CH 92

[Miss Ei, by any chance… Would you mind if I told you we wanted to help?]

A soft, gentle voice that never changes. I blinked for a moment as I received the unavoidable worry in her eyes.

Since it was an unexpected thing, my answer didn’t come out right away. The reason I was surprised was that I didn’t expect Lily to readily ask if they could help.

It was because I couldn’t tell who exactly the ‘we’ in Lily’s words was referring to.

Even in the moment of silence as I was choosing an answer, Lily just waited quietly without urging me. The pain in her head when she was listening to my circumstances earlier seemed to have completely disappeared.

I don’t know if the headache really subsided, or if she just made up her mind not to show it off.

After thinking about it, I decided to just ask without hesitation. Lily isn’t one to avoid answering, and it’s a waste of time for me to weigh alone. Besides, I don’t have that much time.

“Can I be honest with you?”

[Yes.]

“Actually, I don’t think I have a good sense of how you would help.”

In fact, it’s difficult for not only Lily but also anyone else to help me. All the more in the sense that Dante would have already solved this situation if there was room for him to use his hand.

It seems like the best thing to do for my safety, but even that doesn’t work for Lily. There’s no way Dante can’t use the magic that Lily can use.

There’s no way that Lily doesn’t know what I can know. Maybe from the moment she heard about my situation, she could understand it to some extent.

But how are you talking about helping?

Lily’s face took on a troubled light for a moment as she hesitated to answer my question, and then she calmed down as if she had some answer.

[Actually, I’m not sure if it’s okay to say this without asking the person’s opinion, but I thought he might be able to use his powers in a field other than magic to protect Miss Ei.]

“Speaking of other fields…”

Aha. I finally understood what Lily was saying, and I also understood who Lily was referring to by ‘we’.

Understanding all of that, I couldn’t hide the subtle contortion of my face.

She probably doesn’t think Ivan’s superior physical abilities will help in this situation, and in the end, all that’s left is…

“…But will he try to help me?”

I wasn’t kidding, I was telling the truth, yet Lily burst into a small laugh when she heard me.

[Of course, Miss Ei.]

It would be nice if I could trust that firm remark.

***

After contact with Lily was made several times after that.

If I had to say the conclusion without having to go through every word of the story, I should have just closed my eyes and blindly believed in Lily.

So it was thanks to the person Lily personally mentioned… Kade, who said he would really use elemental magic for my safety. Besides, he said he would personally come all this way for me, who is stuck in the Magic Tower.

What? Wasn’t it that he hates me?

“Dante. Are you okay?”

“What?”

“That guy is coming back to the Magic Tower.”

Putting aside anything uncomfortable about that guy… whether it was a favor or something, I asked Dante how he was feeling. I don’t know what kind of feeling it will come to Dante to see the person who openly scratched his nerves again.

However, contrary to my vague expectationsㅡI just hope he doesn’t come, I want to kick him outㅡDante really seemed unconcerned. First of all, it’s like seeing him lowering his body to the point where he’s being petted by me.

It didn’t seem like he was in a good mood, yet he didn’t look dissatisfied with the situation either.

To be precise, he seemed like a man who compromised on something all by himself.

“I heard that he might help you get back safely, so well, whatever.”

“Really?”

“Mm.”

Well, it would be even more strange if Dante, who is more sensitive to my safety than I am, refuses someone’s help because of his feelings.

Now that this has happened, should I pretend not to know what happened then and move on? About Dante hurting Kade one-sidedly.

As soon as I thought that, Dante leaned more towards me like a pampered man.

“But I still don’t want to see his face very much.”

“That’s why I said I’d go out alone to meet him.”

“…Can’t we just have Lisa guide him and not say hello?”

Even though he followed me into the room where the teleportation magic circle was drawn, Dante continued to be annoyed. Why does he seem to be saying more and more nonsensical things day by day?

“If you continue like this, I will only meet him with Lisa instead of you.”

You know that I can’t run away like you, don’t you? After saying that, Dante left the room as if he were running away.

It’s something like that.

Unlike before, when we had to pass the road from the capital to the Magic Tower intact, now that Dante has come to his senses, I can freely use the moving magic circle. That’s why Kade was able to come here one day after he made the decision to come to the Magic Tower.

I quietly looked at the magic circle entangled with complicated formulas and figures, and took a step back when I saw light starting to leak from the magic circle. If I wait a little bit, I’ll probably see someone you know above that magic circle.

To be honest, I’m not sure what to do with Kade. After spitting out harsh words towards the injured person, we broke up without much conversation, but it’s a bit like showing hostility. But it’s even worse to welcome without reason in vain of him helping.

I think it’s true that human relationships are a series of worries. Even if I’m evaluated as a person who is somewhat indifferent to others, I definitely sympathized with those words at this moment.

First of all, if it’s a person… wouldn’t everyone be like that?

“…”

“Um, hello.”

At least if you know how to interact normally with other people, wouldn’t it be awkward when you meet again with someone you broke up with after a big fight?

I looked into the face of someone I hadn’t seen in a long time, and whom I vaguely thought I’d never see again. Just like Lily’s face reflected from the other side of the communication tool, Kade didn’t seem to have changed noticeably either.

Just… He seems to have a new set of monocles, his hair has been shortened to a bit past his shoulders, and his expression is a bit subdued.

Hmm. I decided to ignore the fact that the monocle and hair were all because of Dante.

“It’s been a while, us.”

First of all, since he was the one who came for us, to be more precise, for my safety, I greeted him politely. It was because I thought that I should pay attention to the sincerity that he came to the Magic Tower, regardless of whether it was of great help or not.

I expected that a polite answer would come, as I hadn’t seen in a long time, yet that thought was immediately discarded.

“You still look carefree without any countermeasures.”

Because his familiar way of speaking, which even omits pretense, was piercing me.

The face that I thought had been calm had returned to its normal state before I knew it. Here, the word ‘its normal state’ refers to the face that he often showed while accompanying me. His expression was frowned upon, and he had a disapproving expression on his face.

I felt that his words and attitude were still the same, yet at the same time, I felt vaguely that something had changed. It’s hard to explain specifically, but something…

Although the sharp attack is the same, the sarcastic tone feels a little weaker.

I might ask how that could be weakened, but it shows up unexpectedly.

“It’s better than getting scared in advance, well. And I’m not going to die.”

“A normal person would be nervous about facing an enemy alone.”

“Then let’s pretend I’m not normal.”

Even if I answer like this, he doesn’t put on an openly frustrated expression, it just ends with him narrowing his eyebrows a little bit. If it was like before, it’s clear that the listener would have poured out bitterness to the point of getting sick of it.

Seeing how he said I was carefree without any countermeasures, and seeing how he mentioned the fact that I was dealing with an enemy alone, it seemed that he had roughly heard about the situation from Lily.

Well, if this guy isn’t a very good person, how could he come to help me without even listening to the reason?

While I continued to think for a moment, Kade, who seemed to be looking around, opened his mouth.

“I don’t see The Master of the Magic Tower.”

“Yes. He couldn’t see you because he was busy with work.”

It’s not a lie. Actually, Dante was busy. These days he has been busy figuring out how to ensure my safety, and right now he’s probably busy trying not to make things not to avoid me.

Yet it’s none other than the first day this guy comes to the Magic Tower, and it’s a bit strange to only let Lisa go. Dante.

In fact, until this moment when this guy came to the Magic Tower, I didn’t understand what specific help I could receive. In the first place, both magic and spirits were just amazing to me, and I couldn’t understand the basics at all.

As a result of trying to understand Lily’s words in my own way, it seemed to me that, in short, I could say this.

Since spirits and magic are different fields, the spirits might be able to help in the unlikely event of a problem with Dante’s magic.

In fact, I wonder if there would be no hope in a situation where neither anyone else nor even Dante’s magic would work…

Still, I didn’t have to refuse help. That’s also the help of those who want my comfort to be safe.

As Lily earnestly requested, ‘Miss Ei has to come back safely’ several times, but there is no disagreement with that statement. I think I need to come back as quickly and unscathed as possible.

Perhaps the guy in front of me came all the way here because Lily and him agreed, right?

It would be better to keep the minimum courtesy. I made that commitment and tried to make my voice a little softer.

“How have you been?”

Right after I asked how he was doing, the gray eyes that had gone far away looked at me again.