Chapter 85
“Alright, Charon. I’ll wipe just the contents of the documents from your mind.”
The dark mage used a spell directly to erase his memories.
Unfortunately, the side effect—‘a 5% chance of losing all memories’—ended up triggering on Charon….
It was an utterly disastrous outcome for both the dark mage and Charon.
“Whatever. There are others besides you anyway…. The contract’s void. I suppose this is good news for you?”
With a deep sigh, the dark mage decided to discard Charon, who was no longer of any use.
After breaking the contract that bound them, he set fire to Charon’s original home and left him standing in front of it, just in case there might be future complications—so that it would seem as though Charon had lost his memories because of the fire.
Perhaps because of that side effect of dark magic piled on top of everything else, even after enlisting in the Border Defense Force, Charon had little thought for life itself.
Others might have hated the Border Defense Force, but Charon truly didn’t care what kind of situation he was in….
Yet there, he felt something that had always been missing from his life finally being filled.
Of course, that was thanks to Salvia.
“No, no, Charon. That’s not how you do it—um… watch me do it.”
“No, you can’t set fire to the mountain.”
“Machervelli pollen? You can’t use drugs….”
“Life is precious! Say it three times!”
It might have been annoying, but he made an effort to teach Charon many things.
That was why Charon liked Salvia.
There was no way he wouldn’t like someone who treated him well.
Since it was the first and only affection he had ever known, Charon couldn’t help but devote himself to Salvia several times over for the way she treated him.
* * *
“Sniff… our youngest….”
I said as I patted Charon’s head after training.
Ever since the dark mage incident, I had come to trust Charon more than anyone else. He had never disobeyed me even once.
Aquila and I were soon due to be promoted to Senior Private, and because there were so few of them, we were already doing the work of Senior Privates.
That meant training itself had become easier, which was a very positive thing.
As I kept patting Charon’s head, Aquila glanced at Charon, who was pressed close to my side, and spoke up.
“Isn’t Charon a bit far from being the youngest?”
“Our youngest will be the youngest forever.”
“…Fine. Do whatever you want.”
Aquila, who often gave in to me when it came to Charon, eventually let out a deep sigh and accepted it. Instead, he glanced at me and asked again,
“Did you cut your hand?”
“…Ah, right. When I was cleaning up the mess that those bastards Patty and Matty caused last time.”
“Give it to me.”
The moment Aquila grabbed my hand as he said that, a dry cough came from beside us.
“Ahem.”
Ishina, who had been watching us for a while, was sending us a look of clear disdain. Aquila spoke with a strangely aggrieved tone.
“Then why do you let Charon off?”
“Zero impure intent.”
“And me…?”
“Please stop pulling weird stunts already….”
Since it was unusually harsh language for Ishina, I widened my eyes and looked back and forth between them.
“W-What are you talking about?”
“Salvia, it’s fine. You don’t need to know.”
No, it’s not fine? Suddenly a conversation started that only I wasn’t in on.
“W-Why are you leaving me out…?”
This time, Aquila gave Ishina a look that seemed oddly mocking—no, that would be insubordination, so maybe I was imagining it… but could I really have misread Aquila’s gaze?
“N-No, Salvia, it’s not that we were excluding you….”
“Salvia?”
“Yes?”
I flinched as Winter suddenly appeared out of nowhere without a sound. As expected of Winter.
“There’s something I need to inspect. Can you come check the firearms with me at the armory?”
“Yes, sir.”
I quickly stood up and followed behind Winter. No matter how much you work, the work never ends.
* * *
After Salvia left with Winter, Ishina grabbed at his own hair.
“Damn it—he’s my senior, so I can’t even say anything!”
“Wouldn’t I be better than Winter, sir?”
Aquila said in a voice that sounded utterly matter-of-fact, then turned his head and shot a wary look at Charon.
“And you, Charon—you said you got your memories back?”
“Ah, yes! That’s right!”
“…Good. Nothing’s changed.”
Watching Aquila scrutinize Charon with sharp eyes, Ishina let out yet another deep sigh—who knew how many that made.
“You’re the biggest problem…. Please, just stop scheming already. I’m begging you—don’t mess with the kid.”
Ishina closed his eyes and could only pray desperately.
Please, please don’t let some strange guy become obsessed with Salvia.
…Though, to be honest, he knew he himself was a strange guy too….
But compared to Aquila, who had been scheming for years, Winter, who openly kept others in check using his seniority, or Charon, who stayed blank-faced until Salvia appeared and then broke into a radiant smile—surely he was the better one. Probably.
