Back to Daily Life? (1)
Back to Daily Life? (1)
The dawn subjugation operation had been something I had done of my own will. My promise with Jennifer itself had become null by turning back time, but I still remembered that promise regardless. Had it been a promise with anyone else—well, that might have been different. But I hadn't wanted to break a promise I'd made with characters I liked.
Thanks to that, by the time I returned yesterday, the morning was already long past.
"...... If you desire a reward, I shall grant you anything. A Winterfield does not forget a debt."
To Jennifer, who said that in the car on the way back,
"I only repaid a debt that already existed."
I answered.
And as I answered, I felt a small swell of pride in my chest.
Of course, I had smelled blood and gunpowder that dawn. And the memories from that battlefield probably wouldn't be forgotten easily. I'd heard stories about PTSD and the like, so those memories might end up affecting me greatly.
But even so, thinking that it had been something I needed to do made me feel much better.
War is like that anyway. If we don't fight on our side, our own people die—that's what war is. Besides, those mercenaries were people who had already committed an enormous number of acts practically indistinguishable from war crimes. There might have been someone among those I fought who possessed normal thinking...... but a battlefield is fundamentally a place where lives are wagered against each other, so I couldn't just go easy on everyone.
The enemy had aimed their guns at me too. If I had been shot dead there, that would have been one thing, but had I been shot in the arm or leg and incapacitated without turning back time, I would have suffered a truly gruesome fate at the hands of a mercenary company with barely any discipline at all.
Besides, it wasn't even my first time taking a life.
I had already experienced the combat itself several times by turning back time, optimizing the route. There was a day's difference, but the result came out similarly in the end.
"A debt?"
Naturally, Jennifer asked back, but I deliberately didn't say anything.
"......."
When I showed no reaction, Jennifer didn't press the question. Rather, as if deep in thought, she said nothing the entire time she drove the car. Thanks to that, I could stare blankly out the window until we returned to Winterfield Castle.
The mountain range visible far away was beautiful.
The Sword Saint was probably still somewhere on the flank of that mountain.
*
When we arrived at Winterfield Castle, Alice, who had been waiting in the castle lobby, rushed out and pulled me into a tight embrace as if out of worry.
As though she had caught the scent of gunpowder on my body, Alice immediately glared at Jennifer.
"......."
Jennifer seemed to have nothing to say either.
Right now, Jennifer didn't know that I could turn back time. So watching me fight like that on the battlefield must have horrified her in a different sense. She probably hadn't had any chance to mentally prepare herself at all.
"Father......."
Alice immediately spoke to me.
"Did Father order you to do this?"
Hm.
I thought about it seriously.
It wasn't...... something the Emperor ordered. Accurately speaking, it was probably something he had been about to order.
So wouldn't it have been fine to just say so, roughly?
Strictly speaking, it was something I had done because I wanted to anyway.
"......."
I decided to just go with that. Explaining was a hassle, too. Honestly, trying to explain while hiding my ability inevitably created gaps in the middle of my words, and then I'd end up drawing suspicion for no reason.
But if I lied, later when my ability was revealed, the question "What about back then......?" could come back to me.
So what I chose was 'plausible silence.'
Perhaps interpreting my silence as affirmation, Alice closed her mouth tightly and looked at me.
"I told you. There's no need to follow Father's words."
"......."
Alice, who had briefly held me, stepped back, took my hands, and spoke.
"...... Still, you wouldn't be able to casually refuse an order like that, would you."
Though I hadn't exactly received an order.
...... She wasn't going to run straight to the Emperor and say something, was she?
A slightly alarming feeling came over me, so I decided to change the subject for now.
"Did you carry out the request well?"
"The request? Ah."
Alice glanced back once at the other kids who were waiting for me behind her, then looked at me again and spoke.
"Yes. Thanks to you."
I shifted my gaze a little to find Mia Crowfield. As if she too hadn't been back long, the hems of her clothes were slightly wet, and there were stains here and there on her coat. It was probably mud created by melting snow that had splashed up.
The staff in Mia Crowfield's hand held a blue Marmaros, shining brilliantly.
I had placed it on the desk in my room before I left. I'd even left a note beside it telling them to pass it to Mia Crowfield.
The kids had apparently carried out those instructions without fail.
"Thanks to the Marmaros, the hunt could end far more smoothly."
Charlotte, who had been watching the two of us, stepped forward and spoke. Charlotte's expression was just as complicated as Alice's. She seemed unsure whether to be on guard against me, who had just returned from battle, or to simply feel grateful for the goodwill at this moment.
"Th-thank you."
Mia Crowfield said, looking a little frightened.
"Sis...... are you alright?"
Claire, who had been watching me quietly from a short distance away, approached and asked.
"I'm fine."
In reality, I was much better than I expected. Perhaps because I'd kept seeing similar scenes, I'd gotten used to it, which allowed me to prepare my mind thoroughly. And I had a just cause, in my own way.
I looked at Leo and Jake, who were still standing a little apart from us. Leo was...... surprisingly not deathly pale or anything. For just a fleeting moment, I wondered if he'd been so terrified that he'd reached the state of Clear Mirror, Still Water, but when I looked closely again, Leo's expression instead seemed deep in thought.
Had his assessment of me changed a little?
Jake's reaction was similar. He'd pushed aside his usual, gangster-like frivolous attitude and was looking at me with an incredibly serious expression. But when our eyes met, Jake soon approached, wearing a rakish grin at the corner of his mouth.
"Now, now, instead of standing around like this, let's all go eat a meal or something. I feel like I'm starving to death."
"You......."
Alice shot a glare at Jake, then looked at me as if something had suddenly occurred to her. As though she'd read something in my expression, Alice soon let out a short laugh and spoke.
"Yeah, well, sure. I suppose that's also right. We all worked hard all morning. It is about time we got hungry."
...... Honestly, I had absolutely no idea how she read people's expressions like that.
*
"Are you sure you're okay? You can just rest for the afternoon."
In the afternoon, seeing me come out fully armed again to carry out the requests, Alice asked with concern in her voice.
"I'm fine."
I felt like I'd done well to learn that thing called meditation. Just as Claire had told me last time, even though my body hadn't gotten that much sleep, just stabilizing my mind and body through meditation made me feel like I could move a little longer.
Of course, it didn't completely resolve the fatigue, but still, after lunch I returned to my room, thoroughly washed up, then sat cross-legged on the bed and meditated, and the fatigue seemed to recede as if I'd drunk an energy drink.
"Are you really okay?"
Claire also asked from beside me, but I nodded once more.
"Because I must finish what needs to be done. It's something that reflects on our grades too—"
"No."
While I was speaking, Jennifer, who had come near us at some point, cut me off.
"I shall give you a perfect score for your evaluation. It wasn't an official request, but you accomplished something no soldier could have done."
"......."
But Jennifer's face as she said that was complicated.
She had worn an expression that seemed somehow unsatisfied even when I'd said I would go and take the enemy commander's head. It was a little different from the refreshing expression she'd had when she gave me the request back at the Sword Saint's cabin. Perhaps she truly hadn't thought I would really do it back then either.
That was probably the case. She was an instructor who taught us not to seek honor on the battlefield, after all.
"So for the afternoon...... no, you may rest through tomorrow. I shall take responsibility and explain things to the academy."
Abraham would probably be understanding enough.
"In that case, this is something I'm doing because I want to."
When I said that, the area around me, already quiet, grew even more silent.
"Sylvia?"
Alice opened her eyes wide and looked at me, asking.
"...... Sis?"
In the end, that word escaped from Claire's mouth.
"...... Is that so."
After hearing my words, Jennifer closed her eyes slightly, drew a deep breath, and let it out quietly.
"If that is the student's will, then I cannot do anything about it. I merely...... thank you. This is gratitude conveyed on behalf of the soldiers as well."
Jennifer bowed her body.
"...... Is that so."
I agonized over what I should say in response, and in the end, I decided to say only that.