CH 119

Clauschezade’s Resolve

“… Eh? What… are you saying…?”

For a moment, Sheila couldn’t comprehend what he said.

Leaving the line of fire. In other words, abandoning the battle.

As a teacher, she understood the desire to protect students from danger.

But Clauschezade was now a hero for the Kingdom of Steitz. If they lost his strength, the front line would collapse. If that happened, the royal capital would be―

‘I’m sure Clausche-sama also understands this. So, why?’

There was no way that Clauschezade, who had built up many legends, would run away. How could he abandon the people of the royal capital, the nobles, and royalty whom he must protect?

‘He said he had to evacuate me….’

Little by little, Sheila understood the meaning of his statement.

Most likely, it was ordered by his master, Felix. Protect Sheila. And to ensure that he does, he chose not to fight.

She looked up at Clauschezade in astonishment. In his peacock-colored eyes, there was determination. He was ready to cut off everything else just for the sake of one person.

Clauschezade’s calm, even ruthless, remarks made everyone fall silent. Even Zechs’ face was distorted as if he couldn’t understand. He was in wonder at the ruthlessness of the situation.

Sheila roughly grabbed Clauschezade’s arm and cleared the tense atmosphere.

“I need a moment of your time. I want to talk to you alone.”

She knew they didn’t have much time.

Still, Clauschezade must be persuaded. It was no exaggeration to say that whether he participated or not would determine whether they win or lose.

No one disagreed, probably reaching the same conclusion.

“――I understand. I’ll be treating him in the meantime. I can’t heal fatigue or mental exhaustion, so I can only heal his abrasions.”

Leidyrune, who specialized in healing magic, indicated with his chin to the border guard who was on the verge of fainting from exhaustion.

Jornwerner then pulled out from his pocket a magic stone and a suspicious-looking lump of steel. The magic stone was a bright red color and appeared to be quite pure.

“Well then, I guess I’ll try my best to set a trap. Just like Sheila-kun said, this place is the most suitable for intercepting demons.”

After thanking the two of them, Sheila started walking, dragging Clauschezade along with her.

Once they reached the entrance to the forest, around where the horses were tied up, Sheila stopped and glared at Clauschezade.

He was as expressionless as ever. No wonder Zechs felt he was being ruthless.

Sheila gently reached for Clauschezade’s right hand. Her fist trembled slightly as if she was holding back her fury.

“I know that you’re just following Felix’s orders. But this is an emergency. Aside from myself, Clauschezade-sensei’s help is absolutely necessary.”

“It’s precisely because this is an emergency that I have to get you out of here as soon as possible.”

“If we don’t hold them off here, the demons might enter the royal capital, you know? Maybe even Felix will be harmed. So?”

“Even so. That’s the order Felix-sama gave me.”

“…..”

His top priority was to protect Sheila Danau. Even if it was in exchange for the safety of the royal capital?

‘Am I making you choose such a difficult decision?’

Sheila felt like crying and her voice was hoarse.

“Please, Clauschezade-sensei. Please let’s just fight here. You want that, too, don’t you? You’re not going to just run away when the capital might be in danger―”

“I’m here to protect you.”

He interrupted, rendering her speechless.

Various emotions seemed to flicker in Clauschezade’s eyes when Sheila saw him up close.

“That is my mission.”

Clauschezade turned his back to her, as if no further questions and answers were necessary. Sheila put all her strength into her hands, trying not to let him get away.

“…. The knight I admired so much is not the kind of person who would so easily abandon a life that can be saved…!”

Sheila’s words turned into an accusing tone of voice, and regret bled from what she just said.

She understood that it wasn’t easy. It was also a tough decision for him. Sheila knew very well from their relationship so far that he wasn’t the kind of person to be so cold-blooded.

‘That’s why, please don’t give up.’

He was willing to carry the heavy burden of the lives he had abandoned. He must have decided that this was the path he had chosen for himself.

Sheila didn’t want him to live with such a heavy resolve. She wanted him to be happier than anyone else. She wanted him to be at peace, and, if possible, smiling.

‘Ah. I see, I’m―’

In a blink of an eye, a tear rolled down her eye.

“I…. love you.”

Her thoughts unconsciously came out of her mouth. After a beat, Clauschezade slowly turned around.

His bright peacock-colored eyes widened slightly. The silence came unexpectedly, and the sound of the rain echoed.

…. When did the feelings grow? Sheila was generally so thick-headed that she wouldn’t have noticed such strong feelings.

Initially, she thought she only had genuine respect for him from an early age.

Was it that moment when they met again at the academy that Sheila was captivated?  Or did her feelings gradually build up after they had a teacher-student relationship?

A person who was strong and could live without depending on anyone.

A person who, because of that, was lonelier than anyone else.

‘I want to protect him. If this person doesn’t take care of himself, then I’ll protect him with all my heart.’

Since when did she start wishing for such an arrogant thing? Shallow, wishful thinking.

Perhaps because the rain never stopped falling, her fingertips were terribly cold.

The puddle of water spreading out at their feet seemed to create an unbridgeable gap between them.

Sheila bit her lip.

She shouldn’t have said that, no matter what she thought. Her heart ached because even though his expression hadn’t changed, she could tell that Clauschezade was at a loss.

“I’m sorry, I’m….”

“P-Please wait!”

Sheila panicked and tried to cover his mouth, but she couldn’t bring herself to touch his lips, and so, her hands flailed around.

“I know you don’t see me as a woman. It’s just that my true feelings leaked out. I’m sorry, this is an emergency. But please don’t say anything definitive yet.”

If Sheila received the final blow now, something inside her would be broken.

Clauschezade turned away from Sheila, who was desperate to postpone the conclusion while covering his mouth.

“…. Did you mean it?”

“I can’t deny it. Because it’s the truth.”

That much was clear to her, and Sheila regained her composure. Clauschezade was still unusually confused, but there was no time to worry about it now.

“Clausche-sama, I became a knight to protect someone. I wanted to protect the people I love. If we don’t fight now, someone might get hurt. And that person might be someone important to someone else.”

Seeing Sheila’s determination, Clauschezade’s expression became sincere.

“I know I’m not strong enough to protect everything. Even so, I hope I can stall for time while we wait for reinforcements. Since I don’t use magic, there’s no limit to the amount of mana I can use. Surely, it’ll be somewhat useful.”

Sheila had thought many times that she wanted to protect what she could with her own hands. When she was feeling helpless during the summer training, and when she was thinking about her career path.

“I’m not so weak that I need to be protected by you all the time.”

Sheila had endured a year of grueling training. She was still a novice, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t grown.

What was the point of running away here and now?

With her yellow-colored eyes sparkling like flames, Sheila looked at Clauschezade.

“Clausche-sama, please believe in the students you have raised!”

She wouldn’t be a liability. She hoped that one day she could stand side-by-side with him.

It might have been only a short time that he gazed at her thoughtfully.

Clauschezade took a deep breath and looked straight back at Sheila.

“――It’s a knight’s duty to protect the Kingdom of Steitz. The same can be said for you, the students of the Steitz Academy.”

“….! Then…”

“I agree with your idea of intercepting the demons here, but it’s too sloppy. We’ll have to work out the details.”

“Yes!”

Sheila, smiling, trotted after Cody and the others as they walked back toward the waiting group.