Chapter 13

“Wake up.”

“Ugh…”

“Get up right now, Kairon!”

“Whoa…!”

My head tingled, and I was wide awake in an instant. Someone had shouted right next to my ear.

I jumped up from the sofa and looked around. Abelin was glaring at me, her face flushed red.

“Why are you yelling…?”

“When did you get back?”

“I asked why you’re yelling.”

“When did you get back?!”

I was slowly regaining my senses, but the more I did, the more absurd the situation felt.

What is even happening right now?

Regardless of when I got back, I just returned to my room. Why is someone yelling at me…?

“And when did you get here, Abelin?”

“Late last night. Why didn’t you wake me up when you came back?”

“I came back even later than that. Wait, why did you come over so late in the first place?”

“We made a promise, remember? You said you’d help me train.”

“Ah… right.”

I did make that promise.

But I never promised to train with you at such a late hour.

“There’s a proper time for training. What am I supposed to do if you just show up so late out of nowhere?”

“But every day is precious. The more I train, the stronger I’ll get, right?”

“Not wrong. But yesterday, you were suffering from a terrible hangover. Do you think training in that state would’ve been effective?”

“No matter how bad I feel, I can’t skip even a single day of training.”

“……”

This was why Abelin had no choice but to grow stronger in her past life.

“Sorry. I had a lot going on yesterday. So let’s make up for what we missed today. That should be fine, right?”

“Really? You’ll train with me a lot today?”

“Yeah. As much as you want. Just don’t collapse from exhaustion. But first…”

I finally got a good look at Abelin’s face.

She must’ve stolen my bed and slept soundly because her skin was glowing.

A bit of dried drool and some eye crust were just bonuses.

But it was impressive how her hair was perfectly smooth without a single tangle.

“First, go wash up. I can tell just by looking at your face that you slept really well.”

“What’s wrong with my face…? Huh?!”

Abelin’s eyes widened in panic, and she quickly turned to the mirror in my room to check her face.

Then, trembling, she suddenly covered her face with both hands and ran out, shouting.

“Forget what you saw today, Kairon!!”

Forget what? What did I even see?

I slowly walked out of the room to go wash up too.

But…

Several members of the vanguard were standing in the hallway right outside my room, looking dazed.

“Why are you all standing here?”

“Captain. What was that just now?”

“What do you mean? It’s just Abelin, someone you all know well.”

As if something unbelievable had happened, the members swarmed around me, shaking me vigorously.

“So why did Abelin come out of your room? And this early in the morning?!”

“We demand an explanation, Captain! We demand an explanation!!”

“Wait, I asked first! Why are you all here…?”

The members, their eyes spinning, were clearly out of their minds.

“That’s not important right now, Captain! We even overheard part of your conversation, and this is a matter of the Black Iron Vanguard’s survival!”

“What conversation? I didn’t say anything special.”

“Don’t lie! We heard it all. Abelin said, ‘Will you do a lot today?’ and you said, ‘As much as you want!’ And you even provoked her by saying, ‘Don’t collapse from exhaustion!’”

Something seems to have been greatly distorted.

These guys are really…

“Line up.”

“Huh?”

“Line up!”

At my sharp command, the members finally snapped out of it and lined up in front of me.

“Good. Now answer me. Why are you here in front of my room?”

“P-Plymus, the vice-captain, said something interesting was happening. So we came to check it out.”

“What? Plymus said that…?”

The image of Plymus, laughing heartily after putting me in an awkward situation, flashed before my eyes.

“Well, no need to hide it now. I won last time, remember? She must’ve been upset about it because Abelin asked me to help her train.”

“That proud Abelin asked you to help her train?!”

“Proud or not, we’re comrades. If we can help each other grow stronger, there’s nothing better. She came over for that last night, but she fell asleep on my bed while waiting for me, so I let her sleep.”

“……”

The members’ eyes were now filled with shock.

“Something’s off, Captain! She came over so late at night just to train together?”

“There’s definitely something shady going on! She must’ve been trying to harm you, or maybe…”

The members stopped talking.

“Or maybe?”

“……”

I asked again, but they just exchanged glances and kept their mouths shut.

“If you’ve got something on your mind, just say it. Don’t make people anxious for no reason. What is it?”

“Maybe Abelin… likes you…”

“Me?”

“Likes you…”

*Bam-*

A silver flash zipped past, and one of the members who had cautiously spoken was sent flying into the wall.

Abelin had used her signature speed to deliver a ruthless body slam.

“Hey, Abelin! What’s with the sudden attack on our member?”

“What do you mean? I just shut up a mouth that was spouting nonsense!”

“Okay, they were saying some weird stuff, but…”

Abelin’s face, now freshly washed, looked clean.

But.

“Stay still.”

“Huh? Stay still? Why all of a sudden…?”

“Stay still.”

As I slowly reached out my hand, Abelin froze in place, her eyes tightly shut.

“…… Done.”

“W-What did you do?”

“Look.”

I showed her my hand in front of her face.

“You missed some eye crust.”

“Ugh…!”

Another flash of light zipped past.

By the time I blinked a few times, Abelin was long gone.

I could see her already running far away through the window of the inn.

“Take care! See you later!”

“Be quiet, Kairon!!”

I waved at her, but all I got back was a sharp shout.

I even gave her my bed, no need to get so mad…?

“By the way, what are you all doing?”

After watching Abelin disappear from view through the window, I turned around to see my subordinates busily inspecting every corner of my room.

“Don’t mind us, Captain.”

“We’re just checking if Abelin left anything harmful for you!”

“Answer properly and hurry up. Did you find any traces?”

“…… Get out. Now.”

After kicking everyone out, I finally lay down on my reclaimed bed with a sigh.

Compared to the sofa, the bed was soft and comfortable, but…

“Ah, it smells.”

A completely foreign scent was deeply embedded in my bed.

But it wasn’t a bad smell.

In fact, the oddly pleasant scent tickled my nose in a good way.

“I should probably get it washed…”

For some reason, my eyes felt heavy again, and I couldn’t help but fall back into a deep sleep.

***

And so, I skipped morning training and it was now lunchtime.

I glanced around the dining hall, but the face I was looking for wasn’t there.

“Who are you looking for, Captain?”

“Abelin is over there.”

“…… What are you talking about, you guys?”

Abelin occasionally glanced at me, but every time our eyes met, she quickly looked away. However, she wasn’t the one I was looking for right now.

After finishing my meal, I went to the 8th squad members and asked.

“Did you enjoy your meal, Captain Kairon!”

“Yeah, it was good. Where’s your captain?”

“For some reason, he hasn’t left his room since this morning.”

“Hmm…”

Feeling uneasy, I went to Benedict’s room and knocked on the door.

“It’s me. Are you in there, Benedict?”

“…… Kairon!”

Hurried footsteps sounded, and Benedict abruptly opened the door and rushed out.

His expression and eyes looked completely out of it.

“What’s going on? Did you bring me back yesterday?”

“Yeah. How’s your body?”

“…… Fine.”

Benedict said he was fine, but it was clearly just an excuse.

“Kairon, tell me. What happened?”

“How much do you remember?”

“Yesterday, I went to the bar you told me about with Sophia. I remember drinking a lot. But after that, I don’t remember anything.”

“So you remember up to that point…”

The fact that he didn’t remember being forced to drink a sleeping potion at Sophia’s house gave me more room to manipulate the information.

But I had to choose how much to tell Benedict.

The time had finally come.

A cruel time where I had to choose between two options.

A brutal truth or a warm lie.

Faced with these two, I…

“Sophia said to tell you something.”

I smiled slightly as I added.

“She said to take it easy from now on. With training, I mean.”