Flame

<Side : Lacey Glyss>

『Month of the Cross – 20th (Evening)』

That night, after dropping Muse off at the church, I returned home and went to sleep.

There were times when I didn’t think a month was that long, but the time I couldn’t see my beloved felt like sinking into a swamp with every passing second.

“Still, giving Muse the ring, even if I had to push myself, might have been the right thing to do…”

Lying in bed, I looked at the ring on my hand.

A ring with a blue and pink gemstone, modeled after the colors of me and Muse.

In fact, the reason I participated as a mercenary in the civil war between the kingdom and the empire was none other than to make this ring.

Monsters that only appear in the Empire, and rare materials that only come from those Monsters.

Only for that, I disregarded the rudeness to my colleagues and extended the schedule to obtain it.

‘Th, that’s, that’s… I, I’ve never done anything like this before… I don’t know what to say. Th, that’s, that’s… I’m so grateful… Hiccup…’

Muse’s expression when she received this ring was truly, just thinking about it made me laugh.

If there was a painter nearby, I would have had them paint that expression. Anyway, what should I do from tomorrow? It was a relatively long expedition, so the party will be resting for the time being.

‘Besides, I haven’t shown my face at the Clarice Fortress Church either…’

I was also concerned about the story I had with Muse earlier, and I wondered if I should go see Alex’s party tomorrow… Mulling over the various things that happened today, I fell into a cozy sleep.

[……■■ ■…♥]

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『Month of the Cross – 21st (Morning)』

“Haa! Haa… Haa… Haa……”

What, what was that? Whose voice was that just now…? I looked around, but there was no one there.

In the first place, I’m the only one living in this house. But what was the identity of the voice I just heard?

I immediately threw off the blanket and got up, looking around the house. If I didn’t hear it wrong, there’s a possibility that someone broke into the house.

After firmly grasping the Ice Lance placed in a corner of the bedroom, I looked around the living room and the bathroom.

“……Strange. Everything is as it is…”

The house was quiet, and there was no trace of messiness that I could find even if I tried.

“Have I become nervous because I’ve been tired lately…”

But it was too vivid a woman’s voice to dismiss it as fatigue.

Or can I call it a voice? The pronunciation was slurred, and it seemed like she was trying to say something, but I couldn’t understand the meaning.

Without definite evidence, it’s hard to rule out the possibility that the voice from earlier was just my hallucination.

Haa… Only troublesome things happen since I came back.

“I just ruined my mood for nothing. I should go back to sleep…”

Trying to calm my unpleasant mood, I released the tension in my shoulders and was about to return to my room when I saw the sunlight streaming in through the curtains. Ha, is it already morning…

“Today is the worst…”

I’ve never been able to oversleep as much as I used to. Strictly speaking, rather than not oversleeping, I suddenly wake up at a set time.

When I was a Holy Knight, I thought of this constitution as a Blessing, as I had to move according to rules and time.

However, after doing the job of an adventurer with a certain degree of autonomy, this constitution felt like a curse.

Today is the same. Sleepiness is coming, but my body doesn’t want to sleep.

“Let’s have breakfast.”

Thanks to the strange voice I suddenly heard, I greeted the day with a gloomy mood. I hope this worst ends only this time… But why is that… It wasn’t as unpleasant a voice as I thought.

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After roughly eating breakfast, I changed into comfortable clothes and went out into the street.

Originally, I didn’t have any plans for today, but during yesterday’s conversation with Muse, I talked about Clarice and Alex’s gloomy appearance. The abnormality of the two may not be a coincidence.

Besides, since two of the three party members already have suspicious circumstances, there is no guarantee that Mel is not the same.

It’s a party that I happened to guide. It’s not just a small sense of responsibility, but I was truly nurturing them as promising adventurers who will lead the future.

Thinking that, I headed to the inn in the western district where Alex’s party was staying.

It was the opposite side of my accommodation located in the eastern district, but I was able to reach the inn quickly with my legs trained by adventurer work.

A three-story accommodation with a rough and somewhat old appearance. Unlike what it looks like, it is affiliated with the guild, so it is popular among novice adventurers.

“Is it here.”

I opened the door of the accommodation and went inside. The first floor was also used as a restaurant, and several people who looked like adventurers were eating breakfast.

Alex and his party were not among them. I spoke to the man wiping the dishes behind the counter. He is the manager of this accommodation, whom I have met several times at the guild.

“Manager. I have something to ask.”

“Lacey Glyss? What brings a high-ranking adventurer like you to this humble place?”

“Alex Raise, Clarice Siete, Mel Grande. These are the names of the adventurers staying at this accommodation. Have they shown any strange behavior in the past month?”

After further describing their appearance, the manager thought hard, and then, as if he had remembered something, he put down the dishes he was wiping and said.

“If you’re talking about those fledgling adventurers, they left just a moment ago. They were in such a hurry that they ignored me even when I spoke to them and just left. And if it’s them, they’re famous here. For the past month, they’ve been diligently completing the requests at the guild without taking a single break.”

“Without taking a break for a month?”

A month is a longer time than I thought. Even our party, which is called a first-class adventurer in the world, does not skip rest.

But they, who are barely hanging on to being intermediate adventurers, are doing missions without rest?

Then I can understand why Clarice couldn’t come to church for a month and Alex’s gloomy expression.

They must have been like that because they worked so hard.

“What’s even more amazing is that they succeeded in all those missions and returned safely. I thought they wouldn’t last long at first. By the way, what business do you have with them?”

“I’ll tell you they’re my juniors. Thanks for the story. I’ll be going now.”

Alex and his party left the accommodation just a moment ago. They must be going to the guild to receive a request today, so if I chase them right now, I should be able to meet them.

I greeted the manager and left the accommodation, heading to the guild.

The distance between the accommodation and the guild was not that far. Despite the early morning, there were many pedestrians.

Merchants promoting their products as if they never get tired, adventurers walking towards their respective destinations.

And the alley……………nothing is happening in the alley.

However, Alex’s party was not seen among them. Could it be that they have already arrived at the guild? They’re faster than I thought.

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“”……Rock, paper, scissors!””

As I got closer to the guild, I heard the voices of a man and a woman that seemed to ring in my ears. The owners of those voices are two people I know well.

Myrit and Elizabeth. It was clear that the two of them were the first to say that we should take a break for the time being.

Myrit was holding a Steel gauntlet, and Elizabeth was holding a gun, that is, their respective weapons.

“What are you two doing here?”

“I won! …Huh? Oh! Lacey, it’s been a while.”

“Aaaagh!!! I lost again? Are you using some kind of Magic? How many times is this!!!!”

The adventurers around the guild, as well as the people passing by, were paying attention to this place because of Elizabeth’s scream.

The two main characters, however, had steel on their faces, and were just revealing their respective feelings in their expressions.

In order to calm the noisy scene, I spoke to the two of them and gave them a warning.

“You two are being rude. It’s not like you rented this place.”

“Sorry, sorry~ I won the bet, so I got a little excited. On the contrary, our Liza lost the bet, so she must be very frustrated~”

“No! This is the 5th time in a row! Why is this happening to me!”

“Well, a match is a match. Here, Liza, take this Gauntlet and return it well~”

Elizabeth, without paying attention to my words, burst into anger, roughly hung Myrit’s Gauntlet on one shoulder, and stomped away from the place.

I’m at a loss for words at the two people who are so selfish. I put aside the chaotic atmosphere and approached Myrit, who was still grinning, and spoke to him.

“Didn’t you say with your own mouth that today is a break? But you’re making such a fuss in front of the guild… Is something wrong?”

“Ah, is that why? I was just having a light bet with Liza. The reason I was at the guild was because I had something to see Herry early in the morning.”

“A bet?”

“I was going to get my weapons checked, but since Liza and I get our weapons checked at the same place anyway, we made a bet and decided that the loser would take all the weapons and get them checked at once. That’s where I happened to win!”

It’s a talent if you can attract people’s attention for just that reason…

“Wait a minute… So you’re saying you’ve been here since early this morning?”

“Huh? Well, yeah. Herry sent a Familiar from the morning, saying he was really urgent. The reason he called me… There are many people watching and listening here, so can we talk about it somewhere else?”

“Then let me ask you one thing before that. Has Alex… the boy I met yesterday, and his party, been here?”

“Huh? If you’re talking about that boy, not a single strand of his hair has been seen here. By the way, that boy is famous in the guild. They’re praising him as a supernova with a 100% success rate for intermediate requests~”

Leaving Myrit’s words behind, I fell into thought again.

If Alex didn’t come here, where did he go? If he didn’t come to the guild… Is their purpose not to receive a request?

What woke me up from my thoughts was Myrit’s hand patting my shoulder.

“You seem to be quite lost in thought. If I may say a word, you seem to be overprotecting that boy. Of course, you’ll know if you’ve heard the rumors, but that boy Alex. I heard he’s been taking on missions from the guild without taking a single day off.”

“Yes, that’s why I came to the guild. Judging from the circumstances so far, I thought they would definitely go to the guild to find a request.”

“It’s certainly natural as a teacher to be worried about that, but even if they are your precious disciples, interfering in their affairs is not worry, but interference.”

Myrit put away his smile from earlier and spoke to me with a serious expression.

I know the intention of Myrit’s words. But perhaps because of the reaction to forcibly dragging out what I had been denying in my heart, I was just making excuses.

“But I felt that their actions were strange and that their actions for a month were somehow related. As someone who guides them, I couldn’t ignore it and went out to find them. There is no other reason.”

What I’m doing now may be restricting their actions by underestimating Alex’s party too much, as Myrit said.

No matter how much they look like chicks who haven’t shed their novice adventurer status in my eyes, they are also full-fledged adventurers.

I have no right to interfere in their actions. But I was still too soft to ignore them for that reason alone.

“Hoo… Since you seem to be worried like that, and I have a little connection with that boy Alex, I’ll help you a little. Instead, you have to listen to my request… the request of the leader of the party.”

Myrit changed the subject and spoke to me again, as if trying to calm me down, who was still wandering.

It’s still difficult to agree with his words, but there was no more to talk about the party that was no longer here.

“There’s some truth in your words, but I have to talk to them at least. However, it’s ridiculous for outsiders to talk about people who aren’t here. So, shall we hear the reason why you can’t say it here?”

“Okay! You’re finally in the mood to talk! Good, then… let’s see. Let’s go talk in that alley…………no, teahouse.”

Myrit pointed to a small teahouse. It was a shabby teahouse with hardly any people coming and going.

“That seems to be the most deserted place.”

“Is it that important that we have to talk there?”

“Well… you’ll know when you hear it.”

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Led by Myrit, I entered the teahouse and sat down.

In the teahouse with a desolate atmosphere, there were no customers except for the elderly owner wiping the glasses and us.

While drinking the tea that the owner gave us, Myrit started talking.

“I can’t stand this suffocating atmosphere, so I’ll say it quickly and finish it. In fact, the reason Herry, the Guild Master, called us from the morning is because of the black market. He asked us to investigate the location of the black market.”

“Black market?”

“When we were dispatched to the war between the kingdom and the empire, evidence came out that slave trading was taking place in the black market. The black market has been tacitly allowed by the lord until now, but since such evidence has come out in this place where slave trading is prohibited, the lord has directly issued a search.”

“But in the first place, that’s something you should hire an adventurer for, not entrust to the direct guards, so why are you reaching out to us?”

As far as I know, there is an excellent guard in the lord’s territory. I heard that the captain of the guard can even fly.

“The black market guys. They’ve hidden themselves as if they’re planning to trade Slaves from now on. They’ve hidden so well that Herry can’t find them? Mages can’t find them, so there’s no way the guards, who are just strong, can find them. So Herry applied for a request to our party alone.”

If it’s a solo request, it means that the Guild Master is independently entrusting the request to us without the lord’s knowledge.

She must be impatient too. Well, the lord has directly drawn his sword, but the person who claims to be the Guild Master is not producing results. It’s understandable…

“That’s all for the story. It’s a very simple and convenient request, isn’t it?”

“……It’s a more unnutritious story than I thought. To find out about the location of the black market. Is that all? Is there not even a single clue?”

“Unfortunately, we have to start from 0. I don’t understand why there isn’t even a single clue.”

After that, I heard from Myrit about the information about the black market that the guild and the lord’s guards were sharing, and I was about to leave.

Just as I was pushing the chair and trying to get out of the store, Myrit seemed to have remembered something and spoke to me again.

“Ah! By the way, did you deliver the ring well? To your fiancé.”

“Ah, she liked it very much thanks to you. If there was a painter nearby, it was an expression I would have wanted to keep as a painting.”

“Just mentioning your fiancé. The icy expression melted away so quickly, so the saying that love changes people is not wrong.”

My expression melted away? Then that also means that my love for Muse is great. My love for Muse will never change.

–Bang!!

“Fou… nd… you!!”

At that moment, the store door was violently opened and a purple Flash swept before my eyes.

Immediately after, I heard the sound of dull metal clashing, and I saw a trace so fast that I thought of a dragon’s flapping wings.

Following the purple afterimage, I turned around and saw a familiar woman standing on the wreckage of the table that had been shattered by the thrown Gauntlet.

“Liza!? You, you came pretty quickly…! How, how did you know I was here. Ahaha…”

“Haa… Haa… I came after your scent. By the way, I was carrying all this heavy equipment alone to get it serviced, and you’re leisurely drinking tea here?”

“N, no, that’s a fair bet… And I was here to have an important conversation with Lacey, man to man…”

“Quiet… To abuse fragile me like this, should I have a serious talk with you today?”

“Le, Lacey, please help me for a moment…!”

Leaving Myrit’s dying scream, who was tightly grabbed by Elizabeth, I quietly slipped out of the store.

After all, her target wasn’t me, but Myrit, who was neglecting his wife and drinking tea. Wouldn’t it be an ideal marital relationship to go together even if you lose a bet?

I vowed that if something like this happened to me next time, I wouldn’t act like Myrit.

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『Month of the Cross – 21st (Evening)』

After the conversation with Myrit, I headed home.

In the end, there was no gain regarding Alex’s party. I thought about going back to the lodging where Alex was staying, just in case, but Myrit’s words came to mind.

The feeling that I was holding them back under the name of overprotection was suffocating me. The sun had barely risen to the middle of the sky.

The view of the church came into sight as I passed by.

Right, let’s go pick up Muse this evening. I needed her as a haven to calm my restless heart.

I returned home and spent time until the evening, and left the house just as the church was about to close.

I threw open the tightly closed church door as I did yesterday. Under the dazzling lights was my love with pink hair, devoutly praying under the Goddess statue.

Muse felt my presence and turned around, and as soon as she saw my face, her beautiful face brightened even more.

“You! What brings you here today? I was just about to finish up and leave the church.”

“I came just in time for that. To escort my love home.”

“W-What!? Isn’t it a bit too direct? You should be a little more roundabout…”

Muse heard my words and her face instantly turned red, and she stuttered.

Because of this reaction, I never get tired of whispering love to Muse. And as Muse said, there was no one in the church except for Muse and me.

Perhaps Muse was just about to finish her last prayer and leave.

“W-Well, then please wait a moment. I have to turn off the church lights and lock up…!”

Muse hurriedly tidied up the church. She turned off the candles and the Magic Lamps hanging from the ceiling, and locked the doors all over the church.

Unlike her usual serious self, she was a little clumsy and bustled around the church. When I saw her almost fall over, I couldn’t help but smile contentedly.

“I-It’s done. Shall we go then?”

“Let’s.”

I took Muse’s hand and left the church. Muse put a lock on the church door that looked heavy at a glance, and then hugged me tightly.

Perhaps because she had been in the church all day, the fragrant oil smell and the deep candle smell tickled my nose.

“So, are you going to walk me home today?”

“Ah… Muse, won’t you… come to my house?”

“W-What!? W-W-Whaaat!!?”

I was momentarily flustered by Muse’s reaction, who was more embarrassed than necessary.

To say that there was an impure intention in my words… no, no. It’s hard to clean up spilled water, but…

Damn it… I have nothing to say…

“Muse… that’s, that’s just something I said. So please forget what I just said…”

“If Le, Lacey likes it… I like it too…”

However, the words that came out of Muse’s mouth were the opposite of what I expected.

I had had relations with Muse several times before.

She didn’t seem to be bound by the idea of premarital purity, and I also wanted a relationship with Muse in my heart, so the relationship progressed smoothly.

However, the only difference between the relationships so far and the current situation is that I gave Muse a wedding ring last night.

Muse was holding my sleeve and trembling.

Muse, who usually patted her chest with a confident voice, was now blushing not only on her face but also on her ears, and was just burying her head on the ground, perhaps because she remembered what happened yesterday.

“Hoo…”

I took a deep breath, took Muse’s hand, and headed to my house.

No matter how many people were on the street, no matter how loud the noise was, it was nothing to me now.

Muse was just walking, led by me without saying a word, and I was also blaming myself for the gravity of the words I had just uttered, and walked quickly in silence.

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–Thump!

We were already inside my house. The dark and silent house, even though it was where I usually lived, had an awkward atmosphere that strangled me.

“I’m going to, go wash up… You also, get ready… It’s been a while today, so…”

“Y-Yes… I’m looking forward to it too…”

Muse and I took turns washing up and entered my bedroom. As soon as I entered the bedroom, I felt an even hotter energy enveloping my body.

How can being with the person I love be so painful… It’s just lamentable.

“You… Lacey. You’ll be gentle, right?”

Muse sat down on the bed with a thud, leaving me standing stiffly behind. Transparent and ornate underwear that doesn’t suit the profession of a Priest.

The thought that she was wearing something like this under her thick Clerical Robe made my penis harden on its own.

–Swoosh…

Muse sat on the bed and gently stroked my penis that was piled up behind her underwear with her hand. That became the signal flare, and my patience reached its limit.

“Kyaa!”

“Muse… I’m going to put it in…”

“…I love you, Lacey♡”

I knocked Muse back onto the bed, and I was possessed by the incarnation of lust, and an uncontrollable desire boiled over.

A sticky scene of lovemaking that was completely different from when we had relations before.

We lightly bit each other’s shoulders, breasts, genitals, and stomachs, greedily indulging in all kinds of bodies, and Muse’s and my lips never parted for even a moment.

Yes, this is it. It was the moment when the love between Muse and I was once again proven to God.

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『Month of the Cross – 22nd (Evening)』

There was a woman. A woman who seemed to be a head taller than me, not wearing a single thread.

Her body seemed to have been trained every day without fail, with clear muscles in her abdomen, black hair and crimson eyes, and violent breasts and buttocks that were not enough to be called voluptuous.

And… a woman with a male genital that looked thicker than one of my arms. Women shouldn’t have that……?

However, the woman didn’t care about my gaze and walked towards me.

Perhaps it’s strange to say she walked. Because I wasn’t here, so it’s right to say that I was watching the woman wander through space, swaying her hips like she was seducing reason.

Soon the woman opened her mouth, and from her mouth, the voice I heard yesterday morning flew on a sweet wind and stimulated my ears. Immediately after that, I… felt it was time to wake up from my dream.

[Hehe, my precious child who will become my apostle in the future]

[Soon my other children will come looking for you]

[I’ll be waiting. My child♥]

“Ugh, ugh…!?”

Was I asleep…? I think I had a dream, but I couldn’t remember anything. I just felt refreshed for the first time in a long time.

“Eve… ning?”

I remember having relations with Muse and falling asleep in the same bed, but it’s already evening?

Of course, Muse wasn’t in the house, and a piece of paper on the drawer caught my eye.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you oversleep. You always wake up earlier than me. I tried to wake you up this morning, but you wouldn’t wake up no matter what, so I thought something had happened. I’m leaving first because it’s late! Ah! I borrowed the bathroom!”

I overslept…? I looked at the paper that Muse seemed to have written and hurriedly got up and looked out the window, and the sun had already set and the moon was in the middle of the sky.

“To sleep this long… might be the first time.”

–Knock knock…… Thump, thump, thump, thump!!

Just as I was staring blankly at the window, I heard a loud knock on the door.

“Lacey Glyss. Upper-level Adventurer! Are you inside?”

“What is it… at this hour?”

As if he didn’t care whether I was inside or not, the sound of knocking on the door from outside only intensified.

The current time is evening. The person slamming on the door from outside must be doing this even at the risk of causing injustice at this hour, right?

–Creak…

“Do you know what time it is…”

“I’m sorry for the late hour. Lacey. The matter is of great importance, so I will receive your scolding later.”

When I opened the door, what I saw in front of me was a figure wearing a hood. On the hood was engraved the symbol of the Territory, a wolf and a chain.

Why is someone like that here at this hour?

As soon as I saw the symbol, before I could ask about the rude act of knocking on the door urgently late at night, I was curious about the purpose for which he came here.

“What brings you here?”

“I am Francis Wing. The captain of the Territory’s guard.”

The person who identified himself as such opened his mouth in a trembling voice.

“Hoo, hoo… It’s an emergency. I’ll explain the situation while we’re on our way. Please follow me.”

“Emergency, situation?”

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