Fading Echoes
It wasn't funny at all.
How on earth had everything turned out like this?
I swatted away Lione's hand, which had been gripping my collar.
The limp hand drifted in the air for a moment before coming to rest.
"Oppa always suited the mansion."
"Then why didn't you just leave him there to drink himself stupid?"
"...I should have done that."
"You crazy bitch."
Lione didn't answer.
She clung to her belly and slid down the wall, breathing in short, ragged gasps.
After a long silence, she lifted her head.
"Why are you always fighting like that?"
Her gaze slowly rose until it fixed on my left hand.
"Why... even though you know your arm will be cut off, you still brought it here?"
I stepped toward Lione.
The moment my footsteps grew closer, she hastily wrapped her arms around her stomach.
She curled her body smaller and bowed her head.
She thought I was about to kick her again.
If I said I had no such intention, it would be a lie... but it was close enough.
"I could."
"You weren't that kind of person."
Lione raised her head.
"Always! I could barely swing it lightly and you still couldn't block it, you used to squeeze your eyes shut..."
Her voice cracked.
"...It shouldn't have turned out like this."
I watched her for a long while.
I didn't know what I should say.
I wasn't even sure there was anything worth saying in the first place.
I pressed my palm hard against my eyes.
I turned my back on her and left the professor's office.
Walking down the corridor for what felt like forever, I suddenly felt dizzy.
Thinking about it, blood was still pouring from my left arm.
If I just died right now, would I go back to the point right before the war?
I was thinking that if Lione had swung her sword from above, I might return to that time... but I also didn't feel like pinning my own sister against the wall and beating her senseless, so I turned toward the place where the academy's priestesses stayed.
It was also the academy's makeshift infirmary.
Given the nature of the school, there were bound to be plenty of injured students here.
I pushed open the door and a priestess inside looked up from arranging herbs.
The moment her eyes landed on my left arm, she widened them in shock.
"Huh? What in the world is this..."
The priestess dropped the herbs she was holding and rushed over.
"Who dares to harm His Highness's envoy! Did one of the students on the list actually attack the professor?"
"Please calm down and let me treat the wound."
"But..."
"It's just because of family matters, don't worry about it too much."
The priestess fell silent.
She immediately entered the back room and returned with a small bottle and bandages.
She gestured for me to sit, so I sat and offered my left arm.
She rolled up my sleeve and inspected the wound.
"It might sting a little."
She opened the bottle and poured it straight onto the wound.
This was the same kind of stuff I had used on the front lines, wrapped in cloth and rubbed until it burned.
White steam rose with a hissing sound like flesh being seared.
The wound that had been bright red with blood slowly began to turn clean.
It wasn't that the wound was healing, nor that the bleeding had stopped, but...
The priestess closed her eyes and recited a short prayer, then began wrapping the bandage around my arm.
The moment the bandage was tied, she stood up.
The priestess grabbed my hand and started to say something more, but the moment I stood, she simply drew a cross over her chest and didn't speak.
I had been held back by Lione for a long time... but in the end, I had come here looking for Arin.
I had tried to remember every place she might be, but nothing stood out.
Suddenly, I realized there was no point in searching for Arin all over the place.
After all, she had been dispatched from the Adventurer's Guild, so if I went there, I would at least know roughly where she was.
I left the academy grounds and grabbed a carriage to head to the Adventurer's Guild.
The guild building was larger than I expected.
One side was used as lodging, and the other sold alcohol and food.
In the middle stood a board full of commissions and a reception desk.
Although the space was divided, there were no walls.
The mingled scents of alcohol, food, sweat, and leather assaulted my nostrils.
I stepped inside and looked around.
Reception desk, commission board, tables in the corner... it was a mess.
So, had Arin been working and living in a place like this all along?
After living in such a peaceful little town, she ended up here?
"I saw a young master who got lost."
While I was looking around, someone called out to me in a loud voice.
"This isn't a place for brats like you! We don't even hire girls here!"
Laughter erupted from the nearby table.
"Whoa, she looks like she could wear women's clothes. What does her mother look like?"
A few adventurers holding their glasses snickered at me.
I stopped walking, ready to ignore them.
If adventurers in this guild could shout so loudly...
They must be pretty famous among the mercenary crowd.
Humanity wasn't important.
Compared to the soldiers I had rolled around with on the front lines... this was still relatively healthy.
I walked over to them.
The biggest, loudest man set down his glass.
"What?"
The man stood up.
The chair scraped loudly against the floor as he was shoved back.
The adventurer pulled a short mace from his belt and slung it over his shoulder.
"Do you have something to say?"
I didn't answer and just stared at him.
The man sneered and jabbed the mace's tip into my chest.
This guy wouldn't last thirty minutes on the front lines and would die.
Not to mention his skill was second rate. His size was just too noticeable.
Anyway, as he was pushed back by the mace, I drew my sword at the same time.
I lightly stabbed his belly with the tip of my sword and sliced up the shoulder of the man holding the mace, as if I were lifting it diagonally.
Blood didn't spurt out.
Only a proper amount flowed out along the wound.
Thanks to cutting the muscle cleanly, the mace slipped from my hand and hit the floor with a clang.
The adventurers who had been laughing a moment ago all fell silent.
But the silence didn't last long.
The sound of scraping chairs echoed one after another.
The humans sitting at the tables rose one by one, putting distance between us.
Some drew swords, axes, or daggers, but they only glared at each other.
"Weapons... it would be better to lower them."
Of course, no one listened.
A faint presence could be felt behind me.
And... I could see the adventurers turning their heads.
That's why I didn't bother looking back.
I quietly listened to the soft sound of feet shifting, the sound of adjusting weapons, and the sound of holding their breath.
Soon, the sound of a foot pushing off the floor came.
I swung the sword I was holding lightly backward.
"Kyahaaak!"
The adventurer who had tried to come at me from behind clutched his face and collapsed.
It wasn't a deep cut, nor did it slash his eye, so he'd be left with a scar, but he wouldn't die and would have no major problems living afterward.
It was a bit pathetic, but I had no intention of carving up people I had just met.
In the end, I could clearly feel the momentum shifting in my favor.
The adventurers who had drawn their weapons slowly lowered the tips of their blades.
I walked over to the man still sitting on the floor and pressed the tip of my sword against his neck.
"I'm looking for the assistant sent from here... her name is Arin."
The man's face turned deathly pale.
"You know her?"
"We... we aren't close, but we do know her!"
He pulled his chin back to avoid the sword tip at his neck and continued frantically.
"Did that woman do something wrong to the master?"
"Yeah. She did something a little too much."
The man swallowed hard.
"Anyway, do you know where she is?"
"She should be at Bruno's base right now!"
"Speak clearly."
"I'm a member of the guild, but when there are no commissions, I don't stay here. I stay at the pub near the eastern wall."
"The pub near the eastern wall, you said?"
"Yes. If you follow the big road leading to the eastern gate, you'll see the largest pub with a red roof."
I sheathed my sword and turned.
A long sigh came from behind me.
I stopped walking and looked back at the man, pulling out a roll of bills from my pocket and throwing it on the floor.
"Treat yourself quickly."
"Y-yes!"
"Get treated together with that friend."
Leaving the priestess nodding with a teary face behind me, I left the guild and grabbed another carriage.
It felt like I had been wandering around all day.
Whenever I tried to go somewhere, I was blocked, and whenever I thought I saw a path, it was blocked again.
Before I knew it, the street had grown so dark that nothing was visible except the light from the street lamps.
Red roof... red roof.
It was dark, so I couldn't tell the color of the roofs clearly.
But a rather large pub with lights on caught my eye.
Why didn't they know that if I told them I was still trying to get her to like me, she'd hear it as sincere?
I understood the feeling of running away because I couldn't trust myself... but why would I push you away?
I had clung to you no matter what.
But when I could no longer cling to you, I ended up hanging from the ceiling.