There were also some who were afraid she was undead because they had heard that she was the Sorcerer King’s squire, but not everyone was like that.
In these three weeks, the paladins had been sent out to liberate prison camps, but at the same time, the Sorcerer King and Neia had also gone out to attack camps and rescue prisoners.
When the Sorcerer King had first broached the subject, there had been a shocking number of objections. However, the Sorcerer King then said, “Now that the Demihuman Alliance is short on manpower, they will start to execute the captives if they judge that they lack the ability to run the prison camps, so they must be rescued without delay,” and that had convinced Caspond to accept the Sorcerer King’s suggestion and send the two of them out.
Neia had originally wanted to argue that the Sorcerer King ought to conserve his mana in order to battle Jaldabaoth. However, Neia admired how he acted to protect the people of another country and felt the justice emanating from him, so she could not bring herself to stop him.
And so, Neia and the Sorcerer King had freed many captives and brought them to this city. For this reason, there were people who were happy to serve under Neia.
“Ahhh~ I ought to learn a few things from Baraja-chan.”
“Yeah, that’s right. She’s amazing. Also, that bow you borrowed from the Sorcerer King — the Ultimate Shootingstar Super — you can do even more amazing things with that bow, right?”
“The Ultimate Shootingstar Super, huh. What an amazing bow…”
All their eyes went to the bow stowed behind Neia’s back — the Ultimate Shootingstar Super.
She ought to have used it during her training, but she had avoided doing so because she did not want to rely too heavily on her weapon.
“Yes, during the battle for the city walls, it was thanks to the Ultimate Shootingstar Super that I was able to survive until His Majesty arrived… no, that’s not it. It wasn’t just the Ultimate Shootingstar Super, but the armor I borrowed from His Majesty and all his other items that helped me too…”
Neia caressed Grand King Buser’s armor.
“This armor came from a renowned demihuman, it looks amazing to me no matter how many times I look at it…”
“I was allowed to touch it once, its hardness is amazing. I chopped at it with a sword and it just bounced off.”
“Seriously? I’ve never heard that before.”
As Neia’s wargear became a hot topic, she clapped to get everyone’s attention.
“Alright, enough chitchat, back to training. According to the Sorcerer King, Jaldabaoth’s preparing to make another move soon, so we can’t waste a single moment.
There was a chorus of acknowledgements.
“Alright, it’s time to begin practical shooting. Let’s start, everyone.”
As she watched her subordinates — the word made her feel like a big shot, and it embarrassed her a little — disperse, Neia removed the item which covered half her face. It was an item she had borrowed from the Sorcerer King.
This magic item was a visor-shaped set of mirrorshades that allowed her to use a special ability known as the Serpent Shot once every three minutes. It was a technique that allowed an arrow to twist and turn in front of one’s opponent, pouncing them like an animal bringing down its prey.
She was not too sure what it did because she had not fired it at anyone, but in all likelihood, one would need to be very agile to avoid it.
It was a very handy item for someone like Neia, who used the bow as her main weapon, but more importantly, the fact that it hid her eyes was amazing. Or rather, without that item, she could not have gotten along so well with the others.
Neia put her visor on once more, and took up her bow again.
Everyone here was experienced, and now that time was tight, she did not need to instruct them on the finer points of finger positioning. She had touched briefly on how to fire quickly, and after that all that was needed was to give them individual coaching and have them practice until their fingers ached. The most important thing for them was to accumulate shooting experience.
As usual, Neia wondered about requesting healing magic from the priests as she loosed an arrow.
Just at that moment, Neia’s keen ears picked up a noise.
It had come from the outside. While Neia’s shooting form nearly broke down, she managed to keep it together. It might not have been what she expected, and even if it was the person she had hoped to meet, they might have only been passing by, and not intended to come here.
However, the being that appeared at the door to the training yard was the great king with the skeletal face — the Sorcerer King.
In the beginning, everyone had feared the undead, but many of them had been rescued by the Sorcerer King during the defense of the city and from the prison camps. The clamor of respectful and thankful voices soon came to herald the arrival of the Sorcerer King.
However, nobody stopped practicing. Normally, they would have knelt before the Sorcerer King when he appeared, but the Sorcerer King himself had put a stop to it.
This isn’t a public place, so you don’t need to do that when I’m just looking in on you, am I wrong?
No king, especially one who was a nation-saving hero, should have been treated that way.
Even so, the Sorcerer King had said that they did not need to do so.
What an amazing person he is…
After sighing in awe, Neia went to the Sorcerer King’s side, and tightly shut her open mouth.
She kept her visor on.
The Sorcerer King had said that she she did not need to take it off, since she ought to be ready to fight at any time.
He was probably concerned about whether she could use a magic item like it was part of her own body and thinking that she ought to be on guard no matter what unexpected things happened. Neia was deeply impressed by the depth of the Sorcerer King’s considerations.
Neia understood that the Sorcerer King’s eyes had gone from looking into his hands to herself as she ran over. For some reason, observing the Sorcerer King’s habitual movements made Neia a little happy.
The thought that she understood the tiny quirks of an extraordinary individual made Neia’s cheeks relax.
“Your Majesty! We are grateful that you have chosen to visit a place like this in person!”
Neia was still the Sorcerer King’s squire, even after being appointed the commander of the archery unit. That said, it was hard to say that she had done a squire’s job properly when she had left his side to train others in archery, not to mention she had even made him come here instead.
Neia wanted to prioritize her work as the Sorcerer King’s squire, but instead she had chosen to do this, because she no longer wanted to be a burden to him. And there was also another reason, which she had not told anyone else.
That was because the Sorcerer King refused to have anyone except Neia serve as his follower. He had said that to Caspond’s face with Neia in attendance.
The number of people here was steadily increasing. There were many more skilful or charming people than this mad-eyed maiden. Even so, he had said that Neia would be fine. The person she viewed as justice had said that about her.
Could anything have made her happier?
“—Umu. While I know you’re being humble, I don’t think this is a mere ‘place like this.’ After all, it is where you sharpen your fangs, is it not?”
“Th-Thank you very much, Your Majesty!”
She looked around — perhaps it would be disrespectful to look away from the Sorcerer King, but the visor she wore made it possible — and saw that her people had heard it and the tips of their ears were turning red. The problem was that their performance deteriorated, possibly because they were nervous, or because they had stiffened up their shoulders in order to look good for the Sorcerer King.