“Hey! Is that black-haired guy with Iris of the White Blade—”
“Yes! The dude who fought the ogres!”
“Yeah! And he killed a whole bunch of those dark magi!”
Three days after the attack, I was kicked out of the infirmary.
Walking around the city with Iris, I secretly thought, Crap! This sucks! We’re attracting so much attention!
Yep. Everywhere I went, people who knew about what I’d done would stare at me. Which was bad. Like, really bad. It was the kind of attention I absolutely did not want.
All of them thought really highly of me. They thought I was skilled. It was awful!
I’m just a regular guy, I reminded myself. All I did was train a little! I’m a weakling with almost no combat skills! Muramasa, the Sable Specter or whatever, is the only reason I can fight all these powerful enemies!
What had happened was that, prepared to die, I’d gone and done something incredibly stupid. Under normal circumstances, I was but an amateur.
What would people think of me if I became a knight?
I was sure they’d be like, “Wow, Crow, you’re so strong! Now go and hunt down big-name criminals and powerful aetherborn!”
Please, no! I’d just mess up and die!
I’d cut it really close three days ago. After having been made to fight repeatedly, I’d seriously almost died.
And so my dumb ass had just had to go and think, If I’m gonna die, I’ll do it in style! and pull the Condemner act in front of a whole damn crowd.
I sighed. On top of that, people think I’m a—what was it—“myth conqueror”? Someone who’s unaffected by aethereal arms? Which I’m not! I’m barely holding Muramasa back right now!
Despondent, I tightened my grip on the sword’s hilt.
Cutting down nearly a hundred foes between dark magi and ogres had at least somewhat satisfied the sword’s hunger. (And sometimes it made a gagging sound, then swallowed. What the hell was it doing? Ruminating on souls?!)
It was, however, horribly fuel-inefficient, and it had already started kicking up a fuss, yelling about souls this and souls that, trying to wrestle control from me. If I didn’t keep a tight grip on the damn thing, it might make me draw it.
Sadly, my hand was getting tired and starting to tremble.
Ugh, come on. What have I gotten myself into?
Cutting through my pessimism, a beautiful white hand clasped my own, still shaking against the blade’s hilt.
“You’re so kind, Crow.”
Next thing I knew, Iris was gazing at me with understanding in her eyes. Huh?
“Those sad eyes, those trembling hands... You regret having been unable to save everyone, don’t you? I can tell.”
So that’s what she thought.
“Yes...” No!
Listen, yeah, saving everyone would’ve been best, but with that many people attacking the city? Impossible. Casualties had been inevitable!
First of all, nobody would’ve thought criminals would come in not from the outer zone, but from the supposedly peaceful inner zone. The gatekeepers had probably thought so too, and that’s why they’d just let everyone in.
“Crow, Hypno will likely fill you in, but allow me to say this first. The Lemurian Empire is currently facing a dire crisis.”
Right, yeah. The other cities had probably been attacked too, and all that.
News hadn’t reached Salem yet, but one or two of them had probably fallen. And if the other cities had been invaded from the inner zone too, the capital’s safety was already compromised. People would want to know who had let the evildoers in, why nobody had noticed them sooner, and so forth.
“So you see, we’ll probably be apart for a while due to work. I wanted to give you an answer before that happens.”
Iris offered me a resolute smile.
“I love you too, Crow!”
I’m sorry, what?
Her sudden, shocking statement sent the people around us into a tizzy.
I mean, yeah! The famous Iris had just boldly confessed to someone! Of course people would be surprised! I was surprised! More than anyone!
What the hell?!
Wait, no, that can’t... Oh, right, yeah! This is about that “confession” I made when we were out shopping! When I said I loved her “as a mentor”!
Granted, I’d gone and forgotten to add the “as a mentor” bit, but I was sure that based on context and our previous interactions, she’d understood it as that. Which had to mean she was now telling me that she loved me “as an apprentice”!
Phew. For a second, I thought she meant romantically.
Of course she wouldn’t have.
Other than calling her the “fairest of blossoms” when we’d first met, I hadn’t said a single thing to her that could’ve been interpreted that way. Also, we’d known each other for what, a couple of days? There was no way she could’ve fallen for me unless I’d landed a bunch of critical hits to her heart. And I had no idea how to do that.
“Iris... How brazen of you to say this in front of so many people,” I murmured.
All the eyes on us were giving me the heebie-jeebies. I tried to keep my face stoic, but I could feel my cheeks growing hot.
Seriously, why’d she have to go and say that in public?!
And she’d left out the “as an apprentice” part too! How were people not supposed to get the wrong idea?!
At my embarrassment, she blushed and grinned mischievously.
“Didn’t you say it publicly too? I’m just delivering a little taste of your own medicine,” she said.
“Huh?”
Ohhh! That was what she’d meant!
She’d said it in public and left words out on purpose to cause a misunderstanding and get back at me! It’d been deliberate!
Iris, you little devil! I’d thought she was an angel, but she’d done such a childish thing! She had the perfect mixture of light and dark!
“Now, we should get going,” she said. “Hypno’s waiting for you.”
“Right,” I replied.
Iris, a satisfied look on her face, led the way back to the division.
The two of us, mentor and apprentice, merrily strode along the streets of Salem.