I Tried To Be Her Loyal Sword

Chapter 3

CH 3

Apparently, I was a bit too harsh today. I mean, he wasn’t making fun of me… It was surprising that L, a high-ranking official of the Temple, did not point out my rudeness.

“Well, I have made a mistake. I’ll definitely call you L from now on.”

As I was embarrassed by the droplets of water on his eyes, I pulled out a handkerchief and handed it over to him. Probably dozens of them would be spilled. I was worried that L, who was soft-hearted, might have been hurt.

Come to think of it, I feel comfortable around L.

I nervously watched L at the sudden thought. He, who was in a higher position, showed his faith to me, worrying about my wounds as proof that he was friendly to me.

“What are you doing now?”

“Mmh? I sat down because you told me to.”

“What I meant was to sit on a chair. Why… why are you kneeling on the floor?”

Suddenly, I remembered my first meeting with L. That day I was confused in many ways.

When I first visited Helene, after receiving a call from the mercenary guild that L wanted to make a deal with me, I was very discouraged by the shining building.

The common people and the nobility must not sit in the same place.

As a commoner mercenary, I was used to the tyranny of the nobles. No matter how heroic I was and that I became one of the only three Swordmasters of the Empire, I was just a commoner to the nobles.

Most aristocrats felt pleased when I was kneeling in front of them. I had to satisfy their low pleasures to make money, and I thought L called me to experience that kind of satisfaction too.

“Oh, come on… Don’t do that, please.”

I could still remember the embarrassment of that time. L cried like a child when I knelt in front of him.

I was so embarrassed by the situation, where a man I met for the first time burst into tears, that I hugged him and even comforted him. Now that I thought about it, L and I have had a strange relationship since the moment we have hugged in the first meeting.

“I, I wanted you to be happy…why… why are you showing me this. You’re supposed to be proud, you used to be like that.”

L, speaking of such nonsense, didn’t point out my rudeness of touching him. Actually, considering his size, I was hugged by him.

I still remembered his watery look and the thick scent of lily… and covered by tears, his silver eyes glistening with obsession.

Although his eyes were a little strange, L, who was crying, was absolutely beautiful.

A holy and pure heart, and a crystalline good will. An infinitely soft and weak creature. He was beautiful like a butterfly’s wings that could be broken if you touched them.

When I first saw L, I thought he was an angel.

“Don’t ever kneel in front of me. Don’t bend or lower yourself. I’m not a nobleman, and I’m your servant before that, so please just be yourself in front of me.”

I felt then. This client was a very nice and tender person. With a strange sense of deja vu, I felt like I knew him, but I couldn’t question him. He was too nice for that.

I usually kept my distance from the clients, but he was the only exception.

I sighed deeply. I had already become too close to L. He was a dear friend.

I wonder if he’d been hurt. L was an incredibly soft-hearted person and I was worried that my words might have hurt him greatly.

As I sat while stealing a glance, L, who was wiping his eyes with the handkerchief I gave him, smiled. Those silver eyes contained such a wild flame that I slightly turned away.

“We are meeting as client and employee, but I still want to get closer to Shushu.”

(tl/n: Shushu is her nickname)

L, who was staring at me with still tears, slowly covered the back of my hand. The big hand was warm. He gazed at my complexion, confirming my displeasure.

Now I’m used to this.

Even though I usually didn’t have much physical contact with others, his touch didn’t feel bad. With a slight nod as consent, he held my hand and put it on his cheek. It felt strange to touch a cold mask, instead of a warm cheek.

“You have to call me L. I want to be called that by Mir.”

L’s eyes were curled up. As I always thought, it was a pure angelic face with no evilness behind it.

I nodded, thinking whether the warmth from his hand had reached my ears.

***

“Why don’t you eat more?”

“It’s all right.”

It was the meal that followed the previous argument. As always, the meals at Helene were so expensive that I wondered if I could eat them.

“Don’t forget to bring your food at the counter when you go.”

L recommended it in a sweet voice. He, who was worried about me being thin, would pack Helene’s food whenever he met me, asking me to eat well.

At first, I had refused due to my embarrassment, but if I wouldn’t, I was frightened to hear that he would send Helene’s main chef to me every day.

I’m fine, but I want Aria to eat.

Helene’s food were all delicacies. Aria, who usually ate little, used to eat Helene’s food well, so I begged him to give more. There was no such thing as pride in me anyway.

“……Thank you as always.”

“I have to thank you. Thank you for allowing me to follow the precious will of God.”

L, smiling brightly, was like a shining sun. I wondered if the benevolent sun god was in reality, L. Somehow, my heart was moved by his kindness, so I laughed quietly.

Watching the waiter cleaning the table, he wiped his hands thoroughly with a wet towel prepared in advance.

“Do you want to do it now?”

When I asked, L smiled brightly and nodded. I pulled a chair and sat next to him.

“Will you hold my hands?”

I stretched my hands in front of him. As I lowered my eyes shyly, L gently held them.

His big hands covered my hands easily, hot warmth filled my hands.

This was the strangest part of our odd deal.

“If you really want to repay me, can you hold my hand?”

After the third meeting, this was the answer I received after I had asked if there was anything more I could do because of the guilt of being overpaid.

I accepted it without hesitation because it was fine to hold hands, and afterwards, we spent some time holding hands after every meeting.

“Is life in the temple very lonely?”‘

To ask a mercenary to hold hands, L seemed very lonely. The priests I had met before weren’t good people, so maybe the innocent and good L was being ostracized in the Temple.

Maybe like that child.

I bit my lips at the sudden memory of the past.

A few years ago, I saved a boy who was ostracized in a temple. An almost dead black-eyed boy. Perhaps because of that, my perception of the Temple wasn’t very good.

How is he doing?

In fact, the memory of the boy wasn’t very good but a sad, bittersweet memory. I blinked slowly and looked up at the man in front of me.

Our eyes met. The only part that wasn’t covered by the mask was the sparkling silver eyes.

They were different. Black eyes that seemed to hold all the misfortunes in the world and silver eyes that sparkled with innocence. L, who was infinitely good, and a boy with a dirty personality who lived in the back alley.

It was incomparably different.

But why do I overlap them?

Maybe that was the reason why a close person like me, opened up to L easily.

The kid and L… they looked so overlapped.

“L, is there anyone in the temple bothering you?”

It was an impulsive question.

L’s expression hardened and his grip straightened.

“No one in the world can bother me anymore, Mir.”

I looked at him in surprise at his cold voice. L, who was embarrassed by my expression, laughed hastily.

“Oh, I’m not…. That’s fine with me. No one is bothering me.”

I couldn’t help but feel that his voice was quite stiff. It was a strange reaction.

Oh, you don’t like to talk about this.

I didn’t want to dig into what L didn’t want to reveal. Nodding as nonchalantly as I could, I wriggled my hands held by him. L, who blinked a few times, breathed heavily.

“Do you know? I’m always waiting for this moment.”

A low, mellow voice whispered near my ears. I felt a little strange.

“You’re hurt again.”

L whispered, looking down at my hand.

Is it still not healed?

When I fell down and recalled my past life, my skin was slightly scratched as I touched the ground with my palm.

Normally, a Swordmaster would have healed as soon as they got a wound like this.

Even though I was a Swordmaster too, my resilience and defense were significantly reduced because I became one without physical training, so only my attack power was far higher.

Like in a game, all the points are on the offense.

I sighed as I recalled that my body got tired easily.

“I’ve already been treated, but it didn’t heal completely.”

A silver light burst out from L’s hand. I watched the wonderful healing process while L narrowed his forehead with dazzling eyes.

If only divine power could cure Aria.

I bit my lips hard. There was nothing that I hadn’t tried to cure Aria’s illness, including divine power.

Treatment in the temple was only available for nobles. Me and Aria were commoners and it took a great deal of money to have access to what usually nobles have.

“For the lady, the divine power does not work at all.”

The priest, who I managed to meet using all the money I had, said so.

For some tribes, including fairies and demons, the divine power didn’t work at all.

Divine power was the symbol of the Temple. If it was known that it didn’t work, there was a possibility of being accused of heresy. Eventually, I had to spend more money to keep the priest quiet, without gaining anything.

“You don’t have to do this all the time.”

After my small wound was healed by L’s power, I scratched my head.

“I did it because I wanted to. Did you not want my help?”

Oh, come on.

L was looking at me with half-hearted eyes. I couldn’t say no.

I took a step back and watched my hand.

It’s always amazing.

Staring down at my palm, which had been cured without leaving a scar, I then looked out of the window for a moment. It was already sunset.

Aria will be worried if I will be too late.

“Thank you again for today. Do you mind if I go now?”

L, who blinked slowly, nodded with a smile.

“Sure. You must be tired. You should get going.”