Inner Thoughts
“Honestly… I was completely caught off guard.”
Muttering in disbelief, Leje sheathed her sword.
“That trick won’t work twice.”
At the same time, Rudell grinned and withdrew the Shadow Thorns that had been touching her cheek.
Just before the Shadow Shield shattered.
Rudell had taken a gamble.
Where there is light, there is naturally shadow.
He dove into the shadow of Leje, created by the light emitted from her sword.
It was a race against time – whether the weakened shield would break first or Rudell would plunge into the shadows first.
This time, luckily, Rudell won.
The shadows weren't connected, and because of the bright light, he had to use a considerable amount of mana, but he won, so it didn't matter.
“Haa… To lose…”
“That aside, the Wish Ticket. I’ll gladly take it.”
“Ugh…!!”
Leje gritted her teeth, glaring at Rudell, who was chuckling.
The Wish Ticket he had just obtained would surely be used for something important.
“That’s cowardly!! If we fought fair and square, I would have won!”
“Cowardly? Haha! That just sounds like the whining of a loser.”
Compared to the methods the Cult employed in the story, this was child's play.
No, it wasn't even remotely cowardly.
“Ugh! Come here!”
“Waaah! An Ogre’s gonna kill me!”
“Who’s an Ogre!?”
At those words, Leje lunged at him, ready to beat him down.
Rudell quickly ran away, but escaping from Leje with his abilities was impossible in the first place.
“I always tell you, it's that damn mouth of yours!”
Catching up to him in an instant, Leje began relentlessly striking his back.
“Ow! Ow!? It hurts! It hurts!!”
Screams erupted from Rudell’s mouth from her incredibly powerful attacks.
But that was only momentary…
“Pfft…”
“…?”
Leje's blows gradually weakened, and she suddenly started giggling.
Rudell couldn't help but look dumbfounded at her.
And then the next moment.
“Puhahahaha!!”
“Le, Leje?”
Leje burst into laughter.
‘Did she eat something wrong?’
Even as he thought that, Leje's laughter didn't stop.
How much time had passed?
“Haa…”
After a short sigh and catching her breath, Leje looked at Rudell and spoke.
“Hey, Rudell.”
“Yeah?”
Rudell responded with a tense face at the sudden change in atmosphere.
“Actually, I… I was scared.”
“Huh? Of what?”
What could she possibly be afraid of?
The daughter of one of the most prestigious families in the Kingdom, with a body destined to become the strongest in the world.
It was hard to imagine her being afraid of anything.
“That I would become someone you didn’t need.”
“Huh? What are you…”
What was she talking about?
With that thought, Rudell looked at Leje.
To Rudell, she was an indispensable existence.
For the fate of the world.
And as a friend.
As always, a world without her was a life Rudell couldn’t even imagine.
“Um… How do I explain this?”
Leje frowned with a low groan at his reaction.
And, not long after, she opened her mouth again.
“The reason why you haven’t asked for my help until now. I thought it was because I was weak.”
“What are you talking about? There’s no way I’d think that!?”
“Right. Thinking about it now, it was a silly thought.”
Looking at Rudell, who spoke in a flustered voice, Leje smiled.
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“Leje…”
The moment he saw that, Rudell felt a pang in his heart.
It was because he felt that he hadn’t given Leje enough faith in him.
“…”
What should he say in this situation?
Rudell slowly opened his mouth.
He felt like he had to say what came to mind right now.
“I can’t do it without you. So please don’t misunderstand like that again…”
“…”
Leje looked at him with surprised eyes.
And…
“Was that… a confession?”
“Huh? What?”
At the same time, a dumbfounded voice escaped Rudell’s mouth.
‘-I can’t do it without you.’
“…”
Now that he heard it, it did sound like that.
From a third-person perspective, what he had just said was practically a confession.
“Ah, no, that’s not it!? What I meant was not that!?”
Rudell, finally realizing the meaning of his words, began to ramble with gestures difficult to describe.
“You’re quite bold, aren’t you? Confessing so openly to the Duke’s daughter?”
“So… That’s not it…!!”
Rudell couldn’t help but look flustered at Leje, who was giggling.
How could he explain this?
Just as Rudell was trying to organize his thoughts,
“Hey! What are you doing at this hour! Curfew is soon!”
“Huh!?”
“Eek!?”
A beam of light shone on them, accompanied by someone's voice.
They both turned their heads with surprised cries, and what they saw was a security guard patrolling the school grounds.
It seemed they had lost track of time.
“So, sorry!”
“We’ll head back right away!”
With that shout, the two bowed their heads and hurried out of the training grounds.
The moonlight in the sky shone down on them.
* * *
A dark space, location unknown.
“So, you fled?”
“Yes! If you hadn’t left your post!!”
Kendrick shouted at the youthful voice echoing from the darkness.
This whole incident was entirely his fault.
It was because he had left his post.
If he had just stayed in his place, his laboratory wouldn't have been destroyed.
The experimental subjects and sacrifices he had painstakingly prepared wouldn't have been burned to ashes.
And he wouldn’t have had to flee.
“What do you want me to do? The Cult Leader called. Even if it’s a mission, the Cult Leader’s orders are more important than yours.”
However, despite his accusations, the voice from the darkness held no sense of responsibility.
“Grr…!! A still-wet-behind-the-ears brat…!!”
“Don’t call me a brat!!”
An agitated voice erupted at Kendrick’s words, gritted through clenched teeth.
The voice contained genuine anger.
“Tsk…”
At the same time, Kendrick clicked his tongue.
If it weren't for the escort the Cult Leader had personally assigned, he would have used him as an experimental subject right away.
“The Cult Leader said he’ll prepare a new laboratory for you, so wait a bit.”
“How long?”
“How would I know?”
“…”
The Cult Leader was surprisingly reasonable.
Stuffiness ethics, annoying morals.
They meant nothing to the Cult Leader.
He really liked that.
That’s why he was cooperating with him as much as possible, but the brat's impertinence constantly irritated him.
‘Just you wait.’
You'll see what your face looks like when you're strapped to the experimental table.
With that thought, Kendrick let out a low sigh.
“And, the Cult Leader has one more thing for you.”
“What is it?”
A piece of parchment fluttered down from the darkness.
Kendrick carefully approached and picked it up.
Then, narrowing his eyes, he began to read the contents of the parchment.
“Hmm… Colliding two magic powers with different properties to create repulsion, and then injecting holy power into that repulsion to further amplify the power. And then, hmm… Oh ho? This might be a good spectacle!”
“Ugh…”
A disgusted voice escaped at the sight of Kendrick muttering incomprehensible words and chuckling.
Even to a member of the Cult, who could be considered a fanatic, Kendrick looked like a madman.
“Interesting! Very interesting! With this, I can put on a spectacular fireworks display! Fun!”
Experiments! And research and curiosity!
Only those could make the world a more wonderful and enjoyable place.
“So? When can you start?”
“I need a few things. First, I need a high-grade magic stone, Salamander’s Breath, and… Yes! I’ll need a lot of sacrifices too!!”
Kendrick shouted, his eyes gleaming with madness.
At the same time, a short sigh escaped from the darkness.
“Haa… Tell my subordinates, I’ll get you what you need.”
“Kehehe… As expected, joining forces with the Cult was the best decision of my life…!!”
Of course, Kendrick, seemingly oblivious, was lost in his own world, giggling like a madman.
It was a truly chilling sight.
“I really don’t like you.”
A grumbling voice echoed from the darkness, and then only Kendrick’s mad laughter spread through the surroundings.
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So we are delaying romance progress again *le sigh* also the mad doctor is just gonna be an annoying repeating villain huh.
ReplyDeleteAlso for sure the cult leader is a reincarnator too.