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Translated By Arcane Translations

Translator: FusionX

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I was dizzy.

I couldn’t properly control my body.

I lay down for a long time, blankly staring at the ceiling.

I was momentarily flustered because my vision disoriented, but it didn’t take long for me to realize.

I had given up one of my eyes as the price for it.

Not having one eye was much more inconvenient than I had imagined.

First of all, my sense of distance was lost, but the worst was my blind spot.

As evidence, I tried to grab the glass of water right next to me and ended up dropping it.

As soon as the sound of glass shattering echoed in the sickroom, someone immediately ran into the room.

“Teacher...!!”

Her red hair shook roughly due to the rebound.

Her unstable eyes were filled with tears.

I smiled at the girl whose height had grown a lot compared to a year ago, Helia.

“Come here, Helia.”

“Teacher!!!”

Helia ran to me like the wind and stuck close to my side.

Fortunately, she didn’t rush at me, who was injured.

At least compared to before, she had that level of consideration now.

Thinking it was a good thing, I lifted my hand and stroked Helia’s red hair.

Despite not taking care of it usually, the feeling of her soft hair dominated my hand.

“Where are the others?”

“They went to Commander Yuren. Not a single one stayed behind...”

“That’s understandable enough.”

Helia spoke resentfully, but I shook my head and denied it.

Because the person who had spent the most time with them right now was not me, but Commander Yuren.

Moreover, Commander Yuren’s life was in a very critical condition.

So it was only natural for people to gather around her.

Now Helia also had to understand this.

I opened my mouth.

“Everyone has a sore thumb. Just as you cherish me the most, they simply believed in and relied on Commander Yuren sincerely.”

“I, I see.”

“Yes, and it’s not like they didn’t visit me even once, right?”

“Now that you mention it...”

“Then that’s enough. Demanding equality in affection is something that even the wisest have not been able to do.”

Helia had an unfortunate childhood.

She lost her parents, and until I helped her, she lived on rotten food.

Even in the original work, the village she lived in was completely ruined.

As a result, that distorted affection led to an excessive desire for power in the original work, and now it led to an obsession with me.

But if I teach Helia slowly from now on, her future can also change.

And that was a problem that no one else but I had to take responsibility for.

But apart from that, thanks to Helia, I didn’t feel left out.

If I had woken up and there was no one around me...

No matter what, a person would inevitably feel a little disappointed, right?

Of course, I would understand it in my head.

I got up from my bed.

“I will assist you, Teacher.”

“It’s alright. Rather, how many days have passed?”

“It’s already been a week since you returned, Teacher.”

“A week... More time has passed than I thought.”

Does that mean I was lying in bed for a whole week without moving?

Indeed, my body was stiff, and it wasn’t easy to move properly.

I slowly stretched my body and asked,

I fully understood her anger.

Her comrades didn’t just die.

They were blatantly humiliated in an inhuman state.

Moreover, her current condition was not good, even as an empty compliment.

It was only natural for her to get excited in a way.

However, in her current state, there was a very high possibility of her being defeated instead.

It was not just a serious injury, but a fatal wound to the heart.

If she wasn’t a dragon, and if the enemy hadn’t let his guard down, she would have died before I could do anything.

There was no other way.

I had to suppress her with force now.

I used “that.”

I felt a feeling as if lead was flowing from my heart.

At the same time, time stop was released.

I approached Yuren like that, grabbed her neck, and pushed her against the wall.

Of course, I controlled my strength.

When I pushed her against the wall it wasn’t a strong push either.

It was just a light shove.

Yuren couldn’t react to the sudden attack.

And now she couldn’t even remove my hand.

I silently looked at her.

Clara tried to stop me, but...

“Wait.”

“Th-that’s right. We, we should trust the commander now.”

“But Yuren needs rest...!!”

Thanking Ruby and Bayard who trusted and left it to me, I turned my head and looked at Yuren.

Yuren was glaring at me, but she didn’t say anything more than that.

“Let’s be rational. What can you, who can’t even shake off the touch of a mere human like me, do?”

“...”

“Keep your heart passionate and your head cool. That’s the basics of battle.”

“...I understand, as frustrating as it is... You seem to be right.”

Fortunately, my sharp advice had some effect on her, who was once the commander of the Royal Knights.

I silently released my hand. And immediately stopped time.

“This is really annoying.”

Damn it, I was so scared when I scolded her.

Although I had no choice but to take responsibility as the commander, in fact, provoking a dragon like this was risking my life.

It might be different normally.

But it was even more so when she was angry like now.

But I couldn’t just leave her alone.

Because she’s the one who will become the commander instead of me.

So I have to save her no matter what.

So I took a gamble.

And as a result, I somehow succeeded.

I swallowed my saliva and stood up again.

Anyway, I had to maintain a cool appearance until I handed over the commander position.

“...?”

I tilted my head.

Just before releasing the time stop, I saw Yuren’s face.

The corners of her mouth were raised.

No, it wasn’t a smile of suspicion.

It was a smile as if she was enjoying something...

But I couldn’t take a closer look.

Because time stop was released right away, and her face returned to being expressionless.

Could it be that she liked having her neck grabbed?

No way.

I must have seen it wrong.

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