The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

37 – Selassia (05)

038.

Those who face an overwhelming difference in skill usually fall into one of two categories.

They either surrender or flee.

Though they might be frightened, they are still knights of the north.

Faced with Kallen’s hellish mental image, they showed such behavior, but they did not display the disgrace of fleeing.

In the end, some began to lay down their weapons and surrender one by one.

Thorn also learned the sword as a knight.

However, his proficiency was lacking, so he was quickly captured by Kallen.

This absurd civil war thus ended in Selassia’s victory.

There were still some remaining tasks, but in the grand scheme of things, it was as good as a victory.

If Kallen had not mastered the third rank while crossing the line of life and death.

If he had not unintentionally gained practical experience.

If he had not unconsciously unfolded his mental image.

If anything had been lacking, the outcome of the final battle would have been different.

Loyalty obtained through violence may lack sincerity,

but Selassie thought it was fine.

At this point, only one person needed to see him.

They too were people who lived their entire lives in the North.

Even if it was false, it meant they couldn’t help but obey the ruler of the North.

For that reason, most of the knights turned to Selassie’s side.

Makbel and Thorn were confined in a makeshift tent.

Selassie, who ordered their disposal with cold eyes, did not meet anyone’s gaze.

Just as if in disgust.

He only looked at them with eyes that saw them as insects.

Originally, it was a makeshift tent where Selassie would have thoroughly trampled and drunk a celebratory drink from the bottle.

In the tent, excessively decorated to Thorn’s taste, he himself was confined.

In front of Thorn sat Kallen, still expressionless.

Since he was a man full of tricks, Selassie had specially asked Kallen to watch over him.

“You… what are you…?”

Thorn asked Kallen resentfully.

Indeed, it was unfair.

For Thorn, this civil war was a fun pastime, nothing more, nothing less.

It should have been.

Until a strange boy, who wasn’t even from the North, ruined everything.

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How could such a wrecked body, a young body that probably hadn’t even gone through the coming-of-age ceremony,

recklessly unleash such monstrous magic?

He had heard that wizards were bound by mana.

If they used up all the predetermined amount of energy,

he knew that painful symptoms similar to exhaustion would occur.

Did he have enough mana to knock down all the knights of the North?

Then the war would end with just a few wizards.

Thorn realized how far from common sense that was.

“Guard.”

“That’s ridiculous. Even that monster from Plache wasn’t as bad as you.”

Is he talking about the person who is said to be the highest-ranking wizard in the current social circle?

Kallen tilted his head and asked back.

“Don’t want to believe it? Then think whatever you want.”

“…”

He doesn’t want to bother explaining everything to Thorn.

It’s already unpleasant enough to be talking to such trash.

“…What did you promise?”

His closed eyes slightly opened.

Thorn, who was gritting his teeth, stared ahead and asked.

What did you promise?

He was asking about the dealings between Kallen and Selassie.

What on earth did you promise that someone like Kallen would help her?

“To a woman who only thinks about how things can benefit her, what did you receive in return for helping her so much?”

The words spewed out in anger would have hurt Selassie quite a bit if she had heard them directly.

She had no one but people like this around her.

Selassie’s heart withers and twists.

“One day, she’ll use you and throw you away too. My father, no, the head of the family still supports me, so come to me instead. Whatever she promised, I can give you more.”

Is it persuasion since force didn’t work?

Kallen listened indifferently and thought.

There are people like that sometimes.

Those who can’t accept their defeat and look for reasons elsewhere.

To Thorn, this defeat seemed to lie with Kallen himself.

He didn’t want to talk, but if he left him like this, he would keep babbling endlessly.

“I promised to help restore the Dranus family.”

“…Is that all?”

He asked back as if it was absurd.

It wasn’t a fortune in gold and silver, nor was it a promise of a high position using the influence of the Hyat family.

Thorn was almost suspicious that Kallen was lying.

No, rather, it’s a good thing.

In the end, it’s just a matter of dealing with this boy.

If that’s all that was promised, tempt him with something bigger.

Those who claimed to be loyal to Selassie.

Among those who boasted of their loyalty, there was no one who didn’t come over.

Surely, this boy will be no different.

“That’s something I can do even if I become the head of the family. I’ll promise you enough money to live on for the rest of your life, and a suitable position when you become an adult!”

It seemed like an opportunity.

Thorn, whose eyes had been filled with despair, sparkled and struggled greatly.

He expected a positive answer.

“No.”

The boy’s expression didn’t waver at all.

He just closed his eyes as if it was bothersome.

“Think carefully! You seem too young to understand. Such an opportunity will never come again…!”

“Can you undo it?”

Thorn, forgetting his excitement, asked back.

“What?”

The words that followed from Kallen.

They were too absurd.

“The women you took and sold as slaves. Can you undo that?”

How does he know that?

Such a question did not come out of his mouth.

Because he could guess.

Selassie.

A vicious person who managed to find out about the secret business that even his father only suspected because he smuggled out a mere maid.

She must have told him.

At the time, it was something he had even helped with, thinking it would disturb his mind.

Now, it had become a self-inflicted wound.

“No, no…”

He had to think.

If only I could sit in the head seat, everything would be accomplished.

Even the illegal slave secret business.

Even the plan to swallow the empire in the future.

I couldn’t leave here in vain.

After squeezing my head for a long time, only one fact came out.

It felt like a rope descending from the sky.

“That, that maid!”

The cry that sounded like a scream was so intense.

Kallen couldn’t help but frown.

“That maid hasn’t been sold yet! I, I thought she might be useful later to persuade my sister… Ah, no. I just locked her in the basement warehouse!”

“I heard she was sold as a slave.”

“No! It was a fabricated story to make her mentally exhausted!”

Was the rope I grabbed a hand of salvation from the sky?

The boy let out a hollow laugh and opened his eyes.

“Good. Can you do one more thing for me?”

Of course, after doing this much, there’s no way he wouldn’t come over.

Torn, who smiled awkwardly due to tension, quickly answered.

“Just say anything.”

But things never happen as desired.

Because the place I looked up to was too high.

Torn, who didn’t know the rope he grabbed was rotten,

couldn’t help but freeze at the following words.

“What you did to the lady.”

The boy’s face was still cold.

“Can you undo it?”

At the question of whether he could undo it,

Torn couldn’t open his mouth.

Well, it’s impossible to turn back time, isn’t it?

Even the highly revered archmage couldn’t do such a thing.

In the end, realizing that he had been played, the trash prince screamed in a fit.

It didn’t deviate a single step from what was expected.

Kallen found it rather laughable.

“You can’t do it. In the first place, it’s not something you can control, it’s something the lady decides.”

“You’re mocking me!”

“Maybe because you’re stupid. Thanks for letting me know about the maid’s work.”

“You… lowly commoner…! Ugh!”

Even as he was hit by magic on the back of his head and fainted, his words didn’t deviate an inch from what was expected.

It was getting tiresome to play along with this ridiculous play.

Suppressing the urge to visit his favorite gambling den after a long time.

It was the moment he was about to close his eyes for a bit.

“…Kallen.”

Along with the sound of the tent flap of the makeshift barracks being lifted, Selassia, who should have been asleep, entered in slightly more comfortable attire.

Selassia, who always wore uncomfortable clothes with excellent protection, even if not armor.

It was the first time seeing her in such a light and flowing outfit.

It was related to a change in her mindset.

Selassia, who had been seized with anxiety until now, found a place to lean on and her more relaxed mind was revealed through her actions.

“Ah. My lady. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Ho, I can’t sleep well alone…”

Didn’t she say that she would rather be left alone because of her anxiety?

As Kallen recalled Selassia’s words, her fine voice echoed in his ears again.

“…Why?”

When he looked at Selassia at the sudden question,

Her tightly clenched fist was trembling.

Because her head was slightly lowered, he couldn’t see what kind of expression she had.

“Pardon?”

What was she asking?

Kallen, who didn’t quite understand, asked back.

“Why do you trust me so much?”

Suddenly, her fine voice began to be tinged with moisture.

He believed that trust in this world was an illusion uttered by those drunk on dreams.

I came to believe that there is no such thing as protection without a price.

There is a very calculated reason why the knights were on my side and why they are now with me.

Even the fact that Makbel sided with Thorn and acted as a spy.

Although I was betrayed first, I also tried to use others.

I didn’t tell Kallen the real reason I brought him along because I didn’t trust him.

Although I have now erased it from my mind, at first, I definitely thought of using Kallen and then discarding him.

We haven’t spent much time together.

We were just trading mutual interests.

Why does that boy trust me so much?

I deliberately didn’t ask.

Even if it was a delusion to comfort myself.

I didn’t ask because I wanted to believe it was true.

But just now, after hearing the conversation between Thorn and Kallen, I couldn’t hold back.

I want to ask.

Why do you trust me so much?

Even if this question makes me realize it was just my delusion, I won’t regret it.

Even when I’m not around, you don’t betray me, you trust me, and you care for me.

– What you did to the lady.

I want to know.

– Can you undo it?

The first and last time we faced each other.

– You can’t, right? In the first place, it’s not something you can undo, it’s something the lady decides.

The last bit of kindness.

Selassie raised her head firmly and approached Kallen.

Kallen, who was calmly watching this, showed a moment of hesitation.

“Well.”

Then he smiled slightly and said.

‘Well,’

Imitating my way of speaking.

“I just wanted to.”

Pure faith.

Unconditional kindness.

The things that Selassie had closed her heart to and denied in the world.

From a boy.

They were blooming beautifully once again.

*

“Miss!!”

“Fine…”

Fine,

The maid who was thought to have been sold into slavery was, as Torn said, confined in the underground warehouse.

“Th-thank you…”

“Thank you for saving me…”

In the underground warehouse, there were not only Fine but also a few other women from the village who had disappeared.

The eldest son of the Grand Duke’s family had dabbled in illegal slave trade, and the repercussions seemed too great to handle easily.

Anyway, those who were freed by Kallen repeatedly bowed in gratitude and returned home.

If this were a play, it would surely take the form of what people call a happy ending.

Kallen thought so as he comforted the women who came to thank him, holding their hands.

Of course,

Selassie’s happy ending still had one more step to go.

The promise made with her would be fulfilled after the matter with the head of the family was settled.

With that one step left, a moment of respite wouldn’t be too much to ask.

To the girl who sat down, holding Fine tightly in her arms.