Ch.6060. What Happened Inside the Carriage

A meal with the Imperial Princess and the Holy Maiden would have been intimidating for anyone, but to me it just looked like an amusing sitcom.

The Imperial Princess maintaining her composure despite all the fuss around her, and the Holy Maiden constantly challenging her.

The poor commoners meticulously attending to their every action were truly pitiful.

“This is delicious.”

“Indeed.”

When those words were exchanged between the two, the cheer that came from the kitchen was surely not my imagination.

A little while later. After finishing our meal, we headed to the carriage to return to the academy.

“I’ll head back first. Take care, Lilith.”

“You too. Just keep your mouth shut and you’ll fit right in, so be confident.”

“Do you have some disease that kills you if you don’t add unnecessary comments?”

“Lilith. There’s no such disease. Don’t say weird things.”

“…I really hate you two. Just go already.”

I thought about bringing Lilith back with us, but apparently she had evening engagements as well.

Well… it doesn’t seem like she’s being forced, so I don’t particularly pity her.

Her abilities are often strengthened through religious activities, so seeing her so dedicated to public appearances means she must be aware of that.

And so, leaving Lilith behind, we boarded the carriage to return to the academy.

On the way back, with a full stomach and warm sunlight streaming through the window, I found myself dozing off.

How much time had passed? It wasn’t a deep sleep, as I suddenly regained consciousness.

“…Mmm.”

“…!”

When I opened my eyes, the carriage was still moving.

It didn’t feel like I’d been asleep for long, but I asked Celia just to be sure.

“Oops, I dozed off. How long was I out?”

“Oh, um… about 10 minutes, I think?”

She was unusually vague for someone who normally has an excellent sense of time.

And it seemed like she had been right next to me until just now before quickly moving away.

I see what’s going on here.

“Celia.”

“Y-yes?!”

“You fell asleep too, didn’t you?”

“…Oh, ah… yes! That’s right. I dozed off too. Ahaha.”

Right, even with all our strength, we’re no match for post-meal drowsiness.

It’s dark in here though. I just noticed the curtains were covering the windows.

I definitely fell asleep with sunlight coming in, so why are the curtains drawn?

“I thought the light might be too strong, so I closed them.”

The girl who supposedly dozed off closed the curtains?

Well… if she says so, I guess that’s what happened.

I stretched to loosen up my stiff body.

A short nap really cleared my head.

“Should I open the curtains?”

My mind was clear, but the darkness made me feel like I might fall asleep again, so I pulled back the curtains covering the window.

Along with the bright sunlight, I saw some extremely gloomy and depressed-looking guards.

“…Why do they look like that?”

“W-who knows? Maybe they’re not feeling well?”

“That’s beyond just feeling unwell.”

Their expressions were comparable to when Celia was sent alone into the middle of enemy territory.

That’s not the kind of reaction you’d expect from carriage escorts.

“Ludion. Are you pretending not to know?”

“Know what?”

“…I was hoping you wouldn’t notice, but now that you’re actually oblivious, I feel a bit disappointed.”

“So what is it… Did something happen while I was sleeping?”

“I don’t know. Probably not?”

How could you not know? And why are you guessing when I asked you what happened?

Since I couldn’t figure it out, I decided to just enjoy the scenery outside.

Now that I looked, the academy was already close enough to see.

That “about 10 minutes” was clearly just a random guess. If we’re already near the academy, I must have slept much longer. No wonder I felt so refreshed.

When we finally arrived at the academy and got out of the carriage, the depressed guards lined up and saluted.

“Please enter safely….”

Their voices were completely drained of energy, like people on the verge of death.

Why are they acting like this?

In fact, their current state was quite understandable.

What the guards had witnessed earlier was this:

While monitoring the two people visible through the window during transit, they noticed Ludion nodding off. Soon, the sleeping Ludion lost control of his posture and unknowingly leaned against Celia’s shoulder.

Seeing this, the guards were naturally furious. Just as they were about to draw their swords, they saw it.

“Shh.”

Celia with her index finger to her lips, gesturing for silence.

After seeing that, not a single one of them could take any further action.

Afterward, Celia covered the window with the curtain.

The shock was even greater because her intentions were so blatantly obvious.

Some of the guards must have seen the inexplicable smile on Celia’s face in that moment.

It certainly wasn’t the pure smile they had known her for.

“Imperial Princess… why….”

For these devotees of Celia, that scene was as shocking as the end of the world.

That’s why the guards were currently suffering severe psychological damage, leaving them in this dazed state.

Of course, having no knowledge of this, I could only be confused.

“Let’s leave these idiots and hurry inside.”

Before I could question anything further, I was pulled along by Celia’s hand back into the academy.

Now that we were back at the academy, the first order of business was to treat my injured arm.

The new clothes provided by the Imperial Palace had long sleeves so the wound wasn’t visible, but I still had what felt like a cut.

Fortunately, while it was somewhat bothersome, there wasn’t much pain—perhaps due to my body’s dulled senses.

And thanks to the injury, I realized something: the natural recovery system doesn’t apply here.

Not that it mattered. I just needed to avoid getting injured in the future.

“What are you thinking about so intently?”

“That I won’t get injured again in the future.”

“Please make sure you keep that promise.”

Chatting about such trivial matters, we headed to Professor Reina’s laboratory.

Fortunately, Professor Reina was in her lab.

“You’re back early?”

“It just worked out that way.”

As we entered after knocking, Professor Reina welcomed us with a surprised expression.

But her expression suddenly hardened when she saw me.

“…What’s this? How did you get injured?”

She noticed immediately even though it wasn’t visible from the outside. As expected of someone from a renowned healing family.

“Something just grazed me.”

“Yes, but what grazed you?”

I tried to gloss over it since it was awkward to explain in detail, but her reaction was more intense than I expected.

Normally she would have just treated it without comment. She usually doesn’t care unless it’s life-threatening, so why is she acting like this?

After staring at me for a while… probably realizing I wouldn’t answer straightforwardly, she gestured for Celia to come closer.

Seeing this, Celia went to her side, and they began speaking quietly so I couldn’t hear.

“So? What happened? There shouldn’t be anything at the Imperial Palace that could hurt him… Did he pick a fight with the knights?”

“Of course not.”

“Then what caused the injury?”

“Um… I don’t know either.”

I wondered what could make Professor Reina’s expression look so dumbfounded.

While I was thinking about this, their conversation continued.

“But what’s certain is that it was something worth getting injured over.”

“How would you know that if you don’t even know what caused the injury?”

“…There are things like that.”

Celia was aware that she was saying strange things.

But honestly, how could she explain something so outlandish? Getting injured while single-handedly preventing the apocalypse?

Feeling she would only be treated as a strange person if she told the truth, she could only give vague answers.

Having received no proper answers, Professor Reina was clearly frustrated, but apparently not interested enough to probe further. She sighed and stood up.

“If you come back injured like this again without explanation, I won’t treat you next time, understand?”

With those words, she began treating the wound.

The uncomfortable sensation I had been feeling under my clothes disappeared instantly, as if it had been an illusion.

I immediately rolled up my sleeve and unwrapped the bandage to reveal a clean forearm.

“Your answer?”

“I have no intention of getting injured again, so it’s fine.”

“…Not a single person who’s answered like that has ever come back uninjured.”

She’s saying unnecessarily worrying things. But I’m different from those people.

I have both dodge invincibility and parrying. It’s harder for me to get injured.

…Of course, this injury is an exception. If it had been anyone else, their entire body would have been sliced to pieces.

Perhaps that’s why, despite the anxiety from hearing what sounded like a flag being raised, I had enough confidence to offset it.

In a storm of mad blades, only my forearm was grazed—what attack could possibly harm me?

Dodge-parrying is divine, and I am invincible.

As I was mentally clearing away these death flags, Professor Reina changed the subject.

“Well, we can talk about that later. For now, head to the Student Council.”

“Suddenly?”

“The Student Council has sent five people to me for treatment just yesterday and today.”

“Ah, I see.”

From what I heard, it seemed something had happened while I was away.

I was hoping to rest a bit now that I was back, but it seems I won’t get the chance.

Since there was nothing more to discuss, I immediately left Reina’s laboratory after hearing her words.

“We’re going right away, right?”

“Of course.”

“I knew it.”

What do you mean you knew it? Of course we’re going.

Celia and I headed straight for the Student Council building without delay.