episode_0046

I held Ellen’s hand and walked around the square.

“Isn’t it a shame to continue like this, Your Majesty?”

No matter how big the square was, it was still a square.

It’s a scene I’ve seen many times before.

If I go back like this, I think I’ll try to practice magic again.

“Let’s go to some different places.”

“A different place… ?”

“There’s someone who’s going to catch you.”

Luke smiled brightly.

I think Dien must have woken up soon.

No reply comes back on long distance communication paper.

“Let’s use our kidnapping experience to our advantage.”

It would be a shame to go in like this.

I have to go and kidnap Diana.

* * * * *

A forest so densely packed with trees that not even sunlight can penetrate.

This time I arrived with Elin.

“The air is good.”

“That’s definitely true.”

It’s dark even during the day.

There are many trees so the air is clean.

“Please wait a moment.”

I released the barriers one by one, just like I did last time.

Crunch.

It didn’t take long since I had already done it once.

“… Wow.”

A cabin revealed with rippling air.

[Dien’s Alchemy Shop]

It’s still a sign with no credibility.

With that thought in mind, let’s open the door.

“This and that… Oh, right, this too.”

Unlike his appearance, which was the very embodiment of laziness.

I found Dien busily packing her things into her hair.

“Are these the luggage you will be using in the North?”

“Heeek… !!”

Dien, who just discovered Luke.

“Yes, why are you here… .”

He staggers back with an expression on his face as if he is out of breath.

“I came to see you off, my senior, because you will soon get a new job.”

“What is your job… … !”

“Why are you reacting like that? There was no reply.”

“… … ”

Dien closed his mouth like a clam.

He glanced out the window.

Boom!

He runs as if he’s going to break the window.

Tub.

“Eww… Let go of this… !!”

Of course, it was caught right away.

An alchemist who only spreads out and sleeps cannot possibly have good stamina.

Because the hair was so long, it was easy to hold on to.

“You saw the letter, right?”

“I saw it as soon as I woke up! But what kind of northerner am I! Why should I go to that cold place on my own feet? Why me!”

Dien with his feet completely off the ground.

I struggled with all my might.

For a person who finds everything annoying, Dienchi’s resistance is strong.

That’s how much I hate the North.

Since I can’t force someone who doesn’t like it, I started trying to persuade them.

“Don’t you need income? I think you’re running low on money.”

“Is that enough? I don’t really have anything to spend money on since I just sleep all day and don’t go out.”

“Ah.”

Are we living an unproductive life without the necessary resources?

Surely, then there will be less expenses to spend.

“When he left the family, he also brought a lot of money.”

“What are you proudly talking about?”

If you get kicked out of your family, isn’t that essentially stealing?

Hey? If I report this to the Pirandello family… … .

“Are you trying to sell out your senior now?”

“Please call it negotiation.”

“It doesn’t benefit me at all.”

“Terrorists don’t negotiate.”

“… … You don’t negotiate with terrorists, right?”

“Let’s skip the small stuff.”

Now that we’ve evolved from good kidnappers to terrorists, we need to be even more powerful.

“Please select: Graduate or Northern.”

“You… like that… .”

“I am ready to contact the professor of pension science at any time.”

Dien looks at Luke with eyes filled with shock and betrayal.

“Among those two… … .”

Soon I start to think seriously about it.

It was because I really thought there was a chance that I would be dragged into graduate school.

“Think about it slowly.”

Luke even showed mercy by not forcing him to make a choice right away.

“Ugh… .”

Still, it must have been quite a difficult choice.

Dien chewed her lips in pain.

“Didn’t you say that the potion material supply chain was in trouble anyway? The mutant creature has a curse similar to yours. Let’s go north and collect some samples.”

“Ahhh… No matter what, in that cold place… .”

Dien, who rolls up her hair as if she is getting cold just thinking about it.

When the answer doesn’t come easily and the worries continue for a long time.

“Material Supply Chain… ?”

Ellen squeezed the hand she was holding with Luke.

“What are you talking about?”

“It is said that it has become difficult to obtain ingredients for the Curse Removal Potion.”

“There aren’t many potions left, right?”

“That’s a very big problem.”

“… I can’t use magic anymore?”

Elin, whose hair has become stiff.

He turns his head towards Dien, creaking.

“Really, sis?”

“Huh? Uh, uh. I don’t know why, but they said they can’t supply any more materials… … .”

Dien, who turned his head slightly and trailed off.

Swish.

Elin, who let go of Luke’s hand, approaches Dianne.

Elin and Dien stood right in front, their eye levels almost aligned.

He held Dien’s hand tightly with both hands.

“Sister.”

“Huh… ?”

“I want to use magic. No, I have to use it.”

Desperation dripped from his voice.

“There are people I have to protect.”

Surely that isn’t my story.

Luke watched quietly, thinking about it.

“That, that’s right… ?”

Dien’s pupils were shaking, as if he was about to fall over.

“I will definitely repay the favor later… So can you help me…?”

A voice that conveys tremors.

Moist, wet eyes.

A fool’s hair that shakes gloomily.

Dien was hit by a three-stage combo and stopped.

“That, um… Sister will help you… .”

We nodded together, sobbing.

“Of course I should do it if my little brother asks me to do something… … .”

But Dien is someone who never does anything annoying, even if it means dying.

More than that, it was Ellen’s heartfelt appeal that moved my heart.

Of course, it’s not like the body was moved by the mind.

“… … Will you save the carriage?”

He looked at Luke with dying eyes.

* * * * *

The night we successfully sent Dien north.

“Can I keep drinking the potion?”

Ellen muttered, burying herself in Luke’s bed.

“Since the senior went there himself, things will work out somehow. But is the potion better now?”

It seems like I was about to die from eating it just a little while ago.

These days, I drink it all by myself, gulping it down.

“… I don’t like it. I can’t help it, that’s why.”

Ellin’s expression as she shook her head seemed to say, ‘You shouldn’t do this.’

“I’m going to stop here for today.”

And then I close my eyes.

“Why do you want to sleep in my bed so naturally?”

I couldn’t help but point out that he was entering Luke’s room as if it were a given.

“… Because it’s scary to sleep alone.”

Now, Ellen was trying to sleep with him openly, not secretly.

“What if scary people come again?”

You keep making excuses.

“Can’t we sleep together?”

Using a speaking style that makes it increasingly impossible to refuse as the days go by.

“… Only today.”

Today too, Luke pretended to give in and turned off the lights.

Exactly.

A dark room.

“No matter how scared you are, you have to sleep alone because you are old.”

“… Okay.”

While answering like that, Elin slowly approaches Luke.

Hug.

He gently grabbed the collar with his small hands.

“… … ”

Because it’s not completely stuck.

It’s hard to say whether this is a real drop.

Ellen poked his forearm with her slender fingers.

“Can’t we talk for a while?”

I always end up falling asleep after training because I’m so tired.

I feel like I have some energy left today because I got a good rest.

“I will do it if you promise to sleep in the princess’s room from tomorrow.”

“… … ”

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“Now that I think about it, I think it’s okay if you don’t do it… .”

Just looking at it, it looks like it’ll come tomorrow too.

But… what can Luke do then?

Even if you keep harassing me and saying you want to sleep with me every day, there’s no way to stop you.

Luke, who had a change of perspective, opened his mouth, thinking that this was fortunate.

“Today is a day off, so I’ll give you a special treat.”

“… … !”

Even though the lights are off and I can’t see it, I can feel my hair standing on end.

It was evidence that they had already become that close.

“When I was a freshman at the academy. It was during the magic sparring session… .”

Luke begins to tell his story hesitantly.

He speaks softly and in a low and mid-range voice that is comfortable to listen to.

“Ugh… .”

Ellin’s voice, which had been responding, became increasingly louder.

“So I use 8 stacks of 1 circle magic… … .”

“… … ”

“Your Majesty?”

When there was no answer at all.

The story stopped.

“Koo… … .”

Before I knew it, I could hear the sound of someone breathing next to me.

Swish, swish.

After confirming by waving my hand in front of Elin’s eyes.

“Come out slowly. Don’t be gloomy.”

I looked straight out the window.

Outside the empty window, only soft moonlight was coming in.

Immediately the air began to ripple.

“You noticed, didn’t you?”

A man wearing a mask appeared.

I wasn’t particularly surprised.

There’s no way a single robber would have broken into Bertain.

“What brings you here? Are you suddenly missing home?”

Because I couldn’t help but recognize him since I had just met him a few days ago.

Click.

When the mask is removed, Leo’s face is revealed.

“I came here to ask you a favor.”

“You’re pretty good at showing off your thick skin.”

“This is a virtue that is absolutely necessary for the secret special forces.”

Is it possible to get hit with words like that and not feel embarrassed?

Or maybe he’s just pretending everything is okay.

Leo burst into Luke’s room with a dry expression on his face.

“If you had come in secretly, I wouldn’t have noticed.”

It was clear that the shoes touched the floor.

There was no sound.

“Is Elin asleep?”

“You didn’t wait until I fell asleep on purpose, did you? So that I wouldn’t kick you out.”

“You’re sharp.”

Leo nodded, admitting it obediently.

“I’d like to talk to you separately. Can we move to a different seat?”

I raised my hand to Leo, who looked anxious.

“Let me tell you in advance. If you, Princess… .”

“No, it has nothing to do with Ijeelin.”

Leo cut Luke off with a sharp edge.

“Isn’t this why you came here?”

“You promised to protect me. I will trust you and leave it to you.”

Then why did you come back to the house you left behind?

A question mark floats above your head.

“Then why did you come here?”

“I have a favor to ask of you, Luke Bucklin.”

A rather unexpected remark came out of Leo’s mouth.