Chapter 52. A Person Like the Sun

“Miss Seraphina, are you enjoying a comfortable rest?”

A boy, still not completely shed of his youthful appearance, bowed politely.

“A.. Andrei… right?”

I recalled the boy’s name hesitantly. He was the one who guided me to Mihail when I first arrived in Sahar and showed my dispatch orders.

He’s taller than me, but his face is still fresh.

Andrei nodded slightly as if confirming that I had called his name correctly.

“What brings you here?”

“I’ve come on the commander’s orders.”

“Sir Andantino?”

I wonder what he wants me to do now.

As I unconsciously tensed up, unexpected words came from Andrei’s mouth.

“He said he might not return today, so he ordered me to ensure your safety without fail.”

“…Sir Andantino did?”

I asked again with a suspicious look.

Then Andrei, Mihail’s loyal boy who I thought would rebuke me for such an irreverent gaze, surprisingly smiled ambiguously with an understanding face.

“He can be rough at times, but he’s a person with a deep heart.”

“At times?”

“Well, a bit more often.”

As he said this, he smiled once again.

Now that I look closely, his smile is quite pure. Like an unspoiled country boy.

How did they manage to grill and boil such a pure soul?

I looked at Andrei as if I was seeing a poor lamb sacrificed to Mihail’s skilled, serpent-like manipulation. Then he waved both hands as if to say it was true and said,

“It’s true. I owe a great debt to the commander.”

“A debt?”

You’re making me ask repeatedly.

Andrei smiled awkwardly, seemingly debating whether to say this or not, then carefully began to speak.

“It’s already an old story. Though I’ve lost my qualification now…”

He said that he was originally a trainee priest.

But a corrupt high priest tried to forcibly take advantage of him, and in the process of resisting, he grabbed whatever was at hand and threw it, accidentally…

“Those who commit murder cannot become priests.”

“How could this…”

I was genuinely angry.

“That’s too unfair! It was self-defense!”

“The commander was the one who took me in when I was thrown out onto the streets.”

Mihail, this guy…

To think he was capable of such warm compassion?

I thought he just kept a clever child as a secretary to use, but I never dreamed there was such a backstory.

My evaluation of Mihail was readjusted in my mind.

A person who can be rough but is warm-hearted.

A truly warm person.

“The commander is like the sun. He provides warm comfort to those far away, but if you’re too close, you might get burned often.”

“……”

I’ll readjust that to a hot-tempered person.

I tried to gauge where my position might be.

Since I came as a purifier…

“Miss Seraphina, as someone carrying a divine duty…”

“……”

“You might find it a bit arduous.”

Could you not say such things with such an innocent face and smile?

I looked at Andrei with a gloomy expression. I might as well ask something I’m curious about.

“Then, Andrei, do you know why Sir Andantino keeps pushing me around?”

“Pushing you?”

“Yes. Like shoving me towards a horde of durahans where I almost died, or pushing me into the water when I was sitting in the backyard.”

“Hmm…”

“Is this what happens when you’re close to him?”

“I’ve never received such treatment…”

Andrei tilted his head thoughtfully before speaking.

“Perhaps it’s because he regards you especially highly.”

“Especially?”

My voice rose a bit in disbelief.

What kind of person treats someone they regard highly like this?

As I was dumbfounded, Andrei’s voice continued.

“It’s just something I’ve overheard, but…”

And with his following words, I was gripped by a strange feeling.

* * *

The night was deep.

A time when everyone was asleep.

I lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. My eyes were unfocused. My heart was unsettled, and thoughts kept flowing.

<The commander’s master said so, I hear. He was the previous Holy Knight Order commander. He said he would raise him to be strong, playfully pushing him, but always appeared like the wind in moments of crisis.>

<So he’s doing to me what he learned? Is that it?>

<Probably. But the commander’s master died in an undead subjugation battle…>

<……>

<I’ve talked too much. It’s just a story I’ve heard secondhand.>

Andrei, scratching his neck awkwardly, said a few more words before withdrawing. Along with a request to call him anytime if there was any discomfort.

“How annoying.”

I blurted out words to no one in particular.

That was just how I felt right now.

Why does everyone have such sad pasts?

It’s making it impossible for me to curse them freely. Making it impossible to dislike them freely.

It’s all because of the undead.

I want to get rid of them all.

I poured out the hot emotion bubbling up from my lower abdomen towards the undead still appearing here and there.

But then, the cold reality hit me.

Heroes couldn’t do it, how could I possibly…

“Maybe Aveline could…”

Right.

There’s already a protagonist anyway.

I shouldn’t burden myself with unnecessary responsibility.

I thought I should focus on preserving my own life first.

That’s when it happened. A knock so faint that it was hard to tell if it was meant to be heard or not.

I furrowed my brow, wondering if I had misheard.

But a beat later, the door actually opened.

Who could it be at this hour?

Is security this bad with Mihail gone? Is that why he ordered Andrei to protect my safety?

A thousand thoughts raced through my mind in that short moment.

Reflexively rising from the bed, I made eye contact with a man who was opening the door quite boldly for someone sneaking in.

It was Mihail.

Bewildered, I asked.

“What are you doing here at this hour, like a stray cat?”

“You’re still awake, Miss Sera.”

Mihail’s face, bathed in moonlight, was incredibly calm for someone entering another’s room at such a late hour.

I was about to scold him, but somehow remembering the past that Andrei had left behind, my voice caught in my throat. Why did I have to hear such a story?

Internally swallowing a sigh, I looked at him with mixed feelings. Mihail’s face seemed to show a hint of fatigue.

“Did you just return from escorting His Majesty?”

He had been guiding Johann to where the warp mage was.

I heard it was quite a distance away.

Mihail slowly closed and opened his eyes as he approached me. As I watched him pull out a chair next to the bed and sit down, I perched on the edge of the bed.

Mihail belatedly answered my question.

“That’s right.”

“You must be tired. You should go straight to rest.”

Why did you come here?

Swallowing the last words, I stared at him. Mihail just smiled slightly.

It seemed he wasn’t going to answer this time.

Did he come to secretly look at a sleeping person’s face?

What an odd hobby.

<Perhaps it’s because he regards you especially highly.>

Andrei’s voice kept echoing in my head.

I looked at Mihail. He was watching me with an inscrutable, smooth face. With one hand on his chin and his long legs crossed, he looked both relaxed and impressive.

The silence of dawn seeped in between us.

As I quietly gazed back at him, I naturally opened my mouth.

“It seems mages can do anything.”

To send someone far away with a warp.

It was amazing and incredible.

But unlike my attitude of looking up to mages, Mihail spoke as if he was dealing with just another person in a businesslike manner.

“In exchange, they’re expensive and very arrogant. Mages who can use warp are especially rare, which is why they can afford to act so pricey.”

Enough to make even heroes move in person.

Well, it’s the way of the world that those in a hurry move.

Even so, I couldn’t help but laugh at the eccentricity of a mage who could tell two heroes to come themselves if they were in a hurry.

As the corners of my mouth lifted unconsciously, I felt Mihail’s intense gaze on me. I looked at him, overcome by a strange feeling.

Did he have something he wanted to say?

“Miss Sera.”

That’s when he opened his mouth.

I indicated with my eyes that I had heard his call.

His gaze slanted towards the floor, seemingly lost in thought. His long eyelashes caught the moonlight, creating a mysterious atmosphere.

When he lifted his gaze again, it was like a deep emerald lake. As if fairies might live there.

“Is that way better?”

“What do you mean?”

I quietly asked back to his question that came without context.

He lowered his gaze slightly once more as if recalling something, then grabbed my hand.

He’s subtly…

fixated on my hand.

On my hand that emits the light of purification.

Mihail’s gaze slowly traveled up my arm, past my shoulder and neck, to my face. Then his lips slowly parted.

It was the same question as before, but there seemed to be a strange spark in it.

“Do you prefer it when someone sticks as close as possible, like His Majesty does?”