Chapter 35
Clack! Clatter! Clack!
With a lively rhythm, two wooden swords exchanged blows.
Two boys of similar age were sparring.
Among commoners, it was rare for kids to properly learn swordsmanship, so the village children gathered in a cluster to watch their spar.
Among the gathered kids, the ratio of girls was strangely high.
Even though swordsmanship isn’t something they’d normally be interested in, the girls’ eyes sparkled.
“Dio is so cool.”
“Two years ago he was totally a kid—when did he change like that?”
“Hmph, Dio was always cool, okay? When were you saying you didn’t like him because he looked like a kid.”
“I-I never said that!”
They couldn’t take their eyes off Dio, smiling brightly as he sweated beads of sweat.
“I think Lucian is cooler than Dio.”
“Right. Look at that face. I’ve never seen someone that handsome.”
Even the girls who followed Dio couldn’t deny that much.
If Dio was the mischievous pretty-boy type, with healthy tanned skin, then Lucian was the refined pretty-boy type, with pale skin and a noble air.
And since he didn’t really mingle with other kids besides Dio, he gave off a mysterious atmosphere.
The only chance to see Lucian smile was during his sparring with Dio, so the girls’ faces melted.
“Hmph, looking like a girl—what’s so cool about that.”
Then, a boy watching nearby grumbled. The girls glared daggers at him.
“With a face that ugly, how dare you call Lucian a girl!”
“Lucian is, like, a thousand times cooler than you, always picking fights!”
“You’re just jealous, so you’re saying nonsense.”
Under the fierce criticism, the boy’s face reddened and he trembled. Just then, the sword training that had gone on quite a while ended.
Clack!
Dio dropped the sword he’d been holding. Seeing Lucian’s wooden sword pointed at him, Dio collapsed to the spot.
“Aaagh! How do you not lose even once?!”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“……I think you’re getting more and more slick. Who are you? Are you the Lucian I know?”
When Dio opened his eyes wide like a flounder, Lucian burst into laughter.
At Lucian’s bright laughter, flowers bloomed in the girls’ hearts.
Kyaaa! Lucian!
Look over here!
Talk to us too!
Sure enough, a few girls who passionately liked Lucian began shouting.
Lucian gave an embarrassed smile at that, and Dio got up with an I’m-sick-of-this look.
“Doesn’t it look like there are more than last time?”
“From now on, it’ll be hard to spar here.”
“Do we have to find another place again? We only barely got permission from those uncles to use this.”
The place Dio and Lucian were using was a small training yard used by the guard unit.
Before, they used to spar in a small clearing, but more and more kids gathered, and eventually the girls started fighting over Dio and Lucian, so they moved here.
But now, even training here seemed difficult.
Dio knew the biggest reason the number of girls who liked him was increasing was the guy right beside him.
Even with a rough glance, you could tell Lucian isn’t like other kids.
A body that had grown more solid than his peers through steady training, a height that had grown quite a bit compared to when they first met, and even a face so handsome that even adults whispered about it.
He doesn’t think he’s an ugly guy, but next to Lucian he feels ordinary.
“Looking at how much you grew in just two years, you’re pretty incredible too. When we first met, you were smaller than me.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“It’s nothing. Man, it’s hot! Isn’t there anything cool?”
“Hot? I have the drink Ria gave me—want some?”
“I want it so bad!”
Dio’s eyes sparkled. He couldn’t hide his excitement as he drank the juice Lucian handed him.
“Kkh! Delicious! Everything Ria makes is delicious!”
“I’ll bring even more next time.”
Whenever Lucian came down to the village, Ria tended to pack plenty of food, telling him to share it with Dio.
“This is Ria’s new masterpiece too. Ria said she developed a new recipe and was really…….”
As Lucian continued talking about Ria while pulling out cookies and jerky along with the drink, Dio, watching him, said,
“Honestly, you really like Ria.”
“Huh?”
“Even though it’s a political marriage, you like her that much? Every time we meet, you keep going Ria, Ria, so I’m curious too.”
“M-me? Did I do that?”
As Lucian blushed, embarrassed, Dio chewed on Ria’s jerky.
“Whatever. What would I expect from a guy who never invites me over.”
“I told you I have circumstances…….”
“Yeah, yeah. What circumstances could you possibly have that you can’t tell your one and only friend?”
Truthfully, Dio felt hurt. Because Lucian never invited him to his house.
He always refused, saying Ria doesn’t like it.
A year ago, they’d had a huge fight over him not inviting him over.
It almost became the kind of thing where they’d never speak again, but Lucian reached out first, and they made up and got close again.
He’d sworn he’d never let something like that happen again, but sometimes he couldn’t beat the hurt that rose up out of nowhere.
Dio knew he’d said too much and apologized to Lucian.
“Sorry. I just felt hurt, that’s all. Tell Ria it was delicious.”
“……Okay.”
Seeing Lucian smile sadly made Dio’s heart uncomfortable. So Dio acted like it was nothing and teased Lucian like usual.
A season where the hot sun blazed.
Two years had passed since Lucian began staying at the ghost mansion, and he had become a proper ten-year-old.
* * *
Around the time the evening glow began to set, Lucian returned to the mansion.
But someone stuck to him along the way.
When he glanced back, it was the girls who had said they wanted to get close to him.
He didn’t know whether they really had something to say or whether they meant to find out where he lived, but he couldn’t let them keep following him.
“Hmm.”
Lucian stopped in place. The girls trailing after him awkwardly panicked.
Seizing the moment, Lucian slipped into the alley to the left.
Ah! He’s running away!
The girls immediately chased into the alley Lucian entered. Not long after they vanished into the alley, the wall rippled, and Lucian appeared.
“In this gap, hurry…….”
“I’m pretty sure Ria told you not to use magic?”
Lucian, about to run away before the girls came, startled at the sudden presence and stepped back.
His senses sharpened only briefly; then, seeing who it was, Lucian broke into a bright smile.
“Kaiser!”
With an alluring smile, Kaiser patted Lucian’s shoulder.
“You doing well, little guy?”
“Of course I am! If you were coming, you should’ve contacted me! I didn’t even know!”
“Surprise, surprise.”
Kaiser chuckled, then, seeing the girls completely gone, smiled again.
“Now let’s go. It’ll get dark soon.”
“Yeah, okay! Kaiser, are you taking me there?”
“You may feel carsick, so please hold onto my arm firmly.”
At the words, like he was a captain, Lucian hurriedly clung to Kaiser’s arm. When Kaiser snapped his fingers, the two figures vanished in an instant.
* * *
Chop chop chop—
Ria, in the middle of preparing dinner, kept chopping.
But her mind kept going blank. It was so hazy she couldn’t even be aware of being hazy, and the hands that had been moving busily had stopped before she knew it.
Like that, for a long while, Ria stared blankly down at the knife that had been halfway through slicing onions.
Wheee—
Then, at the kettle’s whistling sound in her ear, she snapped back to her senses.
Seeing the frying pan starting to burn and the pot about to boil over, Ria hurriedly dealt with them.
The kitchen, messier than usual, came into view.
[Haa…… this is bad.]
The cycle of losing focus is getting shorter and shorter.
Just a week ago, it felt like it happened once every three or four days, but now she was losing focus almost once a day.
That’s bad. It’s a sign that the cycle when she loses consciousness is coming back soon.
Whenever she loses focus, it feels like she isn’t herself.
The feeling of floating around like other ghosts with no will is far more horrifying than imagination.
If, later, she couldn’t recognize Lucian even with him right in front of her…….
Thoughts chased their own tails, and her mind grew hazy again, and she stood there with thinking itself stopped.
I have arrived!
Ria! Kaiser is here!
At the familiar voice from the front gate, Ria jerked her head up.
And realized: she had lost focus again just now.
Ria? Where are you, Ria?
Hey! This great me has arrived, and you’re not even coming out to greet me?!
At the commotion at the front gate, Ria barely gathered her mind and smiled as if nothing was wrong.
Kaiser and Lucian greeted her.
[Welcome, Kaiser. It’s been a long time.]
“It’s been a year. Have you been well?”
[Me, I’m always the same. You, on the other hand…… you look more like an adult dragon?]
“Mwahahaha! Three more years! I’ve met all the conditions to become an adult dragon! I just have to wait three more years.”
[If you’re going to be an adult dragon, shouldn’t you fix that way of talking too?]
“What’s wrong with how I talk?”
[It’s childish.]
Kaiser froze on the spot as if he’d been hit with a tremendous shock. At his reaction, Ria and Lucian giggled. Realizing he’d been teased, Kaiser puffed out his cheeks.
“How dare you tease me! I won’t forgive you!”
[Just in time, I made beef ribs today. The kind you like?]
“Grrk…… huh? Beef ribs?”
At the mention of his favorite food, Kaiser’s eyes sparkled. At the simple reaction, Ria let out a small laugh.
[See? A kid.]
“Kyaaaak! Take that back right now!”
Ignoring Kaiser’s chatter, she approached Lucian.
Lucian, just then, took off the diamond necklace he’d been wearing.
His hair changed into brilliant white, and his ordinary brown eyes became golden eyes.
When their eyes met, the eyes holding those golden irises curved softly.
“Ria, the snacks you packed today were tasty. Dio wants them again next time.”
[Really? I put ice in on purpose because it seemed like it would be hot—so it was fine?]
“Yeah. I ate it after sparring. So he liked it even more.”
[Next time you go, I’ll make it again. Hurry up, wash your hands and change your clothes. Dinner will be done soon.]
“Um…… Ria.”
Lucian, who had been nodding, hesitated unusually. When she looked at him in question, Lucian worried his lips.
“Can we talk a bit later?”
[Of course. Of course.]
Lucian’s face brightened at once.
“I’ll hurry up and change clothes and come back!”
Lucian hurried up the stairs and went into his room.
Once his presence was gone, Ria wiped away her smile and turned to Kaiser.
[Kaiser, I have something to say.]
At Ria’s sunken mood, Kaiser also made a serious expression.
