Chapter 30
“Then, I shall take my leave.”
Aldio bowed politely and departed from the room.
Elric’s gaze remained fixed on the bruises covering Lytton.
Perhaps sensing that gaze, Lytton widened his playful smirk and spoke.
“Ah? This? Man, the Captain’s skill at beating people up hasn’t gone anywhere! I felt like my whole body was falling apart.”
Khahaha—his laughter held not a single shadow of resentment.
That only made Elric feel a deeper sense of guilt.
“I’m ashamed to face you. I was in such a rush at the time….”
“What, friends can ask for favors like that. It actually felt good, reminded me of the old days.”
Elric let out a faint chuckle.
He knew exactly which ’old days’ the man was referring to.
‘Captain! Hit me just once! From today on, I’m doing endurance training!’
‘Okay!’
‘Aack! You hit way too hard!’
‘Oops, sorry.’
The two of them had nurtured dreams of becoming knights since they were young.
Elric had wanted to be the knight leading the charge at the front of the battlefield with his sword held high, while Lytton wanted to be the dependable knight holding his ground with a shield before the castle walls.
Thus, the two of them often played by treating one-sided beatings—disguised as sparring—as training.
Thinking back on those times, it was always the same.
Lytton’s body was always covered in bruises, and Elric’s wooden sword was stained with dried blood.
“……Hmm, remembering the past only makes me feel more apologetic.”
“It was a good experience for me. Thanks to that, I didn’t even think it hurt when I got beaten by my seniors during my apprenticeship. Those seniors couldn’t hit nearly as well as the Captain.”
Elric was truly grateful for his lighthearted banter.
No, there was something he was even more grateful for.
“You aren’t asking me anything.”
“Hmm?”
“About my sword. And what I’ve been doing for the last ten years, or even why I’m hiding my strength.”
If their positions were reversed, Elric would have clung to Lytton persistently to hear the truth.
He might have expressed his frustration, asking how a friend could keep such things from him.
Yet despite having so many things he must be curious about, Lytton was treating him with a smiling face without asking a single question.
“Do you intend not to ask?”
If Lytton truly wanted to hear the truth, Elric was prepared to reveal everything to him, at least.
Silence fell after the question was posed.
Lytton wiped the playfulness from his face and spoke with a steady smile.
“Yeah, I’m not gonna ask.”
Elric’s eyes widened.
Lytton continued.
“The Captain must have a reason for hiding it, right? I’m the type who thinks a man’s secrets should be kept.”
In that moment, Elric felt a surge of emotion welling up inside him.
“Remember when we were nine? The day the Captain came over with a swollen cheek.”
“……I remember.”
“It was the same that day. You wanted to hide that your father had slapped you, so you lied and said you’d beaten a noble brat from the next village to death. We didn’t ask anything then, either. Was it when we were twelve that we finally heard the truth?”
“……It was.”
Elric’s voice grew thick.
Lytton let out a hearty laugh.
“It’s not just me; everyone else will be the same. We know. The Captain doesn’t tell others about things that are hard for him to bear alone. So, we just wait.”
Ah, so that was it.
Elric suddenly realized.
What truly soothed his bloodlust was not the bucolic atmosphere of Wibin.
“I’ll just stay here and cheer for you until that stuff doesn’t feel like a big deal to the Captain anymore. So when that day comes, tell me about the last ten years. Make sure to blow it out of proportion like a hero’s tale.”
It was the people.
Not a connection forged by a few gold coins or a relationship of business, but a relationship of trust.
The human warmth that Elric had forgotten for so long was what had made him weak.
Feeling strangely sentimental, Elric felt his eyes grow hot.
“Ah, don’t cry. It’s embarrassing between men. Besides, crying doesn’t suit the Captain. It’s kind of an eyesore.”
At Lytton’s giggling laughter, Elric also bit his lip hard to swallow his tears.
Then, he let out a boisterous laugh.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Your way of speaking has really become like an old man’s.”
“I’ll tell you the reason for that later, too.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Lytton replied and stood up from his seat.
“I’ll be going now. Once I head back to Gideon, I won’t be back for a while. There’s a lot of work piled up over there.”
“Why not stay a little longer before you go.”
“The longer the farewell, the more regrettable it becomes. Besides, it’s not like this is our last meeting, right? I can just stop by the next time I come.”
Elric’s fingertips trembled slightly.
At the casual mention of a ’next time,’ the hesitation that had existed inside Elric all along grew even larger.
Not wanting such feelings to be discovered, Elric forced a smile.
Lytton suddenly wore a sly grin and spoke suggestively.
“Hmm, will I be able to see a nephew by then?”
“A nephew?”
“If it’s the Captain’s kid, it’s a nephew to me.”
One, two, three.
It took Elric exactly that many seconds to understand Lytton’s words.
His face turned as red as an active volcano.
“Wh-What on earth are you talking about!”
“Ooh, why are you yelling? Captain, you’re a nobleman now. Aren’t you going to produce an heir?”
Lytton asked in a tone full of bewilderment, as if wondering why he was reacting that way.
Elric’s lips parted and closed repeatedly.
An heir—did that not mean he would have to do this and that with Tiria?
As his imagination stretched in an unwanted direction, Elric wiped his face with his dry hands.
Lytton continued his nonsense without any tact.
“You know, didn’t you say this to me back in the day? That you were going to have about ten kids and start the Elric Knight Order….”
“Just how long ago was that story.”
“It was when we were ten, so fourteen years ago.”
“Exactly, it was talk from when I knew nothing.”
Ugh, Elric groaned.
His face was so hot it wouldn’t calm down easily.
“How can you bring up every bit of nonsense from when we were children?”
“Why? You two seemed to have a good relationship. Wasn’t that why you left one of those Blade Wolf corpses intact this time? To give it to your wife as a gift.”
He was right.
Among the Blade Wolves hunted in the snowy mountains, he had killed one as cleanly as possible to keep the hide in perfect condition.
It was because Tiria’s worn-out fur cloak had been on his mind.
But that was it.
Elric didn’t attach any more meaning to it than that.
“Aing, tsk tsk, look at you being shy.”
Lytton clicked his tongue.
Elric glared at him with narrowed eyes.
“Get out.”
“Yes, yes, see you next time.”
Waving his hand back and forth, Lytton departed.
The sight of his back as he left in his scruffy attire—as if he were just going for a stroll in front of his house—didn’t quite suit someone embarking on a long journey.
Elric let out a sigh.
“Honestly, when will that fellow ever grow up?”
Elric was the only one who didn’t realize he wasn’t one to talk.
A few more days passed after that.
Tiria spent most of her day sleeping, and even in her waking moments, she was so dazed she couldn’t speak properly.
In fact, she remained in a state where it felt awkward to even say she was fully awake.
Her recovery happened exactly this morning.
A fever still remained, but the dangerous crisis had passed, leaving only the need for stability. She opened her eyes while a maid was cleaning the room.
“M-Madam!”
Tiria blinked as the maid rushed over to check her over.
Her body felt listless.
Her forehead was a bit hot, and her thoughts didn’t connect well.
However, she wasn’t so far gone that she couldn’t move at all.
Thus, Tiria asked.
“……How long have I been lying here? What happened to the work?”
Though her memories of the interval were hazy, Tiria knew she must have been unable to work for quite some time.
She asked because she thought she would be busy handling the backlogged tasks, and at that, the maid made a crying face.
“What are you talking about as soon as you open your eyes?! Do you know how worried everyone was?!”
“Was it that much?”
“Of course! The Master was extremely worried too! He stopped by here every day to nurse you before leaving!”
Tiria’s eyes flew wide.
She knew that the ‘Master’ she spoke of could be none other than Elric.
“……The Head of the family did?”
Sincerely?
When she asked in shock, the maid nodded vigorously.
“We were all so anxious wondering what would happen if he caught your cold, but he wouldn’t listen to us until the very end! Honestly! The Master’s stubbornness never changes?!”
The way she beat her chest in frustration made it seem like she wasn’t lying.
Tiria couldn’t believe it.
No, to be precise, she couldn’t understand his intentions.
In the midst of that, a thought rose up unbidden.
‘You mean he saw my sleeping face.’
Heat rose to her cheeks.
Her pupils trembled as if an earthquake had struck.
“Hu-Huh? Madam, your face is redder…… Hiek! Your fever is rising!”
The maid stood up in a flurry.
Even then, Tiria couldn’t escape from her own world.
She shivered with embarrassment.
Worry surged first, wondering if she had looked unseemly.
Just as her heart became filled with the desire to check a mirror immediately, the maid hurriedly opened the door.
It was at that moment.
“I’ll go get a wet towel right away…….”
Click—!
“What is all this noise?”
Tiria and the maid’s heads turned toward the door at the same time.
“M-Master?”
Elric was there.
Perhaps he had lost sleep, for he looked a bit haggard.
Silence lingered for a moment, and then Elric’s eyes met Tiria’s as she turned her head.
“……Wife?”
A look of surprise settled over Elric’s face.
