"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"No problem. In case, cleric. If you have a problem, I won't fight."
"I have no problem."
I took out my mace. Elsi was strong. If I acted up, fighting her with my bare hands only to lose like an idiot, I wouldn't be able to show my face. So, I planned to do my best. The Holy Sword was too dangerous to take out, so the mace was about right. Elsi said.
"I look forward to it. I hope you'll watch my skill closely."
Robin, who had been talking with the knights, rushed over and performed a frantic tap dance of a step as he spoke to me.
"My Lord. I will fight. Just for a test....."
"No. She designated me. It's only right that I face her."
I said with a smile. Robin, seeming scared even of that smile, fidgeted restlessly. As the Knight Commander, he probably couldn't bear to see me get hurt. Robin's commendable loyalty was one of the reasons I cherished him.
"It's okay, Robin."
I reassured Robin and raised my mace. Elsi matched my movement, twisting her waist slightly, then took a step back and lowered her body. I said.
"Let's begin then."
With those words, Elsi kicked off the ground and rushed at me. Taking my blind spot with lightning speed, Elsi raised her fingernails and swung them wide. A white trajectory grazed the tip of my nose. Having turned my body in a hurry, I readjusted my grip on the mace and swung it at Elsi.
Elsi, suspended in mid-air, quickly turned her body. Spinning like a top, she narrowly dodged my mace. When I turned my head again, Elsi was crouched low to the ground, one hand on the floor, looking at me. She raised her fingernails once more and charged at me. A very direct attack. I raised my guard to block it head-on, and in that moment, Elsi, who had been charging straight, sharply changed direction and disappeared.
Once again, Elsi aimed for my blind spot. I judged that it would be hard to dodge this blow and clashed with my mace. The sound of clashing iron rang out, and Elsi was thrown back. I felt a dull ache, as if I'd hit a bowling ball with a mace.
Elsi shook her hands and checked the condition of her fingernails. To think her fingernails wouldn't break even when hit directly by a mace. I couldn't help but admire the durability of beastfolk. But it was only her fingernails that were unbroken; Elsi seemed to have taken quite a shock from the last blow.
Her hand was trembling slightly. Elsi took a step back and watched me. I lowered my mace and said.
"Stop."
"Cleric. Why stop?"
"Because you can't fight anymore. This is enough to see your skill."
After lightly scratching the ground with her hand for a moment, Elsi nodded and frowned.
"It's frustrating, but the cleric is right. It's hard to fight more in this state. The shock from being hit by the club is severe. I admit it. I lost."
"That's some incredible skill, Elsi. Honestly, I was a little surprised."
I spoke my honest impression. It was certain that her combat skill was amazing for her stats. Elsi asked.
"Then can I become a warrior too?"
"I'm sorry, but since there's no precedent of appointing a beastfolk as a knight, even I can't put you in the Knight Order, Elsi."
For the record, there was also no precedent of a lord taking a knight sexually, so I didn't want to put Elsi in the Knight Order. I had recently made Eve the Lord's Wife, and if I were to add a beastfolk to the Knight Order now, the territory's image would likely be completely ruined, so that was also an act of being cautious.
"I see. Then will I join as a soldier?"
It was a shame to put such a talent in as a soldier, too. Beastfolk don't listen well to those weaker than them. Elsi was stronger than most of the knights in our territory right now. I said.
"So I was thinking of making you my personal bodyguard, Elsi. What do you think?"
"Bodyguard? Is it like what I did at the slave market?"
"Yes. It's similar. But just because you don't take this role, I won't do anything strange, nor will I kick you out of the territory. You can refuse if you don't want to. It doesn't matter if you just take up farming, but for me to appoint you as a knight, there are many things to consider. Because I'm not just a cleric, but a lord....."
I trailed off. Elsi didn't look particularly displeased.
"I understand. Humans dislike us. No matter what you think, you have to be mindful of others."
"Thank you for understanding, Elsi."
When I said that, Elsi nodded curtly.
"So what does a bodyguard do here?"
"You just have to follow me wherever I go. If I run into any danger or have to fight, you have to fight with me."
"What do I do at the mansion?"
"Basically, you'll be on mansion guard duty. You'll live in the mansion, and at night, if the servants ask for help, you can help them."
Originally, our mansion's guard structure was one where servants and maidservants took turns to patrol the mansion, and if they found any suspicious point, they would immediately report to the stationed guards. I planned to push Elsi into the role of a Mansion Guard Specialist here.
This way, there was no need to draft several guards from the guard corps, and the handover wouldn't be a hassle, so it was efficient in many ways.
"Elsi. Then, shall we go up to the office for now? It's not good to talk only outside."
Robin seemed to want to ask about my physical condition quickly. As soon as I put my mace away, Robin asked.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No. I'm fine, Robin. What do you think of Elsi's skill?"
"She's a considerable skilled person. Even if we put her against our knights, I can't guarantee a victory."
"That's a shame. It seems like it would be fine to make her a knight."
"It can't be helped, can it? Even I am not confident I could suppress the opposition from the other knights if a beastfolk were to join the Knight Order."
Robin also had a complicated expression. Beastfolk and mermaids are not human. Some of the knights had shown a rather subtle reaction when looking at Eve. If I were to add a beastfolk as a knight on top of this, it was obvious a rumor would spread that the lord was actually a sexual deviant. I'm a normal person. Elsi was talking to Roy. Roy, even after seeing my skill just now, didn't seem to like the decision to appoint Elsi as a bodyguard.
"Elsi! That cleric is suspicious! You can't trust him!"
"Roy. You keep saying I can't trust him. Tell me the reason why."
"Elsi is weaker than the cleric, yet he tells Elsi to be his escort! It's suspicious!"
"Our chieftain takes his subordinates with him too. Was our chieftain a strange person too?"
"He's different from the chieftain!"
"He has his good points over the chieftain. The chieftain, once he fights, sees it to the end. When I was in the tribe, anyone who challenged the chieftain literally became a rag. That cleric at least stopped the fight when I couldn't fight anymore. I don't think he's trying to torment us. He gave me a choice in the first place. Roy. If you dislike this territory so much, go back to your hometown by yourself."
"I'm not going back!"
"Then shut your mouth, Roy. You've had your coming-of-age ceremony now, too. I don't know why you keep whining like a child."
"That's....."
Roy blushed. Fuck. To think I have to see a man blushing all the way out here. Elsi waited for Roy's answer. I hastily cut Roy off. If he confessed here, the situation would get fucked up.
"Now! Elsi. Let's go up quickly."
"Alright."
Roy glared at me, his face flushed red. In an opening when Elsi wasn't looking at me, I gave a smirk. Roy frowned and swallowed his anger. He was a guy with some surprising patience.
After coming up to the office, I asked Elsi.
"Elsi. Do you know about Evangeline?"
Amori had said she knew about Evangeline. But she too was under a suggestion or a prohibition and couldn't give a specific description of Evangeline. Could Elsi be different? In the first place, I was in a situation where I didn't even know the conditions of the prohibition Evangeline had placed. I had no choice but to ask everyone who might know Evangeline and pray they weren't under the prohibition.
"Who's that? Your runaway wife? Or is it a God's Name from the Archdeity Church?"
Elsi said some nonsense that would make a believer of the Archdeity Church foam at the mouth, calling it blasphemy. I shook my head and said.
"She's a very wicked witch that humans are currently chasing. They say she'll call the Demon King and bring disaster to this land. Have you not heard from your chieftain? A female wearing a mask and a hood."
"I haven't heard from the chieftain, but I have seen such a female."
"You've seen her?"
I straightened my posture. You've seen her? You've seen her without hearing about her from the chieftain?
"She came to buy slaves a few times before. She said she does magic experiments mainly on human slaves."
"Are you sure? A female in a hood and a mask."
"That's right. A female in a hood and a mask."
"What kind of mask was it?"
I held my breath for a moment here. It was because I was curious whether Elsi would be able to explain it properly or not. Eve and Cellu couldn't answer when I asked what the mask looked like. Honestly, I was hoping for a different reaction than 'I can't say' by now.
"I don't know. It was a really strange-looking mask. It was a mask that looked just like a human face, but it was painted all mottled."
"Huh?"
Elsi readily described the color of the mask. So I couldn't help but be unsure. What is this? Is she not under the suggestion? Or is it just a mage with a cosplay hobby walking around in a mask?
"Did... did you hear any particularly strange stories from that mage?"
"She asked me if I had any thoughts of getting out of here. She also said she would give me the power to wipe out the entire Aberdeen Territory."
"Did you accept?"
"I refused. You can't trust a mage."
"Good job."
It was strange. The pattern fit Evangeline, but Elsi wasn't under the suggestion. So I asked again.
"Elsi, think carefully. Is there anything else you know about Evangeline? Her voice, what was her voice like?"
Elsi frowned.
"I can't say."
Elsi herself seemed surprised to have said that. She said it again, out loud.
"I can't talk about her voice?"
Only then did I think I understood the prohibition Evangeline had placed. The target who met Evangeline cannot speak about Evangeline due to some effect. To confirm, I asked Elsi one more time.
"Elsi. But you can talk about the mask, can't you?"
"That's right. I can't talk about that mage. But I can talk about the mask. I don't know the reason."
I thought I knew the reason. Evangeline put a prohibition on Elsi, 'Don't talk about Evangeline.' But it was because Elsi was a fucking simple-minded bitch who misunderstood the prohibition and was truly only not talking about 'Evangeline' herself. Because the mask isn't Evangeline.
It seemed the conditions of the prohibition changed depending on the person's own level of understanding. If so, then this made sense. I gave Elsi a sheet of drawing paper and had her try to draw the mask. It was an unexpected harvest.