Chapter 94
"Uh...... Aria."
"Quiet."
"Hands up straight!?"
They were already perfectly straight in the ideal 11 o'clock position—how much straighter did she want them? But knowing Aria was just lashing out in anger, I pretended to adjust my posture to avoid going against her mood.
This pose was flawless, though.
"......Aria. Don't you think it's about time to stop?"
"You stay out of it. It's because you're too lenient that my sister keeps pulling stunts like this! If you keep indulging her, she doesn't even value her own life and throws herself into danger alone!"
Kaiser, who had been watching me with wavering eyes as if about to defend me, started to speak but clamped his mouth shut at the sight of Aria, furious like a wrathful yaksha.
I rolled my eyes, feeling like a troublemaking kid raised by a strict mother and indulgent father.
"Aria's right. Shushu needs to have her senses knocked into her, even if it takes this."
Kal, sitting at the tea table alongside Kaiser and Aria, tilted his teacup smoothly with a cold expression. Seeing even Kal—who usually supported whatever I did—turn harsh like this made me a little depressed, and I lowered my gaze.
"Again, again! Acting cute again! You think that'll get you forgiven? No way! Not until you fill the full ten hours!"
Aria's eyebrows twitched wildly as she slammed the tea table with a bang.
I let out a resigned sigh.
This was the twenty-second time already. Just before, she'd called out my fidgeting fingers as 'playing cute'; before that, my quick blinks. I'd reached enlightenment trying to escape this situation that way.
This time...... I did mess up.
I'd gone out saying I was joining the hunting tournament, only to fight a Basilisk the next day, get poisoned by its deadly venom, and get carried back unconscious. I could vaguely imagine how my family must have felt seeing that.
They must have been shocked and worried sick.
Kal was swirling his tea indifferently like he didn't care about me at all, but actually checking my condition busily. Aria's eyes were red around the edges like she'd been crying for a while despite her angry face. Kaiser stared right through me without even trying to hide it.
Right after the hunting tournament ended, I'd spent the whole day getting examined by physicians under a barrage of nagging and anger from the three of them, proving I was excessively healthy.
The next day, even picking up a fork to eat was forbidden; I had to sleep for 14 hours and lie motionless in bed for 10 more.
And now, four days after the tournament ended, here I was on this sunny day, kneeling in the Chrysis Ducal Residence's garden terrace with my hands up for the third hour straight.
They all know this is nothing for me.
I'm a Sword Master. If they really wanted to punish me, they'd have ordered me to kill three giant magic beasts in an hour or do 5,000 push-ups in fire. Kneeling with hands up? I could do that for ten days, not just ten hours.
They know that full well.
Even though they knew this was just a joke to me, they made me do it as 'punishment' and watched for any sign it was hard. I couldn't help loving my family for it.
I forgot I was being punished and smiled softly.
"Smiling? You think this situation is funny!?"
Aria, who had been sneaking glances at me while pretending to be very interested in the dessert in front of her, slammed the table again when she heard my laugh. I quickly wiped the smile from my face.
Kal side-eyed my serious expression and crumbled the scone in front of him with his fork, keeping his icy face.
"......Looks like you've reflected enough. Tell us what you did wrong—in your own words."
I rolled my eyes at Kal's question. After sorting my thoughts for a moment, I slowly opened my mouth.
"First...... I didn't run from Harabana when I saw it."
I'd had no intention of revealing that I'd fought Harabana at first. It would only worry them more. The corpse had already oxidized and vanished, so there was no evidence. Just keep Rainer quiet, and it would stay our secret memory.
Shushu's medical results came back. The Basilisk venom was perfectly neutralized by holy power. The problem...... is that traces of another poison lingered. Harabana's venom, no less.
I still couldn't forget the three faces staring at me that day. Their hardened expressions, eyes bulging—it screamed they wanted to tie me up and lock me in a tower right then.
If I hadn't come clean, they looked ready to rip my memories out by force...... Unable to withstand their grilling, I explained everything, only to have Aria heal the shoulder Harabana bit over and over with her powers—even though it was fine except for a tiny scar.
Aria tilted her teacup with a deeply dissatisfied look.
"And?"
"I went on an overnight trip with some random guy without permission."
The three furrowed their brows in unison. I glanced at them cautiously for a moment. Honestly, I didn't think this was wrong. As a mercenary, sleeping over with a lover was everyday stuff. I'd just realized it was easy to misunderstand when Kaiser drew his sword, Aria hunted for assassin contacts, and Kal started casting teleport magic upon hearing I'd spent the night with Rainer.
Kaiser crossed his arms and snapped his fingers.
"......And."
"Uh, um...... I recklessly took down the Basilisk without waiting for backup."
Honestly, I didn't think this was wrong either. Even if Sword Masters like Kaiser and Noah had come as support, they couldn't have handled the Basilisk better than me.
It wasn't that I thought Kaiser and Noah—who were more than twice my age—were weaker than me. They were definitely stronger.
But killing magic beasts is different.
Subjugating magic beasts wasn't just about being strong. Strength was basic; you had to know their traits and weaknesses well.
No one on this continent surpasses me in this. It was better for me to handle it than for others to get hurt trying.
This wasn't arrogance—it was justified pride. But if I said it out loud, I'd get an earful, so I just kept my eyes down like I knew I was wrong.
Kal, unsatisfied, propped his chin and tapped his foot.
"And?"
......And? Is there more? I listed three already......
I eyed the three still-stiff faces and rolled my eyes. Nothing else came to mind.
I rolled them every which way, pondering seriously.
I really don't know......
But no matter how hard I thought, I couldn't figure it out, so in the end, I confessed honestly while gauging their reactions.
"I...... don't know."
Sighs burst from all three at once. Seeing their uniformly devastated expressions—like they'd coordinated it—made my pupils tremble involuntarily.
Am I that pathetic......?
As I debated making something up, Kaiser stood and slowly walked over to stand in front of me.
"You're missing the most important thing."
He knelt on one knee before me. His large hand rummaged in my pocket. Curious but obedient, I watched him do it.
"You had a communication magic tool. I gave it to you myself. It has direct lines to me, Aria, Kal, the ducal residence, the imperial palace, the temple—even the imperial knights."
What he pulled out was a round crystal orb communication magic tool. His sunken blood-red eyes stared straight at me.
"You had this, so why didn't you contact us?"
Ah.
My lips parted slightly. My mind tangled in a mess.
It wasn't that I didn't want to call. Of course not.
The thing is, I just......
In all my life so far, asking for help had never been an option. Facing disasters alone was my only choice. So I'd forgotten the new option existed. Out of habit, I'd picked the only one I knew.
"I, well......" My lips went dry. I rolled my eyes and licked them. I bowed my head deeply. Somehow, facing the three of them felt too hard.
"I thought...... this was the best."
Thinking back, I'd never even had a 'best' before. With only one choice from the start, how could there be best and worst? I'd just walked the single narrow path, calling it the best.
Kaiser's faint sigh tickled my hair. With my head down, I couldn't see his face.
Is he disappointed in me?
I was scared to look. I stared at the terrace floor until my eyes ached. Only then did my pupils stop shaking. Only then would the tears not fall.
Smoothly, a hand stroked my head, making me flinch without thinking. The large hand that covered my head entirely brushed my hair like handling a precious porcelain doll.
"Listen well, Shushu. All of us together—that is the very best."
His words fell heavily on my heart like a solemn vow. It felt like my heart sank. Without realizing, I lifted my head slightly to look at him.
"You have three people who would drop everything and come running if you just called. They'd be thrilled even if you treated them like dogs."
His red eyes held mine squarely. The first time we met, I'd thought those eyes looked chilling, like blood would pour from them any second.
Now, I saw differently. Kaiser's red eyes were warm, like a bonfire met on a winter night.
"You're not alone. We're always by your side. You don't have to face dangers by yourself anymore. I'll always fight alongside you."
Not alone. A trite consolation, nothing new or novel. Simple words anyone could say.
But I knew the weight of Kaiser's words. He never joked lightly; I knew how much he'd pondered to say this, how much preparation a man hopeless at comfort had made.
"So never again think facing danger alone is the best."
Now I had a family to tell me such things.
Emotions surged, and I bit my lip hard. Something felt ready to spill.
It was like spending endless freezing winters and finally facing a warm bonfire. My heart—frozen things—slowly melted.
I threw my arms around Kaiser's waist and hugged him tightly without a word. He flinched in surprise for a moment, then let out a small laugh and hugged me back.
It was the day the path home opened in the life of Kashmir, who had known only narrow, treacherous solitary roads.