“Who… are you?”
Eliya’s mind went blank.
Her rationality froze in the face of a shock that far exceeded her expectations.
Her breathing and heartbeat, which had been trembling moments ago, settled down as if they had stopped altogether.
She blinked blankly.
She wanted to cry bitterly, but for some reason, the tears wouldn’t well up.
It just felt unreal.
All of this.
“My condition is a bit…”
Judas had almost mentioned that he couldn’t see or hear, but stopped short.
After being in a coma for two days, every word he spoke hurt his throat.
Eliya interpreted his words and expressions differently.
Memories lost due to nearing death and coming back.
She felt scared and wanted to run away.
Very far from this situation where he didn’t even know her.
Yet, at the same time, she felt relieved.
She didn’t know exactly how it worked.
But she was certain he was alive.
That alone was enough for her to feel at ease and satisfied.
“I am your…”
Eliya, about to answer, suddenly shut her mouth.
‘I am your… what?’
The one you served.
Your master.
Is that really all there is?
Could she be satisfied with that answer?
No, she couldn’t be satisfied.
Maybe, at this moment, they could start over and become something different.
Such wicked thoughts crossed her mind.
In that instant, disgust at her own desires made Eliya want to strangle herself.
In the end, she couldn’t say a word to Judas’s question.
Meanwhile, Judas was puzzled.
‘Why did she start to say something, then stop?’
He couldn’t identify it, but he recognized that the other person was making sounds.
‘Did I misunderstand when she didn’t answer? It drives me crazy that I can’t hear properly or see…’
Even in a comatose state, the body functions can temporarily cease.
It was certainly not easy to recover again, but he hadn’t expected it to be like this.
Anyway, it seemed clear that this person had stayed by his side until he woke up.
He needed to thank her.
He cleared his sore throat.
“I don’t know who you are, but thank you for helping me.”
If he could, he wanted to ask how many days had passed, what had happened to Jericho and the Gigantic Drake, and many other things.
But even if she answered, he wouldn’t be able to hear, so he decided against asking.
“It must be busy for you, so you can go if you want.”
In reality, it wasn’t okay at all.
He could barely speak, and he didn’t have the strength to get out of bed.
Yet, he couldn’t ask someone he didn’t know to stay and help.
Suddenly, he worried that this place might be strange and dangerous, but if this person had stayed by his side, it probably wouldn’t be.
‘Why is there no reaction? …Could it be that I know her?’
That thought came to him late.
The chance that someone would take him and care for him was high if she was a familiar person.
There were a few like that in Jericho.
‘Yurideke or Orphe… or maybe those four candidates from the old training camp…’
She could also possibly be someone like the captain of the guards or someone from a mercenary office he had befriended while working.
‘But probably not…’
Ever since he sensed the presence of the other, Judas felt as if something was guiding him.
That something flowed from the person in front of him.
He couldn’t see or hear it, but he felt that she was warm like the sun.
It was different from just feeling her body heat or anything like that.
He even had the rude thought that he wanted to touch her for a moment.
None of the people he had been with so far were like this, so she was likely someone he was meeting for the first time.
“Um… are you okay?”
“…Ah.”
Judas asked again.
Only then did Eliya regain her senses.
She had been staring blankly for a moment.
Judas spoke to her.
His tone.
The way he looked at her and behaved toward a stranger.
Eliya’s instincts briefly separated her consciousness from reality.
She didn’t want to see that kind of reality.
But it was impossible not to face it forever.
What had Judas just said?
Ah, it was okay for her to go.
That meant he didn’t need her.
It felt like a stone was lodged in her heart.
It was suffocating and painfully heavy.
Even with his considerate words to leave, she felt this way.
What would Judas have felt when he heard her say that she wanted him to go out and die?
She couldn’t even dare to guess.
She didn’t want to leave.
This world felt absurd for a moment.
Why should she leave when what she desired was right in front of her?
She couldn’t understand.
“I am…”
Eliya decided to change her words.
“I am…”
Even while thinking it was a bad thing.
“I’m just a normal wizard. I came to take care of you, so you can rest assured and relax.”
Why would an ordinary wizard be taking care of an injured person?
She realized it was strange to say that only after it came out of her mouth, but there was no way to take it back.
Anxiously, she waited for his response.
Meanwhile, Judas thought.
‘What is she talking about…?’
She wasn’t overtly audible, but he could make some guesses based on her tone.
‘She said I could go but is still here—so is she someone who came to treat me or take care of me? Or was she sent by someone?’
Though he couldn’t understand the language, he had some information.
The pitch of her voice, the length.
Summarizing those things, he could roughly conclude.
‘Whoever she is, it seems she has indeed come to help me.’
That was a good thing.
He had no strength to lift a finger.
Judas nodded and smiled.
“Then I will gratefully… rely on you for a while. I actually needed someone else’s help right now.”
Eliya smiled brightly.
Her mood had plummeted not long ago, but now it felt like she was soaring high.
“Anytime.”
Judas understood her answer lightly and lay back down again.
‘By the way, did I mention that I can’t see or hear…?’
He had managed to get up, but he anticipated that his condition was still far from normal.
He wanted to sleep soon.
To wake up once again after dying was far more exhausting than he had thought.
‘If I didn’t say it… why would I stay to help…?’
His fading consciousness thought to conclude that on its own.
The flickering awareness brought to mind one person.
‘Eliya… is she doing okay…’
He wondered how many days had passed.
How Eliya was faring in the war during those days.
Though he knew it was fruitless to think about it.
And Eliya was quietly guarding the sleeping Judas’s side.
*
It didn’t take long for Eliya to realize Judas’s eye condition.
The sleeping Judas woke up due to a fierce thirst.
“Is anyone… there?”
Eliya, who had been dozing off, suddenly raised her head.
“Yes! I-I’m here!”
Judas confirmed her sluggish form.
“Sorry, but could I have some water…?”
Before he could finish speaking, Eliya teleported water to him.
While handing him the cup, she realized her mistake.
‘She said she was an ordinary wizard, but here she was teleporting! What if that seems strange?’
However, Judas seemed not to care and raised his hand.
His trembling hand couldn’t find the cup and was flailing around.
His frowned brow seemed to be searching for something.
Even though the cup was right in front of him.
Eliya then noticed the oddity.
Gently placing the cup in his hand, he seemed to finally grasp it.
He gave a shy smile.
“It’s quite uncomfortable not being able to see.”
“You… can’t see?”
As Judas was about to bring the cup to his mouth, he realized he hadn’t communicated properly.
“The exact reason… I don’t know, but since I woke up, I couldn’t see. It’s a little better than yesterday… and…”
He was about to say he couldn’t hear either but coughed instead.
His throat was painfully dry from continued use without moisture.
After a moment of respite, he drank the water.
The lukewarm water was at a comfortable temperature.
It felt as if moisture was soaking into dry land.
As his vocal cords became moist, he felt significantly better.
Breathing became easier.
‘…What had I been saying?’
While handing him the cup back, he continued explaining.
“Anyway, it’s not just my eyes; there are various discomforts all over my body.”
“…….”
“I can’t express how fortunate I am to have someone to help me.”
But had a physician ever come to check on his condition?
He was curious but decided not to ask.
He would get a response requiring concrete understanding, but in his current state, he wouldn’t understand it anyway.
Eliya couldn’t purely rejoice at his need for her.
‘His eyes…’
Since when?
And until when?
‘Not recognizing me means…’
It might just be because he can’t see.
If that were the case, what about her lie?
‘…No, that can’t be it.’
Given that he could respond normally, it seemed like there was no issue with his hearing.
There was no way he could have forgotten her voice.
That was no arrogant assumption.
They had spent about five years together.
Since he had been appointed as her escort knight, they had been stuck together all day.
‘It must be that he can’t remember…’
Now it hardly mattered.
Whether he remembered her or not, it was okay.
As long as he was alive.
And if she could see him like this.
He didn’t need to remember.
Maybe for him, that could be a blessing.
Since the memories he had with her likely weren’t all that great.
Was this arrogance?
The truth was, she might be someone inconsequential who didn’t matter much to him, whether he remembered her or not.
The special feelings might only be hers.
She didn’t know. How he thought of her.
But what was certain was, as long as he was alive like this, she didn’t want anything else.
Eliya immediately fetched a physician.
Mei and Gale.
The two quickly followed instructions and checked Judas’s eyesight.
During that time, Judas leaned against the head of the bed and waited blankly.
‘What’s going on? Why are there suddenly two extra people? Are they doctors?’
From the looks of them examining his condition, they didn’t seem to be bad people.
So, he stayed quiet.
Instead, he checked his status screen for the first time in a while.
‘…Huh? Did the Gigantic Drake die back then?’
The name of the characteristic he had, “Leading Moon,” had changed.
[Joined Moon.]
Likewise, the effect hadn’t changed.
‘Hmm… I’m not sure. The scriptures talked about the moon being shattered, so if it’s joined again, could it mean this is a sort of completed form? I guess it might be something like that…?’
Meanwhile, Eliya asked eagerly.
“So, is it true that you’re blind?”
“Well… for now, that’s correct, but it seems like a temporary symptom. It should gradually improve over time.”
While Mei explained, Gale was examining another part.
The wound that had pierced through the center of his chest was completely healed.
“Someone told you to take it easy, didn’t they? Tsk. But dying and coming back, just what has this guy’s body been through…?”
There were no visible wounds remaining on his body.
For some reason, the care Gale took was familiar to Judas.
‘Gale is quite similar to that old man.’
Beside him, Eliya felt relieved by the assurance of “temporary.”
“Just temporary… That’s such a relief…”
It wasn’t a situation in which she could relax comfortably.
Not because of Judas, but because of the situation she was in.
The leader of the Anti-Empire Alliance.
As the core weapon of the war, she couldn’t afford to leisurely spend time here.
Though she had turned all her forces to defensive status under the pretext of reorganization, it was only for a moment.
That couldn’t be maintained.
It was a heavy responsibility and position.
Looking back, it was like that.
The status of being a noble.
With luxuries come responsibilities.
From a young age, she had never desired to bear such burdens.
She hadn’t asked for such privileges.
She was merely a foolish child who thought everything was good as long as she was with her mother.
And now, she just wanted to be by Judas’s side.
She wanted to ignore everything else.
However, she couldn’t just throw away the responsibilities she had taken on.
For the next few days, Eliya reduced her sleep and divided her time.
She stayed by Judas’s side while he was awake and led operations or went to war at night.
She would return in the early morning, finally falling asleep beside Judas’s bed.
Her complexion had worsened, and the bags under her eyes grew darker.
Yet Eliya felt happier than before.
It was a satisfactory life.
On the very first day that Judas attempted to eat after waking, he accidentally dropped his spoon.
“Oh…”
Not being able to see and his body still feeling numb led to the mistake.
“I’m sorry. I…”
As Judas apologized, Eliya brought in a new spoon to feed him.
“No, you don’t have to go that far…”
Seeing his reluctance made Eliya smile brightly.
She imitated something he had once told her.
“Just eat.”
Since her hearing had recovered more than before, today she precisely understood what he was saying.
“Um, I-I have hands too… this is a bit…”
“Hurry. Ah.”
“…This is maddening.”
Scratching his head helplessly, Judas opened his mouth.
Eliya pushed the spoon into his mouth.
Watching him eat, she smiled contentedly.
Ever since they were children, Judas used to feed her.
Each time, she wondered how he felt when he did that.
Now she would never know for sure.
It was a precarious daily life.
While taking care of Judas, Eliya kept all her nerves alert to avoid any skin-to-skin contact.
Worried that she might harm him.
He had grown colder with the ongoing war, but she held back.
In reality, Judas wished for at least one fleeting touch to happen.
‘Something… I don’t know, but I feel like I’ll know if I touch her.’
The warm allure.
Even for a moment, he wanted to feel that contact.
Slowly, Judas’s body began to heal.
He had gotten to the point where he could recognize that the person beside him had black hair.
Long, wavy black hair.
It resembled Eliya’s.
But was there really only one person in the world with such hair?
He mocked himself for having such ridiculous expectations.
On a certain day.
Eliya asked.
It was a rather abrupt question but one she had been curious about for a while.
Just how much did he remember?
“What were you doing before coming here?”
At that moment, Judas’s hearing had improved quite a bit.
Though it was partial, he could understand her vocabulary well enough to grasp the entire question.
“I was an escort knight.”
“…Then, you must have served someone.”
“That’s right. At that time.”
“But why are you working as a mercenary in a place like this? I hear you’re quite capable.”
Judas glanced at her.
Unlike the foggy and unclear appearance from before, he could recognize her hair color now.
And that she was a petite woman.
Now that he could also somewhat identify her voice, it was starting to sound like… Eliya’s.
Except for the formalities.
He chuckled at how he thought that it would be nice if she were Eliya, feeling utterly silly for his delusions.
“Well, it’s not a hard thing to talk about, but you sure are asking a lot of questions today.”
“Just… out of curiosity. After spending all this time together, there’s so much I don’t know.”
Indeed, they knew nothing about each other.
Judas hadn’t even asked her name.
He had his reasons for that.
It wasn’t that he had nothing to say, so he casually engaged in conversation.
“I was expelled. They told me I was no longer needed. No, it was more than that; I was told I was a nuisance.”
“…….”
“Moreover, they even issued a deployment order to Bethany. It seemed like they desperately wanted me dead…”
Listening to him, the other person’s breath trembled slightly.
However, Judas was too caught up in recalling that time to notice.
“Well, what can I do? A knight does what the master commands. But I didn’t want to die there, so I escaped and ended up here…”
“…Don’t you harbor any resentment?”
“Well, let’s see…”
Resentment.
It wouldn’t be a lie to say there was absolutely none.
Even that feeling was fleeting.
What remained in the end was a lament mixed with self-blame.
How he had ultimately changed nothing or achieved anything.
“I didn’t particularly hold a grudge. Objectively, I was lacking and had become unnecessary, so I had to accept it.”
“…….”
To confide such thoughts to a person whose name and face were unknown was quite the thing.
How strange it was.
Judas felt a bit awkward about it soon after.
It might be that not knowing who she was allowed him to speak without holding back.
He found it difficult to share thoughts like that with someone who knew both him and Eliya.
After a long pause, the other person spoke again.
“Have you ever wanted to go back? Or missed that master… the one you served?”
Why was she asking such things?
It might be entertaining to hear someone else’s troubles.
However, it was neither a pleasant answer nor situation.
Especially since this woman kept making him think of Eliya, which bothered him even more.
It was precisely because he had never once asked her name that sometimes he thought this woman was Eliya.
He wanted to believe that.
With a light sigh, Judas turned his gaze outside the window.
The scene outside remained hazy and obscure.
It blurred like a watercolor painting with light colors.
When would his sight recover?
He hesitated before finally opening his mouth, and the answer felt addressed not to the person beside him but to that master whom he couldn’t hear.
“Always.”
“…….”
“Always, I have. Ever since I left, not a single day went by without it.”
“…….”
“Even until that last moment escaping from Bethany, I thought maybe she would come looking for me. If she came back, I could have returned anytime.”
Now it was all past.
Silence hung heavily.
Judas wondered if his response had been excessively sentimental, so he glanced at the person next to him.
‘Why so quiet… making it embarrassing.’
The dark hair spilled out like ink.
It was still challenging to discern her face.
As he quietly observed her, Judas felt a jolt.
‘Wait. Could this person be…?’
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