Chapter 45 (2/2)

But —

“Hey, Leon. Did everyone make it out okay?”

Let’s start here.

“I’d like to say that they did, but Rupert was gravely injured. As of right now, he’s been placed on complete bed rest…”

Oh, so that’s how it turned out.

Well, more like: Rupert’s alive? Frankly, he’s now one of the lucky few to fight Maddox head-on and survive. Of course, I don’t know how Rupert himself sees it, though.

“And the others?”

“‘Others’, you say, but the next patient in line was none other than you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. To tell you the truth, although you sustained no particular physical trauma, you were unconscious and wouldn’t wake up. Moreover, for three days. No one knew what would happen…”

‘Hahaha.’ Leon laughed hoa.r.s.ely, visibly tired. It seemed that he’d been more worried for me than I’d thought.

Though if my condition was second only to Rupert’s, that must mean the others were safe. I didn’t get hurt, I was just asleep. Seems like they’re okay then.

Actually, Leon’s the one who looks like he’s about to keel over.

“Sorry, I made you worry…”

I apologized for once.

It’s this guy we’re talking about, so he might’ve stayed up to look after me this whole time.

When I took a closer look at him, I could see slight shadows under his eyes.

Oh yeah, he looked the same way that morning after I pa.s.sed out in the Telaberan estate.

Something squeezed tight around my chest at the thought. Refusing to recognize what that was, I lightly bit on my lower lip.

“Af–After that, what happened to Maddox?”

My voice was unintentionally shrill and nervous. But I had to ask.

“That… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t. He should have been on the other side of the wall you blasted him through, but afterward, the dragon came to interfere. In the end, no one knows what’s become of him.”

‘He’ and ‘him’, huh. Frankly, Leon might not want to even say his name.

But if that’s the case, is he dead or alive? No, I’m sure he’s not dead. I’m the one that blasted him through the wall, so believe me, I know.

That’s not enough to take out Ma.s.sacre Maddox.

So things are just gonna get more nerve-wracking from here. Sure, he had help from an inside man, but he still got to us while we were inside the fortress.

A guy like him can attack from any angle. If he doesn’t give up, you might even say that the specter of death will always loom over us.

‘If he doesn’t give up’, huh.

To be honest, I don’t know much about Maddox aside from his strength.

Is he the type to lose interest easily, or the type to sink his teeth in and never let go? It might be a good idea to check him out at the guild sometime.

Wait, we’ve got Leon here. Maybe he asked Regnum to launch a concurrent investigation on Maddox.

All that aside, what did he just call me? It wasn’t until now that I noticed the change.

‘Chris’.

‘Chris’, huh…?

Well, I’m okay with that. Wait, I am?

“What happened with the dragon?”

“The fortress brought it down.”

“Seriously!?”

That came as an honest surprise. I was sure that it would’ve run away with Maddox.

“Yes, the fortress was built to face monsters, more or less. It was particularly well-equipped for anti-dragon operations. It seems they used giant crossbows to kill it… When I said a dragon came to interfere, that was the one the fortress brought down.”

Thinking back, I didn’t notice, not with Maddox taking up all my attention, but while we were down there, the tremors did seem to have lessened.

Speaking of which, wasn’t Percival saying something about that anti-dragon stuff?

“Come to think of it, what about Percival?”

“His whereabouts are also unknown.”

…Well, you win some, you lose some.

But the enemy had even made it inside the fortress itself.

When my thoughts reached that point, it suddenly hit me.

Who is ‘the enemy’?

“H–Hey, Maddox probably used an inside man to navigate the fortress for his attack. Do you have an idea who that could be?”

“An idea? Hmmm…”

In a rare show of worry, Leon put his fingertips against his handsome chin as he considered the question.

Sooo, it occurred to me all over again, how much that gesture suited him. Or perhaps I should say he looks s.e.xy this way?

“There’s too much going on. I have no clue.”

He gave me a sheepish smile.

‘Is that something you can smile about?’ I wondered, but maybe because I’d just thought of something really bizarre, his smile made my heart pound.

“…What’s with that?”

I hastily averted my eyes.

But, Leon. Though I think that his personality is charming, no question, he has an unexpectedly large number of enemies. Or is that just an upper-cla.s.s thing?

Knock-knock.

As I was thinking about it, there was a knock at the door. Leon answered it and urged the visitor inside with a [Please].

“——!”

It wasn’t one visitor, but two: Aira and Palmira.

When Aira saw me, astonishment flickered on her face for a moment, and her eyes twinkled. Palmira seemed somewhat surprised too.

In response, I lightly raised my hand to them.

At which point Aira’s face just crumbled, and tears began to flow from her eyes.

“Big Sisteeeeer~~~~!”

Without even giving me a moment to be surprised, Aira ran inside and hugged me.

It was bursting with enthusiasm, and all I could get out was a choking sound. Palmira entered the room after her without any expression on her face and gave me a tight hug over Aira.

“We were worried… really worried.”

She and the wailing Aira were like night and day, but she buried her face in my chest and said those five words.

I see, so that’s how it is. Leon had been that worried. And these two had undoubtedly been worried too. Gently, I stroke their heads.

“Ahh, I made you worry, huh… I’m already fine now.”

“Hmph.”

But they weren’t willing to let go.

Suddenly, I looked at Leon’s face, and I could only give him a wry smile.

Author’s Notes

This chapter feels shorter, somehow, but it’s about 5000 characters.

Footnotes

1. Skipped: あえて俺は嘯いた ↵

Dessert for plus.h.i.+esoda.

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