Magicraft Meister Part 1

Back in time, the night before Elsa and Meane's disappearance. In a hotel room in the provincial city of Ikhsanat.

"............"

Elsa was crying silently when she returned to her room.

The Marquis of Eisen knows. He came to see her from time to time because his estate was next door and he was also her father's superior.

He had a hairless head and a small fat figure. He said he had been fit before he retired from the army, but Elsa could not imagine that he had been so fit.

Once, when Bina was proposed to Count Kuzma, he asked her how she felt about marrying Jin.

At that time, Elsa recalled that she liked Jin, but she could not think of marrying him and living together.

"But that man..."

I didn't like it. I didn't even want to be with the Marquis. I hated being his wife even more. Just looking at her gives me chills. Elsa bit her lip and could only shed tears.

But as a daughter born into a noble family, she had to obey her father's orders. And if it was a marriage proposal that would benefit the family, everyone around her would be happy. Except for one person, Elsa.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"......"

When Erza did not answer, the door was opened softly and Meane came in.

"Miss."

"......"

When Elsa still did not respond,

"You don't have to say anything. You don't want to marry the marquis, do you?

Meine says, "You don't want to marry the Marquis, do you? Elsa couldn't help but look at Meine's face.

"I know. I've watched you since you were a baby.

Meine smiled softly and gently cradled Erza's head.

"Meine ......"

Erza finally couldn't hold back her emotions and called out Meine's name. At the same time, her tears welled up again,

"Meine, Meine......"

Erza cried for a while with Meine in her arms.

After Erza had calmed down a little, Meine opened her mouth.

"Miss, there are two paths here. One is to marry a noblewoman as you are told and marry a marquis. The other is to renounce your aristocratic position and be free to make your own decisions.

"The freedom to decide for yourself?"

Elsa looked up at the sound of that.

"Yes. We, the common people, have fewer rules than the nobility. We may have to face some hardships because of it, but there are two kinds of hardships: those imposed on us, and those we choose to face. It is hard to say which is better, but don't you think it is better to have hardships that you have chosen for yourself?

* * *

Meane's temptation was well-timed.

In fact, she had been secretly preparing for the day when she would come to this city near her hometown. In order to kidnap Erza.

But if Erza had been able to escape of her own free will, Meane could not have wished for better luck.

With sophistry and trickery, Meane was trying to get Erza to do what he wanted.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Freedom to decide for yourself."

Once again Erza repeated.

"I may never see Mr. Reinhard again. He is an aristocrat. But Jin-sama is a commoner, and we may be able to meet in a year or two when things cool down.

Meane added. You could call it clever. She had successfully stimulated Erza's feelings of concern, or perhaps even adoration, for Jin.

"Jin-kun, I'm sure you will ......".

If she could meet Jin, Jin might be able to make her meet Reinhardt as well. Erza holds out such hope.

And before long, Erza was affirming this to Meane.

"I'm going."

After Erza said that, Meine hugged her again,

"Miss!　You've made up your mind well. Meine will protect you even if it costs her life.

She patted Erza's back.

That night, the two of them were not seen together.

That night, the two disappeared.

Dressed in the commoner's clothes that Meane had secretly prepared, they sneaked out the back door.

No one expected Erza to run away, so there were no guards of any kind.

There were guards, but they did not stick around all the time, but only patrolled periodically, so it was not difficult for her to escape when they were not around.

I left behind all the accessories, bulky objects, and unnecessary baggage that would immediately identify me as an aristocrat, including daggers and rings. Daggers and rings.

The ring had been removed, and by the time I realized it, there was no way I could get it back. The truth is that Meane, who knew that Jin had given it to her, had put her in that situation.

(But this is the only thing...)

Erza secretly slipped the brooch that Jin had given her for her birthday into her breast pocket.

Erza, who had wanted to take the dagger with her, was a bit reluctant, but Meane took her by the hand and led her into the darkness of the night.

The only people who saw her were Pance and Lily of the Covert Maneuver Unit (SP). However, they did not do anything, saying that they had nothing to do with Jin.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Meene, who had saved most of her salary as a nanny for this day, told Erza not to worry about money for the time being and escaped almost in her clothes.

Meine's family lives in the town of Sasad, next to Ikhsanat. They are quite wealthy merchants, but we do not plan to rely on them since they will be the first to check us out.

In the dark, Meane goes to the hired . He has already crossed the street on his way there, so in that sense, he is on schedule.

"Well, welcome. So, is that the young lady I've been talking to?

"Yes. I brought her out tonight. Please, stick to the plan.

I know, I know.

Meane had originally planned to kidnap Erza in Icasanat, but she had already made arrangements for her escape.

"Well, we don't have much time left tonight. Stay here until tomorrow night. Don't worry, they will never find us.

With these words, the handyman leads Erza and Meane to a room with a bed. The room could be locked from the inside. The two were mentally exhausted and soon fell asleep.

The next day we waited for dusk before going into action. It was a long day. When they left the handyman's hideout, both of them looked exhausted.

First, we headed northeast by horseback.

There are other ways to enter the Kingdom of Selroa besides via Ikasanat. Well, most of them are illegal.

Erza and Meene rode their horses along the narrow path in the mountains, which is used by back-street workers who travel from the Kingdom of Cerroa to the Kingdom of Egelea and vice versa.

The road, which was as narrow as a footprint, went on and on in the mountains. The ridgelines are borderlines, and stakes marking the boundaries have been driven in various places. These stakes were magic tools that triggered an alarm when a person crossed between them.

Therefore, the manufacturing process is kept secret. If Jin were to see it, he would easily be able to analyze its structure.

"You can rest here until morning."

There was a small hut near the border. < to use in times like these.

Erza and Meine were exhausted after riding through the night in the dark, so they did as they were told and wrapped themselves in the blankets they were given.

"...... not tasty."

"Just bear with me a little longer, miss."

The two of them satiated their hunger with bread and soup that the handyman had prepared for them. Naturally, the taste is not good, and Erza can't help complaining about it.

The procedure for the day was to enter the Kingdom of Selroa through the border line that <> had pried open, and wait for the night in a hut on a hill overlooking the Torres River.

The <> is a middle-aged mage who, with the help of his magical tools, constructs a kind of tunnel in a place where the distance between the stakes is wide.

Once through the tunnel, the stakes did not raise an alarm, and Erza and Meene were able to cross the border without incident.

"Now all we have to do is go down the mountain to the river, ask the ferryman to cross the river, and we will be in the sub-center of the Kingdom of Selroa, where we won't be caught by our pursuers for a while.

The handyman who had come with them told them this and led them to a hut on a hill overlooking the Torres River.

"Stay here until nightfall, okay?"

With these words, the handyman left. The rest of the group, Elsa and Meane, looked at each other.

"Miss, we are almost there. Once we cross the river, we won't have to be afraid of the followers anymore. We'll rent a house and live together.

"Yes."

Meane gently hugged Erza, who looked tired from the trip. Erza fell asleep. Meine looked at Erza's sleeping face,

"Sweetie. I will protect you at all costs.

She gently brushes a strand of hair from her forehead with her finger.

It is getting dark outside and the long-awaited night is about to arrive.

"Come on, let's go!

The door to the hut opens. It is already dark outside.

"Watch your step.

Even so, it was difficult to find your footing with only the moonlight to guide you. Erza and Meine almost fell down several times as they stepped onto the riverbank.

There they saw a small boat.

"That's the ferryman!

The figure on the boat bowed a little.

"Thank you, thank you very much.

Meine put a bag of gold coins in the handyman's hand.

He then put the bag of gold coins in the handyman's hand.

The handyman opened the bag to check the contents, smiled amiably and disappeared into the darkness.

"Come on, miss."

Meine takes Erza by the hand and they get into the boat, a small boat for five people.

First, Erza is taken to the boat. The ferryman helps her on board, and she climbs aboard without a hitch.

Meine gets on board, and the boat quickly leaves the shore, heading for the other side of the river. The ferryman was using some kind of oar to propel the boat.

"Now all we have to do is wait for the boat to reach the other shore.

Meine exhaled loudly and gently hugged Erza's anxious shoulder.

The moon is small in this world. Even so, the surface of the river reflected the moonlight in countless flickers, as if it were sprinkled with silver sand. Elsa gazed at it absentmindedly.

The boat slowly crossed the river.