—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Baron Andres, even if there’s no explicit hierarchy among nobles… I’m the one speaking right now. Isn’t it rude to interrupt like this?” Lassiel asked.
“Oh my, right now I’m not just a mere baron, but a disciple of the Imperial Court Mage. I’m one of the few exceptions with the right to reside within the Imperial Palace,” Sylphia replied.
“And I’m someone who can freely roam around the Imperial Palace without any issues. That’s what it means to hold military authority.”
“So there’s no need to fuss over positions, right? What’s important now is not Admiral building rapport, but magical research. We need to focus on our duties.”
When I stepped out and returned, I found the Golden Sun and the dragon pretending to be human bickering. What would be the most appropriate sentiment for the speaker in this situation?
Of course, it was bewilderment, wondering what they were doing.
A fierce argument was unfolding before my eyes, with neither side yielding an inch.
It felt strange to say that I had left to feed Arwen, and when I returned after briefly stepping out to give her blood, this commotion had occurred.
“Sylphia, let’s be honest with each other. Ah, it’s Baron Andres now? It’s confusing when it keeps changing,” Lassiel said.
“It’s tiresome for both of us if you cause unnecessary misunderstandings, right? Please be mindful,” Sylphia replied.
“You’re right. I apologize. I got confused for a moment. So you should have stuck with the same one as last time. It would have been easier for both of us without any tiresome issues.”
And the sharp exchange between the two, treating me like a borrowed scarecrow, continued.
Why were they all making such a fuss here? I still had to finish the research on recovery magic that I was working on earlier.
“You’ve become quite talkative for someone I haven’t met before. It’s a bad trait of humans,” Sylphia remarked.
“Ahaha, that may be so. It’s different from just imitating,” Lassiel retorted.
I stood at the entrance, dumbfounded, watching their exchange, unable to intervene.
Oh, let’s see how long you two can keep this up – that was my mindset.
Their conversation, fearlessly walking a tightrope, continued in parallel, and when the unproductive argument showed no signs of ending and dragged on, I had no choice but to intervene.
“There’s no need to beat around the bush like that, right? Why don’t you just say what you want to say without filtering your words? Since when did you care about such things?” I asked.
“Are you sure you want me to do that? You might end up running out of here crying,” Lassiel said.
“Both of you, stop. That’s enough,” I interjected.
Their conversation, which had ventured into the realm of personal attacks, immediately ceased at my single remark.
The gazes of a dragon and the Golden Sun Admiral simultaneously turned towards me. The thought of having their attention focused on me would have been burdensome, but at this point, I had been standing at the entrance for over five minutes, unable to do anything, so such trivial matters didn’t bother me.
They were fighting among themselves without considering the person they were fighting over, so how was I supposed to know the reason?
“Stop fighting and move aside,” I said.
“…Ah, okay.”
Lassiel, who had been blocking my way, made a disgruntled expression and stepped aside first.
I went to my desk and sat down, and this time it was Sylphia’s turn.
“Sylphia,” I called out.
“…Ah, yes.”
“Go outside and resolve it between yourselves before coming back in. Don’t bicker here.”
“…Okay.”
Sylphia, who had been glaring at Lassiel with a defiant attitude until now, shut her mouth like a deflated balloon and stood up swiftly like a newly enlisted private.
“…Why aren’t you following quickly?” she urged Lassiel, who was lingering.
“…I should.”
Sylphia, who had been prodding the hesitant Lassiel, left the research lab first, and Lassiel, with a strangely wistful look in her eyes, followed behind. Only then did the research lab become quiet.
“Sigh. What are they all doing?”
I recalled the memories from my previous life when I used to laugh at posts on the internet where people would giggle and make jokes like “popular people are doing this~~.”
Now that I was living a life like the main character of such a story… It turned out to be a more tiring life than I had thought. If you’re going to fight, do it where I can’t see you. Why do you keep pestering me nearby?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Ric got angry because of you,” Sylphia said, elegantly glaring at Lassiel as she dragged her into a secluded corridor of the separate palace.
“What, this is because of me?” Lassiel asked.
In Sylphia’s judgment, this was a more dangerous situation than Lassiel had thought. More specifically, it was a major incident that could instantly wipe out about 70% of the favorable impression points she had secretly accumulated by handling Rudrick’s workload while he was sleeping.
Considering the fact that Sylphia had built up a considerable stack of goodwill through those subtle actions, the recent situation was quite dangerous.
“Now that it’s just the two of us, let’s drop the pretense and be direct. Lassiel, think about it. Was it common for Ric to react like that?” Sylphia asked.
“…Yeah, it definitely wasn’t common. I’ve heard once or twice that Ric got really angry, but I’ve never seen it myself.”
“To borrow Ric’s expression, that’s at least the middle stage among the five stages he shows when he’s angry.”
“What’s that?” Lassiel asked.
“Ric said he classifies his anger into five stages. That was the middle stage,” Sylphia explained with a deliberately serious expression.
“In the first place, Lassiel, you rarely see Ric getting angry at anyone, right?”
“…That’s true. Ric isn’t the type to easily get angry at others.”
“Just now, Ric was moderately angry. His tone becomes strangely brusque and cold. I’ve observed it over the years, so I’m certain.”
“Even that much change compared to his usual self is almost like he becomes a different person…”
Lassiel trailed off.
More precisely, it was the vague feeling stemming from the situation where she couldn’t openly express her joy at meeting Rudrick again after several years, at least in terms of perceived time.
Regression was both a blessing and a kind of curse. Even if they didn’t know it, not only Lassiel but all five of them must have been experiencing it.
The memories of the time spent together were buried and disappeared under the sands of time, unknown to anyone except oneself, and the feeling of being alone, drifting in a vast ocean, was overwhelming.
The reality that all the shared experiences and accumulated memories had meaninglessly vanished without any significance was like a rushing realization, awakening the forgotten truth whenever one looked back and reminisced about the past like this.
“For now, it’s best to be cautious. Don’t try to gain Ric’s favor by being overly friendly. Don’t make a fuss either.”
“…Isn’t that a bit harsh? You can stick close to him under the pretext of studying under the same mentor, so you can say that.”
“I can’t deny that. But humans sometimes tend to deliberately ignore obvious facts.”
Sylphia’s red eyes flickered as if flames were burning within them.
However, at least for now, what Sylphia was saying was not a check on her rival like before. Rather, it could be considered sincere advice stemming from her heart.
The perspective of dragons, a race that lived for eternity, was slightly different from that of humans, who lived a short life like a flickering flame.
Dragons, who usually lived a life closer to observers, “experiencing” human life in the form of a game, were not immersed in the game itself, which was meaningful only for the sake of observation.
At least for now, what she had to say was not something she would say while being engrossed in the game of merely watching human life.
At least her spirit had not entirely disappeared.
“All the time you spent exists only in your memory. Do you understand?” Sylphia asked.
“……”
“Rudrick doesn’t know about the time he spent with you. Of course, he doesn’t remember it either. All the time you and Rudrick spent together is like a time that has drifted away, isolated from him.”
It was cold, but this was the truth.
At least from Rudrick’s perspective, Lassiel was treated as nothing more than a strange person who was excited and alone, and it was necessary to awaken her to that harsh reality.
“It’s not Rudrick who regressed to the past along with us five. Don’t make a fuss about it alone. It will be better for you too.”
“…Yeah.”
“If you understand, that’s enough. Then find a way to get close to him on your own. Don’t keep imposing yourself on Rudrick like this.”
Leaving those cold words behind, Sylphia turned around and brushed past Lassiel.
In the empty corridor of the separate palace, Lassiel, who had been standing still like a statue for a long time, let out a deep sigh.
“Haa……”
She knew it too. She could understand those words in her head. She had just been forcibly ignoring it until now.
“You nasty girl. If you’re going to say it, at least say it nicely. What’s the harm in that?”
Lassiel, leaning against the wall, let out a hollow laugh. And she grumbled.
“It’s like poking a wound with a needle.”
Lassiel shrugged her shoulders weakly. Although she had grumbled, Sylphia’s advice was realistic, and Lassiel was not so weak as to crumble just by being reminded of the truth she had been trying to avoid.
Pretending to be nonchalant, Lassiel began to walk again.
Now that she had realized that it was not wise to suddenly visit and act friendly like this, she intended to find her own way, as Sylphia had suggested.
And at the corner of the corridor in the separate palace.
A cat with silver fur peeked its head out and stared intently at the scene.
Until Lassiel’s footsteps, which she was trying to make energetic, faded away from the corridor, the amethyst eyes did not miss her retreating figure and captured it in those eyes.
After a while, when Lassiel’s figure had completely disappeared from the corridor.
The cat that had been watching muttered softly.
“…I was quite fortunate.”
It was a rare sight to see a cat shaking its head like a person and muttering to itself, but at least there was no one watching.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
