The Unicorn Legion

The young siren took off his shoes and raced down the circular corridor. He wanted to play with the glow-stones  as soon as possible. However, even though it was a low level spell, he needed to take the time to recite the incantation. By the time he lit twenty glow-stones, the first few had gone dark. He stopped and surveyed his results with dissatisfaction.

Maybe if I some help, I could do them all, Sh.e.l.ly thought, and ran back to his room.

The door to the next room was shut, but conversation inside could be heard.

“It’s been half an hour, Ellen. Just get up and enjoy the fresh air; you don’t really need more sleep.”

“Well, the gentleman who didn’t let me sleep last night shouldn’t come to wake me in the morning. Please take responsibility.”

“Tell me, what happened to the gentleman who said that he’d already slept for three hundred years, an hour or two less wasn’t a big deal?”(1)

“Oh, so hurtful.”

“And don’t forget that we’re supposed to meet the Grand Mage this morning, Captain.”

“Ah …”

Sh.e.l.ly shook his head and scampered onward to his room.

“Julian.”

“What is it, Mr. Sh.e.l.ly?”

“Do you want to play with the lights?”

“Hm.” The dwarf did not move, giving an absent-minded answer. “No, thank you … ah, this diagram is finished.”

As he spoke, there was a knock on the door.

“Good morning, Sh.e.l.ly, Julian.” Mrs. Cavendish smiled down at them. “Come along, please. It’s time for breakfast.” They stopped next door to invite Ellen and Cain out, following as the Grand Mage’s wife led them down the stairs and explained, “Rowenna came back late last night, so it may be a while before you can see her. I’m sure she’ll be glad to receive Amy’s letter.”

The elf noticed that she used a nickname for the queen, which wasn’t something an ordinary person could do. It seems that the relationship between the queen and the mage was closer than he imagined. To win over both the Mage Academy and the church- that sixteen-year-old may just be a political genius. Still, it could prove dangerous to involve those two forces in the kingdom’s power struggle.

“Ellen,” Sh.e.l.ly gently pulled on his sleeve, breaking the elf from his thoughts. “Are you alright? You don’t feel sore anywhere?”

“Hm?” Ellen looked down with a confused expression. “I feel fine. How are you, Sh.e.l.ly?” The siren looked at him with suspicion before turning away.

“Cain! Come with me.” The knight was inexplicably dragged away, the siren only coming to a stop when they were too far away for their conversation to be heard. He glared at Cain.

“You have to take responsibility! Couldn’t you see that Ellen was frowning?”

“Huh!?”

“I heard that the first time will hurt, ah, you should have let him sleep in! You should have brought him breakfast in bed!”(2)

“I don’t understand what you’re getting at, but since it’s you it’s probably something bad … tell me, Sh.e.l.ly. What is it that you think I did?”

“I heard Ellen complaining that you didn’t let him sleep last night for one or two whole hours- hey!”

Cain reached out and pinched the siren’s cheeks.

“Listen, you! A certain someone didn’t want to wait for his hair to dry before falling asleep! I just didn’t want him to catch a cold.”

“Just that?” Sh.e.l.ly looked even more shocked after hearing the truth. “You stayed in a room together all night and didn’t do anything? Isn’t that hard on you?”

The knight choked for a moment and glared down at the siren as he said, “Why should spending the night together immediately make you think of things like that, huh!? Who do you take me for, Duke Elmond?”(2)

“I thought you liked Ellen,” the siren spoke sadly. “Was I wrong?”

Cain sighed. “Of course I like Ellen. It’s just … not the kind of like you’re thinking of. I don’t want to do that kind of thing with him.”

“I didn’t want to do that kind of thing with Raphael, either,” the siren seemed close to tears. “Does that mean I didn’t really like him?”

“Hey, hold on,” the knight ruffled his hair. “Don’t try and compare how you felt about Raphael to how I feel about Ellen. You should know your own feelings best.”

“Oh!” Sh.e.l.ly looked relieved, then looked up and laughed. “Got it!”

“Alright?” Cain held his hand. “Then let’s go back; the others will be getting worried.”

“So does this mean you’re still a virgin?” Sh.e.l.ly asked seriously.

!? You’re still curious about that!?

“Ah, poor Cain. Just when will you lose your virginity, anyway?” Sh.e.l.ly teased confidently. Cain let go of his hand and knocked him on the head. “Ow! Cain, don’t bully me … I’m obviously just worried about you.”

“Gee, thanks. When I do lose my virginity, you’ll be the first to know!”

“Well, of course.”

“… It’s called sarcasm! Sarcasm! Your grasp on the human language is terrible!” The knight growled.

When they got back to the others, the breakfast table had been set. Sitting next to Mr. Cavendish was a woman who looked to be about twenty years old. Her brown hair curled up at her shoulders, and her eyes her brown as well. When the elf and his entourage entered, she stood up and gracefully saluted. There was no doubt that she was a beauty; her simple mage’s robes only added to her charm.

“Rowenna Silva.”(3)

The one who was meant to receive the Queen’s second letter.

They all exchanged greetings; as Ellen spoke, her gaze swept over his ears and a look of surprise flashed across her face. But she didn’t say anything, only nodding and accepting the letter.

Unlike last night’s dinner, the breakfast table this morning was very quiet. Julian did not seem to have yesterday’s enthusiasm, staying silent in the corner. Only after the dishes were cleared away did the Grand Mage broke the silence.

“Now, if everyone is full, I will speak. First, Rowenna, you are already aware of Sh.e.l.ly’s situation. I would like you to teach him mental defense methods, so that he may safely drive out the demon on his own.”

“Alright.” Rowenna looked over at the siren and nodded.

“Also, there is something I would like to request of the Unicorn Legion.”

“Could you explain what you mean?” Ellen asked.

“There was a forest in the Sunset Highlands,” the Grand Mage began to narrate. “In the past, this forest was the birthplace of many monsters.”

“The miracle of the forest,” the elf nodded. “The mage trials.”(4)

“Yes,” the Grand Mage replied. “No matter if they’re an apprentice mage, a mid-level mage, or a high-level mage, they refine their talents there. Although there no longer any magical creatures, the mage trials remain the same; we’ve been using magical constructs instead. The system has been in place for nearly a hundred years, and was still in good condition, but since last week there have been a few problems.

“A high-level mage went to undergo the trials and discovered that the constructs were completely destroyed. The mages we sent to repair them were attacked as well. Although they’ve returned intact, they’ve lost their memories of the event, and we have no way of knowing what happened. In the surrounding forest, there was some evidence that magical creatures had been active in the area. We suspect that, deep in the forest, a powerful new species has appeared. It may even be capable of using very advanced chaos magic.”

The plot thickens!! We even got to see Sh.e.l.ly being protective of Ellen, how cute!

          ~ ~ ~          Chapter 16 >>