Cecil Saved Me Once
I remembered everything.
A long time ago.
When Rebecca and Albert were escorting the survivors to the church.
A man I hadn't noticed suddenly blocked my path.
I nearly panicked.
I had spoken too casually about the pretense of being a cardinal.
Heavy armor with a church emblem engraved, a rosary hanging from his neck, and a massive sword and shield at his waist and back.
He looked like a knight painted right out of a mural.
"Follow me."
"...Yes."
There was no choice.
At that moment, if we called in reinforcements from the church and attacked, we would be finished.
The man led us deeper into sparsely populated areas.
He kept guiding us past the relatively city-like territory of Duke Muller's lands, all the way to ruined areas that looked half-destroyed.
He walked silently in front.
Then suddenly.
"I memorized every cardinal's list. My job was to manage the inside."
"Really?"
Silently, without making a sound, he placed his hand on the sword hilt.
"The cardinal named Rebecca isn't in my memory."
"Maybe she forgot?"
The man smiled faintly at my answer.
"Do you really believe that?"
Yeah. Damn it. I didn't expect that.
"Claiming to be a cardinal is a grave sin punishable even in the church, and I'm the holy knight representing him."
He raised his aura and magic circles.
He warmed up his body, ready to pull Rebecca and me outside just in case.
"What do you think I'll do?"
"I mean…"
Kill us, of course.
The instant I drew my sword.
"You don't seem like someone who would kill us."
Rebecca's reply came right after, and I sheathed my sword again.
"Pfft. What kind of guy are you?"
Damn it. Shut up. This isn't Rebecca talking.
"Then, you call yourself a cardinal. I'll ask for evidence. Why are you so confident after forcing me to put away my sword?"
The man's lips were definitely smiling as he spoke.
Rebecca closed her eyes for a moment, then slowly opened them and began to speak.
"First, if you had intended to kill or capture us, you wouldn't have had to come all the way here. You wouldn't have needed to approach us at all."
"If I had such a dark taste, I could have toyed with you and killed you."
"If you were like that, you wouldn't be fasting and wearing a rosary out of devotion."
"What are you talking about? I ate until my stomach was ready to burst at lunch today."
But.
A rumbling sound.
The man's voice gradually grew quieter.
"Hmph, it's the sound of digestion."
"Yes. That's right."
"Anyway, that alone isn't enough to answer."
The man stiffened his face again and tried to speak.
But Rebecca had already anticipated it.
She spoke flatly.
"You can tell just by looking whether you revere the gods or follow the church. We've faced those countless times."
"More details."
"If you follow the church, you'll take us away. Arrest us, or sentence us to death."
"Hmm."
"But if you truly revere the gods…"
"Enough. I get it, so stop there. It's embarrassing."
"Hehe. That's written in the Bible. Deeply thank those who acted with sincere kindness and devotion, no matter who they were. That kindness benefits the world, and someday you too will receive that kindness."
"...Yeah. Fake cardinal. You, who saved more people than the real cardinal. I, Raine, sincerely thank you for being the church's pig instead."
"Oh my. It's a cardinal insult?"
"Claiming to be a cardinal is a graver sin, so if you report me, I might receive leniency."
With that, Rebecca and Raine began laughing together.
...It felt a little exclusionary.
"Ah, come this way, Albert."
Rebecca reached out to me as if sensing what I was thinking.
"Thanks for stepping in. Thanks to you, I could go out boldly."
She ruffled my hair again.
I felt wronged and irritated, yet strangely good about being treated like a kid.
"Little guy. Albert, you said? I have a wife, so don't get jealous."
"...Jealous? By the way, do priests even get married?"
"Is there anything you can't do?"
I glanced at Rebecca, feeling embarrassed for some reason, and walked ahead.
***
The emotion I felt then, by dictionary definition, was like or attraction, or the invisible emotion exchange named deeper than that. In one word, love... um?
Albert had been chattering excitedly for a long time. Only then did he sense something off.
Head bowed, eyes closed, breathing even.
Based on the series of states, Jedan was probably in the unconscious, regular dormant state of the brain during ordinary situations. In other words, he was asleep.
Why?
I couldn't guarantee that my own story was pleasant or engaging. And I was aware that from a third-party perspective it might contain somewhat cruel or unpleasant content.
But I didn't think it was boring enough to make me fall asleep mid-sentence.
As a doctor, I thought of several possibilities for why a human might fall asleep while conversing.
First. When the story isn't interesting.
Students at the academy fall asleep during lectures, for example.
I ruled that out.
This experience wasn't the first. But Rebecca's stories had always been listened to attentively.
Second. The listener, not the speaker, had a problem.
Inborn lack of focus or special state, like having had an especially tiring day, causing instability.
I'd hold that back. I didn't know what Jedan's schedule was like.
Third. The speaker's information delivery had a flaw.
...I hated admitting it, but it was the most plausible hypothesis.
The idea that I lack conversational talent had been proven several times over the years.
I was aware that as a medical professional I didn't overdo unnecessary fluff and modifiers in conversation, but as a person I had a bad habit of doing so.
Falling asleep mid-conversation wasn't a pleasant sight, but it was okay.
The real point came later, when Rebecca was in mortal danger.
From that moment on.
For now, I could treat it as a preview.
It was actually better. After a while talking about old stories, my insides felt refreshed.
Perhaps it was good to unload things I wanted to say to a receiverless, weapon-like listener or doll.
Anyway.
Albert turned on his phone and looked up the saved contact.
[Rebecca]
[Emergency Safe Call—Jedan]
Only two phone numbers saved, a somewhat sparse list.
Even that one had been for Jedan before the emergency safe call for him.
[Calling... Emergency Safe Call—Jedan]
Duru... Dururu.
A static electronic tone rang twice.
"Hello? Cecil speaking."
"...?"
A cold voice came, nothing like the girl from before.
Still, I had to say what needed saying.
"I might not remember, but I'm a doctor. Bring Jedan..."
"Ah! I remember! Why Jedan?"
Even as the name of the boy who used to stick to her came out, her face softened and she returned to how she was then.
Which one was the real her?
She called me to the medical room, then five minutes later a silver-haired girl burst through the door.
"Doctor! Is there a problem?"
"You saved my number as 'emergency safe call,' so nothing's wrong. Go get your boyfriend."
"Huh, thank goodness... Huh?! W-we aren't like that!"
"......"
I forced the most rotten expression possible, but suddenly I wondered if Rebecca and I had looked like that too.
After Cecil and Jedan left, their figures overlapped with mine and Rebecca's.
When I first saw Jedan, I had been quite disappointed.
He was the child Luke himself had bestowed, meaning declared as my son.
He probably had Luke's hands on him since he was little.
So maybe I had too many expectations.
At seventeen he had shown absurd growth to the 5th Realm, but it didn't register with me.
I myself, at fourteen I had reached the 4th Realm, passed a bottleneck, and at eighteen reached the 5th Realm.
Jedan had received direct training from a hero who learned everything in the heat of war.
There should have been a clear difference.
Otherwise I would have felt emotion that was unreasonable and even ugly, the kind generally called jealousy.
Fortunately, that wasn't going to happen.
As for me.
I could handle aura, magic circles, and holy power, but nothing stood out. Everything felt like I was doing it appropriately. Even in combat.
A talent that gathered every ambiguous ability in the world into one, perhaps the most universal talent in the world, or perhaps a talent that didn't stand out at all.
To put it bluntly, I was like a guy who forced himself to eat bad food and spoiled food to build a big body and frame. I had a weight class, but that was it.
I could only swing what I had; it was hard to use it.
But Jedan. Jedan Herchen.
He seemed like a seed trained beneath a knight.
Guys who ate good food, learned good techniques, relied only on size and boasted could be cut down in dozens.
His swordsmanship, magic, and assassin techniques were evident, but it wasn't sloppy. It was harmonious.
Clean and organized.
...Perhaps it was the ideal Jedan should pursue, like me and people like Albert.
That was Albert's evaluation of Jedan.
Albert wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a sip of water.
When was the last time I had talked this long and enjoyed it?
A smile crept onto my face without realizing.
Duru ru ru ru...
A receiving tone rang.
[Rebecca (receive) (cut off)]
It was a call from an ex-girlfriend.
My ex-girlfriend Rebecca contacted me whenever she had a chance.
I pondered for a moment, then recalled the scene Cecil had shown me.
As a researcher and doctor I had a somewhat cold aura, but I hadn't shown it because I thought it was rather cool.
"Yes. This is Albert Buckers."
I quoted Cecil's tone and speech.
"...Honey, why are you like this? I, I... did something wrong...?"
An ex-girlfriend, my wife now, who had needed to hear her beloved husband's voice to stabilize her mind and body, and who ended up crying because of it.
Already upset, she needed healing from one phone call, so the tears came out easier and more pitifully than expected.
"Wait a second. Rebecca. Don't cry. I can explain."
"Honey... Ugh! Don't use honorifics...!"
"Sorry. Rebecca, honey. It was a joke. Right?"
Albert hurried to speak and checked his watch.
Nine twenty in the evening.
He had to be off work at ten... today he probably needed to go home a little early.
Fortunately, the phone had several dessert shops Cecil had recommended.
As a husband, I called it basic common sense... and thanks to that I was alive.
***
"Did I say that?"
"Yeah, really. When I was sleeping I kept saying Cecil, Cecil."
Hmm.
In yesterday's dream a squirrel had been eating up the Earth.
Let's keep that a secret.
The day after visiting the doctor's office and hearing Albert's story. Honestly I couldn't remember because of the madness of explaining every word dictionary-style.
Anyway, the next day.
In the morning I took the advanced craft 1 class, walked around with Cecil for a bit, and then attended the evening granting magic theory class.
Advanced craft seemed to teach how to handle materials delicately like monster bones or gems, and granting magic theory seemed to cover how to apply various granting magics without conflict.
While eating, I heard what Cecil and Bail had done during their time, and in the training hall I met Sion and even fought one match.
"Sion."
"Yes?"
"From my perspective, the bow suits you better than the sword."
"...Yes?"
With sincere advice I left, and only stunned Sion remained in the training hall.
Time passed like that.
I was able to find Cecil's favorite dessert shop alone, learned the absurd technique of calorie hoarding, and received my salary as a work-study student.
The first month's salary was symbolically important, so I bought a small cactus for Cecil.
I had wanted to buy a little cherry tree, but it wasn't selling.
Cecil must have had the same thought, and she bought a coffee tree instead.
It was a sapling, still small but growing nicely, so I had to repot it. Could I even keep a plant alive and growing?
Ah, the day I first met Bail.
Back then, the group that had been bullying her ended up expelled after accidentally touching one wrong person.
It seemed they had happened to touch a child of the baron family without realizing it.
They said the person had been associating with commoners and didn't know, which was amusing.
And I heard this story through Sion.
It made me a little sorry.
My friend had been in trouble and I hadn't noticed, had abandoned her.
Our contact had become sparse, and I had to hear news about her through other friends.
I hadn't been unprepared either.
The other party was probably a noble, so before the fight was decided I'd left.
...Wait, had Sion and Bail really been that close? To relay their message directly to me?
Hmm. Now that I thought about it, Sion and Bail had been sticking together more these days.
"Is this...?"
"There's some possibility..."
"A friend who stays by your side even while being bullied."
"Even in situations where they might get hurt themselves."
"It might be even harder to overlook."
Huuuuh.
That's how it ended. Sion, Bail.
You let those bad-uncle and auntie villains have room; it's your fault.
***
At that moment, Sion and Bail were.
"You were right?"
"Yeah?"
"Them accidentally touching the baron's child and getting expelled. It's too conveniently fair of a story. Like... a story from a novel."
"Well... I don't know what you're talking about."
"You already know everything, so don't say that."
Bail, who had become difficult to find in her usual timid and unconfident appearance, smiled while tapping pink earphones that Sion had once wanted to find.
***
Bail, no, Park I-rin, had been an ordinary high school girl.
She had graduated middle school with average grades, maintained decent classmate relationships, and received good grades, living a perfectly normal life.
Because she did everything like everyone else, she had hobbies like anyone else.
And her hobby was novels.
The novel taste was...
Um. What. Did she need an excuse?
She was still a young girl.
The sight of handsome and sexy men competing for one woman naturally made her smile foolishly.
Yeah. Reverse harem romance novel.
The heroine was Cecil, a girl who had lost her parents young and suffered a lot of hardships from an early age but kept a bright heart and lived on... roughly like a sunny-type heroine.
For some reason, in reality she didn't give off sunshine at all; she looked icy to anyone outside the fence. But it wasn't important.
What was important was the men.
No, the men.
The crown prince, the archmage's son, the hero's disciple, a squinty-eyed guy whose origin was unknown.
Four men showed off their charms, but Cecil was looking for someone else.
The unnamed man who had saved her childhood self.
But she knew nothing about that man.
She couldn't tell his hair color because it wasn't washed, and no one had called him by name so they didn't even know each other's names.
The only thing she remembered was golden eyes.
But the three male leads minus the squinty-eyed one had golden eyes, so her inference had been confused.
Once she transmigrated, it was clear.
Jedan.
He was her first love.
***
"Well, I did drop BL, but that's not important."
"...? Isn't that the most important thing?"
"Not really? I like BL too. Especially the crown prince and archmage's son look... "
"Stop there. Stop destroying Bail's character any more."
"This is my true self. After ten years of living, it's her and me."
"Sigh..."
Sion thought.
It was fortunate that the other transmigrator had been a bad-uncle auntie too.
"But really, what if? With those deep eyes and licking their lips, 'What do you think of this woman?' then 'Well, I'm not interested in women yet.' That's what they say, right? Ah, and this is a request, but in the male dormitory A building room 407..."
"Enough! Please stop!"
It was fortunate that it was this woman, I guess.
Perhaps it would be faster for Jedan and Cecil to date than for me to be taken away on a crime of insulting the imperial family.
***
And time passed.
Without having learned anything, it was already mid-term exam period.