Arcadia's Ignoble Knight, Volume 7 (Light Novel)

• Attractive male lead
• Beautiful female lead
• High fantasy
• Progression fantasy
• Ruling class
• Strong to stronger
• Arroigant villains
• Magical technology
• Heartwarming romance
• Marriage
• Devoted love interest

Caspian had no idea where they were. Trees surrounded them on all sides, looking the same no matter which direction he turned. Gnarled roots jutted from the ground. Had he and Elincia not been as vigilant as they were, they might have tripped over something by now. The trees weren’t quite as tall as some, but the branches intermingled and wove together, creating a thick canopy that was hard to see past.

It had been at least two days since they had left Flos, but they had gotten so lost that he could no longer tell where they were, or indeed, which direction they were even going.

Elincia had tried to commune with nature, but she had been away for so long that she could no longer understand the trees. It was a consequence of living in the city. He supposed they should just be grateful that she could even hear the voice of the forest at all.

After they had reached the forest, he and Elincia had been forced to leave the road behind, running into the forest—the unfortunate result of being attacked by undead. Caspian lamented having come this deep without thinking about where they were going. However, it wasn’t like they had been given much choice.

It seemed the undead were traveling across the roads. If Caspian didn’t know any better, he would have said they were patrolling the roads like highwaymen. The thought was preposterous, but if the lich king was controlling them, then it was not outside the realm of possibility. There was still so much they didn’t know about lich kings.

This isn’t good. The closer we get to Calidum Vere, the more undead there seem to be. Does this mean the village has already been taken over?

Such a prospect was not pleasant, not in the least, and not just because Elincia wanted to visit a hot spring town.

“I haven’t seen any undead in a while,” Elincia murmured.

She was walking beside him, head turning left and right, keeping everything she could within her field of vision. Her steps were light. The grace of the elves allowed her to easily move through the forest, and despite no longer being able to commune with nature like she used to, she was perfectly adept at picking up the warnings that allowed her to avoid roots and other foliage most people would trip on.

They were not holding hands, but Caspian could feel her emotions all the same. Like him she was apprehensive.

While they could not speak telepathically without physical contact, Caspian could tell that their bond was growing—his ability to feel her emotions was proof. Then again, he could have been imagining it. Maybe it was simply his knowledge of Elincia that allowed him to reach this conclusion about her emotional state, and he was just assuming.

Well, whatever. It’s not like it really matters any—

Srrchhhttt!!

Caspian and Elincia stopped dead in their tracks, eyes widening, heads turning, as they sought out the source of the noise. The loud snapping, the sound of twigs breaking underfoot, resounded all around them. Caspian’s ears twitched. He couldn’t pinpoint the location. Perhaps that was because there was more than one source?

“Ele?”

“It’s to our left.” Elincia was staring at where she had determined the sound was coming from. Her ears wiggled as though sensitive to the sound’s vibrations in the air.

The two of them prepared themselves for another undead attack. Caspian reached for his sword, hands wrapping around the hilt, while Elincia shuffled a little further back to give him room should he need to swing. Narrowing his eyes and straining his ears, Caspian watched and waited for where the attack would come from--

“Oh, spirit of the sun, Apollo, blind my enemy with your radiant light!”

A voice echoed all around them, but before they could pinpoint the source, he and Elincia were blinded as a brilliant flash of light suddenly flared into existence.

Elincia’s scream echoed in his ears. Caspian bit his lips as he closed his eyes and covered them with his hands. It hurt! The blinding radiance burned his retinas before he could protect them.

While his eyes were closed, something slammed into his back. He groaned as his spine bent. His feet left the ground, and his stomach flew into his throat before, with a sudden harshness, he smashed face first into the forest floor.

Elincia yelled again, not in pain this time, but in shock.

“Now this is interesting… an elf and a swordsman,” a voice, the same voice that had spoken the words, which he now recognized as an Aria, said.

Caspian rolled over onto his back and blinked several times. Spots were in his eyes. He growled and rubbed furiously at them. When he could see again, he scrambled to his feet and tried to locate the threat.

It was a woman. She stood behind Elincia, her pink hair making her stand out from the green of the forest, which made him wonder how they hadn’t seen her until now. Green eyes glared at him from behind Elincia. This woman had red lips and skin the color of dusk. Unlike her hair, which contrasted with her surroundings, her dark pants and sleeveless shirt blended in perfectly.

She was holding a knife to Elincia’s throat.

“Who are you?!” demanded Caspian as he unsheathed his sword. He didn’t dare attack, not with Elincia in danger.

“I’m the one asking the questions here,” the woman said. “What’s an elf and a swordsman doing in this forest? Why are you here?”

Caspian didn’t know what to say. Should he answer her? Would she listen? His mind froze as he tried and failed to think of something.

“We were sent here by the Sorceress Council,” Elincia answered. “You’re also a sorceress, right? Please let go of me so we can talk this out.”

“A sorceress? The council? Ha!” The woman’s barking laughter echoed through the forest. “You don’t honestly think I’m going to believe that, do you? You’re an elf.”

“I am an elf,” Elincia agreed. “But I’m also a sorceress. Thor! Please help me.”

Before the woman knew what was happening, a bolt of lightning struck her weapon. She screamed and dropped the knife.

Caspian rushed forward. He didn’t let this opportunity go to waste and kicked the woman’s arm, the one holding Elincia, which caused it to swing wide and allowed his sorceress to escape. Elincia scrambled away from the woman before she could recover. Moving in front of Elincia, Caspian pointed his sword at the woman, who glared at them both.

“Elincia is the newest sorceress,” Caspian said. “You would know that if you had paid attention to the latest Sorceress’s Knights Tournament.”

“Elincia?” The woman stopped glaring long enough to blink. She tilted her head, then crossed her arms, and then began tapping her foot on the ground in an agitated manner. “Now that I think about it, I do remember hearing something about a new sorceress being named that, but, well, I’ve been out of touch with the Sorceress Council for a few years.”

If that wasn’t an odd statement to make. What does she mean by that?

While he didn’t take his eyes off the woman, Caspian did a brief scan of the area. If this woman was a sorceress, then it meant her knight should have been near, but no matter where he looked, he could see no sign of whoever was supposed to protect her. Was that why she had attacked them alone? What was going on here?

“Who are you?” asked Caspian.

The woman sighed and dusted her pants off. Her leather gloves were slightly smoking. Thor’s attack must have damaged her hands some. She was probably going to have blisters, if she didn’t already have them.

Staring at the two with suspicion still glinting in her eyes, she said, “I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Maddison Vermone. I’m the sorceress who was charged with protecting this area.”

***

Elincia was curious about the woman called Maddison Vermone, who claimed to be a sorceress. Of course, she didn’t doubt the woman’s claim. That she had chanted an Aria proved that she was, indeed, a sorceress. It was just that she had never heard of a Maddison before now.

She wouldn’t claim to know every sorceress out there. In fact, she probably didn’t even know seventy-five perfect of the sorceresses who worked for the Sorceress Council, and that wasn’t getting into the sorceress that had never been discovered by Lady Sylvia and the others.

Of all the sorceresses in existence, Elincia only knew the names of the ones on the Sorceress Council and Lady Erica Demonica de Angelo, who would have been on the council were it not for how she and Lady Sylvia didn’t get along.

I wonder why so many people dislike Lady Erica? I know she can be kind of abrasive, but she’s a really good person.

There were somewhere around maybe fifty sorceresses in total. Arcadia had the largest sorceress population, with around twenty or so being located somewhere within the country. This was part of the reason why Arcadia was the seat of the Sorceress Council.

Elincia was a new sorceress, so there was no way she could know all of the others, especially when she had never traveled beyond Casadinia and Axium.

That was why she and Caspian were following Maddison through the forest—well, that, and they didn’t know what else to do. Neither of them knew where they were, much less how to get to where they were going.

“Would you two stop following me?!” Maddison demanded with a grunt.

“I’m sorry,” Elincia apologized. “But I was hoping we could talk some more. I want to know more about you and why you’re living this far in the forest.”

After their confrontation, the woman had told them that they should leave, then went off on her own. She and Caspian had decided to follow her instead. They must have been walking for at least fifteen minutes by now. Maddison had ignored them, or done her best to, but it looked like her patience had reached its limit.

Maddison clicked her tongue. “I’m not interested in talking to you. Since you’re not an undead, you should hurry up and leave this forest before you become one.”

Elincia tried to think of something to say to that, a suitable response, and in that time, Caspian made his own sniping remark. “You’re an awfully pleasant woman. First you attack us, and then you demand that we leave. What sort of sorceress is that rude? The least you can do to compensate us for our troubles and your unprovoked attack on us is to answer a few questions.”

“Shut up, half-breed.”

Caspian growled. During the short fight, his bandana had fallen off, revealing his slightly pointed ears.

Despite being told off, Elincia was determined to talk to this woman. She and Caspian continued to follow her, stepping over roots, ducking under branches, and brushing aside vines. Maddison, upon glancing back and seeing this, sighed.

“Ugh, you two are so annoying. Fine. Whatever. Follow me,” she said, picking up the pace.

Elincia wasn’t athletic, but she was used to running around a lot. Even so, chasing after Maddison as she rushed through the forest, leaping over roots and pushing aside branches, had her gasping for air. She was jealous of Caspian, who wove through the forest as though he’d lived there his whole life. What she wouldn’t give for that kind of athleticism…

They eventually reached Maddison’s home, or, well, they reached what Elincia thought was her home. It… wasn’t much. Honestly speaking, it was just a hollowed-out tree. That said, it was a lot bigger than the other trees around it, making Elincia believe Maddison had called upon an earth spirit to either create the tree or make it grow to this size.

As they walked up to it, Maddison pulled aside a flap that was made to look like the tree bark, and then gestured for them to enter.

“Welcome to my humble home, such as it is. Feel free to make yourselves comfortable. Pull up a stump or whatever.”

“Um, thank you,” Elincia said, somewhat put off by the sarcastic remark, but not willing to lose her own politeness.

The interior wasn’t much to look at either. Elincia padded in, glad that she was wearing boots because there was no floor, just gravel. Nothing outside of a table, a small grill, and a few wooden chairs carved from, perhaps, this very tree, decorated the place. It was almost completely barren.

“Pop a squat while I make dinner,” Maddison said, moving over to the grill, which was basically just a few steel bars set over a bed of charcoal.

A quick one-verse Aria caused the charcoal to ignite. Maddison wandered over to a part of the wall, from which several dead rabbits hung. She grabbed them, went back to the grill, picked up a knife sitting near it, and began skinning the rabbits’ fur.

Elincia sat down and looked away; she couldn’t stand the sight of a creature being skinned, even one that was already dead.

Caspian didn’t look like he cared one way or the other. He sat next to her after setting their bag of supplies on the ground, and then studied Maddison with a hard glint in his eyes.

“You mind if I ask why you’re living all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?” he asked.

“To avoid Neanderthal morons like you,” Maddison sniped.

“Or maybe you realized people don’t like dealing with snooty bitches and ran away in shame,” Caspian fired back.

“Oh, such a sharp tongue. Try not to think about your insults too hard. It might make that small bit of gray matter in your head explode.”

Elincia wanted to sigh as Caspian and Maddison began insulting each other, with their insults getting more vulgar with each passing sentence that left their lips. When they started spewing vitriol using genital insults, she decided to bring both of them to heal.

“Caspian, please stop,” Elincia said. Her words were soft but heard, nonetheless. Caspian stopped.

“Heh… looks like you knights really are just a bunch of dogs.” Maddison grinned. Caspian ground his teeth together but said nothing.

“You too,” Elincia said. “Please stop goading Caspian.”

“Hmph.”

With a snort, the woman turned back to her grill. The rabbit meat was sizzling on top. A strange but delectable scent soon filled the air as smoke disappeared out of a hole near the grill. She must have used Spiritual Evocation to create that vent.

“If you don’t mind my asking, where is your knight?” asked Elincia.

“Dead,” Maddison said. She used a set of tongues to take the rabbit meat off the grill and put it on a plate. “He was killed when the undead attacked us.” She walked over and set the plate on the little table that Elincia and Caspian sat near. “Last I saw of him, he was being buried under a horde of undead.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Elincia whispered, already feeling the stinging sensation of tears in her eyes.

“Why would you feel sorry?” Maddison asked with a snort, as though disgusted by the sadness that Elincia was displaying. “It’s not like I loved the guy, or even liked him really. He was just someone who protected me while I hunted my Arias. We were practically strangers. I don’t even know if he had any hobbies.”

Sorceresses and knights always determined what sort of relationship they had with each other. Lady Sylvia and Lord D’artagnan had a purely professional relationship. Lady Erica and Lord Derek had a purely sex-based relationship. She and Caspian were, um, dating? Elincia didn’t know what to call her relationship with Caspian, but he was the most important person in her entire life. She loved him more than life itself.

Maybe lifemate would be a good word.

Elincia wiped her eyes. “I’m still sorry for bringing it up.”

“Whatever.” Maddison grunted. “Look, just eat your damn food. Oh! You’ll have to use your hands. I don’t have any plates or utensils aside from these tongs and that plate.”

Elincia had never eaten meat with her hands before. She didn’t think Caspian had either, but he still picked up a strip of rabbit meat from the plate and stuck it in his mouth. Reaching out with a tentative hand, Elincia grabbed a smaller piece of meat between her fingers and chewed on it. The flavor was basic. It had a bit of seasoning, but it wasn’t spectacular.

“How long ago were you attacked?” asked Caspian.

“Why do you want to know?” asked Maddison.

“Don’t answer my question with another question.”

“Don’t ask stupid questions, then.”

“We’d like to know because it could help us determine how long the lich king has been in this area,” Elincia said. “The Sorceress Council sent us to exterminate the source of the undead, which means the more information we have, the better prepared we’ll be during the final confrontation.”

“So they sent you to deal with the lich king, huh?” Maddison grabbed a strip of rabbit meat, dangled it above her head, and lowered it into her mouth. She then started to chew. Elincia watched in morbid fascination as the woman smacked her lips.

“Chew with your mouth closed,” Caspian grunted.

“Don’t be such a ninny,” Maddison retorted with her mouth full.

“Maybe I’ll stop being a ninny if you stop being a cunt.”

“Caspian?!” Elincia shouted, aghast. Caspian grunted and looked away.

“Looks like she has you on a leash… dog,” Maddison snickered.

“Shut up!”

“Would you please answer the question?” asked Elincia, cutting off the argument before it could start again. “We would really like to know.”

“You brats are just full of questions.” Maddison sighed irritably and scratched her scalp with long, dirty fingernails. “Let’s see… my knight must have died… oh, I’d say around six years ago, so I’ve been out here—”

“S-six years ago?!” Caspian leaped to his feet. “What do you mean six years ago?! Are you telling me that the lich king has been active for that long?!”

“What are you shouting for?” Maddison glared. “Keep your voice down. And why are you questioning me? Do you think I’d lie? What reason do I have to deceive you?”

Elincia waited to see if Caspian would speak up, but when he didn’t, she glanced in his direction.

Caspian was staring at Maddison with the widened eyes of a child who’d just been told something horrifying. His face had grown pale. A cold sweat had broken out on his skin. His jaw was dropped. That expression he wore wouldn’t have looked out of place on someone who’d been told their best friend had died.

“We’re shocked because Caspian comes from Parumé,” Elincia said at last.

For the first time since they had met, Maddison looked shocked, though the look didn’t last long. She quickly calmed down. Her eyes, which had widened at Elincia’s words, became lazy and half-lidded.

“Parumé, eh? Yeah, I guess I can understand why you’re so surprised now. In that case, I guess I should tell you.” She gave them both her utmost attention, eyes hardening to points. “The lich king who’s been running amok in this area, I’m pretty sure it’s responsible for what happened to Parumé eleven years ago.”

Her haunting proclamation was met with dead silence.

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