13. Even If We Can’t Touch (3)

‘…Actually, Erenhorn is my favorite Guardian Spirit.’

Those words kept circling in Constantine’s mind.

If it hadn’t been him who went to the parade during last year’s Founding Festival…

‘Then Saena, the man you chose might not have been me. Right?’

All human eyes are the same.

Lucas Aberdeen. If he meets Saena in person, he’ll surely notice too. That she is… a very special being.

— To say you like that worthless cub the most. Your wife has strange taste. When it comes to dignity, isn’t Caligo the best?

Well, looking at appearances alone, he’s better than this cub, Caligo.

Not just Erenhorn, but Lucas wouldn’t have the same issues as him… He wouldn’t leave her lonely.

His nerves were on edge. He felt like going crazy every time he made these assumptions. He couldn’t touch her, yet the thought of letting her go drove him mad.

— No, no. She would’ve been better off marrying Duke Aberdeen, their wavelengths would’ve matched! Master! Look here! Didn’t I warn against this marriage! Nothing good comes from ignoring the advice of an elder with years of experience!

The pen he had been mechanically using to read and sign documents snapped between his fingers.

“…Shut up.”

— Am I wrong! What’s the point of living with a woman you can’t even touch! Break up right now!

BANG!

— ……

The sturdy ebony desk that had served the Duke’s office for over a decade split in half.

“Ha, I can’t take this anymore.”

— M-master? Hehe. Are you angry? You know that though Caligo talks a lot, I never say wrong things. That would go against my conscience.

It irritated him more to see how he picked up human concepts like conscience from living in the human world.

Constantine grabbed his ink sword and went outside.

— Master? Master! Where are you going? Why suddenly take the ink sword? You’re not going there, are you?

Constantine released his power to summon Morev. Though Caligo was faster, it was still daylight so he rode Morev. Part of it was also because he was annoyed at the thought of using Caligo’s power.

— Hey! Master! This direction is that place! Why are you going this way!

Several weeks of insomnia plus longing for Saena. The current situation where he couldn’t touch her even though she was his.

He needed somewhere to release his accumulated stress.

— You shouldn’t get angry just because you heard the truth! A gentleman should know how to take advice!

Having already decided to beat this bastard to a pulp, he remained unmoved by whatever was being said.

Soon they arrived at the ruins, and he moved to the center.

— M-master! Let’s not do this, okay? I can’t use my power then! What if monsters appear during that time? Hm?

Right. It was something he had always avoided because of that ‘what if’ situation. He had always endured because of that possibility.

But now he just couldn’t take it anymore.

— Master! Hey! Aaaaargh!

At the building site with only pillars remaining in the center. There was a small spring that had existed there for a long time. A hot spring that constantly emitted steam regardless of the season.

‘Come to think of it, I never showed this place to Saena…’

If I had brought her, she would have surely smiled at me with delight. Now it had become a promise that couldn’t guarantee a future.

Constantine converted even that disappointment into anger and drew out Caligo’s power. Then he forcefully injected Caligo’s energy into the ink sword and plunged it into the hot spring water.

— Aaaaargh! Kyaaaaaaagh!

The screaming in his head caused a headache. His brow automatically furrowed but he didn’t pull out the sword.

This hot spring wasn’t just a place where hot water emerged. Actually, the water temperature itself wasn’t that hot. However, the water was unusual, imbued with light attributes that made its surface shimmer like starlight when gazed upon.

— Waaagh! Aaaaargh! Masterrrr!

Naturally, it was incompatible with Caligo.

Since he couldn’t materialize and beat him like other Guardian Spirits, he had no choice but to use this method.

Though it was a method he rarely used due to severe side effects.

— Grrrrrrrr…

Finally, his head became quiet.

Caligo had reached a sort of unconscious state.

Only then did Constantine, somewhat satisfied, let go of the sword.

“Haah.”

He rubbed his stiff eyes and went into the shade of the ruins.

He felt tired. He decided to catch some sleep while leaning against a suitable wall. It was better to replenish sleep while his head was quiet. Having endured drought-like, restless nights, he finally fell asleep as if passing out.

— Kyaaaah!

How long had he slept?

He suddenly woke up.

Somehow… he felt like he heard Saena’s scream. Or perhaps he had a bad dream that he couldn’t remember.

“D*mn it.”

Looking at the sun’s angle, it seemed he hadn’t even slept for an hour. Yet he had woken up.

Caligo was still quiet too.

But it didn’t feel like he could sleep anymore. He would have to be satisfied with catching what little sleep he could.

He sighed, pulled out the ink sword, shook off the water, and sheathed it. Then he left the ruins.

“……!”

As soon as he left the ruins’ barrier, he sensed something unusual. He felt a familiar energy nearby.

Flutter.

The black bird he had given to Saena. It had been wandering nearby and finally found its master’s energy, flying to him.

It seemed it had been flying around nearby until now because the ruins’ barrier prevented outside energy from reaching inside.

Why did the bird come?

‘…Could something have happened?’

No. Maybe she just sent a short letter. Although they weren’t on good enough terms lately to exchange letters, she was kind so…

But the bird didn’t regurgitate anything. This meant that Saena hadn’t sent the bird herself.

Constantine instinctively released his power.

“…D*mn it!”

Of all times. Of all times!

He shouldn’t have knocked Caligo unconscious even though he was furiously angry!

An insane regret washed over him.

Thankfully, at least Morev could be summoned. He mounted Morev and began racing toward the castle at top speed.

* * *

“Wake up, you bastard!”

In front of the warp gate, Constantine felt like he would die from anxiety. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t draw up his power. Naturally, he couldn’t open the warp gate either.

“Ha…”

He paced anxiously in front of the gate before finally pulling out his ink sword.

After staring at the sharply honed edge for a moment, he used the sword to make a long cut on the outer part of his forearm where the pattern was. Instantly, a long gash opened and spurted blood.

He rolled up his other sleeve and made the same cut.

Watching the dripping blood, he bent both arms at 90 degrees with his hands pointing upward. The blood began flowing down his forearms toward his elbows.

The blood that touched the pattern on the outer forearm slowly began to be absorbed. Less blood dripped to the floor as more was absorbed into the pattern.

— …Hmm?

It worked. Rather than feeling anxious about breaking the taboo passed down through generations, he only felt relief.

As soon as Constantine felt Caligo awakening, he drew out power and pushed it into the warp gate.

— Blood! The smell of blood! So delicious! Exquisite! Give me more! More!

Though it wasn’t easy to summon power since Caligo hadn’t fully awakened yet, Constantine concentrated.

As soon as the warp gate barely took form, he stepped into it without hesitation.

— Hahaha! This reminds me of the 13th Duke of Kramer! Back then I ran out of energy while fighting demonic beasts! But there were still monsters everywhere! So I told my master about a really good method then!

Making his earlier knockout meaningless, Caligo’s voice dominated Constantine’s mind at an even higher pitch than usual.

After arriving at the palace’s gate zone, he cut his forearm again. Caligo excitedly lapped up the blood drops while causing a commotion.

When he crossed the warp gate leading to Aberdeen territory, his head spun.

Having forcefully overdrawn his power and with Caligo rapidly sucking his blood, even someone like him who was confident in his stamina staggered momentarily.

But rather than controlling Caligo, Constantine first tracked the energy of Hips that he had planted in Saena.

‘……’

But he couldn’t sense it. If she were in the castle, there’s no way he wouldn’t be able to detect it. His anxiety doubled.

Lucas. That d*mn bastard.

Even before knowing what had happened, curses toward Duke Aberdeen burst out. He needed someone to curse at, and Lucas was the perfect target at the moment. It was almost instinctual.

“Caligo. Where’s Hips.”

He ordered Caligo to track Hips. As his direct spirit, Caligo could track over a wider area than him.

— I’ll tell you if you give me more blood! Nom nom nom!

“……”

He cut his left forearm again, which had barely started to clot.

— Kyahaha! Hips? Southeast! Far! Need to go a bit!

Just where had she gone? Surely she hadn’t encountered a demonic beast.

Though his complexion grew increasingly pale and his breathing seemed to become labored, he ignored it and went outside.

He moved through shadows wrapped in Caligo’s energy to avoid the eyes of the guards protecting the warp gate building’s entrance.

Then he began running southeast.

‘Coldora?’

As the distance grew closer, Constantine could also sense Hips’ energy.

The famous hot springs tourist city in Aberdeen territory.

Did she come here for sightseeing? But why did the black bird…

He pushed back the ominous thoughts that kept surfacing and focused on running. Finally, he arrived at the villa where Saena was presumed to be.

He jumped over the wall without formally requesting entry.