Chapter 42 – Part 2

While I rested my chin on the palm of my hand and pondered, I suddenly felt tired so I did a little stretch.

“Let’s leave the matter to the lord here. We have other work to do, and there’s nothing we can do now that we lost the kidnappers. If we can’t stop it, then we should tell the Lord to strengthen the village’s security.”

I planned to talk about this to either grandfather or father since they weren’t people who could easily be touched recklessly.

As difficult as it was for black wizards to be born, their power couldn’t be ignored. Leaving without helping them might seem cold-hearted, but I was just a Saint and not God. The best I could do for them now was to inform the Lord.

I had work to do, and I had no intention of stepping up for them.

[ I thought you would definitely try to catch the kidnapper and investigate the magic. ]

“Why would I?”

[ …If, if you ask me that, I would have no answer for you. ]

Flustered, Ignis stuttered. Frey smiled and leaned his cheek against my head.

“That’s right, noona. You don’t have to take responsibility for everything. Noona is neither bad nor selfish.”

As if he had read my mind, my shoulders twitched as his sweet voice wrapped around my ears and calmed me down.

“All humans live like that. Noona did her best before returning.”

Saying that, he lifted his cheek and tilted his head as he looked at me.

“If you still feel uncomfortable…”

“…”

“Please listen to my request. You always listen to all my requests, after all.”

“What is it?”

“Noona, you don’t need to worry unless it involves you. I am begging you. It’s not that I am telling noona to disregard them, but I am forcing you to do nothing at my request.”

Cupping my cheeks and smiling, he finished his words.

“You will do that, right? Why would you care about other people’s business?”

“…”

“They’re not going to live my life for me, isn’t it?”

“Right.”

The thought I repeatedly told myself that I was being selfish became comfortable at once.

That it wasn’t my fault, that it was only natural. How can humans live only with help [from other people]? It wasn’t my fault that I pretended not to notice them but because of Frey’s request.

It was just that…

“You only need to look ahead of you, noona. Sometimes looking at me as well.”

…He told me to do just that.

With his warm hand patting my hand, his soft consolation brought a slight smile to my face.

But still, I had to tell my father about the magic. He could get information about dark wizards as much as he was a great mage.

“Ah, you’ll only be staying for a day.”

Aideen kept looking at me and sighing, perhaps thinking that it was a pity. After the incident yesterday, I personally went to the Lord and asked him to strengthen the security of the village. I also told him to be extra careful.

Of course, while it may be useless when it comes to the kidnapper’s strength, I think it would be alright if there were a lot of people watching them. After hearing such comforting words for Frey yesterday, I started to think only of myself.

Although I was not disregarding everything at all, I was comfortable doing just this level of action.

Aideen said he filed a report yesterday though he had nothing in particular that described the kidnappers.

“Well, their hood was deeply covering their face, so you couldn’t have seen them. Did you see them?”

“I couldn’t even take a proper look at them. Well, except for the black robe.”

“…Ah, I was so distracted that I didn’t even know the color of their robe, but I will tell the guards about it.”

It was understandable since he was running in such a hurry.

Even though I went out to investigate the place where it happened yesterday, I didn’t get anything since I was satisfied that the work was done faster than expected. Nonetheless, they haven’t found anything.

We also told them about the body, saying that we overheard it by accident yesterday. However, I didn’t tell them about the magic since the feudal lord would be at risk of being harmed if he knew about it.

“I wanted to at least treat you… but that’s a pity.”

“Let’s meet again next year.”

We left the village and headed to the place where we met Regina after saying our goodbyes.

While I was glancing at the scenery outside from inside the rattling carriage, the communication tool placed in the middle flashed with a buzz. I grabbed it and pressed the center, and then I heard Lisandro’s voice with a click.

[ Noonim! You said you started traveling already! ]

“Bye, Lisandro. Let’s hang up now.”

[ Waah, you’re doing this even though we’re apart! ]

I could hear everything, even if it were only a whisper, but I pressed the button in the middle of the communication and hung up. The communication tool flashed and vibrated again immediately after that.

This time, I felt like I could hear his crying voice right next to me after some time.

[ Noonim, stop playing with me… ]

He mourned and felt desperate.

“I’ll think about it. Though why are you calling me? Are you done?”

[ Almost. There wasn’t much damage to the village, and there was nothing for me to do. ]

Through the communication device, Lisandro whined that he had no idea why monsters suddenly appeared in groups inside the safe zone.

“From which direction did the monster appear?”

[ Of course, I looked into it. And you, don’t hang up on me. ]

Even if I couldn’t see him, I could guess that Lisandro was glaring with hatred in his eyes.

“What did you find there?”

[ I found a pattern on the monster’s body, but it was too faint. I am telling you, don’t hang up on me. ]

Our Lisandro is still an idiot.

“What pattern was it? Is this your first time seeing it?”

[ It is. I’ll go there and show it to you after work here. ]

“Why would you come here? You should report it.”

Obviously, I thought he was just joking that he would be joining me. He had to return to the Imperial Capital after the investigation on his side, report it to mother and watch the progress, after which he would be instructed on what to do.

But telling me that he would come here right after the investigation is over? It is nice that you’re being a fool to your noonim, but aren’t you doing things too roughly?

I was also a little worried. I could see that mother would beat his butt with fire, and it was obvious that it would explode.

[ …Right? Does noonim like a younger brother who is good at work? ]

“It would be better if you do your best at what you do than be good at it.”

If he worked hard and failed, Lisandro would clearly be digging underground. No matter how smart of a person he was, he probably won’t be able to investigate a monster that appeared out of the blue or a pattern he had seen for the first time.

[ Is that so? Then do you like me? ]

“Do you think I would like it if you came here right away without finishing all the work?”

[ Just try and touch noonim. I won’t leave you alone, Frey—! ]

It seemed like he would report everything to mother now. Otherwise, there was no way he would be picking a fight with Frey all of a sudden.

“Huh? But I am holding hands with noona.”

[ Did this bastard go crazy! ]

“I even touched noona’s cheeks. It was soft.”

[ Frey Eckhart…! ]

Gosh, the communication device would be broken.

Frey was busy laughing at the loud noise that filled the carriage, like a really close friend, as if the things before the return were nothing.

 
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