Chapter 86
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Chapter 86
Good heavens, why is she so adorable?
Jennis, who had reached the pinnacle of the blade and cultivated a spark into a radiant sun with her brilliant soul—the woman who had pulled legend into reality and wrought the miracle of turning back time—was blushing like a girl, shy and flustered. It was wondrous, endearing, precious beyond measure, and I found myself at a loss. I wanted to embrace her, to press my lips against hers. I truly did. Yet I could not, so I could only smile.
Echinacea Loaz, too embarrassed to speak further, closed her mouth and reached for Amethyst to fasten it at her waist. Her clumsy fingers fumbled with the leather strap, turning it this way and that, when suddenly she startled and released it. Then she covered her ears with her hands, pulled them away, and glanced at her right hand.
[It seems Bardegiosa is complaining about something. Well, I can't blame her. If my master said they'd use another blade as their primary weapon, I wouldn't be pleased either.]
The Holy Sword, silent until now, muttered upon seeing this. Yurien de Harden Kirie, who had been gazing at her with rapt attention, lost in the charm of her every trivial movement, snapped back to awareness at those words. So even swords could feel jealousy? It was an aspect he had never considered when preparing Amethyst, and it troubled him slightly. Surely the Demonic Sword wouldn't take its displeasure out on her.
With such thoughts, I rose from my seat. As I approached, she started in surprise.
"L-Lord?"
"It looks difficult to fasten. May I lend a hand?"
I leaned my arm against the backrest, looking down at her. We were close. A fragrance like flowers emanated from her body. Sweet. Echinacea Loaz nodded without thinking.
"Pardon me."
I grasped the leather strap at her waist. As I fastened it, my arms naturally wrapped around her waist. We drew closer still.
Her waist, cradled in my arms, was slender. Her exposed nape was pale. The sweet fragrance seeped from her delicate skin. Had I lowered my head further and pulled with more force, the soft flesh where her neck and shoulder met would have touched my lips.
My intention in fastening the strap had not been entirely pure. Yet it was not quite so impure either—until I drew near to her, and impurity bloomed of its own accord. My hands trembled as I tied the leather strap. I hastily finished and withdrew from her.
"This is how you should fasten it."
"Th-thank you."
I turned and stepped out of the cabin. Behind me, she called after me in apparent confusion.
"Where are you going?"
"...My throat is parched. And you?"
"Oh, I'm fine."
"I'll return shortly."
I answered without looking back, then fled the cabin as though escaping. I stumbled down the train's corridor and ducked into an empty cabin that caught my eye. I shut the door, leaned against it, and exhaled a long, deep, burning breath. Then I glanced downward.
"...I've lost my mind."
[There's no need to say that. A healthy young man in the company of a woman he cares for—it's only natural. I'd call it a normal reaction.]
"Langiosa."
[Hmm?]
"Sometimes it helps more to pretend you didn't see anything."
[...]
The Holy Sword fell obediently silent. I could not return to the cabin until my desire had subsided.
* * *
When we disembarked from the train and boarded the carriage, I deliberately hired two. We would need to sleep in the carriage through the night, but I had no confidence in myself sharing such a cramped space with her. We rode through the night and arrived at a remote village, then climbed the back mountain.
In the erased past, the Saint had been discovered in a valley nearby as a charred corpse. In a burned shelter, cradled in the arms of a small girl huddled within, lay a silver dagger.
The Healing Sword, Elgiosa.
That small dagger, wrapped in green vines, had been thrust through the girl's chest without a trace of soot despite the flames, it was said. When the fire closed in, it was presumed the girl had attempted to take her own life.
That wound proved the dead girl had been Elgiosa's owner. Only an Elgiosa Owner could inflict a wound with Elgiosa.
The shelter where the Saint had burned to death was a rest stop used communally by herbalists and hunters passing through the area. A hunter who came to use the shelter discovered the corpse and, noticing the dagger in its arms was no ordinary blade, reported it to the lord. That report reached Agenka, allowing the Changtian Knights to recover the masterless Elgiosa.
The perpetrator of the Saint's murder was never caught. There was little to be learned from a charred corpse. Time had also elapsed between the discovery of the body and the report reaching Agenka.
Thus, I did not know where the Saint currently was. I only knew that on some night around this time, a girl dragged by multiple people had been trapped in a burning shelter and perished. Of course, that much was sufficient to prevent the Saint's death.
I established my position on a ridge with a clear view of the shelter. I had prepared to stay for about ten days, but if luck was poor, I might need to remain for a month. Though I had guessed the timeframe, I could not determine the exact date.
Having completed the tent camp faster than Echinacea Loaz, I immediately began preparing dinner.
"Isn't attending to a Lord the squire's duty? Why are you doing it?"
Langiosa asked with puzzlement. I answered quietly so she wouldn't hear me from inside the tent.
"I have spare time."
"From the Demonic Sword Owner's perspective, it must be uncomfortable. It looks like a superior is making her work. You experienced being a squire yourself, so you can't possibly not understand that."
"...I know. But I still want to do it for her."
Echinacea Loaz couldn't cook. As a noblewoman who had eaten food prepared by a cook, it was natural that she was unskilled in cooking. The problem was that this incompetence hadn't improved much even after nine years of wandering through the erased past. She didn't make inedible food, but her cooking remained barely a step above gruel.
Part of it was because she didn't carry proper ingredients, considering them a burden. The only seasoning she'd carried while wandering was salt. While she'd become skilled at hunting and butchering, her cooking methods amounted to either sprinkling salt and roasting, or boiling in water and seasoning with salt. She often skipped even those meals.
The squire training curriculum included simple cooking methods, so Echinacea must have learned some cooking over the past month. But it was still an accelerated course. Focused on filling the stomach rather than taste. The dishes made by new squires were generally like that. As squire experience accumulated, they gradually made better food.
Of course, even with increased cooking experience, some never escaped being mere fuel-level sustenance. Like Echinacea, who remained unchanged despite wandering alone for so long.
Yurien de Harden Kirie's squire career was about four years, and he cooked quite well. There were times when he became the cook when the group went on missions. So from the start, he intended to cook during this mission period. When purchasing provisions, he'd brought plenty of quality ingredients.
In the end, it meant wanting to feed her delicious food. I carefully prepared the ingredients and sautéed them in a butter-melted pot. The menu was a simple beef stew. As I stirred the pot, I muttered absently.
"If I knew her taste preferences, I could make it suit her better."
"...Do you like her that much?"
"I do like her, but it's not a hobby."
"Not cooking... Never mind."
The Holy Sword let out a long sigh. Yurien didn't hear it because I was carefully seasoning. I even added bay leaves and spices I'd brought separately. The stew began to boil, releasing a delicious aroma. Echinacea emerged later and was startled seeing me cook, protesting.
"Don't worry about it. I only did it because I had spare time."
Yurien replied casually and ladled stew into a small bowl, offering it to her.
"Would you taste it for me?"
I suggested as if it were nothing, but internally I was nervous. Would it suit her taste? I'd been confident while cooking, but now that I was offering it to her, that confidence rapidly vanished.
"...Y-yes, okay."
Echinacea took the bowl and blew on the steaming stew. Even that small gesture seemed excessively beautiful to me. I felt my eyes soften involuntarily but couldn't restrain myself. Watching her eyes widen in surprise as she tasted the stew, I worried I truly wouldn't be able to maintain composure.
"I didn't know you cooked so well, Lord."
She spoke with admiration, looking up at me. Really, maintaining composure is... difficult. Yurien averted his gaze.
"I'm not skilled. I can just make it edible. I'm a former squire too."
"And here you are, putting in all that effort while pretending otherwise."
I pretended not to hear the Holy Sword's murmur. I was too busy focusing on conversation with her. I never thought I'd experience that clichéd feeling of walking on clouds with my entire being. This moment—sharing the food I'd made with Echinacea, who neither tensed nor turned away from me, engaging in light conversation—felt exactly like that.
"When I first entered the Military Academy, my mind was complicated. So I caused Dietrich quite a bit of trouble."
"Trouble? In what way?"
I was too excited and barely understood what I was saying. Yurien fell silent for a moment.
The eighteen-year-old Yurien was a boy who believed the world would end if he deviated from the prescribed line. After growing older, I gained some flexibility and stopped imposing my standards on others, but back then I applied that measure to everyone.
It was also a time when I was still clumsy at dealing with people. The distrust and wariness toward surroundings, the deliberate drawing of lines to avoid forming attachments, combined with being extremely sensitive right after being driven out of the Imperial Palace—it must have been quite a sight.
The greatest victim was my roommate, Dietrich. Dietrich wasn't the type to accommodate someone just because they were the Empire's prince. He wasn't docile enough to take verbal abuse. He cursed at me outright, calling me a lunatic, and didn't hesitate to throw punches when frustrated.
While he was no match for me in swordplay, his back alley-style fighting was quite formidable. Though raised in rejection, the prince Yurien experienced crude profanity for the first time and found myself rolling in the dirt. After living like that, when I came to my senses, we'd become friends.
After maturing, Dietrich often grumbled that half the credit for me becoming somewhat human belonged to him. Yurien couldn't completely deny that claim.
It was an embarrassing story to tell Echinacea. I changed the subject.
"Eat it first. It's getting cold."
She seemed very curious about the answer I'd avoided. After the meal, when we were washing dishes, she asked again. Conversing with her in a comfortable atmosphere was truly wonderful, but I wanted to avoid that topic. When showing only good sides wasn't enough, it was shameful to speak of those times.
"Are you that curious about it?"
"You brought it up first, Lord. Of course I'd become curious."
"Because you're speaking to me, I get so flustered that I keep...."
My words trailed off again. Whenever I'm in front of her, I stumble over my tongue repeatedly. Echinacea Loaz looked at me with a bewildered expression. I abandoned any attempt at recovery and fled the spot.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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