Chapter 69
Chapter 69
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Unexpected Visitor (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The next day.
Fortunately, the wound had improved.
The gunshot wound in my stomach, which had felt like it was constantly tearing me apart, had shockingly vanished without a trace.
‘It healed too cleanly.’
I pressed down on the red scar and wondered if maybe some of the artificial skin and muscle from the prosthetic arm I’d borrowed from Judith had somehow stuck to it.
Of course, I might have kept suspecting that if Judith hadn’t waved the flattened thing right in front of my eyes.
“Enoch Clark and Makina Christie really poured out their holy power like it was nothing. Maybe the effects are only showing now.”
“Makina, sure, but Enoch Clark?”
“He apparently has a faint aptitude for healing white magic too. The guy slept like the dead for three days straight, but he’s been scampering around again since the day before yesterday.”
“Just more debt piled up from that merchant’s son.”
“Tell him to become a fine soldier and repay it through patriotism.”
For Judith, who was a foreign student and hadn’t naturalized yet, patriotism was an eternal joke and a thorny issue.
Even as a cadet at the officer academy, that status had come about through a series of coincidences and wealth—it didn’t mean she’d truly been accepted into this society.
“Thanks to you, I survived. As for what’s left ahead… well.”
I’d thought I could finally catch my breath, but that was it.
The biggest problem right now was the guys who’d flipped their attitudes faster than flipping a pancake.
Just a few days ago, they’d treated me worse than the plague, and now they were ready to serve me with all their heart and soul.
I sighed as I spotted the crowd ‘praising Arma Cruise’ who had stationed themselves in front of the dormitory upon hearing I’d been discharged.
“It’s calmed down a lot, though.”
Judith replied as if she’d read my mind.
“Yeah, right.”
I’d already heard from her just how overwhelming their fervor had been.
The moment she told me they’d tried to barge into the hospital ward carrying each other on their backs, or even faked injuries to attempt admission, my head throbbed so badly that I’d secretly pressed my temples.
‘They got swept up too easily…’
It was as if the cadets of Aegis Academy had been born to be swayed by agitation—they fell for it easily and settled just as quickly.
Sure, there were cadets who didn’t get swept up easily, but the gap between them and the others was just too wide.
“For now, I want to visit Shirley. They just splinted her broken leg, right?”
“They say she has a constitution that doesn’t respond well to holy power. Plus, she’s already down to just a hairline fracture left.”
“Scary…. For humanity’s sake, maybe we should research the Spencer family bloodline instead of magic.”
Judith played along with my joke, saying she’d try convincing Shirley, then stood up from her seat.
She grabbed the curtain and looked at me as if asking permission.
“We can’t put off ventilating any longer.”
We both nodded decisively, then she drew the curtain and opened the window.
“He’s awake!”
“Senior! You’re in there right now, aren’t you?”
“Come out! Come out!”
“Ugh, this is terrifying.”
If it was like this just from opening the window, what would happen if I actually went outside?
I seriously considered shoving the olive drab half-coat I’d laid out for going out back into the wardrobe.
“Let’s go for now. I’m worried about Shirley, and I want to see just how crazy these stationed lunatics have gotten.”
Two days after holing up, I stepped out of the dormitory room with Judith.
I’d worried my stamina might have dropped from all the bed rest, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared.
Judith, who hated drawing attention, pulled on a black robe with a hood that could cover her face and followed behind me.
“Cruise Cadet!”
“He’s out! He’s out! Aegis’s Executor!”
“Haa… Aegis’s Executor….”
Looking at those round faces still chubby with baby fat made a sigh escape me naturally.
Most of the crowd here were low-years or just barely out of that age group.
Of course, higher-years’ faces popped up here and there, but they seemed mostly there out of curiosity or half-doubt—they didn’t look like they were truly gathered to worship me.
The trouble started the moment I showed myself.
“Senior Cruise. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Alex Mountain, of the Center Mountain Count—”
“Cadet Arma Cruise! Grant me the grace of the spirits too!”
“Is it true you can work miracles?”
The ones who’d been forming a circle just to observe me started approaching one by one.
I hurried my steps toward Shirley’s dormitory room, but the encirclement tightened soon enough.
And then—
*Drip.*
*Plop.*
One guy who’d snuck up at some point started acting suspicious.
He grabbed my clothes and yanked, ripping off buttons and cufflinks.
“Huh, what the—?”
I clutched my suddenly tattered clothes and instinctively swung my arm, sending the bushy-curly-haired cadet who’d snatched the cufflink tumbling to the ground.
“Argh!”
“W-Wait, don’t push—”
“Aaah!”
Not just the dozen or so cadets mobbing me, but even the onlookers nearby got tangled up one after another, turning the area into pandemonium in an instant.
In the old days, this would’ve been the moment they’d freak out yelling, “It’s Arma Cruise’s curse!”
But not this time.
“Give that here!”
“You sneaky bastard!”
This time, a fight broke out over my couple of buttons and two cufflinks on the ground.
‘These punks…’
I wanted to fire a gun to calm things down, but I’d used all my ammo in the fight with that demonic chimera wolf.
As I suppressed my boiling anger and was about to grit out a warning through clenched teeth—
*Shrieeek!*
A sharp killing intent pierced through my clothes and into my skin.
Judith drew the sword from her scabbard with its sheath still on and swung it horizontally.
*Ping!*
Even that alone sent a second wave slicing through the air after the sheath was drawn.
A blue-green sword strike reminiscent of ocean waves spread out in a fan-shaped ripple centered on me.
“Eek!”
“It’s J-Judith—”
*Murmur murmur.*
Even with her face covered, the cadets recognized her.
‘Of course. Someone with that level of skill is one of the few.’
Drawing all eyes as if on purpose, Judith used her thumb on the hand gripping the sheath to nudge the crossguard, sliding out just a bit of the blade.
The chilling *shring* made the chaotic pandemonium cool like ice water had been poured over it.
“You know carrying weapons and emitting sword aura are both permitted, right?”
At Judith’s added words, the cadets who’d been lingering hesitantly scattered in a panic.
I glared at the fleeing cadets hard enough to make my eyebrows flutter, then straightened my vest over my shirt and tidied my appearance.
“Embarrassing, and thanks. Feels like I’m always in your debt.”
“I’m fine. But things might get a bit annoying from now on.”
“Better than them trying to kill me. I’ve already requested more ammo resupply, and for a while, I’ll have to take Cookie along.”
“Cookie? That airhead Cookie’s going to protect you?”
“Not for self-defense. For mental care. Cookie’s trained to run and fetch help in a crisis.”
“That scaredy-cat has that kind of talent…?”
“Scaredy-cat?!”
Cookie, this won’t do.
Calling a royal potbelly pig a scaredy-cat. Even if not purebred, with hunting dog blood mixed in, it was a pathetic assessment.
I ranted about how awesome Cookie was, but I couldn’t fully convince Judith, who’d started tuning me out indifferently.
Before I knew it, we’d arrived at Shirley’s dormitory.
Since Shirley was the one who visited every day, it had been a while since I’d come directly to her room.
“…Hm? Guests already?”
Judith looked puzzled for a moment.
“There are so many mixed presences inside, it’s confusing.”
With that, she steeled her expression and knocked on Shirley’s door.
“Senior Judith, Senior Arma! Come in.”
A perky voice rang out, considering she was injured.
Judith hesitated even at Shirley’s welcome, then flung the door open with her resolved face.
*Crash!*
*Clang, clang, roll…*
The world beyond the open door was a total warzone mess.
If Theodore’s room was ordered chaos, Shirley’s was just plain chaos.
I couldn’t believe this antique room with silver and blue silk wallpaper could end up like this.
First thing that caught my eye were a few ribbons hanging from the chandelier (probably from her untying her hair ties and tossing them).
They must have been pretty ones adorned with jewels and embroidery each, but now they just fluttered pathetically in the breeze, covered in dust.
“Still an impressive disaster zone, Shirley. If Dillon finds out, it’s demerits.”
“Don’t tell him~”
Shirley’s room was a three-dimensional mess, but the floor itself was clean.
With basic stuff tidied and servants cleaning periodically, it was hard for it to turn into a serious trash heap.
“Sorry, but could you come straight this way? Uh, yeah. Kinda hard to move right now.”
Shirley peeked out from the back of the parlor to greet us.
Her tone sounded troubled, so I realized she was still a patient like I’d been yesterday.
To spare her embarrassment, I quickly replied.
“Then we’ll come in.”
After a week, I finally got a proper look at Shirley—her hair down loose instead of the usual tight ponytail, wearing a nightgown.
She sat in a cushy chair matching the console table and gestured to the chair opposite for us.
“You rascal, even so, with two guests, what’s with this mess.”
“Ugh, nagging right off the bat.”
Shirley pretended to plug her ears and grumbled.
That just poured oil on Judith’s fire, making us wait twenty minutes before any real talk could happen.
‘To me, they’re both as bad as each other.’
The only difference was whether they dressed up properly for guests or not.
I shook my head, imagining what neat-freak Arthur would think if he saw this.
“How’s the leg?”
To bail out the cornered Shirley and change the subject, she snatched the opening.
“It’s just a hairline fracture now! I’m being careful so there’s no aftereffects. Senior, I heard about Dad. You gave him a magic tool? The old geezer actually showed some face this time.”
Patricide sneaks in like this without warning.
Instead of answering, I cleared my throat and checked out Shirley’s splinted knee.
“Yeah, good thing it wasn’t worse.”
“Right? Somehow. Since you risked your life to protect me.”
Shirley spoke with a bitter smile.
Regret or remorse didn’t suit her.
I hoped nothing like this ever happened again.
I rubbed my stomach idly and said.
“It wasn’t me.”
“…You saved me, saved the seven stuck in the underground warehouse, and took down the possessed chimera wolf. If it’d been finals, you’d have taken top honors.”
It was just self-harm because there was no other way.
If Shirley had been in a state to show her skills, she might’ve claimed this credit herself.
Feeling somehow not entirely upright, I shut my mouth.
“Um, actually— not sure if I should say this when the mood’s so serious.”
Just as the atmosphere was getting heavy, Shirley spoke up hesitantly, throwing me off.
“There’s… Theodore collapsed in the dressing room at the back of the parlor.”