Chapter 19

I had a dream.

Squish—

Even though it was a dream, the vivid and soft sensation on my cheek felt so real.

“Hehehe. This is my last wish, Kairon.”

And then, Abelin, collapsing into the snow, smiling brightly.

“Please be happy for my sake too. I’ll pray for you. Kai, Ron…”

***

The sunlight sneaking in through the window at a subtle angle.

And the warm air in the room, heated by that sunlight.

Even the sound of birds chirping outside.

Before I even opened my eyes, I realized I had overslept again.

“Darn it, I overslept again. If it weren’t for that dream…”

“What kind of dream did you have?”

“I don’t know. But it was a strange dream… Wait, what? What?!”

It was a voice I shouldn’t have heard.

As I jerked up from the bed, the back of the intruder’s head, sitting on the sofa with their back turned, came into view.

“What’s the problem? It’s fine to oversleep on a day like today.”

“There is a problem, Abelin! Why are you here again?”

“Why? Because I know how you spend the day before the wave hits.”

Abelin spoke very nonchalantly without even turning to look at me.

“You have no friends, and the only people around you are those brawny, clueless men. Even they are too busy eating and drinking all day, except for that uptight boss of yours. I can tell without even looking. You must be shedding tears of gratitude that I came to see you.”

“Who are you calling an uptight boss? No, that’s not the point right now. I’m asking why you broke into my room again! Huh…?”

What caught my eye was the teacup placed in front of Abelin.

There’s only one person in the sweaty Black Iron Vanguard quarters who has a hobby of brewing tea.

I could guess that Plymus had once again let Abelin into my room without permission.

“That Plymus, again!”

“Why are you getting so worked up? What did Plymus do wrong? He’s much better than you, uptight Kairon.”

Abelin took a sip of tea and slowly turned her head toward me.

“He’s calm, gentlemanly, and brews excellent tea… Pfft!”

“Whoa!”

But as soon as Abelin saw me, she suddenly stopped talking, her eyes widening as she spat the tea in her mouth toward me.

“Cough, cough, hack…”

“Hey, Abelin. What the heck are you doing?”

Fortunately, I managed to avoid getting splashed by the contents of her mouth.

Although Abelin’s coughing looked quite pitiful, that wasn’t the important part right now.

“This is my room! And yet you broke in without my permission and even spat what was in your mouth? What on earth did you come here for?”

“…I came to train.”

You came to train…?

Well, of course!

Abelin wouldn’t come to see me without a purpose.

She must be here to get back at me for the fight we had yesterday…!

“I came to train.”

Abelin wiped the tea from her mouth and spoke bitterly.

“…Train?”

“Did you forget? You promised to help me with my training. It ended abruptly yesterday. I came to finish it. Don’t even think about refusing! I know you train even on the day before the wave hits.”

“Can we even call what happened yesterday training? But you’re right. I do take breaks on holidays, but I never skip training. But did you really have to come this early?”

“Early? It’s almost lunchtime… Oops.”

Abelin, who had been looking at me, glanced downward and then quickly turned her head away, snapping at me.

“By the way, you should put something on. Why do you sleep without a shirt?”

“It’s stuffy. When I sleep, I want to sleep comfortably, and even the slightest tightness makes me uncomfortable.”

“If it’s stuffy, why do you always sleep under the covers? I didn’t realize you were shirtless because you wrap yourself so tightly in the blanket!”

“It’s cold, isn’t it? I have to train and fight, so I can’t afford to catch a cold. I don’t prefer sleeping with a shirt on, but a blanket is fine.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!”

Abelin was frustrated but couldn’t bring herself to look me in the eye.

Perhaps because of the coughing, Abelin’s cheeks were slightly flushed.

“Anyway, hurry up and put something on!”

“Geez. This is my room… Wait a second. I’ll get dressed right away.”

And just like that, I lost the freedom to dress comfortably in my own room.

I had no choice but to comply with the intruder’s demand and put on the first comfortable clothes I could find.

“There, is that better?”

“Thank you. Now it’s less embarrassing… Ugh.”

Abelin turned her head again and was startled by something else.

“What’s the problem now?”

“…Don’t you have any other clothes? Something thicker? What you’re wearing now is so thin that your body’s outline is clearly visible.”

“This is thin?”

I looked down at what I was wearing, but it didn’t seem that thin to me.

Although the muscles made it look a bit lumpy.

“Now you’re complaining even when I’m dressed? Do you hate my body that much? Well, it’s just hard muscles. Should I wear armor instead?”

“Hmph, forget it. It’s not… that bad now.”

Abelin, who had gotten her way with the clothes, dismissed it and calmly took a sip of tea.

Staring at me, she exhaled a bit roughly, probably still feeling the effects of the coughing.

“By the way, Abelin, you said you came to finish training with me, right? Then let’s go out. It’ll help me wake up, and sweating before lunch will make it taste better.”

“Alright. But before that…”

Abelin set down her teacup and looked at me with a calm, serious expression.

“You know this, but Commander Balthazar secretly ordered me to keep an eye on you.”

“Yeah, I saw you receiving those orders.”

“But why are you so calm about it? You know the situation isn’t light.”

“I know. But you saw it too, right? How Rajing, who we thought might be a real demon, turned out to be one, and how the Purple Crow whispered something into Benedict’s ear and bewitched him. Did you report all that?”

“…No.”

“See? I knew you wouldn’t. So let me tell you something.”

I bowed my head politely to Abelin, who responded with a surprised voice.

“Suddenly, what does this mean, Kairon?”

“I’m sorry for doubting you, even if it was just for a moment. Remember how I showed you my killing intent before fighting Benedict yesterday? I wanted to apologize for that. No matter how I think about it…”

When I looked up, Abelin’s face was a mix of confusion and surprise at my sudden apology.

It was a face so transparent that even if she tried to doubt me, she couldn’t.

Seeing that, a satisfied smile naturally spread across my face.

“I trust you. Even though we’re rivals, we’re still comrades.”

As I readily admitted it, Abelin looked at me with trembling eyes, then lowered her head and muttered something in a small voice.

“…That expression is cheating.”

“Huh? What did you say just now?”

“Nothing! Let’s go, to train!”

Abelin suddenly shouted, then quickly walked out of my room with brisk steps, leaving me behind.

“Really, I have no idea what’s going on in her head…”

I picked up my sword and slowly followed Abelin, feeling like I was in a familiar scene.

“Captain…!”

Two members of the Vanguard were glaring at me with trembling eyes.

“What are you two doing here?”

“What’s wrong with you, Captain!”

“Abelin and the Silver Guards are our enemies! So why are you…!”

Thud— Thud—

“Ugh.”

“Guh…”

The two members who were about to confront me suddenly collapsed forward.

Plymus, standing beside them, had struck their heads with a teacup.

“You might get hurt if you keep this up.”

“I held back. By the way, did you sleep well?”

“…Vice-captain.”

The teacup in Plymus’s hand was the one he had taken back from Abelin.

“Why do you keep letting outsiders into my room without my permission?”

“That’s a very simple reason. We can’t let our guests stay in a shabby place.”

“What are you talking about? My room is far from fancy, isn’t it? You know it’s just a place for me to sleep.”

“Still, it’s the best room in our Black Iron Vanguard quarters. Didn’t you bring the sofa here to welcome guests?”

“That was just in case, just in case! It’s not for you to use whenever you feel like it, as if it’s your own living room!”

Plymus didn’t even flinch as I pressed him, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Captain, you’ve been talking a lot with Abelin lately, haven’t you? Much more than before.”

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“I think it’s a very good thing.”

Plymus nodded calmly.

“In the Vanguard, the Black Iron Vanguard is the strongest shield, and the Silver Guards are the strongest sword. In that sense, the two of you stopping your meaningless rivalry and getting closer is an excellent thing.”

“What, getting closer? Who’s getting close to whom… Abelin and I are just in a mutually beneficial relationship to improve each other’s skills.”

“Is that so? But that’s not bad either.”

I’ve thought about it many times before, but even as the captain, I often can’t tell what my vice-captain Plymus is thinking.

That’s exactly why I entrusted him with the role of vice-captain—to handle things behind the scenes while I take the lead.

“I’ll be back. Rest well, Plymus.”

“I hope you have a pleasant training session with Abelin. But wait a moment.”

Plymus approached me and whispered carefully in my ear.

“Commander Balthazar is looking for you.”

“The Commander…?”

In the past, I would have been overjoyed, but not now.

Suspicion about what he might be up to rose first.

“He’s not looking for you right now. He’s invited you to dinner.”

“Dinner…”

“At six o’clock. The location is the Commander’s house.”

House.

House, huh.

Naturally, I couldn’t help but recall what happened not long ago.

Sophia, the demon’s lair we raided.

I clenched my teeth tightly.

‘This is the chance. A perfect opportunity…!’