Ch.46Chapter 46. Northern Fortress Defense Battle (5)

* * *

“Lady Irene… as I said… Lady Irene…”

“SWEN!!!”

Irene called Swen’s name over and over again.

But he gave no response, having lost consciousness.

“No… what is this, Swen!! Answer me! Wake up!”

No matter how many times she grabbed and shook him, there was no response.

Irene couldn’t comprehend what was happening right now.

He built the altar because she asked him to, he made the drum because she asked him to.

It was true that she had believed in him even when Swen did strange things.

But… the result—

She never imagined the result would be burning rocks suddenly falling from the sky.

‘What… did you do?’

Swen had said, ‘We need to communicate with the sky.’

He mentioned something about three stars disappearing.

At first, she didn’t understand what he was talking about, but the Swen she had known was always a man with peculiar insight.

So, all of his actions must have had meaning.

The result…

Could he have done something to make rocks fall from the sky?

If so.

What on earth did he do that made Swen lose consciousness immediately?

With a little thought, she could easily deduce it.

Even though Irene had absolutely no knowledge about these mysterious powers, she could understand that making rocks of that size fall from the sky would consume an enormous amount of energy.

No.

At this scale, it wouldn’t just be a matter of ‘energy’ being consumed.

Could it be…

‘Did you… risk… your life?’

Thinking about it, it made sense.

It would be stranger if he hadn’t risked his life to create such an impossible miracle.

But why?

As soon as the question ‘why’ came to mind, all the words Swen had spoken to her flashed through her head.

“My name is Swen. As of today, I will be serving Lady Lynn Brans. My lord has instructed me to stay here as your roommate for the time being.”

That’s right. That’s how we met.

Although the circumstances of our meeting were by no means pleasant, he had always been supporting me.

“What are you saying? If Lady Irene is okay with it, I would like to continue living with Lady Irene.”

Despite being caught up in my affairs with my lord, he didn’t get angry but instead comforted me.

“It’s fine. Learning about Lady Irene is a wonderful thing for me.”

He was truly a kind person. Kind enough to listen to everything I said, even when I brought up heavy topics.

“Lady Irene… I’m so glad, so glad that you’re safe.”

He genuinely worried about me when no one else in this country did.

“Because you are the person I want to protect in this country, Lady Irene.”

He was someone who told me he “wanted to protect” me—someone born to protect others, only to have even that taken away.

His kindness was almost too sweet for her.

“Lady Irene… as I said… Lady Irene…”

And at this moment…

For my sake, he defied orders and risked his life to create a miracle.

Because he wanted me to achieve merit… to prove that my words were right.

“…Swen.”

Tears began to stream down Irene’s eyes.

She soon buried her face against Swen’s and began to sob.

“Don’t die, Swen… don’t die…”

Her heart ached.

Someone who believed in her, who said she was right, who worried about her, who said he wanted to protect her.

She—who had lived her whole life protecting others—was now unable to protect the very person who had said such things to her.

If.

If this man were to die, what would become of me?

Just as I was about to move forward, having escaped the shackles of the Brans family—

What if I lost the man who had freed me from those shackles?

“…No…!”

I absolutely cannot lose you.

I won’t let you die.

Irene shouted toward the nearest soldier.

“Call a doctor right now!”

There should be a doctor at the fortress who had been tending to the wounded with her.

“A doctor… you say?”

“Hurry!”

At Irene’s urgent cry, the soldier loudly acknowledged and quickly ran off somewhere.

From the soldier’s perspective, it must have been quite shocking.

Irene, who was always expected to command everyone with dignity, was now sobbing like a child.

But for Irene, this was no time to worry about appearances.

She quickly checked Swen’s current condition.

Though unconscious… he was still breathing, albeit faintly.

Not knowing exactly how much strain communicating with the sky had put on his body, she needed to hurry all the more.

‘I absolutely won’t let you die…!’

It was at this moment.

She cleanly accepted that she had been abandoned by the person she had wanted to protect all her life.

It was okay.

Because now… she wanted to protect someone else.

‘I will… definitely protect you…!’

The target of Irene Juliette’s sword had changed.

A miracle that had never occurred in any timeline was now happening.

* * *

When I regained consciousness, I found myself wandering through familiar alleyways once again.

Between buildings with blue roofs and white walls.

But this wandering wasn’t so unpleasant.

The breeze felt refreshing, the sky was blue and comforting, and most importantly, she was there beside me.

I both knew who she was and—

couldn’t properly identify who she was.

It seemed strange, but somehow I accepted it without questioning.

Like how objects fall from top to bottom, or how night comes when the sun sets and the moon rises.

I hold her hand as we walk through various alleyways.

We don’t encounter a single person between the alleys, but I feel comfort rather than curiosity.

After all, how long has it been since I’ve walked with her like this, just the two of us?

When I turn my head to look beside me.

She was looking at me with a smile.

Dazzlingly bright golden hair, and eyes of gold that sparkled even more brilliantly than her hair, as if the stars of the night sky had been poured into them…

Yes. This time.

This time I can spend with her…

At that moment.

The ground beneath me collapsed.

I lost her hand and began falling endlessly downward.

And my consciousness began to fade.

*

“…Ah.”

Consciousness returns.

After about 30 seconds, I feel my heart beating, and the smell of furniture in the air tickles my nose, making me realize.

Ah, this was a dream.

That dream. The same dream I had when I first slept at Irene’s house.

“…”

I slowly raised my hand to touch my eyes.

Tears.

I don’t know why tears came… was I crying?

No.

Having just woken up, the contents of the dream were still vivid.

It didn’t seem to be sad content.

It was like a dream of walking through an unfamiliar neighborhood with an unfamiliar woman.

I remember the golden hair… but I can’t remember anything else.

Are dream experiences so quickly volatile?

Instead of the fading dream memories, my mind was filled with vivid reality.

I was lying on an old bed.

This ceiling… I think I know it. It seemed to be the ceiling of the fortress commander’s room.

Connected directly to the conference room, used by Miguel when Kalintz was absent, and by Irene when even Miguel wasn’t around.

Only then did the memories of before I lost consciousness gradually return.

I saw the meteor strike Serpina’s army and then lost consciousness.

Yes… the meteor.

A meteor fell.

Who would have thought a meteor would fall?

In fact, there was one flaw in this plan of ‘making it seem like I caused a natural disaster.’

If one could summon lightning with sorcery, wouldn’t that make them a magician?

I deliberately put on a show by building an altar and beating a drum to make it not look like magic, but causing lightning to strike the earth is identical to the image of legendary magicians.

It would be troublesome if I was mistaken for a magician, but I needed to make the enemy flee, and since the order was to ‘demonstrate in plain sight,’ I just followed it.

But.

A meteor is different.

No magician in this world uses such things.

In the latter part of the game, magicians who awakened to the talent of sensing mana and revealed themselves on the continent used typical but predictable magics like fire magic, lightning magic, earth-shaking magic—

There was no one who used such a brute force magic reminiscent of Meteor.

I was wondering if I had done something so outrageous that it might be more comfortable to be mistaken for a magician when—

Only then did I feel something pressing on my knees.

“…Ugh.”

I lightly tensed my waist and sat up on the bed.

Only then could I identify what was pressing on my knees.

“…”

Irene, seated in a chair, had fallen asleep with her head on my knees.

The sunlight shining on the side of her face created a very peaceful atmosphere.

On the small table beside her were dishes from what appeared to be her meal, and various medicinal herbs used in this world.

Could she have been nursing me all this time?

“Lady Irene.”

“…”

“Lady Irene.”

After calling her name a few more times, she stirred slightly on my knees…

And slowly raised her head.

“…Mmm…?”

“Lady Irene. Are you awake?”

Looking somewhat dazed, she turned her head to look at me.

The pupils in her eyes dilated slightly.

“…Swen?”

“Yes.”

She looked at me for a while without saying anything—

Then, a tear streamed down from her large purple eyes.

“Swen… are you, are you conscious?”

“Yes. Somehow.”

“Swen…!!”

As if her emotions exploded, she hugged me tightly.

“Swen… thank goodness… thank goodness you’re conscious, Swen…!”

She spoke to me almost sobbing.

At this point, I realized two new things.

First, for some reason, I wasn’t wearing a top.

I could feel her tears flowing down my body.

And second, she wasn’t wearing her armor either.

Thanks to that, I could feel her soft body and warm temperature more vividly.

“I’m fine. But… the fortress… what happened to Serpina’s army?”

“You protected it. Swen. In a battle everyone said was unwinnable, you succeeded… by pushing yourself this hard…”

“Pushing myself?”

Irene looked up at me and nodded.

On her face was something like guilt, as if she had made this man push himself too hard.

“For me… to prove that I was right, you pushed yourself… and did this? That’s why… you lost consciousness? Because you risked your life…”

“…What?”

“Well, without risking your life… you couldn’t have done something like this…”

???

She seems to be misunderstanding something.

When you don’t understand someone’s actions, they say you should put yourself in their shoes.

I quickly thought from Irene’s perspective.

How did I appear in her eyes?

First, I say nonsense like ‘I’ll communicate with the sky’ and ‘three stars have fallen,’ then suddenly build an altar and mutter strange words.

Then I ask her to make a drum, and when she does, I have soldiers beat it.

On the day of battle, I perform a strange ritual, shouting like a madman, “Oh heavens!!” and then a meteor falls from the sky.

After the meteor falls, for some reason, I immediately lose consciousness and faint.

‘…Ah.’

I instantly understood why Irene was talking about risking my life.

It must have looked exactly like I summoned the meteor and then collapsed from exhaustion.

In my opinion, it was just that my power stat—my basic stamina—was low, and I fainted when the tension was released, but the timing was perfect.

Without prior knowledge, anyone witnessing that would think I had risked my life.

If it had been lightning, maybe not, but it was a meteor. It was enough to make one think, ‘This must have required risking one’s life.’

“Because of me… I’m sorry… Swen, please don’t ever risk your life for me again…”

Irene had abandoned her usually dignified tone and was clinging to me, sobbing.

Seeing that made my heart warm.

I reached out my hand, stroking her head as I spoke.

“Lady Irene. I’m fine. I didn’t risk my life. I’m okay.”

“Liar… fool… don’t lie, Swen…”

“…”

I looked down at Irene, who was trembling.

Well.

There’s no need to convince her right now.

Instead of saying anything more, I hugged her tighter.

The miracle I performed wasn’t summoning a meteor.

It was—saving Irene from Lynn.

The fact that I had succeeded in protecting the person I wanted to protect in the Brans army was far more important right now.

So, just a little longer.

It wouldn’t be bad to feel her warmth…

* * *

While I was recovering in bed, an unexpected face appeared.

“Oh! Swen! I heard you regained consciousness!”

‘…Huh?’

A familiar face, a man’s voice I’d heard before.

A handsome man with blue hair, the fortress commander who had led the construction of this fortress and one of the main generals of the Brans army.

“Lord Kalintz…?”

“Mm! Yes, Swen! I’m so glad you’ve regained consciousness!”

I blinked my eyes as I looked at the man.

Why on earth is this man here?