CH 22

༺ The First Letter (22) ༻

When I woke up, the sight of the temple awaited me.

I don’t remember anything after I greeted Professor Derek. It seems that I have fainted.

I was in a state where it was not strange for me to lose consciousness. In fact, I had already passed out once before Professor Derek arrived, and I was barely keeping my eyes open.

I didn’t bleed much, but my entire body was sore. There wasn’t one part of my body that didn’t ache. My wounds were severe, and it would have been dangerous if I didn’t forcefully hold on to my fading consciousness.

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So, I staggered up and laid down on the corpse of the wolf I had just slain. His fur was thick and soft. It was a blanket warm enough for me to fall asleep in.

It was then that Professor Derek, who I was waiting for, arrived along with many other students.

I could finally be at ease, and then I just lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes, I felt a pang in my head. While attending the academy, I had never been taken care of in the temple’s intensive care unit, but recently my visits had become more frequent. It was already my second time.

I looked up at the white ceiling and recited the lines I always wanted to try someday.

“……It’s an unfamiliar ceiling.”

“Unfamiliar, your ass. You’ve been here recently.”

I frowned and turned my gaze towards the voice that hurled the swear at me. Perhaps due to the fact that my eyes had not yet fully adapted to the light, the person seemed blurry.

But I knew who he was since we’ve known each other for so long.

“Leto, I’m sorry, but I’m wounded… Can you stop bothering me?”

And then I let out a groan that I had been holding back on purpose. Leto, who was reading a book in a chair next to the bed, clicked his tongue and closed the book.

His green eyes turned to me. It was a gaze filled with pity.

“Well, you risked your life to act cool in front of a woman. Naturally, you became a patient as a consequence of your actions… I wonder if instead of the body you injured your head.”

“Then what? Do you want me to die?”

I pressed my temples firmly to calm the headache that had not yet gone away. I then protested. Wasn’t my decision sound after all?

At that time, Seria had lost her mobility. She hurt her ankle, so I wasn’t sure, but it could be said that she had lost half of her combat prowess. Although it is something I found out later, there was also a four-legged demonic beast with particularly high mobility.

It was better for me to stay. Otherwise, Seria wouldn’t have lasted an hour. There were some things she could do and some things she couldn’t, no matter how genius of a sophomore she was.

But even with my protests, Leto just clicked his tongue. The look of pity for my childishness deepened in his eyes.

“Are you stupid? You said you had the potion Emma gave you back then. You should have fed it to Seria, put her on a tree somewhere, and then you could have run.”

“Ah.”

I muttered, as if I had finally realized what Leto meant.

There was that option too. The potion to erase the presence worked for everyone, even if it wasn’t me. What would happen if I gave Seria the potion?

As long as I kept running, it would have been enough. Seria would be out of sight, so naturally I would play the role of bait as well.

There was no need to risk my life, and it was an option with a higher probability of success.

Why didn’t I think of that? I looked at Leto with admiration. He did a facepalm and shook his head. In addition, he also spoke in a distressed voice.

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“That’s why you can’t trust people from the knight’s faculty who only know how to use their body… huh? Before you and Celine do anything in the future, be sure to ask me.”

“…… No, I didn’t think of it because it was such a sudden situation at the time.”

“Does that mean it’s fine? Because of you, Celine cried a lot yesterday, and when she got exhausted, she returned to her dorm.”

To Leto’s sarcastic tone, I had nothing to say, so I kept my mouth shut.

To be honest, I just woke up while being seriously injured, and even though I thought he was making a big deal, Leto’s words always did have some truth.

I couldn’t choose the best option because I panicked at that time. It’s a coincidence for me to be alive now, otherwise, because of me, my family and friends would have had to go through a terrible experience.

Not to mention, Seria must have suffered from guilt for a long time. To be honest, it wasn’t that I wasn’t causing trouble even now.

Leto is now watching over me. However, Celine had been by my side all day yesterday, so I had no right to retort.

I groaned with my arms crossed, and then raised both of my hands up since there was nothing I could do. It was meaningless, so I chose to surrender.

“Yes, it’s my fault… I didn’t expect myself to be an idiot who only wields a sword every day, all right?”

Then Leto said, ‘Yeah’ and smiled gleefully, as if he had won. It was a face I wanted to punch with my fist whenever I saw it.

However, I couldn’t because my muscles were screaming right now, so I felt it was a pity.

“I’m glad you understand… And moving on. I have to praise you.”

“…… Praise?”

It was quite a sudden word from Leto, who had been constantly nagging at me since I woke up. Praise. Did he praise me even once today?

As my inquiring gaze turned to him, Leto chuckled and burst out in laughter. It was the expression he always made when something interesting happened.

“That ‘Yurdina’s bastard.’ Was she really a loner?”

“What does that mean… Oh, by the way, is Seria doing well?”

As I was trying to find out the basis of Leto’s baseless speech, I suddenly remembered about Seria and asked about her well-being.

She had no one by her side besides her sword talent.  

It seemed that she had a strong sense of inferiority towards her step-sister, her enemy in the Yurdina family, so she was even more afraid to admit defeat because of that.

I was worried that the incident that day, when she had to run away from me, might have hurt her pride. It was just an accidental mistake.

But instead of answering my question right away, Leto just smirked.

“Should I say she is doing well or should I say she isn’t doing well…….”

“Get to the point.”

Hearing my slightly irritated tone, Leto shrugged as if he couldn’t help it.

“She seems to be hovering around the temple in circles with a sorrowful look. I saw her yesterday, and I saw her today as well… I heard that she does it twelve times a day.”

At that moment, I placed my hand on my forehead. I had a headache. It seemed that the lady with poor social skills was hesitant to come to the hospital.

Should I go visit him? What a strange thing to think when we are already friends.

I looked at Leto with a bit of resentment. If he had seen her, it would have been enough for him to tell her to come in.

“Hold on, couldn’t you tell her to come in?”

“That means you don’t know a woman’s feelings yet.”

But Leto dismissed my complaints like that. In addition, he even added a ‘Tsk,’ and clicked his tongue once more.

“I heard that ‘Yurdina’s bastard’ even had such sad eyes. That child must be worn out, even that ice statue-like girl at the end is still a woman. A senior who suffered serious injuries and collapsed while trying to protect herself… and who sacrificed his whole body to defeat the demonic beasts…….”

“…… Aren’t you exaggerating too much?”

“Originally, women tend to exaggerate the little things. Especially if it happened with a guy with a half decent face.”

I don’t think so. My dubious gaze turned to Leto, but he continued speaking as if nothing had happened. It was as if he was a prophet, sharing a revelation with a dignified attitude.

“Anyway, it is important to keep in mind that this emotional tug-of-war is very important in setting your initiative from now on. When that girl is worn out, you gently calm her worries, and when she is going to forget about it, you remind her again… okay?”

Leto said so, as if to reveal some great secret, but my reaction withered. Rather, I shook my head in denial.

I looked at Leto with disappointed eyes. A voice came out of my mouth with a sigh.

“It’s just being a jerk.”

“No, you bastard asked me to tell you how to seduce a girl……!”

Leto looked like he was wronged, but as if he had given up, he soon relaxed and leaned back against the chair. He looked at me with a ‘So it’s like that’ gaze.

Then he slowly turned his gaze away. It looked like he was hesitating a little. My questioning eyes turned to him.

Leto gulped in contemplation, then said in a serious tone, as if he had finally made up his mind.

“……Ian.”

“What now? Why are you being so serious…….”

I had no choice but to return a bewildered reaction to the sudden change of atmosphere. After staring at Leto for a long time with the eyes of someone who is completely bedazzled, a sigh escaped Leto’s mouth.

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He said to me with a slightly serious look.

“I mean, are you doing well with Celine these days?”

It was a random question. I thought it was just a minor problem, so I kept smiling.

They acted like dogs and cats. I heard that they grew up like siblings, so it was normal. But for him to bring up Celine first in a conversation.

It was rare. I answered without any hesitation.

“What could have happened? It’s the same as always.”

“It would be better if you take care of her well.”

But contrary to my bland reaction, Leto gave me advice in a more serious voice.

“The world of women is much darker than you think. If you’re going to be friends with that Yurdina’s bastard in the future, you’d better take care of Celine as well.”

“……?”

Leto usually spoke in a complicated way, but this time I couldn’t understand him at all.

What the fuck does he mean? What’s the relationship between Celine and Seria?

However, looking at Leto’s complexion, it seemed that he wouldn’t tell me the details even if I asked him again, and because his tone was so serious, I let those words sink in at face value.

“Ah, uh… Yes.”

I had no choice but to answer like that. At the very least, Leto wasn’t the type of person who would harm me.

Come to think of it, I should have contemplated more about the meaning of those words back then.