CH 59

Past and Future 3

“You were pushing yourself so hard back then that you looked like you were about to die at any moment. I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”

“Yeah, that’s right, you were so daring, just like Alvin.”

“I-I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you all at that time….”

It was for this reason that Dirk helped me for the first time back then.

Certainly, if Erica were doing the same thing I was doing back then, I was confident I’d stop her immediately. Even though I was desperate, I felt bad for worrying everyone.

“But it’s really amazing. Nina is really a hard worker.”

“…. I was really happy that everyone was so nice to me and helped me out. Thank you so much.”

“You’re a nice person, Nina, and it shows. It’s no wonder.”

As I was being patted on the head and reminded once again how happy I was to be friends with everyone, Lara, who was sitting opposite me, let out a sullen voice, “Hey, hey.”

“That topic makes me uncomfortable.”

“I mean, Lara was a real jerk by comparison──ouch! Don’t hit me, it’s true!”

“Shut up.”

Lara and Theo’s interaction brought a smile to my face. I was happy that we could look back and laugh about it now.

“But Lara takes good care of me, doesn’t she? Thanks to Lara, I’ve learned to use various kinds of magic.”

“Right? Well, Nina did her best. To the extent that I can’t help but admit it.”

“I really appreciate it. Please tell Erica that, too.”

“…. When I feel like it.”

Lara turned away with a huff, but I also noticed that she was beginning to recognize Erica’s effort these days.

She might not be honest sometimes, but Lara was really a kind, caring, and wonderful older sister.

“But Nina’s growth in the second half of the year was amazing, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah! I really relied on her when we were fighting the Demon King.”

“Right? It didn’t weaken at all. I was sweating the whole time.”

“I was thinking of quitting halfway through the fight.”

The battle with the Demon King, the last boss, lasted more than half a day. I remembered that I was at the limit of my physical and magical strength, and it was really painful.

──Alvin-sama, Dirk, Theo, Owen, Lara, and myself. If any one of us had been missing, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to defeat them.

I would never forget the sense of accomplishment I felt at that moment and the sense of security that no one else would get hurt.

After that, everyone continued to drink at a fast pace, and the number of empty bottles kept increasing.

“Hey, bring in more booze! You can put it on Alvin for everything!”

“Let’s drink up all the booze in this castle!”

“Calm down now, both of you.”

Theo and Lara were clearly drunk. Lara was doing whatever she wanted, swinging empty bottles around, badgering the male servants, and using Dirk as a chair.

Meanwhile, Theo was running and hopping around the room like a flitting rabbit, occasionally destroying parts of Lara’s room.

However, I wasn’t surprised now, as I had seen this kind of situation before, even though I couldn’t drink.

I was drinking at such a slow pace, but as time went on, I was feeling unsteady.

“Dirk can get mad at Lara too, you know.”

“Hngh.”

“Don’t tell me…. are you drunk too?”

“A little.”

“What, are you all right?”

“Hngh.”

Apparently, Dirk was drunk as well, although I didn’t notice it at all because he looked as fresh as usual.

He had an unbelievable amount of empty bottles lying around him, and no matter how strong a drinker he was, it was only natural that he should be drunk.

“You all drink too much. Here, drink some water.”

“Hngh.”

“Dirk, you’re like a child.”

“…. Hngh.”

After giving Dirk a glass of water, I suggested Theo and Lara to drink water too, but the two kept drinking booze, saying, “This is just water.” They were too mature to drink that.

When I failed at trying to stop Dirk from drinking again, Theo looked alternatively at me and Dirk and opened his mouth.

“When did Dirk start liking Nina?”

“Cough, keugh!”

“Are you okay!? H-Hey Theo, why are you asking that!”

Dirk, who was drinking water, suddenly coughed at Theo’s abrupt question.

“The other day, he said that he had given up on Nina, and that he was able to sort out his feelings, so I thought it was fine to ask that.”

“Eh?”

“…..”

When I looked at him in confusion, Dirk kept his long eyelashes down and kept his mouth shut without denying it.