Chapter 295: Cactus (2)
The desert night air was freezing, and the sand under our feet precarious.
—We’re almost ready.
I quietly looked into the mirror. The scene reflected across the polished surface was of Epherene and Julie.
—What do you think? It was well made, right?
—…Yes.
—Now, try a test run. If it succeeds, we’ll be done.
Epherene was designing a container that could fit one person, and Julie nodded beside her.
—Whoa…
Julie, watching with wide and curious eyes, looked adorable.
“…”
A smile tugged at my lips, but I already knew what these two were going to do. I often thought about it.
—Will it be over in one try?
—Nope. You should be in there for a week or two. I have to extract time energy from my mana and inject it into the barrel.
If Julie let all her memories go and time was rewound…
“…You will forget me.”
She would forget me, but she wouldn’t forget Deculein. I wasn’t the Deculein that Julie knew back then. She would forget ‘me.’
“The you now… will die.”
Forgotten memories do not come back. Even if she left a record in a diary, her accumulated memories wouldn’t be reproducible. All the emotions that made Julie wouldn’t be restored.
—You will not be able to see the professor without being sick.
—…Is that so? However, will I understand myself just by reading the diary?
—Of course. Don’t worry. I believe in your mental strength.
It was something against human law, and it was also running away from death. It was about killing who she was now and trying to save a life that wasn’t hers.
“Still.”
I wanted that. I wanted her to give up on herself.
If she could live. If she could breathe in this world. If she could go on to find happiness instead of this endless pain. I think that it’s okay for her to forget about me…
“Count.”
Delric called from behind me.
“What’s going on?”
“This is the intelligence report discovered from the Demon Bloods that Idnik frequently visits…”
“Idnik.”
“Yes.”
Idnik was a wanted person. It was natural since she was Rohakan’s disciple, but recently, as it was confirmed she was helping the Demon Blood, her rating was raised to Black Beast.
“Here is a map of their locations found by our guards.”
The desert was divided into factions. General Bell led the military on one side, and on the other side, the nobles and knights centered on me. As a result, the competition was fierce. Bell’s faction went out several times a day and achieved results, but I tried to restrain my faction’s knights as much as possible.
“He has a talent for tracking so that you can trust him.”
At Delric’s words, I looked over the map.
“…”
I nodded. Immediately, Delric’s complexion brightened.
“Then we will prepare for the expedition.”
“Okay.”
“Yes!”
I watched Delric as he saluted and retreated.
“Delric.”
“Yes.”
He hit a quick stop and looked back at me.
“Lia… recently, what has that kid been doing?”
“Yes? Oh… nothing special.”
“…Is that so?”
Lia was leaking internal secrets. Of course, I led her to do it as I expected a Demon Blood informant to be around.
“Did anything happen?”
Delric asked.
“Well. I don’t know if it’s because of her training, but she seems to go all the way to the depths of the desert these days.”
“…Oh. Yes. She does that often. She seems to enjoy being reckless.”
I nodded. They also had similar personalities.
“So her personality is like that too…”
“…”
Then-
“Ahem-!”
Delric cleared his throat and straightened up.
“I will monitor-“
“No. You don’t have to.”
For the survival of the desert, it was right for Imperial secrets to be exposed. It was unexpected that the spy was Lia, but it might be better this way because she had outstanding abilities.
“You may go.”
“…Yes.”
Delric left without another word, treading across the sand, and I gazed up at the stars. They strained to break the darkness surrounding them. Like a verse I had read in the past, each star comes to life as a human.
“…This is complicated.”
I mumbled softly.
* * *
The next day.
Lia woke up early in the morning and, as usual, was having breakfast on the training grounds.
“Whew…”
She sat cross-legged and went over the Elementalization technique Deculein taught her. If she learned this well, she could grow a few levels-
“Hey, brat.”
Flick-!
Lia looked up.
“Who is… oh?”
“It’s Delric.”
“I know. Knight Delric.”
They had met a lot in the Imperial Palace and Reccordak before that. He was Deculein’s henchman and the leader of the Imperial Knights. He was also Lia’s direct supervisor in the desert.
“But what do you want? I’m training.”
Lia asked. Delric frowned and shook his head.
“It’s something a little more serious this time. Don’t try to pass on this pretending to be a kid, and listen to me.”
“Hm?”
It was a little questionable, but she obeyed.
“Yes.”
“Lia. Have you been traveling into the desert?”
“…”
Her heart raced.
Thump-!
There was no way they’d already discovered the leak of confidential information.
Thump-thump-!
Her heart was beating like crazy.
“Yes. But why… do you ask?”
“…”
Delric’s eyes narrowed. His gaze mixed with suspicion and pity.
“The Count asked.”
“The Count…?”
“Yes.”
Flick—!
Delric flicked Lia’s forehead again, adding as he sighed.
“He worries a lot about you.”
That statement was questionable for Lia. Worry? Worries a lot? Blinking a few times, Lia gaped at Delric.
“A lot more than you think.”
“…”
Lia considered what he meant for a moment. Deculein’s worrying, had there ever been such a contradiction in this world?
Delric cleared his throat and looked around.
“He asked me.”
“…What do you mean?”
It was so unexpected that she couldn’t even speak properly.
“Lia, about your actions.”
“My actions?”
“He was worried about you going out into the depths of the desert.”
Worried. It was the second time he used that word. He was too openly Deculein’s henchman for her to wonder if Delric was talking about whatever he wanted. They were both Named, and in terms of personality, they got along really well.
“…Is that true? He was asking about me?”
Lia asked. Without knowing it, she used Yoo Ara’s tone.
“Yes. And even…”
Delric shut his mouth for a moment. He seemed to be contemplating whether to say this or not.
“It’s a secret, but… he even said, ‘It’s complicated.’”
“…”
“You know it too. The reason the Count is talking like that.”
Lia nodded blankly. His fiancée.
“Lia. Know your place.”
Lia looked up.
“You were not chosen by the Count because of your talent.”
Lia felt guilty.
“The Count is teaching you, and sometimes he speaks harsh words to you.”
She was leaking information. Of course, her motives were for good, but…
“It’s all because you look like his ex-fiancée.”
Was Deculein still looking at Yuli in her? Even if he pretended not to, his heart was always… was he always seeing the person named Yuli in the adventurer Lia?
“Not only her looks, but her personality as well.”
He probably was the only one who remembered Yuli in this world. No, he might be the only one who can remember.
‘…Of course, I am not that Yuli.’
“You mean… personality too?”
“Yes. Those were also the words of the Count. So don’t go too deep. If you’re going out, take a walkie-talkie with you.”
“…”
“I mean, don’t make him worried.”
Lia looked silently over the training ground. She saw Deculein tidying up his clothes after a morning workout.
“Answer me.”
Delric urged. Lia nodded cautiously, still looking at Deculein.
“…I will not go out too often.”
“Okay. Good.”
Delric put on his helmet.
“Where are you going?”
“Into war.”
“War…?”
“Don’t think about going out now. The professor will be worried.”
After interrupting her, Delric turned and ran to Deculein. Lia watched the two of them go.
—I’m ready, Count. Shall we leave right away?
—Yes.
Going to the war. She didn’t know where they were headed, but the atmosphere was serious.
—Attention, everyone!
At Delric’s cry, the Deculein faction gathered together.
“Indeed.”
Their position was shaking these days due to a lack of success… because of her…
Stomp—
Startled, Lia spun around.
“…There’s a lot going on with Deculein, huh? His ex-ex-fiancée, ex-fiancée, and even you who resemble his ex-ex-fiancée.”
Sophien stood there in a robe and turban. She glared at Lia and snorted.
“Hmph.”
“Oh, Your Majesty. That’s…”
“You are surprisingly good at talking.”
“…”
Lia licked her parched lips.
“Well, you’re not relevant. Deculein will only have sympathy for you as a kid.”
“…Your Majesty. What did you come here for?”
“I will join in Deculein’s campaign. Of course, that guy will refuse, so I’ll hide along.”
“…It’s dangerous. Your Majesty.”
Lia tried to dissuade her. Sophien sneered and pulled out a small knight statue, a figurine, from her pocket.
“It’s okay. There is always a knight by my side.”
“Are you talking about Sir Keiron?”
-Yes.
The figurine responded. It was a miniature Keiron.
“…Oh.”
Lia was taken aback for a moment, but then she nodded. Sophien was no less strong than Keiron in the first place. With two of the strongest people in the world together, worrying would be a luxury.
“Yes. Then I’ll too-“
“There’s no need to.”
Sophien placed her hand on Lia’s head.
“You don’t need to remind him of his old love.”
“…”
“Stay here. I don’t want to see the professor feel uncomfortable because of you, worrying or whatnot.”
After shaking her head a few times with a grin, she followed Deculein’s forces. This was also turning out to be a pretty interesting situation.
“…Deculein is worried about me.”
Right now, that was the only thought in Lia’s head.
* * *
—Isn’t it too far behind to follow?
Marching across a vast sandy field, Sophien was walking beside Keiron.
“He is a sensitive person. You have to keep this distance to avoid being noticed.”
Beyond those dunes and barely more than a dot on the horizon, Deculein’s expeditionary force was advancing. In addition to those precautions, she was wearing a transparent robe.
—Why don’t you want to be found?
“…Keiron. The thing you said that day.”
Sophien had no choice but to acknowledge Keiron’s words. She hoped that Deculein would yield first, and she hoped that he would come back, apologizing to her. That was why she deliberately disgraced him and trampled on his self-esteem.
“I thought you were a little right.”
—So, will you lose on purpose?
Lose. That was a little awkward for Sophien.
“…Lose on purpose.”
It was something she’d never considered before. Her boredom and laziness were okay with losing. Rather, there was no excitement in winning. However, she never thought of losing on purpose. It was cumbersome to lose something on purpose.
“Losing…”
So Sophien pondered. Was she already losing, or was she on her way to losing?
“…I think I need some time to consider.”
Watching the Emperor muttering to herself, Keiron hid a smile. Now Sophien was becoming human. Maybe she had felt that didn’t suit her as an emperor, but the more she became human, the freer she would become. And Keiron wanted a happy human Sophien over the tyrant Sophien…
-Your Majesty. Put on your mana armor.
Keiron warned her. Sophien prepared herself. They could feel someone moving toward them.
—It’s the slayers. They seem to have caught us.
“I know.”
The moment she answered, a flash of electricity erupted from under the sand.
Clank-!
It swirled toward Sophien’s back, but before Keiron or Sophien could move-
It was blocked by a shard of blue metal approaching from elsewhere.
Swoooosh—!
Fire burned through the mana in the air, and the cold froze the slayers. It was the defense mechanism of 「Snowflake Obsidian」. The slayers couldn’t even scream before they were frozen.
In this way, the Snowflake Obsidian had been enhanced by Iron Man. Now it could respond at a speed approaching a Mach.
“…”
But, because of that, Sophien went silent. For some reason, her face turned red.
-Ahem.
Keiron cleared his throat
—I guess.
…Indeed.
—The Professor has known from the beginning.
There was no way that fox bastard didn’t know they were following.