Ch. 247
“We just assumed you were with him?”
“Weren’t you together?”
Seeing even Gale look surprised one after another, I could tell how firmly they believed I’d been with Ash.
Since both of them had been out of sight from the moment we split up at the arena, they must have assumed we were doing something unspeakable. Unfortunately, we hadn’t progressed that far.
“I’ve only seen Ash’s butt….”
“……”
“From when I saw your thing before. That’s it. Ash is too chaste to even touch me. I mean, I’m interested, though… Ah, but we do kiss often.”
“Hey! Why are we getting embarrassed!”
“You’re the one who asked. Anyway, I don’t know. I parted with Ash in front of the inn last night.”
If he hadn’t returned all night, maybe he was still with Rovenin.
Or perhaps he’d gone to the hospital or a temple and gotten stuck waiting because of the crowd.
I’d roughly guessed his whereabouts and stayed calm, but Chad and Gale suddenly looked anxious.
“Ash disappeared without telling us, and he wasn’t even with you?”
“That’s strange. He always tells us where he’s going. Didn’t you hear anything?”
Ash lived so uprightly that even the smallest deviation stood out immediately.
I couldn’t mention Rovenin, so I made something up.
“He looked like he had something to do… I don’t really know. I’m not interested in that sort of thing.”
“…I hope nothing happened.”
“There were fights breaking out everywhere yesterday because of the Toomdra aftermath….”
“No way! Of all people, Ash wouldn’t get caught up in that!”
“What should we do? Should we go look for him?”
Gale was calmer than Chad, but he was just as uneasy.
It was obvious how much Ash had been the pillar of the party. Seeing them fall apart the moment he was gone was hard to watch.
“Calm down. He’ll be fine. He’s not the kind of guy who’d die in some pointless street fight. I have high standards, you know.”
“What do your standards have to do with anything?”
“I don’t kiss guys who’ll die a meaningless death in an alley. Haven’t you heard of the Saintess’s Blessing?”
So relax and eat. Blessed are those who believe.
“Aren’t you worried at all? Show Ash some concern!”
“How could I show more concern than I already do? I’ve never cherished anyone this much in my life.”
“That’s a joke! He panics if you so much as stub your toe! Try being half as considerate! You should’ve at least asked where he was going! Don’t you think you’re going too far?”
Chad spoke as if I were mistreating Ash.
He glared at me like I was a terrible partner to his friend, so I shook my fork and emphasized again.
“Ash will be fine. I guarantee it.”
“How can you guarantee that when you don’t even know where he went?”
“Just trust me. If anyone lays a finger on Ash, I’ll kill them. Rest assured.”
I smiled brightly and raised my juice-filled cup like a toast.
The calmer I was, the more Chad grabbed the back of his neck.
“Rest assured my ass…! Hey! What good is killing them after something happens! We need to find him before that!”
“You really don’t get it. What matters is how much I cherish Ash.”
“What? What are you even saying?”
“If Ash were in danger, I’d have run out before you even noticed. I’d have turned the entire area upside down to find him.”
My smile faded. My eyes hardened, like they could crush anything in front of them.
“Do you think I’d let anyone dare touch what’s mine? I’d soak them in water and tear them into a thousand pieces. Now that you understand, stop whining and eat your bread.”
(T/N : This. I love Geenie )
[Master doesn’t hold back!]
“…Yes.”
With Ash—the party’s pillar and moral restraint—gone, there was also no one to protect these guys from me in an emergency.
“Tsk. Ash isn’t a child. You’re making too much fuss.”
“We’re worried….”
“He’s never done this before….”
“It’s not too late to worry if he doesn’t come back by evening. I cherish Ash just as much as you do. If I’m calm, you should be calm too. Got it?”
Chad and Gale shot me looks that clearly said they didn’t understand at all, but they didn’t push it further.
There was no reason to provoke me when Ash wasn’t around.
“More importantly, how was it with Akia yesterday? Did you have a good date?”
Having forcefully shut down the difficult topic, I tore my bread into small pieces, gestured toward Chad, and asked with a meaningful smile.
There was nothing like this to change the subject.
“Ahem, well, we….”
“You didn’t do something stupid and get dumped already, did you?”
“We’re meeting again today!”
“That’s unexpected. Akia… is she perhaps not human?”
“…Akia? Why?”
“If she keeps meeting you, she might be an angel.”
When I said it completely seriously, Chad grew serious too.
“I think so as well. She laughs at everything, even when I’m nervous and rambling nonsense.”
“Does she happen to volunteer as a hobby?”
“How did you know?”
“Oh my god… I really wonder… What does Akia like about you? Your simplicity? Your complete lack of self-awareness?”
“…Are you insulting me right now?”
“No? I’m doing it openly.”
It was usually moments like this—utterly meaningless ones—when I realized we were truly friends.
We’d tease each other, get irritated, then end up laughing and relaxing anyway.
Today was perfect for lazing around. The Toomdra was over, and there was nothing else scheduled until Lox returned. It was a rare stretch of peace where all we had to do was rest.
While we were idling like that, Enk appeared—half-dead, shambling down the stairs like a zombie.
Once everyone had gathered, the topic naturally unified.
The Toomdra.
“I knew Lord Fedri would win from the start.”
“Tch. You’re just bragging because you’re the only one who made money.”
“Damn it. I was sure the Count would win and bet fifty-two silver. I lost everything! My money!”
“Hey. Just asking, but did anyone actually see the fight properly?”
At my sudden question, the two swordsmen and the spearman—each skilled in their own right—shook their heads in unison.
They didn’t even look embarrassed. If anything, it felt natural.
“Not at all. I barely saw anything.”
“I expected that, but the gap was bigger than I thought.”
“Maybe Ash would’ve seen it?”
Apparently, I was the only fool who believed I could track the movements of the continent’s top Swordmasters.
“I thought I’d at least catch the flow, but it was impossible. I hoped to learn something, but it wasn’t even close to that level. Honestly, that didn’t feel human.”
“If we were like that, imagine ordinary people. Some even demanded refunds.”
“Those idiots are clueless. A Swordmaster isn’t a street guard. How would they see it? Even a guard’s sword isn’t visible to the average person. Otherwise, no one would ever get hit. If someone’s running, there’s someone flying above them—and above that stands a Swordmaster.”
“If you live peacefully, you never experience things like that, so you can’t even imagine it. Not everyone’s a traveler.”
A pang of guilt stabbed at me.
It wasn’t that I looked down on Swordmasters—but I had been drunk on my own excellence.
There hadn’t been any swordsmen around strong enough to threaten me.
Including Grak, there was no one I couldn’t eliminate if they annoyed me.
Everything had been easy. I was the strongest, always the apex predator of whatever place I stood in.
It had been that way since my academy days.
Swordsmen were easy prey.
‘Until I faced the grown-up Rovenin….’
To me, he was a calamity—an evil force that shattered my perfect world.
Standing right in front of me, looking down with eyes that could kill at any moment, he forced me to realize—
How low the level of those around me had truly been.
And why Swordmasters were nearly deified.
It was infuriating.
I’m from Dmitri, the country of knights.
And I’m the hidden power of the prestigious Drike Academy, which produces endless skilled knights.
“It would’ve been better if at least the Count had won, but he lost so miserably. Everyone’s on edge—it’s scary.”
“There were people who dyed their hair red to imitate Lord Fedri, right? Did you see them?”
“I did! As soon as the match ended, they covered their hair and ran.”
“That’s only natural. Who’d risk getting beaten to death for nothing?”
While I ground my teeth internally, the three of them kept chatting about the Toomdra. I’d left midway through, so I hadn’t known, but that was apparently how things went.
“But what’s up with your hair?”
“Huh? Didn’t it just look weird because of how I was sitting?”
Thinking about Rovenin soured my mood, and I slouched—when Chad pointed at me with his bread.
Enk tilted his head and stared as well.
It seemed they’d finally noticed my unevenly cut hair.
“It just ended up like this.”
It took Gale even longer to notice.
My party really didn’t pay much attention to me.
“Hmm… ‘just ended up’ feels like an understatement.”
“Yeah. Ash would’ve cried if it was this bad.”
“He didn’t cry. I’m thinking of just cutting it all off. Did anyone see a hair salon nearby?”
“…He’s really going to cry.”
“You’re merciless. Don’t you feel even a little sad?”
Ash wasn’t the only one who loved my dazzling blonde hair more than I did. Iruze, Mia, and Bright did too.
If I walked around with messy hair, one of them would immediately rush over and start brushing it.
Of course, Bright was always the one who ended up getting hit with the brush.
“It’s my hair. I can do whatever I want with it. Any complaints?”
“It’s not that. But when I think of you, I picture you whipping around your abundant blonde hair while beating people up. For some reason, I even imagine you punching people despite being a Spirit.”