The Stranger... Seeing the familiar face of the other person we thought it was, the two of them shouted at the same time.
"Sir!"
“Rodrick?”
The man who was secretly rustling near us was Rodrick.
He muttered, his hands brushing the leaves from his head.
"Oh, I've finally caught up."
"Didn't you go to your abode?"
Rodrick shrugged his shoulders in response to Hertha's question.
"I went there first, but you weren't there, so I came right here."
After answering, his gaze turned to me.
"But why did you come all the way here? You'll stay safe in my home and heal anyone who is contaminated."
"To increase the success rate of missions. If they are contaminated by this monster, they will immediately become incapacitated. Wouldn't it be better for me to come out and treat them right away?"
And Kishian was with me.
Knowing how good he was at slaying monsters, I didn't feel too dangerous.
It's a good thing to rely on.
"Still, it's dangerously..."
"It's okay. Or rather, did you come here as soon as you arrived at your abode? It must have been hard."
"I've gone days without sleeping, and that's hard."
"You mean when you escape from the Grand Duke?"
"Yes, I carried you on my back at the time."
When I escaped from the Grand Duke, I tasted the limits of my physical strength.
When I really felt like I was going to fall, Rodrick would pick me up or carry me on his back.
When I thought about that time. I felt like my cheeks were getting hot for no reason, so I immediately turned my words around.
"Anyway, if you're here, let's join the people. I can't stand here all the time."
"Oh, I have to go. Before that..."
He turned his gaze to Hertha.
"Go back first. We've got something to talk about."
"Hmm? What kind of fun are you two trying to talk about? What I shouldn't be hearing?"
"Yes, go ahead."
Looking at Rodrick, his hands waving like a fly, Hertha gave him a sullen look on her face, then moved her pace.
Just as Hertha was far away, Rodrick came to me.
Then he asked in a secret voice.
"You didn't run into the Grand Duke again, did you?"
"..."
I couldn't tell him that Kishian was moving in with us right now.
When Rodrick learn that he borrowed the likeness of Baron Wolfstein and approached me as if it were a coincidence, and that he has now followed me to the subjugation.
It didn't look like Rodrick was going to just stand still.
"Why don't you talk?"
"..."
"Did you meet again?"
"..."
His brow furrowed as if he had interpreted my silence as a "yes."
"Ha. I knew you would. Wait for you, he's hanging around and waiting for a chance to take you."
"No... But he didn't do much other than approach."
"You can't just sit back and watch. The paranoid patient."
"...paranoia?"
I asked in embarrassment, and he smiled at me.
"Did I say something wrong? In the first place, he thought you had a relationship with Duke Hersen, so he treated you coldly. He's still waiting for you, and he's been approaching you with good words. I'm sure he's afraid you'll meet another man in his absence."
"..."
"If this isn't paranoia, what is?"
There was nothing to argue against.
I kept my mouth shut, and Rodrick continued.
"I'm glad you came running. I heard that you were recently commissioned by Baron Wolfstein. He's also careful. Who knows if it's a minion bribed by the Grand Duke?"
The Baron Wolfstein himself is a Kishian, and I don't know when or how to reveal this.
In fact, I thought Rodrick would wait in silence for the members to return from the mercenary quarters.
So, after the extermination, Kishian would be sent away for a while, and when he returned to his abode, Rodrick and Kishian would not run into each other.
But I didn't expect it to run straight here.
As it was, it was inevitable that if they went to the place where the mercenaries were gathering and resting, the two would meet.
It seemed inevitable anyway, so it would be better to take him away and let me intercede.
"It's better to see your face than that."
He looked up at Rodrick, startled by the sudden words that came out of nowhere in his mind.
A smile bloomed across his face, as bright as a spring flower.
"I've been worrying about it since I let you go. I miss you."
"...Well, how far away we were. Can I leave my seat like this? What if the other members say something weird again? If you were possessed by me, abandoned your work, and went to your own estate..."
"I tell you to talk to them. I don't care. No matter what they say, it's more important to see your face."
When Rodrick said these things from time to time, I was at a loss.
I felt like he really had feelings for me.
And I'm well aware that I can't accept it.
"Let's go back for now. People will be worried."
"I'll be there soon."
He stopped me as I turned and was about to leave.
I stopped, unable to untie the tight fingers that were wrapped around my wrist.
I couldn't resist it, so I stopped and smiled as if I knew he would.
"I brought some snacks on the way home."
"Snacks?"
Rodrick, rummaging through his pockets, soon slipped something small into my hand.
When I checked it out, I was a little surprised.
"Oh, this..."
"Do you remember? The candy you gave me a long time ago."
"I remember it was only sold at the confectionery shop in the islands. How did you get it?"
The candy I gave him was from a well-known confectionery shop in the Islands.
It was made with the owner's special know-how, so it was impossible to find it anywhere else.
"I'm surprised. At that time, I searched around for something like the candy you gave me, but I couldn't find it. But on the way home, I happened to see a shop selling the same thing, so I asked him about it, and he told me that he had opened a second store in the South."
With a childlike smile on his face, he picked up the candy from my hand.
Then he opened the package and stuck it out to the corner of my mouth.
Are you telling me to eat now?
It was a bit difficult to refuse to accept the wrapping that had already been opened, so I opened my mouth obediently.
He was about to push it into my lips with a slightly reminded face.
Puck! Out of nowhere, his hand thrust with a violent sound.
The candy he was holding flew away and fell into the stream.
It wasn't until I saw Rodrick grab the back of my hand that I figured out what was going on.
Someone had aimed the back of his hand and thrown a rock at him.
And there was only one person who could do it.
After all, where the stone had flown away, Kishian stood.
While I froze in surprise, Rodrick glared at the man who threw the stone at him with a fierce look.
"Baron...? No, you're not a Baron, are you? The look that makes you feel dirty."
It was only then that he seemed to recognize the identity of the one who had borrowed the Baron's face.
A harsh voice, full of anger and jealousy, came from his throat.
"The Grand Duke."
Kishian took off the enchanted necklace, as if he didn't want to hide it any longer.
Soon, his true face was revealed, and the corners of Rodrick's eyes crumpled even more violently.
"Ha.. You've been following her all the way here..."
"Get away from the Grand Duchess."
Kishian commanded in a low voice.
It was a word I threw at Rodrick, and my shoulders twitched.
He had never shown such a cruel sign of his dealings with my father.
It was as if he really intended to kill someone.
He didn't think he meant to leave it alone, so his hand went to the sword on his waistband.
A twisted smile formed on Rodrick's lips.
"You're going to stab me in this situation?"
"If I don't do it in this situation, when will I do it?"
Questioning in disbelief, Kishian drew his sword.
"I saw you slap me right in front of me."
I had a rough idea of how Rodrick was trying to feed me candy in his eyes.
"Wait, stop!"
I cried out, but Kishian did not listen.
Even Rodrick didn't listen.
He motioned for me to step back, and he moved his hand to the handle of his sword.
He wondered if it would be okay to continue the stabbing, but Kishian urged Rodrick to do so.
"Pulled. I'm not happy to kill a human without a weapon."
"You pretend to be so merciful. I've already cracked one."
Rodrick shook the back of his hand, red from the stone, and finally drew his sword.
Support Novellate!
Comments
Post a Comment