Ch.256-13. Reina (2)

# -13. Reina (2)

There was always a feeling of a wall between us.

We were close and spent a lot of time together, but something was always missing. It felt like there was a wall installed to prevent us from ever truly connecting.

The reason was fairly simple.

He always had clear goals and pursued them with an almost pathological thoroughness.

‘To the point of irritation…’

But from the day the war finally ended, his demeanor changed noticeably.

He transformed into someone who seemed relieved, as if he had put down a heavy burden he’d been carrying.

And gradually, little by little, gaps began to appear—gaps large enough for someone new to enter.

Of course, not many people had tried.

‘At most, just that woman…’

But that one attempt had succeeded.

Seeing him look at and love a woman other than Elizabeth made me envious.

‘Could I do it too? What’s stopping me?’

I had such thoughts, but I never actually tried.

Perhaps the reason was quite trivial.

For example, not wanting to drift apart by doing something strange… or simply missing the right timing…

“Coward. Hurry up while I’m still being nice about it.”

“But… will it work?”

“The first step is always the hardest, but Mom already broke through for you.”

“That might have worked because it was her…”

Bellian glared at her with contemptuous eyes as she rambled on.

Reina carefully rose from her seat.

“If this goes wrong, it’s your fault…”

“Just do it, you chicken. And make it obvious. If you really can’t manage, even a straightforward confession like ‘I love you’ would work.”

“That’s… that’s ridiculous…”

“Just go before it’s too late.”

She followed behind him, walking with careful steps.

As soon as she opened the door and stepped outside, the cold night air brushed against her face. Just breathing caused white puffs to spread from her mouth.

It didn’t seem this cold when she entered the bar… it was colder than she expected.

In this weather, the sight of him smiling contentedly while watching stray cats wandering the streets was like a scene from a movie.

Though he had changed quite a bit since then, he still maintained that same atmosphere.

Albert asked her as she followed him outside.

“Why did you come out? Ah… you did drink quite a bit too…”

She approached the table where he was sitting.

Then she pointed to the empty seat beside him.

Her finger looked unusually delicate, unlike the usual Reina.

“May I sit here?”

“Sure. Are you okay though? You seemed to have drunk a lot before I arrived.”

“I’m fine, I didn’t drink that much… If anything, you probably drank more than I did.”

She had only drunk enough to not get too intoxicated since Albert arrived, but his case was different.

He normally didn’t drink that much, but today he had drunk excessively.

“Why did you drink so much? It’s not like you.”

“I just… felt like it.”

“Do you have something on your mind?”

“Something on my mind… something like that, I guess.”

“What is it?”

Normally, even if she asked, he wouldn’t tell her.

At most, he would probably brush it off with something like “It’s nothing important anyway.”

But now, something felt different.

She had the distinct feeling that ‘if I ask, he might actually tell me’ because he seemed so vulnerable.

And fortunately, that prediction became reality right before her eyes.

“These days I feel like… I’m living too peacefully, and I want to do something.”

“Really…?”

She was pondering something deeply.

Albert just watched her.

“Then… would you like to join our party sometime? I think that might help with those feelings.”

“Would that be okay?”

“Of course! Everyone would love it. There’s hardly anyone who dislikes you. Especially people like us.”

Recently, there had been some controversy about his women issues, but the impact of his past deeds was so great that everyone either dismissed it with a “these things happen” attitude or even suggested that his behavior was beneficial for the country.

And no matter what problems arose, he would remain a proper hero to them.

“Then… I should really go. Contact me sometime.”

“I will…!”

“Thanks, really. I’ve had nothing to do lately…”

As she made the suggestion, his face, which had been gloomy until just moments ago, began to brighten.

“But don’t you already clear dungeons regularly?”

“Doing it together is different. I can… help others.”

Though the activity itself wouldn’t change much, the fact that he could be with others and help them seemed to have changed his mindset.

“I had been thinking about trying it, but I kept wondering, ‘Would it be okay for me to do that?'”

“Or separately from that, you could join the Academy.”

Come to think of it, there was the option of becoming a teacher at the Academy.

“That’s not a bad idea…”

Reina suddenly took out her phone and checked something.

Then she spoke in a more excited voice.

“Are you free tomorrow by any chance?”

“Tomorrow? I am, but why?”

“What I mentioned earlier—we’re tackling a difficult dungeon tomorrow, and we’re short on people. We were planning to hire mercenaries.”

If Albert joined them, they would need only a quarter of the mercenaries they had originally planned for.

Even if it was an S-highest grade dungeon.

Since he didn’t know what dungeon it was or where it was located, he couldn’t help but worry.

“How difficult is it?”

“S-highest grade.”

“Can you clear it?”

“We have to. It’s a bit far, but if it erupts, it could affect our territory too.”

In fact, the dungeon had become such an issue that it was featured in the news.

The difficulty of an S-highest grade dungeon would be beyond imagination.

However, the Kainis Empire and the Chronos Party were filled with outstanding talents.

There were two heroes who had left the Special Forces, and others like Andres, Briton, and Eve were also part of the party.

Albert, who had cleared an S-highest grade dungeon once before, was recalling that memory.

Bellian appeared silently beside Albert and sat down. Then she asked in an innocent voice.

“Can I go too?”

“Do you think you can?”

“Yes! I’m strong!”

“If Elly agrees to come along, I’ll take you.”

“Just say you don’t want me to come.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to come; it was because it was dangerous.

No matter how strong Bellian was, she wasn’t strong enough to survive and be effective in that dungeon.

“It’s dangerous.”

“What’s dangerous when Dad is there?”

“Anyway, no.”

“What if White Mom agrees to come too?”

“Then I’ll take you, assuming you’ll behave.”

“Really!? You’ll really take me!?”

Since there was no way Elizabeth would agree to come along, Albert nodded.

But Bellian didn’t think so.

***

And that prediction became reality.

Dozens of people gathered here for the dungeon raid—it might have seemed too few for an S-highest grade dungeon, but that wasn’t the case at all.

There were about 40 party members including Reina, plus Albert, and…

“She really came?”

Elizabeth and Bellian had also arrived.

Elizabeth seemed excited about the opportunity to fight after a long time.

“Because I’m needed here.”

“Right, right!”

“Did you say that knowing this would happen?”

“Yes, I had a feeling it would!”

Elizabeth wasn’t the only one excited.

Bellian, who normally only cleared dungeons up to D-grade at most, was thrilled to participate in such a high-level dungeon raid.

“Just don’t overdo it.”

“Yes! I understand!”

Finally, Albert found himself in a situation similar to what Elizabeth had experienced back then.

Elizabeth asked him with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

“Now do you understand how I felt?”

“Haha… sorry…”

“By the way, did anything happen yesterday?”

“Yesterday? Not particularly?”

“As expected… how frustrating.”

He didn’t understand what was frustrating, but since it didn’t seem important, he didn’t pay much attention to it.

Instead, he followed Bellian, who suddenly ran toward Elizabeth.

Bellian abruptly ran toward Reina and handed her something from her pocket.

“Sis, eat this! It’s really delicious!”

“Hmm…? What is this?”

“Just a snack, something to eat.”

Without any suspicion, she brought the snack Bellian had given her to her mouth.

And she casually devoured the genuinely delicious snack.

“It’s tasty?”

“Yes! I made it especially for you, Sis!”

“Really? Thank you.”

After simply giving her the snack, Bellian returned to her father.

Diving straight into her father’s arms, Bellian said confidently:

“Look forward to it! I’ll re~ally show you today!”

“By the way, what was that snack just now?”

“Just something I made. Things were getting frustrating.”

“What’s frustrating?”

“This kind of thing.”

“?”

As expected, Albert, who had no sense of awareness whatsoever, couldn’t catch on.

That’s why Bellian had prepared a solution.

Of course, in a way that wouldn’t harm either of them.

“Anyway! Look forward to it!”

With those words, the appointed time drew near.

About 30 minutes after everyone had arrived, Reina, the party leader, addressed all the participants.

“With those two people here, this won’t be particularly dangerous, but don’t let your guard down—think of it as no different from usual.”

Reina drew the sword at her waist and continued.

“Let’s do well today too.”