“It’s a good place to relax.”
“Are we gonna eat here?”
“Yeah. There should be a good spot around... Ah, there it is.”
“That’s...” There was a space underneath a large tree that was fortunately unoccupied. We walked over to the shade and took a seat.
“There was a spot like this in the play we just watched.” I had read the original book as well, so I knew there was a scene where the main couple secretly met beneath a tree.
“Y-Yeah.” Cuphea’s face went red.
“Here’s yours,” I said, handing Cuphea her lunch.
“Th-Thanks.” It was a simple sandwich filled with meat and vegetables, but the seasoning of the meat combined with the freshness of the vegetables was delicious. Cuphea accepted it, then took out her wallet. “I’ll pay for mine.”
“I believe in treating the lady on a date.”
“Well, I believe in paying my fair share.”
I figured this would happen. “Then I’ll respect your opinion.”
“Thanks.” I told her the price and accepted her payment.
We ate our lunch, listening to the rustling leaves in the gentle breeze and the voices of children running around a short distance away. For dessert, we had the fruits the fruit seller had given us.
“Not bad, right?” I asked.
“It’s delicious.” Our lunch passed by peacefully. Cuphea looked beautiful, faintly illuminated by the sunlight filtering through the trees. “Albert.”
“Hm?”
Cuphea was nervously twiddling her thumbs in her lap. Eventually, she managed to eke out a word. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Th-The date today.”
“I just hope you enjoyed it.”
“I had a lot of fun...but that’s not all.” Maybe she had realized it. Not only had I lied about the ticket, but I had chosen our lunch in anticipation of her wanting to split the cost and picked this spot after reading her favorite book. “You respect girls themselves, but also the things they care about.” Her eyes glistened with moisture, her cheeks were flushed, and her lips were relaxed. Her smile was so beautiful I wanted to capture it in a painting and preserve it.
“I was just trying to score some points with you.”
I feigned ignorance, and she giggled in response. “If that’s the case, then should you really be telling me?”
“I guess not.”
“Jeez...” Cuphea gave an exasperated smile. After remaining silent for a while, we saw a happy-looking couple walking by holding hands. “Albert.”
“Do you wanna hold hands too?”
“Huh?”
“Never mind.” Maybe she hadn’t been looking at the same thing.
“Are you and Astrantia really gonna help fight the One-Armed Giant?” That had probably been weighing on her mind for a while. Only the elite could participate in that mission. As far as students went, you had to be on the level of the Colors, which meant Cuphea and Linum couldn’t join.
“Oh, that. Yeah, we are.”
“Isn’t it dangerous? I mean, you’re really strong, but still.” Cuphea looked at me with worry.
“It is, but we’ve gotta do it.” The Grave Keeper of the Golden City and his holy woman, Nemophila, weren’t normal. We couldn’t ignore one of the Twelve Corpses being on the loose—who knew when he’d go berserk.
“B-But why? We only just enrolled at the academy.” I also had hoped to have a little more time to allow the princess to grow. When we’d first made our contract, the plan had been for her to spend three years developing her skills, then hunt the Twelve Corpses after she graduated. I hadn’t expected to get dragged into consecutive fights against them. I couldn’t blame Cuphea for worrying.
“The princess and I can’t pass up a chance to fight the Twelve Corpses.”
“Because Astrantia’s a descendant of the Eternal Witch?” Cuphea and Linum typically avoided that topic, but that didn’t mean they were unaware. They had become friends with the princess knowing full well she was related to the witch.
“For her, maybe. In my case, it’s just revenge.”
“Revenge?”
“Yeah. I became the princess’s holy knight to kill the witch and rid the world of undead.”
Cuphea opened her mouth as if she had something to say, then silently closed it. She was a good girl—she was probably thinking it might reopen old wounds if she pried further. Given that I couldn’t be honest with her, I appreciated that. I couldn’t tell her that my adoptive father had become a curion, and then because I couldn’t kill him, I had become undead as well. Then I had rid my city of all other undead, as was my duty as a holy knight.
The feeling of happiness that had been implanted into me; the anger that had welled up in me after I returned to my senses and felt that disgusting happiness; the very fact that I was from three centuries ago—I had so many secrets I couldn’t reveal even to those closest to me.
“I see.” Cuphea squeezed out a couple words that were neither affirmation, denial, or even a question—she simply showed she was listening.
“I’m not doing it for a commendable reason like wanting to save the souls of the dead.”
“Neither am I. I only became a holy knight to earn money for the orphanage.” There weren’t many options for uneducated orphans who couldn’t rely on their parents’ connections to earn money. Even three centuries later, that hadn’t changed. Becoming a saint—a path that was available to everyone with talent and capability—was probably one of the few options she had.
“Guess everyone has their own reason for fighting.”
“Yeah.” Fighting for noble reasons didn’t make victory any more likely. That was fine, but the atmosphere had grown oddly sentimental.
“We should probably head back soon,” I finally said.
“Wait. Um...” Flustered, Cuphea pulled something out. I waited for her to speak. “I-I wanted to give this to you.” She handed me a pendant. It was one of the popular ones with the goddess’s crest on it. Believers and holy women always had them, but I didn’t have one myself. Not because I was a holy knight, but because I wasn’t really a believer.
“Were you worried about me because I didn’t have one?”
“Whether you believe in the goddess or not is up to you, but I do. And I pray that she gives you her protection.” Cuphea’s hands were shaking.
It was clear the One-Armed Giant mission worried her a lot more than I had initially thought. Going to fight one of the Twelve Corpses meant staring death in the face. Accepting the pendant, I took her hand. “Thank you.”
“It’s fine... Just come back safely.” There were tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
“I will. I promised to take you on a date in two years, after all.”
My joke got a giggle out of Cuphea and then she frowned at me.
“I wonder if it’ll end with just a date when I turn eighteen.”
“That’s up to you.”
“R-Right.” I put the pendant in my pocket as her cheeks flushed red.
“Shall we head back?” Standing up, I held my hand out to her. She looked at it for a second, then took my hand without a word and stood up, using the momentum to press her lips against my cheek. They were soft, but unfortunately, she pulled away before I had time to appreciate the warmth.
Her face became the brightest red it had been all day as she giggled impishly. “Th-That’s as far as we go today!”
I placed my hand on my face as though feeling the lingering traces of her affection and the sight of her sweet smile. Then, though I was reluctant, I returned to my normal self. “Wonder how far we’ll go in two years.”
“H-Hey! Don’t get any ideas!”
“Sounds like you’re the one with dirty thoughts.”
“I’m gonna get mad.”
“Aha ha ha.” Considering she’d told me to drop dead last time I said something like that, this was proof of how much closer we had grown. We headed home as I thought to myself.