Chapter 12. Prepare for the Foreseen Ruin (4)
“……”
“D-Do you hate me that much…?”
A shocked voice rang out.
Just before what was boiling inside me could splash onto the coward’s chest, I barely managed to cover my mouth with my hand and avoided the worst. A metallic taste filled my mouth instead.
But what nonsense is this guy spouting? Irritated, I shoved his shoulder hard.
Maybe my gagging had really shocked him, because he staggered back without resistance.
“Hate you?”
“Of course I do. Cain. Think about all the things you’ve said up until now.”
The sniveling coward who brought me here surprisingly took my side for once, glancing between us.
Right. Cain… that’s what his name was, wasn’t it? I’d forgotten because calling him “coward” suited him so well.
I nodded to him half-heartedly.
“Cain. Riding the horse made me a bit nauseous. I pushed myself too hard, so I’ll go ahead.”
“W-Wait…”
Wasn’t it your gang who mocked me earlier for not being able to ride?
Serves you right. I swiftly climbed back onto the saddle, hooked my feet into the stirrups, gripped the reins, and nudged the horse to turn its head.
“Well then.”
Glancing back, I saw Cain still staring blankly at me on horseback.
His dumbfounded expression made me smirk and I rode off.
Behind me, the faint sound of murmurs rose.
“Cain Guinevere, what’s with that face?”
…Guinevere?
So Cain was Cain Guinevere.
Maybe saving him might turn out to be useful for something else later.
As I recalled a vague memory of another Guinevere, I waited until the distance from the cliff quieted everything down, and finally lowered the hand I had pressed against my lips.
“…Haa.”
My sleeve was damp with the metallic stench. Good thing the clothes were black.
I spat out the clot of blood that had gathered in my mouth and wiped my lips roughly.
“Ugh…”
What’s wrong with me? My insides felt completely wrecked.
There’s no way just casting a few spells should have done this much damage to my body.
This felt more like the aftereffects of pushing the body too hard.
A bad feeling swept over me.
There had never been a time when I didn’t know what was happening in this world—at least, not while my regression point was fixed to “the day after the curse.”
And now…
…I spurred the horse forward.
Far in the distance, silhouettes of the marching group came into view.
“…It’s my first time seeing Edith Crowell in person.”
Emily Sager murmured blankly, cupping her freckled cheeks. They were flushed red.
She had never seen someone wield magic so beautifully before. And she was probably her age, too.
“She wasn’t even holding a staff, so I didn’t realize she was casting magic.”
Emily regretted brushing off the rumors about an insanely hard-working prodigy named Edith Crowell among the academy freshmen.
Edith Crowell was more infamous than famous.
What kind of great achievement could a mere sixteen-year-old possibly have made? she had thought.
But after seeing her in person, she had no regrets about being amazed.
That smooth, rapid spatial transfer magic?
Teleportation magic was notoriously difficult due to complex mana calculations—even among experienced mages, very few could use it.
Just how much training must she have gone through to gain that level of mastery?
Yet, she wasn’t even showing off.
“Edith Crowell estimated where Cain was hanging off the cliff just by eye and instantly teleported there. Without even physical contact!”
Emily rattled off in excitement.
As a fellow mage, she was beyond impressed by Edith Crowell’s incredible magical prowess.
But Cain wasn’t paying attention to Emily’s words. He just kept muttering the name of the person who had saved him.
“…Edith Crowell…”
His voice was heated, as if he had completely forgotten how she rejected his hug earlier.
“Now that I think about it, even her sharp tone was kind of charming.”
Cain Guinevere’s face was even redder than Emily’s.
He hurriedly wrapped his arms around himself, fumbling—still feeling as if Edith’s touch lingered on him.
“……?”
“What’s wrong with that guy?”
Some knights who hadn’t withdrawn yet glanced at him like he’d lost his mind.
“Haaa…”
Cain Guinevere was experiencing what could only be called a first love.
Of course, he was confused himself. Why am I like this?
Cain wasn’t a bad knight by any means, but because of a childhood prank by his older sister, he had a severe fear of heights.
He feared cliffs to the extreme. That’s why he assumed Edith would be afraid too, and tried to tease her there.
But Edith Crowell didn’t seem afraid of cliffs at all.
That’s right. Does she even have acrophobia…? Actually, he didn’t know.
A moment where Cain Guinevere’s somewhat lacking brain was fully exposed.
“Hey, do you know how many people came running because of you?”
“Ah!”
Wood smacked the back of Cain’s head hard, snapping him out of it.
Cain screamed from the sharp pain and turned toward Wood.
Wood looked ready to scold him, but Cain didn’t shrink away and just mumbled sheepishly.
“Edith Crowell… I used to think she was just annoying…”
Cain remembered how she looked as he lay sprawled on the ground, looking up at her.
Her pink hair framed her delicate jaw and swayed near her cheeks—so mesmerizing it had stolen his attention.
And her golden eyes…
Even the white bandage on her cheek—supposedly from Chester’s attack—seemed tragically beautiful.
It felt like she existed in a different dimension altogether.
Cain mumbled,
“…Maybe she’s using illusion magic or something?”
“Who?”
“Edith Crowell…”
“Do you really think so?”
“Yeah… no, probably not…”
Then what is this feeling? Cain placed a hand over his pounding chest.
Maybe it was from hanging at the edge of a cliff for so long? His heart felt like it was going crazy.
While Cain was caught up in his emotions, a low and monotone voice arrived along with the sound of hooves.
“So someone did fall off the cliff.”
“Lord Behemoth!”
It was Ethan Behemoth.
He arrived fairly quickly for someone who had been at the front.
But the person needing rescue had already been saved.
His friend Jan Godwin, even after seeing Cain safe, still leaned over the cliff.
“What? No one’s down there! Wait, don’t tell me~”
“N-No, I’m right here!”
Cain, finally regaining composure, sheepishly raised a hand.
He might have acted cocky in front of little Edith Crowell, but he couldn’t do that in front of upperclassmen like Jan and Ethan.
“Honestly…”
Jan dismounted in one smooth motion and ruffled Cain’s blond hair. The two seemed quite close.
“How’d you get up here? Your sister said you were such a coward you’d be shaking your boots up high.”
“Camilla said that?!”
Cain flared up at Jan’s teasing but soon mumbled, admitting it.
“Geez… It’s because of someone…”
“Well, whoever helped you—if you’re safe, that’s all that matters. Let’s return…”
Ethan Behemoth’s words trailed off for a moment at Cain’s response, just as he was about to turn around and lead them back.
“Oh. It was Edith Crowell who saved me.”
“Edith Crowell?”
Ethan turned his head and looked directly at Cain.
“Edith Crowell was here?”
“…Yeah. She’s gone now, though.”
His reaction was so noticeable that even Cain tilted his head in confusion. After a short pause, Ethan asked,
“Did she look okay?”
He hadn’t seen her since their duel yesterday and had been curious.
She seemed fine right afterward, but…
That morning, while tending to his sword, Ethan Behemoth had felt a sharp pain shoot through his wrist.
That’s when he realized just how refined and efficient Edith’s control of mana had been.
Naturally, his thoughts shifted to her condition.
Was she also feeling aftereffects from the duel, like me?
“Hm. Well… she said she was a bit nauseous from riding. Not used to horses.”
Cain trailed off, recalling how he’d mocked her the entire time.
Blushing, he added,
“But she looked like a good rider to me.”
“I see.”
“Oh, but she really didn’t look well. When I hugged her, she suddenly gagged…”
“You hugged her?”
“She gagged?”
Jan focused on the hugging, Ethan on the gagging.
Jan slapped Ethan’s shoulder with a laugh.
“She gagged, huh. She must’ve really hated being hugged by you, Cain.”
“No! That’s not it!”
“…That wasn’t it.”
“What?”
“What do you mean?”
At Ethan’s unexpected words, both Jan and Cain blinked. Ethan, lost in thought, looked up and added something even more random.
“She didn’t do that when I hugged her.”
“What is he saying?”
The students who were still near the cliff all turned toward Ethan.
Did Ethan Behemoth just say what I think he said?
Jan and Cain immediately seized on it.
“Are you bragging right now?”
“Seriously, are you trying to one-up him?”
