Ch.79The Only One for Each Other (4)

The dawn when we promised meaning to each other.

Even on a night that seemed like it would last forever, the sun shines and a new day arrives.

“You’re awake.”

“…Yeah.”

We woke up lying side by side.

Perhaps it was cold because we hadn’t covered ourselves with the blanket.

While sleeping, the fox had burrowed into my body.

The warm body temperature, soft tail, and the explicit feeling of flesh pressing against my chest.

The girl speaks while leaning into my arms.

“Yesterday… we fell asleep just like that.”

“We were both tired.

“We had a lot going on.”

“Today will be even busier than yesterday. We should get up early and prepare.”

“Alright.”

Irene nodded obediently.

Though her response came quickly, her black eyes hadn’t yet shaken off their sleepiness.

She was a girl with a disheveled appearance, half-asleep.

I smiled softly and stroked the fox’s head.

“Hehe.”

“……”

Perhaps it was because of her increasingly docile response.

Now she didn’t resist when I stroked her.

She simply quietly accepted the touch.

I suddenly remembered our sharp first meeting.

-I don’t trust humans. I know how vile and cruel your kind is.

-You said you would tame me… but I have no intention of submitting to a human. If that moment comes, I’ll bite my tongue and die.

-I’m only following you to protect my siblings.

Hatred for humans, resentment, revenge.

All sorts of negative emotions.

Eyes filled with hostility.

The girl rarely let down her guard.

‘At first, I wondered how we would ever become close…’

I mulled over the idle monologue.

As I quietly stroked her head, Irene suddenly moved and grabbed my wrist.

I raised a questioning look as if to ask what was wrong.

“Miss Irene?”

Perhaps I was bothering her.

Just as I was about to pull my hand away.

“Um.”

“Yes?”

“Instead of my head… it’s okay to touch my ears too.”

The fox spoke expressionlessly.

Immediately after, the girl moved my hand and placed it on her perked-up ears.

A soft and squishy sensation touched my fingertips.

“You kept avoiding them while petting me. It looked uncomfortable.”

“Is it really okay?”

“I don’t mind.”

“Hmm.”

I tilted my head.

I had already tried to touch them several times before and been rejected.

While the fox didn’t mind when I touched her tail, just showing mild annoyance, she never allowed me to touch the ears that stood on top of her head.

It was a genuinely disliked reaction.

And I couldn’t force it.

I had more or less given up, so I didn’t expect her to suddenly allow it.

-From now on, many things will change.

-We are each other’s only one.

-I’ll continue to rely on you.

Conversations remembering last night.

Perhaps things had changed since the promise we made then.

Maybe she was allowing it now because she had built up a little trust in me.

I smiled gently.

‘Yes… I just needed to approach slowly.’

That’s how taming works.

It required patience.

Even sitting slightly apart in a field without speaking, glancing sideways, absorbing the awkward air and scent, becoming aware of each other’s presence, and gradually approaching day by day.

When you reach out after a difficult resolution, the other party will not run away, as if responding to the time you’ve invested.

Perhaps this was such a moment for me.

“Then I won’t hold back.”

With joy, I played with the girl’s ears.

Very thin yet squishy, the addictive sensation of them gently crumpling under my touch.

A faint warmth transmitted through my fingertips.

The fox nestled in my arms was trembling.

“Ugh, haa… hng.”

Her breathing became strangely rough.

Cheeks flushed red.

Eyes unfocused and dreamy.

I wondered if I had touched too roughly and asked with concern, but she only replied that it was fine.

The girl buried her face and let out excited breaths.

“Don’t, worry, about, it… ngh, it’s, nothing.”

“Can I continue?”

“…Yes.”

The girl nodded.

I loosened my grip compared to before and gently rubbed her earlobes.

Her continued breathing filled the silence of the room.

“Haanh… ngh, haa…”

The air became saturated with the scent of flesh.

Bodies intertwined in an embrace.

Our body temperatures mixing stickily.

We spent a bit more time like that, lying in bed.

***

A slightly late morning.

We were preparing to return to the school trip.

Standing on the open deck feeling the sea breeze, suddenly blue sparks shot up from the air.

Crackle-!

The glittering light soon formed a circle.

Space twisted, creating a contradiction that pierced through distance.

A portal created by ability.

The one who walked out from the rippling shadows was none other than Lena.

Her long black hair fluttered.

When our eyes met, the woman immediately knelt down.

“Commander. I came as soon as I received your call.”

“Thank you for coming. Since we don’t have much time, let’s start with the urgent explanations.”

“Understood.”

Lena, who had flown over as soon as she received the message.

I calmly summarized the situation.

The woman, who had been quietly listening to the explanation, soon nodded as if she understood.

“So you want me to handle the aftermath of this ship. Are you two returning to the academy schedule?”

“The school trip isn’t over yet.”

“I’ll open a portal for your return as well. Since I’ve visited Heiron before, I should be able to take you to a more precise location.”

“You truly are a capable subordinate.”

She was indeed a reassuring person to have by my side.

When she appeared as an enemy in the original work, there were few opponents as troublesome, but after bringing her to our side, she proved useful in various ways.

I especially liked her loyalty.

It was worth picking her up when she was starving to death on the streets.

A pleased smile spread across my face.

“I trust you’ll handle the details well.”

“After erasing the records remaining on the ship, I’ll call in technicians to refurbish it. Given its excellent basic performance, it should become a useful asset.”

“Good.”

“As for those who were captured as illegal slaves… like we did in Belzen before, I’ll first transport them to a hospital to check their condition. Once we have some information about their identities, we plan to release them as free individuals.”

“Handle them carefully. They’re people who have suffered unreasonable pain.”

“I’ll make sure they receive maximum consideration.”

A conversation sorting out complicated procedures.

As the flow was roughly finishing, I lowered my voice and threw in a new topic.

It was about the ill-fated encounter from a few days ago.

“As I mentioned earlier, the situation is quite complicated.”

“Unknown… since the First Sword has moved, it must be by the Monarch’s will. We will investigate why they suddenly started activities.”

“Please be careful not to let talk of the Monarch reach the Vice Commander’s ears. It might disturb her in many ways.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Perhaps it was because of the mention of Neria.

The woman nodded with a gloomy expression.

With a bitter smile, I asked a question that had just occurred to me.

“Come to think of it… the Vice Commander didn’t come with you?”

“She’s temporarily away.”

“Hmm?”

“She’s been dispatched to the border area. We received reports of traces of black magic being discovered in that region.”

“There seems to be a lot of news from that area.”

“The atmosphere among black magicians has been unsettling recently.”

“My, my~ Is everyone getting restless? We should start preparing soon too.”

“I’ll separately inform the members.”

“I’ll join as soon as my schedule ends.”

“Understood.”

Lena answered with perfect posture.

After patting her shoulder a few times, I turned around and stepped onto the deck.

The explanation was over, so it was time to return.

Irene had already approached and was standing by my side.

With a light glance, the woman reached into the air and created another portal that pierced through space.

This time it was a passage leading to the hotel building.

“I’ll be going now.”

“I’ll be waiting, Commander.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Everything according to your will.”

The woman recites while kneeling on one knee.

Bowing her head as if offering worship.

Leaving behind the member who was seeing us off with devotion, we moved toward the portal filled with sparks.

As our steps crossed the shadows.

Crackle-!

We were standing in front of the building.

***

We naturally returned to our lodgings.

Although we had been away from the trip for three whole days, there weren’t any particular problems.

Selena had agreed to handle our attendance.

Thanks to that, we could enjoy the remaining schedule without worry.

“You!”

“M-Master…?”

Of course, I had to face some questioning from those close to me.

We had clearly made plans to go around together, but I hadn’t shown my face for days.

I smiled awkwardly.

“Haha… I’m really sorry about this.”

Standing before me were two girls.

The villainess and the protagonist.

“Where have you been for the past few days?”

“I-I was worried… You weren’t in your room, and I l-looked for you, but no one knew where you went, and I was afraid something might have happened to you…”

“Setting aside the violation of school rules… it’s upsetting when you suddenly disappear! Where were you and what were you doing for three days?”

“B-But I’m glad. Since you say nothing bad happened.”

The two people greeted the boy with different reactions.

It seemed I had caused them worry.

I laid out the lie I had prepared.

“I’m sorry. Professor Selena asked me for a favor. I had to go somewhere briefly. I didn’t expect it to take this long.”

“I-I don’t mind… I was just worried.”

“Thank you for understanding, Miss Lezia.”

“…I wasn’t particularly angry either. I just wish you had said something before leaving.”

“I’ll definitely do that next time, Princess.”

The children accepted it when I mentioned Selena’s name.

As expected, having the position of head teaching assistant made it easy to get out of such situations using the professor card.

“Let’s move together from today.”

“You do know that today is the last day of the school trip…?”

“Then we should hurry even more.”

“T-The wind is cool, so I think it would be nice to walk around the beach…!”

“Sounds good. Let’s go.”

“Y-Yes!”

“Haah…”

The puppeteer, the vain one, the snake, and the fox.

The children all moved outside the lodgings together.

Whooosh-.

As we walked along the blowing wind, soon the sensation under our feet changed to sand.

The sea, full of blue like the sky.

“Wonderful weather.”

And so the children enjoyed the last day of their vacation.