Chapter 27
My head feels hazy, as if I’ve only dozed lightly.
My body feels strangely heavy and languid, and even opening my eyes is a struggle.
Perhaps because I’ve only just woken up, I can’t think straight.
Only fragmented thoughts come to me, one after another, before drifting away like smoke.
I was so tired that I considered going back to sleep, but since I was already awake, I decided I might as well get up.
When I tried to move, I felt something behind my knees.
My arms were wrapped around someone’s shoulders.
Thud, thud.
Footsteps echoed in my ears.
I could feel a warm, sturdy back.
It seemed I was being carried on someone’s back.
By whom?
I didn’t have to think long about it.
Obviously.
It had to be you, Mr. Ashtein.
If you ask how I knew, what should I say?
Was it because I recognized your scent?
Because I recognized your back?
Taking all those things together, I couldn’t imagine it being anyone but you.
A pleasant, low voice reached my ears.
“Are you awake?”
At his words, I considered pretending to be unconscious a little longer.
It would be pointless.
It would be like trying to fool myself.
“……How did you know I was awake?”
“I could feel you twitching.”
Embarrassed, I struggled to lift my eyelids.
I saw his broad back and the nape of his neck.
Just as I’d expected, Mr. Ashtein was carrying me on his back.
I glanced around.
I realized we weren’t at the cult’s cathedral, but on Magdalena Street.
I instinctively checked my body.
I’d definitely been naked.
At some point, someone had dressed me in neat robes.
“Mr. Ashtein, this is…….”
“I didn’t dress you. I asked a nun to.”
Did he have a guilty conscience or something?
You answered quickly, then fell silent.
I couldn’t help smiling.
So you had an awkward side, too.
“I wouldn’t mind if you looked, Mr. Ashtein.”
The moment I said it, I sucked in a breath.
My thoughts and words had gotten mixed up.
Aaaah.
T-to say I wouldn’t mind him looking!
Didn’t that make me sound like some easy woman?
An untimely silence fell.
My lips went dry, and my throat felt parched.
H-how had I managed to say something so stupid!
Mr. Ashtein turned his head to look at me, then gave a bemused snort.
“Don’t tease me.”
I wasn’t really joking.
But it seemed better to let him think I was, so I hurriedly nodded.
“I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize…… You wouldn’t listen anyway, so what’s the point? Is your neck all right?”
He’d caught me off guard.
At his words, I felt the back of my neck.
The wound from the dagger had healed without a trace.
“Yes, I think so.”
I remember it clearly.
Bishop Ronin had taken me hostage.
I recalled the last sensation I’d felt before losing consciousness.
The cold touch of metal sinking deep into my throat.
Pain raced through me like lightning.
I’d lost so much blood that I figured I was as good as dead.
But here I was, safe on your back. Either I was dreaming a sweet dream just before dying, or you had saved me.
“This isn’t a dream.”
My goodness.
How can you read my thoughts so easily?
My heart beat irregularly, as if I had an arrhythmia.
You can’t hear my heart, can you?
I hope you can’t.
It’s embarrassing.
“……Thank you.”
“For saving you?”
“Thank you for everything, really.”
I’d been trapped in a nightmare I couldn’t escape.
A life of being helplessly violated.
How could I not be grateful to the person who had broken the shackles that bound me?
Perhaps embarrassed by my gratitude, Mr. Ashtein changed the subject.
“I washed you and got you dressed, then left the cult right away. I didn’t want to stay there.”
“Didn’t they try to stop you?”
“It would’ve been difficult for them to stop us outright, considering what they did to you.”
I don’t know. They’re not the sort to care about that.
Maybe they let us go because they were afraid of you.
Instead of arguing, I simply murmured my agreement.
“I see.”
He continued, sounding troubled.
“Besides, I did make a mess of the place. The Holy Knights were a nuisance, so I gave them injuries that’ll keep them laid up for weeks. I wrecked the Cardinal’s hands and eyes, and killed one of the bishops. It was awkward staying there after all that.”
Ashtein’s rampage was a little too spectacular to simply turn a blind eye to.
I replied in admiration.
“That’s incredible. Are you sure you’re not the Demon King instead of the Hero?”
“I’m a little rough when it comes to saving people.”
I buried my face in your back as you joked around.
It really felt as if I’d been saved, as if everything that had been oppressing me had disappeared.
I let out a sigh of relief.
Perhaps Mr. Ashtein had misunderstood something, because he whispered in a gentle voice.
“If you want to cry, go ahead.”
“I’m not crying.”
Who do you take me for, a crybaby?
I pouted and rested my chin on his shoulder.
Even if you look at me like I’m ridiculous, I’m going to keep doing this.
“Why don’t you look at the sky instead? The stars are bright.”
He pointed to the cloudless sky.
The deep blue night sky above Magdalena Street.
An uncountable number of stars glittered overhead.
It was a spectacular sight you couldn’t see in the modern world.
Thinking how poetic the scenery was, I asked Mr. Ashtein,
“Where are we going?”
“For now, I’m looking for an inn. I’d like to leave this place, but I think we’ll have to stay while the cult handles the aftermath. That blonde brat said running off without a word wouldn’t be a good idea.”
The blonde brat.
He must have meant Believer Makarov.
His words made me realize there were still things left to resolve.
“Was that what Believer Makarov said?”
“Yeah. He said he’d call us once things settle down, but I wonder if we can leave it all to that kid.”
“He may be a child, but he’s a sharp believer. He’s dependable.”
“He did seem clever.”
Perhaps because it was winter, a chilly wind swept past us.
Mr. Ashtein must have had a lot he wanted to ask, but he didn’t bring it up.
A small kindness.
I like that about you.
Still, I wanted to talk with Mr. Ashtein, so I spoke again.
“By the way, did you pass the Holy Sword’s test?”
You shook your head.
“No. The test was difficult.”
“Even you found it difficult? Could you tell me what kind of test it was?”
“It wasn’t anything pleasant. Do you still want to hear about it?”
His ominous warning.
I furrowed my brow.
“………Was it cruel?”
“Hmm.”
Don’t just give me that cryptic smile—tell me.
I glared at Mr. Ashtein with narrowed eyes.
“I don’t want to tell you.”
“………You’re so petty.”
You chuckled, then said my name gently.
“Aria.”
“……Yes?”
“I’m glad I met you.”
Those words came so suddenly from his lips that they branded themselves into my heart.
That’s unfair.
Why did you steal the words I wanted to say?
Then what am I supposed to say?
Now I’m left with nothing to say but to fumble my lips uselessly.
“Was that too sudden?”
Yes, it was sudden.
My head bowed all on its own.
To hide my flushed face.
“This is awkward. Can you at least say something?”
I cleared my throat.
“Aren’t you going to ask? You must be curious about a lot.”
“I could more or less figure it out without hearing it from you. The way you scrubbed yourself so harshly and kept watching other people’s reactions gave me an idea when I put it together with what you’d been through.”
“……You don’t want to hear it from me?”
“Can you talk about it without it hurting?”
When I fell silent, Mr. Ashtein spoke as if he’d expected it.
“If you get hurt just to satisfy my curiosity, that would be a foolish thing to do. I told you before, didn’t I? Tell me once your wounds have healed.”
“……You did.”
“I’ll wait patiently, so don’t rush yourself. Anyway, I’m thinking we should stay at this inn. What do you think?”
Mr. Ashtein gestured toward a rather grand inn.
I wanted to stay on his back a little longer.
I guess it was time to give up my modest desire.
“All right. You can put me down now.”
He set me on the ground.
As soon as my feet touched the ground, I staggered, and Mr. Ashtein steadied me.
“Ah, thank you, Mr. Ashtein.”
“Aria Rameld.”
You said my surname in a voice that was utterly serious.
I was so taken aback that I bit my tongue.
“Y-yes?”
“Can’t you drop the honorifics now?”
“Th-that’s a little…… How do I put it? I-I’m not exactly opposed to it, but it feels strange. I’ve gotten so used to calling you Mr. Ashtein……”
As I rambled, he brushed my hair back from my forehead and said,
“Call me Ashtein now.”
His tone was almost like he was coaxing a child.
Was it really okay for me to call him that?
“……Ashtein.”
My heart tightened.
I felt all tingly, too.
Without the honorific, it felt so strange.
“Yeah. That sounds much better.”
You smiled.
You looked so radiant and bright.
I smiled without meaning to.
“It may sound better, but it still feels awkward.”
