Chapter 62

“Akma…….”

Lars rested his chin in his hand.
When he sighed and lay down on the bed, an unpleasant creaking sound spread through the room.

“You were far too careless for someone like you, bro.”
“I will not deny it.”

Lars closed his eyes and frowned.
The hand that had been propping up his chin moved to his forehead, then to his temple.

“At the time, it had not been long since you went through that incident…… Anyway, it makes sense that your judgment would have been clouded.”
“…….”
“In any case, it is fortunate there is no problem now.”

Lars let out a deep sigh.

“Han…….”

For someone who knows how to walk to learn how to run, they only need to put in effort.
If they keep walking diligently, at some point they will naturally begin to run.

However, that is limited to the level of running.
The method of flying through the sky that lies beyond that.
That is not something one can learn through effort alone.
Innate talent, utmost effort, and luck.
Only when those three elements come together can one master that method.

Those who have mastered that method and gained wings.
Such people were called Sword Masters or archmages.

According to Lucas, that group possessed at least two such people.
It was impossible to know what their additional forces might be like, but…….

‘Bro was right to avoid a clash.’

The battlefield was this world.
Worse, their opponents were people who did not care what happened to this land.

In every battle, the side that has something to protect is at a disadvantage.
Being unable to focus on combat because one must protect others.
That alone is an enormous penalty.

Blue Mana rippled around Lars’s eyes.
His pupils moved busily within it.
Reflected in his eyes were not the old ceiling of the inn room, but scenes from across the empire passing by rapidly.

“As expected, nothing.”

Even after examining the empire, he could not feel any beings carrying unusual energy.
Even if someone hid their traces with magic, some small trace was bound to remain.
But he could not find even that.
It seemed that at least the part where the woman named Miho said they were not beings of this place was true.

Lars clicked his tongue and withdrew his Mana.

Creak.

The door to the room opened, and Serpens came in with a happy face.

“All I did was put food in my mouth, and yet I feel this much happiness. A life where you can smile over small things truly is a happy one.”

The boy walked around the room with light steps.
As Serpens’s restless movements became distracting, Lucas blankly stared into the air.

“Kid. Do you know how much the food you ate cost? Your happiness is not small at all.”
“It isn’t about the cost of the food. Eating food itself is what makes me happy.”

Serpens jumped into the empty space on the bed where Lars was sitting.
The bed shook as if it might break, but the boy did not care and rolled from side to side.

“So, Lars. Where is our next destination?”

When Serpens asked, Lars answered immediately, as if he had been waiting.

“I’m thinking of heading north.”
“North……? Ah, the area where that Academy was?”
“That’s right. But my destination is beyond that Academy.”
“Beyond it……. You mean that big mountain covered in snow?”
“No. The sea beyond that big mountain.”

Serpens grimaced openly

The sea.
Just thinking about it made his stomach queasy.
To think he would have to suffer that damned seasickness again…….

“That won’t be easy.”

The boy scratched the back of his head hard.
The time had come to steel his heart.
Had he not gone through pain close to death several times while training with the two people before him?
Compared to that, dizziness would surely be easy to overcome.

“…….”

It had to be.

“You should be more curious about your destination than mine.”
“……?”
“I told you. ‘I’ am going north.”

Serpens tilted his head.

“We aren’t traveling together anymore?”

The boy’s gaze turned to Lucas.
Lucas nodded instead of answering, and because of that, a faint shadow fell over Serpens’s face.

“You heard during the meeting. Our strategy is similar to bursting a balloon. To do that, what did we need to do?”
“We need to apply pressure in several places.”
“Right. To do that, it makes sense for me to go north, and you and bro should remain here and protect the capital.”

Serpens reluctantly nodded.
The regret at parting felt greater than he had expected.

“Protecting the capital means Lucas and I will be staying here for a while?”
“Until you kill the monster that will appear near the capital, yes.”
“Aha…….”

The boy’s eyes swept over the inn room.
Four creaking beds.
Four small desks placed beside each bed.
Curtains covered in dust that made him hesitate to open them, and a musty smell filling the room.

‘This much is heaven.’

It was a hundred times better than the ground that made his back ache and the back alleys full of the smell of garbage.

But Lars misunderstood the boy’s gaze.

“Don’t worry. Starting tomorrow, we’ll stay somewhere other than this inn.”
“Really?”

Lucas might find this room uncomfortable.
That was what Serpens thought.

Serpens stretched and let out a groan.
After eating until his stomach was about to burst, coming into the room, and having a leisurely conversation, the tension of the day vanished all at once.
Once that tension loosened, drowsiness rushed in, and he yawned.

“It is late. We begin again tomorrow, so sleep quickly.”

Lucas said.

“Okay.”

Serpens continued yawning and slowly nodded.
The boy moved to the next bed and slipped under the blanket.
After blinking for a moment, he turned his body and met eyes with Lars, who was straightening his clothes.

“What? Are you sad to part with the great Lars?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Keke, we have to meet again in five months anyway. Make sure you’ve grown even more by then.”
“I’ll definitely be stronger, so don’t be too shocked.”
“Please do shock me.”

The two looked at each other and smiled brightly.

“Sleep quickly. Tomorrow, you’ll have another new experience.”
“A new experience? What is it?”
“It wouldn’t be fun if you knew that in advance.”
“Eck.”

Serpens nodded as if he understood everything.

“For a new experience, a good night’s sleep is essential.”
“Of course it is.”

Serpens pressed down his happy feelings and closed his eyes.
Being able to sleep with such a peaceful heart was something he was deeply grateful for.
It had been quite a while since he had fallen asleep without anxiety, but he still had nightmares sometimes.
Nightmares where he opened his eyes and all of this had been a dream.
After having such dreams, his head would often go blank for a while.

Because the thought, ‘What if it really was a dream?’ would fill his head.

‘Those useless thoughts fly away once I do morning training, though.’

That was how happy Serpens was right now.
It was literally like a dream.
He was grateful that he could eat when he was hungry and had a place where he could fall asleep in peace.

The greater his happiness grew, the firmer his goal became.
Even at this moment, somewhere, there were people trembling in fear and unable to sleep.
He wanted to give warm meals and a place to sleep in peace to such people.

Serpens fell asleep, unable to hold back his smile as he imagined achieving that goal.

Some time passed, and a rustling sound came from the darkened inn room.
It was the sound of Lars rising from his place.

“You are moving even earlier than I expected.”

Lucas’s voice was heard in the silence.

“Ah, you scared me! Bro! I knew you weren’t sleeping, but you weren’t even lying down?”

Lars spoke with his voice lowered.
Because beside him, Serpens was snoring softly.

“I had no intention of sleeping, so there was no reason to lie down.”
“You don’t only lie down to sleep! You should rest a little too, bro!”
“…….”
“Good grief, seriously.”

Lars, who had been about to head toward the door, stopped for a moment.

“Bro.”
“……?”
“When are you planning to part ways with the kid?”

His gaze turned to the boy sleeping soundly.

“I said I would take him…… but honestly, it is true that the inside of that vortex is dangerous.”

Lars lightly reached a hand toward the boy.
Blue Mana shone faintly.
When the Mana left his fingertips and wrapped around Serpens’s body, his breathing settled into a peaceful rhythm.

“Let me change the question. Are you planning to take him inside the vortex?”
“……Even if I say I will not take him, he is the sort to follow.”
“I am asking what you want, bro, not what this kid would do.”

Lucas’s eyes watched Lars in the darkness.

“Are you…… trying to say that it is not right to drag that child into danger?”

Lars shook his head.

“Rather, the opposite. What I wanted to say is that we should take him inside the vortex.”
“That place was full of ominous energy.”
“I imagine so. As expected, it should be the monsters’ stronghold.”
“Perhaps…… just perhaps, a situation may come where I cannot protect him.”
“That may happen.”

Lucas’s quiet eyes moved to the side.
The blanket, bulging upward, rose and fell repeatedly.

“If I cannot protect him, will he not resent me?”
“You know he isn’t the kind of guy to do that. He may be more afraid of parting with us than death.”
“……How can you know him so well after seeing him for so little time?”
“What are you saying? I am an archmage in my own right. Something like psychology is simple.”

A brief silence passed.
Lars hesitated to bring out his next words.
But in the end, he opened his mouth, his hesitation clear.

“Are you talking about whether you would resent yourself, bro?”
“……Yes.”

Lars was surprised, but didn’t show it.
The one most surprised was likely the man himself.
Perhaps he was confused about what he was saying, but…….

‘He is not that kind of person.’

They must have been words he had brought out after much thought.
Even while denying that it was so, the thought that it might be true must have grown, and that was why he had spoken.

“Our little knight really is something. To make that Lucas Liberator worry about things like this.”
“…….”
“Do you remember the day you first brought that guy to me, bro?”

Lucas nodded.

“That day, I even saw that guy’s future.”
“……You did.”
“Should I tell you something strange?”
“……?”
“These current circumstances were not included in the future I saw.”

For a moment, Lucas could not understand what he meant.
Because of that, he could neither answer nor ask a question.

“I naturally thought you would part ways with him quickly, bro. Perhaps because of that, I only saw futures where the two of you separated. It seems people really do see only what they want to see.”

Lars grimaced.

“After the two of you parted, in every case, the kid ended up unhappy. TTo be honest, even if it had not been for the plan you and Frost had, I had intended to travel with you for a while. As someone who had seen the future, I couldn’t leave the kid’s unhappiness alone.”
“Do you mean you were thinking of taking him yourself?”
“His efforts were admirable, weren’t they? I wouldn’t be able to turn him into a magician, but at the very least, I would’ve supported him so he wouldn’t lack anything.”
“……So what are you trying to say?”

Lucas said it bluntly.
At that, Lars grumbled that he was a cold-hearted man.

“I am saying we should see him through to the end. Whatever the case, we are his masters.”
“……For now, I understand.”

Lucas answered after quite a long time spent thinking.
After hearing his answer, Lars grasped the doorknob with a much more relaxed face.

“I will ask one thing. You warned me that child was a dissonance. That we were in a situation where we were double-edged swords to each other.”
“Ah, I remember.”
“Even though you only saw futures where I abandoned him, why did you not stop me from taking him?”

Lars smiled as he always did.

“I said Serpens was a dissonance. But do you know something? You are quite the dissonance yourself, bro.”
“……?”
“This may sound irresponsible, but I was hoping things would somehow work out. No matter what I said, you would‘ve kept the kid with you for a while, bro.”

Lars stepped out the door and waved.

“Sometimes, when a dissonance meets another dissonance, they create a new harmony even the composer never intended.”