“Man, I got totally blindsided.”
Muttering in disbelief, Leje put away her sword.
“That’s a strategy that won’t work twice.”
At the same time, Rudell smiled and withdrew the spikes of shadow that were touching her cheek.
Just before the shield of shadow cracked.
Rudell threw a gamble.
Where there’s light, there’s bound to be darkness.
He jumped into her shadow created by the light emitted from Leje’s sword.
It was a race to see whether the weakened shield cracked first or Rudell dove into the shadow, but this time, luck was on Rudell’s side.
Since the shadows weren’t connected and a considerable amount of magic power was required due to the bright light, he won anyway.
“Haah… I can’t believe I lost…”
“That’s that, and the wish ticket. I’ll be taking that.”
“Ugh…!!”
Watching Rudell chuckle, Leje bit her lip.
The wish ticket he just earned would surely be used for something significant.
“That’s cowardly!! If we fought fair and square, I would have won!”
“Cowardly? Hahaha! That sounds like the whining of a loser!”
Compared to the tactics used by the church in the story, this was child’s play.
No, it couldn’t even be called cowardly.
“Ugh! You come over here!!”
“Ahhh! An ogre is gonna eat me!”
“Who’s the ogre!?”
At that, Leje charged at him with the intent to knock him out right then and there.
Seeing that, Rudell quickly ran away, but escaping Leje with his abilities was impossible from the start.
“You always say that, but that guy’s mouth is the problem!”
Leje quickly caught up to him and began to mercilessly strike his back.
“Ouch! Ouch!? It hurts! It hurts!!”
With her intense attacks, screams burst forth from Rudell’s mouth.
But that was only for a moment…
“Pfft…”
“…?”
As Leje’s strikes gradually weakened, she suddenly burst into laughter.
Seeing her like that, Rudell could only wear a dazed expression.
And the next moment…
“HAHAHA!!”
“Le, Leje?”
Leje erupted in laughter,
Did she eat something weird?
As he thought that, Leje’s laughter showed no signs of stopping.
How long did it go on?
“Haah…”
With a short sigh to catch her breath, Leje looked at Rudell and said.
“Hey, Rudell.”
“Huh?”
At the sudden change in atmosphere, Rudell’s face tensed up.
“Actually, I was scared.”
“Huh? Scared of what?”
What could she possibly be scared of?
As the daughter of a prestigious family in the kingdom, second to none, destined to become the strongest in the world.
It was hard to believe she was afraid of anything.
“I was scared that you wouldn’t need me anymore.”
“Huh? What do you mean…?”
What the heck was she talking about?
As those thoughts crossed his mind, Rudell looked at Leje.
To Rudell, she was an indispensable presence.
For the fate of the world.
As a friend to one person.
As always, a world without her was a life he couldn’t even imagine.
“Um… how should I explain this.”
At his reaction, Leje frowned with a low groan.
Then, without much hesitation, she spoke again.
“Remember how you haven’t asked me for help until now? I thought it was because you thought I was weak.”
“What do you mean? I would never think that!?”
“Yeah. Thinking about it now, it was a really stupid thought.”
Looking at the flustered Rudell, Leje smiled with a smirk.
“You wouldn’t think that at all.”
“Leje…”
The moment he saw that, Rudell felt a tightening in his heart.
Because he felt he hadn’t given Leje enough faith.
“…”
What should he say in this situation?
While he mulled over it, Rudell slowly opened his mouth.
He felt the urge to say what came to his mind right away.
“I can’t do without you. So please, don’t misunderstand like that anymore…”
“…”
At that, Leje looked at him with surprised eyes.
And then…
“Was that just now… a confession?”
“Huh? What?”
At the same time, a confused voice slipped from Rudell’s mouth.
—I can’t do without you.
“…”
Now that he thought about it, wasn’t that the case?
From a third person’s perspective, what he just said was essentially a confession.
“Ah, no! That’s not what I meant!? What I said wasn’t that!?”
Finally realizing the meaning of his words, Rudell began to ramble incoherently in a way that was hard to describe.
“Isn’t it quite bold? To confess openly to a duke’s daughter?”
“So… that’s not it…!!”
Seeing Leje giggle, Rudell could only show a panicked expression.
What on earth was he supposed to say about this?
As he pondered that, just when Rudell was desperately trying to gather his thoughts…
“Hey! What are you doing at this hour!? Curfew is about to start!”
“Eek!?”
“Ahh!?”
With the voice of someone, a beam of light shone down on them.
They both turned their heads simultaneously in shock, and what they saw was a security officer patrolling the premises.
It seemed they had lost track of time.
“S-Sorry!”
“We’ll head back right away!”
With that shout, they bowed their heads and hurriedly rushed out of the training ground.
The moonlight shining down on the two of them as they left.
*
In a dark space whose location was unknown.
“So, you made a quick escape?”
“Yeah! If you hadn’t left the place empty!!”
Shouting in the darkness was Kentric.
The reason for all this trouble was entirely his fault.
If he hadn’t vacated the spot,
The lab wouldn’t have been destroyed.
The creations and sacrifices he painstakingly made wouldn’t have burned away.
He surely wouldn’t have had to flee in a hurry.
“What do you expect me to do? The High Priest summoned me. No matter how much of a task it is, the High Priest’s orders come first!”
However, despite his complaints, the voice echoing in the darkness had no sense of responsibility.
“Urgh…!! That little brat…!!”
“Don’t call me brat!!”
Biting his lip and shouting, Kentric’s words sparked an agitated voice.
That voice held genuine anger.
“Tsk…”
At the same time, Kentric clicked his tongue.
If it weren’t for the escort personally assigned by the High Priest, he would’ve used that brat for his experiments immediately.
“The High Priest said he’d prepare a new lab, so just wait a bit.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know either.”
“…”
The High Priest was surprisingly coherent.
No stale ethics or annoyingly moral concerns mattered to the High Priest.
He found that incredibly satisfying.
Thus, Kentric had cooperated with him as much as possible, but that brat’s arrogance irritated him every time.
“Just wait and see.”
By the time I get you strapped to the experiment table, you’ll know.
With that thought, Kentric let out a low sigh.
“And there’s one more thing the High Priest asked me to do.”
“What is it?”
“This item. Can you make it?”
At the same time, a piece of parchment fluttered out of the darkness.
Approaching it cautiously, Kentric picked up the parchment.
He squinted his eyes and began reading the contents of it.
“Hmm… Clash two magical powers with different properties to create a repulsion and inject divine power to amplify it. And uh… Oh? If this works, it could be quite a show?”
“Ugh…”
Muttering some unknown words while chuckling, Kentric’s demeanor was filled with amusement.
To the point where even a fanatic from the church could see that Kentric was completely unhinged.
“How fascinating! So fascinating! With this, it seems we could create a splendid fireworks display! This will be fun!”
Experiments! And the thrill of research and exploration!
Only those things could make the world a more beautiful and enjoyable place.
“So? When can we start?”
“I need some things first. Primarily, high-grade magic stones, breaths of salamanders… and yeah! We’ll need a lot of sacrifices too!!”
With his eyes glittering with madness, Kentric shouted.
At that moment, a short sigh escaped from the darkness.
“Haah… Tell my underlings; I’ll get what’s needed.”
“Kehehe… Deciding to ally with the church was the best choice of my life…!!”
Of course, Kentric was lost in his own world, giggling like a madman, as if he couldn’t hear anything.
The scene was truly chilling.
“I really don’t like this.”
With a muttering tone from the darkness resonating as the last sound heard, Kentric’s maniacal laughter echoed around.
