Episode 145
Dragging my exhausted body into the academy dormitory, a familiar sight greets me.
"Hoo..."
The bed neatly made by Kania, and the black cat doll she gifted me.
The puppy love tree sapling that Irina had brought, now beginning to bloom.
The bag containing my precious items, and the decorations made to look flashy on the outside to show off some luxury.
Documents recording information about scandals that would turn the Empire upside down for a month if revealed, prepared for emergencies, and bribes that would soon become funds for the charity foundation.
Things I always see, but after today which was particularly difficult, they somehow seem welcoming.
"...A lot has piled up."
As I was taking in the room's scenery slowly, a letterbox that was now full came into my view.
"F-Frey. Wait a moment."
"...Hmm?"
Filled with pointless curiosity about what novel requests might have come in today, I walked toward the letterbox, but Irina blocked my way.
"What's wrong? Irina?"
"Wait, just wait a moment."
Wondering what was going on, I tilted my head, and Irina began rummaging through the letterbox.
"Okay. You can look now."
After a brief moment passed.
Having picked out letters with pink colors and heart patterns, Irina pointed at the letterbox with a nonchalant expression.
"........."
"Frey?"
At first, I was concerned about the letters Irina was holding, but as I looked at her, my attention naturally shifted elsewhere.
"W-why are you looking like that?"
Her clothes and body, tattered from fighting the Secret Party Master.
"Sit down."
"...Huh?"
I carefully sat Irina down on the bed, who had a bewildered expression.
"If you're hurt, you should say you're hurt. What are you doing pretending nothing's wrong?"
I said as I picked up the healing medicine and bandages by the bedside, and Irina quietly lowered her head.
"...You don't need to be kind to a useless person like me."
"What?"
And then, she started saying strange things.
Irina, useless? That's a statement so shocking that the Imperial mages would faint if they heard it.
"Failing to cast the death curse, depleting all my mana, not being able to take the penalty in your place, not catching the Secret Party Master either..."
"No, that's..."
"No matter how I think about it, I'm too incompetent... Hiek!"
When I poked Irina's side as she kept making depressing remarks with her head down, she began to tremble.
"The wound is serious. It might not be fatal, but it's definitely a severe injury."
"I-I'm fine. Compared to the wounds I got on the battlefield, this is nothing... Eek!"
I poked Irina's side once more as she kept saying she was fine, and looking at her trembling, I let out a sigh.
"Let me check your wounds for a moment."
"I-I'm fine...!"
"If I don't check, you'll just wrap it in bandages and move on. Do you think I don't know you?"
Having spent such a long time on the battlefield, Irina is very insensitive to wounds.
Even quite serious injuries, she would just wrap a few bandages around and move on.
"...Ha."
So I gently insisted and lifted her clothes, but the wound was more serious than I thought.
No, it's beyond serious.
Irina's side was literally in tatters.
Was the Secret Party Master that strong? No, I should see it as Irina being remarkable for fighting so desperately with only magic scrolls.
During the previous attack, the Secret Party Master had displayed truly terrifying abilities.
"F-Frey. I'll receive treatment, so first, my clothes..."
"Wait a moment."
"...Hiek!"
Thinking that, I carefully began to apply medicine to the wound.
It's the highest grade recovery potion I prepared for my own wounds, so it should at least ease the pain before receiving professional treatment.
- Shuuu...
And if I mix in a little of my life force, it would be even more helpful.
"Ahhhhhh!"
"Oh my."
But then, Irina began to groan in pain with her face deeply furrowed.
Well, with a wound this severe, even a highest grade potion would naturally sting.
"Just bear with it a little, Irina. Once I treat this..."
But since I couldn't just leave the wound alone, I tried to coax her with a gentle voice.
"...My goodness."
I discovered wounds just as serious as the one on her side in various places on her body, and I momentarily lost my words.
"Irina, how on earth were you enduring this pain?"
"T-this much is... nothing, I tell you..."
After staring blankly at her body for a while, I asked in a low voice, and she answered with her face flushed.
"No, Frey. I'm embarrassed, so at least the clothes..."
"It can't be helped."
With wounds this serious and she's just making excuses. Irina is truly frustrating.
She's someone who spent decades on the battlefield and became dulled to such things.
Naturally, she would think nothing of something like this, but does she think I don't know that?
- Swish...
"Fr...Frey? This is..."
"Just sleep deeply for a while. I'll finish quickly."
Thinking that, I picked up the sleep herb Kania had prepared and brought it to her nose.
Even I, who developed insomnia, fall asleep quickly when I smell it, so Irina will probably doze off soon too.
Where on earth did Kania get such powerful sleep herb?
"Mmm..."
Irina, with her clothes loosened, began to moan with drowsy eyes.
"The clothes... put them on..."
"Are you saying I should apply the potion to the clothes? If I leave it like this, it'll get even more serious. There's no clinic open at this late hour."
"Inside that skirt..."
Irina kept resisting, so I grabbed a handful of sleep herb and pushed it to her nose, and finally her eyes began to close.
"I... I don't know..."
"Irina."
As she drifted into sleep, I stroked her hair and whispered quietly.
"Thank you, truly, for fighting for me today."
With those words, Irina fell into sleep.
Did she hear my words?
"...Hmm."
Seeing her with a faint smile on her closed face, it seems she did hear me, fortunately.
- Swish...
"...Heuu."
But when I placed my hand on her body, her smile stiffened slightly.
...Is it just my imagination?
.
"...Hoo."
By the time I finished applying medicine to every corner of Irina's body, it was already nearing the end of dawn.
"Hah, mm..."
"Will she be alright?"
As I began applying potion to the last remaining wound on her body, Irina let out a faint moan.
"Her face is hot, and her body is trembling... what a sight."
Even though she must have fallen into a deep sleep, seeing her like this, I can imagine how painful it must have been for her until now.
- Swish, swish.
Thinking that, I applied the medicine to the wounds more gently and carefully, then tilted my head and looked around.
"What is it?"
Because I suddenly felt a presence in the room.
Kania said she would be late today.
Serena had disappeared somewhere after asking me for a strange command. She didn't even answer my questions when she left, so it must have been quite urgent. I wonder what's going on?
Anyway, Perlotche had returned to the Order with the Order's people, and Klana should be in her dormitory... so why do I sense a presence?
"Meow."
"...Ah."
As I was looking around with such thoughts, a cat doll approached beside Irina and curled up.
"Was it you?"
I was tense thinking an assassin might have appeared, but a cat doll... thank good...
- Flap!
".....?"
When I heard the sound of wings from the window and lifted my head, a sight that made me sigh unfolded before me.
"What are these..."
Serena's white owl, Perlotche's pigeon, and Klana's canary.
Although the canary was keeping its distance from the two birds, looking at them cautiously, the three birds were huddled together sitting on the window frame.
But wasn't Klana inhabiting the canary? No, since I destroyed it once before... the bond probably broke.
"...This isn't an animal farm."
Still, I can't help feeling uneasy.
With them huddled together watching me like that, it feels like I'm being bugged.
Although I do like animals, isn't this a bit much?
Right now, I want to focus on Irina who has serious wounds.
"Shoo, go away. I can't play with you right now."
Eventually, I stood up and waved my hands, but they didn't even blink.
For some reason, the canary flinched slightly and stumbled backward.
".....Sigh."
Thinking I need to educate the birds' owners, I pulled down the window blinds.
"Hahhh..."
I carefully placed the cat doll from the bed onto the floor and began applying the rest of the medicine to Irina's wounds.
"Hoo..."
Having treated all the wounds on Irina's body using up the remaining potion, I let out a sigh and lay down beside her.
"Now, it'll be relaxed for a while."
The third main quest has ended, so I'll have quite leisurely days until the second year starts.
Of course, it's only the calm before the storm to迎接 the second year whose difficulty will become even more outrageous, but still, having plenty of time to rest is a very good thing.
Should I go on a brief vacation? Or should I wear the Robe of Deception and go around doing good deeds?
Of course, I need to prepare seriously for the major events that will happen in the second year, and I need to visit the Western Continent once too.
But still, time for recharging is also necessary.
In a long-distance race, if you run at full speed from start to finish, you'll be exhausted before reaching the halfway point.
"Then, should I take a nap..."
So, I should sleep a bit now.
I need to handle the aftermath of the slave market, and deal with the strange incident Serena experienced and matters regarding the Secret Party Master.
It's a bit late, but I should at least close my eyes now...
[There is an announcement!]
"...?"
While having such thoughts, a system window suddenly appeared before my eyes.
What? What's happening suddenly...
Ah.
[The System's Third Trial has begun!]
That damn god.
.
"Mmm..."
Irina, who had her eyes closed for a while, quietly opens them.
"Frey."
Soon, Irina rises from her seat and looks at Frey sleeping like the dead beside her.
"Are you sleeping?"
She said that and even poked his sleeping cheek with her finger, but Frey showed no sign of waking up.
It seemed he had fallen into a deep sleep.
"Haa..."
Looking down at such Frey, Irina mutters.
"I don't succumb to sleep herb."
To Irina, who had been making potions with various herbs since childhood, the sleep herb was nothing more than a bitter-tasting grass.
Nevertheless, Irina, who pretended to sleep due to Frey's stern expression without realizing it. No, actually with a bit of selfishness.
"You idiot."
She couldn't help but fully feel Frey's gentle touch as he touched every corner of her body.
"...Idiot."
Thanks to that, Irina placed her hand carefully on her pounding heart and looked at Frey with trembling eyes.
"Why are you so kind to someone like me..."
Eventually, she reached out her hand to him and began to mutter.
"How am I supposed to repay this debt."
Soon, Irina, lying on the bed with her fingers interlocked with Frey's, closed her eyes gently and squeezed his hand.
- Shuuu...
As a short time passed and a bead appeared in their interlocked hands, Irina carefully picked up the bead and began to examine it.
"...Ugh."
The bead was quite murky.
In the bead that should only contain Frey's silver color and her red color, other colors had invaded.
"Why am I always..."
At first, she thought one person had made a contract first.
But upon closer inspection, there wasn't just one person who had devoted their soul to him before her.
Moreover, seeing that there was black color mixed in that definitely wasn't there when she first extracted the bead, it seems Kania did something when she breathed Frey's soul remaining in her body back into him.
"Am I always the last one...?"
She thought a blood oath would at least show her sincerity, if not enough.
But it turned out that everyone was already doing that much as a basic thing for Frey.
"Just why..."
At this rate, she won't be able to repay the debt, let alone atone to Frey.
Although she bypassed one penalty with a trick, his lifespan still remains only 2 years.
Within that time, how can she at least repay the debt?
How on earth can she...
"......Ah."
In the mind of Irina, who was thinking desperately, suddenly one answer came to mind.
What is needed to completely end the 'blood oath.'
What can please him who is completely exhausted.
And.
"Ah, no one has given their purity to Frey yet...?"
Crucially, what no one has done for Frey yet.
"...Mmm."
Irina's hand, which had been interlocked with Frey's, began to twitch.