The Guardian Knight of Affection-Starved Young Ladies

97 – Plache (04)

098.

Splash.

Splash.

It was a place that might be a cave, giving quite a beautiful impression.

A softly flickering light.

Stones as clean and sparkling as mirrors filled the surroundings.

Crystal cave.

That might be a fitting expression.

And in those mirror-like stones filling the crystal cave, the figures of a boy and a girl were reflected.

The girl seemed to have lost consciousness, and the boy, carrying the girl on his back, headed towards the inside of the cave.

Had they fallen from the waterfall that covered the entrance of the crystal cave?

Whenever he moved, water dripped down, and his legs limped as if they were uncomfortable.

The boy, Kallen, carried Laris on his back and headed towards the inside of the cave.

It was a great relief.

To die as it was, or to jump into the waterfall hoping for a tiny miracle.

At that crossroads of grim choices, Kallen managed to pick the right answer.

No, the word ‘right answer’ seems somewhat lacking.

Something with an incomprehensible, sad expression gave its back to the silently manifested magic.

Although they managed to survive, the price of throwing themselves into the Latia Falls was quite high.

They somehow dispersed the ice spears by weaving them into numerous branches, but the water pressure of the Latia Falls was not something easily overcome.

Moreover, they had to protect Laris, so it was a miracle they survived like this.

Kallen entered the cave and soon found a suitable hollow, approaching the wall.

After laying Laris down against it, Kallen also leaned his own battered body against the wall.

There was no worry of frostbite since there were no drafts in the cave, but Laris was unconscious, which was a different matter.

Though they had become a ragged mess in the waterfall, Kallen took off his still warm upper garment and covered Laris with it.

Confirming that Laris’s slight trembling had subsided, Kallen closed his eyes while leaning against the wall.

It was a strange thing.

If there had been any sign, they could have responded.

But that incomprehensible something appeared literally out of nowhere.

It was different from the déjà vu felt before entering the spray.

When Kallen closed and opened his eyes while looking at Laris, it existed there as if it had always been.

“…Magic.”

And that explosion magic.

Even that is full of mysteries.

If it were magic, one could not nod in agreement.

Rather, it felt more like some kind of spirit magic.

If they hadn’t communicated with Felicius and Tiasse and broken through the fourth dimension, they wouldn’t have noticed and would have been swept away by the explosion.

Kallen looked down at his left hand, which was stained with blood that wouldn’t easily come off.

The necklace that Laris had been wearing was slightly stained red and held in his left hand.

He had grabbed it when it was blown out by the explosion upstream of the waterfall.

Even in the chaos, he had acted unconsciously, which seemed absurd, and Kallen let out a small chuckle.

As he did so, he naturally looked at Laris.

Laris, covered with Kallen’s upper garment, was quietly closing his eyes, looking so peaceful that one might wonder if he was sleeping.

That appearance was somehow familiar.

Kallen let out a long sigh and deepened his smile.

How is it that every time he gets involved with girls called young ladies, it ends up like this?

Unintended, once-in-a-lifetime events have already happened four times.

If things had gone according to the original plan, they would have provoked the Lyle merchant group into a battle, using it to fulfill the ‘life-threatening crisis.’

But Laris had only desperately wished to fulfill an old desire, and it seemed to be drifting further away from his mind.

Even if the original plan had been followed, it would have fulfilled the life-threatening crisis but not filled the beautiful scenery that becomes the landscape of the mind.

Perhaps this way had more potential.

But then again, who would throw themselves into the Latia Falls?

If he hadn’t discovered this crystal cave hidden behind the massive waterfall, Kalen himself would have been a dead man.

His heart pounded rapidly, and this dizzying sensation that he never got used to, even after experiencing it for the fourth time, pierced his entire body.

Should he deal with it right on the cliff, or escape the explosion by fleeing to the Latia Falls?

If he had been even a little late, he wouldn’t have felt this dizzying sensation.

Kalen bet on himself at that fleeting moment.

And once again, he won.

Kalen, like someone with a slight mental discomfort.

Leaning his head against the cave wall, he chuckled.

As expected, the winner of a life-threatening bet was always himself.

*

“…Kuk.”

Flinch.

“…Kukuk.”

Flinch, flinch.

“Ah…”

Srrrk.

While Kalen was savoring the euphoria of an unbreakable victory.

Laris, who had been frowning as if something was noisy, quietly opened his eyes.

“Kukukuk…”

Blink, blink.

When he opened his eyes, what he saw was Kalen, with his head tilted towards the ceiling, leaning against the wall.

With his upper body exposed, chuckling like a madman.

“…”

Laris stared blankly at that sight for a long time, then quietly rolled his eyes to look around.

A cave filled with softly shimmering stones, like beautiful mirrors, all around.

Laris covered by someone’s upper garment.

And finally, back to Kalen, who was chuckling with his shirt off.

“…”

Laris’s eyes darted between the garment covering her and Kalen’s bare body.

…Whoosh.

“…Hic.”

Laris was so startled that she hiccuped.

Stop.

“…”

“…”

Kalen, who had stopped chuckling, slowly opened his eyes.

He tilted his head slightly towards Laris, who was covering her mouth beside him.

Laris, with her eyes wide open, covering her mouth.

Kalen, likewise, stared at her for a moment before calmly asking.

“Have you come to your senses?”

“…C-calm…?”

“Then please return my clothes. It’s starting to get cold.”

“Ah, ah. Yes…”

Laris tilted her head several times in confusion but obediently followed Kalen’s words.

As Kalen put on his clothes one by one, Laris couldn’t help but ask.

“Why, why were you laughing…”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

But Kalen just spoke quietly.

Laris blinked a few times and nodded.

“Thank you… for covering me with your clothes.”

“Yes. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“But here…”

“I found a cave hidden by the waterfall. The enemy might still be chasing us.”

Laris, who had forgotten the heat in her head, recalled what had happened on the cliff.

There had been a huge explosion, and she had fallen into the waterfall, held by Kalen.

Seeing that I’m still alive, did I faint in the middle?

Laris suddenly recalled the moment just before falling.

Something with a bizarre expression, a sad face.

What was that?

It was an open field where there was no place for anyone to hide.

Since only Kalen and Laris were there, it couldn’t be explained unless it literally fell from the sky.

The explosion must have been caused by that bizarre thing.

Because of that, Kalen’s back…

“Ah…!”

Laris recalled up to that point and moved urgently with a short cry.

“Kalen…! Your back…?”

Zing.

The body, which seemed fine, just fainted, was shaking.

Laris staggered and asked Kalen.

“How did you see it?”

“When, when falling…”

“Hmm. It’s nothing.”

Kalen tried to brush it off as nothing.

Unexpectedly, Laris came out firmly.

“How can that be nothing…! Your skin was all burnt!”

For a moment, Laris was impressed by how closely he had observed.

Laris grabbed Kalen’s body with trembling hands.

“…Why are you doing this?”

“Look. I’ll take a look.”

“It’s fine.”

“No. It’s not fine.”

Kalen knows.

That his body is not something to be shown to anyone.

For that reason, he tried to stop Laris, but Laris shook his head even more firmly.

“If it’s because of those scars… it’s okay. I saw them by chance earlier…”

The small hand gripping the clothes tightly was trembling.

Kallen, who had been trying to stop her strongly, saw that and looked at Laris’s face.

Eyes trembling as if about to cry.

They were clearly filled with a sense of guilt.

It meant that Laris thought Kallen’s injury was her fault.

If you think about it for a moment, you can see it’s not true, but Laris remembers what she said at the top of the waterfall.

The words of thanks for going along with her stubbornness.

If the guilt Laris felt included dragging Kallen to the top of the waterfall, it wasn’t an incomprehensible emotion.

“…Let me see.”

That guess was confirmed by Laris’s trembling voice.

Kallen hesitated for a moment, then withdrew the hand that was trying to stop her and relaxed his body.

Realizing that this was permission, Laris began to slowly undress Kallen, taking deep breaths.

“Hah…”

When she first opened her eyes, she was disoriented.

She couldn’t properly see because she was distracted by the fact that ‘Kallen had taken off his clothes and she was covering herself with them.’

She only knew that Kallen’s body was not normal enough to openly show that it was not intact.

And now, as she undressed Kallen and could see in detail, she couldn’t bear to open her eyes due to the horror.

His back was already burnt and turned dark red.

Some scars, which seemed to have been there for a long time, looked more severe than the burns on his back, making it impossible to guess the pain.

Especially the blackened area near his heart and the large hole in his abdomen that had been forcibly patched up.

“…”

Just.

Just a boy around the same age as Laris herself.

She vaguely knew that the boy hadn’t lived an ordinary life, but she didn’t know it would be in this form.

Laris slowly, carefully, as if afraid it might hurt, brought her hand closer.

With that small hand, she stroked Kallen’s scars.

“…Miss?”

“…”

Laris calls herself a strong person.

That is both true and false.

Despite being a strong person who endured all the pressure from the Lyle Merchant Guild after losing her mother and sister and being ignored by her father.

At the same time, she might know, though she tries hard to deny it, that her fragile self is just a girl who likes third-rate plays.

How much pain did she endure to reach this state?

The fragile self she had tried to bury began to turn towards Kallen.

When Laris became silent, fiddling with her scar.

Kallen, feeling slightly embarrassed, wanted to divert his attention.

He didn’t expect such a reaction to something so unsightly, so Kallen lifted the necklace he held in his left hand.

“Miss. This.”

“…Yes…?”

Laris stared blankly at what Kallen held out.

A necklace with a small pearl.

The one she had buried, reminiscing about her mother, should have disappeared with the explosion on the cliff.

But Kallen had protected it.

Not only did he go along with her unreasonable request, but he also saved her life and protected something more important than life.

The boy holding out the necklace was saying that.

Laris’s expression, staring blankly at that fact, was something Kallen couldn’t understand.