185 – If-2
I used to imagine it sometimes.
What if Leo and I hadn’t met?
At first, I thought it would help Leonardo too.
If he hadn’t come to the family, he might have lived as a mercenary and died lonely on the battlefield.
But around the age of 17, when Leonardo’s stomach was punctured, his thoughts gradually changed.
He said that he pierced the intestines to deal with the giant tentacle monster and approached it, blowing vital points.
I was treated, but I was worried. Because Leo was weaker than me, so the treatment was slow.
I was worried, but Leo’s answer was harsh.
[I don’t have talent like you, so I’m just making up for it this way.]
Yeah, if that was Leo’s way, it should be respected.
But then my lungs blew. If he had been treated a little later, he might have suffocated because he was full of blood.
Then his hand was crushed,
The next time his arms and legs were broken, and there were times when he was on the verge of being cut off.
As he followed him to the battlefield, Leo’s injuries got worse. He could be sure that as few as he would have died, he would outnumber him twice as much.
He wished he hadn’t died. Leo is no match for a fight. He’ll have a better way.
It was okay to fight in the rear, and since he was quick in calculation, he would do well even if he worked on the supply side.
[Don’t ignore people unluckily. Because I’m tidying up my front.]
Every time that happened, Leo answered like that. He was worried that he was reckless even though he thought that aspect was great.
With Leo’s skills, he has no choice but to die in the near future. That said, his growth isn’t as fast as mine.
Nevertheless, Leo faces enemies who are more than his own.
I know the cause.
It’s because I became Leonardo’s target.
I want to somehow send Leo to a safe place.
From noble mtl dot com.
You have to send it. No matter what.
***
“…Sorry. A story like this would have no meaning in the end.”
Looking at Lumine’s thoughtful expression, Ariasviel stopped self-torturing, perhaps remembering what he had been in a sense of self-doubt in the past.
She was also aware that her thoughts and words were not very good.
However, the sense of guilt was not an arbitrary emotion.
“…Ah, no. Because my role is to assist the original hero.”
Lumine escaped her doubtful contemplation and returned to the conversation. This idea is nothing more than speculation at the moment, so I had to focus on stabilizing Arya’s mind and body.
{Nothing is meaningless. Ariaspil warrior.}
Angela, as her saintess and elder, gave advice to Aria, whose complexion was not brightening.
{Assuming the situation is also an attitude that a hero should have.}
Her tone was at odds with her usual attitude, and the two of them focused on her.
{Just in case, it must be in the future. A family buried in the past is only self-harming.}
“Right… I see.”
Aria knew that too.
This family is only buried in the past, and has not thought about the future vision or path.
Even if he had unrealistic abilities such as regression, only self-torture was growing in Ariasviel’s family.
“…Captain?”
After that, when Marken came into the house, Ariasviel looked at his grandfather with a slightly surprised look.
Apparently, after overhearing the conversation with Leo, he himself went back to the mansion first, but it was too late for Marken to return.
As if that sense of incongruity was not a useless old lady, Marken stroked Arya’s head with a bitter expression.
“Aria…”
There was a sense of helplessness in the old man’s expression.
What he will do will surely be a b*tch to drive a nail into his granddaughter.
I can still vividly see Leo’s expression in my eyes.
For Leo, the enemies who drove Arya to death must include all of the Reinhardt family, including Marken.
Of course. They died because they were incompetent.
“…I think we should open a convocation.”
Barely out of guilt, Marken let go of his words. Ariasviel thought he hadn’t heard the conversation with Leo, so he tried to unravel this information now.
“Convocation… you mean? Why…?”
“…Saint Lumine.”
He wasn’t just advising him not to fool himself when he grabbed Leonardo.
“The Knights of Execution found information in one of the enemy tower lord’s hideouts.”
Marken contacted the executive engineer who came out of the investigation and obtained the research data of the enemy tower.
{…If it’s data…}
“…A study of Leonardo’s mother.”
A research book that was written in detail about how to study Leonardo’s birth mother was now in Marken’s hands.
***
At that time, Leonardo was seeing a scenery in front of his eyes that he would never have seen in his hometown.
Leading the fisherman who had been caught, the four knights saluted moderately, hiding their foolishness as much as possible.
“I’m sorry for the late salute! We are a bodyguard sent from the Eastern Knights of Reinhardt!”
“…A bodyguard?”
Leonardo didn’t know what a bodyguard was, so he asked back, but it was enough to misunderstand that the bodyguards were reprimanding them.
“…Sorry…Sorry! How should I compensate for the wound on my shoulder…!”
“Ah, that’s fine…Yes.”
Unlike other times, Leo spoke politely and pulled out the arrowhead from his shoulder.
Leonardo didn’t even get angry at his wound because it was possible to stop the bleeding without having to use divinity.
“Are you okay? With the potion I have…!”
“You fool! There’s no way you’ll be satisfied with the cheap potions we use!”
Olga and Rain were bickering and arguing as if they were talking jokes like before.
“…First of all, calm down… If you behave indecently in front of Leonardo-sama…!”
At times like this, Bennett would calm down the fight between the two with a shrunk. His personality was the same as before.
“I’m fine. Rather, isn’t it natural to confront in such a situation?”
“…Go…Thank you! How generous you are…!”
All the knights present were sincerely moved by Leonardo’s consideration.
To be able to meet Leonardo, who is known as a legendary hero in the knighting world, and receive such encouragement.
It was hard to find such luck in the life of a knight.
“…Wait a minute… But I heard Knight Leonardo is in a coma…!”
Philip, who has a cool personality and has a fast brain, felt the difference in the current situation.
The current Reinhardt article, as well as the groups where the intelligence agency exists, knew at least that Leonardo was not in good health due to injuries.
With that suspicion, everyone put their hands on their arms at once. It must be prepared in advance for an attack using haeng-yeo, mimicry, or hallucination.
“…For some reason, I came here hiding the fact from the outside. This is proof of that.”
Ain completely changed his arm to that of a wyvern to clarify the situation on behalf of Leonardo.
Those knights also knew Ain’s ability, so I was able to remind myself that the people in front of me were real.
“…Sorry for doubting you! I’m worried that I’ll surprise his family by impersonating him, so stop…!”
Knowing that his suspicions were wrong, Philip quickly switched to Tesse and bent over him. At that apology, Leonardo felt that the difficulties were conveyed to his emotions in a strange wave.
“It’s okay…! It’s okay…!”
It was embarrassing for his comrades, who had obviously stood together on the battlefield and died alone to survive, to calmly accept the respectful and courteous attitude towards him.
“More than that, a bodyguard? Why are you protecting my family?”
What Leonardo was curious about was at the root of this story. Why are comrades before returning to protect their families and villages?
“…That’s… The headmaster’s order. You dispatched us in advance because the vampire enemies could attack Leonardo’s family members or take them hostage.”
“…Really?”
It was an order Leonardo had not heard.
However, it was not bad for Leo to get angry.
Those four are knights who can be trusted, even if their skills are less than those of the original family. Besides, if it was Reinhardt’s knight, he could easily deal with two vampires.
‘…That means he’s not very incompetent.’
I don’t know if it was consideration to focus on fighting, or flattery to look good on myself, but it was a necessary service for Leo.
“Then don’t let the guards know that I’m here.”
Knowing that such a service existed, Leonardo was able to concentrate on the fight more safely.
“… Huh?! How come… aren’t you family?”
“That’s why I’m asking you. I’m sure if you see each other, you’ll hesitate to fight.”
All the escort knights were convinced by Leonardo’s words, but at the same time hesitated to hide them.
It was not an easy decision to make because I knew how much Anus and Dean, who had become friends after spending a few days in Doron, worried about Leo.
“…Hey knights…!”
At the moment of hesitation, a familiar beastman’s voice rang in this direction. It was clear that he was running towards this place, judging by the sound of his breathing getting louder and louder.
Then we need to get out of here quickly…
“Why does Leo smell like blood?!”
Leonardo immediately froze at that one word.
“…Dean… Brother?”
I never dreamed of seeing that werewolf again. It must have been a hope he had given up a long time ago.
“Leo! Until Ain…! What happened without contact?!”
Leo couldn’t answer that question.
There were too many things not to say, and there was no particular reason why I came to speak.
“…I miss you…”
I just wanted to make sure that the only family members were intact.
* * *
After confirming that his wounds were not serious, Dean continued his chatter as if to relieve his anger and headed for the town hall.
“Isn’t that Leo! It’s been a while! You dyed your hair!”
“Oh! Leonardo! You’ve changed a lot since you haven’t seen it!”
The villagers passing by greeted Leo warmly, as usual, without any change.
Uncle Jeff, who used to give food often, to Aunt Suja, who gave clothes for the remaining children.
Everyone is alive.
“…I mean, did you talk like you were going to die and come back without contacting me? Grandma will faint if she sees it.”
“…Uh…Uh…”
Dean grumbled a few times while looking at Leo. Honestly, isn’t it a bit embarrassing to appear like this after talking about dying a while ago.
“…Well… Fortunately. Welcome. Did Ain miss his uncle too?”
But he couldn’t hide his joy, so Dean smiled, revealing his fangs. Because of Leo who lost his memory, Ain couldn’t laugh at Uncle Dean like that.
“It’s still here.”
Leonardo’s gaze at the town hall was full of nostalgic memories.
“Chief, I will wait for you. Let’s go in quickly.”
“…Yes.”
As he opened the shabby door of the town hall, the familiar old woman’s face brought back memories of Leo. I never thought I’d see that wrinkled face again.
“Oh, long time no see. Anus Cho…Grandmother.”
Looking at Anus’ face, Leonardo felt a surge of emotion. Perhaps there are people in this town who genuinely want to see without any feelings of love or hatred.
When Anus saw Leo’s face, he smiled and then let out an exaggerated sigh.
“…I haven’t seen you in a long time, but the grandson doesn’t even bring his daughter-in-law.”
“…Uh…Yes? As…? What?”
“Isn’t it only your granddaughter who suffers when her mother doesn’t come? Ain-ah, come here.”
Ain, who was conflicted by Anus’ words, broke out in a cold sweat with an expression that looked like he was about to cry.
“…Granddaughter? No…! That is…”
Leo’s pupil, whose sudden earthquake occurred, slowly met Ain.
“No way…”
“…I… That’s…”
Ain carefully went to Anus’s side as if he were taking refuge. Perhaps she will forever regret introducing herself to Leo now.
“…That’s… No, Ain’s granddaughter…! Who the hell is your daughter-in-law?!”
“Hey, what happened all of a sudden? Why are you repeating what has already been said?”
Contrary to his harsh words, Dean genuinely asked Leo with a worried expression. Could it be that he came alone because he had a fight with that pretty lady?
“You couldn’t believe you had a fight with Ariasviel?!”
“…Aria…?”
“Yes, isn’t your daughter-in-law Arya?”
Leonardo felt his legs loosen up. There was no other time when the sage, acting like a child, was mean enough to want to kill him again.
“…Stand, no way…”
Leo instinctively stopped saying this because of the words child and wife. It was adorned with the most humiliating black history of his period of amnesia.
“I didn’t sleep with Aria, did I…?”
…It was chilly.
On that day, Ain understood the contradictory feeling of humor and sadness coexisting.