"Yep, I knew it. Red looks good on you. Your white skin and hair really make those blood-red eyes pop out." Seeing me in a complete ensemble, Tiz nodded in satisfaction.

"…thanks." I replied tersely.

Twenty-two days of borrowed time left.

When we arrived at the station in Trestan's capital last evening, we were greeted by over a dozen of Tiz's subordinates and knights.

If the whole group had gone, they would've had to rent out the entire train. Looked like whoever handled the whole thing knew how much was too much. Which meant it must have been the butler, not Tiz.

The day after, which was today, the clothing arrived at the high-cla.s.s inn we were staying at. No one had even come to measure my sizes, yet they all fit perfectly.

I was wearing a high-quality-looking white peasant blouse, with a black, knee-length pleated skirt and black leather ankle boots.

And covering all of them was a snug hooded coat in a calming dark-red shade. No matter how you slice it, I was pretty much Red Riding Hood here.

How had things come to this? I recalled the events of yesterday, when I was still on the train.

*

Tiz had gotten bored being cooped up in a train for a whole day, which meant I was in his guest room for his entertainment. Salia was still standing guard in front of the door. On papers, I was his 'servant', but I didn't care to change my att.i.tude, and Tiz hadn't said anything about it either. Which was the last straw that pushed Salia over the edge. She snapped at me.

"How long do you plan on hiding in that rag? Show some respect. It's sweltering just seeing you still inside that coat even indoor."

I wholeheartedly agreed. But it wasn't like I was wearing this because I liked it. If Tiz found out about my ears here, he'd probably burst into laughter and then promptly proceed to enslave me as his toy.

Normally if that happened, I'd just have to evaporate all the train's pa.s.sengers, but Tiz here had nearly 800 combat power. Even silly Salia had around 400. The other knights had around 200 power too, so fighting them head-on would be quite messy. I supposed the crux would lie in how fast I could deal with Salia first…

I looked at her in my deliberations. She jolted in a bit of fright.

"W-What's that look for?! I only spoke the tru-"

"Stop it, Salia. You too, Shedy. If it actually comes to blows, I'm not going to stop you two, but you should know she's a magic knight. Despite what you may think, she's quite capable." Tiz interrupted in an attempt to mediate.

"Is that so…"

So she was more magical than martial? I supposed her weapon did have some powerful enchantment. She might prove to be a lot more troublesome to me than I first thought.

I showed no signs of wanting to make amends, and the same went for her. Then Tiz started speaking, looking like he just thought of a new game.

"That reminded me, you have quite high magic too, Shedy. And judging from your combat power, you use that magic for spellcasting, right? I didn't think a little girl traveling alone would be weak. Perhaps there's a secret hidden in that coat?"

He threw a sharp gaze at the part of my head I'd been hiding.

I sighed and began my prepared excuse. I pointed to his arms.

"Hmm? What do you mean by that?"

"My skin's too white, I'm weak to light. Even this much light indoor's already enough to hurt my eyes."

The lack of pigment made me quite sensitive to all sorts of light. Unlike before, it was only a trivial problem now, but the lighting in this train – were they magical too? – was about the same brightness as modern Earth's.

"I see."

After a few moments thinking, Tiz nodded and promptly rang the bell near his hand.

"Gramps, make sure there's a hooded coat when you prepare her clothes. A blood-red one would be good."

*

Was he messing with me…?

He was some sort of big-shot n.o.ble, right? Would this be within his means?

Right now, I was helping out with the preparations for tomorrow's auction. I was managing his luggage, which was one of the responsibilities of his servants. Even if I was just one on paper.

"Shedy, can you hide weapons?"

"Weapons?"

"Yeah. The official rules said you're not allowed weapons in. However, there'll be incognito n.o.bles from other countries like me at the auction, plus people from the underworld too. And you can ban weapons, but you can't ban magic. There'll be quite a few attendees secretly armed."

"…as long as it's not too big. By the way, which country's n.o.ble are you?"

"Hah, curious? I'll tell you if you become my servant for real."

"Not really… just thought you're quite young to be the… what was it… the current head, right?"

"Mmm, well… I supposed. And I'm already twenty-seven, I'm not that young anymore. It's not an uncommon age for a family head."

"…I really thought you were younger."

"Is that so? …right, I see. So there's this thing I heard, that apparently high magic tends to make you age slower. This probably happens less often in commoner families, though. Also, kids grow up quickly, so maybe that's why I thought you suddenly looked older."

"Umm, yeah, must be…"

Tiz began comparing the sidearms the knights brought over. Midway through, he seemed to have gotten bored. He picked a few daggers with small magic stones inserted.

"Let's just get whatever. Pack these, Shedy."

…I was running out of bandit daggers, so maybe it was about time for a resupply. Well, with my Rank-up, it's not like I needed weapons anymore anyway.

[Shedy] [Race: Mistral] [Lesser Demon (High-Rank)] ・The demon of bewitching mist that dances upon the northern seas. A canny spiritual lifeform. [Magic Points: 1100/1100] [Total Combat Power: 1210/1210] [Unique Skill: