Back to Daily Life? (3)
Back to Daily Life? (3)
"Are you sure you'll be all right not going?"
"Yes, I'm perfectly fine."
I'd learned what there was to learn.
More than anything, showing up now just... wouldn't be dramatic.
I did think of the Sword Saint as my teacher in my own way, and he had told me to come visit sometime... but even so, dropping by the very next day felt a little off.
Besides, I'd already climbed that mountain far too many times. I was done climbing for now.
"... Well, that's fair. You've more than earned a rest."
Alice nodded at my words. The rest of the party seemed to understand my thinking as well.
Yeah, I'd been wanting to take it easy for a bit. Before I'd learned meditation, I probably would have followed them no matter what, turning back the clock to try and learn everything I could... but now, well... I'd only just gotten back from turning an enemy camp into a complete wreck this morning.
"If we go up now, we'll probably come back down around tomorrow."
Just thinking about that many people climbing up and squeezing into that little cabin made my chest feel tight.
"I'll be waiting."
When I said that, the party glanced at each other, then turned back toward me.
"All right, then."
I could tell they were a little disappointed about not getting to hear the full story behind that 'big sister' title right away, but that was something they could just as well hear when they got back.
"See you later, Sis!"
When Claire waved her hand vigorously, the party looked at her as if they still had not gotten used to it. There was one person who did not seem all that surprised, though—Leo. He must have heard the whole story from Claire already. They had been close for a long time, so I supposed that was only natural.
"......"
I watched silently as the kids climbed into the large passenger carriage.
Only once the carriage had completely vanished from sight did I turn around.
*
"Hey~ you there, young lady!"
Had it been such a terrible mistake to wander around the village instead of heading straight back to my room?
I immediately found myself tangled up with a strange man.
"Over here, right here! I've got a seat open, so why don't you come join me?"
All eyes converged on the man who had shouted so loudly. Northerners tended to be mostly taciturn. And they generally didn't care for frivolous men. Naturally, the man drew a fair share of unfavorable looks, but he himself didn't seem particularly bothered.
The man had hair so vividly red that a single glance would leave a clear impression. He'd pulled up another chair in front of his own and propped his feet up on it, and the café owner was glaring at him with a deep frown.
But no one actually moved to throw the man out. Was it because the clothes he wore were obviously of extremely fine quality? He looked every inch a high-ranking noble at a glance. People probably decided to leave him be rather than risk getting involved in something troublesome.
If there was a noble in this town, they were most likely either a guest of House Winterfield or a soldier.
This man, however, was no noble, no guest, and most certainly no soldier.
He was an imperial prince. He hadn't come because anyone summoned him, and while I couldn't speak to his aptitude for the military, his personality certainly didn't suit it.
"......"
Feeling a headache coming on, I walked toward Lucas.
As I approached, Lucas gave a bright, welcoming grin, lowering his feet from the chair and dusting it off with his hands before pushing it toward me, but without a word, I pulled over a different chair from nearby and sat down.
Lucas, of course, didn't seem to mind my attitude one bit.
"Enjoying your trip, little sister?"
"......I was enjoying it until a moment ago."
"When you say it like that, it sounds exactly like I somehow ruined your fun."
"......"
So he knew full well.
Lucas himself apparently held no expectation whatsoever that I'd be happy to see him. Though his face was still smiling.
So why had he chosen to reveal himself so openly? Was it because Jennifer, who'd been acting in place of the Winterfield household head, had stepped away? Because Alice had briefly left town?
But there were students wandering around nearby. Lucas, with his blazing red hair, stood out on his own. I didn't think my own appearance was especially striking, but it wasn't so utterly nondescript that students would fail to recognize me either.
An imperial princess, sitting face-to-face with an unknown handsome man at a café, just the two of them.
Well, even if rumors started, they'd die down quickly. Anyone who was a genuine high-ranking noble would already know Lucas. Once they recognized who we both were, this scene would look less like a warm or gossip-worthy moment and more like a terrifying tableau you dared not even lock eyes with.
"Since when have you been monitoring me from the shadows?"
"You know perfectly well, and yet you ask."
No, I honestly don't.
... Still, Lucas reacting this way wasn't entirely incomprehensible. If he'd been tailing me throughout this entire field exercise, he would surely have witnessed my fighting on the battlefield as well.
For a being who waged combat on such a superhuman level, not noticing the presence of Lucas trailing behind her would strain credulity.
"All along, I suppose."
"That's about right, yeah."
He answered without the slightest surprise, perfectly matter-of-fact. He didn't so much as touch the coffee in front of him. It was still steaming gently, so he must have taken his seat only after confirming the kids had departed.
I'd picked this exact moment half-expecting to have to call "Again!"—good thing it paid off.
... Anyway. Following me all along, was it?
"Ah, thinking about it, not around the clock. Once you went inside your room, tracking got difficult, so I didn't bother keeping close. I also had times when I was reporting to His Majesty, and I, too, must eat, shit, and sleep."
Well, that much was only fair.
Even so, that statement meant he hadn't been monitoring me in shifts with someone else.
"And if I'd installed anything inside your room, you'd have sniffed it all out anyway."
I stared intently at his face, trying to gauge whether he meant that. ... Because if it happened to be true, the safest course would be to turn back time and wipe everything clean.
But no matter how hard I stared at Lucas's face, I lacked the ability to see through every lie hidden beneath his expression. I had no mind-reading skill, and my eyes themselves were scarcely different from any ordinary person's.
So, for now, I decided to take Lucas at his word, let it go, and resolve to be more careful going forward.
...I would still need to turn my room inside out and search it thoroughly once I got back, though.
"In that case, what's your reason for deliberately revealing yourself to me now?"
If he'd overheard Jennifer and me talking, honestly, following my friends instead would have been the better move. It would have been a chance for Lucas to meet the Sword Saint he'd been searching for.
Even in the original story, Lucas had trained further after learning the Sword Saint's location, waiting until he could secure a decisive victory. So even if he was discovered now, the plot wouldn't have diverged all that greatly from the original.
"... Good question."
Lucas gazed blankly up at the sky. It was a piercingly clear, vividly blue sky without a single cloud. On the imperial capital, exhaust poured out everywhere, so even near the academy, seeing a sky this blue was fairly rare. Not that this place didn't also use steam engines and produce exhaust.
"Just... had something I wanted to ask."
"And what did you want to ask?"
"...... You."
Even after calling me over, Lucas simply stared at me.
"...... What?"
The gaze felt unpleasantly sticky for no real reason, so when I pressed him, Lucas drew his lips into a wide grin.
"You. Fight me sometime."
"...... Excuse me?"
"For real, with your life on the line. Properly."
"......"
I fought to keep any look of shock off my face. I'd say I succeeded rather well, actually. My expression probably hadn't changed much from usual.
"Hmm."
Seeing my reaction, Lucas lifted both corners of his lips as if satisfied.
"I think I'm starting to grasp how Alice reads your expressions. She's pretty impressive herself."
Before I could properly answer, Lucas rose from his seat.
He stepped over to me, patted my shoulder a few times with his hand, and then left.
"......"
Uh.
What the hell.
I sat there for a while as if nailed to the spot, until I finally managed to reach a conclusion.
So, in other words, he'd watched me fight and concluded that crossing swords with me would be more thrilling than facing the Sword Saint?
"......"
Uh, so basically.
Am I screwed?
*
He hadn't sensed any killing intent.
But in the very moment Lucas spoke those words, he could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and a cold sweat break out.
It was a sensation he felt precisely because he had felt nothing.
Even while watching her gun down scores of enemies on the battlefield and single-handedly demolish a bunker, Lucas had detected not the faintest trace of killing intent from Sylvia.
Was this the fabled realm of 'Clear Mirror, Still Water' he had only ever heard spoken of? Or did her opponents simply not register enough to provoke any emotion at all?
... No, that wasn't it. It was something subtly different in kind.
Rather, it was as if...
As if her attitude was one of, 'What was supposed to happen, happened.'
An attitude of, 'This is only natural.'
That was the attitude Sylvia had displayed in battle.
Because of that, Lucas couldn't even imagine himself cutting Sylvia down.
But...
"A mountain that must be climbed, then."
If only he could truly overcome that Sylvia,
wouldn't that be no different from severing 'the future' itself?
A conviction, a gut instinct, far more intense than any he had felt during all the times he'd swung his blade at Sylvia before.
And so Lucas reached a resolution in the end.
He would cut that future down.
"How could I possibly pass up an opponent that incredible?"
As Lucas murmured to himself, the corner of his lips bore a smile brimming with competitive fire.