Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Sunwater (8)
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Past.
─This is the final mission. Wrap everything up and prepare.
I thought I'd be thrilled to face the last mission.
But I felt numb.
Will I really be free once this is over?
What do I do after gaining my freedom?
Not that it matters with my expiration date looming anyway.
"Teacher!"
A wooden staff swung in with fierce momentum, striking Zekiel squarely on his right shoulder.
Thwack!
A dull thud.
But the one who got hit seemed utterly unfazed. Instead, the First Princess who had swung it looked shocked.
"What? You weren't focused just now, were you? You were lost in thought!"
Zekiel slowly blinked, snapping out of his reverie.
Ether, the girl who didn't even reach his waist.
The empire's First Princess had her cheeks puffed out in full pout.
"...No, I'm not."
Zekiel shook his head and pressed hard between his brows.
With the final mission looming—and this being their last lesson—he kept drifting into thought.
"It's because you've grown so remarkably, Your Highness."
Zekiel offered a polite white lie. Ether slung the staff over her shoulder, eyeing him suspiciously.
"...Is that really the reason? You weren't going easy on me?"
"I couldn't possibly. If I don't go all out against you, Your Highness, I'd be the one getting seriously hurt."
"Hmm."
"I was caught off guard. You've improved so much every time."
"Hmm! Ahem...!"
Ether's face flushed red as she cleared her throat a couple of times. Her shoulders nearly shot up to the sky.
"...So I really beat you purely on skill, huh. Maybe I should've gone easy? Must've been rough on you."
"... ."
"That was my secret move, so your injury must be massive. Should I give you some elixir? What do you say?"
"I'm fine."
"Teacher, your reaction is so weird. Most people would lick my feet if I offered elixir. Do you even know what elixir is? E-li-xir."
"I understand perfectly."
"Then?"
"It's not something I could ever presume to claim."
"Should I ask His Imperial Majesty? Nothing's impossible. How about I bring out the Sunwater? We have tons of that stuff—enough to fill a bathtub."
Zekiel could only smile bitterly.
"...I'm grateful just for the offer."
Ether didn't know yet.
Because she had easy access to elixirs, and Sunwater wasn't all that rare to her, she assumed it was the same for everyone else.
She didn't know that countless people had applied for it, only to be denied every time—that it was an elixir no one could even taste a drop of in their lifetime, no matter how desperately they yearned for it.
His Imperial Majesty had never permitted Zekiel any Sunwater.
Just the mere offer of an elixir.
Ether had no idea that even those words alone—even just the question of whether he wanted it—could tear Zekiel's heart to shreds.
The girl plopped down beside Zekiel.
"Teacher, I'll keep getting stronger from now on, right?"
"Of course."
Ether stretched out her legs while sitting and gazed at the sky. Suddenly, she felt a cool sensation around her calf. Zekiel was applying the elixir.
Soon, the scrapes on her calf were covered in it.
"You need to treat emergencies right away."
Ether furrowed her brow.
"Do you have to treat every little thing like this?"
"Even small wounds add up. So it's best to treat as many as you can while you have the chance."
Zekiel's large hands were surprisingly gentle.
"The wounds aren't shallow, but how fortunate that the imperial family has such precious elixirs. It's a stroke of luck."
"You won't take what I offer, but you use it freely on me. You're so strange, Teacher. Why not take one yourself?"
"How could I compare to you, Your Highness?"
Zekiel continued slowly.
"You will be the pillar of the empire one day. You must regard your health as the empire's strength and manage it with utmost care."
"I don't know, that's annoying."
Ether stuck out her tongue.
"So, can we play together today?"
Ether glanced at the pile of weapons stacked over there. Spears, one-handed swords, two-handed swords, daggers, bows... weapons of every kind were gathered.
"I want to try them all out with you, Teacher."
"I'm afraid today won't work."
"Hmm, you're busy as expected."
The girl nodded nonchalantly, but she couldn't quite hide the flicker of disappointment on her face.
A moment later, the First Princess Ether parted her lips.
"Teacher, I've been thinking lately."
"What kind of thoughts?"
"Once I get strong—endlessly strong—I can take on some of your workload. Then you'd have free time, and we could play together, right?"
"You mustn't say that. My duties and yours are distinctly different."
"Hmm."
Ether looked at Zekiel with an awkward expression for a moment.
Teacher seemed off today. He was unusually lost in thought, and he wasn't entertaining her usual playful requests—instead, he was dead serious.
"The weather's especially nice today."
The First Princess awkwardly scratched her cheek.
"Anyway, I'll keep getting stronger. I'll grow tall and become your spear and shield."
"I'll be the shield. How could Your Highness...?"
"No need to argue. You have to keep getting stronger too. Strong enough to be my rival, no matter what. So we can spend time together, play, and grow."
Zekiel nodded slowly.
Looking back on his life, there were few things he'd been properly rewarded for, but the occasional kindness from the princess felt like a precious compensation in its own way.
'If the final mission goes smoothly...'
And if his body holds up.
Maybe they could spend more time together.
"First Princess."
"Hm?"
There's such a thing as intuition in this world.
Just hearing her name called made her feel like she already knew what he was about to say. The First Princess Ether's instincts kicked in immediately.
It was a very ominous feeling.
"Will you make one promise with me?"
"What promise?"
"Keep training diligently, even without me."
"...What nonsense is this all of a sudden?"
A sharp edge crept into Ether's voice instinctively.
Anxiety—that was the cause.
"I'm not always by your side even now, am I? I just mean keep doing what you've been doing."
"We've already been doing that. Why make a promise now?"
"It's not a difficult promise."
"No. I won't. Something's off."
Ether rejected the proposal on instinct.
"Teacher, you're acting weird today. Really weird."
The princess jumped to her feet on purpose. To shake off the unease, she started swinging the wooden staff.
Of course, Zekiel was still smiling.
"You promise?"
"I didn't."
"For the First Princess of the world to balk at a mere promise."
"Shut up!"
Ether irritably pointed the staff at Zekiel.
Their eyes met, her ragged breaths steadying for a moment.
"... ."
Then, she lowered the tip of the staff—weakly, so very weakly.
"...Teacher, you're leaving somewhere, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Why? Are you not well?"
Ether's intuition was unmatched.
Her ability to absorb qi and wield it as power made reading someone else's qi a breeze. She'd known for a while that Zekiel's health was off.
"It's just a mission."
"Don't go."
"I have to. But I'll come back after it's done."
The First Princess instinctively knew she couldn't hold him back.
"...I'll get stronger. Strong enough to smash everything, so you won't need missions anymore."
"Haha, if Your Highness smashes everything, won't that just create more work? Just focus on training."
"Shh."
Ether cut Zekiel off curtly.
"I'll be training hard, so you... ."
The First Princess barely managed to continue.
"...take a good rest and come back. And take care of your health."
No reply came.
"You promised, right?"
Ether pressed, but...
Zekiel only wore that smile she couldn't hate.
"We'll see."
"My word is imperial decree."
"You refused my promise too, Your Highness."
Zekiel extended his pinky again.
"Then, shall we each make one promise?"
"...Forget it. You're an idiot, Teacher."
Was it pride? Ether turned away sharply.
"If you don't want to, fine. Do whatever."
In the end, no promise was made.
And.
After that, Ether never even heard any news of her teacher.
Bam—!
Ether's foot slammed into the ground with terrifying force.
She was cradling Zekiel's body. Even though the Imperial Palace was quite far, the space compressed in an instant.
While running, she stole a glance at Zekiel's condition.
"... ."
It was wretched.
He'd been hit by an arrow in a defenseless state after exhausting all his mana. Naturally, he couldn't be fine.
But more worrying than the external wounds was...
'Why is his qi so chaotic?'
She couldn't tell how Zekiel had been living.
But just from holding him, she could sense his body was in extremely poor shape. His qi flickered like a candle about to go out.
'I specifically told him to take care of his health... .'
How did it come to this?
If they'd made that promise back then, would things be different?
When she got the letter, Ether had been overjoyed. She'd assumed the hardworking man was just doing well.
But reality was this heartbreaking.
Whoosh—!
Ether vaulted over the palace walls, then leaped across rooftops. She streaked like a beam of light, her final destination the temple.
Despite the First Princess's explosive arrival, one woman continued praying with her back turned.
"First off, I lost."
"I expected as much. The opponent was such a special person."
Ether pulled Zekiel a little closer.
"I lost miserably. The problem is, Teacher's badly hurt. That's on me too, of course. I didn't anticipate the scouts getting rattled."
"...?"
Only then did the Third Princess, Solana, turn around.
"Save Teacher. Please, I beg you."
Solana's sunflower-like face blinked a couple of times.
"Wha—what, what...!"
Soon, Solana gasped in shock.