Slowly opening my eyes, I found myself in a dimly lit room—– seeing a ceiling I don’t know…… isn’t the case at all. I didn’t get sent to another world again, I’m just seeing the ceiling of the inn we’re staying at.
Trying to raise my upper body up, that’s when I suddenly realized something. Arehh? Isn’t my body injured from fighting?
I’m pretty sure my arm was broken, and I think I also broke a bone around my ribs…… but there wasn’t even a trace of it anymore.
I see…… It was all just a dream huh.
Since my body is so cleanly restored, it occurred to me that the fight against the Black Bear was just a dream, but that’s when the door of the room was suddenly vigorously opened.
[Kaito!]
[Huh? Whoa!?]
The person who appeared from the opened door was Isis-san, who isn’t supposed to be here.
Jumping on me with great speed, Isis-san’s impact towards my body made me lightly slam against the bed.
[……Thank goodness…… Kaito……]
[Eh? Arehh? Isis-san?]
The heck, what’s with this situation?
I may not know why Isis-san is here, but I know that most of all, the current situation is very dangerous.
Isis-san’s tightly hugged my body like she’s clinging onto something, and her very soft and slender body is pressed against my whole body.
How should I say this… It’s like I just experienced one dream after another…… Just when I escaped from that hellish dream of mine…… I woke up, arriving in heaven.
[……Kaito…… It’s already alright…… Those who hurt…… Kaito…… I already killed them.]
[……Huh?]
I didn’t quite understand what she was talking about.
Those who hurt me? Is she talking about that Black Bear?
However, the Black Bear that I fought was slashed by Lilia-san in half…… Does that mean there were more of them?
When I asked Isis-san for more information, it seems that a swarm of Black Bears appeared after I passed out, and Isis-san wiped them all out.
Unnn. I see…… That Black Bear I fought was monstrous enough, and even if she said there was a bunch of thousands of them, I can’t imagine the scene where Isis-san is beating them up at all, even if it actually was the case.
Anyway, it seems that thanks to Isis-san, there was almost no damage to the city of Rigforeshia.
Isis-san stayed still and kept hugging me for a while before she stood up with a slightly sad look on her face.
[……I should…… go home now…… If I’m here…… Lilia and the others…… would get scared.]
[……Isis-san.]
I see, the reason why the always worrying Lilia-san and the others haven’t come to my room even after I woke up, I guess the better way to describe it is that they can’t get close due to the effect of Isis-san’s magic power of death.
A magic circle manifests beneath Isis-san’s feet…… probably a Teleportation Magic Circle leading to her castle.
[U- Ummm! Isis-san.]
[……What is it?]
[Thank you very much for today. And, ummm, I’d like to thank you properly…… Would you like to, errr, have dinner with me another time?]
[……!? ……Is that alright?]
[Yes. It will be my treat at that time. Otherwise, I won’t be able to repay you.]
[……Unnn…… I’m really…… looking forward to it.]
I can understand that “thanking someone = buying them a meal” is quite a short-sighted thought of me but…… That was the only thing I could think of at the spur of the moment.
However, the effect of those seemed to be immense, as Isis-san’s expression, which looked sad, changed to a bright one as she nodded in response.
And with a small wave of her hand, Isis-san left, wrapped in the light of the Teleportation Magic.
After Isis-san left, I left the room and walked down the corridor of the inn to apologize to Lilia-san and the others for making them worry about me.
This inn is one of the most high-class lodgings in Rigforeshia because it’s only used by Lilia-san, who is a Duchess, and the wide corridor is so quiet that anyone would think that this place was reserved for a private party.
Walking for a while, I found myself in front of some kind of lobby or a lounge, but I arrived in a rather large room, and in the distance, I found Lilia-san and the others.
[Huh!? Kaito-san!?]
[……..!?]
[You’ve finally woken up huh. Thank goodness.]
The three people there were Lilia-san, Lunamaria-san and Sieg-san, and they all looked relieved when they saw my face.
[I’m sorry for causing you to worry.]
[No, do you still feel any pain anywhere?]
[Not anymore, I’m feeling completely fine.]
[Is that so…… That’s really good.]
Answering to Lilia-san, who spoke to me with concern, that my physical condition is now perfectly fine.
[Speaking of which, Kusunoki-san and Yuzuki-san don’t seem to be here…… Could it be that they have been injured?]
[Ah, no, neither of them were “injured”.]
Since Yuzuki-san and Kusunoki-san weren’t here, I asked if they have been injured after I passed out, but it seems that they are both fine.
However, why do I feel like there’s some meaning behind her words when she said that they’re not “injured”.
[Did something else happen to them other than being injured?]
[Aoi-san and Hina-san are now sleeping in their room.]
[……They were exposed to Death King-sama’s magic power of death and lost consciousness.]
[A- Ahhh……]
Lilia-san and Lunamaria-san answered my question with a slightly pained tone.
I see, it seems that they weren’t injured by the Black Bears, but they fainted because of Isis-san’s magic power of death.
[Incidentally, Rei-sama and Fia-sama are attending a reorganization meeting for the almost destroyed security force.
[Almost destroyed!? Reorganization? Eh? I heard that the city received no damage though……]
[Yes, the Black Bear didn’t cause any damage. However, after being exposed to Death Kin-sama’s frightening magic power of death, almost half of them had their minds broken……]
[That’s not surprising. Even I couldn’t stop shaking for a while. It was rather fortunate that Kusunoki-sama and Yuzuki-sama were among the first ones to faint.]
In the aftermath, she broke the Guard Force’s mind!? How outrageous could her magic power of death be……
How terrifying Isis-san was at that time can be seen by looking at the three of them trembling just as they remembered what they’ve seen.
It seems that Kusunoki-san and Yuzuki-san were fortunate that they passed out before their minds could process the horror caused by Isis-san’s magic power of death.
Just when we were speaking about that, Lilia-san stood up with a serious expression on her face, she walked up to me…… and suddenly got down on her knees.
[……Eh?]
[Kaito-san, I’m really sorry.]
[Li- Lilia-san!? W- What are you suddenly doing!?]
I’m really confused about why suddenly kneeled on a dogeza, and Lilia-san just held out the necklace I gave her last night.
[Kuro’s necklace?]
[……This necklace had a defensive magic imbued on it, though not a powerful one…… That is to say, if I hadn’t borrowed this, Kaito-san wouldn’t have been injured like that.]
There’s defensive magic in Kuro’s necklace? That’s the first time I’ve heard that though……. I thought there was only search magic in it, but it seems that there are lots of other magic in it as well.
Lilia-san didn’t seem to understand all the details about this necklace either, but after the earlier incident, she asked the former court mage Rei-san to take a look at this necklace and found out that it contained defensive magic.
Deeply bowing her head, Lilia-san’s voice was trembling as she continued to speak.
[No, if only I had been more level-headed right from the start…… I said I would guarantee the safety of Kaito-san and the others just when we met, but I was so preoccupied with myself that I forgot to even have someone guard Kaito-san and the others, and because of that, Kaito-san got hurt. Everything is… Everything’s my fault.]
[……N- No, it’s not like it’s Lilia-san’s fault or anything like that……]
[No, it could have been prevented if I had only been more level-headed. If I had just been more careful…… I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry.]
Lilia-san’s voice began to distort with tears, as she continued to bow her head, keeping on apologizing to me…… The heck, she’s starting to get annoying.
I repeat, I’m not some kind of saint. I don’t remember it happening that much, but I can also get angry at times.
[Kaito-san. I’m really sorry……]
[……Lilia-san. I’m going to apologize in advance.]
[……Eh?]
After I told that to Lilia-san who keeps on apologizing to me, I swung my knuckles down on her head as hard as I could.
[Ow!?]
Even though Lilia-san is a person with great abilities, she isn’t always using Body Strengthening Magic.
My knuckles that struck her unprotected head seemed to be quite painful, and Lilia-san held her head down with both of her hands.
[If you just shut up there, and stop murmuring like a creep there…… How serious can you be that you distorted the facts and reached towards that conclusion!?]
[Eh? Eh?]
[What happened before was just an accident, right? I got hurt because I got careless, and me being careless isn’t Lilia-san’s fault at all! Or rather, shouldn’t I be thanking you instead, Lilia-san? Thank you for saving me before!]
[Eh? Ah, y- y- yes. Y- You’re welcome?]
Hearing the words I blabbered about, LIlia-san flusteredly nodded, though she still had a puzzled look on her face.
[Good. Then, this is the end of this conversation! If you say anything more about it being your fault or anything like that, I’ll hit you again.]
[Y- Yes!]
[In the first place, thinking that everything is your fault is a bad habit of yours, Lilia-san. I know that Lilia-san is a serious person, but it still depends on the time and circumstances. Even that time too……]
Lilia-san, whose position quickly changes from a dogeza to a seiza, and I go on with my lecture-like words.
(T/N: dogeza is the bowing, seiza is the sitting upright on your knees.)
I honestly don’t think that this is something she’s always doing, and maybe it’s not something I should have said to her, but I think someone should tell off this overly-serious person.
[Terrific. I am now inclined to give Miyama-sama a heartfelt round of applause. That’s really well said……]
[………………]
[Lu- Luna!? Sieg too, don’t just nod there, please help me out. Kaito-san somehow looks kinda scary right now……]
[Lilia-san! I’m still not done talking yet!]
[Y- Yes!? I’m sorry!]
Lilia-san looked like she’s becoming teary-eyed in a way different from a moment ago, but since I don’t intend to be lenient to her, I’m going to continue my sermon.
Dear Mom, Dad——- I don’t really think that this is something she’s always doing, but I still scolded her for that. Well, how should I say this—– her over-seriousness is also a problem.
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<Author’s Notes>
Lilia’s thoughts:
If only I had been level-headed, I could have prevented Kaito from being injured
=>
If I had just arranged someone to escort them……
=>
In other words, it’s my fault that Kaito was injured
=>
It’s all my fault.