Ch.86Chapter 86: You, Prettier Than Snow

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We left the training grounds.

The debate (?) over who would concede victory to whom had continued until sunset, but it was quickly settled through Lord Nighthart’s mediation.

A draw.

The reason being that if one’s weapon is destroyed while failing to decisively subdue an opponent whose weapon is also destroyed, the combat cannot continue.

Lord Nighthart declared our duel a draw.

Since it had come to this, I thought it would be meaningless to keep insisting on conceding victory to Shizu, so I readily accepted the result.

Shizu also stopped being stubborn and accepted the outcome, bringing our duel to an end.

With the duel concluded.

I had planned to spend the rest of the day doing individual training at my own spot, but.

As soon as the duel ended.

“Hey there, would you mind having a duel with me?”

“No, why are you trying to cut in line? Didn’t we already agree that I would be the first to challenge him?”

“Well, you should have been paying closer attention instead of dawdling. I’ll have to excuse myself and go first, as it seems my turn won’t come before sunset at this rate.”

“Hey! Let’s settle who gets to duel him first with a duel of our own!”

“Oh! That’s exactly what I wanted!”

…As I watched knights approaching me with such requests for duels suddenly increasing in number until they formed a massive crowd, I lost any chance to relax.

Judging that my body wouldn’t survive at this rate.

I politely declined their offers.

After giving a respectful bow to Lord Nighthart, who had been watching us with a benevolent expression, I left the training grounds.

With Shizu, who had somehow managed to escape with me and instantly appeared by my side.

She had seemed fine during our duel, but perhaps the fatigue from performing intense movements without rest, even for a short time, was now showing.

“Yaaawn…”

As she stuck close to my side, I saw a light yawn escape her lips, and I had to struggle to control the smile that was about to form on my face.

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The urban area inside the fortress that greeted us after leaving the vast indoor training grounds was quite desolate.

Unlike yesterday, there was no sign of the vitality that would normally be shown by residents moving about inside the fortress.

This must be the aftermath of the notification issued to residents to refrain from going outside due to the attack that occurred yesterday evening.

Perhaps it was because of the absence of the warmth and energy that would normally be transmitted by people passing by.

Whooosh

The sound of the cold wind brushing past my ears seemed unusually loud.

And this seemed to affect Shizu beside me even more than it did me.

“Uuugh…”

Gone was the spirited appearance she had shown during our duel earlier, replaced by a voice trembling from the cold as she clung even more tightly to my side.

“Cold…”

That was all she said to me.

Unlike me, who had sweated at least a little during the duel, she had maintained her composure without a single drop of sweat or the slightest disruption to her breathing throughout our match.

Yet now she was visibly shivering from the cold, apparently unable to overcome her natural sensitivity to low temperatures.

Come to think of it, when I met her again at this fortress in the timeline that only I remember.

I recall that if nothing else, she had thoroughly prepared for the cold with her clothing.

Perhaps she was still not accustomed to this cold since she was younger now than she was then.

I could feel her body trembling slightly against my arm, which she had wrapped both her arms around to endure the cold.

I had to admit that today was colder than yesterday, but I wondered how cold she must be feeling to show such a sensitive reaction.

I turned my head to look at Shizu, who had wrapped both her arms around my left arm.

She was wearing a well-insulated blue and white uniform designed for winter.

Over it, she had put on a bluish winter coat and black leather gloves that she had retrieved when we left the training grounds.

After being transported by Director Belpheus’s spatial transfer spell to a location not far from Night Haven.

She had hurriedly put on this outer coat before heading here under my sister’s guidance.

It seemed appropriate to say she was bundled up tightly.

That alone should have been enough to withstand the cold here, but.

In my mind, I recalled the outfit she had worn in the previous timeline, which was even more thoroughly bundled up against the cold than what she was wearing now.

Ah, she must be cold.

As I nodded slightly, careful not to let her notice, and cautiously observed her shivering from the cold.

“Uugh… hoo…”

A faint sigh escaped Shizu’s lips as she tried to compose her trembling body.

The sigh from her lips turned into visible breath that dispersed in a white haze.

The sight of her pure white breath dispersing was so delicate it could be called a thin mist, and though faint in color, it spread quite far.

Could even the breath from someone’s lips look so beautiful?

Just as I was about to add more tenderness to my gaze.

“It seems colder than yester…!!”

As Shizu’s eyes met mine while she was about to express her mild complaint about the weather.

Realizing that I was looking at her intently, she couldn’t finish her sentence and slightly raised her eyes.

Perhaps she was quite surprised by the tenderness and depth in my gaze.

Though her face didn’t flush, I could easily tell she was embarrassed from her slightly widened eyes and tightly closed lips.

I wanted to tease her a bit and see her face turn red, but.

I knew that if I teased her too much, there was no telling when her sensitive nature might cause her to become upset and sulk.

“Wear this.”

Instead of teasing her, I took off the red winter coat I had put on when leaving the training grounds and handed it to her.

The winter coat, dyed the same red color as my hair and decorated with black fur on the shoulders, would surely help her withstand the cold better than the coat she was wearing.

“Oh…”

A dazed sound escaped Shizu’s lips as she looked at the red winter coat in my hand.

I could easily see the joy and deep appreciation in her expression at the mere fact that I was offering her something.

But she quickly composed herself and said.

“What are you doing in this cold? Hurry up and put that back on. I’m fine since I’m already wearing a coat.”

She refused to accept the winter coat I was offering.

It was unusual for her to decline something I was giving her, when normally she would gladly accept anything from me.

I felt I needed to insist more strongly.

“This will be warmer than what you’re wearing. If you put it on, you won’t have to shiver from the cold anymore.”

I offered the coat again, with a voice that revealed a bit more of my concern for her shivering in the cold.

Though Shizu’s expression showed even deeper gratitude after hearing my words, it was only momentary.

Instead of accepting the coat I offered.

“Then… what about your sword?”

She looked at me with a voice filled with even deeper concern than mine had been, and questioned me.

Not just her voice, but her expression was also filled with worry.

The composed expression I had maintained while offering the winter coat slightly crumbled, and a gentle curve formed at the corners of my mouth.

I could clearly feel the warm heart behind her expression as she looked at me with concern.

I could easily tell that no matter how much she was shivering from the cold, she disliked the thought of me shivering even more—an act underlaid with tenderness.

Thump thump

Looking at Shizu gazing at me with concern, I felt my heart skip a beat without realizing it.

Just like earlier in the dueling arena, and now as well.

It felt like this pattern of trying to do something extra for each other, only to end up yielding, was continuing between us today.

I was happy to know that she cared for me as much as I cared for her, but.

At this rate, I realized I wouldn’t be able to get her to wear the coat, just like how our duel ended in a draw when I tried to concede victory to her earlier.

“I’m much more used to the cold than you are, so don’t worry.”

I casually shook my body as if to show that I had no problem even in the cold outside air, which was incomparably colder than yesterday.

I wasn’t putting on an exaggerated display to reassure her—my body truly wasn’t affected by the cold at all.

Just as my awakened hyper-regeneration ability had increased my physical strength limits.

It seemed to have also given me the ability to quickly adapt to weather and other environmental conditions.

Even though I had offered her my winter coat with the mindset that I would have to endure some cold.

Strangely, I realized that the cold wind blowing now had no effect on my body whatsoever.

“…”

Seeing me naturally standing in the direct cold wind without even shivering, unlike herself, Shizu’s concerned gaze seemed to soften a bit.

“…Aren’t you cold?”

But she couldn’t completely shake off her worry, as it was still faintly evident in her voice.

‘I need to settle this now.’

I couldn’t properly yield earlier, but.

This time I needed to firmly insist and take care of her properly.

With that thought in mind, I maintained my casual posture and asked.

“Do you see my body shivering from the cold?”

I asked her if she could see me trembling from the cold.

“…No.”

After carefully examining me, though there was a hint of reluctance in Shizu’s voice, she acknowledged that I wasn’t being affected by the cold at all.

Now I can finally get her to wear my winter coat.

Feeling relief filling my heart, I draped the coat I was holding over her shoulders and slowly opened my mouth.

“Don’t worry about me, just wear it.”

“Okay…”

Only then did Shizu put on the coat I handed her over the winter coat she was already wearing.

Since the coat was made to fit my build, it fit her well even though she was already wearing a coat, without feeling too tight.

From a young age, she had often worn clothes with a mixture of blue and white colors, which suited her so well that I had never thought of other colors that might suit her, but.

‘Looking at her now, red suits her well too.’

For the first time, I realized that red could be a color that suited Shizu well.

Should I say that her golden hair combined with the red coat deepened its radiance?

I was confident I could say she looked good in anything, but.

“Does it… look good on me?”

Seeing her asking if it suited her with a shy expression after putting on the coat I gave her.

“You’re beautiful.”

I wanted to use a more direct expression than saying it suited her well, so I told her she was beautiful.

“…Oh.”

As soon as my words fell, Shizu’s face turned redder than the coat I had put on her.

It seems that telling her she was beautiful when she was beautiful made her feel very embarrassed.

I thought she should accept it calmly since it was just stating an obvious fact, but.

-Of course. When something beautiful is added to something already beautiful, it naturally becomes more beautiful, doesn’t it?

‘…Let’s drop it.’

I couldn’t imagine Shizu saying such things to flaunt her own beauty, so I set aside these unnecessary thoughts for now.

It was enough just to have the desire for her to be comfortable in the quite cold weather outside.

Perhaps it was the effect of the deep regret that had accumulated during the time I spent in the previous timeline, when even looking at her from a distance was considered a luxury, and then experiencing the miracle of turning back time.

Just being able to learn these small facts about her while spending time with her, which I hadn’t known before my regression.

I could feel my heart, which had been hollow after facing death twice, being filled with warmth.

“Ah!”

The moment of contemplation was broken by a single exclamation that burst from Shizu’s lips.

It was a tone tinged with delight, as if she had discovered something.

“Snow…”

Looking up at the sky.

Unlike the climate of this place where volcanic ash often hung in the sky.

Very white snow was falling continuously, starting with one or two flakes.

“So this is snow…”

The territories of Proxian and Ranos, which boast a mild climate year-round.

And the Cradle with a similar climate where she had lived for a long time, meant she had never seen snow before.

It was a thousand times fortunate that the first snow she saw was not the pitch-black color tainted by the volcanic ash unique to this place, but as pure white as her heart.

“It’s beautiful…”

Looking at the snow that fell onto her outstretched hands and gently melted, only the word “beautiful” came from Shizu’s lips.

To me, it wasn’t the snow that was beautiful.

It was your beauty, looking at the snow with an expression filled with warmth, that the snow was complementing.

I kept silent, figuring that if I shared the thoughts in my head with her now, I couldn’t imagine how much redder her already flushed face would become.

Fairly thick snowflakes began to cover the sky of Night Haven.

Looking at the snow falling as if to bleach away the unsettled atmosphere caused by yesterday evening’s attack.

I had a feeling that there would be no movement from the demon realm today.