Chapter 47: The Great Spirit Beatrice Who Has Lived for 500 Years Is a Real Mature Woman! (Patreon)

Felt swung her legs, sheathed in black stockings, and answered, "He got back this morning. Who did you think made breakfast?"

"Oh right, after he finished cooking he had us pass along a message — he said he took care of what you asked, everyone's at the castle, and now he's heading off to bring Roswaal to see the Sage."

"Also, he wanted to report that your last remaining candidate has been found."

"Mm, chew chew~ I see. Got it. I'll head out once I'm done eating. You two stay and watch the house."

Hearing this, Emilia's face twisted with conflict as she asked, "Um, Daniel — are you going to Roswaal Manor?"

"Yeah, that's right. Lia, do you want to come with me?" Daniel turned and asked.

Emilia's expression turned serious. "I'm coming. If it's all right, I want to keep an eye on you. Everyone at the mansion is a good person — you can't do anything bad to them, Daniel!"

Daniel's mouth twitched. "Then I won't take you. That way you won't know if I do anything bad."

"Eh?! That's not fair!"

Emilia panicked.

Daniel acted like he hadn't noticed. After finishing breakfast, seeing Emilia still puffed up with indignation, he gave in and kissed her cheek.

"Lia's so cute. Don't worry, I won't hurt them — they're my wings, after all."

Emilia touched her cheek and instantly melted, muttering, "Daniel, you big meanie!"

Not one to play favorites, Daniel turned and gave Felt a kiss too, then finally got up and went upstairs to wake Ram to guide the way.

As for Elsa, she'd stay behind at the manor as security.

Right now she was the only real fighter left at the manor — if anything went wrong, she could at least buy time until he got back.

Of course, Save Point — Natsuki Subaru — had to come along too, so he could reset things at a moment's notice if needed.

Half-asleep and groggy, Ram was roused by Daniel to drive the dragon carriage to Roswaal Manor.

This probably counted as drowsy driving, other-world edition.

At the dragon carriage's normal speed, reaching Roswaal Manor would take at least half a day.

But with Daniel's Vector Change at work, that speed could be pushed much higher — nothing more than boosting kinetic energy while cutting wind resistance and weight. Simple enough.

Ever seen a dragon carriage break the sound barrier?

Watching the scenery blur past in reverse, Ram and Natsuki Subaru both went pale as sheets.

Ram wasn't sleepy anymore — she was wide awake, in fact, since the slightest mishap now would kill her on the spot.

Forget the two of them — even the ground dragon pulling the carriage was foaming at the mouth from sheer terror at the speed. If Daniel hadn't been controlling its body directly, the carriage would have flipped long ago.

"Ram, keep your eyes on the road. Don't take a wrong turn."

"Lord Daniel, I don't think the wrong turn is the issue right now. The real question is whether we'll die on this carriage."

Ram didn't dare blink, eyes locked on the road, even as she answered him.

"No need to worry. Nothing will happen with me here."

It's precisely because you're here that this is dangerous.

Ram grumbled the thought silently, but steeled herself and kept the carriage as close to on-course as she could.

Fortunately, Daniel's precise control kept the whole trip accident-free.

At their current speed, they'd reach Roswaal Manor in about half an hour.

As for Natsuki Subaru, the kid had already passed out.

"Such a fragile high schooler. I even cushioned the ride, and he still blacked out at this speed."

Daniel tossed Natsuki Subaru into the back of the carriage compartment and got up, stepping outside.

He pulled the curtain down to block off the compartment.

Then he simply picked Ram up and sat her on his lap.

"Eh?! Lord Daniel, now isn't the time for this! I need to watch the road!"

"Mm-hmm, whatever you say, Ram."

"Then let go of me, you thick-headed — can't you understand plain words!"

Jolted the whole way, by the time they reached Roswaal Manor Ram had effectively evolved from demon-kin into a slime, sprawled limp against Daniel and unwilling to move a muscle.

Daniel hopped down from the carriage with Ram in his arms; Natsuki Subaru still hadn't woken up inside, and the ground dragon's legs gave out beneath it, collapsing to the ground foaming at the mouth.

"Sheesh, it's just a fast ride. Why's everyone's nerve so weak?"

Daniel muttered the complaint and looked up at the castle — no, it could hardly be called a castle anymore. "Ruins" was more accurate.

The once-towering structure now looked like something had sliced it clean in half, its walls reduced to charred, gaping holes.

The once-manicured lawn was torn to shreds, pockmarked with craters everywhere.

Looked like Reinhard and Roswaal had really gone all out yesterday.

Daniel studied the castle. The Sword Saint should have shown restraint — hopefully he hadn't gone and killed my Beatrice and Rem.

Ram had recovered enough to gape, wide-eyed, at the ruined mansion.

She knew Daniel had sent the Sword Saint after Roswaal yesterday, but she hadn't expected it would end up like this.

"Rem!"

Ram immediately wrenched herself from Daniel's arms, dropped to the ground, and dragged her exhausted body running into the castle.

Seeing this, Daniel followed right after, stepping into the castle's main hall. Looking at the wood splinters and rubble scattered everywhere, his mouth twitched.

He'd been planning to claim this place for himself, but it looked like it wouldn't be usable as-is — it'd need a serious renovation first.

Daniel caught up with Ram and patted her soft pink hair. "Relax. The Sword Saint knows his limits — your sister's definitely fine."

"Come with me. I have a rough idea where they'd be."

Hearing that, Ram relaxed a little and followed Daniel up the cracked staircase to the second floor.

Every door in the whole castle had been smashed except one — the bathroom door at the far end of the second floor stood untouched.

Daniel eyed the conspicuous mana radiating from it and walked straight up to push the door open.

Beyond it lay a massive library, revealed all at once — and here, at least, nothing had been damaged.

Sitting in a wooden chair was a tired-looking blonde girl with drill-curled ringlets, a book held up in her hands, hiding her cheek from view.

On the floor in front of her lay someone who, aside from hair color, looked exactly like Ram — a blue-haired mirror image of her, currently unconscious.

Daniel cross-checked the scene against his memory and confirmed he had the right people: the great spirit Beatrice, and Rem.

"Found them."

Daniel gave a light chuckle and stepped into the Forbidden Library. Beatrice lowered her book and eyed him with obvious displeasure.

"So many uninvited guests lately. So, was it you who sent that redhead after Roswaal?"

Her tone was sharp, but Daniel didn't seem to mind in the slightest. "Sounds like the Sword Saint already told you what happened."

"Yeah, that was me."

At Daniel's admission, Beatrice looked ready to say more, but then Ram darted out from behind him, dropped to her knees beside Rem, and asked her in a flustered voice —

"Lady Beatrice, is Rem all right?!"

Beatrice looked a little surprised to see Ram, but her gaze softened as she answered. "Mm, she's fine. She just took a heavy hit to her demon horn from the Sword Saint while transformed."

"Beatrice brought her into the Forbidden Library afterward. She just hasn't woken up yet — it's only some lingering aftereffects."

"If you'd come a little later, she'd have already recovered fully."

Hearing that, Ram let out a breath of relief and thanked her. "Thank you very much, Lady Beatrice."

Beatrice gave a nod, then turned to Daniel with a flicker of expectation hidden in her eyes, wanting to ask what he wanted with her, now that he'd defeated Roswaal and come looking.

For all these years she had followed her mother's words, waiting for the one who would take her away from the Forbidden Library.

But with the future-predicting Gospel gone dead, she had never found that person.

And without the Gospel's guidance, she had even less means of finding this so-called "one."

She had already been waiting five hundred years.

Then, just yesterday, the battle between Roswaal and the Sword Saint had shattered the castle's mana, draining even the Forbidden Library's reserves nearly dry.

As an artificial spirit, Beatrice could only survive on vast amounts of mana without a contractor.

Having lost that much mana, a few more uses of magic and she'd likely dissipate on her own.

So she'd reasoned from this that the one her mother spoke of would surely appear soon!

After all, surely her contractor wouldn't fail to show up right as she was about to die.

Her mother's words were never wrong — Beatrice would find her contractor without fail, so she wasn't panicking despite being close to fading away.

This one's eyes were a bit strange, sure, but there was plenty of mana around him — more than enough to cover what she'd lost. He had to be the one, probably.

"Beatrice is asking you — are you Beatrice's one?"