Ch.91Chapter 91: Who Are You?

#

*Inhale* – *Exhale* – *Inhale*

A thin yet rhythmic breathing sound tickles my ear.

It’s the sound of Shizu’s breathing, who had noticeably stabilized after lying down on the bed.

The pained expression had disappeared from her face.

The redness that had colored her face was almost gone too.

And now her breathing had returned to something similar to when she’s asleep.

“Thank goodness…”

Wiping the cold sweat from my forehead with my right hand, all I could say was “thank goodness.”

All sorts of thoughts race through my mind.

How my light-hearted mood when I had just left the dining hall with Shizu, who showed mild cold symptoms, had grown heavier with each step as her condition worsened.

How I blamed myself for my helplessness, unable to help you when you were in such pain.

How I finally couldn’t bear it anymore and hurriedly carried you on my back.

Though these events happened less than an hour ago, recalling them now makes them feel so distant.

“Hah…”

The experiences I went through as her condition worsened would likely never be erased from my memory, no matter how much time passed.

“Cal.”

As I stood by the bed, feeling relieved at her improving condition, I heard my sister’s voice from behind me.

Though she only briefly called my name, the warmth embedded in it was palpable even in that short word.

“It seems to me that Shizu needs rest right now.”

“Her condition could change at any moment, so someone needs to stay and take care of—”

“And you need rest too, I think.”

The problem was that the content of those warm words differed slightly from what I wanted.

“Go back and rest. I’ll take responsibility for looking after Shizu.”

To think that someone who couldn’t sleep properly because of dealing with yesterday’s attack would be worried about me.

It was certainly a kind offer, but to take advantage of that kindness and go rest…

“I think you’re the one who needs rest, not me.”

The fatigue evident in my sister’s expression was considerable.

It wasn’t physical fatigue like dark circles under her eyes.

Rather, she exuded mental exhaustion from dealing with the unprecedented situation of a demon infiltrating the fortress.

It was undoubtedly mental fatigue accumulated from commanding the response to the attack all night and handling the aftermath with only about three hours of sleep, then continuing to work without rest.

That’s why I suggested she rest and leave this to me, but…

A gentle smile spread across my sister’s face after hearing my words.

“What are you saying? Talking back to someone who can endure four sleepless nights without a problem, just because they’re a little stressed?”

She was actually chiding me for suggesting she rest.

Though her words were close to a rebuke, they also revealed appropriate gratitude toward me for carefully suggesting she rest.

I know. My sister is the owner of an iron constitution that doesn’t even flinch at staying up for two nights straight.

In my memories from before the regression, my sister had experience defending the fortress while withstanding fierce attacks from demons for six days without sleep.

Suggesting this to such a person might seem a bit presumptuous depending on how it’s taken, but…

In the current situation, where there’s a high possibility of a major incident shaking the entire fortress within a week…

I felt that I shouldn’t burden my sister, the highest authority and greatest strength in fortress defense along with Knight Hart, with any form of stress, whether psychological or physical.

“You already have so much responsibility and difficulty with fortress defense, why take this on too?”

I urged her to rest once more with a tone filled with earnestness.

“…”

The expressionless face of my sister gradually changed, and…

“Hehe…”

A light laugh escaped her.

From her expression, it seemed like she might withdraw after hearing my words, but…

“You… aren’t you having a duel with Excel tomorrow?”

My words were stopped by what came out of my sister’s mouth.

Ah, she’s bringing that up all of a sudden.

“What are you going to do if you stay up all night when you have a duel tomorrow morning? And I hear it’s with real weapons, not practice ones? If you mess up your condition by staying up all night, you could get seriously hurt. Yet here you are worrying about others.”

Seeing my expression stiffen slightly, my sister triumphantly urged me strongly to rest instead.

The sight of my sister showing triumph after gaining the upper hand in our argument wasn’t much different from Excel, who had been triumphant earlier in the dining hall when mentioning his record.

Indeed, the saying that people resemble those they like seems to have no flaws.

In this case, should I say Excel is coming to resemble my sister?

Idle thoughts continued to heat up my mind, but…

“If you keep refusing when your loving sister is trying to help you do well in tomorrow’s duel, you’ll be in trouble.”

They couldn’t continue due to my sister’s voice, trying to drive the point home.

My sister was ordering me to rest with the same stern expression she used when scolding me for misbehaving as a child.

She displayed a resolute will on her face that rejected any refusal.

At this point, I had no room to argue with my sister, so…

“Then I’ll leave Shizu in your care.”

“Don’t worry.”

After respectfully making my request to my sister, I had no choice but to leave her quarters.

Though I was sent away to rest…

Far from resting, even if I went to my room and lay down on the bed…

Your voice thanking me, when you must have been too sick to speak properly, would keep circling in my head, preventing me from sleeping.

#

After leaving the quarters and heading to my own room, which I hadn’t even visited yesterday…

I ended up staying awake all night.

“Yaaawn.”

Seeing the dawn break, I stretched and yawned as I got up from the bed and looked at myself in the mirror in the room.

There was the appearance of a man who looked one step away from being a corpse.

“…Let’s wash up first.”

After confirming my reflection in the mirror, I set about tidying up my disheveled face first.

After washing my face and looking in the mirror again, I was relieved to see a face that looked relatively decent for having stayed up all night, but…

“With the duel right ahead, this isn’t good…”

Despite outward appearances, I could easily feel that my physical condition was far from normal.

I considered going to the training ground and forfeiting, but…

“…No, that’s not right.”

The thought that I should face him properly with weapons clashing before losing, as a courtesy to Excel who had directly challenged me to a duel, stopped me from making such a pathetic decision.

Now that I had decided what to do, I should head straight to the training ground, but…

“…Before going to the training ground, let’s check on Shizu’s condition.”

I directed my steps toward my sister’s quarters to check on Shizu’s condition, which I hadn’t been able to monitor until the end yesterday.

Having stayed up all night, my stomach wasn’t feeling well either, so I had no desire for breakfast.

All I could think of was Shizu, who had repeatedly thanked me while being carried on my back last night.

And how she had fallen asleep with a relatively peaceful expression after lying on the bed.

If I could just confirm she was alright…

At least then I might have the motivation to face the overwhelmingly disadvantageous duel ahead.

With that thought, I carefully visited my sister’s quarters, and…

“…”

“Um, Shizu?”

“…”

“What’s wrong? What’s the matter?”

“…”

As soon as I opened the entrance door, I was met with Shizu, who jumped out and embraced me as if she hadn’t been the same person who was sick yesterday.

She came out so suddenly that I couldn’t see her face clearly.

But judging by the strength in her arms as she embraced me, she seemed to have completely shaken off yesterday’s illness.

I felt relieved seeing her recover from her cold so quickly, as Fafnir had said, but…

“Shizu?”

“…”

“I need to go to my duel, could you let go of me?”

“…”

No matter what I said, she didn’t answer and only tightened her arms around me, leaving me standing there at a loss for words.

I tried to use my strength to break free from her embrace, which was so tight it felt suffocating, but the more strength I applied, the stronger her arms holding me became.

The relief that her cold had completely recovered overnight was gradually seeping into my heart, but…

“…”

The sight of Shizu embracing me with all her might, to the point of seeming pitiful, was giving me confusion.

Why is she holding me so tightly?

Her touch seemed to contain a fear that if I escaped from her embrace, she might never see me again.

Why? Why is she doing this?

Though I continued to wonder…

Rather than satisfying my trivial curiosity right now…

I wanted to stroke your head to reassure you, as you trembled like an aspen leaf while embracing me.

So I carefully raised my right arm to stroke the head of Shizu, who had burrowed into my arms with no intention of letting go.

There was a reaction.

“…!!”

Though her mouth didn’t open…

Shizu, who had slightly loosened her grip on me, gently raised her head to meet my eyes.

And the moment our eyes met…

“…Did something happen?”

I barely managed to suppress a gasp of surprise and could only ask her again what had happened.

Because there were clear tear stains that hadn’t dried on her face when she raised her head.

“Cal…”

From her mouth, which finally opened at my question, came a voice calling my name.

It was a voice filled with such poignancy, as if she had met someone she thought she would never see again.

⚜

Where am I?

After my fever rose so high that even I was surprised at how poorly I could control my body…

After being carried on Cal’s back, receiving his warm care, and lying down on the bed, I felt my body lighten and closed my eyes…

When I opened them, I found myself in a place that was completely black.

I couldn’t see anything.

This isn’t a figurative expression.

No matter which way I turned my head, there was no one but me, and it was a desolate space with not a single point of light entering.

“…Cal?”

Suppressing my fear, I carefully called out the name of Cal, the last person I saw before closing my eyes, but…

All that came back was my own echo.

“Haa…”

A sigh escaped me.

My body, which had been so feverish and difficult to control, had regained its vigor as if it had never been ill, but…

The fact that I was left alone in a place without anyone else made me let out a faint sigh.

Realizing I had fallen into such an unrealistic space, I wondered if this might be a dream, but…

Even based on my experience of often having prophetic dreams, this scene was too vivid to be a dream…

And too unrealistic to be considered reality.

In this confusing situation, I just wanted to sit down, but…

“Let’s first check where this is.”

I raised my body that wanted to sit down and slowly took a step forward.

After spending about 5 minutes slowly stepping forward like that…

“…Hmm?”

Something familiar was being heard.

It was sobbing.

A sobbing so poignant that it seemed to have the power to make even the listener cry along, just from hearing it, echoed in my ears without any connection.

I shifted my steps, which had been moving aimlessly in any direction, toward the source of the sound.

“Ah…”

I had to stop as if frozen.

I saw a man standing still, wiping away tears with one arm.

It was the appearance of someone I knew, someone I knew too well.

Bright red hair that I could recognize at a glance even from far away.

A build about a head taller than me.

And as my steps drew closer, the sobbing sound became clearer and more identifiable.

It was the appearance of someone I couldn’t help but recognize.

Cal, the most precious person to me, was left alone in this unknown place, crying so sorrowfully.

Why was he crying?

Except for when I first met him…

He was always a person accustomed to comforting those who cry… specifically, comforting me when I cried.

He would gently comfort me when I often cried over trivial matters, wiping away the tears in my eyes.

When he was with me, he always tried to make me comfortable with a bright and kind smile, but…

Here, in this place where I couldn’t even distinguish between dream and reality, he was crying sorrowfully in a way I had never seen before.

My heart aches.

Just facing his crying figure, my heart feels like it’s being torn apart.

I don’t know why he’s crying.

But, facing him crying like this, I seemed to clearly know what I should do right now.

I carefully continued my steps, which had stopped as if frozen.

My destination was toward that person crying so sadly in front of me.

What I needed to do was simple.

Just like he comforted me when I cried well…

Carefully embrace him into my arms and stop those sobs.

Once I realized what I needed to do, strength entered my hesitant steps that had been full of hesitation after falling into this unrealistic space.

In a moment, I stood behind him, reaching a point where I could pull him into my arms.

Now I just need to extend my arms and pull his crying body toward mine to share warmth.

I just need to follow what he always did when he gave me courage when I was crying tears from sadness or hardship.

But…

“Ah!”

The arm I had extended to pull him into my embrace couldn’t extend further due to a sudden change in the surroundings.

Something had appeared around him as he was crying sorrowfully alone.

It was a woman.

She was a being who had covered everything with black armor and a mask, standing out even in this blackened space.

Despite wearing armor, her slender figure and neatly tied black hair that reached down to her waist made it easy to recognize that she was a woman.

It was armor with an ominous color, but…

Strangely, facing this woman, I felt nostalgia rather than wariness.

But regardless of feeling nostalgia from this person who seemed ominous just by looking at her, I had no intention of letting her approach Cal, so…

I was about to slowly step forward with the purpose of standing in front of Cal to block this person’s approach, but…

As soon as she revealed her presence, this woman discovered Cal crying sorrowfully in front of her and…

“…!!”

She ran mindlessly and embraced him, Cal, in a manner that seemed so affectionate.

That appearance was filled with desperation, as if she would never meet him again if she lost him now.

And it was also filled with some unknown sense of guilt.

“…”

I was so surprised that I could only stand there watching this scene.

Who are you…? Who are you to embrace the person most precious to me so casually like this?

And not just embracing, but embracing him in a way that makes jealousy flame up in my heart as I watch?

The flame of jealousy boiling in my heart prepared me to blurt out these words that had risen in my mind, but…

Before the words could fall from my lips…

“…I’m sorry.”

I had to stop because of the words that came from the mouth of the unknown woman embracing Cal.

“I’m… sorry. I now know it wasn’t your fault… I won’t ask for forgiveness. I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry.”

It was a voice filled with such pathos that it could even surpass the sobbing sound of Cal, who had been crying with such sorrow.

Despite the ominous aura surrounding her with all the sinister equipment hanging all over her body…

The apologizing woman’s appearance added only pathos, to the extent that I thought this might be what guilt would look like if it took human form, rather than any negativity.

…Who could she be? Who on earth is this person to apologize to Cal while sobbing?

Unable to move my body freely due to unknown questions, I could only blankly watch this situation, and at that moment…

“…”

The woman who had stopped sobbing carefully moved away from Cal’s embrace and raised her head to meet my eyes.

Despite covering everything in black…

The blue light permeating her two eyes, which even the mask couldn’t hide, was clearly visible, shining to the point of being chilling.

It was a clear and beautiful blue that could dispel at once all the negativity thickly wrapped around her body.

I should have been angry and said something to her for arbitrarily embracing someone else’s precious fiancé, but…

“Protect… him. Don’t make him unhappy like I did… please protect him.”

She left these words and then disappeared, dissipating her presence as if it was a lie that she had been standing in front of me until just now.

So I lost the opportunity to get angry.

What… is this all about?

Why did she arbitrarily embrace my precious person, leave words of apology, and then arbitrarily make such a request to me before disappearing?

Even without receiving such a request, I can protect that person.

I’ve lived thinking that no one but me can protect him.

Why did she leave such a request to me and disappear?

Could it be… that the current me is insufficient to protect him?

Suddenly, I became angry.

More than at that woman for arbitrarily embracing my precious person…

At her appearance of entrusting him to me and disappearing, as if considering me inferior to herself.

Anger surged uncontrollably, and…

At that moment, the unidentified black space distorted…

And my consciousness blurred along with it.