brain about Vio later. Make sure you got some time for it, ya hear?" I’ve already commissioned the blacksmith for child-sized gathering shears, and there’s nothing urgent right now. He must’ve discovered something new about Vio.
We reserved a meeting room in the archive and waited for Alke to return.
“She was able to use the magic bag, so he probably found out something about her mother. But what else could it be?”
“Right, she’s only on her fourth day of school today. I don’t think anything serious has happened yet. Still, Miss Vio seems to be highly respected by the other children. Even the education staff have given her glowing evaluations. She’s adorable, talented in magic, and diligent—truly impressive.”
Yeah, yeah. This guy used to not care about others at all, and now he’s all concerned—it’s pretty amazing. Well, I agree she’s certainly a cute one.
"Sorry to keep ya waitin'."
While I was thinking about that, Alke came in. Aslan immediately cast a soundproofing spell, and Alke locked the door before taking his seat.
“So? Did you find out about her parents?”
"Yeah. Her ma's guild tag was tucked away in that there bag.
It was a silver-ranked advanced tag, but the party name and the guild it belonged to were scratched off, so I couldn't make much sense of that. The name was Iris. She was right skilled in healing magic, and if we're talkin' 'bout a pink-haired Iris who was always in high demand for temporary parties, even down in the Lizmoni Dungeon, well, that'd be Manjurica's Iris, no doubt about it."
“No way! Wasn’t Manjurica’s last known activity a commission in the Kingdom of Menexes, after which they disappeared?”
“That was about seven or eight years ago, wasn’t it? I believe a coup occurred in a neighboring country around that time. The crown prince, who was supposed to be the next king, died. The second prince, who led the coup, also died. Then the third prince, who had never been in the spotlight before, was suddenly named heir, and there was a huge commotion.”
“Was that it? I thought there was talk about a plague or something around that time. Didn’t we start selling medicine besides healing potions in our apothecary because of that?”
“I reckon the coup kicked things off, and then that darn plague came along and wiped out the heirs. Or so I hear. Now, the third prince, he up and ran away as a young'un and became an adventurer. Folks started whisperin' that Manjurica’s Phil might just be that prince. And when the new King of Menexes took the throne after the party disbanded, and he looked a mighty lot like Phil, well, those rumors just got stronger, they did."
Silence fell between the three of them.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Vio’s five, right? That doesn’t add up, does it? No way, that can’t be it.”
“No, the third prince ascended to the throne in Continental Year 581. If the party disbanded because Miss Iris became pregnant, the timeline fits perfectly.
If they had stayed in the party, there was a high chance people would keep sending designated requests for Iris. If the two of them were married, a temporary disbandment makes perfect sense.”
"Yep… and if she up and vanished right after havin' her baby, it might've been 'cause she got summoned back to the castle. Maybe she just planned to make a quick appearance, or maybe she intended to send for 'em later… but still, havin' an adventurer standin' next to the king of a great nation would be a mighty tricky situation, it would."
“… Which means, Miss Vio’s mother may have been running to escape from assassins sent by people who didn’t want any other heirs to exist.”
Vio’s hair is a beautiful pink, and her eyes are a clear violet. Wasn’t it said that heirs to that country’s throne have violet eyes? That color could definitely pass for violet.
"Vio figured she only went and changed her hair color, but I reckon she probably changed her eye color too."
“Yes, that’s very likely. Ah, I got a message from the Magic Academy—they managed to acquire a color-changing magic item. But I assumed it was just for her hair, so I already requested they send a hair ornament-type item. Glasses would look odd on such a little girl, after all.”
“Well, even if her hair color’s different, it’s not like people will instantly recognize her. An adult looking at her eye level might notice, but how many strangers are gonna lean in and stare into a little kid like Vio’s eyes?”
In the period when strangers come to town, we decided we’d have her wear glasses or a deep hat to cover up.
To think… Iris, famed as the “Saintess of the Adventurers,” and Phil—possibly a royal—and their daughter… If that’s true, it’s no wonder people would target her. I can understand why Alke’s so worried, and her odd magical aptitude makes sense too.
Tch, this village is small, everyone knows each other, and everyone’s capable of defending themselves. More importantly, everyone dotes on Vio. So there’s not much to worry about here… but during Wind Season, outsiders flood in. If stupid rumors spread from them, the whole village could get dragged into danger.
"Well, if them folks find out Vio's true identity, the same no-good varmints who went after Iris might come snoopin' 'round the village. I ain't sure what level they'll be, but if they start causin' trouble for everyone, that's a mighty big problem. I wanna stick around the village till I've trained Vio up to a certain level, but…"
“Hey, Alke, you better not be saying you’re planning to leave the village. You think we’d abandon Vio? You think the villagers would? The kids all adore her too. You really think we’d drive her away just because dangerous people might come after her?
Don’t insult us. If they come after her, we’ll train her so hard she can turn the tables on them.”
“Exactly, Alke. I won’t allow you to take such a promising child like Miss Vio away. In fact, this makes me all the more determined to train her to surpass the Saintess Iris herself in healing magic. Now then… speaking of healers… but that person’s whereabouts are still unknown…”
Aslan drifted off, muttering to himself. We left him to his rambling, and it seemed Alke had abandoned the idea of leaving the village. Once you become a resident of this village, you’re family. No matter whose child she is, right now, she’s Alke’s daughter. It’s only natural that we protect her.
That’s what I thought—
But after hearing what Alke told us afterward, I’m not so sure how much we can really teach her.
It’s not that I’ve changed my mind about protecting her…
But… the child of a Saintess and a Prince…
Are kids like that always such freakin’ prodigies?
What do you think about this chapter?
