Episode 06
Their mouths fell open, and a roar burst out with enough ferocity to put a stampeding herd of Serengeti buffalo to shame.
“**SHUNEEEEEN!!**”
“Uaaagh, you’re insane!”
Panicking, I spat out a curse and slammed the door shut. *Bang!*
I was extremely confident. This was only natural survival instinct. No one in their right mind wouldn’t freak out when wild animals came charging at them while shouting their name.
“They’re not going to break the door down, are they?!”
And that line turned out to be prophetic. Damn it.
*BANG—! CRASH—!*
The blasted door flew past my head just as I was climbing onto the bed, punched clean through the window, and sailed off. This is insane.
“**Shunen!**”
Nobel and Ethan shouted in unison, having spectacularly blown the door away. They were right in front of what used to be the doorway.
Both of them stretched out their arms as if overcome with emotion.
I’m going to die crushed to death. Realizing escape was impossible, I resigned myself quietly and prayed for the safety of my ribs.
“Shunen…!”
Just before the moment their hug-disguised body slam descended on me—
“Nobel, you single-celled idiot.”
A voice I was almost moved to tears to hear reached my ears.
“Isaac…!”
“Sorry. Of all times to get caught. Let’s get out of here first.”
After a brief apology, Isaac grabbed my shoulder and whisked me out of the room in one swift motion.
The instant our feet touched down in front of the main entrance, one corner of the mansion blew apart with a thunderous roar.
*BOOM—!*
Chunks of debris rained down, and my mouth fell open. Th-that’s Isaac’s room?!
It was obvious without even looking that the place we’d just been was Isaac’s room.
Isaac let out a leisurely note of admiration.
“I was prepared to blow the whole thing up, but I guess they still had some sense left.”
“W-what do you mean, what do we do?! Your room is—!”
“I told you. I’ve got brothers whose ignition point is below freezing. Compared to that, this is cheap.”
“Your room *exploded*!”
“But the mansion’s fine.”
Ah. Our standards for ‘what’s worth worrying about’ are fundamentally different.
Even as he looked me over to see if I was hurt, I couldn’t even muster admiration.
“Isaac—!”
Ethan’s shout struck my eardrums.
Standing atop the ruins of what had been Isaac’s room, he glared down at us, his green eyes gleaming ominously.
“Try running and see what happens! If you don’t bring Shunen back right now, I’ll kill you with my own hands!”
“Stop me if you can.”
If you’re able to. Isaac gave a nasty grin.
You scheming bastard! The two of them hurled curses, calling him shameless trash.
“What can I say.”
Isaac covered the back of my hand with his remaining hand. In the distance, Nobel and Ethan’s expressions twisted.
“This is my ability too.”
And just before even harsher words could be unleashed, we vanished from the mansion.
❖ ❖ ❖
*Pop—*
When the blue light faded, the view was my all-too-familiar room.
“Th-the mansion was…?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll have it fully restored by tomorrow.”
“That’s not really the problem, is it?”
Despite my incredulous tone, Isaac just shrugged and dragged over a chair from the corner of the room. Before I could stop him, he took off his outer coat, draped it over the chair, and gestured.
“Sit for a moment. I’ll apply the medicine.”
“I can do it myself….”
Somehow, he’d even managed to bring the ointment along. As he pulled it from his pocket, I spoke cautiously, and he hesitated.
“Ah, it just seemed like it’d be easier if someone else did your face… Would that be okay?”
“……”
“I’ll be careful. I won’t hurt you.”
He slowly knelt down in front of the chair and looked up at me.
A voice clearly determined to override any refusal, paired with an outstanding appearance. It was a question from someone who knew exactly how to make full use of everything he had.
Still, no means no.
“No.”
“Ah.”
“I’m the type who prefers to do what I can on my own, by myself.”
I’m already grateful just for the medicine.
I politely took the container and added, as I opened the lid,
“Thank you.”
Isaac stared at me blankly for a moment, then burst out laughing—so much so that he looked genuinely amused.
“Haha, you’re firm.”
“I’m sorry if I disappointed you.”
“No. That’s just like you.”
…And how exactly do you know what I’m like?
I decided not to ask, but it was strange all the same. Just how do they know me so well that they can’t leave me alone like this?
*These people don’t seem like the type to dote on anyone so easily.*
In the original story, all five of them were like that, but Isaac in particular was someone devoid of sentiment.
*Maybe even the way he asked without seeming needy was calculated, aiming for consent afterward…*
Always cool-headed, thoroughly calculating. A man who never smiled.
Which was why seeing him call me Shunen and cherish me like this felt unfamiliar—and astonishing.
*I didn’t even write him smiling like this.*
This world accomplished something I couldn’t (along with plenty of other bad things)!
It’d be nice if it stopped at just this one unnecessarily impressive point.
I glanced back and forth between the opened medicine container and Isaac.
“Um, but still…”
I cautiously held out the ointment.
“…If you still want to apply it, you can.”
“Ah.”
Isaac blinked.
I awkwardly averted my gaze. Was that too presumptuous? It’s not like applying medicine is some grand reward. I felt a little embarrassed.
Trailing off, I added awkwardly,
“Of course, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to….”
“No.”
Just as I was about to pull my hand back, Isaac quickly took the container.
“This, too, is just like you.”
He smiled—brightly enough that “beaming” would be the right word.
*Wow. Insane.*
It was such a vivid smile that I couldn’t help but be genuinely impressed.
While I stared at him blankly, Isaac scooped some ointment onto his hand and brought it to my cheek.
The medicine was closer to a salve, semi-transparent white in color.
*Swipe—*
His touch was so light I could barely feel it.
He’s being incredibly careful. Just as I was marveling at that, a sharp sting flared up.
“Ow.”
He’d accidentally brushed the bruised corner of my mouth.
Isaac hurriedly pulled his hand back.
“Sorry. Are you okay? That was my fault—I should’ve been gentler—”
“It’s really nothing. It’s not that bad!”
I deliberately spoke as if it were no big deal, seeing him flustered and apologetic.
Isaac nodded bitterly.
Judging by how his expression cooled, he was probably contemplating whether it’d go unnoticed if he buried a duke somewhere.
*Click—*
After finishing up and closing the lid, he stood.
“For now, this should do. I’d like to have a doctor look at you, but…”
“As soon as I leave here, I’ll go see one myself.”
“…All right. If that’s what you want.”
With a faint smile, he straightened his clothes.
I stood up from the chair and handed him back his coat.
“You’ll be going now, right?”
“Regrettably.”
He chuckled and added as he put the coat back on,
“If I linger any longer, my single-celled brothers might storm this place.”
“Haha…”
“It’s still too early to blow this place up.”
I feel like I just heard something dangerous.
For the sake of my mental health, I decided to pretend I hadn’t.
Isaac gave me one last thorough look, as if committing me to memory, then gave a small wave.
“See you tomorrow.”
“Yes. Thank you for today.”
“I told you. I’m the one who should be saying that.”
“But your room also explod—”
The sentence never made it to the end.
Isaac vanished as if refusing any further objections, leaving me alone in the room.
“…It really doesn’t feel real.”
It was like a dream. There was no trace of him left behind.
Out of habit, I climbed up to the window frame.
The sky was still vividly blue, the garden sprawling wide below. More precisely, Saren and the duke were strolling through it.
Seeing their happy, smiling faces, I murmured,
“Tomorrow morning should be interesting.”
I snickered, imagining their expressions when Mary returned from looking for me and reported the empty stable.
Only one day left before I leave this place.
❖ ❖ ❖
Hardenberg Mansion was in an even more desolate state.
The moment Retilia returned from her outing and discovered that an entire wall of the mansion had been blown away, she immediately summoned the others.
“Pair of lunatics.”
She spat the words venomously. Nobel and Ethan averted their eyes sullenly.
“How long has it been since we called the repair crew, and you blow a wall off? In front of Shunen, no less.”
“That’s because that bastard Isaac went to see Shunen alone!”
“And he didn’t even tell us he brought her back!”
“Shut up.”
*Boom—!* With a single gesture from Retilia, the two were slammed into the ground by an invisible force. “Kugh!” They let out strange groans.
“And you still thought it was fine to leave things like this when we’re supposed to bring Shunen tomorrow?”
“You didn’t tell us either!”
“You left us out completely. Even Hazen complained!”
“So that makes it okay?”
With a grinding sound, their faces were pressed back into the floor.
Retilia looked down at the writhing Nobel and Ethan and sighed.
“If I’d told you, it was obvious you’d insist on going immediately instead of waiting.”
“That’s—!”
“Of course!”
“That’s not something to brag about, you idiots.”
Crushed flat against the floor once more, the two gave no further reply.
Letting out a small sigh, Retilia turned toward Hazen, who was sprawled on a nearby sofa.
“Anything you want to say?”
“Well… it was a bit much… but you’ll definitely bring her tomorrow, right, Reti~?”
“That goes without saying.”
“Then that’s fineee… Anyway—did you kill them cleanly?”
Hazen asked casually, his languid, mild tone completely mismatched with the content.
Retilia nodded calmly. Naturally.
“No reason I couldn’t kill a few merchant servants.”
Silently wiping out the Colhart Trading Company’s transport caravan, then using that as leverage to maintain a surface-level excuse to approach the ducal house—
That had been her work for the past month, and the purpose of today’s outing.
Only those within this mansion knew the truth.
“When I went into town this morning, it was already splashed all over the newspapers. That we’d decided to take in the Colhart family’s daughter.”
“Hm~ Come to think of it, there was another daughter, wasn’t there…?”
Hazen tilted his head as if recalling something, then turned his gaze to Retilia.
“Reti, your clothes are dirty~”
“There were too many of them. It was annoying.”
She tossed the blood-splattered, uniform-like coat far away and sat cross-legged on a nearby chair. Her long navy hair spilled down the back.
“Those idiots will be celebrating without knowing a thing.”
She sneered.
The sight of them so naturally assuming that daughter would be “Saren Colhart” was utterly pathetic.
But that much, she could tolerate.
