2. The Lord is with you (20)

It was a hazy memory.

The man was doing a masterpiece with a woman. It was a shabby drinking table contrasted with a glass of alcohol and a few jerky, and a fancy tent.

The two tilted their glasses without saying a word.

There was no gap to feel the main scent. Even the alcohol seemed cheap. The two men and women simply filled and emptied the glass over and over again.

The slightly drunk man’s eyes widened. Only then was a sound born in the tent where silence had lingered.

“… … Can I drink it?”

It was a question that came to mind now. It’s been a while since I drank. But now you’re asking if it’s okay to drink?

I didn’t know who the subject was. a man or a woman.

As if it didn’t matter either way, the woman shook her head with a faint smile.

“What’s not going to happen? You and I are human too.”

“I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen you drink.”

“Huh,” the woman let out a faint laugh. Her hands covered her face. A blush had already bloomed on her immaculate skin.

“… … Actually, I just learned it. Really, I couldn’t keep my mind sober.”

“Do you finally understand sepia?”

“Sir, when dealing with a woman, you don’t mention another woman’s name.”

The man silently nodded. A bitter smile hung on his lips.

And another drink, poison.

“Before, I was proud of my strength. Being able to help someone without hurting them is a rare talent.”

“I agree.”

The woman’s lament continued. The man sometimes threw a word at a time and chimed in.

Intoxication obscures vision like steam.

“But now I don’t know. nothing, nothing can be done… … .”

“Everybody does.”

It was a heavy voice. Even so, the empty answer, the man’s golden eyes harbored a miserable light.

“It’s not just the Eastern Front. The northern front, the western front… Things are not looking good. Seongguk is preparing to abandon its members.”

“Because the saint passed away.”

“Oh,” she said, holding her face. It was a sad smile.

“How did this happen? I’d rather have ended my work at the orphanage back then… … .”

“It is a meaningless assumption.”

It was a firm voice. The woman heard the voice and looked at the man without saying anything.

There was a soft glow in his eyes. Eyes peeping at fragments that may be drunkenness or emotion.

It didn’t take long for the mouth that had been silent for a while to open. A dejected grunt escaped from between the woman’s lips.

“… … I know. You just have to obey.”

“It is obedience.”

“Yes, obedience.”

‘Observation’, as if the word were a code, the two exchanged words. A sigh escaped the man’s mouth.

“Does that make any difference?”

“It doesn’t change. You will just accept it.”

The woman then nodded and began to let her hair fall. It seemed that his intoxication had reached its limit.

“Tomorrow, about this… more… … .”

With her head on the table as if she had collapsed, she fell soundly asleep. The man who was left alone drank a few more drinks and then got up.

He took off his coat and placed it over the woman’s shoulders. He looked at the woman without saying anything, then muttered in a low voice.

“… … Alcohol is also weak on the subject.”

It was a night when the moonlight broke through the curtain and poured down.

With a pop, the lights went out and the world closed. It was the end of memories.

It was then that my mind surfaced.

Air filled his lungs with a whooshing sound. Then I opened my eyes and looked around. The light covered my retinas, blurring my vision.

My head was dizzy. As I regained my senses, I felt a stabbing pain in my stomach.

sick. I was moaning right away, but I felt a hand holding my body and shaking it.

“Hey, brother Ian! Are you out of your mind?!”

It was an urgent voice. I forcibly moved my blurry vision. Then, yellow eyes came into his eyes.

And black hair, a look that was all too familiar to me.

It was Celine Haster. My childhood friend, a second year student at the academy’s swordsmanship department.

While moaning in pain, I opened my mouth to reassure Celine.

“Celine… … .”

“Yes! That’s right, Brother Ian! You’ve come to your senses now!”

Celine let out a small sigh as if relieved. I caught a glimpse of her sweeping her chest. It was a nice curve to look at.

It wasn’t as good as the saintess, but I groaned as I thought about it. Until a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

Come to think of it, Celine?

It was then that I felt like I was suddenly awakened. My vision became clear, and the scenery around me flowed through my vision.

It was an old building. And this musty smell, the Guilford Orphanage, was clear.

The question was still ongoing. My eyes turned to Celine with suspicion, but that wasn’t the only surprising face.

The creaking door opened and a man entered. It was Leto Ainstern, a man with impressive brown curly hair.

“Oh, are you finally awake?”

My eyes went blank again. I looked back and forth between Celine and Leto with a completely confused face.

It was inevitable that questions would come out of my mouth.

“Celine, Leto… What the hell do you guys think… … .”

“Hey, Senior Ian!”

It was before I even finished my words.

A loud noise came from somewhere. My eyes went out the door again. There stood a girl who had rushed in and entered without even braking properly.

Gray hair, deep blue eyes resembling aquamarine.

The woman with a teary face was Seria. It wasn’t the cold, haughty expression he always had.

It was as if she was worried and going crazy, a look she couldn’t even imagine being ‘Yurdina’s slut’.

You’ve become more expressive of your emotions. Seria rushed at me with such feelings.

She squeezed my hand and asked me in a worried voice.

“Senior Ian, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Ugh, are you okay?”

Seria was so urgent that she even bit her tongue.

No, come to think of it, Seria always chewed her tongue.

I forced my brain to wake up by pressing my temples. It wasn’t long after I came to my senses that my head wasn’t spinning well. I couldn’t even understand why these three were showing up in front of me.

If even a hypothesis did not come to mind, there was only one answer.

“… … Why are you here?”

Asking directly, Leto nodded as if he knew that.

He answered with a smile.

“Because of you, you son of a bitch.”

It was a pretty brutal answer. I was looking at Leto with bewildered eyes, but soon I heard a sound of humming and clearing my throat.

It was Celine. She said to me with a smug look on her face.

“I-I’m worried about Ian! No matter how many seniors there are in 4th grade, the more people there are, the better, right? That’s why I begged Leto oppa to get the practice dispatch site this way.”

“I was thinking of replacing it with a theoretical research assignment… … .”

Looking at Leto’s suffering, I guessed roughly what was going on.

Celine and Seria, who were rejected by me, headed for Leto that way.

Leto was also a third year student, so he had the right to go to practice, and he couldn’t have neglected the two juniors who begged him regardless of his will.

The results were now in front of my eyes. Even so, three familiar faces have been added to the Guilford Orphanage, which has five academy students.

It was truly a force that was not envied by the small knights.

The saintess of the Holy Land, her escort knights, the successor of the Yurdina family, and even the battle mage from the magical Rainella family.

The existing power alone was enough to accept fairly large orders. But now, the number of people has increased even more than that, so even if you don’t know, you won’t be able to find even a bone at the level of the monkey witch.

However, the worrying part was that the request from Guilford Orphanage would not end with a simple subjugation of the beast.

A letter from the future said that I would become a wreck. And the word ‘raid’ was also heinous. Doesn’t that mean that at least our side didn’t attack first?

It could have been life threatening. My heart was heavy that Retona, a non-combat magician, and Celine and Seria, who were still only in the second year, came to such a dangerous place.

But it was spilled water. I decided to welcome them with a smile.

“It’s nice to see you, everyone. It was difficult because there was a shortage of workers at the orphanage.”

It was as sincere as he said. Even if it wasn’t so, with only five people, both hands were insufficient for children, all sorts of chores, and even exploring the forest.

However, now that the head count has increased, he should be able to regain his composure to some extent. Celine answered with a wry smile as if she already knew about the situation.

“I know, even now the saintess and the seniors are having a hard time. By the way… hey sh*t Will you let go of my hand?”

Celine seemed to be annoyed by Seria, who was still holding my hand. Seria, who was looking at me with a face about to cry, hardened her complexion as soon as Celine spoke to her.

That was Seria’s appearance that everyone knew. ‘Yurdina’s slut’, that cold impression.

“I don’t like it.”

Celine’s eyebrows narrowed slightly at the determined expression of intention. There was a hint of annoyance in his brown eyes.

“Stop making a fuss, where is Ian brother dying?”

“But you are worried. Isn’t it?”

“Hey, just listen to what… Sounds like no one cares? Don’t you know who was guarding the hospital room until you came running?!”

“I kept it last night. If it wasn’t for the orphanage, I would have been guarding it all day.”

The atmosphere was slowly heating up.

I sighed and looked at Leto. Leto just shrugged his shoulders as if to say what to do.

In the end, I felt like I had to step in. I spoke in a low voice to the snarling Celine and the cold eyes of Seria.

“Stop it, both of you… Your head hurts.”

“Ha, but brother!”

“Or, instead of arguing, do you use swords? It’s outside the academy, so there’s no fuss like last time, and it’s nice that the saintess is here.”

At my continued words, Celine was intimidated in the end. Seria was already hesitating and avoiding my gaze.

Either way, neither of them would want to go to the sword.

When things got quieter, I had time to organize my thoughts. I looked back at the situation right before I collapsed. The monkey-shaped demon I saw then.

It was huge. He was a little over 2m tall, and above all, the overwhelming advantage of the reach that came from his long arms was an impressive enemy.

I couldn’t see my nails when I was standing on the wall. However, judging from the fact that it came out like a blade when attacking Elsie-senpai, it seems that she usually hides her weapon.

Another thing I remember is the young glow on those nails.

“… … to come?”

“What are you talking about?”

In response to the muttered words, Leto asked back. I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head with a wry smile.

It was too much imagination. How could the witch use an aura? Aura was a crystallization of magical power that only beings with intelligence and imagery could handle.

Even if the Witch Beasts could have intelligence, they couldn’t train mental images. This was because it was an area unique to the human species.

It seemed that there would be an opportunity to share concerns about this. First of all, I asked because there was a name that suddenly came to mind.

“Come to think of it, how is Elsie-senpai?”

“… … Ah, that woman.”

Celine’s reaction was cold. It was only natural that I was hurt while protecting Elsie. Celine’s behavioral principles were more consistent than I thought.

If you hurt me, you were an enemy first. That was also the reason he and Seria fell out.

Seria spoke carefully.

“He was working with me. Hearing Miss Hastur’s voice, I thought Ian-senpai had woken up, so maybe Elsie-senior will soon… … .”

“Yes.”

I interrupted Seria’s words to say that there was no need to say more.

My eyes were looking beyond the door that was not closed. There, a cone-shaped hat was tilted.

“… … Senior Elsie.”

At my low murmur, a small girl appeared with a shrug.

Brown hair, eyes resembling blue sapphire, and a cute and lovely appearance.

She was a woman who fit well with the modifier ‘like a doll’.

“Oh, hi… … .”

While fiddling with the brim of the hat, Elsie-senpai averted my eyes. I didn’t even know if he was feeling sorry for me in his own way.

Apparently, he had something to share with her alone.

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