CH 13

In that awkward air, Lulurun started to talk about the future.

“Reines, um, about the future,” Lururun started.

“Wha-What? The future? Oh, right, the future,” Reines said.

It was a lie to convince Cain and the other knights. They knew it was a lie, but Reines can’t stay calm after having kissed Lulurun from the momentum.

“For the moment, tell the people in the city who watched the battle that it wasn’t you fighting,” Lulurun said.

“Isn’t such a lie going to be found out soon?” Reines asked.

After the rumors already had time to spread by word of mouth, Reines did not doubt their strength. Lulurun’s proposal, however, she did.

“I’ll cast cognitive obstruction magic on the citizens,” Lulurun said.

“Cognitive obstruction?” Reines asked.

“You could think of it as a spell to replace what people saw with something else?” Lulurun explained.

Cognitive Obstruction Magic is a type of mind-altering magic, which transforms people’s memories of Lulurun from a “blue-haired girl” to a “green-haired old man,” making a smokescreen for the incident.

“You’re going to manipulate people’s memories?” Reines asked.

“It’s not something so terrible, I’m not erasing their memories, I’m just tricking them into thinking something else with my magic,” Lulurun said.

“I don’t know about that, doesn’t that still sound pretty evil?” Reines asked.

Lulurun couldn’t understand what Reines was so worried about until she explained she was wondering if it would harm the affected.

“It won’t hurt the targets, it’ll be fine,” Lulurun said.

“That sounds alright… but, it could also be that you’ve already cast that magic on me to convince me, Keisuke?” Reines asked.

“You know I couldn’t do that, Reines,” Lulurun said, “you listened to me and believed me even without that spell.”

With the display of trust, Reines believes Lulurun and drops the subject.

“Anyway, I’ll do something about it, so it’ll be fine, you know,” Lulurun said.

“…”

“What’s wrong? Can’t you trust the magic that you don’t know of yet?” Lulurun said.

“That’s not it,” Reines said before she bowed.

“What? What’s going on now?” Lulurun asked.

“Once again, I apologize for the disrespect shown by the Order of the Holy Empire, and from the First of its ranks, I ask for your forgiveness.”

Reines apologizes for Cain’s domineering attitude, the other Knights, and the serious disrespect Reines had shown for attacking Lulurun and thinking she was a witch.

“It’s alright,” Lulurun said. “I’m used to things like this.”

When she started the company and jumped into the business world, she often remembered the old days when she was treated like this. Suddenly being yelled at and ridiculed, was terrible and exhausting.

“Forgive my rudeness, but Cain is an honest man like I am as well,” Reines said.

“I get it, truly,” Lulurun said.

She could understand the Order of the Holy Empire, though only vaguely.

It’s bigger than she thought, Reines is a special member, their goal is to protect the world from the threat of witches, and they’re like police officers who have been granted judicial powers far beyond common sense as Lulurun knew it.

“It’s a pain in the ass to get involved with them…” Lulurun muttered.

“What are you going on about?” Reines asked.

“No, see, if I’m going to get involved with them, I’d rather it be you, Reines,” Lulurun said.

“Wha-What are you saying?!” Reines sputtered, embarrassed and alert at the mysterious words.

Lulurun liked Reines when she was like this. A straightforward person with no ulterior motives, a rare type in her previous world.

Their first encounter may have been the worst, but Lulurun thought from the bottom of her heart that it was really for the best that she had met Reines.

“What are you going to do from now on, Keisuke?” Reines asked.

“From now on?” Lulurun asked.

“You don’t want the protection of the Order of the Holy Empire, right?” Reines asked.

“Well, yes,” Lulurun said.

What is going to happen from now on, if she’s going to live in this world, it’s an important issue to think seriously about.

“I guess so…” Lulurun muttered.

She can see herself again, a world where she was Lururun, where she could use magic again, where there existed witches, and mobile magical warriors, Yokoi Keisuke’s dream.

“I’m going to create a company,” Lulurun said.

“A company?” Reines asked.

“That’s right…” Lulurun continued. “Start a business, make use of magic to help people, create a company that leads the way, that is my immediate goal.”

That was why she came to this world, to utilize everything that wasn’t negative about magic, unlike the discrimination, the persecution, the domination, the war, and everything that already naturally existed in this world, she would use magic for its benefit instead.

It was realizing the dream Yokoi Keisuke couldn’t achieve, and she’s launching a company again for that purpose.

“I see,” Reines said, nodding and looking seriously despite how ridiculous Lulurun’s dream was.

“You’re not going to laugh?” Lulurun asked.

“I beat… it’s your dream, isn’t it, Keisuke? How could you laugh at someone’s dreams?”

“Thank you,” Lulurun said.

The smile is so pure and without evil that Lulurun smiles, too. Lulurun is neither witch nor hostile to the people here, and although she’s stronger than the First of the Order of the Holy Empire, Reines does not feel any danger from Lulurun’s strength.

For some reason, Reines began to think that Lulurun and Yokoi Keisuke was someone she could believe in, even though she was pointing her sword at her with lethal intent just moments ago.

It was the first unreasonable decision Reines had ever made in her life, but she had no regrets or hesitation in that decision.

“By the way, what’s a company?” Reines asked.

Regardless of her decision, however, she didn’t understand the important part.