Chapter 77
Cadet Ekinesia Roaz left the headquarters on Silfide.
He was planning to take a lap around the outskirts of Ajenka. As he rode his horse through the city, he spotted a general store with a stall set up. There was an item on the stall that caught his eye.
Yuriene reflexively stopped his horse. His hesitation didn't last long. In the end, he bought the hand mirror from the stall. It was an item he had never bought before, let alone carried around.
He rode his horse outside the castle walls and stopped in a field on the outskirts of Ajenka. Leaning against a low tree, he stared intently at the mirror he had just bought. It was his own face that he saw every day, but it felt unfamiliar when viewed through the small hand mirror.
He raised the corners of his lips and tried to smile. It felt awkward and stiff. He adjusted his expression and tried to smile again. It was still awkward.
[What are you doing right now?]
Rangiosa asked in a weak voice. Yuriene touched the corners of his lips and replied.
"I was wondering what my smiling face looks like."
[Why on earth are you curious about that?]
"Because Ekinesia seems to relax whenever I smile. I think she likes my smiling face."
[……I swear, I've lived long enough to see all sorts of things.]
The Holy Sword openly clicked its tongue. Yuriene wasn't listening to the Holy Sword. He raised the mirror and smiled a few more times, then muttered blankly.
"It's not working. It just looks awkward."
[Are you actually practicing how to smile now?]
"If I smile a little better, maybe she'll smile back at me."
[……Ha.]
"I think I used to smile easily in front of her."
[We're doomed. Doomed.]
"What's doomed?"
[Seeing you so out of your mind makes me think the situation is already irreversible.]
"Speak clearly."
[Never mind. It's better for me to keep my mouth shut in this area.]
The Holy Sword grumbled and didn't say anything more. Yuriene took it as a given and looked back at the mirror. He practiced smiling quite seriously.
* * *
The next day, Yuriene couldn't concentrate on his work all morning. He was fine when he was swinging his sword during morning training, but as soon as he started on paperwork, he kept getting distracted. He couldn't stop thinking about Ekinesia Roaz and Baraha Islaff being together right now.
Because of that, he hadn't even finished half of the documents he needed to review by the afternoon. Usually, he would have finished the paperwork in the morning and had time to do practical work such as overseeing the Knights' training.
Yuriene, who was struggling to concentrate on the documents, finally threw the papers down and got up from his seat. He felt like throwing his gauntlet at his past self for manipulating things so that Baraha would become her supervisor.
[You're not going to see the Demon Sword's owner again, are you?]
As he left the commander's office, the Holy Sword spoke to him as if it was dumbfounded. Yuriene made an excuse.
"I can't concentrate. I'm just going out for a walk."
[Is that what you call an excuse?]
"……I'll just go see her for a moment."
[You're completely out of your mind. Please, I beg you, don't go astray.]
"Go astray? What do you mean?"
[I mean, don't commit a crime. I'd like you to be my Master for as long as possible.]
"Don't talk nonsense."
[I wish this was just an absurd worry.]
The Holy Sword grumbled unhappily. He left the Holy Sword to its useless worries and quickly headed towards the stables. They were supposed to be there today, taking care of the horses.
However, there was no sign of anyone inside the stables. Yuriene stopped abruptly where he could see the entrance to the stables. Neither Baraha nor Ekinesia was there.
'Where did they go?'
He expanded his senses as much as possible, hoping they were nearby. He quickly found Ekinesia. She was talking to someone else near a nearby water fountain. Yuriene headed towards them, listening to their voices.
"You said he wants to apologize after meeting me? Senior Bread to me?"
"Yeah. You can refuse if you don't feel like forgiving him. Just because he wants to apologize doesn't mean you have an obligation to accept his apology."
Had she been wronged enough to warrant an apology?
Yuriene frowned. He was bothered by the content of the conversation, and even more so by the person she was talking to.
Ian Pelletro. Even without using True Sight, it was obvious that he was filled with churning malice. A surging movement that looked like it would burst out at any moment.
He had seen quite a bit of that kind of malice. It became like that when malice was ready to be acted upon.
It was obvious who that malice was directed at. Ian Pelletro was daring to show malice towards Ekinesia Roaz in front of him.
He wanted to kill him right here and now.
Yuriene looked down at Ian with that thought in mind. As if sensing his feelings, the Holy Sword stopped him.
[Calm down. There's no evidence, and we don't even know exactly what he's planning. Have you forgotten what you've been investigating that guy for? It's not justice to punish him without going through the proper procedures, especially when you haven't caught him in the act.]
Even without Rangiosa's nagging, Yuriene knew it well himself. He was just having a hard time suppressing his anger for a moment.
He took his eyes off Ian and looked towards Ekinesia. Seeing the cleanly burning sun after seeing the wriggling malice made him feel like his True Sight was being cleansed. Still, he wanted to see her face, so he closed his True Sight.
"What kind of dispute is this, Cadet Ekinesia?"
"It's a personal matter, Commander."
Ekinesia didn't give him any room to intervene. It would be stranger if she tried to ask him for help. Yuriene smiled bitterly to himself and carefully examined her complexion.
'She doesn't seem injured.'
Why did she look so tired?
All sorts of possibilities swirled in his head. In the midst of all that, he remembered the report he had received from his direct informant who was mixed in with the academy's staff.
The story that Ekinesia had returned to the dormitory drenched in sweat, side by side with her roommate. It was presumed that they had been sparring.
Considering her hands, which had no calluses, if she swung her sword to the point of being drenched in sweat, she would most likely catch a cold. Unlike before his regression, she was still in the body of a noble lady who had hardly been trained.
After thinking about that possibility, he realized that she definitely had a cold. She seemed to have a fever.
The freshman Ranking match was tomorrow, yet she was walking around with a sick body. She was probably enduring it, thinking it was nothing. She wouldn't even think of telling anyone.
She was too used to overcoming things alone. The years she had wandered alone after losing everyone she could rely on were too long. Yuriene spoke to Ian.
"Cadet Representative, do you have anything more to say to Cadet Ekinesia?"
"Yes? Ah……. Well, that's."
Ekinesia subtly interjected as Ian hesitated.
"Please tell him to come and apologize to me in person if he wants to apologize, Senior."
"……Okay, I'll tell him that."
"If you're done, you can go. I have something to say to Cadet Ekinesia."
Yuriene sent Ian away, thinking that he should investigate the matter related to the 'apology'. Judging by the concentration of malice, it was clear that he was plotting something.
After Ian left, Ekinesia lowered her head. She wouldn't make eye contact. Yuriene looked at her falling pink hair and opened his mouth.
"Something……."
He started hesitantly. Would she, who was nervous and wary of him, welcome his help?
"……Is there anything…… I can do to help her……."
Was there anything he could do to help? Whether it was Ian bothering her, or being by her side now that she was sick.
Unlike when he was watching her gather Giosa alone, he could reach out to her now. He could help her. He hoped she would rely on him even a little.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't hear you properly, Commander."
"……No, it's nothing."
But she probably wouldn't want that. Perhaps what she wanted most right now was for him to never appear in front of her again. A bitter smile escaped him, and Yuriene quickly covered his mouth.
He could just pretend not to notice and leave, but he didn't want to. If he couldn't stay by her side, he wanted to at least get her some medicine.
Ekinesia was likely to walk around with that body, saying she was fine, rather than taking medicine. At best, she would just sleep, thinking she would get better if she got enough rest.
"Follow me, Cadet Ekinesia."
"……Yes."
Yuriene took her towards the royal guard headquarters. He had her wait for a moment and ran up to the commander's office.
The members and clerks in the headquarters were stunned to witness the rare sight of the usually calm commander running up the stairs two or three steps at a time within the headquarters.
He quickly reached the commander's office, ignoring their reactions. There was a first-aid kit in the commander's office. He opened it, took out the blue ointment that was good for muscle pain, and also took out the red ointment for external injuries, just in case.
After taking out the antibiotic syrup, he put everything in a paper bag and looked around, wondering if there was anything else that could help.
A glass bottle that was on the table with the tea set caught his eye. It was homemade ginger tea that Baron had left the day before yesterday, saying his wife had made it.
'It's supposed to be good for colds and fatigue.'
He put it in the bag, glass bottle and all. Even after that, he still felt lingering regret and scanned the commander's office. He wanted to give her something more, even something trivial.
He wanted to stay by her side and take care of her, if he could. He was saddened that he couldn't.
"Sending a doctor and a priest……."
[Stop it.]
The Holy Sword said in a fed-up tone at Yuriene's muttering. He became slightly depressed, picked up the paper bag, and went downstairs.
