37. Necessity (5)
The weather is nice.
The sky is blue.
The sun is bright.
Warm yet slightly cool.
Maybe it’s spring soon.
I was sitting blankly in the garden of the mansion.
The garden will soon be filled with bright red anemones.
In front of the fountain.
It’s been strange with Elijah lately.
In a word, strange.
I don’t have enough words to express it other than that.
This strangeness started after I went to the foundation festival.
I have a sense of distance that shouldn’t happen.
It was subtle and awkward, but somehow we got along just like before.
Until he was strangled, that was certainly the case.
I even used magic.
The tragedy we saw five years ago was reproduced exactly as it was.
We haven’t seen each other since.
Except for the foot washing ceremony yesterday.
‘To be precise, Elijah avoided me….’
Why did Elijah strangle me?
And why, after that, she avoids confronting me and doesn’t even say anything.
If you really wanted to kill me, what was the reason?
Why doesn’t she try to kill again?
If it is a misunderstanding, what is the other reason?
I wish I could tell you something about it.
Unbeknownst to me, I laughed out loud.
This situation was funny.
There was a time when I tried to run away because of a tragedy, but now I’m still alive after going through that tragedy.
What are you expecting?
What do you want to hear?
From noble mtl dot com
Looking at him blatantly avoiding it, I think there must be a reason….
‘By the way, my diet has changed lately…. Did he even notice my condition?’
Isn’t a tea with good mana served before the ceremony?
Ingredients that help improve mana are also added to the main menu.
Of course, there is no particular effect.
I already ate enough to eat in the magic tower.
The current mana status is 1.
I was 11 yesterday thanks to the magical power I received through Yuel, but I was taken away again in a footwashing ceremony.
‘What is Elijah thinking? .’
In the midst of frustration.
“Yumma.”
“Ugh-!”
Something cold touched the back of my neck.
I jumped to my feet in amazement.
“Wow, surprise…. Senior Richard?”
What touched his neck was a water bottle.
He giggled as he drank the cold water.
“What are you worrying about so much that you are losing your mind? Called and didn’t answer.”
“Oh, just….”
“What’s not going well with the lady?”
“How do you know…. What, what, yeah? Isn’t it?”
“Oops. Please?”
Richard smiled knowingly and sat down on the bench.
The seat where I was originally sitting.
I also put my butt down next to him.
“Man. I’ve been seeing you for years.”
“Five years.”
“Yes. It’s written all over your face when something bad happens to you. And there are very few situations like that.”
“What is it?”
“When I didn’t like today’s training.”
“… Oh. That’s accurate.”
“And when you have a problem with the lady.”
“… ….”
“Well, in the case of the latter, it was usually your one-sided concern. Whether you’re embarrassed because the lady hugged you, or you’re worried about her….”
“If someone hears it, they’ll know it’s a one-sided love.”
“That is not true. Are you both?”
“… ….”
Well.
Is it really so?
Normally you wouldn’t strangle the person you like.
I was worried because I had nothing to say, but someone interrupted again.
“Oops. What are the two men doing grossly?”
Shylock has been walking like a town nerd.
“Hmm. We were talking very hotly.”
Richard said, and Shylock clicked her tongue.
“I don’t think this is a topic for men to share.”
And yet he sat down next to me.
Suddenly, I was caught between Shylock and Richard.
“I’m going to die from being cramped.”
“You occupy the largest area, man.”
“So, is there something going on between our escort driver and the young lady?”
Shylock said as if it were natural.
As I stare at him, he shrugs.
“How can you not know? The young lady is good at hiding her emotions, but you are not.”
“That’s what I mean, man.”
“Ugh. Just….”
I said as if letting out an old sigh.
I can’t tell you everything.
“I don’t know. What to do.”
“Yeah. Are you saying you don’t know from the mouth of a guy who just looks at you?”
“It is scary to be afraid of love.”
“I’m really curious, but do you both usually do that? I am afraid that no one will hear me.”
They burst into laughter at my question.
“I know everything except you and the lady, but what?”
“I mean. It looks like the viewers are going to die from frustration, so what are you worried about?”
“… ….”
I was embarrassed and had no choice but to keep my mouth shut.
Seeing me like that, Richard tapped him on the shoulder and said.
“What are you so deeply concerned about? Since when did you live like that? If you don’t know, don’t you just ask and find out?”
Say it yourself.
Whatever it was.
This is the most convenient way.
It’s not that difficult, and it’s also the most effective.
‘But….’
Elijah avoids me.
If you go find it, it doesn’t exist, ignores it, or spits it out briefly to tell you to leave.
The tone of voice has changed so much from before.
Once I tried to catch him to talk, but he backed off and ran away with a teleport, causing a fight as if an insect had flown in.
After that, it was a bit awkward to visit.
‘Maybe, is that so….’
Suddenly, a possibility came to mind.
Sardis.
Elijah, on her 13th birthday, the human who almost did her great wrong to her little girl.
As you got closer to me, you felt at least a little something like s*xual love, and the trauma was stimulated by that influence, so you ended up avoiding me.
‘It’s plausible, but…. I’m not an expert on these things, and I’m not the party to them, so I can’t be sure.’
Besides, the person in question is avoiding me, so there is nothing more to know.
I sighed deeply and looked up at the sky.
The weather is unnecessarily nice.
“I will do my best to not worry you.”
“Hmm. Can we expect good news?”
Shylock asked with a smirk.
I hit it with my elbow.
I asked Richard instead.
“Do you get along well with Beninita?”
“Um, what. No problem. But the atmosphere these days is a bit, you know.”
A subtle tension between Elijah and the Empire.
Everyone worth knowing is now known enough to know.
Rumors that a war will soon break out are spreading in secret.
Because of that, the soldiers and knights in Elijah’s mansion spend their days in a state of tension every day.
Perhaps the direct descendant of the Bebel family will be a bit turbulent as well.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen, so I told you to get away to a safe place.”
“Well done.”
“… Is there a war going on?”
“Hmm…. It probably will with a high probability.”
“Yes….”
Richard, thinking about something, smiled.
“The opponent is an empire. That should be enough. Is it worth it?”
Richard.
The lion’s knight.
At some point, it became the image I knew.
A warlike battle fanatic.
If there is a slight difference, it is that he is my reliable colleague.
I laughed helplessly.
It was a serious situation, but it was a little comforting to have a reliable colleague.
“Crazy….”
Shylock shook her head in disgust.
After finishing the conversation, we left the garden.
Richard added one more word at the end.
The other SS members are also worried.
‘Anyway, the remote areas are wide…. Thank you.’
Elijah and I.
At least before the war starts, I think we should face each other.
“Mr. Judas!”
Someone called, and when I turned around, it was Hermis.
“Sir Hermis. Long time no see.”
“That’s right. It’s hard to see your face.”
“Because I was busy following the lady around. But what is it?”
“Ah. No big deal. Why didn’t you say before that you wanted to own a house in Jericho?”
“… Ah. It was.”
I remember asking for it when I was planning to run away from Elijah.
“Finally, it is complete. The minimum necessary furniture is also prepared, so all you have to do is move in.”
House of Jericho.
The place where I was going to stay if I had to run away from Elijah even later.
I forgot.
Because I thought it was unnecessary.
But now….
It cannot be said that it is not necessary at all.
“It looks roughly like this.”
Hermis unfolded one side of the notebook and showed it to me.
This is a landscape of a mansion lightly sketched with a pencil.
It’s not as big as Elijah’s mansion, but it’s more than enough for me alone.
“Oh…. Are you good at drawing?”
“hahahaha. I drew it whenever I was bored, so it ended up like this. Do you like it?”
“I haven’t seen it myself, but I think it will be fine.”
“But why did you say you needed a separate house?”
“Just what….”
Because I tried to run away.
At some point, the need to run away disappeared.
But now, things have changed again.
I just laughed weakly and looked around.
“I think it will come in handy someday.”
***
“… Dispatch?”
Judah received an order from Miguel.
After reading it, I ask back in disbelief.
Miguel just answered businesslikely.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“This is what the lady decided.”
“Then why?”
“As for the reason and purpose, everything is as written in the directive. He said he had nothing more to say.”
“… ….”
Judas pressed his temple and checked his orders again.
This is a direct order from Elijah.
She doesn’t even have the right to say no.
The contents were simple.
Indefinite deployment without a fixed date.
The dispatch area is the front line of the northeastern end where the war is currently the most active.
Bethany.
The most dangerous area where even the most famous knights die if they make a mistake.
It is a place called hell itself.
In vulgar terms, it is called the ‘Tomb of the Knight’.
If there is an order from the owner to leave there, the meaning is as follows.
Get out and die.
Don’t come back when you die.
Exile or expulsion, not dispatch.
The purpose of dispatching troops to Judas was to investigate the demon realm.
Beyond simple, insincere.
Judas arranged his orders as if he were cheating.
“… ….”
Elijah strangled her own throat.
I waited even though I continued avoiding the conversation.
The result is in the palm of your hand.
This kind of unilateral notification is unacceptable due to its nature.
Sent a signal to the necklace.
Please summon me.
But there is no response.
“Where is my lady right now?”
“You told me not to inform you.”
“… Great. Then I’ll go see you.”
“You have to go dispatch right now….”
“Miguel.”
Judah called him by name.
It’s the first name I’ve put into it in five years.
The low-pitched voice made Miguel involuntarily nervous.
“Don’t you know that you can’t stop just because you want to stop? Anyway, I would have searched the mansion and found the lady.”
“… ….”
“Judging from the reaction, he didn’t leave the mansion anyway.”
Unbeknownst to Judas, he imitated Elijah’s technique.
A skill to speak as if one were convinced only by possibility, and to gain confidence from the other person’s response.
It was not a conscious imitation.
“Let’s not waste time getting tired of each other. I want to hear the reason from the lady.”
“… He is in the office.”
“Thank you.”
Judah strode past him.
Now, just by hearing the name of the room, the main house of the mansion has become familiar with what floor it is on.
Climb the stairs and arrive straight away.
Thump thump. Knocked on the door. Answer within
.
“Come in.”
Yuda opened the door and entered as if he had waited.
Elijah is sitting in the office as usual.
She looks up at herself with a cold face that is not always the same.
It’s not just the expression that’s different from usual.
The ring finger of the right hand is empty.
Without the ivory ring that can summon itself.
The red scarf I wore even in the summer.
I don’t even have a cat doll that I used to carry around inappropriate for my age.
“What’s up?”
The voice asking for business is also cold.
What did you come here for?
It’s not a question, it’s a word that is no different from an order to leave.
Judah did not listen.
“My lady.”
Thump on the desk! She looked right at her, putting her orders down with a roar.
“Let me talk to you.”
Within a few days, her red eyes, which faced her, were cold and dry.
