TYBMB 10

Chapter 10 – Carried on His Back

As I quietly watched the situation, the captain let out a long sigh.

“You got yourself hurt from being careless, yet your mouth’s still running. If you had the energy to joke around, why didn’t you focus more on the monster?”

“If you mean… stabbing my palm with the dagger, it wasn’t serious. I did it shallowly to wake myself from the hallucination…”

“Injured is injured, regardless. You shouldn’t take even a shallow wound lightly. If it’s not treated properly, you’ll suffer for it.”

Saying that, the captain stepped a bit closer.

He was tall, and as he approached, his shadow fell over me.

When I opened my mouth to speak, my voice came out slightly tense without me realizing.

“…What are you trying to do?”

“I’m going to pour a potion on your wound. Any objections?”

“Oh…”

“If you understand, give me your hand.”

I felt a bit like a puppy being told to give its paw, and it was a little embarrassing. Still, I held out my hand.

The captain glanced at the wound on my palm and frowned.

“You stabbed it pretty deep.”

“Is it that deep?”

“Yes. What if it makes it hard to grip a sword? Tsk.”

Despite his cold tone, the way he poured the potion over my hand was incredibly gentle.

Soon, the cool potion seeped into the wound, and my palm started to tingle.

The wound was healing.

As the itching made me flinch my fingers a bit, a stern voice came from above.

“Don’t move.”

“It itches.”

“…You’re such a handful, you know that?”

Saying that, the captain personally straightened my curled fingers one by one.

Then he carefully used a handkerchief to wipe the blood from my hand.

Between my fingers, over the knuckles—he gently rubbed and cleaned each spot.

Strangely, it tickled.

But I wasn’t talking about the fingers he was holding.

It was the corner of my heart, deep in the left side of my chest—it tickled in a pleasant, fluttering way.

Once the wound was more or less healed with the potion, we immediately went looking for the mana stone.

Finding it wasn’t hard.

Mana stones were always located near the “Queen” monster, and I already knew where it was.

Sure enough, we found it in the hidden space behind the wall on the top floor.

I stared blankly at the glowing stone, firmly embedded in a stone pillar jutting from the ground.

Then, a thought popped into my mind, and I spoke.

“I always think this, but doesn’t it look like an egg? Like something’s about to hatch from it.”

Maybe the Queen guarded the mana stone to protect whatever was supposed to be born from it?

The captain shuddered at my speculation.

“Are you saying monsters are born from this? That’s horrifying.”

“Yes… Now that I think about it, that is horrifying. Let’s destroy it quickly.”

At my words, the captain immediately raised his halberd and swung it toward the mana stone.

Crack—!

With the sound of shattering glass, the mana stone broke apart.

And just as always, there was nothing inside.

There never was.

Strapping the halberd back on his back, the captain turned to me.

“We’ve done our job. Let’s get out of here.”

“Yes.”

Once a mana stone is destroyed, the rift begins to close and eventually disappears. So we had to get out before that happened.

That might sound urgent, but usually it takes about three days to fully close, so there was no need to rush.

Tired from dealing with monsters, we silently walked down the spiral staircase.

Step. Step.

Our footsteps echoed through the empty stairwell for a long time.

Without saying a word, we just kept walking.

An awkward silence lingered until something came up.

“Oh, I think I hurt my leg a little too.”

There had been a faint sting, and when I checked, sure enough—there was a scratch on my thigh.

It must’ve happened earlier when I clashed with the monster. A shallow cut.

But as we descended the stairs, the wound had opened up and started bleeding again.

The captain’s brow furrowed as he saw the blood soaking through my clothes.

“You should’ve been more careful. You really are a handful in so many ways.”

“Do you have any potion left?”

“I’ll give you one. Don’t skimp—pour it on properly.”

As the captain scolded me, I treated the wound on my thigh.

Thanks to the potion, it healed quickly, and I got ready to walk again.

But then, the captain blocked my path.

“You’re going to walk like that?”

“…?”

How else was I supposed to leave the rift if not by walking?

While I stood there confused, the captain swung his halberd in front of him and fastened it.

Then he turned his back to me and crouched down.

I stood frozen, not quite understanding what he meant.

That’s when he spoke curtly.

“Get on.”

“Get… on? Your back… me?”

“Who else? Planning to catch a monster and ride it out of here instead?”

I had no response to that.

Still, it felt a little embarrassing to be carried on someone’s back, so I hesitated. But he added,

“You’re hurt. Even if you’ve treated it with a potion, walking too much might reopen the wound.”

“But it’ll be hard for you. We’ve got quite a way to go to reach the rift exit. And I’m pretty heavy.”

“I’ve trained carrying weights heavier than you while running a hundred laps around the palace’s training field. Quit worrying and get on already. At this rate, we’ll be here all day.”

I felt bad rejecting someone who was offering his back, so after some hesitation, I finally climbed on.

His broad and sturdy back pressed against me.

Even through the thin fabric, I could feel the thickness of his muscles.

I tried not to focus on that and wrapped my arms around his neck.

His shoulders were wide, and even with my arms around them, there was still plenty of space.

I didn’t want to put too much meaning into this kind of contact… but honestly, my heart couldn’t help but flutter a bit.

I had never even been carried by my own father, let alone another man.

My father, the former Marquis of Shunestern, was a strict and severe man.

Once he realized I had strong abilities, he decided to raise me as a knight and trained me accordingly.

Even if his daughter scraped her knees while running, he wouldn’t hold her hand—he’d just scold her to get up.

Thinking about my harsh childhood, I whispered into the captain’s ear.

“Did you know? When I first met you, I thought you’d be like my father.”

“You mean the late Marquis Shunestern? What was he like?”

“He was very strict and scary.”

The captain quietly listened as I continued.

“Your eyes reminded me of his. So I thought you’d be just as harsh and terrifying. But I was wrong.”

At a glance, the captain resembled my father—but once you looked deeper, they were completely different people.

When I got hurt, my father would scold me and expect me to stand on my own.

But the captain scolded me while helping me up.

That was the key difference.

“You’re a much kinder person than you think you are.”

“Don’t say nonsense… Do you really think I’m a kind person? What do you even know about me?”

“I know far more about you than you think.”

Right now, the captain and I had only known each other for a year.

But in my past life—before I turned back time—we had fought together for six years.

I knew him well.

“If you know me well… then I’d like to know you a bit better too.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You might not realize it, but you’re a hard person to read.”

“…Which part of me, exactly? I’m one of the simplest people you’ll ever meet.”

To my incredulous response, the captain answered without hesitation.

“Just a week ago, you were growling at me—and now, you’ve suddenly changed. I don’t know what you’re thinking.”

“…”

“And I wish someone would just tell me how much I can trust you.”

My attitude toward him had changed overnight because I’d returned to that point in time.

Because I already knew—had confirmed in the future—that he was a good person.

“You can trust me now. From now on, I’ll fight only for our empire, our members… and for you, Captain.”

The empire, the members, and the captain—I intentionally included Hernant’s name in that list.

But I didn’t want to say I would fight for him.

Not even as a joke.

Call it petty, but I didn’t care.

I’d rather be petty than claim to fight for someone who had plotted my death… and smiled as I died.

While I was lost in that thought, we arrived at the rift’s exit.

“We’re here.”

“Please let me down now. I don’t want the others to see me being carried like a child.”

“You’re still hurt, and you worry about that…?”

“If you don’t let me down now, I’ll tickle your ear.”

When I teasingly blew into his ear, the captain flinched and quickly put me down.

I hadn’t meant anything special by it.

But for some reason, it seemed to fluster him.

With his face bright red, he covered his ear and looked at me.

“W-what are you doing?!”

“Oh, did I surprise you? Sorry, it’s a joke I often play with the others—I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”

“You joke like that with the other members?! Are you insane?!”