NOVEL NEXT Chapter 74
The dawn raid operation was something I did by my own will. The promise with Jennifer had vanished into thin air by turning back time, but I still remembered it. If it had been a promise with someone else, it might not have mattered, but I didn’t want to break the promise with characters I liked.
Thanks to this, the time I returned to yesterday had already passed far beyond the morning.
“…If you want a reward, I’ll do anything for you. Winterfield never forgets a debt.”
In the car on the way back, Jennifer said that, and I replied, “I just repaid an existing debt.”
And as I answered that, I felt a little proud.
Of course, I did smell blood and gunpowder that dawn. The memories of the battlefield might not be easily forgotten. Having heard stories about PTSD, those memories might have a significant impact on me.
But still, thinking that it was something that needed to be done made me feel much better.
After all, that’s what war is about. If we don’t fight, our people get killed. Moreover, those mercenaries were people who had committed heinous acts one way or another. Among the people I fought, there might have been someone with normal reasoning… but in the first place, a battlefield is where people risk their lives against each other, and I couldn’t just stand by.
The enemy aimed a gun at me too. If I had been shot and killed, maybe it would have been another story, but if I had been shot in an arm or a leg and incapacitated without turning back time, I would have had a terrible experience with a disorganized mercenary group.
Besides, it wasn’t my first time killing someone.
I had already experienced battles while turning back time repeatedly and had optimized Groots. There was a difference of a day, but in the end, the results came out similarly.
“Debt?”
Naturally, Jennifer asked that back, but I chose not to say anything further.
“……”
Since I didn’t react, Jennifer didn’t bother to ask any more questions. Rather, she seemed deep in thought, remaining silent the whole way while driving. Thanks to that, I could just zone out and gaze out the window until we returned to Winterfield Castle.
The mountain range far away was beautiful.
The Sword Saint was probably still somewhere on that mountainside.
*
When we arrived at Winterfield Castle, Alice rushed out from the lobby, worried, and pulled me into a hug.
Perhaps having caught a whiff of gunpowder lingering on me, Alice immediately glared at Jennifer.
“……”
Jennifer seemed at a loss for words.
Right now, Jennifer doesn’t know that I can turn back time. So seeing me fight like that on the battlefield must have shocked her in a different way. There probably wasn’t even enough time for her to mentally prepare herself.
“Father….”
Alice spoke up to me quickly.
“Did Father make you do that?”
Hmm.
I considered it seriously.
It wasn’t exactly something Emperor Arthur III ordered… to be precise, it was something he had intended to order.
So wouldn’t it be fine to say it was roughly that way?
If anything, I did it because I wanted to.
“……”
I decided to leave it as is. Explaining it was a hassle. To be honest, if I tried to explain while hiding my abilities, there would inevitably be gaps in my words, which would lead to unnecessary suspicion.
And lying would just lead to more questions later when my abilities were revealed, like ‘What about back then…?’
So the choice I made was to ‘silently play along convincingly.’
Whether she took my silence as an affirmation, Alice closed her mouth and stared at me.
“I told you, you don’t have to follow Father’s orders.”
“……”
Alice, who had hugged me lightly, took a step back and grabbed my hand, saying.
“…Well, you wouldn’t have been able to refuse such an order anyway.”
Not that I had received any orders, but…
…She wouldn’t go straight to the emperor and say something, would she?
Feeling a bit uneasy, I decided to change the subject.
“Did you successfully carry out the mission?”
“Mission? Ah.”
Alice looked back at the other kids waiting behind her, then turned to me and said.
“Yeah. Thanks to you.”
I shifted my gaze slightly to find Mia Crowfield. The kids must have entered not long ago since the hems of their clothes were a bit damp, and there were stains on their coats. They must have splashed some mud from the melting snow.
The staff in Mia Crowfield’s hand sparkled with a blue Marmaros.
I had left it on the desk before I left, along with a note to pass it on to Mia Crowfield.
It seemed the kids had executed those instructions perfectly.
“Thanks to the Marmaros, the hunt was much easier.”
Charlotte, who had been watching us, took a step forward and spoke. Charlotte’s expression was quite complex, much like Alice’s. It seemed she was confused about whether to be wary of me returning from battle or to simply be grateful in this moment.
“Th-thank you.”
Mia Crowfield said, appearing a bit frightened.
“Are you… okay?”
Claire, who had been quietly watching me from a distance, approached and asked.
“I’m fine.”
Honestly, I felt much better than expected. Having seen similar scenes repeatedly, I had rather become accustomed to it, which allowed for better mental preparation. Plus, I had some justification.
I then looked at Leo and Jake, who were still a little distant from us. Leo… surprisingly didn’t look too pale. For a second, I wondered if he had reached a transcendental state from being too overwhelmed, but looking again, he seemed to have a contemplative expression.
Could it be that my evaluation of him has changed a bit?
Jake’s reaction was similar. His usual punkish demeanor seemed to have vanished; he was now looking at me intently with a serious expression. When our eyes met, he quickly flashed a goofy smile and walked over.
“Hey, hey, don’t just stand there. Let’s all go eat or something. I feel like I’m starving to death.”
“You…”
Alice glared at Jake, then suddenly turned to me as if she remembered something. Maybe she read something on my face because Alice soon chuckled and said.
“Yeah, well, that makes sense. We’ve all worked really hard all morning. It’s about time we got hungry.”
…Honestly, I have no idea how she reads my expressions.
*
“Are you sure you’re okay? You could just rest in the afternoon.”
Seeing me get ready again for the afternoon mission, Alice looked worried.
“I’m fine.”
I thought that I had done well in learning meditation. Like Claire told me last time, even though I hadn’t slept much, I still felt I could move around a little more just by calming my mind and body through meditation.
Of course, it didn’t mean that my fatigue was completely gone, but after going back and cleaning myself up after lunch, sitting cross-legged on the bed to meditate felt like I was pushing the fatigue back, almost like drinking an energy drink.
“Are you really okay?”
Claire asked from the side, but I nodded again.
“I need to finish what needs to be done. It’s something that reflects on my grades—”
“No.”
While I was speaking, Jennifer, who had somehow approached us, interrupted.
“I’ll give you a perfect score. It wasn’t an official mission, but you accomplished something that no soldier could manage.”
“……”
Jennifer’s face was complicated as she said that.
Even when I said I would ruffle the heads of the academy, her expression had seemed vaguely incredulous. It was a little different from the cool demeanor she had when she was giving me a request at the Sword Saint’s cabin. Did she not believe that I could really do it back then?
That must be it. After all, she was a teacher who taught not to seek honor on the battlefield.
“Then, you can take the afternoon off… no, you should rest until tomorrow. I will take full responsibility for explaining things to the academy.”
I thought Abraham would probably understand well enough.
“Well then, this is something I want to do.”
When I said that, the quiet atmosphere around me grew even quieter.
“Sylvia?”
Alice opened her eyes wide, looking at me.
“…Sister?”
In the end, that word slipped out of Claire’s mouth.
“…Is that so.”
Hearing my words, Jennifer gently closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and then exhaled softly.
“If that’s what the student wishes, there’s not much I can do. Just… thank you. This is a thank you from all the soldiers as well.”
Jennifer bowed her waist slightly.
“…Is that so.”
As I hesitated about how to respond, I eventually decided just to say that.