Episode 59
"Young Master... what happened here...?"
"Frey...?"
Having brought the urgent situation to an abrupt conclusion, Kania and Irina, who had been collapsed on the floor, began to stare at me blankly.
"Are you two okay?"
As I hurriedly approached them and asked, Kania answered with an expression of disbelief.
"...Hearing you say that, you really are the Young Master."
"Oh my, the wounds are quite serious."
Dismissing Kania's words and approaching right up to her, I discovered the wound on her abdomen and mumbled at a loss for what to do.
"Do you have any healing potions? If we don't treat it immediately, the wound might get worse... First, we need to stop the bleeding..."
As I looked around for something to stop Kania's bleeding, I saw the wounds on Irina's body and her mana circuits stained black, and pressed my hand to my forehead.
"This is maddening."
Irina, who had been staring at me blankly, lowered her head deeply and mumbled.
"I'm sorry... Frey... I..."
"It's fine, it's okay."
Not wanting to expend any more emotion, I hastily cut off her words and began to speak while looking around.
"Let's first get out of here and then talk. This place is... well, quite unsettling to say the least."
At those words, Kania and Irina's expressions hardened.
"Rather than that, let's first..."
As I forcibly helped them to their feet and was about to head toward the entrance, I suddenly discovered Aria, who had been lying unconscious beside me, and let out a sigh while muttering.
"...Right, there's Aria too."
Honestly, I don't know how to treat Aria anymore, who's quick-witted and still worries about me. If I deliberately treat her poorly, she'll suspect me for that, and if I treat her kindly, that's also a problem.
"Kania, cast a sleep spell on Aria. So she won't wake up for a while."
"Understood."
As Kania approached Aria and gently stroked her head, Aria's breathing began to become much more peaceful.
"Then, let's get out of here. I don't want to stay here any longer."
With Aria on my back, I began to exit the cave together with Kania and Irina.
"...Young Master."
"Yes?"
Just as we were nearly reaching the exit, Kania, who had been quietly following me, asked in a low voice.
"Was that earlier... really magic?"
"Yes, it's magic."
Saying that, I scattered sparkling flashes in all directions with my hand, then added with a smile.
"And it's the magic my mother used to use, at that."
"...It's beautiful."
Kania, who had been watching the flashes crystallize in mid-air with an amazed expression, hardened her expression and began speaking to me again.
"Young Master, the room inside there was..."
"Let's talk about that a bit later."
Seeing Kania's expression becoming too serious, I cut off her words and spoke firmly.
"But..."
"Sometimes there are things that need to be pushed back, Kania."
"...Understood, Young Master."
Eventually, Kania quietly nodded at my firmness, and after that, she closed her mouth and quietly headed toward the cave entrance visible before her eyes.
"So, what do we do now?"
Having safely exited the cave and looking around at the outside where the rain had stopped, I asked the two who were watching me with blank expressions.
"W-well... um..."
Then Irina, who had been avoiding meeting my eyes, began to stammer.
"First, we need to handle Aria's situation."
Kania, who had been keeping her mouth shut with a troubled expression, interjected and began to speak.
"Although I did cast a sleep spell, I used almost all my power during the unexpected battle earlier, so I couldn't cast it strongly. Therefore, she might wake up soon."
"Then..."
"Considering the Young Miss's condition and various other factors... moving her to Starlight Duchy nearby would be the best choice. If she opens her eyes again here for no reason, it would be quite troublesome for me, Irina, and the Young Master."
When I quietly nodded in agreement, Kania approached Aria, who was on my back, and continued speaking.
"Therefore, I will personally take Aria to the Duchy."
"Will you be okay? If you go looking like that, Cardia will worry..."
"Neither the Young Master nor Irina can go."
Saying that while taking Aria from me, Kania looked back and forth between me and Irina, then let out a sigh.
"And... the Young Master will need to stay here until tomorrow."
"What do you mean by that?"
When I asked back with a puzzled expression, Kania frowned and began to explain.
"As I said earlier, my dark power is depleted due to the unexpected battle, so using concealment magic is quite difficult."
"So it can't be done today?"
"Yes, dark power will return by tomorrow... I need to explain the situation to Aria at the Duchy and then meet Lady Serena at the Academy. So if you stay here for a while, I'll come back tomorrow morning and escort the Young Master."
As I was nodding at those words, Irina, who had been hesitating, quietly opened her mouth.
"I-I'll stay too..."
"What?"
Hearing that, Kania frowned deeply.
"Irina has no need to stay."
"Well... Frey alone is dangerous. There are wild animals, and his body isn't fully..."
"Did you not see the Young Master instantly resolve the situation with star mana earlier?"
"Still, he's quite exhausted, and something big could happen. So, I'll stay with him until tomorrow."
When Irina kept insisting on her opinion, Kania looked at her disapprovingly, then eventually shook her head.
"It can't be helped, seeing that your opinion is firm. Then, please take good care of the Young Master until tomorrow."
"Y-yes... I'll do my best..."
As Kania glared sharply, Irina, who flinched for a moment, answered with a slight stammer.
"Young Master, I'll be going now."
Kania, who had been looking at Irina with disapproval, bowed to me with Aria on her back.
"Yes, then please take care of Aria..."
"...Mmm."
Just as I was smiling at Kania to see her off, Aria, who was on her back, began to toss and turn.
"Oppa... thank you..."
"Hah!"
Then she quietly smiled and mumbled, and thanks to that, I was startled and gasped, but fortunately, the penalty window didn't appear.
"It seems she was talking in her sleep."
Kania, who had also been startled, muttered in a relieved voice, while I broke into a cold sweat and began to worry.
'I need to somehow erase the worry from Aria sooner or later...'
I had been eliminating one by one the people who would be cursed due to the System's trials that would come sooner or later.
Isollet still hates me, Serena is erasing feelings of 'worry' through continued romantic acts with Kania, and Irina received dark power implanted throughout her mana circuits today, so there shouldn't be a problem.
However, with Aria, I can see no solution at all.
If I treat her harshly, she'll use that as an excuse to suspect me, and if I treat her kindly, she'll say she knew it and immediately drop her suspicions.
The only good news is that she's increasingly getting 'exhausted.'
Earlier when she collapsed from a headache, although her consciousness was hazy, Aria was clearly saying she's getting tired of trusting me.
So if just one more time, if just one more big event occurs...
"Then, please take care of yourself."
"Ah, yes. I understand."
Lost in thought for a moment, I answered Kania's greeting and decided to put the thoughts behind me.
After all, it's not something that can be solved right now anyway.
"Um, then let's go back to the secret base first."
As Kania, carrying Aria, went down the mountain and disappeared, Irina said with her eyes lowered.
Feeling a bit awkward with her, I nodded and began to slowly return to the secret base with her.
"Oh no, the secret base is completely filled with water."
We had been walking silently for a while and reached right in front of the secret base, but the secret base was flooded with water coming in through the wide-open door.
"Then... do we have to camp out?"
Looking at that scene with a troubled expression, I muttered, and Irina, who had been watching me, grabbed my arm and started heading somewhere.
"Wh-where are we going?"
"...Just follow me."
Somehow her hand holding my arm was trembling, so I silently followed her lead without complaint.
'Wait, but why did Irina do that earlier?'
In the meantime, I fell into a trivial question.
Why did Irina insist on staying, saying I was dangerous, even though there's a secret base that only she and I can enter? Of course, the secret base is filled with water, but she couldn't have known that.
"Ah, this is..."
Lost in thought for a while, when Irina stopped walking, I stopped thinking and looked around, then asked in a low voice.
"The riverside where we always used to play together?"
"Yeah."
Irina, still seeming awkward with me, answered briefly, then gathered branches lying on the ground and started building a fire, and I quietly sat down and began to watch her build the fire.
"Ugh..."
But Irina, who used to start a roaring fire in seconds, was struggling today.
Watching her with a worried expression, Irina, who had been rubbing the wood, started glancing at me.
"Um... should I help a little?"
"I-it's fine... you just sit."
Her appearance looked quite pitiful, so I stood up to help her, but Irina stopped me and started rubbing the wood even harder.
"I, Irina!"
"I, I said this much is no problem!"
"No, that's not it... look at your hand."
I had been sitting and waiting for the fire to start, but when I inadvertently looked at her hand, I was startled and rushed over.
"...S-sorry."
Her hand was stripped by the rough bark and blood was trickling down.
"Irina, are you okay?"
As I firmly grasped Irina's hand and asked, she lowered her head weakly and began to mumble.
"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry..."
"Irina, you..."
I was about to tell her she didn't need to feel guilty, but I stopped speaking for a moment and began to look at the branches she had gathered.
"...Fine, I'll build the fire. You rest a bit."
Eventually discovering the dark power powder on the branches, I realized the secret of how she had been starting fires quickly and said with a chuckle.
"First, put the branch in here, right?"
Carefully holding the branch and inserting it into the groove of the wood, I recalled the scene where Irina used to show off building a fire in front of me in the old days, and quickly began to rub the branch.
"Y-you'll ruin your hands..."
Then Irina reached her hand toward my hand with a worried expression.
- Whoosh!
"Huh?"
But when the wood caught fire, she hastily pulled her hand back and began to watch me with a dumbfounded expression.
"How did you do that?"
"Who knows?"
When she timidantly asked, I mimicked the appearance of Irina who used to tease me after building fires in the old days, and made a smug expression.
"...Ha."
Then Irina, who had been staring blankly at me, discovered that star mana was surrounding the wooden stick I was holding and chuckled, but before long, she began to make a dark expression again.
"Aren't you hungry? Irina?"
Feeling anxious inside while watching her, and since it was dinner time, I tentatively asked her.
"A little."
Then she answered timidantly while avoiding my gaze, and hearing that, I grinned and stood up.
"That's good, I was hungry too. I'll go catch some fish."
As I started heading toward the riverside, Irina, who had been watching me blankly, hurriedly stood up and said.
"You idiot, you can't swim."
"How do you remember that?"
Of course, I couldn't swim when I was young, but now swimming is easy as pie, but to protect Irina's innocence, I decided to choose a different method instead of swimming.
"Hmm, how did I do it when Clana attacked me?"
Imagining Clana in my head, who used to shoot lasers by gathering sun mana at her fingertips, I began to gather as much star mana as possible at my fingertips.
- Flash!!
Eventually, when I aimed my finger, which had begun to sparkle, at a fish and emitted mana, a silver laser shot from my hand and pierced through the fish.
"Good, dinner is taken care of today."
I retrieved the fish floating in the river with a long branch, and casually spoke to Irina, who had been watching me blankly.
"Want a bite?"
Since everything from start to finish was copying Irina's words from the past, she eventually chuckled again and nodded.
"Good, then you retrieve the fish with the branch. I'll focus on hitting the fish with the laser."
Saying that, I handed the long branch I was holding to her, and to improve my adaptability to magic as well, I began to shoot lasers at the fish in the river.
"...Sigh."
For some reason, Irina seemed to be watching that sight with a complicated expression, but I decided not to think about it for now.
.
"There, how is it?"
By the time the sun had set and the sky was growing dark, I held out a fish skewer to Irina with a tense expression.
"Hmm..."
Then Irina, who had been examining the fish skewer this way and that, carefully took a bite.
"...Not bad."
"Ooh!"
When she praised me with wide eyes, I cheered and picked up the fish skewer next to me and began to eat.
"Today I won at fire-building, and fish-catching, and fish-grilling too, huh?"
Having eaten fish for a while, I said to her with a slight smile.
"That's right, congratulations."
"It's not just about congratulating... you need to keep the promise we made in the old days."
"The promise we made in the old days?"
When she answered in a soulless voice, I made a stern expression and reminded her of the promise we had made.
"You said if I won all three, you'd tell me one secret."
"Ah..."
Then, perhaps remembering at last, she let out a short sigh, and began to stare blankly at my face.
"Don't think about wiping your mouth, just tell me quickly."
Of course, I was burning with curiosity about that secret I'd been dying to know since the old days, so I began to hurry her along.
"Actually..."
Then Irina, who had been hesitating, turned her gaze to the side and said in a low voice.
"...The 'Ice Dragon' fruit's name was made up by me."
"What!?"
At those words, I opened my eyes wide and began to stammer in great confusion.
"That doesn't make sense... I've been believing that firmly all this time... I even told other kids that... Wait, then the reason you suspected me in the Ashen Forest back then was..."
Hearing Irina's words, I fell into a panic situation I hadn't even experienced in the System's first trial, and continued rambling for a while, then quietly asked.
"Then... what's the real name of that fruit?"
When I asked with a somewhat dumbfounded expression, Irina lowered her head and answered in a low voice.
"Puppy Love fruit."
"Pfft."
The name was completely different from 'Ice Dragon' and was cute instead, so I couldn't help but burst into laughter, and Irina turned red and lowered her head.
"What is that? Did a puppy pick up that fruit and fall in love or something?"
"No, that's not it... never mind."
When I said with a grin, Irina, who was about to say something, eventually sighed and closed her mouth.
"........."
Thus, silence flowed between us for a while.
"Frey, I have something to say."
"Sure, go ahead."
When Irina quietly spoke to me, I accepted her words with a smile, and she looked at me blankly and made a shocking statement.
"I, I'm going to quit the Academy."
"What!?"
At those words, I looked at her with an appalled expression, and Irina quietly looked up at the sky and mumbled.
"...Instead, I'm planning to get a job as your maid."
Somehow, the fish I fed Irina seems to have gone wrong somewhere.
.
Meanwhile at that time, in a back alley at night.
"Hello! Is this the scroll shop?"
A girl wearing a purple robe opened the door of a shabby street stall and looked around while asking.
"Hmm~♪ Hmm~♪"
"Excuse me?"
Then suddenly singing was heard from the empty counter, and hearing that sound, the girl frowned and poked her head inside the counter.
"Have you ever... thought that the world moves artificially...?"
"More importantly, are you open for business right now? Please calculate this for me."
Eventually discovering the shop owner, who was holding a liquor bottle and swaying beyond the counter, the girl ignored his rambling and held out the scroll she was carrying.
"That's 1500 gold... pay if you can."
The owner, who was looking closely at that scroll, cackled and began to tease her, but...
- Snap!
"...Is this enough?"
She snapped her fingers and spoke with a dazed expression.
"Exactly 1500 gold. Good, take it."
Then the girl, who slightly raised the corner of her mouth, turned around and headed for the shop's exit while saying goodbye.
"Then... goodbye."
After finishing her farewell, on the glass door of the shop that the girl had left wide open, her ruby-colored eyes were reflected.
"...Puhuh. Puhu."
Meanwhile, the shopkeeper was giggling behind the counter, as if something was so funny.