Just the Two of Us
"I... I have no excuse." Kaen twiddled her fingers, her face downcast. With her shoulders hunched and her head bowed, she looked like a child waiting to be scolded. In truth, that was exactly how she felt. She couldn't bring herself to look her seniors in the eye.
In the end, she had let the girl in the Red Fox Mask escape. She had given chase, but it was as if the girl had vanished into thin air—not a single trace remained.
"It's all my fault..."
Kaen believed she was the ultimate reason Astaroth had managed to escape. If only she hadn't fallen for such a cheap trick, this disaster wouldn't have happened. And it wasn't just once. She had made similar mistakes twice.
Before Astaroth fired her arrow into the sky, Kaen had a chance to stop her. Yet, gripped by a sudden sense of danger, she had recoiled. It was a critical error. If she had charged forward without hesitation, the outcome might have been different. At the very least, they wouldn't have lost her so absurdly.
Her judgment had failed. She had squandered her opportunities. Not once, but twice, she had been played like a fiddle by the enemy. Far from being helpful, she had only been a hindrance. Kaen squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for her seniors' reprimand.
"...Sigh." Karlad let out a heavy, reproving sigh. Kaen's shoulders flinched.
"I believe I told you. You are a Captain now." But the words that followed were not what Kaen had expected.
"It has been several months since your special promotion to Captain. You should be used to it by now. Do not bow your head so easily—especially not to another Captain. Do you still think of yourself as the Vice-Captain of the 1st Division?"
The relationship between the Division Captains was strictly horizontal; none held authority over another. The only exception was the Commander-in-Chief, who led them all. There was absolutely no reason for the Captain of the 7th Division to bow to the Captains of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions.
"It is also your duty to consider the feelings of your own division members. Seeing their leader constantly taking a submissive stance before other Captains is a blow to their pride. If you are the Captain leading the 7th Division, never show weakness, no matter who you are facing."
"But this time, it was my mistake..."
"It is not your fault alone. It is our failure."
Letting Astaroth escape was hardly Kaen's fault alone. It was a collective failure of everyone present at the scene. It could not be pinned on any single person.
"That's right, kiddo. Don't beat yourself up too much," Isabella said with a bitter smile.
If they started pointing fingers, there would be no end to it. If Isabella's ice barrier hadn't shattered, Astaroth would have been trapped. Had that happened, they might have easily defeated her after she took the full force of Kaen's attack and accumulated massive damage. But nothing was more futile than applying "what-ifs" to the past. Knowing this better than anyone, Isabella changed the subject.
"So, what did you two think?"
"About what?"
"That masked brat's strength. You got a feel for it, right?"
Three Captains had deployed, yet they failed to capture Astaroth. Of course, the Captains had been fighting under constraints. The national park wasn't built in some deserted wasteland. Because it was located in an urban area, they had to restrict their power and hold back to prevent collateral damage. They had several opportunities to land decisive blows, but they had to play it safe to avoid civilian casualties. The root cause of her escape was closer to an accident born from their efforts to protect the public. Even taking that into account, however, Astaroth's strength far exceeded their expectations.
"...I hate to admit it, but that brat was stronger than us. If any of us had faced her alone, we would have lost."
It was a shocking truth, but ignoring it wouldn't change reality, so Karlad admitted it readily. Three Captains had fought, yet they had only managed to break even rather than overwhelm her. Normally, if three Captains teamed up against another Captain, they could easily suppress them—even capture them alive. Yet they hadn't just failed to capture her; they had let her slip away. And that was despite them abandoning any attempt to take her alive, resolving to kill her if necessary.
"This is going to be a headache."
"It's a shame Master is away at a time like this."
"Is the Commander-in-Chief still unreachable?"
"Yes. Before contact was cut, he said he would return soon, but..."
Astaroth was far more powerful and dangerous than they had anticipated. Perhaps she had already surpassed the jurisdiction of the Captains. In such a critical emergency, the Commander-in-Chief should be personally leading Cheonmyeongdae, but...
"It can't be helped. Since the Commander-in-Chief is absent, I will call another Captains' meeting. We must inform the others of this incident."
"Fine. But let's clean up here first. There's still some time before the Rift in Space closes, right?"
"...I will take the lead. I will make up for my mistake."
A Rift in Space of Grade 5 or higher. It was an incredibly dangerous battlefield teeming with high-ranking monsters, but...
Lightning flashed. A white blizzard raged. A surging golden light illuminated the earth. It could no longer be called a fight. It was a one-sided slaughter.
I never expected to end up back here.
Lucia's supernatural ability is Super Regeneration, right? A hospital should be the place she has the least business visiting. I never dreamed I'd be admitted to the exact same hospital room again in less than a month!
Last time, I was all doped up on drugs and sighing in ecstasy, so that made sense. But this time, it feels a bit unfair. They're making such a fuss over a slightly damaged heart. What? "If your heart is ruined, you die"? Well, Lucia doesn't!
Still, I suppose I can understand their concern. Regeneration isn't completely omnipotent, after all. They just want to run a thorough checkup to make sure my newly regenerated heart doesn't have any defects. If something went wrong, it could be a major disaster.
But excuse me, my Super Regeneration doesn't have flaws. Please don't lump it together with mediocre healing factors. There's a reason it has "Super" in the name!
My ruined heart has already been perfectly restored by my Super Regeneration. I've also finished purifying the Black Knight's death energy. It was a bit of a shame to let it go, but... well, I couldn't just keep something like that lodged in my heart forever, right? I'd never get discharged.
"Haaah... I'm so tired..."
Now that the tension had bled away, drowsiness washed over me. I pushed myself to the absolute limit today, so it's only natural to be exhausted. Even if Super Regeneration restores physical stamina, there's always a limit. Overusing my supernatural ability has completely drained my mental energy. Getting sliced in half by Murmur took a massive toll. I thought you said you wouldn't kill me! What do you mean, "Get split in half and die"? Getting a wind tunnel blown through my heart hurt quite a bit, too. Today was truly an exhausting day.
Seriously, today was supposed to be a day for Yujin and Aris, so how did it turn into this? Of all things, why did Murmur and Astaroth have to show up? I don't know if I should call it bad luck or good luck. Hmm, hard to say.
At least we were there to save the people we could...
Once Cheonmyeongdae arrived, our job was done. Handed over to the medical team, we were immediately evacuated from the scene and transported to the Academy Annex Hospital, where I had stayed before.
Piecing together the snippets of information I overheard before leaving the national park, it seemed Astaroth had fled after being double-teamed by the Captains. The Captains were fine, and Astaroth ran away... Yeah, she probably had no intention of winning from the start. If she had fought in earnest, the Captains wouldn't have escaped unscathed either.
In the original novel, a battle between a Captain and a Main was a bloody, mutual-destruction-level struggle. Since both sides emerged relatively unharmed, Astaroth must have pulled her punches and retreated. After all, the "active time limit" penalty is a fatal weakness for the Mains.
A Rift in Space naturally collapses after a certain amount of time. The invading monsters in the meantime are a problem, but that's for Cheonmyeongdae to handle. As students, we did our best. Just as Arien said, we should leave the rest to the adults. The damage likely won't spread any further. With the Captains on the scene, the situation will be suppressed in no time.
Aris—or rather, Frey—didn't have a scratch on her despite all the chaos, so she only had to undergo a basic checkup. Yujin, on the other hand, was admitted without question. He didn't have any fatal injuries, but "no fatal injuries" still meant his entire body was covered in wounds. On top of that, they were inflicted by the Black Knight's demonic sword. Even though he had burned away all the death energy, it was only natural to hospitalize him just in case.
I wonder if he'll share a room with Leo again? Hehe, somehow it's turning out exactly like last time. Anastasia's clone took the hit, so her real body was perfectly fine, and Arin only had minor scratches, likely thanks to her Crisis Detection. But Leo was a different story. Unlike last time when he only broke an arm, he now had full-body fractures with not a single intact bone left. Seeing him wrapped up like a mummy made me so jealous—er, I mean, I felt so bad for him. I'm curious about what happened to him, but I'll ask tomorrow.
I'm going to sleep early today. The sun hasn't even set yet, but I don't care. I'm tired. They say good children sleep early and wake up early. Lucia is a good girl, so she's going to sleep early too.
Pulling the blanket up to my chin, I slowly closed my eyes. Shadows stretched across the white ceiling, and pitch-black darkness filled my vision. The faint, clinical scent of medicine wafted through the air. My body felt heavy and sluggish, a physical reminder of how hard I had pushed myself. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling. The languor felt nice. It was a sensation I hadn't felt in a long time. Right, it was the exact same exhaustion I used to feel after secretly training in my dorm room. Fufu, I'll be able to sleep peacefully tonight. All my usual pent-up frustration has been completely relieved, so I actually feel quite refreshed.
"What, sleeping already?"
The well-maintained hospital door slid open without a sound. Wondering who it could be, I opened my eyes. It was a familiar voice. Throwing off the blanket, I sat up, and a head of deep navy-blue hair entered my field of vision.
"Aris? I thought you went back to the dorms."
Unlike Yujin and me, who were hospitalized, Aris had been sent home after her checkup. Since she wasn't injured, there was no reason for her to stay or receive treatment.
"I did. But I washed up and came back. I was sweating so much it felt gross."
"Ah... so it's you, Frey."
"Disappointed it's me?"
"Hehe, no way. I really like you too, Frey."
"...Really? You're a weird one."
Frey closed the door. She stood still in front of it for a moment, staring at me. Then, I heard a soft click. Huh? She locked the door? Why?
"Um, Frey? Where's Aris?"
"Inside me. We just swapped for a bit."
She walked over with heavy steps and plopped down onto the visitor's chair. Perhaps because it had been an incredibly grueling day, Frey's face looked quite tired.
"I asked her to let me have some time alone with you."
"Huh?"
"So Aris is asleep deep inside our mind. Unless she gets a shock like last time, she won't wake up."
Frey fell silent after that. After a brief pause, a faint smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.
"Which means there's no one here but you and me."
Because the good girl has already gone to sleep.