Chapter 58
-I know where Aria is. I was connected to her before.
It was the holy sword's voice, speaking while Ashtein was searching for Aria.
Ashtein briefly stopped Azazel and pressed the holy sword, Carelin, for answers.
“You know?”
-That's right.
“Why didn't you say so earlier? What are you scheming this time……?”
-Didn't the girl resonate with me several times? You were so distracted, you ignored everything.
Thinking back carefully, that was true.
Ashtein felt pathetic for having lost his composure so completely that he hadn't even had a moment to spare.
Perhaps because she was precious to him, because he didn't want to lose her, he had grown all the more impatient.
“Where is she?”
-Hmph. You have no shame at all. Shouldn't you apologize first?
“I'm sorry. Now where is she?”
Faced with a gaze that said he wouldn't let it go if she didn't answer, Carelin was dumbfounded.
Aria sometimes acted as if she couldn't live without Ashtein, but in Carelin's eyes, Ashtein was just as bad, if not worse.
Put nicely, it was devoted love; put less kindly, it was obsession.
That didn't mean Carelin had any right to criticize Ashtein for being obsessive.
She was no different, after all.
-I'll guide you.
“If you're lying, I'll make you regret it.”
It was a feeble threat.
Carelin replied, hiding her scorn.
-What would I gain by telling a lie?
Azazel watched Ashtein muttering to himself and asked,
“Hey, why are you suddenly muttering to yourself? Is the sword talking to you or something?”
She had meant it as a joke to lighten the mood, but, amusingly enough, it was true.
“That's what it said.”
Azazel was stunned for a moment, then furrowed her brow.
The sword had really spoken to him?
“Don't say stupid things. Has your mind gone weird because Big Sis disappeared, Ashtein?”
“It says it found her.”
“Found Big Sis? Who did?”
The Hero tapped the hilt of the holy sword with the back of his hand.
“The holy sword.”
“………You've finally lost your mind, haven't you?”
“It's true.”
She looked at him skeptically.
“So you're saying it's a weapon with a mind of its own?”
“It seems only I can hear it.”
“………It's the holy sword, so I guess that's possible, but hmm.”
After a brief discussion, the two decided that following the holy sword's lead was the right thing to do.
Finding someone in Gallia, the capital, was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
But if they had a magnet that could find the needle, was there any need to turn over all that sand?
Carelin led them to a shabby inn.
Ashtein felt uneasy when he arrived.
Aria was here?
Nothing bad had happened to her, right?
The cold air peculiar to winter pierced his lungs, but it couldn't cool his insides.
If anything, the fresh oxygen seemed to feed the flames consuming him, making them burn even more fiercely.
His insides roiled.
Aria.
Please, just be safe.
“Azazel.”
“Yeah?”
Ashtein pointed at the inn's wall and said,
“Break it.”
“……You really do order me around however you please.”
Rumble!
A crimson explosion erupted.
Azazel had controlled the spell's power, neatly bringing down only the wall without collapsing the building.
The sudden explosion drew some attention from the people nearby, but Ashtein didn't care.
Once the thick cloud of dust cleared, Aria, the one he'd searched so desperately for, was there.
With Prince Leon.
What?
It was a strange combination.
Ashtein pressed his eyebrows together with his thumb and forefinger.
How had things gotten so twisted that Leon was here?
Hadn't they just been talking at the mansion a little while ago?
And now that busy man was with Aria?
This made no sense.
The timing didn't add up, either.
Unless there were two men named Leon, how could this happen?
Leon, who was looking at him, had gone pale.
“………I never thought ‘he’ would send even you after me.”
The prince had said something incomprehensible.
Ashtein stepped through the broken wall and walked up to them.
“Who sent whom? I came here of my own accord.”
“I suppose you did.”
Leon didn't let his guard down.
If anything, he raised his sword, even more tense than before.
Azazel twirled her index finger and pointed at Leon.
“Ashtein, what are you going to do about him?”
“……What do you mean, what am I going to do? We should talk first. Lower your sword, Leon.”
“……Did you not come here to harm me?”
He was saying something incomprehensible.
“Why would I? I only came to find someone important to me.”
Leon looked back and forth between Ashtein and Aria.
“You came for Miss Aria?”
“I told you earlier, didn't I? I found a lover.”
“……This is the first I'm hearing of it.”
“Enough with the unnecessary comments. Aria's the one I want to talk to.”
Ashtein turned his gaze to Aria.
She lowered her eyes in silence, like a child who'd done something wrong.
Why won't you look at me?
Look over here.
I thought something had happened to you.
I'm glad you're safe.
I was so worried.
Those were the words he should have said.
But what came out was a sharp interrogation.
“Why are you here? Did the prince force you to come with him?”
As if to defend Aria, Leon started to speak.
“That's right, I asked her to help…….”
“Leon.”
A blade-sharp, chilling gaze pierced Leon.
“I wasn't asking you.”
This was the first time.
The first time the Hero Ashtein had looked this angry.
“Aria, tell me.”
“……No, Mr. Leon didn't drag me here. I came of my own accord.”
She'd come of her own accord.
A vein bulged on Ashtein's forehead.
“Then couldn't you at least have left a letter or a note saying you'd be away?”
He was right.
If she'd thought calmly, she could have avoided making him worry.
“……You're right. I didn't think it through.”
“And why didn't you listen to me? I told you to stay put. Was that so difficult?”
“……I, I…”
Aria stammered, trying to say something.
Ashtein wanted to hear her out.
But his heart wouldn't let him.
“Did my words mean nothing to you?”
Thump.
Aria's eyes wavered.
Her body trembled.
“N-no, Ashtein. That's not it.”
“Then you shouldn't have gone out on your own. Do you know how worried I was?”
Aria couldn't say a word.
It pained her to realize she'd worried him for such a trivial reason—because she'd been bored.
She hated herself for making him angry, and couldn't bear it.
I should have listened to you.
I should have thought things through.
What was I thinking?
Am I just an idiot with no sense at all?
“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? You need to worry about your own safety. It shouldn't be just me worrying about you.”
His tone was scathing.
Aria contorted her face miserably, like someone struggling to breathe.
She clutched her chest as if in pain.
“……I'm sorry.”
“That's not what I want to hear. What would you have done if you'd gotten into danger? Did you have a plan? Did you just move without thinking? Like an idiot? Do you even understand how dangerous things can be?”
Every word was right.
It was all perfectly reasonable.
That's why it hurt.
Aria fell silent.
Her expression was utterly bleak.
“Were you trying to make me worry? If so, you succeeded spectacularly. I thought I was going out of my mind because of you. Do you know what kept running through my head? That you might be suffering, that you might be dead—nothing but awful thoughts like that.”
“Ashtein.”
Azazel, unable to listen any longer, stepped in front of him.
Sparks flashed in her red eyes.
“Aren't you being too hard on Big Sis?”
“How am I being too hard? Did I curse at her? Did I insult her character? I'm only asking what grand intentions Aria had for acting on her own.”
Their confrontation made the already chilly air turn even colder.
Aria felt her chest tighten.
“Are you treating Big Sis like a child?”
“What?”
“That's how you're acting. Why are we allowed to go wherever we want, but she isn't?”
“Aria is weak.”
“And that means you get to control what she does? Tell her not to go out? Are you saying most people should just lock themselves in their rooms?”
“That's not what I meant, but she could have been in danger.”
“I know, I know. But we found her, didn't we? So be glad she's safe. Tell her you were worried and not to do it again. You could've said it gently and left it at that. What good does it do to berate her like this? I get that you're angry, but why don't you calm down a little?”
“I'm talking to her. Did I hit Aria or something?”
“You did. With your words.”
“Azazel.”
Azazel flinched, but stood her ground and said what she believed.
“I'm telling you not to make such a scary face. Have you even looked at Big Sis Aria?”
Only then did Ashtein look at Aria's face.
It was a wreck.
Tears streamed down her face, and she was covering her mouth with both hands to stifle her sobs.
His heart nearly stopped at the sight.
He saw that his words had hurt her.
He'd foolishly, stupidly berated her.
He should have been glad she was safe. That should have been enough.
Ashtein sighed.
His head throbbed.
For some reason, his emotions kept swinging wildly up and down.
He couldn't control them.
Because she'd recklessly put herself in danger again.
Because he'd thought he'd lost her again.
Because he'd thought she'd slipped away from him again.
Crash.
He clenched his fist and punched the wall.
The wall was already unstable and couldn't withstand the force; it crumbled.
Ashtein let out a deep, heavy sigh.
“You're right. I need to cool my head.”
Ashtein strode over and took Aria's hand.
Her trembling reached him through her hand.
It hurt. His heart hurt.
“Let's go.”
“……Yes.”
Just as Ashtein was about to leave, Leon stepped in front of him.
“Sir Ashtein, she did nothing wrong. I was the one who made an unreasonable request.”
“……Move.”
He shoved Leon aside and kept walking.
Until an anguished cry rang out behind him.
“I had no choice if I wanted to save Edelis! She did the right thing!”
Ashtein stopped and turned around.
Edelis Bride.
Why was Edelis Bride, a knight knighted by Leon de Gallia, coming up now?
“Didn't you say Edelis had left you?”
At the word left, Leon's blue eyes widened.
“…It seems you met ‘him,’ then.”
“……‘Him’?”
Leon's face twisted as if he'd just swallowed bitter coffee.
“My original self.”
Original self?
Ashtein looked at the prince in shock.
“……Leon, what do you mean?”
This world was full of different kinds of monsters.
Some spewed acid that melted people, while others were skilled in magic.
But there was another creature that had been the most troublesome for Ashtein.
Doppelgangers.
A rare and elusive monster that copied everything about a person and became that very person.
“That's right. I'm Leon de Gallia's doppelganger.”
It was a sudden confession.
An empty winter wind blew.
The doppelganger spoke.
“Have you come to your senses now, Sir Ashtein?”
“………Let's move somewhere else. This is going to take a while.”