episode_0135

“Ugh…”

“Are you okay, Sarah…?”

Ariel asked with a worried expression, gently stroking my back.

“Do you have a stomachache? Do you want to go to the bathroom?”

“That’s…not like that.”

“Sarah. I’ll treat you. Can you take your hands off my stomach and show me?”

“Eek? Ah…No..!! I can’t show you..!”

“Yes..?”

“Ah..no..! It’s okay Iris…”

I let out a short sigh and gently patted my stomach a few times.

My stomach hurt.

It wasn’t just that my stomach hurt. It was literally my stomach itself that hurt.

I had been feeling a tingling sensation since I woke up this morning, and now I was feeling a constant, bitter pain.

I looked in the mirror, and Lily’s handprint was clearly visible.

‘Lily, how much did you press it?’

It definitely didn’t hurt when I passed out yesterday… Did he keep pressing it even after I lost consciousness?

While I was mumbling to myself like that.

Someone opened our classroom door and came in.

“Hello Sarah.”

Do you think even a tiger will come if you call it that?

I turned my head and saw Lily sitting next to me with a bright smile.

“……”

When I looked at Lily with a blank expression, she shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t know and smiled at me.

“Do you want to go have lunch together?”

“..Just the two of us?”

Before I could answer, I heard a voice next to me.

It was Ariel, not me, who answered Lily’s words.

She came between us with a puzzled look on her face.

“I have something to say to Sarah.”

“I..I have a lot to say to Sarah too. We can’t be alone together!”

“…..”

Lily looked at Ariel quietly for a moment, then looked at me with an incomprehensible smile and spoke.

“Is your lower stomach hurting a little better Sera?”

“Huh..huh?”

“I pressed a little too hard-”

“Hiyaak?!”

I quickly got up and covered Lily’s mouth with both hands.

‘Ah..what is that kid talking about..!’

I looked at her with trembling eyes, asking, “What on earth are you talking about?”

Lily made a strange expression and then gently licked my hand covering her mouth with her tongue.

“Huh?!”

I instinctively took my hand away from Lily’s mouth at the creepy sensation. She looked at me, licking her lips once with her tongue.

“Will you eat lunch with me?”

“This..this..”

I was taken aback by Lily’s unfamiliar appearance.

Hey… I guess he wasn’t originally this gloomy…?

She must have been a kind, innocent, and naive younger sister who followed her older sister’s words well.

Right now, it seems like he’s really giving off the vibe that he’s deliberately targeting me.

“Sigh..”

I let out a short sigh and nodded.

Anyway, there was something I had to talk to Lily about.

Even though I couldn’t do it yesterday because I fainted, I absolutely had to talk to her about the subjugation of the Demon King.

If we ever get to have lunch together, we’ll have a chance to talk about it.

“…When did you become so close with Lily?”

While my lunch appointment with Lily was being arranged, Ariel, who had a dark expression on her face, looked at me and asked.

For a moment, I flinched at her expression, but I forced a smile and answered her.

“Uh..yesterday we were talking about this and that..haha..”

“…..I see?”

Why…why is that..?

I feel like a bit of an eerie atmosphere is leaking out from Ariel.

….I really don’t have to worry about this..?

* * *

“Sister. Ah~”

A park within the academy that exudes a quiet atmosphere.

Lily picked up some food from her lunchbox and put it in my mouth.

Since I didn’t bring a packed lunch, he suggested we go to a restaurant.

Lily rather said it was good and dragged me here.

“Sister. My hand hurts.”

“…Ahh.”

I opened my mouth, unable to resist the continued urging, and the food poured into my mouth.

I rolled the food around on my tongue a few times. My eyes shot open wide.

The taste of food that melts in your mouth.

A taste that somehow warms the heart.

So delicious, and so nostalgic. An unforgettable taste.

…..It was Dania’s sister’s food.

“Isn’t it delicious?”

“…..Yeah.”

As the faint voice came out of my mouth, Lily smiled faintly and started feeding me food again.

While they were enjoying each other’s food like that.

Lily spoke to me cautiously.

“Don’t you want to go see your sister?”

“……”

I couldn’t give any answer to Lily’s words.

“Sister, I also miss you so much, Hera.”

“….Really?”

When I looked at Lily with trembling eyes, she smiled faintly and nodded.

“Yes. Really.”

“……”

I slowly lowered my head and looked at the floor, trying to think of her.

Sister Dania.

The first person I met with a deep connection after coming to this world.

My beloved family, the ones who have cared for me endlessly and kindly…the people I am so grateful for and so precious to me.

The time I spent with her at Drax was, in some ways, the most comfortable time of my life, so Dania was a great strength to me.

“….I miss you.”

I found myself muttering without realizing it.

But it wasn’t a lie.

How could she not see it?

She always smiled warmly at me, hugged me gently, and comforted me whenever I was having a hard time.

I wanted to see you.

But for the same reason I couldn’t go to Lily, I didn’t want to see Sister Dania.

I’m afraid she’ll be disappointed in me.

I think you’ve already forgotten me and are living well.

So I couldn’t go there.

But now… that’s not the case.

I promised myself that I would never avoid them again in fear.

Lily didn’t forget me during that time, she missed me.

It’s my wish, but I hope that Dania unnie won’t forget me either.

“I miss you.”

I spoke to Lily again.

But this time, it was even clearer and more powerful.

Lily looked at me with wide eyes for a moment, then grabbed my hand and spoke.

“Come down to my house with me this weekend.”

“……I have plans this weekend.”

The weekend…is the day I decided to meet Iris.

And that couldn’t be left out yet.

It’s an undeniable fact that I miss my older sister Dania so much.

For the sake of Iris’ mental health, I still had to meet her.

“…Come to think of it, I met someone last week too. Who was that person?”

Lily asked, leaning a little closer to me.

“That…that…”

What should I do?

Should I tell Lily about Iris?

I wondered if there was any need to hide it in the first place, but I thought it would be better in many ways not to say anything for now.

Just in case something happens.

“Just stay there.”

“…..”

As Lily’s expression gradually calmed down, I quickly smiled and spoke to her.

“I think it’ll be okay for one day this weekend. I’d like to go if even one day is okay.”

“…..What do you like?”

Lily, who had been looking at me with a suspicious expression for a while, soon let out a short sigh and moved on.

“By the way, I was wondering, Unnie. Why did you come to the Academy?”

And then Lily continues talking.

“Ah…that?”

“Is there something you have to do here while hiding your appearance?”

“Umm…”

Now that I think about it, that’s true.

Is there any reason for me to be in the Academy now?

The only reason I disguised myself as Sarah and hid my identity at the Academy was because of Lily.

But now that Lily knows my true identity, there’s really no reason for me to remain in Sarah’s guise.

No, there was no reason to go to the academy in the first place.

I warned Darkhan about all the dangers of the Academy.

I think it would be okay if we just met every weekend.

Finally, we also knew for sure that Lily had become a warrior.

All I had to do now was gather many people together and join forces. That was it.

There’s no reason to go to the academy anymore.

But for some reason I didn’t want to do that.

Boring but peaceful daily life at the academy.

The precious friends I made there: Iris and Ariel.

I didn’t want to let them go just yet.

….any

Wouldn’t it be okay to go a little further?

Since it was still a long time before the Demon King would launch a full-scale attack anyway, there was nothing to worry about for now.

The situation is still quite relaxed.

There was no reason to go to the academy, but there was no particular reason to leave either.

Of course, my daughter is waiting for me, so I have to go back within a month…

But until then, I wanted to make some more memories with them.

“Sister?”

Lily tilted her head and looked at me, wondering if I was strange because I wasn’t answering.

There’s no need to hide it from Lily anymore.

Anyway, everything was discovered anyway.

That’s why I go to the academy.

The operation to subdue the Demon King that I am planning.

Of course, I had no intention of forcing Lily to defeat the Demon King.

But it was a situation where her strength was desperately needed.

I had no intention of putting the woman I loved into an unwanted threat.

If Lily doesn’t want to defeat the Demon King, I will come up with another plan.

It’ll take a while to get around, but… I’ll feel a lot more at ease.

“… Lily, actually.”

Even if I get rejected by Min-ak Lily, I think there’s nothing I can do.

I carefully explained my plan to Lily.

The reason I came to the academy.

The existence of the Demon King and the dangers that lie ahead.

And my little plan to defeat the Demon King.

As time passed, I told Lily my whole story.

Unexpectedly.

Lily received an immediate positive response.

“Okay. Let’s go on a subjugation adventure right now, sis.”

No, rather, it must be my imagination that makes me feel like I’m hoping for something.

“Traveling with my sister…just the two of us in the forest…sigh…let’s leave tomorrow, sister.”

Lily smiles gloomily, covering up the blush that has crept up her face.

…Didn’t you say you were going to see your older sister Dania this weekend?