Ch. 234

[A true loyal subject speaks the truth without risking their life!]

[Drop dead.]

[Isn’t that right! Swordsmen are specialized for 1-on-1 combat! And that red-haired guy seems to be one of the fastest! If Master summons multiple Spirits to try and stop him, Master’s power will only get drained faster, even if I act as a Mana storage! There’s nothing I can do about the lack of mental fortitude!]

[……In that case, with one shot, Endairon……]

[Okay. Let’s say you’re lucky enough to finish the incantation and summon a big one. From the moment you start summoning, your mind and body will be torn apart, so how long can you hold out? What if the red-haired guy notices and starts stalling for time? Can you handle that?]

[It’s okay, he’s oblivious…… or not. His combat sense is like a beast.]

[And if Pein and Ador, those hard-headed kids, show up, your limits will hit you in no time, the entire command system will get tangled, and eventually the orders will be delayed and everything will fall apart, right?]

Fucking hell. You might as well just hold a ritual for our downfall.

I seriously considered whether I should strangle myself for even asking.

[If the command system gets tangled, it’s over. Agreed?]

[Shit, makes me wanna curse.]

[You already did! Anyway, Master is impatient and fearless, so you’re the type to rush in, so be careful! Be careful! I’ve told you before! Don’t get drunk on power! Assess the situation before jumping in! You need to fix that habit of getting all worked up whenever you see the red-haired guy if you want even a tiny increase in your odds of winning!]

[……It pisses me off when you’re right.]

[Ahem! Ten thousand years of Spirit experience! Believe what Rai says. Master’s combat style is perfect for wide-range slaughter from the rear, but fighting a Sword Master in close combat is practically suicide……]

[You…… you’re not worried about me, you’re just trying to stop me in case I die, aren’t you?]

They sounded similar, but they were distinctly different. Rai was sly, just like me.

[Of course! I’m genuinely worried! If Master dies, I won’t be able to bear my grief and I’ll turn the Spirit realm into a sea of tears!]

[Because you won’t be able to play in the Middle realm anymore?]

[Oh, come on, you misunderstand. I’m always a loyal Spirit who wishes for Master’s long life. Let’s be together for a long, long time, okay?]

Hidden inside my hood, Rai rubbed his head against my cheek, showing unnecessary affection.

It felt like someone was pressing my cheek with the rounded back of a spoon.

[It hurts. Stop it.]

[Aww-ing.]

My irritation didn’t just come from Rai’s antics, but from the odds of winning that kept plummeting the more I calculated.

I’d thought things might change when I actually faced Rovenin, but I hadn’t expected them to drop this sharply.

As I gritted my teeth, refusing to accept reality, Rai lightly tapped my shoulder with the tip of his tail.

[It happens. Cheer up, Master.]

[I haven’t lost yet, you bastard.]

[Everything has its compatibility, right? It’s true that Master is strong for a human, but so is that guy. And your compatibility is the worst! The worst match made in heaven!]

[Are you cursing me! Go get lost in the Demon realm!]

[What are you saying! I’m just running a pure Middle realm calculation here!]

It wasn’t my imagination—Rai was definitely being extra annoying today.

He was clearly whispering only the worst-case scenarios in my ear to stop me from charging recklessly at Rovenin.

[But you know. Master, do you want to win against the red-haired guy? Or do you want to kill him?

Seeing how you’re trying to fight without taking his sword, it sounds like the first one, but seeing how much you’re agonizing over it, it’s obviously the second, right?]

[I want to win and then kill him.]

[That’s the hardest thing to do!]

[This is a matter of a  Spirit Mage’s pride! Pride isn’t more important than life, but still!]

While Rai and I were bickering, we left the central area and entered a maze of back alleys.

Narrow passageways kept appearing in front of Ash, who was carrying me, and in front of Rovenin, but the two swordsmen never slowed down.

Even when the path split into several branches, they only needed a brief nod or glance to decide where to go and moved on without hesitation.

Sometimes Rovenin led, sometimes Ash. The way they understood each other without words was so in sync that it annoyed me.

How long had I been in Ash’s arms, scowling?

Before long, I realized where they were heading. They kept choosing paths with as few people as possible.

[It seems like they’re looking for a place with no people?]

[It seems so. Why?]

[Why do you think?]

[Is it because I’m too cute?]

Rai making a fuss was a regular event, regardless of the season.

[Look at our group. A crazy handsome crown prince candidate walking the Path of Trials, a mysterious genius Spirit Mage and Saintess. And the continent’s craziest guy. It’s a celebrity trio tailor-made for front-page scandals.]

[It sounds like only Master and Ash have halfway decent titles?]

[Exactly. And this is the place where the most travelers on the continent gather.]

Which meant there was no upside to being seen.

If there was one thing in common among the three of us, despite our completely different personalities, it was that we didn’t like other people’s attention.

I just found it annoying, and Ash had to be careful because he was hiding his identity.

Rovenin was indifferent to others, but most of the attention he received seemed completely disconnected from his will. He attracted it just by existing, whether he wanted it or not.

I wasn’t any different.

Rovenin’s very existence was so bothersome it was absurd.

‘Can a human really be this annoying?’

I was staring at Rovenin, who was running alongside us, when he suddenly vanished upward, as if he’d been launched into the sky.

It happened in a blink.

No way. To lose him right in front of my eyes? I was stunned that I’d lost sight of him so easily, when Ash grabbed my waist tightly and gave a short warning.

“We’re jumping.”

“Huh?”

While I’d been distracted by Rovenin, we’d reached a dead end, and Ash, holding me, leapt cleanly over the wall.

Thud, thud.

He stepped once on the middle of the wall to the right and used that momentum to vault over the wall in front, which was much taller than a person.

If my eyes had been closed, I wouldn’t have even realized we’d jumped. The motion was that smooth and light.

I blinked, feeling like a cat, and belatedly spotted Rovenin on the other side.

He was standing on top of a luxurious carriage of unknown ownership, looking at us, and beyond the wall, dozens—no, hundreds—of carriages were packed tightly together.

Judging by the scale, this was probably the largest carriage depot in the city.

“Geenie.”

Maybe because we were on the outskirts, where there were fewer buildings, the wind was blowing from all directions.

Maybe that was why Ash’s voice above my head sounded lower and more distant than usual.

I felt the grip on my waist tighten, so I tilted my head up, puzzled.

“Why? Ah, it’s okay. I wasn’t surprised.”

I thought he was worried I’d been startled by the jump over the wall.

But his expression said otherwise. Ash’s face looked oddly stiff, even a bit gloomy.

Whenever I couldn’t figure out what was going on with this man, I could feel it through his bare skin.

Ash was a man who didn’t say much to begin with. I instinctively tried to cheat with the hand wearing the ring.

–She seems to be only interested in Rovenin. That persistent gaze…… she has never shown it to me.

What. Was this jealousy?

How trivial.

Having satisfied my curiosity, I turned my head to look for Rovenin again, but he had already disappeared.

Damn it!

“What! Where did he go! Rovenin!”

“……”

“You ghostly bastard!”

I was furious that I’d lost track of him again.

Every time this happened, I felt utterly powerless. You couldn’t even begin to talk about odds of victory when you couldn’t keep up with the other person’s presence.

Kicking at the empty air, I shouted, and Ash let out a soft sigh before gently lowering me down from the wall.

“Don’t be angry. Geenie, Rovenin will be waiting for us inside.”

With a touch more careful than necessary, he set me down and whispered as if he were soothing me.

He clasped one of my hands and met my eyes with a gentle voice, and I couldn’t help but ease up.

“Really? He didn’t run away?”

“We’ll know when we get there.”

Through the warmth between the back of my hand and his palm, which had briefly overlapped, I automatically knew what Ash was thinking in that moment.

It flowed in on its own, and I felt all of it.

Ash was displeased that my attention was focused on Rovenin, but he tried not to show it.

He considered that emotion childish and even rude.

And he thought he wasn’t important enough to me to be jealous over.

It came through as a sad, bitter feeling.

Not my emotion—Ash’s.

Of course, that was the inner feeling he was trying to hide. What was most visible on the surface was another emotion: a tight, anxious fear about Rovenin and me fighting.

—

It was impossible for me to sense Rovenin’s presence among the mass of carriages, but it seemed to be a different story for Ash.

Ash moved through the maze of carriages without hesitation, and I followed behind with my metaphorical fur bristling.

Only after we went quite deep in did we find a small open area hidden among the carriages, which looked like a resting spot for the workers who managed this depot.

Rovenin was standing there, staring straight at the path we were coming from.

I didn’t want to show it, but a faint chill went down my spine when our eyes met.

He had read all of our movements. It was like these guys had high-performance radars in their heads.

At this rate, a surprise attack was completely off the table.

“Geenie, Rovenin! No fighting.”

Ash was putting all his effort into stopping me from going ahead, but whether he did or not, Rovenin and I were already fully absorbed in glaring at each other.

Even two fighting dogs would look more peaceful than this.

“Calm down, calm down. We’re here to talk.”

I heard a genuinely worried voice, but it flew straight out of my head.

Because as I was growling, I realized something terrifying.

Rovenin had already drawn his sword.

The distinctive blackish blade gleamed menacingly, stabbing straight into my eyes.