CH 62

Location of a Crime

Perhaps because her smile was somewhat distorted, Claushezade raised his eyebrows quizzically.

Still, he didn’t change his attitude toward Sheila, who tried to behave as usual. She was relieved because being kind to her would make her slack.

“…. I believed that Claushezade-sensei would definitely come.”

“It just so happened that my next destination was the Patrol Corps, and I was on my way here. If I had stayed at the border, I might not have made it in time.”

“Hahaha, I’m sorry.”

Claushezade sighed deeply, and Sheila could only smile wryly.

When she confronted Crow in the alleyway, she pretended to let go of her weapon and cut off the blue bracelet on her right wrist.

It was a new magical tool that was given to Sheila to let Claushezade know if she was in danger as she began her field training.[1]

It was made of a thin string that alerted Claushezade to danger as soon as it was cut, and it worked. Thanks to this, she was able to ask for help from Claushezade without being suspicious.

She thought they could figure something out when he came since he said he could follow the location of the bracelet.

“…. However, I think it’s necessary to change the conditions for disarming the magical tool that sealed off your spirit arts. It must have been disconcerting for you to be unable to use magic in such a situation. I’m fully responsible for this.”

Sheila blinked, as this was the first time she had heard him speak of his own fault.

Certainly, it might have been convenient if she could use the spirit art, but after informing him of the danger, it was almost the same as using it, so she didn’t expect him to apologize.

“Um, do you mean that I can take it off in case of an emergency? That would be very helpful, but I’m still sorry for making you worry.”

“Of course, I’ll set all sorts of conditions…. You’ve been apologizing a lot since a few minutes ago. You seem to misunderstand that I am angry, but this is just you being angry with yourself. I’ve come to realize that your life is more important than keeping a secret.”

“….”

Her heart was thumping, and she was at a loss for words for a moment. She didn’t want to cry in a place like this.

She wanted him to stop being kind to her by surprise. Perhaps he was the one who misunderstood that Sheila wasn’t feeling well because of her fear.

Wanting to somehow block out her emotions, she hurriedly spoke of another topic.

“B-by the way, did you receive the floor plans for this place?”

“….. This was a floor plan? I wondered what kind of curse drawing it was.”

What he reluctantly pulled out of his pocket was a piece of tightly wrapped sheet.

As expected, the floor plan was soaked with blood and couldn’t be read at all. It was slightly crusty from Mick’s drool.

“The lady who picked it up made a big fuss, thinking that someone was seriously injured somewhere, and the town fell into a state of confusion for a time.”

“I’m very sorry!”

Sheila instantly paled, as she had no idea it would be such a big deal.

When she waved her hand around in panic, Claushezade grabbed her right hand. His gaze was fixed on the scar on her fingertip from when she had drawn the floor plan.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and gently held her hand as if he were touching a fragile snowflake. A gentle white light spilled from Claushezade’s fingertips. It was healing magic.

“However, thanks to the commotion, we were able to get this to our hands…. If you look closely, you can see traces of a site written on it, so I was able to make the connection that it might be your work.”

“Claushezade-sensei’s calmness and intelligence are admirable. I will kneel down and offer you a prayer of thanks.”

“Stop it. I don’t want to be in the position of giving you blessings like the spirits.”

The wound was warm and slightly itchy. She could feel the wound slowly healing, just like when she was treated at the practice match before.

“I hope you didn’t do anything reckless with these fingers.”

“….. I was in a fight until just now.”

“Fool.”

Unable to make eye contact with Claushezade, Sheila kept staring at the dim healing light.

She wondered if he was also concentrating on healing, so he won’t have to see her face. She must be looking very pitiful right now.

Unable to endure it, Sheila finally opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry, Claushezade-sensei.”

Once she spoke, the words came pouring out like a dam. The emotions that she had been suppressing were now stirring in her chest again.

“We fought, but I couldn’t catch him. He was a boy who was hired by the Count. He was far more skilled than me, but I feel like I used that as an excuse. I couldn’t bring myself to follow him when he ran away.”

She didn’t even know what she was talking about. Claushezade, who didn’t know the details, would be confused and unable to understand. Nevertheless, he still kept quiet.

“…. Claushezade-sensei, why is the world so unreasonable? Everyone should want to live laughing together, but that seems to be the hardest thing to do. Is my happiness, my love, hurting someone somewhere?”

The village deep in the mountains was boring, with no beautiful jewelry or dresses. There was no luxury. But instead, there was no end-of-the-world despair. Everyone loved the little things in front of them and were content with the happiness that was within their reach.

“…. I didn’t know that being deeply involved with people could be so scary.”

She felt like she was going to be overwhelmed by her emotions.

Tears slid down her cheeks. No matter how much she wiped them away, she couldn’t, and eventually, Sheila gave up. She let her tears and snot flow freely.

After a while, he hesitantly pulled her into his embrace.

Claushezade’s large hand gently stroked her head. It was a terribly clumsy gesture. She wondered if he had never dealt with a crying child before and felt it was a little funny.

“Is this okay? I have snot on my nose.”

“….. It’s annoying, but it’s unavoidable.”

“It’s unavoidable…. At least tell me a white lie there.”

“What’s the point of telling a lie to someone like you?”

Sheila agreed. It was a simple statement, but she felt as if she was being told that there was no need to cover it up, so she decided to hold on to him without hesitation.

“I simply wanted to be a knight. I wanted to be someone who could protect the people I love. But now I’m not sure anymore.”

She had come this far based solely on her admiration for Claushezade. When she thought about it, she felt like she was only chasing her ideal figure. She should’ve known that a knight’s job wasn’t all glitz and glamour.

It wasn’t like she had lost her desire to become a knight. However, if she were to express her greatest wish right now――

“――I want to save those who are hurt by crime.”

If she couldn’t eradicate crime, she at least wanted to protect their hearts.

The kidnapped children and Crow. They were in completely different positions, but somehow their wounded eyes were similar. She didn’t want to see those dark eyes anymore, no matter who they belonged to.

“…… If there is another opportunity, will you be able to catch the boy at that time?”

Sheila looked up at Claushezade’s question. She wiped the snot off her nose with his clothes as she did so, and his temples twitched, but he didn’t seem to care.

This time she was able to look straight back into his peacock eyes.

Because despite the embarrassment of her weakness, he was still able to wrap his arms around Sheila’s miserable self.

“――Yes. I’ll catch him next time.”

Claushezade’s eyes softened as she returned the affirmation with pursed lips.

“…. Good answer.”

Translator Notes:

1. It’s a bit confusing to me before since Claushezade said only he can deactivate the bracelet (that sealed off her spirit powers), but Sheila was able to cut it off to inform him of the danger. I think Sheila had 2 bracelets on her, the 1st one with the round stones that sealed her spirit arts, and the 2nd one is a blue bracelet to inform Claushezade of danger. ↵