episode_0076

“Is it really okay if I don’t go?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

I learned what I needed to learn.

Above all, what I’m looking for now is… …because it’s not dramatic.

I also thought of Geomseong as my teacher, and Geomseong told me to come see him once… … But no matter what, I went to see him the next day.

Besides, I’ve already ridden the mountain too much. I want to stop now.

“… … Well, I guess I want to rest.”

Alice nodded at my words. It seemed that not only Alice but also the other group members understood what I said.

Yes, now I wanted to take a little break. If it was before I learned meditation, I would have tried to follow along somehow and turn back time to learn this and that, but now… … I came back after destroying the enemy camp in the morning.

“If it goes up, it looks like it will come down tomorrow.”

It was hard to breathe when I thought of so many people going up and being in that cabin.

“I’ll be waiting.”

As I said that, the group looked at each other again, then turned their heads towards me.

“Okay, then.”

It seemed a shame that I couldn’t hear the story behind the title ‘sister’ straight away, but I could hear that when I come back anyway.

“I’ll be back, Sister!”

The group still looked at Claire as if they weren’t used to it, seeing her waving her hand vigorously. There was one person who didn’t seem that surprised, and that was Leo. It seemed like he had heard the whole story from Claire. It was only natural, since they were so close.

“… … .”

I stared blankly at the children riding in the large carriage.

Only after the carriage had completely disappeared from sight did I turn around.

*

“Hey, girl over there!”

Was it such a mistake to wander around the village instead of going straight back to my room?

I immediately got involved with a strange man.

“Here, here! There’s a seat, so come and play with me?”

Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the man who was shouting so loudly. Most northerners are blunt. And they don’t like frivolous men. Naturally, the man was also given negative looks, but the man didn’t seem to care much.

The man had red hair that was vivid enough to be noticed at first glance. He had brought another chair in front of his own and was putting his feet up on it, but the café owner was glaring at him with a frown.

But no one actually chased the man away. Was it because the clothes he was wearing were so luxurious? He looked like a high-ranking noble. It would be annoying if he got entangled for no reason, so they probably left him alone for now.

If there is a noble in the moving house, there is a very high probability that he is either a guest of the Winterfield family or a soldier.

But the man was neither a nobleman, nor a guest, and certainly not a soldier.

He was a member of the royal family, and no one specifically called him. He may not be suitable for the military, but his personality just doesn’t fit.

“… … .”

I felt my head pounding and walked towards Lucas.

As I approached, Lucas smiled brightly as if he was happy to see me, took down his feet that had been on the chair, and patted them with his hand before pushing them towards me, but I silently pulled out another chair next to me and sat down.

Of course, Lucas didn’t seem to care much about my attitude.

“Is your trip fun, little sister?”

“… … It was fun until a little while ago.”

“When you say it like that, it sounds like you’re saying that I ruined the fun.”

“… … .”

You already know everything.

Lucas himself didn’t seem to expect that I would be happy to see him. His face was still smiling, though.

Why did she reveal herself so openly? Is it because Jennifer, who was acting as the master of Winterfield, is away? Is it because Alice left this place for a while?

But even so, there were students walking around. Lucas, with his red hair that looked like it was burning, stood out on his own. I didn’t think he had a striking appearance, but he didn’t have a face so bland that the students wouldn’t recognize him.

The Imperial Princess is sitting face to face in a cafe with an unknown handsome man.

Well, even if rumors spread, they would die down quickly. If he were a true noble, Lucas would know, and once he finds out who we are, he would see this situation as a scary sight that you shouldn’t even look at with eyes open, rather than something heartwarming or gossip.

“Since when have you been watching me?”

“Are you asking when you already know everything?”

No, I really don’t know.

… … But I can understand why Lucas reacts this way. If he had been following me throughout this training, he would have seen me fighting on the battlefield.

It wouldn’t make sense for a being that fights such an inhuman battle to not know about the existence of Lucas who followed behind him.

“Always, I guess.”

“Yeah, well.”

He spoke calmly, not even surprised by what I said. He didn’t even touch the coffee in front of him. He must have only sat down after confirming that the children had left, because the coffee was still steaming and not cooling down.

Again!… … I took the picture thinking that he would shout, and fortunately it hit.

… … By the way, have you always been following me?

“Ah, come to think of it, it wasn’t 24 hours. It’s hard to track you when you go into the room, so I didn’t bother to follow you. There was also time to report to His Majesty the Emperor, and I had to eat and sleep. ”

No, that’s probably true.

But that means that I wasn’t being watched by someone else while I was taking turns.

“And if you had installed something in the room, you would have noticed it anyway.”

I stared at his face to see if he was sincere or not… … If he was, it would be safer to turn back time and erase everything.

But I didn’t have the ability to see through all the lies behind Lucas’s expression just by looking at his face. I don’t have mind reading skills, and my eyes themselves weren’t much different from a normal person’s.

So, for now, I decided to just assume Lucas’ words were true and be careful in the future.

… … When I go back to my room, I’ll have to turn everything upside down and look for it.

“Then why did you show yourself to me now?”

If Jennifer had heard us talking, honestly, it would have been better for her to follow my friends instead of me. It would have been a chance for Lucas to meet the Black Star he was looking for.

In the original, Lucas trained further even after finding out the location of the swordsman until he was certain he would win, so even if he were to get caught now, the story wouldn’t be too different from the original.

“… … That’s right.”

Lucas blankly looked up at the sky. There was not a single cloud in the cold blue sky. In the islands, smoke was spewing out here and there, so even near the Academy, it was quite difficult to see a sky this blue. It was not that there was no smoke here either, since they used steam engines.

“I just have a question.”

“What do you want to ask?”

“… … you.”

Lucas called me and just looked at me quietly.

“… … What is it?”

I asked that because I felt that gaze was sticky and uncomfortable for no reason, and Lucas said with a smirk on his lips.

“You, fight me sometime.”

“… … Yes?”

“We risk our lives together, properly.”

“… … .”

I tried not to show my surprise on my face. Actually, I think that effort was quite successful. My face probably didn’t look much different than usual.

“Hmm.”

Lucas, who saw my expression, raised the corners of his lips as if he was satisfied and said.

“I think I know a little bit about how Alice reads your expressions. She’s amazing too.”

Before I could answer properly, Lucas got up from his seat.

Then he came towards me, tapped my shoulder a few times with his hand, and then left.

“… … .”

uh.

what.

I sat there like that for a while, as if I was nailed to the spot, and then I was finally able to come to a conclusion.

So, after seeing me fight, you concluded that fighting me would be more fun than fighting a blacksmith?

“… … .”

Oh, okay.

Am I hopeless?

*

I didn’t feel alive.

But the moment Lucas said those words, he could feel goosebumps running down his back and a cold sweat running down his face.

It was a feeling I had because I couldn’t feel anything.

Even as he watched her take down countless men on the battlefield and single-handedly destroy a bunker, Lucas felt no trace of life in Sylvia.

Is this the realm of the famous Jingjishu that I’ve only heard of? Or is it just that the opponent is so weak that I don’t feel anything special?

… … No, it wasn’t like that. It was a bit different from that.

Rather, it’s like.

It’s almost like an attitude of ‘what was meant to happen happened’.

The attitude that ‘it should be that way’.

That was the attitude Sylvia showed while fighting.

That’s why Lucas never imagined that he would kill Sylvia.

but……

“Is it a mountain that must be overcome?”

If only I could truly overcome that Sylvia,

Isn’t Lucas no different from cutting the ‘future’?

A much stronger conviction and intuition than when he swung his sword at Sylvia so many times.

That’s why Lucas finally made up his mind.

I’m going to take a look at that future.

“How could I just pass by someone who finishes me off like that?”

As Lucas muttered like that, a triumphant smile appeared on his lips.