Free Web NovelKallen was chosen as the guide for the party heading to the river spirit.
I objected fiercely, but I could not very well send Noance wandering aimlessly through the forest, so in the end I gave in.
"Hehe, don't worry so much. I can get through the forest with my eyes closed!"
Kallen packed her things in high spirits. Her hands were deft as she slung her pack over her shoulders, but to me she looked like a child being shoved out into the world.
I looked Kallen over after she had finished getting ready to leave. A longsword was strapped to the belt at the waist of a girl who had not yet become an adult.
Kallen noticed that I was staring at the weapon and subtly hid the sword behind her back.
"Th-this is... just in case..."
"...Kallen, did you really think I wouldn't notice?"
My voice dropped low, and the orange-haired girl who had been so excited a moment ago immediately wilted. Her round eyes filled with grievance, but her stubborn hand did not let go of the hilt.
I looked down at Kallen and kept letting out sigh after sigh in frustration.
"You've been learning swordsmanship from Margon, haven't you?"
"..."
"Why didn't you tell me? Because you thought I'd oppose it?"
Pouting her small lips, Kallen nodded.
I wanted to shout at her, to ask whether she knew perfectly well and still went and did something so dangerous. But the anger rising in me was not aimed at the child. It was aimed at the adult.
"Margon, when a kid tries to do something dangerous, the adult is supposed to stop her. And you were teaching her?"
When I looked at him with cold, sunken eyes, Margon broke out in a cold sweat and avoided my gaze.
Then he put on a good-natured smile and made a pointless attempt at joking.
"Ahaha, don't worry too much. Kallen's stronger than she looks, and she's got talent..."
"Whether she's good at it or not. That's not the point."
"...Well, that is..."
"And Kallen dreams of becoming a doctor. You're going to put something like that in hands that are meant to save lives?"
Margon let the laughter vanish from his face, bowed his head deeply, and clasped his hands behind his back. He looked exactly like a student being scolded by a homeroom teacher.
I pushed my bangs back and forced down the anger surging up in me. Then I looked again at the sword in Kallen's hand.
The sword Varen had given her was nearly as long as Kallen's legs. The blade was so sharply blue that it looked keener than most surgical knives, as if even the slightest graze would split skin wide open.
My overactive imagination instantly inserted Kallen into that image. The moment I squeezed my eyes shut, I could see Kallen bleeding bright red from a wound dealt by a dragon's sword.
That, in turn, dragged up other afterimages as nightmarish as that one.
Leobin, dying after taking an arrow in my place. Margon, his abdomen pierced open by the bug while trying to save me.
And just the imagined sight of Kallen hurt was enough to make it feel like my insides were being twisted over.
I dragged a hand over my pained face and let out a deep sigh.
"Please, Kallen. I'm asking you one last time. Don't do anything dangerous. If something happens to you too... ha..."
I did not want to lose any more companions who had given me such pure affection and trust.
I never wanted to lose a friend again because of a moment's carelessness, because of some brief mistake of mine.
But even after that heartfelt plea, Kallen still did not release the sword hilt.
"I'm... I'm the same as you, Ceryl. I want to protect my friends too!"
"..."
"I don't want to lose any more friends. And... I hate just sitting there doing nothing and waiting for someone to save me even more!"
Kallen's fist trembled around the hilt. Her fingers were clenched so hard they had gone white, and that rigid fist laid bare her determination.
When I only stared at her in silence, Margon cut in with a softened voice.
"On the first day of my sword lessons, my teacher taught me something. He said there are two kinds of swords."
"..."
"One sword exists to kill. The other exists to protect. What I learned was the sword that protects."
At his words, several scenes of Margon swinging a sword flashed through my mind.
At the management facility, he had stood alone against the dragon hunters and swung his blade. In Beljena, he had stabbed an infiltrating soldier without hesitation.
He had killed in both cases, but both times it had been a sword wielded to protect me.
My chest, roiling with fear and worry, sank heavily. With complicated eyes, I looked back and forth between Kallen and Margon.
Kallen's face, still not free of baby fat, was full of resolve. Margon looked plainly tense, but he stood there solid as a deeply rooted tree.
In that moment, a powerful premonition struck me.
This argument will probably remain parallel lines forever. And the one who's going to give way is already decided.
I rubbed my tired face and let out a long sigh. Then I placed a hand on top of the trembling orange head.
"Kallen, learn the sword that protects you."
"...What?"
"Promise me. Then I'll allow it."
The long, exhausting tug-of-war that had refused to produce an answer finally came to an end. Kallen's already large eyes widened even more, and she nodded eagerly.
Then she abruptly threw her arms around my waist and buried her face against my chest.
"Yes, I promise! Ceryl, I promise!"
"Ha... you're stubborn too."
I scrubbed at the crown of Kallen's head and glanced at Margon.
I had no idea why he looked so moved, but Margon's bull-like eyes had gone watery.
And then, right in the middle of my sentimental farewell with Kallen, Noance abruptly cut in.
"Are you sending her off to die? You're being ridiculous, seriously."
With a light pack slung across his back, he shook his head.
Holding Kallen's head against me, I shaped words silently toward Noance.
"If she gets hurt, you're dead."
Noance understood me perfectly even without sound and let out a disbelieving breath. Apparently he did not even feel like answering anymore, because he simply strode past me.
Whether in sheer force or in practical survival skills, Noance was a trustworthy adult. But as the guardian of a teenage girl, he was entirely unsuitable.
Fortunately, the right person to entrust Kallen to came walking up behind him.
"Don't worry about Kallen, Aylos. I'll take care of her."
"Ha... I'm counting on you, Bell."
Bell, who had somehow become Kallen's sworn sister, smiled brightly.
The mage Bell was joining the group going to find the river spirit. Noance was certainly capable, but on a journey where any kind of trap might be waiting, they absolutely needed a mage.
Drunkard had sent Bell without a moment of hesitation. Bell, whom I had assumed was nothing more than his assistant, was apparently Drunkard's most prized disciple.
Noance, Bell, and Kallen. Only three people, but it was a surprisingly dependable group.
The only issue was that Noance's group had the farthest distance to travel to their destination. They even had to go by horse. Because of that, the trio would be the first to set out.
Before departing, Noance gathered all the rebels in one place and told them the plan. He declared that he would become the new leader and carry on Adeline's will.
He said they were all probably confused, but asked them to keep focusing on rescuing suffering magical creatures, just as they always had. The rebels each perched a small magical creature on one shoulder and showed their resolve, telling him not to worry.
After all the farewells were done, Noance and the two women split themselves between the two horses Theo had brought.
"Ceryl, I'll be back!"
"Right. Don't get hurt, make sure you eat properly, and..."
"You be careful too, Ceryl... kyaaaah!"
Our goodbyes were not even finished yet, but Bell snapped the reins hard. Riding behind her, Kallen let out a bright scream that gradually faded into the distance.
I stared wistfully after them as they vanished in a storm of dirt. Only after the sound of hooves had completely faded from my ears did I lower the hand I had been holding up.
Margon, who had been watching me, knit his brows slightly.
"Um... forgive me, but do you realize you're being a bit much?"
"Shut up. What would you know."
I answered curtly, sniffling when Margon was not looking.
Of course I was going to fuss when I was sending off a girl who was still only nineteen.
Swallowing down the words in my throat, I turned to look at someone who was being even more overprotective than I was.
"The sea is dangerous, so do not carelessly take your true form. Rain sent down by a spirit is different in nature from ordinary rain."
"I know."
"No matter how hungry you get, do not catch and eat sea fish. They may be fresh and delicious, but there is no reason to sour your relationship with the spirit over it."
"I understand. I won't catch any."
"And avoid harbors. If you absolutely have to go near one, you must wear the Night Veil, and..."
"Morpha, that's enough."
Morpha was delivering a long lecture to Varen as though instructing a kindergartener.
Varen frowned in irritation, but Morpha did not stop.
Margon and I exchanged glances for a moment, feeling the exact same thing as we watched the two dragons.
"That side's no joke either."
"Well... that one's a baby too, in their own way."
"Ugh, disgusting. What do you mean baby? Look at the size of him."
Margon shuddered and rolled his eyes.
Morpha's nagging, which looked as though it might never end, was finally interrupted by Theo's appearance.
"All right, we should get going too!"
His silver eyes were bright with energy.
Morpha and Theo said they would infiltrate the Litmus family first, then go seek out the forest spirit. The distance was short, but since they had two stops to make, they planned to leave in a hurry.
Some of the rebels who were skilled with swords volunteered to escort them. Morpha cut them down at once, saying they would only get in the way of an infiltration.
The idea of humans escorting a dragon who had lived for several hundred years was absurd to begin with.
Morpha and Theo draped transparent cloaks over their shoulders side by side. Lifted into the air by dragon magic, Theo looked down at the ground with eyes full of excitement.
Seeing a human about to fly through the air for the first time, I gave him one last piece of advice.
"Theo, the first time you fly, you'll probably feel nauseous. So..."
"Gyaaaaaaah!!!"
But Morpha's merciless flight accelerated the instant they set off. My words scattered uselessly through empty air with no one left to hear them.
"Pack motion sickness medicine."
Advice that would never reach Theo, who was already hundreds of meters away.
