Side Story - Side Braver V, Part One
A woman was sitting in front of me, and the princess, Aina-sama.
"It is truly an honor to be offered this opportunity, but I would like to decline the offer."
Saying that, the woman with beautiful silver hair and fox ears bowed her head reverently.
Her name is Mikage. She has the nickname Silver Flash and is one of the most powerful mercenaries living in the capital.
──Today is not the first time we met. The other day, there was a Monster Rampage incident in the forest.
Originally, a group of members of the kingdom's army, including myself, did not visit that place to solve the rampage of monsters.
I had to fight various monsters to gain experience to be a hero. That forest was simply chosen as part of that. The Royal Army soldiers who accompanied me were my insurance in case something were to happen to me.
However, I had been informed that in the forest, there were some unusual events beforehand, and skilled mercenary were sent to investigate. If needed, I was supposed to meet up and exchange information with that mercenary.
And... as soon as we arrived in the forest, a large number of Kobolds came rushing toward us.
The commander of the kingdom's army suggested that we retreat, but I, despite being an amateur, refused. I knew this was clearly an abnormal situation.
After discussion, a few soldiers were sent to report to the guild and the army's garrison, and we headed deeper into the forest.
──When we arrived at the "center" of the disturbance, the Kobold King was already dead. All we did was clear out the overwhelming number of Kobolds.
Ahead of us at the "center" were two people.
One was a skilled woman named Silver Flash, whom I had been informed about by the guild. The other person was... someone I knew well.
Some time passed, and I visited the Mercenary Guild.
The purpose was to recruit new members for our 'Brave Party'. It seemed that Aina-sama had originally considered bringing in skilled mercenaries as comrades.
After all, even though I had received some training as a Brave, I was still inexperienced. Aina-sama's magic abilities were impressive, but she was primarily raised in the royal castle. Neither of us had experienced a long journey before.
Of course, we couldn't just bring a bunch of support staff from the castle on our journey to defeat the Demon King. In other words, when embarking on the journey to defeat the Demon King, I would primarily have to handle things on my own.
It was essential to have an experienced mercenary as a leader and companion for such situations.
In terms of being accustomed to travel, one option was to dispatch soldiers from a kingdom with experience in expedition missions. However, military soldiers were primarily trained for group combat, and individuals with exceptional martial prowess were already in important positions. If they were to be replaced, it would create various organizational discrepancies.
So, it was definitely the right choice to recruit the free-spirited mercenary.
The one who stood out among them was 'Silver Flash (Mikage)'. After informing the guild staff of our business, we were guided to a reception room for discussions, and Silver Flash arrived late.
Then, we made an offer to her to join us as a companion on the upcoming journey to defeat the Demon King.
It was Aina-sama who suggested recruiting Silver Flash.
According to what I heard, she came all the way to Arcus from a distant homeland just to become a member of My── or more precisely, Brave. So, this should have been a perfect opportunity. Aina-sama thought so and approached Silver Flash to talk about it.
However, what we got in return was Silver Flash bowing her head, rejecting our offer with a word of apology.
"...Can you tell me the reason? Why you came to the royal capital to become a member of Brave's group?"
Aina-sama was speechless at the unexpected response and, after recovering from her surprise, asked Silver Flash.
"As the princess says, I originally came to Blesstia to become a member of Brave and have been working as a mercenary. But..."
With a smile on her face, Silver Flash placed her hand on her chest. Her smile was surprisingly attractive for a woman, completely different from the stern attitude when we first met.
"I have found a true lord to whom I can dedicate my loyalty."
"Who is this 'true lord' you speak of?"
In response to Aina-sama's question, Silver Flash glanced at me.
"Brave-dono, you must know, right? After all, you were there."
I couldn't understand the meaning of the words and felt unsure, but when I thought about the 'connection' between me and her, the answer naturally came to me.
The first time Silver Flash and I met was during the Monster Rampage (Stampede) incident. In the forest, it wasn't just Silver Flash by the corpse of the Kobold King.
To my surprise, he was there, even though we were supposed to be taking separate actions.
"No way... Is it about Yukina!?"
Silver Flash nodded strongly.
"By the way, Brave-dono, it seems you know Yukina-sama... What kind of relationship do you have?"
Yukina-sama... Those words brought up indescribable feelings. Still, I honestly told her without hiding anything.
"...Yukina is from the same hometown as me. He came to the royal capital because I asked him to."
"What!?"
Silver Flash was surprised, her ears perked up.
"Then, I must express my gratitude to Brave-dono then. Thanks to you bringing that person to the royal capital, I was able to meet the lord I should serve."
It was difficult to accept that gratitude sincerely.
On the flip side, if I hadn't asked for a favor and brought Yukina to the royal capital, there was a high possibility that Silver Flash would have become our comrade.
"Is this Yukina person really as skilled as someone like you follows?"
Someone as talented as Silver Flash is praising him highly. Aina-sama's tone of voice seemed to hold awe towards Yukina.
However, when the conversation turned to him, Silver Flash shook her head.
"Probably, his ability at this stage is far beyond even me."
"Huh!?"
Aina-sama let out a surprised voice. She was having an emotional reaction to a harsh evaluation from someone Silver Flash respected.
On the other hand, I was convinced.
To be honest, Yukina's fighting ability was inferior to mine when we left the village. If I hadn't seen the scene, I wouldn't have believed the fact that he had defeated the Kobold King.
However, it was undoubtedly Yukina who defeated the Kobold King.
"However, Yukina-sama will definitely become a 'hero (Eiyuu)' in the future. I am convinced of that."
That's what it means for Yukina to be there. I knew better than anyone that he was that kind of man.
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