The Nymph Wants to be Plundered - Chapter 124

Having firmly made up his mind, Brax answered with both fists clenched tight.

“First, I’ll comfort the guardians who will be shocked to hear this news tomorrow. One by one, all of them…. I may not be able to hear their inner thoughts, but I must convince them to leave the castle soon and devote themselves to training. And I won’t cut off contact with Lya either. Just because it’s called the Island of Solitude doesn’t mean letters can’t be sent there.”

“Hmm.”

Someday in the distant future, not too late, so that I can sincerely apologize to the nymph I tried to harm. Brax swallowed the words that were too shameless to say right now, and while looking at Iel’s cool profile, said something else instead.

“Thank you for the advice. Oh, I should also apologize to Polyxene separately later.”

“To Polyxene …?”

At his cousin’s name that came out of nowhere, Iel’s gaze thoroughly examined Brax’s lip movements as if searching. It didn’t seem to be just for the sake of hearing better.

“Yes. I remember that when they were doing guardian training, Lya and Polyxene often went around as partners, or got along quite well with each other. Polyxene has talent but is usually lazy and….”

***

Chirp, chirp, chirp….

The cicadas of Jupiter, the fastest to awaken and cry across the entire continent, clung to the oak tree, announcing their metamorphosis with their boisterous noise. And a troubled voice cutting through that sound was busy trying to dissuade the one who had come looking for her.

“I, I…. Just wait a moment. It’s too burdensome to decide things like that so suddenly.”

“Polyxene . This is already the third time you’ve refused the interview, so don’t waste time being wishy-washy. To become an excellent guardian, you mustn’t become lazy. Everyone except you has stated their position that they will leave without exception. What are you going to do?”

Ah, why is he being so persistent?

Brax had finally chased her all the way to the back hill, holding the next training consent form and demanding her signature. Polyxene shook her head back and forth with a fed-up expression.

“I…. not really….”

“Then does that mean you’re giving up on guardian training?”

Honestly, she wanted to do just that, but if she did, Polyxene would face the crisis of having to leave the castle forever, so she fumbled to piece together her words. The best she could do right now was to delay.

“Uh… well, that’s not it either. If you could just give me a little more time to think….”

It hadn’t even been a week since the Aika festival ended and Lya’s trial was held for severely injuring a nymph. Even before returning to the castle, Brax had said he would leave right after the festival, but hadn’t a major incident occurred? Therefore, Polyxene thought she would have plenty of time to rest, and she hadn’t expected Brax to come at her like a raging typhoon.

At her words that kept trying to return to square one, Brax presented what amounted to an ultimatum.

“I can’t wait any longer, Polyxene . We’re leaving for the northern thorn forest in four days, so if you don’t want to join us, so be it. You can participate in the guardian selection meeting that will be held separately this year, unrelated to me. Your residence permit is still valid, isn’t it?”

Polyxene , who had been listening half-heartedly, turned deathly pale.

“What, what did you say? The northern thorn forest. That place is…!”

“That place isn’t as desolate as you think, and we won’t stay long, so there’s no need to be too afraid. Ah, this time knights will also come to help with escort duties. I asked for training coordination, and not only did they readily agree, but we’ll even get to use spatial movement. If you achieve some decent merit in the thorn forest, though it would be early, promotion to official guardian is also possible. How about it, isn’t that tempting?”

Though Brax coaxed her with sweet words, there was no way she could take them in. Even the sound of a nearby dragonfly’s wings bumping together felt nothing but annoying.

Good heavens!

Polyxene resolved that she would absolutely not follow along, no matter what it took.

While the entire territory of Jupiter was generally peaceful, there were naturally places that weren’t. For example, the northern thorn forest that had just come out of Brax’s mouth. That place was at the very edge of the territorial border, and was famous for being extremely cold due to the massive mountain covered in perpetual snow right in front of it.