Chapter 18

Translator and Editor: Effe and Nabi

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Chapter 18

In just one day, the weather quickly turned cold. It was a level of cold that Celine had never felt before. So, she gratefully accepted Natasha’s favor of making a fuss and bringing all kinds of furs to her.

“How the hell did you break that stubbornness?”

“It was a little difficult.”

She laughed softly. Meanwhile, Natasha clasped her right hand tightly with both of her hands and opened her mouth.

“You must be safe.”

“They are ordinary monsters. Even if I go alone, I am confident that I will not die.”

“Still, if you die, Leon…”

Natasha was startled for a moment and bit her lips.

Celine tilted her head.

Of course, if she died, Leonhardt would suffer from an inability to sleep. Natasha didn’t have to shut her mouth as though she had said something stupid.

“Yes, he won’t be able to sleep. I will make sure that doesn’t happen.”

As she stared at Celine, she slowly nodded her head.

“I can trust you. Come on, take it.”

Saying so, when Natasha opened her little pocket, a green magic stone glittered in the dark velvet.

“It’s okay because I got it before.”

“It’s a gift, and the Grand Duke is supporting your official mission with Leon, so take it.”

Celine did not refuse any further and took the pocket.

After a while, someone knocked on the door.

“Is it El?”

“It’s me.”

A heavy bass sound was heard. Natasha frowned.

“Come in.”

There, Leonhard appeared, covered in fur from head to toe as much as Celine.

“Why couldn’t you wait a moment?”

“….”

Leonhard did not respond to his sister’s teasing, though focused his gaze on the woman in front of him.

“Are you ready to leave?”

“Yes.”

Celine nodded her head and naturally took Leonhard’s outstretched hand.

“Then, I will go.”

“Be careful.”

Natasha’s last words were not a greeting or encouragement to cheer up, but a warning.

Eventually, the two immediately went down the castle tower and set off. Naturally, Celine did not have time to learn to ride a horse, so she and Leonhardt had to ride one horse together again.

Celine said, standing upright, her body shaking as the horse moved.

“I need to learn horse riding.”

Hearing her words, his disapproving voice was heard.

“Aren’t horses a living creature that doesn’t know when they’ll jump? I think it’s too dangerous.”

She shook her head slightly.

In the game, the main character was able to properly control the horse, and as long as she didn’t run too fast, she wouldn’t die. However, she couldn’t tell Leonhardt the truth about it, so she said in a bright voice.

“There will be a riding teacher, and the escort maids will protect me, so what are you worried about? I’ll make sure it doesn’t bother you.”

Leonhard sighed.

“…Okay. But, when you learn, call me.”

“You’re busy?”

“I’m not busy enough to not have time to protect you.”

Celine tried to say that Leonhard was too worried, but she shut her mouth as she recalled her own outrageous deaths he had witnessed.

He followed her answer.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, I will definitely call you, so don’t worry.”

Leonhard seemed relieved at that moment, and his body relaxed.

And so, they rode for a little over half a day and arrived in a wasteland where there were only thorns. It was laid so softly on the floor that it seemed impossible to get in on a horse.

He then stopped his words, jumped down, pulled out Rashir, closed his eyes and focused.

At that moment, Rashir’s blade turned black.

“It’s nearby.”

Celine came to her senses and followed Leonhardt. Leonhardt leaned forward on Rashir as if his eyes were on the sword, and but he looked solemn, not ridiculous.

“…Here.”

A semi-hoarse voice escaped Leonhard’s mouth.

Goosebumps swelled all over Celine’s body. She had already been through it twice, but the unpleasant aura came over her, something she could never get used to.

“Are you afraid?”

In Leonhard’s voice, there was only concern, not reproach.

“No.”

Celine looked straight ahead.

“I was just thinking that I should get used to this energy now.”

“I’m not used to it either.”

“Yes…?”

At his words, she doubted her own ears for a moment. Isn’t it Leonhardt who has defeated countless monsters in the past?

“Once you get used to it, it means you have fallen for the demons.”

Leonhard answered with a firm face.

“So, be careful.”

“Yes.”

Celine nodded her head.

The fact that she didn’t have to get used to this unpleasant aura rather put her mind at ease. In an instant, the unpleasant aura attacked them intensely.

As she immediately summoned her magical powers throughout her body, Leonhard put his hand on her back.

“Don’t pour it out in the first place. I’ll give you a signal. When Rashir turns red, then do your best.”

“All right.”

They waited for the monsters that approached from moment to moment.

After some time.

“….!”

She was so startled that she couldn’t control her trembling legs.

Fear and disgust dominated her.

The monsters approaching them were not like the flocks of beasts they had seen before. They stepped on each other and moved up to become a single mass the size of a house.

Leonhard let out a groan.

“I thought it was strange when I heard there were three groups…!”

“What, what is that?”

“A colony.”

Rashir burned blue.

“When an evolved head beats beat his cubs, that’s the way it is. Last thing I saw… Three years ago.”

Even though a few questions popped into Celine’s head, but she decided to focus her mind on what she had to do right now—pulling her magic back as much as possible until the signal came.

In an instant, Leonhard’s hand was removed from her back.

He raised Rashir and leaped into the colony.

Her eyes widened. Leonhard moved swiftly and precisely to the extent that Rashir’s trajectory looked like a shining curve and penetrated into the center of the colony. She felt a cold sweat dripping down her spine and continued to follow his movements with her eyes.

The time that felt like eons passed, and a red light burst out from the spot that Leonhard had dug. It was the signal she had been waiting for.

Celine chose her most destructive attribute.

Blue flames rose from the entire colony. A fire so massive that it even erased Leonhard’s appearance.

“Gasp, gasp…”

Celine took the last remaining magic stone from her pocket and squeezed it into her hand.

This was the first time she used so many magic stones at once.

Though she poured out her natural magic and three of the highest grade magic powers, the colony was only halved in size. At first glance, Leonhard was still struggling in the middle. And, the colony was approaching her—even faster than her pace as she steps behind.

When Celine left half of the magic stone left, the colony reached her nose.

“Come out, come out…!”

Sweat dripped down Leonhard’s forehead.

He frantically slashed and passed over the monsters, but he couldn’t get close to the core where the leader was constantly beating the young.

Three years ago, he lay ill for a month after killing the colony. It took him half a year to recover to his original state.

‘At the time, I knew it was a colony, so I was able to prepare.’

Suddenly, he thought if it wasn’t for Celine, he would have already been crushed by the monsters to the extent that he couldn’t even breathe properly, searching for the core, and a bitter smile crept across his lips.

“Ack—!”

An excruciating pain swept through his body as though struck by lightning. Leonhard was filled with joy.

He finally found the core!

‘Leonhard…’

Celine burned the monsters that stretched out to her with her magical powers and gazed at Leonhard with a piercing gaze. Now, she could see his figure fully.

He was cutting down the monsters at the same speed he first wielded Rashir. The monster had been screaming a little while ago, though seeing him swinging Rashir without shaking, she could tell that there was no problem.

She stockpiled all the magical energy to strike the leader and prayed that Leonhardt would not be hurt in the slightest.

Leonhard cut down the monsters that prevented him from accessing the core with a single swing.

The end was right in front of him.

‘Finally…!’

Finally, a red, glowing, human-sized egg appeared before his eyes.

Leonhard immediately stabbed Rashir into the egg. At that very moment, the monsters that were still clinging to each other and maintaining the mass were scattered.

‘Now, Celine is safe.’

He thought as he poked Rashir deeper and deeper into the frantically vibrating egg.

Now, it was a battle between him and the leader monster.

—Craack!

At that moment, the egg was completely cracked.

Leonhard’s eyes fluttered. Something that looked like a human was lying among the scattered eggshells.

…No, it was a baby.

Naturally, he held up Rashir without hesitation.

However, his hand movements were a little slower than usual, and he gave the leader monster enough time. The newborn immediately expanded into a hideous maggot with horns growing all over the place and rushed to him.

It was a fleeting moment.

Leonhard knew he was going to get hurt badly.

If he got hurt, who the hell would protect Celine…?

After a brief moment of the heartbreaking question, a flash of light from Celine engulfed him. At the same time, as a vast flow of magic was felt, Leonhard’s mind went through a brief stop.

When he came to his senses, he had already fully inserted Raashir in the center of the leader monster without a single wound. He then immediately turned to Celine as soon as the leader monster started to droop.

“Celine…!”

A sound similar to the screams of a beast erupted from his mouth.

Five or six broken horns pierced her body.

His heart stopped at the realization. That level of magic flow could only be felt right next to the wizard…

He knew he was going to get seriously injured, but the reason he didn’t get hurt was because…

—Thud!

Rashir fell to the ground.

Leonhard immediately turned to Celine, who had already collapsed. He pulled the horns out of her body and hugged her. Unfortunately, Celine’s consciousness had not yet left her body.

“Why… Why!”

Celine opened her mouth. Soft whispers reached Leonhardt’s ears.

“…You’re handsome… It’s a waste of scars…”

The few minutes between her death and her rise to life were the longest waiting in his life.

Celine’s blue-gray eyes blinked.

“Cel…”

“I’m more useful than you thought, right?”

“….”

Leonhard did not answer.

Because no words could explain his feelings.

***

Celine swung over the horse, wrapped in Leonhard’s cloak.

Since the sun had already disappeared over the horizon, as he insisted that they depart after the phantom pain was gone.

“…Isn’t it cold?”

Leonhard even took his hat off. She couldn’t see his face because he rode the horse half-hugging her, even though he must be freezing in this cold.

“Better than you freezing to death because it’s cold.”

Leonhard answered bluntly, groaning as a little warmth warmed him up.

“What are you so surprised about?”

Celine laughed a little before opening her mouth.

“I am a wizard.”

“Isn’t it hard? Magic…”

“Ask if it is difficult for you to breathe. That kind of heat consumes very little magic power.”

“…Thank you.”

“What?”

Celine shrugged her shoulders and blinked her eyes in surprise at the chill that passed before her.

“Leonhard, it’s snowing!”

Snowflakes slowly fell from the sky.

“It’s the first snow.”

She didn’t care about Leonhard’s muttering about ‘why now.’

As she died every day alone in the dreadful mansion, Celine thought that she would repeat the painful death countless times at the first snow. However, now, a warm garment wrapped around her, and magic could warm her.

Above all… She was no longer alone.

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