Ch.8181. Camilla’s Companionship

The evening was filled with the soft chirping of insects. The sun had already settled on the distant mountain ridge, painting the sky crimson, while the dark curtain of night began to spread in its wake.

Lily, who had returned to her family home, was leaning against the terrace railing of her room, gazing blankly at the sky.

For some time now, Lily had fallen into the habit of staring at the sky whenever she had free time, lost in thought. She didn’t contemplate any particular subject. She simply let her shallow thoughts flow freely.

Sometimes she thought about her future, and other times she reflected on her academy life.

Her musings had no particular order; she just delved into whatever came to mind at the moment.

And when she ran out of things to think about, she would inevitably start recalling the past.

Memories of her innocent childhood days playing in the garden, or accompanying her father on territory inspections.

But her thoughts always led to the same conclusion in the end.

Gilbert Lyon Hart.

Lily’s delicate brow furrowed. That name, unpleasant even to think about, had surfaced again.

For whatever reason, Gilbert, who had been nothing short of a delinquent, had changed.

After demonstrating an extraordinary mech piloting technique during the entrance mock battle, he had become the exclusive disciple of the Sword Saint Briana.

And that wasn’t all. Not long after, he was awarded a knighthood while still a cadet for his contributions in an operation to eliminate the Resistance.

Even up to this point, his path was far from that of an ordinary academy cadet.

Then there was the unprecedented attack on the Demae Ear Academy.

Through that incident, Gilbert had become a hero.

Gilbert had disregarded his own life, fighting desperately to protect the cadets and imperial citizens. No matter how many enemy mechs there were, he focused solely on defeating them to buy time for people to evacuate.

How could such actions not be considered noble?

Even Lily, who harbored ill feelings toward Gilbert, couldn’t criticize that aspect of him.

Perhaps her habit of gazing at the sky had begun around that time. The cause was likely the turmoil in her heart after facing both Gilbert’s apology and his transformed self.

While it was true that she disliked him, watching him change and improve made her feel somewhat shabby for clinging to the past. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to accept his apology so easily, as the wounds from her childhood ran too deep, leaving her unable to find her bearings.

“Sigh… this jerk. He should have just remained trash until the end.”

Only when the moon began to rise did Lily emerge from her reverie, sighing deeply as she muttered to herself. If he had remained a delinquent, she could have hated him comfortably, but now that wasn’t so easy.

Perhaps her inherently kind nature was manifesting negatively in this situation. Lily, who was gentle to everyone except Gilbert, was the type who believed everyone deserved a chance to make amends for their mistakes.

The problem was that the previous Gilbert had lived so recklessly that he wasn’t worth giving such a chance to, but now that he had changed, she wondered if offering that opportunity might be the right thing to do.

After pacing on the terrace until late without reaching a conclusion, she finally made up her mind as the moon rose high in the center of the sky.

Setting aside her complicated thoughts for now, she decided to face Gilbert once more.

He said he was returning to his territory, right?

Lily recalled Bismarck, the place where her relationship with Gilbert had soured so long ago.

***

Gilbert headed for the warp magic circle bound for Bismarck the day after his duel. He had intended to go straight to the warp circle after the duel, but Count Tristitia had detained him, forcing him to postpone his schedule by a day.

It wasn’t because of the emotional exchange from the duel with Gilbert. When he tried to leave for Bismarck immediately, Camilla also prepared to depart for Bismarck.

The doting count couldn’t bear to see his beloved youngest daughter leave when she had barely been home a day. Naturally, by detaining Gilbert, the count had the hidden intention of keeping Camilla at home for at least one more day.

Though called a “hidden intention,” it was only made possible because Gilbert surrendered to the pressure from Count Tristitia and his three sons, who glared at him with fiery eyes.

Having no choice but to spend the night at the Tristitia residence, Gilbert headed for the warp magic circle as soon as day broke. He had hoped to leave Camilla behind if possible, but the perceptive Camilla had already completed all her preparations and was waiting for him.

Finally accompanying Camilla, he paid for the warp magic circle and arrived at Telaine territory, a transit point to reach Bismarck. No matter how dramatically warp magic circles could reduce travel distances, it was impossible to go directly to Bismarck across half the empire.

The stability of warp magic circles decreased with longer distances, so destinations far away always required transit points.

And finally, from Telaine territory, they were able to take the warp magic circle to Bismarck.

It’s been a while.

Gilbert felt nostalgic yet unfamiliar with the scenery of Bismarck. When he had left for Demeia Academy almost like an exile, he had worried endlessly about how he would manage, but now the situation had changed significantly.

Not only had he been awarded a fifth-rank knighthood, but he had also become one of only two exclusive disciples of the Sword Saint. Moreover, the empire and the academy were using him as propaganda, portraying him as a hero.

He had made excellent use of the last chance his father, the Iron Margrave of Lithuania, had warned him about before leaving the territory. It was extremely encouraging that even if he were driven out of the count’s house, he now had somewhere to turn to.

“So this is Bismarck!”

Camilla’s eyes sparkled as she looked around.

It was her first time visiting Bismarck, renowned throughout the empire for its beauty. Her overprotective father had always encouraged her to stay within their territory as much as possible.

Camilla, understanding her father’s feelings, had never particularly wanted to leave the territory. After all, there were plenty of things within the territory that piqued her interest.

But lately, her greatest interest was Gilbert. No matter how much her father tried to dissuade her, she couldn’t help but follow Gilbert. He had been at the center of the academy incident, and there was never a dull moment when she was with him.

Of course, she wasn’t hoping for another unfortunate incident like the academy attack. She simply found the changing atmosphere of the academy and the flow of daily life because of him interesting.

In that sense, she was curious about what was troubling him. She wanted to know what could worry someone who had handled seemingly impossible situations with an expressionless face.

And if possible, she wanted to help him. It wouldn’t be like Camilla to ignore a friend’s difficulties, especially when she had finally made such an interesting friend.

“So, Gilbert. Where are we going now?”

“You’re just naturally coming along, aren’t you?”

“Of course! The reason I came all this way is because of you, Gilbert!”

As she winked cutely as if to say “Aren’t I adorable?”, Gilbert shook his head.

He couldn’t possibly match Camilla’s energy level.

Thinking it would only cause more trouble later if he abandoned her, he silently headed toward the Hart Count’s mansion.

Although he had informed them of his return to the Hart County, he hadn’t specified the exact time, so there was no carriage waiting for him as there had been when he arrived at the Rigidus territory. He had deliberately withheld his arrival time, feeling it would be troublesome for the coachmen to bring a carriage.

While outwardly he was the young master of a count’s family, inside he still retained the sensibilities of a modern person who had lived in the 22nd century.

However, not long after heading toward the mansion, Gilbert realized one fact he had overlooked. He had mistakenly assumed that because the way people looked at him had changed recently, everyone would do the same.

As he began walking down the main road toward the Hart Count’s mansion, he could feel numerous gazes secretly observing him. When he looked around wondering what was happening, the gazes he had felt disappeared as if they had never been there.

But as soon as he started walking again, the gazes would follow. At first, he wondered if the Sigurd people had already arrived, but that wasn’t the case. If it had been those well-trained individuals, they wouldn’t have sent such obvious stares.

Ignoring Camilla chattering beside him, he was lost in thought until he realized that the owners of those gazes were the residents of Bismarck. And simultaneously, he understood why they were looking at him.

I’m the problem.

He involuntarily swallowed. What had been just a single line of text describing him as a delinquent might have felt like hell to the territory’s residents. It was no wonder they called him “the bastard.”

He had returned to complete the main scenario without any damage, but to the residents, it was merely the return of the bastard who had caused them trouble. Rumors of his knighthood might have spread to the territory, but not all rumors could be trusted.

They probably hadn’t accepted the fact that he had changed. It was evident from the way they were avoiding him even now.

Unintentionally creating an atmosphere of discomfort, Gilbert quickened his pace. Making an effort not to make eye contact with them, he headed toward the Hart Count’s mansion.

It seemed that what he needed to do in Bismarck wasn’t just clearing the main scenario.