Volume 2 - CH 14

Chapter 14: I Found It (R-15)

“Have you finished checking the equipment for the expedition?”

Aresh, who had finished his daily paperwork early, asked, and Orzif nodded, greatly shocked on the inside.

Truly, Aresh was a changed man.

In the past, he would never have shown any interest in such menial tasks.

“Our departure is on the day after tomorrow, so we're all set. It would be nice if the miasma disappears completely this time.”

“Yeah.”

He had never agreed to wishful thinking like this before. In the past, Aresh would just go on with his job without caring, but now he had changed, no doubt due to the influence of that otherworlder, the one who came with the saint.

“Tomorrow, the expedition team will take a break from the preparations, but what are your plans, Aresh?”

“Rest.”

His curt reply was the same as ever.

On his way to the training grounds, Orzif suddenly remembered and called out to Aresh.

“The members of the order said they are going to have a drinking party in the name of rallying up spirits, what are you gonna do, Aresh? ”

“I'll pass.”

“Well, I assumed you would say that.”

The members of the knight order would be scared if Aresh suddenly showed up at their drinking party. While there were many who would be glad to get closer with the Knight Captain they admired, an unannounced appearance by him would be close to a terrorist attack.

Well, in Aresh's case, he might want to return to his new home early too...

The mansion that Aresh had bought was in the suburbs.

Since the purchase of his new house, Aresh's work speed became even faster, and he left as soon as he finished his work.

From an outsider's perspective, he totally looked like a newlywed...well, they weren't wrong either.

Aresh didn't know what in the world it was about that worn out, otherworlder that made him fall head over heels, but he liked to maintain the status quo, which generally meant that his life was peaceful and his job got done quickly.

——Just as he was thinking this, Aresh’s footsteps suddenly came to a stop and he turned around. Orzif too, stopped in his tracks.

“Aresh? What's wrong?”

Before he could find out what had caught Aresh's sight, the man was already pacing ahead.

“——But still, even if you tell that to me...”

“Somehow, there...”

As he rushed after the man, he heard a familiar voice. At the end of the corridor, two people with a great gap in physique came into view.

They were the Captain of the Second Knight Order, Radim, and the otherworlder.

“Uwah! ? ...Urk.”

Aresh's speed went up a notch and with that momentum, he grabbed and pulled the brown cloak that had his back facing him, while the man had no clue of Aresh's presence.

The otherworlder who was suddenly grabbed... Seiichirou planted his feet into the ground and looked behind to check and then unconsciously scowled.

He must be the only man in all of Romani who made that face on looking at this beautiful Knight captain.

“What are you doing here, Seiichirou?”

“Ah...Sir Aresh...”

He had heard that Seiichirou was in the midst of a transfer to the church, but he was currently dressed in the uniform of the Accounting Department, and no matter how one saw it, it seemed as if he was going to work as usual.

“Don't tell me, you're coming here to work on your day off...”

“No, there's no way.”

Seiichirou stood up straight on his own two feet and faced Aresh.

“I only came here today to report on my progress to Prime Minister Calvader.

Since it is linked to my job, I merely decided to wear my government official uniform as formal wear.”

Looking at him replying quickly without faltering, it didn't seem like he was lying. That is, to those who did not know Seiichirou well.

“...Hmm, then why do you have the Second Knight Order's budget report in your hand?

It has nothing to do with the church, right?”

“Ah, Captain Makovskar just passed this over to me now, right, Captain Makovskar?”

“Huh?”

In front of him was Seiichirou, whose eyes, though usually dull, seemed oddly emboldened today.

As he compared them with the purple eyes of the man on the other side, which seemed colder than usual, Radim pondered what he should reply. Nevertheless, he was still the Captain of the Knight Order. He quickly calculated the outcomes and nodded reassuringly.

“Ahh, that's right.

I just saw him, so I thought I'd give it to him.”

“Ah, Mr. Sei! Did you get the budget report from the Second Knight Order? You were taking a long time to come back, so I came to pick you up~! 

I also found the documents that Mr. Sei asked for this morning, but I left them on your desk.”

Seiichiro couldn't look back for a while as he turned to face the blonde haired young man who was waving at him from some distance away.

“How many times do I have to tell you to make you understand? Is your head up there just for decoration? ”

Seiichirou was forced to hear the sermon after he was forcibly dragged away from his workplace and was ordered to be on a bed of thorns at the Knight's training grounds till Aresh's work ended.

Moreover, after being endlessly lectured, even on the carriage ride home, Seiichirou wished to retort and shut his eyes to his faults.

“However, it is true that I had gone to report to the Prime Minister.

I took the trouble to wear my official uniform and attend court. Shouldn't I at least do one or two other jobs while I am at it?”

“That won't do. You have to rest on your day off.”

Aresh ruthlessly cut him down.

After returning home, the two of them took a hot bath and finished eating, and were now sitting across the desk from each other in Seiichirou's room in their casual loungewear, because Aresh was going to lecture Seiichirou.

“More importantly, Sir Aresh, doesn't the purification expedition begin the day after tomorrow? Shouldn't you be preparing for it?”

“I've already told you this three times, Miller has already finished such things and the Knights will do most of the preparation.”

Come to think of it, he felt he had heard this before the first expedition as well.

If he remembered correctly, at that time, all the expedition clothes he had arranged for were rejected, and everything from top to bottom was selected by Aresh. He also remembered being made to ride on a horse with the man, and the embarrassment he felt from all the eyes that fell on him.

“When it comes to preparation, you have a lot more to do than me.”

“Me? But I won't be going on the expedition this time...”

If they had gathered all the mages needed for the barriers and had also brought authorised architects, he would have considered accompanying them at all costs, but he heard that they would only be performing a purification this time, so there was not much meaning in him going. And above all that, he had work to do in the church as well. There was no way he could go.

“That's why. Even though I won't be by your side for quite some time, you are still going to go to the place with the most mana in all of the city, so you would need a thorough [barrier].”

“Ah...”

He had completely forgotten about it, but the church was filled with holy idols and magic tools. Even prayers used magic, thus it was a place brimming with magic and mana. The only reason why Seiichirou was able to work normally there was solely thanks to this knight, who also happened to be a top-class mage.

“Uhh...”

“Because I have a day off tomorrow before the expedition. ——We have plenty of time.”

No sooner than he said that, Aresh stood up. Seiichirou’s gaze grew distant, as he could not escape.

He had to have a [barrier]. It was a matter of life and death.

On the other hand, knowing Aresh’s feelings, it would be strange to ask him to do so.

It was selfish of him, but Seiichirou wondered if he could make the exchange more businesslike. However, Aresh's hand became even gentler.

Laid down on the bed, Aresh ran his hands across Seiichirou's sides, through the thin shirt that made up his nightwear. The hand that held a sword was rough and calloused yet at the same time feverish.

Unlike Seiichirou who had a lower temperature due to poor circulation, Aresh has always had a high body temperature.

His warm hands slowly crept across his skin, and his lips lingered below his ears.

“Ngh..., ah, Sir Aresh...that is, ...! Tha-That's enough...”

Seiichirou turned his face away, desperately struggling to keep his breath from going rough, but a kiss on his ear made his shoulders jump.

“Don't be stupid.

There's no way I'm going to waste an opportunity to hold you.”

He softly bit his ear.

“At best, it would be nice if you learned your lesson.”

His lips drew a fiercely charming arc and then met with Seiichirou's lips.

A/N: I had just written an erotic comedy, and I was about to write about Aresh's hands touching this and that, but I decided not to do that.

TL/N: RIP to all who wanted to see nekkid hug