Chapter 50
For a moment, the sunlight pierced my eyes, making me frown. But the instant I recognized the man in front of me, my expression naturally relaxed.
“Ah… Owen.”
Thank goodness—it was Owen.
Looking around, the farmer assassin had flown far away. He hadn’t moved at all, so it seemed he had truly fainted this time. Behind Owen, the four assassins we’d fought earlier lay sprawled on the ground.
Wow… we actually defeated them all. We won. Of course, it was all thanks to Owen.
Feeling relieved, my tension melted away, and a laugh escaped me. Running like that had left me short of breath. Sweat ran down my forehead, but I didn’t mind.
“Owen, are you hurt anywhere? There were five of them, and they even had weapons. Isn’t that a bit unfair?”
I teased him lightly, but unlike me, Owen’s expression remained serious. He didn’t even answer. It looked as if he was holding back a grimace. I had never seen that expression before.
The man slowly closed and opened his eyes. A low voice came out.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“Huh?”
Before I could even ask what he meant, Owen was already kneeling and quickly sitting down.
“I need to stop the bleeding.”
“Huh? Wait—”
“Please endure a little, Sophia. As soon as we reach the temple, I will request treatment immediately.”
I didn’t need either bleeding control or treatment!
Before I could protest, Owen had already removed the coat I was wearing. Arne quickly took it from him. Just as I realized the coat was gone and I felt a chill, Owen bent forward, inspecting the area where I’d been stabbed.
“……”
A moment of silence.
After a while, Owen’s tired voice spoke.
“You’re not injured.”
I answered a little awkwardly.
“Um… yes.”
“……”
Yes, that’s exactly the reaction I expected.
I really wasn’t hurt. My back, which should have bled from the knife wound, was completely fine; only my coat and dress had cut marks.
Owen asked again.
“You weren’t… hit by the knife?”
“Certainly, I was.”
Arne stared at me with teary, vacant eyes, silently demanding an explanation.
“Mom…?”
How was I supposed to explain this?
The kid would definitely laugh at both of us, calling us over-the-top.
I had originally planned to reveal it after reaching the north, but since the situation had come to this…
I hesitated for a moment, then revealed the most essential fact first.
“The thing is… I was wearing armor.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Armor. You know… the kind you wear when fighting.”
That’s right.
I had put it on before leaving for the north, more precisely after deciding to meet the Duchess at the townhouse of the duke’s mansion.
At that time, with the help of the duke’s servants, I had brought a secret weapon from the marquis’ mansion: the armor that had saved my life several times in my previous life.
I explained.
“Yes. I thought… what if the Duchess swung a knife? She wouldn’t, of course, but it’s better to be safe than regretful, so I brought it along.”
“You… wore armor… in case you were hit by a knife…?”
“Yes. That’s why I tried it on this morning as a practice run. I hadn’t worn it in a while, so I needed to get used to it.”
I never imagined it would be used like this.
Still, I had been lucky. Owen hadn’t noticed. The armor was custom-made for me. Though made from crocodile leather and sturdy, it was thin and flexible, so it wasn’t noticeable under a dress. Especially under a coat, like now.
“……”
Owen stood there, stunned.
Then suddenly, he plopped down onto the ground. To be precise, he squatted, covering his face with his hands, hiding his expression.
But the slight curve of his lips suggested a smile, a sigh, or perhaps a mixture of emotions.
“Owen?”
Even after I called him, it took him a while to respond.
“……It’s nothing.”
He mumbled to himself, and Arne, ignoring Owen, ran up to me.
“Mom, so are you okay now?”
“Of course, Arne. Mom’s pretty sturdy.”
“No way… but still, that’s a relief.”
“‘No way’ what?!?”
At that moment, Owen spoke again.
“The armor…”
I turned toward him; he was still hiding his face in his hands.
“Huh?”
“The armor… why did you have it made?”
A fair question. It’s unusual for a young noblewoman to have armor.
“Well… it started years ago, during a swordsmanship match with Leoni while we were taking empress lessons together.”
It had begun as a basic self-defense lesson. But my and Leoni’s tendency to compete fiercely in everything escalated it into an actual sword fight.
That evening, as usual, I told Bambi about it. Bambi casually asked:
“Confident?”
I honestly answered:
“Where’s the confidence in that? I just do my best.”
“I see.”
A few days later, Bambi appeared again on the balcony railing. As I opened the door, she tossed a bundle at me.
“Try it on.”
“What is this?”
“You’ll see. Don’t go around getting cut by your little sister.”
And with that, Bambi left.
Inside the bundle was this armor. Technically, the sword match with Leoni had already ended, but the armor continued to serve its purpose faithfully after that. Although those events are now from a future that no longer exists.
But saying I had it made to avoid getting stabbed by my little brother sounded ridiculous, so I just brushed it off.
“Just… for emergencies. Thought it would be good to have one.”
“……I see.”
“Yes.”
“……”
Wait, now that I think about it, having armor just for emergencies is even stranger. I had just realized that when…
Thump thump thump—
Footsteps ran nearby. The ground shook with their approach—it wasn’t just one person.
Right! We were still being chased!
The three of us exchanged glances and simultaneously jumped to our feet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Owen pick up the dagger he had dropped.
“There!” someone shouted.
We had no time to hide. At the entrance of the alley we had just passed, a group of men appeared, saw us, and ran toward us.
Even though I could see them clearly, I couldn’t move an inch. Not out of fear.
It was because of their uniforms.
Dazzlingly white robes. Gold-embroidered cloaks. Long swords and shields.
They wore clothes assassins would never choose—and were running straight at us.
“Are those… paladins?”
I double-checked my eyes, but I knew the answer.
“Seems so.”
Owen replied calmly, then added:
“It seems the merchants reported us.”
Hah! Why now?!
The paladins quickly surrounded me, Owen, and Arne, preventing any escape. The temple paladins also served as the local peacekeepers. The oldest-looking female stepped forward.
“We received a report. There seems to have been some commotion…”
Her gaze shifted toward the alley where the assassins lay unconscious. Those assassins had disguised themselves in ordinary clothes.
Other paladins were now surrounding the fallen assassins.
“How are they?”
“They’re completely unconscious. They seem to have been overpowered.”
Then she turned sharply to us, suspicion in her eyes. The situation was clearly unusual.
Merchants hiding inside peered out, adding their comments.
“They were terrifying! Kicking and punching!”
“They even threatened us with knives in the street—it was scary!”
“Please catch them quickly!”
Those merchants! Hiding the whole time and now blaming us!
“Wait—”
Owen was about to speak when the paladin declared solemnly:
“Please explain inside the temple. We need to investigate, so you must come with us.”
The situation turned unfavorable.
The paladins refused to believe us.
No matter how much we explained that the fallen people were disguised assassins who had chased and attacked us, they only stared as if we were crazy. The assassins’ ordinary clothing didn’t help.
“Assassins… chased you? What grudge would they have?”
“It seems the gentleman here was armed.”
“According to your claim, you were chased by five assassins, yet you weren’t injured at all?”
…It was roughly like that.
They even doubted my relationship with Arne.
“You don’t look old enough to be his mother—what is your relation?”
“I will soon adopt him. So—”
I froze, unsure how to explain. What should I say? That my little brother picked him up?
As I hesitated, one paladin gave a knowing look. My belated explanation only backfired.
The biggest mistake? Not having the duke’s servants nearby. I had left them behind to explore freely, not expecting to be chased by assassins in the meantime!
“Do you reside in Monterosa?”
“No, we’re… travelers.”
“Then you likely aren’t registered at this temple.”
The priests in the investigation room exchanged glances.
“Please provide the temple where you are registered. We will send a letter to verify.”
“Well… it’s a bit far… it may take several days…”
My voice grew smaller. The priest replied matter-of-factly:
“In that case, we will detain you until your identity is verified and your innocence confirmed.”
By the fourth day of our journey, that was how we ended up trapped in the temple.
