“Are you really okay not going?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
I’ve learned what I needed to learn.
More than anything, going now… wouldn’t be dramatic enough.
I thought of the Sword Saint as my master in a way, and he did say to come by, but… it feels a bit off to just drop by the next day.
Plus, I’ve climbed too many mountains already. I really want to stop now.
“…I guess you have a point. You must be tired of all this.”
Alice nodded at my words. It seemed not just Alice but the rest of our party understood me too.
Yeah, I really wanted to take a breather. If it were before I learned meditation, I would have tried to keep up and learn everything possible while turning back time, but now it’s a bit… especially since I had turned the enemy camp into a mess earlier today.
“I think we’ll head down tomorrow once we go up.”
Thinking about that many people going up and staying in that cabin made it hard to breathe.
“I’ll be waiting.”
As I said that, the party looked at each other and then turned their heads towards me.
“Alright, then.”
It seemed a bit disappointing for them that they wouldn’t hear about that ‘sister’ story immediately, but that can wait until I come back.
“See you later, sister!”
Claire waved her hands enthusiastically, and the rest of the party looked at Claire as if they still couldn’t get used to it. The only one who didn’t seem that surprised was Leo. He probably had already heard all the stories about Claire. It makes sense since they had been close.
“…”
I stared blankly at the kids boarding the large carriage.
It was only after the carriage completely disappeared from sight that I turned my body around.
*
“Hey there, lady!”
Was wandering around the village, instead of going straight back, really such a bad thing?
I found myself entangled with a strange man right away.
“Over here, over here! We have spots, so come play with us!”
The shout of the man attracted attention. Most people from the Northern Region are rather blunt. They don’t really like frivolous men. Naturally, the man was receiving unpleasant glances, but he didn’t seem to care at all.
He had bright red hair, so vivid you couldn’t miss it. He had propped his feet up on a chair he had pulled up to his own chair, while the cafe owner shot him an annoyed look.
But no one actually chased him away. Maybe because he was dressed in luxurious attire? He clearly looked like high nobility. It’s probably for the best to leave him alone and avoid trouble.
If there is a noble in this town, there’s a very high chance they are either a guest of the Winterfield family or a soldier, one or the other.
However, this man wasn’t a noble, nor a guest, and certainly not a soldier.
He was royalty, and it didn’t seem like anyone called for him; he just didn’t fit in with the military at all.
“…”
I felt a headache brewing and walked over to Lucas.
As I approached, Lucas smiled widely, seeming pleasantly surprised, and moved his feet off the chair while brushing his hands off to make space. But I silently pulled up another chair next to him and sat down.
Of course, Lucas didn’t seem to mind my attitude.
“Are you enjoying the trip? Little sister.”
“…It was fun until just a moment ago.”
“Now that sounds like you’re saying I ruined your fun.”
“…”
He knows everything, huh?
Lucas didn’t seem to expect me to be happy to see him at all. His face was still smiling, though.
I wondered why he was showing his true colors so openly. Was it because Jennifer, who was taking the lead for Winterfield, was absent? Or Alice had temporarily left?
But there were still students wandering around. The strikingly red-haired Lucas was hard to miss. I don’t think I have a face that stands out, but I definitely don’t have a face that could go unnoticed among those students.
A Crown Princess is sitting across from an unknown handsome guy in a cafe.
Well, if rumors spread, they’d die down quickly, but the true high nobility is probably already aware of Lucas, and once they figure out our identities, this situation would no longer feel cozy, but terrifying, as if one shouldn’t even make eye contact.
“When did you start shadowing me?”
“Why ask when you already know?”
No, I really don’t know.
…But it’s not hard to understand Lucas’s reaction, if he had been following me throughout this training. Naturally, he would have seen me fighting on the battlefield.
If someone who fights like that is unaware of Lucas sticking closely behind, then that would be ridiculous.
“Probably always.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
He replied calmly without being surprised by my words. He didn’t even touch his cup of coffee. After confirming that the kids were gone, he must have settled down; the coffee was still hot and steaming.
Phew! I’m glad it worked out without needing to shout again!
…By the way, has he really always been following me?
“Oh, thinking back, it wasn’t 24 hours. Once you went into your room, it would be hard to follow you, so I didn’t bother. I had to report to the Emperor and take care of my own meals too.”
Well, that makes sense.
Still, that means no one was keeping an eye on me by rotating around.
“And if I had installed something in my room, you would have noticed it anyway.”
I tried to read his face and infer whether he was being sincere or not. …If that was true, it would be safer to turn back time and get rid of everything.
But looking at Lucas’s expression, I couldn’t necessarily tell if he was lying or not. I lack the ability to read minds; my eyes aren’t that different from an average person’s.
So, I decided to take his words as truth for now and be careful in the future.
…Once I go back to my room, I might need to flip everything upside down and investigate.
“Then why are you showing yourself to me right now?”
If he had heard Jennifer and me conversing, honestly, it would have been better for him to follow my friends instead. This was likely his chance to meet the Sword Saint, whom he had been hunting for.
In the original story, even after learning about the Sword Saint’s location, Lucas trained until he could be certain of his victory, so even if he got caught now, it wouldn’t significantly change the original story.
“…I wonder.”
Lucas stared blankly at the sky. The sky was blue enough to be cold, with no clouds in sight. In the Imperial Capital, smoke belched out from various places, making it quite rare to see such a blue sky, even near the academy. Even this place, with its steam engines, wasn’t exempt from emitting smoke.
“I just wanted to ask you a little something.”
“What do you want to ask?”
“…You.”
Despite calling me over, Lucas merely gazed at me.
“…What is it?”
I felt a bit uncomfortable with his lingering gaze and asked that, prompting Lucas to give a sly smile.
“Could you fight me sometime?”
“…Huh?”
“Let’s both put our lives on the line, properly.”
“…”
I tried hard not to show my surprise on my face. Honestly, that effort was quite successful. My expression probably didn’t change that much from usual.
“Hmm.”
Seeing my face, Lucas smirked as if satisfied.
“I think I understand a little about how Alice reads your expressions. She’s impressive.”
Before I could respond properly, Lucas got up from his chair.
Then, he walked over to me and patted my shoulder a few times before leaving.
“…”
Huh.
What was that?
I sat there for a while, feeling stuck, before I finally came to a conclusion.
So, he thinks that watching me fight would be more enjoyable than facing the Sword Saint?
“…”
Wait, so does that mean I’m doomed?
*
I couldn’t feel any killing intent.
But the moment Lucas said that, I felt the cold sweat trickling down my back as goosebumps rose.
I felt nothing, which is precisely what I felt.
Even after watching him single-handedly take down a bunker, I didn’t feel a shred of murderous intent coming from Sylvia.
Was it the calmness I had heard about? Or maybe it was simply that the opponent felt too weak to inspire any real emotion?
…No, it wasn’t just that. It was something different.
It was more like…
More like the attitude of ‘something is bound to happen.’
The attitude of ‘it was only natural for things to turn out this way.’
The way Sylvia fought exuded that kind of aura.
That’s why Lucas couldn’t imagine himself defeating her.
But…
“If I can truly overcome her,”
Then defeating Sylvia would be akin to cutting down the ‘future.’
An intense conviction surged within him, stronger than anytime he swung his sword at Sylvia before.
That’s why Lucas ultimately made his decision.
To attempt to cut down that future.
“How could I just pass by someone who could end things like that?”
Muttering those words, a competitive grin spread across Lucas’s face.
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