“What on earth happened?”

Yet Alisha seemed more concerned for Lotte.
Though her kindness tugged at Lotte’s heart, Lotte had already made up her mind.

“…I’m rather fed up with having to indulge your hobbies.”
“Wh-what? Are you serious?”

Lotte deliberately chose harsh words.
　In response, Alisha appeared deeply wounded.
—Their relationship might have been discovered, but it should still be manageable now.
Alisha and Lotte weren’t in that sort of relationship — if she could just show they weren’t intimate.
Therefore, Lotte needed to reject Alisha.
If she pushed her away — then surely, if asked about their relationship, Alisha would answer, “Nothing.”
　This should be the best course, the correct answer.

“I’m serious. I became a maid because I admired Lady Alisha, but I’m sick of being ordered to do all sorts of strange things.”
“…So that’s how you truly feel?”
“Of course it is.”

—It wasn’t her true feelings.
It was simply for Alisha’s sake.

“Right, I understand.”

　Alisha let out a small sigh, removed the choker from her own neck, and handed it to Lotte.

“…I trusted you.”

—Alisha wore a sorrowful expression.
Lotte didn’t respond to those words. She simply took the choker and left the room.
This ended the secret relationship between Alisha and Lotte.
　――Lotte had ended it.

(…But this should be fine.)

She had no intention of becoming a maid for the Flesis household.
Even if this meant ― even if Lotte ended up being expelled from the Zekrosia household, she wouldn’t hold it against her.
Because it was Lotte’s decision.
――In reality, Lotte was not expelled from the Zekrosia household.
　Alisha did not summon another maid to replace Lotte. Lotte became just another lowly maid, while Alisha returned to being the ‘perfect princess knight’ everyone admired.
A few days after Lotte stopped being summoned by Alisha, Alisha was sent on an expedition for work.
Lotte had promised to go on that expedition too, but Alisha never called for her.

＊＊＊

　—Shall we stop this now?
Alisha jolted awake, her body trembling.
She had been taking a brief nap inside the tent set up for rest.
The words Lotte had hurled at her in the dream — Alisha was forced to realise once more that they were reality.

(…Why now?)

　Honestly, she hadn’t expected those words from Lotte, nor had she wanted to consider it.
But Alisha couldn’t show herself in such a state to others.
Even if abandoned by someone she trusted — Alisha had to remain the ‘perfect knight princess’.
So, she would withdraw into herself on that day — and that would be the end of it.

(…That’s right. I’m here to fulfil my duty as a knight.)

　Repeating this to herself, Alisha emerged from the tent.

“Break is over. Let us continue our reconnaissance.”

Obeying Alisha’s command, the other knights began moving.
—Alisha was near the expedition’s destination, the ‘Forest of Rayli’.
Villages in this area had recently reported sightings of monsters seldom seen in the countryside.

“Hmph—”

Exhaling sharply, Alisha swung her sword.
She felled a monster that had ventured close to the village.
Its body was large; it had likely survived by preying on other creatures within the forest — where sustenance should be plentiful, rendering trips to the village unnecessary.
Even if sightings occurred, they shouldn’t be this frequent.
　—Yet this time, the numbers were abnormal.
It was as if they had to hunt monsters emerging from the forest every single day.

“…Quite a number again today, eh?”
“Indeed. Almost as if they’re fleeing something.”

Responding to her subordinate’s words, Alisha murmured, gazing into the distance.

“Could it be… something lurking within the forest?”
“There are two possibilities. One is that there’s a food shortage for monsters in this area. But that usually happens after something like a wildfire or some other sudden natural disaster. There hasn’t been a shortage for herbivorous monsters so far, yet they’re starting to flee the forest too.”
“Then…”
“The other possibility is that something dangerous has arrived here, making it unsafe for the monsters to live here.”

　—They can no longer live in this forest, so they’re fleeing.
As a result, monsters are now reaching human settlements.
In other words, the monsters aren’t descending upon the villages of their own volition.
They’re simply forced into it by circumstances.

“The survey team should be returning soon, right?”
“Yes. Given the situation, they seem to be proceeding with caution.”
“Naturally. We can’t simply assume nothing will happen.”

　Something has definitely happened — until the expedition reports back, Alisha will continue dealing with the monsters coming into the settlements.
It would be fine if they were the harmless type, but naturally — monsters living in the forest aren’t all like that.
It’s more than Alisha can handle alone, and many knights have already been called out.

“The expedition has returned!”

Another knight reports to Alisha.

“Any results?”
“Th-they say an emergency countermeasures headquarters is being set up.”
“Countermeasures headquarters? What on earth happened?”
“Well…”

Alisha frowned upon receiving the report from her fellow knight.
Then — she turned her sharp gaze back towards the depths of the forest.