The Saintess's Guardian
The outcome of the spar left me facing Lana with Anne standing right beside her. I was a little surprised to see her there, but the shock wasn't particularly strong. This had happened once before, after all. I paused for a brief moment before resuming my steps and approaching the two of them. Just as I was about to greet them—
Anne threw the question at me without warning.
"...Pardon?"
It was such an unexpected question that I could only respond in a somewhat dazed voice. Why is she suddenly acting like this? When I looked at Anne with clear bewilderment in my eyes—
Lana stepped between us.
"I'm sorry, Sir Kyle. This must have caught you off guard, hasn't it?"
She offered me an awkward smile. The expression was laced with unmistakable regret.
"Uh… what's going on…?"
I asked in a bewildered tone. I genuinely couldn't understand why Anne was behaving this way. In response, Lana gave a bitter smile and began to explain.
"...And that's how it is."
"...I see."
After hearing the explanation, I finally understood. Why Anne was here in the first place, and why she was reacting to me like this. The cause was the spar from a few days ago. More precisely, it was because the skill I had displayed during that match had far surpassed anything expected at the Student Level.
The ability I showed back then had clearly gone way beyond the standard for academy students. It seemed that had triggered Anne's wariness.
"Last time I trusted the Saintess's intuition and didn't say anything… but this is just too suspicious."
Anne stared at me with eyes full of caution. Honestly, I couldn't say her reaction didn't make sense. No—if I were in her position, this response would be completely natural. She had let it slide last time, but that wasn't because she lacked a cautious personality. Even then, she must have observed me carefully and come to her own conclusion: that I wasn't particularly dangerous.
Of course, given my terrible reputation, I was originally someone who shouldn't be allowed near the Saintess. But as Anne herself had said, she had chosen to trust Lana's judgment on that matter. Above all, she had probably thought that even in the worst-case scenario, I wouldn't pose a serious threat to Lana.
However, after witnessing what I displayed during the recent spar, her perception had changed. She had concluded that in the unlikely event something happened, I could very well become a real danger to the Saintess.
After organizing my thoughts that far, I nodded calmly.
"There's no need for you to apologize."
"Anne's role is to protect the Saintess. It's only natural that she would be wary of me."
There was no chance I would ever harm Lana—even if the heavens and earth were flipped upside down—but from Anne's perspective, she couldn't read my true intentions. So being cautious was perfectly reasonable. In other words, she was simply doing her job. Knowing that, her words and actions didn't offend me in the slightest.
In response to my answer, Lana gave a smile that looked both apologetic and grateful.
Lana turned to Anne, who still hadn't lowered her guard, and spoke.
In reply—
Anne shook her head firmly. Then she added,
I nodded at her words.
"Go ahead."
Since things had come to this point, I decided it would be best to cooperate with Anne as much as possible. Of course, that alone wouldn't erase all her suspicions, but it should at least reduce them somewhat. With that in mind, I chose to answer her questions honestly.
After a brief moment of thought, I answered.
"You could say that."
In truth, it was a combination of my growth since my previous life and the effects of Dragon's Blood, but I couldn't possibly tell her that. Doing so would only raise even more suspicions. Just explaining Dragon's Blood would open up a whole new list of questions: where I obtained it, whether I'd taken it before, how I controlled its effects, and so on. While I could probably come up with reasonable excuses for each, it wasn't a good approach. Since I couldn't reveal the truth, the more I spoke, the higher the chance my lies would be exposed.
At the same time, simply saying that my abilities had grown wouldn't be convincing either. Achieving this level of improvement in such a short time was practically impossible. So I decided to tell a believable lie.
"For a very long time."
Fortunately, I had prepared an answer for this question in advance. Once I had decided to build up my strength, I had anticipated that someone would eventually ask me this.
"Since I was a child."
When Anne asked for my reason—
"...It was because of my family's circumstances."
I deliberately paused for a moment before answering. It wasn't that I was at a loss for words. I had intentionally created a brief hesitation to make the story more convincing.
And just as expected—
"......"
Anne fell silent. She looked at me with meaningful eyes. It seemed my story had landed properly. There was no way Anne hadn't investigated my background. Since even Lana knew about it, she likely knew even more details. That naturally included knowledge of my family and the story between me and Velard.
So when a notorious fool—who had been pushed out of the succession race and ultimately driven from his own house—claimed that he had been deliberately hiding his true strength all along, the implications were obvious. There was no need to explain the exact details. It was far too personal, and the circumstantial evidence alone would be enough to paint all sorts of scenarios in her mind.
Right now, Anne's head was probably spinning with intriguing possibilities. The ugly power struggle within a great noble family over the position of family head. The story of the eldest son who had no choice but to conceal his abilities. Something along those lines.
Well, it's not entirely untrue.
In reality, it wasn't that I had hidden my strength—Kyle's original abilities had simply been pathetic. But that weakness itself was the lingering scar left on this body, so it wasn't completely false.
After staring at me for a long while, Anne finally spoke.
She nodded. I was just beginning to feel relieved when—
She looked at me with sharp eyes.
"Anne…!"
Lana, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, cut in. Her voice rose with clear alarm.
"That's far too rude—"
"It's fine."
I interrupted Lana mid-sentence. Her reaction wasn't wrong. Asking to examine someone's body was a heavier request than it sounded. Beyond the fact that it revealed personal information and weaknesses, it was essentially the same as saying, I suspect you greatly. If said to someone you weren't close with under the wrong circumstances, it could easily earn you a knife in the back.
Even so, I decided to accept the request. I understood exactly why Anne was pushing this far. She wanted to eliminate every possible risk. For Lana's sake. For Lana's safety.
Besides, there were already suspicious rumors circulating about me throughout the Academy. Even if my explanation sounded plausible on the surface, she would want to be as thorough as possible. Knowing that, I willingly accepted Anne's demand. As I had said earlier, I wanted to dispel her suspicions as much as I could.
"Sir Kyle…"
Lana looked at me with an expression that was difficult to describe. However, I didn't meet her gaze. Instead, I simply extended my arm.
"Go ahead. Examine me."
"......"
Perhaps she hadn't expected me to agree so readily. Anne stared at me for a moment with a surprised look before stepping forward and taking hold of my arm. Then—
She sent her energy flowing into me and began to inspect my body from within.
Even when performing healing, one does examine the patient's body, but rarely does anyone probe so deeply and thoroughly. It is considered rude, and it also exposes the other person's private information. Of course, if there's an illness with an unknown cause, the situation is different, but such deep inspections are usually avoided.
Yet Anne's energy roamed every corner of my body. She searched meticulously, as if determined not to miss even the slightest suspicious detail.
How much time passed while she kept her eyes closed? Eventually, Anne opened them again.
"...I've confirmed it."
She spoke in a calm voice.
"There doesn't appear to be anything abnormal. There was something a bit strange, but… it doesn't seem like anything corrupted."
Hearing those words, I thought to myself, Thank goodness.
It was fortunate that this examination was happening now, several days after the spar. Thanks to that, all traces of Dragon's Blood had completely vanished from my body. If I had undergone this inspection right after the match, Anne's suspicions would have deepened considerably. While Dragon's Blood wasn't exactly an evil substance, getting caught would have created quite the troublesome situation. At the very least, clearing away her doubts would have been far more difficult than it was now.
In any case, it seemed I had safely gotten through it. What a relief.
Lana scolded Anne. There wasn't even the slightest tremor in her face or voice. It seemed Lana truly believed in my innocence. The realization warmed my chest.
"...I suppose you did."
Anne replied. Even now, a hint of doubt lingered in her tone. That was only natural. Even if the circumstances lined up, from her perspective I would still look suspicious. For now, it was best to be satisfied with having reduced her suspicions even a little.
Just as I was thinking that—
"I'm sorry."
Suddenly, Anne bowed her head to me.
"Huh?"
Caught completely off guard, I reacted in confusion. She continued,
"No matter the circumstances, I suspected you without any solid evidence and even demanded to investigate your body. That was rude of me."
"......"
From the feeling I got, her apology seemed completely sincere. Otherwise, she wouldn't have bowed her head like that.
"It's alright. There's no need to apologize."
I told her.
"......"
Anne slowly lifted her head and looked at me.
"Miss Anne was simply doing her duty. Since the Saintess's safety is involved, if I were in your position, I probably would have done the same."
It wasn't just a polite response. I genuinely meant it. Everything she had done stemmed from her sincere concern for Lana. From my perspective, far from being annoyed, I actually felt a sense of fondness toward her. So I spoke my true feelings.
Anne stared at me quietly for a moment before murmuring softly,
"...I see."
She nodded. Then, raising her head fully, she said,
"Pardon?"
I asked, not understanding what she meant, but Anne didn't answer.
"Anyway, I'll be going now."
With a short farewell, she turned and left.
...What was that about?
I was left with questions as I watched her retreating figure, but I didn't try to stop her. In any case, it looked like I had successfully dispelled most of her suspicions.