I Tried To Be Her Loyal Sword

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23 Chapter

“Ugh—”

I grasped my left arm and let out a bitter breath. A throbbing head, dizzying vision, and sweat pouring down like rain. My feverish arm felt like it might burst.

“Damn it! Of all things, getting bitten by an Alpha Debera!”

Who would have thought that the Debera I had encountered would be an Alpha Debera?

Normally, if I had been bitten by a regular Debera, I would have fully recovered by the time I returned from the Village of Lujou to the capital. But the poison of an Alpha Debera was five times more potent than that of a regular Debera. So far, I was still conscious only because I was a Sword Master.

“Cabin… hurry…”

I shook my head roughly, brushing the snowflakes off that had piled on my head, and grabbed onto a tree for support.

The cabin where I was researching medicine to heal Aria’s illness. It had the ingredients to make an antidote. The cabin was nestled deep in the mountains, completely inaccessible to humans, but ironically, the snow piled up to my ankles was obstructing my path.

I dragged my swaying body and finally made it to the front of the cabin.

Creak—

I opened the door to the cabin with a loud noise. It was dark inside.

And I instinctively recognized a red light.

Swish.

The pain-driven instinct that had been dormant surged to life.

With my healthy right hand, I drew my sword and aimed it at the intruder’s throat. The intruder flinched.

“What are you doing, you bastard?”

I wasn’t in any condition to fight, but thankfully, I sensed no aura of threat from the intruder, so I thought I could easily subdue them.

Just as I was guessing the intruder might be a fearless petty thief—

Click.

The lights in the cabin turned on. Only then did I recognize the familiar vanilla scent mingled with the metallic smell of blood.

Brown, soft curls billowed in the winter breeze that seeped through the gap in the door. Their blue eyes, reminiscent of the deep sea, widened in shock as they took in my state.

“Did—did you?”

The thief, who had once stolen from me and run away, came back on their own.

*

Drip—

The sound of water droplets softly echoed through the cabin. Long, delicate hands poured tea into a cup.

I had always assumed a young nobleman like him could hardly brew tea, yet he skillfully steeped the black tea, which took on a lovely red color.

“Here.”

Didi handed me a cup. As I reached out with my sound right hand to grab it, my hand trembled, spilling the tea onto the blanket. The lingering effects of the paralysis poison made it hard to control my body.

“Oh dear.”

Seeing my trembling wrist, Didi reached out to me with a stiff expression. I brushed his hand away lightly.

“Don’t touch me carelessly.”

At my cold response, he withdrew his hand, stepping back. I tried to maintain a frosty demeanor, but the moment I met Didi’s blue eyes, I couldn’t help but soften my expression.

‘He’s an intruder… Why does he look so hurt?’

I bit my lip and sighed deeply. I intended to feign vigilance, but I found it hard to remain stony-faced in front of his sorrowful gaze.

I relaxed into my bed, leaning against the side. My long black hair draped messily over the wall. Adjusting the slightly askew mask covering my bandaged left arm, I spoke.

“…Thank you for healing me. Now, please tell me why you’ve come.”

“What… the hell…”

Didi, waiting for me in the cabin, froze as he looked at my half-dead self. He must have had a mountain of questions, but the paralysis poison spreading through me made it hard to even hold my sword.

“Did you come to kill me?”

“…What?”

“I asked if you came to kill me.”

“Of course not!”

“Then please help me.”

After staying awake for two nights fighting the Debera horde, and exterminating the remaining monsters in the forest, I traversed this distance on foot, which would take at least a week on horseback. Aside from one wash, I had no rest. I felt faint and almost dead.

“What… how can I help?”

“On the shelf… ugh… there’s Periwinkle powder. Mix it with water at a 1:5 ratio…”

It was hard to even manage making an antidote in my state. Somehow, I ended up making a nobleman act like a servant, but he seemed eager to help, so I decided not to feel guilty about it.

“Are you… crazy? Why suddenly undress…!”

“Then should I put on clothes to treat you? You took yours off, so why are you acting like this?”

As I carelessly tossed aside the black shirt I had been wearing while leaning against the bed, Didi gasped and covered his eyes. His ears turned bright red. Meanwhile, I felt completely unfazed.

When I first met Didi, I had forgotten to wear a voice-modulation artifact, so he must have already realized I was a woman. I had gotten an ace bandage to avoid hindering movement while doing mercenary work, so I was covered in all the right places.

“Keep your hands off. I’m covered where I need to be.”

With a reaction typical of a nobleman, I clicked my tongue while looking down at myself, slightly hardening my expression.

“…Though, I suppose it could look a bit grotesque.”

At my unexpected comment, Didi lowered his hand slightly. His face went cold in an instant after seeing my bare body.

“W-what’s wrong with your body?”

“Isn’t it weirder to be fine?”

I answered nonchalantly in the midst of his trembling gaze.

It was the body of a Sword Master who had wielded a sword for a lifetime. It was more unusual for it to look sleek and pretty.

My body was solely muscle, and below my neck, it looked like a patchwork of meat sewn together, quite literally.

“…If you’re not going to treat me, just hand it over. I’ll do it.”

With Didi’s fixed gaze on me, I draped a shirt over my scarred body and reached for the medicine. I had no regrets about living a life filled with scars, but I felt a bit embarrassed compared to his flawless body.

“…I’m sorry.”

“…What?”

Didi, holding my extended wrist, stopped my hand gently and spoke in a trembling voice. Confused, I tilted my head, and he looked like he was about to cry.

“I’m sorry for making you live a life like this.”

I gazed into his two blue eyes, filled with guilt and responsibility. I couldn’t understand why these young people today seemed to carry responsibilities beyond their age.

I felt a strange relaxation, blinking slowly until I reached out to pat his head. I decided not to think about noble crimes or anything else anymore.

“This is not your fault.”

It was the life I had chosen.

I replied calmly, looking directly into the guilt-ridden blue eyes.

“Are you not going to answer?”

But he had intruded, regardless.

Waving my neatly bandaged left arm, I marveled at how well it was wrapped. It was Didi’s handiwork. I hadn’t expected much from a nobleman, but his hands were quite capable.

I turned to look at him. Didi was sitting comfortably in a chair beside the bed, leisurely sipping his tea. His posture reminded me of a graceful painting. When our eyes met, he smiled softly.

‘…The situation has flipped, hasn’t it?’

Not long ago, I was the one sitting there treating Didi, and now I was the one injured, sitting on the bed. Not long ago, it was Didi asking me why I was there, and now I was the one asking about the reason for his intrusion.

‘…I’m so tired.’

I rolled up the sleeves of my ample white shirt and began to rub my bandaged left arm slowly. With Didi’s help, the treatment was complete, and the paralysis no longer spread. However, while the antidote worked as pain relief, it also used a herb with side effects that caused strong mental confusion, leaving me dazed.

“Well. Is a reason needed?”

His question was much like mine. I squinted my eyes in suspicion, wondering if he was teasing me, and he put on a faux-sorrowful expression.

“I deeply apologize for entering without permission. I knocked but received no response, so I pulled the door absentmindedly, and it just opened. By the time I realized what was happening, you had arrived.”

“Well… I can’t say it’s entirely my fault for not locking it. But why did you come?”

“I don’t have a special reason. I was just drawn here.”

“Are you a sparrow and this cabin a grindstone?”

I snorted mockingly and Didi inhaled sharply, trying to suppress a laugh. He looked into my eyes and smiled gently.

“You mentioned not needing a reason to save someone not too long ago.”

“…I suppose so.”

As I blankly blinked, Didi slowly reached out a hand towards my head.

He sought my permission with his gaze. Hesitant for a moment, I recalled that even if I touched his wrist, I could easily break it and nodded slowly.

Didi smiled sweetly.

His slender and straight fingers tidied my mess of hair. The tips of his fingers brushed against my ear as he tucked a strand behind it. His eyes sparkled.

“Just like that, there’s no special reason for people to be drawn to each other, is there, Shushu?”

It was a smile that contained alluring and distinct intentions.

“People can be so… complicated.”

He used his face all too well. Feeling my heart soften, I let out a deep sigh. Reason and logic were irrelevant; I was just too tired.

‘I don’t really know. Whatever will be, will be.’

“Are you going to sleep here? Can I have the bed?”

My whole body ached and my head throbbed. I was tired even of suspicion. Didi made a strange expression in response to my overly feminine question.

“Really… I sensed no danger. Aren’t you going to ask me who I am?”

“Does a lion fear an ant, even if it invades its den? Even if you ask, won’t you just refuse to tell me who you are?”

An ordinary person wouldn’t find it challenging to subdue me, after all. My sharp analogy didn’t seem to upset Didi; he chuckled softly. His smile emitted a scent that could intoxicate the senses.

“True enough. Still, I might answer you if you ask.”

Leaning his elbows on his knees, he rested his chin on his hands nonchalantly. His hunched posture brought us closer together. He was acting as if he owned the place despite having crawled in uninvited, and I couldn’t help but give a baffled expression.

‘But it’s not just bravado… he’s perceptive.’

In Didi’s eyes, there was an assurance that he was not in danger. It was ridiculous, but it was certainly an accurate assessment. I had no intention of harming an innocent person.

“Fine.”

I sighed a laugh and shook my head. Didi tilted his head slowly at my unfaltering denial.

“…Aren’t you curious?”

“I am curious.”

“Then why?”

To my misunderstanding, he seemed a bit flustered. It was as if he wanted me to be curious.

I gazed steadily at Didi, letting out a sigh resembling a laugh.

“You’re obviously a noble.”

There was no way he could not be. Didi slightly frowned but did not deny it.

“As you can see, I’m a commoner. As a commoner, I cannot be so comfortable in the presence of a noble like you. One must maintain decorum and boundaries.”

It was a crime that could have one imprisoned for a commoner to draw their sword against a noble.

I leisurely tilted the cup of tea to my lips, savoring the comfort of this moment, knowing that we could only feel it because we both turned a blind eye to each other’s peculiarities.

“…Ah.”

I poked his forehead playfully with my finger as he let out a slow exclamation. I laughed brightly at his dazed expression. Due to the drug muddling my mind, it was a gentler laugh than usual.

“So let’s say that the noble Didi is ignorant. Let’s both agree that we know nothing about each other.”