Chapter 112: The Lord is With Us (33)
Chapter 112: The Lord is With Us (33)
It took some time to calm down my seniors, who were sprawled on the floor.
I stroked the head of the shivering Senior Elsie, but I was at a loss as to how to soothe Senior Delphine.
In a trembling voice, Delphine said to me, "…W-wound me."
At first, I thought she was joking.
I looked at her with an expression of utter disbelief. However, her violently shaking blood-red eyes testified to the fact that she wasn't kidding.
While I hesitated in my confusion, she pleaded with me again.
"P-please… I beg you, anywhere…."
In the end, I had no choice but to leave another mark on Senior Delphine’s cheek.
It was a very shallow cut—a laceration that would heal in just a few minutes.
Yet, that alone seemed to put her at ease, as her breathing quickly began to stabilize. I had to watch the scene with a look of sheer discomfort.
It felt like a bad habit was forming, and that was a serious problem.
After managing to settle things and clearing away the broken table, we decided to have a three-way talk.
Of course, for a while, none of us could say a word.
Senior Elsie was blushing a deep crimson, fidgeting in embarrassment. She toyed with her fingers before pulling her pointed hat down low, as if trying to hide from my gaze.
Not that doing so would actually make her invisible to me.
Senior Delphine, her face also slightly flushed, cleared her throat and looked away. She seemed quite embarrassed, though not as much as Elsie.
Well, they had every reason to be. They had just shown such a pathetic side of themselves to their junior.
And this was after they had spat out all sorts of humiliating words like 'maid,' 'slave,' 'dog,' and 'cat.' If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't be able to show my face either.
First, I let out a deep sigh. Since neither of them seemed inclined to speak, I figured I should be the one to lead the conversation.
"…Why were you two fighting over something so pointless?"
Senior Elsie looked aggrieved. She gazed at me with pleading eyes and appealed in a frail voice.
"N-no… I was just staying quiet, but that bitch kept pissing me off!"
My eyes turned toward Senior Delphine. However, she merely snorted as if the comment wasn't even worth a response.
They were still on terrible terms. Since I was the team leader for now, it was also my job to improve their relationship.
I decided to start by correcting their misconceptions.
"And why are you two my maids? If anything, I’m the junior here. Please don't say things like that from now on."
"…B-but still."
Senior Elsie glanced at me tentatively, as if she had something to complain about. While she looked cute doing so, my resolve was firm.
"Don't do it. At the very least, don't say it out loud."
If they did, it was highly likely to cause problems in many ways.
Even without this, my image at the Academy had long been distorted. Thanks to groundless rumors and a sensationalist media culture, I was currently known as something like 'the mad dog running wild with a hand axe.'
In such a situation, what if Senior Elsie or Senior Delphine started claiming to be my maids?
I didn't even want to imagine what would happen. It was an issue that could escalate into friction between our families. At the very least, such conflicts should never be made public.
However, Senior Elsie seemed to understand my words in a slightly different way.
"R-right! I won't say it out loud, hehe…."
I was about to say something more to her, but I stopped myself.
She wasn't the type to listen anyway. Senior Elsie was someone with a very firm worldview of her own. I would just have to redefine our relationship gradually over time.
For now, today's fight seemed to have reached a conclusion. I felt relieved at the fact that the word 'maid' would at least not be uttered aloud.
Lately, it felt like my daily life was changing too rapidly. I never used to have to worry about things like this before.
It was all because of those letters. I thought of the remaining love letters in my coat and my expression turned somber.
With the possibility of Fiends appearing, we didn't have time to be fighting amongst ourselves. I spoke in a low, serious tone.
"We don't know what might happen next. The demonic beasts attacking the orphanage—I don't think it's going to end as a simple matter. A Fiend might be involved."
"…A Fiend?"
It was Senior Delphine who spoke, having sat in silence until now. Her voice was full of doubt, and her brow furrowed slightly.
Senior Elsie was the same. Her eyes went wide as she looked at me with a bewildered expression.
The sudden mention of a Fiend appearing was an unbelievable story, even to me. A sigh escaped my lips for what felt like the hundredth time today.
"Yes. There's no clear physical evidence, but it's a possibility. Mr. Guildford said that the only way to explain the abnormal behavior of the demonic beasts is the presence of a Fiend."
"…W-what are we going to do if we actually run into a real Fiend?"
Senior Elsie looked a bit frightened. Knowing how much of a coward she actually was, I could understand. To be honest, I was scared too.
Facing a Fiend while still a student at the Academy—that achievement alone would make our names legendary among juniors for decades to come.
I remained silent for a moment. What should we do? No matter how much I thought about it, there was only one conclusion.
"…We have to prioritize survival."
These were people I had brought along. Even if they had come of their own volition, they weren't necessarily prepared to put their lives on the line.
I couldn't recklessly ask them to risk their lives. If it came down to it, I would have to handle it myself somehow.
In the slightly heavy atmosphere, I stood up again.
I needed to share this fact with everyone. I would have left the dining hall immediately if it weren't for a voice that caught me as I was about to walk away.
"…So, what's the verdict?"
My eyes blinked blankly toward the source of the voice. It was Senior Delphine.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she cast her gaze downward. She asked again in an awkward voice.
"Between me and Lainella, who is more useful?"
"…Does that really bother you that much?"
"Of course. I am Delphine Yurdina. The battle isn't over until a winner is decided."
I looked at her with an expression of utter exhaustion, but Senior Delphine's will remained unbroken. In fact, she even sent me a look that was blatantly full of expectation.
Senior Elsie was the same. While pretending not to care, she was stealing glances at me.
Her eyes were a mix of anticipation and worry. I let out a groan and said, "…Let's talk about that after the internship is over."
Since my head was currently full of thoughts about the Fiend, it was the only choice I could make.
With those words, Senior Elsie and Senior Delphine’s eyes locked in mid-air once again, and after that, both seniors went about their chores without another word.
No matter how much I thought about it, it was something I couldn't understand.
Was the position of a maid really that important?
The world was truly a mysterious place.
That night, there was a special training session.
Sword clashed against sword. Blue sparks flew in the air, flickering in the darkness. The sharp sound of the collision rang loudly in my ears.
My opponent was an old swordsman. His name was Guildford, a man with striking white hair who was the director of the orphanage and a former mercenary who had once reached the rank of Sword Expert.
Naturally, he was stronger than me. I could tell even after clashing blades only a few times.
His level of experience was different, his technique was different, and above all, I couldn't keep up with his bizarre swordsmanship.
Taking a step back, I took a deep breath and lunged with my sword.
It was a preemptive strike as fast as a ray of light. The virtual trajectory drawn before my eyes testified to the fact that Mr. Guildford was rushing in.
My sharpened senses had never lied to me once. It was the same now.
Except, even though I had lunged first, Mr. Guildford's sword was already touching my throat.
The movement felt almost like a hallucination. Even as I was thrusting my sword, he naturally rotated his body, parried my attack, and dug into my guard.
"It's called Diffraction," Mr. Guildford said, wiping his sweat with a handkerchief he had prepared.
Gasping for air, I opened the cap of my canteen.
As the cool water poured down my throat, I started to feel a bit better. My gaze turned back to Mr. Guildford.
"It's a technique I learned through a brief connection in my youth. It's quite difficult to master."
"…It certainly looks that way."
It was a technique where, if you slipped up, you’d be the one crossing over to the afterlife instead of your opponent. To use it at a level where it could be employed freely in actual combat, an immense amount of practice would be required.
No, it might not even be a matter of practice. Mental strength was more important than that.
The resolve to be okay with being stabbed to death—it wasn't the kind of mindset a living creature usually possessed.
"It's not a technique just anyone can use. I only began to understand its subtlety after facing death myself. Simply put, you have to let go of yourself."
"…Let go of myself?"
"Yes. Only then can you overcome your instincts. Haha… it's hard to explain in words. If you're interested, I can teach you a bit."
I stared at him blankly for a moment at the unexpected offer.
Actually, tonight's sparring had happened at Mr. Guildford's request. Wanting to repay me even a little for the help I'd provided, he had offered to oversee my training.
Mr. Guildford was not only at a higher stage than me but also far more experienced. Naturally, I had no reason to refuse and accepted gratefully.
But to go as far as teaching me a technique—it felt like too much. I quickly shook my head.
"No, I couldn't possibly take it that far…."
"With several hundred gold, I can save dozens of children."
Guildford's voice was calm. By several hundred gold, he seemed to be referring to the payment for the demonic beast corpses I had slain.
"This is the price for those lives. Please, accept it."
Since he put it that way, I had no way to refuse. I eventually gave a bitter smile and accepted his offer.
The only thing I had overlooked was that Mr. Guildford was an unexpectedly strict teacher.
"Again!"
"That's not the posture. If you get your head pierced like that, aren't you going to resent me from the afterlife?"
"A monkey could do better than that, Young Master. Aren't you ashamed as a human being?"
A mercenary was indeed a mercenary. I was only released after repeating the exercise until I had the taste of blood in my mouth.
My body felt heavy with fatigue. I staggered toward the dormitory.
Reto would already be asleep, and since Yuren had left for the city, I was the only one still awake. It was a pitiful state to be in.
Perhaps because I had overexerted myself lately, I felt a stinging pain in my back. I thought it had been completely healed with a healing potion, but it seemed it wasn't quite enough.
As I was walking, a certain sight caught my eye.
It was a divine statue located in a corner of the orphanage yard. A cheap stone statue found anywhere that received support from the Holy Kingdom.
In front of it, the Saintess was praying.
It was a scene that truly made the word 'Saintess' come to mind.
Her silver hair glowed softly in the moonlight, and her radiant features, more like a work of art than the statue itself, stood out.
It was a presence that overwhelmed the scenery.
In an instant, the landscape painting transformed into a portrait. For a while, I forgot how to speak. I stood there watching her in silence for a long time.
The woman's eyes slowly opened. A touch of pink paint, enough to make one's heart flutter, was added to the portrait.
"…That's rare. Does someone like you even know how to pray?"
Her tart voice instantly shattered my appreciation of the scene.
I shook my head with a chuckle, as if finally coming to my senses.
"I'm not devout enough to pray at dawn. More importantly, you really are a Saintess, aren't you?"
"Did you think I wasn't?"
Her tone was blunt. Since our relationship had been like this lately, I wasn't particularly offended.
I waved my hand, intending to leave. The Saintess also snorted and tried to look away from me.
That is, until I felt a hot, wet sensation on my back.
Huh? Why is this happening?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the Saintess's eyes were already wide open. Her lips trembled as she stammered.
"B-b-blood…!"
I reached back with a puzzled look. My hand came away sticky with blood.
I fell silent in bewilderment. It lasted until the Saintess's clear voice shook the nighttime orphanage.
"…You're bleeding!!"
I was in trouble. I had been caught by the person I least wanted to find out.
Just imagining how much she would nag me made me break out in a cold sweat.
The night was still far from over.