25. drunk (4)
There is a long wall built from west to east on the front line.
Fortress-type gateways were placed and managed at certain distances from the wall, and this long wall ostensibly divided the domains of demons and humans.
“tiring… .”
The place where Sylvia returned was the 4th gateway on that front.
A few days of maps put in here.
Regardless of rest, battle, or time, whenever the enemy invaded, they were randomly put into action.
My head was spinning from fatigue, but I didn’t want to show it.
The gaze of the guard passing through the gate is cold.
The eyes of the soldiers and warriors who met on the front line were different from those seen in the city center.
It had to be.
Those defending the front suffered direct human casualties as a result of the dark beer incident.
Even looking at the first party with those eyes, Sylvia had nothing to say.
‘How long can I rest… .’
I fell asleep around evening, woke up at dawn, went to work, and came back in the morning.
I didn’t know when I would go out again.
Even if it was painful or not okay, I persevered.
I thought of Ian from time to time.
what is he doing
where did you get hurt?
What kind of relationship did it have with those warriors, etc.
Still, my body was too busy, so my thoughts were short-lived.
I was in dire need of sleep.
I’m tired too
Because when I dream of Ian, I can draw him the longest.
“Fuck… .”
Kylie followed, staggering and swearing.
Lately she was always drunk.
He carries a bottle of wine with him wherever he goes and drinks it all the time.
When the drunkenness goes away, even if it’s a big deal, it’s like a person.
“Huh… . ah.”
It’s not just drunkenness that messes with her head.
eyes of passers-by.
The gaze that looked down on him as if he were trash was so insulting that he couldn’t bear it.
I had to be patient though.
I was not in a position to protest against such a situation.
So, drink.
Because when she drinks, she thinks of Ian, and her guilt about Ian is the reason she has to put up with it.
I could kill my temper by thinking of Ian.
It was quite an unbearable contradiction for her, who has a violent drinking habit.
“Fuck!”
Upon returning to the room, Kylie threw the bottle against the wall.
– Crack!
The glass splashed in all directions and the remaining wine spilled onto the floor.
“Hee!”
Arya was frightened by even that piece of glass and boldly deployed protection.
The shrapnel hit the shield and ricocheted back, hitting Kylie in the face.
It fell without breaking through her skin.
Sylvia blocked it with an ice barrier as if it always happened, and removed the broken bottle.
“ha… . no, that’s not it… . Sylvia, leave it alone… .”
“Go to sleep.”
“You… . Whoa… .”
Stumbling on the bed, she washed her face dry.
“Even if I had to do it, what Ian said… .”
“… … .”
“Whoa. Beatrice, when the hell is this bastard coming?”
Beatrice’s rehabilitation wasn’t over yet.
Unlike Kylie, she lost her leg, so it wasn’t easy.
Still, Kylie didn’t like that.
“Isn’t this bastard deliberately procrastinating? Whenever I say sorry to Ian… .”
“It will come when the time is right. Wouldn’t the doctor in charge of rehabilitation be able to send it? It’s not like Beatrice ran away.”
There was a hidden meaning that if she ran away, Sylvia herself would step in.
“I hear you’re training pretty hard, so wait.”
“Sickness… .”
Kylie muttered that and then lay down on the bed.
-smart.
Someone knocked on the door and Sylvia went out.
“This is a returned mail.”
“return?”
What letter Sylvia received was a letter.
It seems that there is something hard inside, not letter paper.
“what?”
“Ah, me, poetry, Sylvia… ?”
“yes?
“it… .”
Sylvia questioned and confirmed the sender and recipient.
[From: Aria]
[Recipient: Ian]
“Ian… ?”
“… … .”
Aria put her hands together and timidly avoided her gaze.
Sylvia opened the envelope and looked at it.
Along with a piece of letter paper, the necklace, a holy relic, fell out.
That’s what I said last time.
He said that he had enclosed a necklace of holy relics with the letter to Ian.
“… … .”
Sylvia looked back and forth between the letter and the aria, squinting one eye.
“What were you thinking when you sent this… . take it.”
Arya came over and took the letter and necklace.
“Don’t do it next time. like this.”
“Yeah, but… .”
“But what?”
Arya timidly fiddled with the necklace and said.
“Ian also has a little bit of a heart that forgives us… Could there be… ? Maybe so… .”
“What is that… .”
Kylie, who had been listening half asleep, was just woken up by those words.
Of course, I still lay down and pretended not to listen.
“You defended us in court… . That, maybe, maybe he forgave us at least a little… .”
“What on earth do we forgive for doing well?”
“that… .”
“Did you go and apologize? Or did you give Ian any decisive help?”
“That, so! I was sent to help even now! A big help to Ian’s new warriors… !”
“Some arias!”
Sylvia screamed.
Arya crouched down like instinct and deployed protection, but nothing flew.
“under… .”
Sylvia brushed her bangs up.
Actually, it’s not like I didn’t think of it myself.
Why did Ian defend us?
Isn’t there any reason for that?
Maybe, perhaps, a little bit.
Does it have a feeling of responsibility that is difficult to call affection?
Even if you think so, when you think of the eyes you saw in the city of Fiorene, your thoughts will soon be shattered.
It is a gaze that cannot be described even in words as cold and emotionless.
It was like looking at a mineral, and it seemed like it had become a mineral itself.
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Just imagining it is horrific and painful.
He couldn’t possibly have any feelings left for them… .
“Is it really so?”
Kylie blurted out.
“Really, he, us… Have you forgiven me a little bit? Is that why you defended me?”
“… … .”
Sylvia tried to refute.
Because she used to think so too.
Even if you brush it off, your heart will believe it on its own.
The last time I met Ian in the city of Fiorene, I wanted to ask him.
Why did you protect us?
But seeing those emotionless eyes, the question couldn’t leave the tip of my tongue.
“I can’t… You don’t have… .”
“But then why… .”
Arya stopped talking and suddenly looked down at the necklace.
“Couldn’t it be that they sent it back because they thought of us?”
“yes?”
“Ian’s warriors desperately need growth and strength. I recently passed the official exam, but I still have a long way to go. To them, this necklace must be of great strength… .”
Arya thought.
In terms of value and benefit, there is no reason for Ian to refuse his relic.
So, the reason he sent it back could only be a special reason apart from value and profit.
“… perhaps.”
Kylie nodded.
Her face flushed from drunkenness, she said earnestly.
“I don’t know if Arya’s story is right.”
“yes?”
Sylvia asked in a puzzled way.
“What, what are you talking about? Both now?”
“lets think. What could be the reason Ian sent this back? We don’t know what Philip is, because we know his name. Ian’s way.”
“… … .”
Aria and Sylvia have heard of it too.
Ever since Ian revealed his identity, there is no end to the story of him wherever he goes.
Not only that, but I heard that Ian had recently been granted an earldom and land.
‘I didn’t think Philip was like that… . I had no idea.’
Sylvia only recently realized the meaning and value of that name.
That kind of self was pathetic.
I thought that I was closer to him than anyone else in the world, and that I was the one who loved him.
But looking back
Sylvia knew nothing about Ian.
It’s just that he knows a lot, and that his goal is to kill the demon lord.
At least, you may like some food or scent.
Ian knew and took care of all the little things about Sylvia.
‘Why did you do that… .’
Considering the aftermath of Philip, Ian could have been as famous as they were.
‘why… .’
The question didn’t last long.
‘It’s for us… .’
In order to satisfy their greedy desires, he took a step back.
So that the first party of warriors can monopolize public attention and lighting.
‘You really… . Why do we… .’
Sylvia eventually sat down on her bed, unable to hold back her tears.
“Philip… . I heard you do anything for the growth of the warriors. yes.”
And the ‘heroes’, the subjects of the story, were none other than themselves.
That fact was pathetically funny.
“okay. Is there any other reason for that guy to send it back? Not only that, but Ian tends to retaliate.”
Belatedly, I also heard how Ian had dealt with the gossip towards the 1st warrior’s party.
So they were puzzled.
He, who never takes it easy when it comes to retaliation, even defended them.
“There is no other reason than this.”
Kylie said confidently.
‘is it?’
Sylvia also thought a little bit.
Even then, when I think of Ian I saw in Fiorene, I come back to normal.
that would never be the case
“Nonsense. Well, there must be another reason. … Maybe, we’re too strong to touch.”
“Hmm… .”
“If I made a mistake, I might have thought that Ian’s warriors could be in danger.”
It was Sylvia herself who gave her reason to think that way.
Didn’t he go to McDerline Abbey and threaten to kill Vivian?
I didn’t mean it, but I had nothing to say even if I was misunderstood like that.
“Warrior… . A warrior… . Ian’s warrior… .”
Arya licked her lips and muttered something.
“okay… . Then it will work… .”
“aria? What did you just say?”
“yes? Oh, no. nothing… .”
Arya smiled awkwardly and put the necklace back on her neck.
Sylvia glanced at her, but didn’t feel anything strange.
“Anyway. It’s nonsense. There’s no way Ian would have such feelings for us.”
“But maybe it’s giving them a chance.”
Kylie retorted.
“It gives you a chance to make up for it. So isn’t it our job to seize that opportunity as best we can?”
“that… .”
Sylvia’s heart shakes.
want to lean on
I want to believe in that hope.
However… .
“Still, Arya’s method is wrong. I told you. You shouldn’t expect anything in return for your sins.”
“Yes… ji.”
“If you want to ask for forgiveness, do what you have to do first.”
“… … .”
“Okay, Arya?”
“yes? Ah yes. I heard yes… .”
Sylvia managed to suppress her urge today as well.
But as she suppressed her urges, she didn’t notice the subtle change in Aria’s and Kylie’s expressions.