国产午夜亚洲精品AⅤ

Chapter 174

With my mind on those thoughts, I found myself unable to fall asleep.

While everyone else seemed exhausted and fell asleep quickly, I didn’t feel particularly weary, even after an entire day of swimming. It seemed like my stamina had improved tremendously.

When driving your body to exhaustion was routine, moderate exertion would never be enough to leave you truly tired enough to sleep...

Since I couldn’t sleep, I decided to step outside for some tea. The servants lived in a separate residence, so there were no servants around, and we were the only ones in the mansion.

At the end of the hallway on the second floor, Ellen sat on the terrace, staring blankly outside.

“... Oh, you’re not asleep?” I asked as I approached her.

“I woke up,” she replied.

Her pajamas were slightly damp from what seemed to be sweat, an indication that she’d had a nightmare. I, too, suffered from nightmares, but they weren’t bad enough to prevent me from sleeping, like Ellen. Her trauma seemed to be more severe than mine.

“...”

“...”

I sat in the chair next to Ellen, but didn’t have anything to say.

Things seemed to be getting better if it was just the two of us around, but seeing our classmates again brought me back to reality.

“Riana’s abilities seem to have improved a lot over this break,” Ellen said first, not waiting for me to start the conversation.

“Really?”

“Yeah, she’s been going about her usual routine, but still achieved significant progress.”

Ellen had definitely changed.

“Adelia can now do basic designs for permanent engravings and other magical apparatus with magic crafting. It’s pretty impressive.”

“Hmm... She’s quick.”

Adelia had been buried in her studies while at the Temple, and she had made good use of her time, learning to do various new things.

“Harriet has been studying both destructive magic and supportive spells that are useful in practical scenarios.”

Harriet had spent the break studying specific spells that would be useful in real-life situations. From what I’d witnessed at the beach earlier, Heinrich’s abilities seemed to have improved greatly as well. He was well past the point of only being able to create a small bonfire.

Everyone had grown in their own way.

“Everyone’s worked hard, I see.”

“Yeah, it seems so.”

Ellen was staring blankly at the waves crashing onto the beach.

Everyone had indeed grown in their own way.

“We were just too hasty.”

“...”

“We could have taken it slow, lived our lives normally. But we wanted to get stronger too quickly, to become just a bit more powerful... I think we made a mistake.”

We had gotten stronger. That much was true. Ellen was almost at the level of a superhuman, and I, too, had made significant improvements in my abilities. We made a lot of money as well, and I’d even obtained a powerful sword, albeit a cursed one.

In that process, however, we had been through harrowing experiences that we had to hide, to lie about or keep silent in response to those who asked about them.

Even if we had let things develop at a normal pace, we would have grown steadily stronger.

Our classmates had spent their break living their lives in their own way, and had grown in various aspects. Perhaps we’d made a mistake, rushing into taking a shortcut just because we wanted to move forward faster. In the end, I also ended up hurting Harriet because of it.

Ellen seemed overwhelmed with emotions after observing our classmates, who had grown in their own ways, through experiences that were different from ours.

I took a deep breath and sighed.

As someone who’d gone through the same experiences, I didn’t want to say it, but I had to.

“Let’s try to see this in a positive light, even if it’s hard.”

“Positive...?”

“Yeah. Even though what we went through was terrible, we can’t say that the outcome was bad.”

Understanding this cruel dichotomy was what Ellen needed right now.

I looked straight into Ellen’s slightly bewildered eyes.

“We saved more lives than we took.”

“...”

“It was a horrid experience, but it isn’t something to be ashamed of.”

If it hadn’t been for us, at least fifty people would have died. It was a dreadful experience, one that was hard to talk about, but it wasn’t worthless.

Ellen seemed to think that what we’d done was all meaningless, and was sinking into despair.

“Maybe going to the Dark Land was a mistake, but we didn’t make any mistakes while we were there.”

We’d made the best choices we could in that place. There was no reason to drown in self-recrimination and nightmares.

Even if our decision to go to the Dark Land had been a mistake, the choices we made there were the best we could have made.

“... Do you really think so?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

***

The next day, we ate a simple breakfast prepared by the servants.

“... What’s up with the atmosphere?” Riana asked as she looked around, puzzled by the tense mood.

Harriet’s expression was noticeably gloomy, and Ellen, who usually showed little reaction to whatever was happening around her, was barely eating her breakfast.

Seeing Harriet genuinely hurt made it hard to bear. Normally, when she got upset, she pouted or went “Hmph”, but when she felt truly hurt, she would suffer in silence. I realized this anew, and it was difficult to see her like that.

“Anyway, I’m going to Rajak today. Whoever wants to come, come along. Those who don’t, you can rest here.”

Riana was planning to go into Rajak City for some fun that day. I didn’t feel like tagging along, so I decided to stay at the villa to rest.

“Ellen, you don’t have a choice. You have to come.”

“...?”

For some reason, Riana was insistent that Ellen go with her.

“I can’t stand the sight of you in that Temple swimsuit. Let’s go and buy a new one. I’ll buy it for you.”

Riana was clearly irritated by the sight of Ellen playing around in her Temple swimsuit at the resort.

‘Really? Was it that annoying? Then again, who knows what goes on in the mind of a duke’s daughter?’

Ellen didn’t seem to have any objections.

‘But hang on, if we’re considering this, I brought my Temple swimsuit to the resort too. Why is she only buying one for Ellen?’

“Hey, what about me?”

“Wow, are you shamelessly asking me to buy one for you too? Not a chance.”

“Ugh. Fine, whatever.”

Of course, I was just joking around—I didn’t actually expect her to buy one for me.

Heinrich decided to go along, and Adelia, after some hesitation, said she would go too.

“I’ll stay and rest here,” Harriet said.

“Yeah, sure.”

Harriet seemed to be in no mood to go out and planned to rest at the mansion. I considered going along with the others, but I noted Harriet’s expression, and figured I couldn’t leave her alone. I also had something to give her, but whether it would lift her spirits or not, I wasn’t sure.

“I’ll stay here too,” I said.

I decided to stay at the mansion as well.

***

The others left for Rajak. Since the villa was on the outskirts of town and quite far away from the city, they all took a carriage. That left just Harriet and me at the mansion.

Knock, Knock.

“... What is it?”

I knocked on the door to Harriet’s room and she appeared, wearing a gloomy expression.

“Let’s talk.”

“...”

Without a word, Harriet exited her room. There was a terrace at the end of the hallway, the same place where I talked with Ellen the previous night.

I took Harriet there and sat her down in a chair.

Of course, since it was daytime, the scene was refreshingly different.

“Are you mad at something?”

Usually, I would have asked why she was acting like such a baby, but that would have hurt her feelings more, so I phrased the question differently this time.

“No, I’m not mad,” Harriet murmured with a gloomy expression. “It’s just... I was so worried about you all. But it felt like I didn’t matter to you guys, like you thought I wouldn’t understand even if I heard about what happened...”

She clenched her small fists tightly. “That just... made me sad.”

She’d stayed up on several consecutive nights making artifacts out of concern for us, with the hope that they would protect us. She had been worried about our safety and was eager to find out how her artifacts had helped us, but the only response she got was, “You don’t need to know.”

That was all.

How could she not feel hurt?

Ellen felt guilty for not being able to say anything, which explained the tense atmosphere that morning. If we left it like this, the mood would remain somber despite us all being at the villa to have fun.

“We’re not ignoring you,” I said.

“...”

“It’s just that it’s really hard to talk about. That’s just being honest.”

In the heat of the moment, we had to act desperately, doing whatever we could to survive. However, once we returned to a safe environment, the reality of what we had done started to sink in.

My tone was softer than usual. Harriet looked at me quietly.

I took something out of my pocket and placed it on the table.

Clink.

It was a pair of earrings.

“What... is this?”

“I picked them up on the way.”

“...?”

I wanted to say something to ease the tension, but Harriet didn’t seem to get it.

“I brought them back with me. They’re for you.”

“... What are they, exactly?”

“They’re earrings. Can’t you tell by looking at them?”

They were enchanted with magic that fortified their wearer’s mental strength. They were unnecessary for Ellen, whose mental fortitude was already stronger than mine, and I didn’t need them either. Although I could have sold them, I had first considered who might need them the most, and Harriet had come to mind.

“They’re artifacts with the Tranquility enchantment permanently engraved on them. I don’t need them, and neither does Ellen, so I’m giving them to you. If you can stay calm while casting spells, it’ll make it easier, right?”

Harriet seemed astonished at the realization that the earrings were magically engraved artifacts. More than anything, she seemed most baffled by the fact that I was giving them to her.

“... Where did you get something like this?”

“I told you, it’s hard to explain,” I said with a smirk. “It’s not really a bribe, but please take them and let this slide a little, okay?”

I understood that she might feel upset or hurt if we continued to keep our silence.

“If there’s one thing I can tell you, it’s that we risked our lives to get this.”

“...”

While I didn’t share any detailed circumstances, I let her know that we’d acquired such an item only after going through a dangerous ordeal.

She was now in possession of an item we had risked our lives to obtain. Harriet clutched the earrings tightly and lowered her head.

“I... I wanted to help too.”

“You did help.”

Harriet kept her head lowered, and tears began to fall onto her hands.

“I wanted to go with you guys. But I was told that there was no way, that it was too dangerous for someone like me to go to a place like that. I was scolded, heavily, and confined to my room by my parents. They were so worried I might run away, so I couldn’t leave my room until my dad confirmed that you guys had returned safely.”

Harriet wanted to come with us to the Dark Land. But of course, no parent would allow such a thing. So, it seemed that Harriet spent her break in confinement rather than enjoying her vacation.

It was only after confirming our return to the Temple that Duke Saint-Ouen allowed Harriet her freedom.

The Duke made the right decision. Had Harriet come with us, she wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Ellen and I, despite dealing with trauma, are managing to cope in a way that’s not normal. It wasn’t about treating her like a child; the abnormal ones were those who could endure it in the first place.

“I also want to become good with magic... and if I do get better... if I become more skilled....” Harriet, choking back tears, held the earrings I gave her tightly. “Could I then go with you guys?”

Harriet seemed to feel sorrowful that she wasn’t recognized as a competent mage. She probably felt that if she could fulfill the role appropriately, she could be allowed to join up with us. Her parents didn’t acknowledge her abilities yet, and she herself understood she wasn’t up to that level.

That must have been what had bothered her so much during the break.

“Hey, what’s stopping you from coming with us now?”

“...”

She was already capable of using practical magic, and her skills had improved considerably since the deserted island incident. The only thing she was lacking was experience. She could come along with us anytime.

The issue was whether she could handle it herself.

To be honest, I had no intention of taking her along. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if I would ever engage in such an activity again.

However, at that moment, this lie seemed to be what Harriet needed.

“You’ve improved a lot, and with these earrings, you’ll be even stronger. There’s no reason you can’t come along in the future.”

Harriet looked at me, tears still in her eyes, holding onto the hope that she could someday be a part of our group.

Sometimes, offering a bit of hope, even if not entirely truthful, can be a small solace in moments of pain.

“Thank you... Reinhart.” Harriet didn’t inquire further about what we had gone through. “I’ll treasure it.”

She held the earrings tightly, tears streaming down her face.