Chapter 496: The Aftermath
Chapter 496: The Aftermath
But cute is one thing, and what can't be done is another.
My expression hardened, and I spoke firmly.
“No. It’s hard to block with one hand, and besides, even if I did, they’d hear you since we’re holding on to each other like this. So… come on! Say it! What’s there to be shy about now! Hurry up and confess your burning passion for me in broad daylight—Gah!”
“Honestly, this idiot!”
“You! Stop interrupting!”
“Yes, ma’am…”
Even while sniffling, Sara, you sure can deliver a fierce smack to the back.
Being scolded by both Sara and Diana at the same time, I had no choice but to shut up.
My angel. Where are you? It hasn’t been long since we parted, but I already miss you.
After glaring at me for a moment, Sara let out a deep sigh. She looked down, embarrassed, and continued.
“Haa… Right, my feelings. To put it simply, I was scared. I felt like if I let go of your hand, you’d disappear somewhere again…”
“Mm. Mm.”
“And then I got scared that this time, I might never see you again…”
“Hmm. Hmm.”
“If that happened, I don’t think I could go on living… So all I could think about was that I had to stay with you, no matter what…”
“Indeed… Sara, you feel that way about me…”
“You, stop with the unnecessary commentary and just stay quiet!”
Apparently, that wasn’t allowed either.
“No, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. But come on, it’s obvious, isn’t it? We don’t even need to ask. Sara likes me so much that the fear of almost losing me terrified her.”
“Even if you have a vague idea, it’s important to hear her thoughts in her own words! Besides, fear alone doesn’t explain why she’s regressing to a childlike state, does it?”
“Well… still, you don’t need to know all that for the treatment. Anyway, we know the cause now…”
Actually, I have a pretty good guess about that, too.
Sara was overlapping the time I almost disappeared with her grandfather’s death.
That’s why she was reverting to her childhood, when she used to dote on her grandfather. …Probably.
“…Guwon, could it be… you were deliberately interrupting so obnoxiously for that reason?”
Hearing my words, something seemed to click for Sara. Her eyes widened as she looked at me, her expression filled with emotion.
“Huh? Uh, uh-huh…”
Seeing her reaction, I nodded with a strange feeling.
Obnoxiously… You’ve got some nerve.
No, well, I couldn’t deny that it might have seemed that way.
I wanted to say something, but since I was a little guilty myself, I decided to just stay quiet.
No, it was true that I had interrupted to keep Sara from bringing up her grandfather.
Even now that she’s had her revenge, that incident is still a source of trauma for her.
In fact, since her revenge, she’s only mentioned her grandfather a handful of times.
It’s just that… I also can’t deny that just a little, a tiiiny bit, I was being obnoxious as petty revenge for that smack on the back earlier.
Feeling guilty over something like this. I’m just too conscientious.
“But it’s okay. I’m really okay.”
Unaware of my thoughts, Sara smiled warmly at me and said that.
No. I think you’re like this precisely because you’re not okay.
“Actually, my grandfather passed away under some unfortunate circumstances. I think I’m acting this way because I’m overlapping that event with almost losing Guwon.”
Sara let out a deep breath and explained it properly to Diana.
“…I see. So that’s what happened. Thank you for telling me. In that case, it might be best to make her recognize that you and her grandfather are different. Perhaps the situation improved slightly after sex for that very reason. Hmm…”
Diana stroked her chin, lost in thought.
Ah, so that’s one way to look at it.
Well, it’s not like she’d do that with her grandfather.
No, more than that, Sara’s only ever been with me.
“But as I thought, I can’t think of a way to cure Sara in the short term with that method.”
Diana muttered, a frown forming between her brows.
She made that face sometimes. I always tell her not to wrinkle her brow, but she does it anyway.
When I gently pressed her brow with my finger, Diana flinched slightly, her face turning red as she smoothed out her expression.
“Ahem. A-Anyway, I believe Sara’s condition will gradually improve just by having sex with you. With time, the symptoms will naturally be cured. However, that will likely take a considerable amount of time. You can’t just stay attached to her until she’s fully cured, can you? That’s why, rather than a cure, I’m first going to try to make it so Sara can be separated from you.”
“Huh? Is that possible?”
“We won’t know if it’ll work until we try, but based on the feelings Sara just described, there’s a good chance. You, you said before that you could move the location of the Apostle’s Seal, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Then move Sara’s seal right now. To a place where she can easily see it herself.”
I see. So that’s it.
Realizing what Diana was getting at, I immediately adjusted the location of Sara’s Apostle’s Seal.
If not her butt, then where…
Right now, a place she can always see is more important than marking an erogenous zone, right?
I reduced the size of the seal and placed it on the back of Sara’s hand.
As a bonus, I darkened the color from what looked like a faint brand to a coffee-brown hue.
“There, done.”
“…So you really could move it.”
“…Yeah.”
When I moved the seal, Diana and Sara muttered as if it was unexpected.
Hey. Diana, you’re the one who told me to move it. Don’t tell me you thought I was lying?
“Why? Want me to move yours to a normal spot, too?”
“N-No, it’s… it’s fine…”
When I spoke with a hint of annoyance, Diana covered her lower abdomen with both hands and shook her head.
“Right. That spot is the best, isn’t it?”
“…Your peculiar tastes aside, it is where it was first placed. Anyway, Sara! How is it? This Apostle’s Seal is designed to disappear if anything happens to this man’s body. In other words, as long as the seal is clearly visible, it means he is safe. Doesn’t seeing it with your own eyes put you at ease a little?”
“Yes… I think it does. I feel like it might…”
Sara answered with a somewhat regretful expression, as if she had mixed feelings about the seal being moved from an erogenous zone to the back of her hand.
“Now, then, try letting go of his hand again. While consciously focusing on the Apostle’s Seal.”
“Okay. Here goes…”
Swallowing hard, Sara slowly pulled her hand away from mine once more.
Her gaze fixed on the back of her hand, she gradually separated herself from me.
And even when her hand was fully lowered, Sara didn’t show the same childlike regression as before.
“I-It worked! Diana! With this…!”
“Oh! Are you alright?”
“Yes! Thank you! It was just as you advised, Diana. As I kept looking at the seal and reminding myself that Guwon is safe, my heart calmed down a bit. Your advice that Guwon and my grandfather are different helped, too. It’s all thanks to you!”
“Not at all! If you can be separated from this man without issue, then I am happy, too! Never again will such a thing… ugh.”
Diana muttered, her voice growing a little moist.
Diana… What am I going to do with you… No, I mean, I get it.
“Alright, now try putting some distance between you! I’m sure it will be fine!”
“Okay!”
Despite her energetic reply, Sara hesitated to move away from me.
It seemed that after an experience like that, a little fear still lingered.
“If it’s hard, should I be the one to move away?”
“No. It’s fine… Ugh… P-Please…”
Sara tried to answer coolly as always, but she ended up showing her vulnerability.
Leave it to me. You can always rely on me when things get tough.
“Alright then…”
As I slowly backed away, Sara’s body began to twitch and tremble.
She was desperately holding it in, but her body was reacting as if it wanted to lunge at me at any moment.
“Sara! Hang in there! The Apostle’s Seal! Focus on the Apostle’s Seal! That man is safe! And he is not your grandfather!”
“R-Right!”
Buoyed by Diana’s encouragement, Sara somehow managed to control herself.
In that time, I reached the front of the door.
“Should I just go outside?”
“Mm. Do it.”
With Diana’s approval, I stepped outside.
And the moment I closed the door…
“Waaaaaaah! Guwooooooon!”
…It seemed things weren’t going to be resolved that easily.
After that, we tried all sorts of methods Diana proposed.
So many, in fact, that I wondered how she’d managed to come up with them all during dinner.
So this is what happens when the supreme Archmage gets serious about finding a solution.
However, every single method ended in failure the moment I was out of sight.
“At this rate, it seems we’ll need something more tangible, something she can see.”
As evening approached, Diana muttered, a hint of impatience on her face.
It seemed she was determined not to sleep all together tonight, no matter what.
“But Diana, if it’s something she can see, we have the Apostle’s Seal. That already failed…”
“No, that’s not it. I mean we need concrete proof that he is nearby, not something ambiguous like his safety. The fact that the effect vanishes the moment he’s out of sight means she’s overcome with anxiety about his whereabouts, doesn’t it?”
“That’s true, but how on earth…”
“Don’t worry. I have an idea. Sara, is there anything you carry that you absolutely never part with?”
“Huh? Something I never part with? If it’s that…”
Sara’s gaze naturally drifted to her own hand.
No, to be precise, not her hand, but the ring on her finger.
It was one of the rings I had given to each of the three of them a while back.
“…My explanation was insufficient. Among the things you always carry, is there one that wouldn’t be a problem to enchant? That ring is not something I can tamper with, is it?”
“…I see. Then… how about this?”
Saying that, Sara pulled a self-defense knife from her clothes.
…She still carries that thing around.
Well, she still despises all men except me. So I guess it’s natural.
I made a firm vow in that moment to never, ever sneak up on Sara using Stealth as a prank again.
An affectionate smack on the back is one thing, but I’ll pass on getting stabbed in the gut.
“Hmm. A knife. Hmm. It should be fine if I embed a magic stone near the handle. Let me see it.”
Diana took the knife from Sara and examined it from all angles, muttering something under her breath.
“Hmm. You two wait here for a moment. I’m going to enchant this knife.”
After nodding in satisfaction, she said that and left the room.
When she returned, the knife in her hand had changed; something like runic characters were now engraved on the blade.
And in her other hand, she held a magic stone, similarly etched with a complex pattern.
“You. Put a drop of your blood on this knife and this magic stone, respectively.”
Diana said with a triumphant look, holding out the knife and stone to me.
“My blood? Well, I don’t mind, but what is this?”
I used the knife she handed me to draw a little blood from my hand, then dabbed it on both the stone and the knife.
My blood vanished as if it were absorbed, and at the same time, the knife’s blade and the magic stone began to glow brightly.
“I’ve engraved a spell that makes them glow brightly whenever you are within a 100-meter radius! With this, even if she can’t see you, she’ll be able to confirm that you’re nearby, won’t she?”
In response to my question, Diana puffed out her chest and spoke triumphantly. What a cutie.
And this time, she had certainly done something worthy of puffing her chest out for. As expected of our Archmage.
“Ooh! I see! That makes sense! But what about this magic stone? Isn’t the knife enough?”
“I will be carrying the magic stone!”
…Huh? Wait a minute. What is she casually slipping in there? In other words, that means…
At first, I was simply impressed, but I finally understood the full implication of this magic.
“Wait… from now on, are you guys going to be monitoring my every move?”
“What? Guwon. Are you going somewhere you don’t want us to know about?”
“N-No. It’s not like that…”
Not once!
Dinner with Rachel? I didn’t treat her to dinner with those kinds of feelings! …At least, not back then.
Anyway, this means that if something like that happens again, I’ll definitely be caught.
No, it’s not like I plan on doing anything that would cause a misunderstanding again, anyway.
“Still, people have a right to privacy, you know… You two wouldn’t like it if I carried around a magic tool that let me know where you were, would you?”
“Huh? I wouldn’t mind at all.”
“If you ask, I’ll make one for you.”
“…Is that so.”
I tried to protest subtly, but I was shot down by the two of them, who apparently allowed me far more leeway than I thought.
I have a bad feeling this is going to cause some kind of incident later.
No, I mean, it will certainly help Sara not regress when I’m away from her, but still.