Chapter 15: 5.1

Aine’s body was thrown out, rolling on the ground.

There was a huge explosion sound, but Aine’s body hardly felt any impact.

While not being able to put in any strength as she wished for being in heat, Aine tried to raise her body somehow.

Lunois tells me to close my eyes when it turns into battle—that’s most definitely because he doesn’t want to show his appearance.

But,  this is not the time to follow those words. Aine immediately made sure to check on Lunois’ state.

Several buildings were blown away by the explosion—and amidst the screams coming from everywhere and people running away, Lunois was there.

“Lu, nois…!” she called her name, somehow managing to squeeze out her voice. Seeing him standing straight with his back facing her, Aine was relieved.

And in front of Lunois, there was a single man standing; wearing a hat pulled down over the eyes and a black suit. While having a gentle smile, “my oh my, Gremarev has been very helpful,” he looked at Lunois and Aine and spoke. “The meaning of pairing with him is surely because then something like this can be pulled off. Sacrificing himself, he managed to do that much damage to you.”

“…You did it, didn’t you? I can’t believe you’d drag your companion into a magic attack.”

“And it has paid off well, no?”

“Lunois… what does that mean?” Despite talking to him, Lunois didn’t look back. It was as if he was hiding something from Aine.

Drip drip—seeing red drops dripping down, Aine desperately tried to raise her body and approach Lunois.

This is not the time to mind my body’s ‘heat’—having a bad premonition, Aine simply called out to Lunois. “Come on, look here…!”

Driven by frustration, Aine approached to draw closer to Lunois, who was standing in front of her.

Even so, while still facing the front, Lunois gently spoke to Aine.

“Aine… don’t worry and just wait there. I’ll end this immedi—”

“There’s just no way, you can!!”

With a trembling body, Aine stood with her sword as a support.

She tugged on Lunois shoulder and was at loss for words—at those injuries she caught a glimpse of. All over his body were lacerations and rocks piercing him as if being gouged out.

Worse than that was both of his eyes—bleeding was flowing from both of them like tears. …Right now, Lunois couldn’t see with both of his eyes.

“No, way…”

She grew pale. The reason Aine, who was together with Lunois, had not suffered any injury was because he had protected her—she immediately understood it.

“…I just didn’t want to cause you any unnecessary worries.”

“Not making me, worry… but, you got such, injuries…” Her voice was shaking.

Aine did not know what she should do. And before them, the man moved closer.

“A dying swordsman who has lost both his eyes, and a slave who can’t even move properly… Fufu, I’m sure myself alone would suffice. Oops, my apologies. I am called Domiro. Pleased to make your acquaintance… That said, that might not even be necessary.”

The man—Domiro courteously gave a slight bow. Although not knowing his motive, he and Gremarev, who had been caught in the explosion earlier, were aiming for Aine.

Immediately, Aine stood in front of Lunois.

“What, do you want…!? Why, me…?”

“Indeed. Perhaps you have the right to know about it. At any rate, you’re wearing that collar after all.”

“Col, lar…?”

Domiro pointed at Aine’s bottom of the neck. Aine touched the collar—that cold, seemingly iron-made object was an existence simply there to torment Aine even now.

Does that mean, there’s a value in this collar?

Although Aine didn’t know it, Domiro daringly laughed after seeing that.

“Fufu, it’s one of those special sealing tools, you see… What we desire is what’s inside that collar, and to begin with, we were looking for a vessel to be put on with that collar, you know?”

“What are you, saying?”

Aine couldn’t immediately understand what Domiro was saying.

However, at least, there was a worth in just aiming for Aine’s collar—at the same time, it became clear that the reason it’d been put on Aine was to take out its content.

“Fufu, just being able to put on that collar makes it worth it, you know? And we just have to wait and see… I never would have thought you’d be sold to an S-rank adventurer, but it seems I’m able to recover you safely.”

“Re, cover…?”

“Yes, if there’s no significant change, I plan to remove that head of yours and just recover the collar. For now, may I have you come with me?”

Smiling, Domiro took another step closer. Aine took a step backwards, trying to protect Lunois. And towards Aine, “if you would obediently come with me, I wouldn’t mind sparing him, you know?” Domiro declared.

“…!”

She couldn’t imagine that proposal would be true.

However, the current Aine couldn’t fight properly. Lunois also lost both his eyes—and he could even barely stand. It should be impossible for Aine to rely on the current Lunois.

“Aine… don’t listen to him,” Lunois spoke up. Trying to protect Aine, he tried to get her to step back.

Even in his current state, Lunois was trying to prioritize Aine’s safety without any hesitation—however, Aine resisted. With desperate effort, Aine stood in front of Lunois.

“Aine…?”

“Don’t, say that, idiot. Just what you’re going to do, in that state…?”

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“I will fight, I’m going to.”

“Don’t be stupid!!” Aine raised her voice. Lunois showed a surprised expression.

Right now, her burning up body was inconsequential. For Aine, the only thing she could feel was worry for Lunois.

“There’s no way I can let you fight right now, right!? You’re protecting me, and getting hurt! If… if only…! If only I just, wasn’t here…!”

Aine fell into self-loathing. On her reunion with Lunois, all she could think of had been that she didn’t want to be seen like this. However, Lunois had been kind to Aine—still the same as ever, but stronger than ever. And to such Lunois, Aine had ended up relying on him.

“If, I go with you… you’ll spare Lunois, won’t you?”

“Why yes, of course. I have no interest in a dying man.”

With her sword as support, Aine tried to walk away from Lunois’ side. However, Lunois grabbed Aine’s arm, not letting go.

“…Let go.”

“Aine.”

“Let me go!!”

“Aine, listen to me.”

“Just let me g—”

“AINE!!” Lunois pulled Aine’s body and grabbed both of her shoulders. The bleeding on his body still hadn’t stopped even now, but even so, Lunois showed a gentle expression and said: “you should have heard it. That guy, he easily plans to take even your life.”

“That’s, fine.”

“As if that’s fine. I said I will protect you. These are the injuries I received for that.”

Those words of Lunois were something that penetrated Aine’s heart. After all, Lunois had gotten hurt to such an extent in order to protect her.

“I… don’t wish, any of that. I don’t want you… to get hurt like that.”

“Yeah, I apologize for that. But, that’s why… I want you to be by my side. Or else, I’ll lose sight of what I was protecting you for.”

“Even if, you told me that…”

Aine did not know what she should do. Even for Aine, of course she would want to be with him. However, she wouldn’t allow herself to say it.

Towards the bewildered Aine, “…yeah, I might’ve been saying something hard to you,” Lunois spoke. “Even so, I swore to protect you. Not to anyone… to me, myself. But, that might’ve been a mistake—that’s why, I will swear to you, right here, right now. I will protect you. And I will not give up my life for it. I swear, that I will live and protect you. So, believe me.”

“…!” Aine couldn’t respond to Lunois’ feelings. Despite Lunois saying to that extent, the reason why Aine couldn’t respond to it was—after all, for the current her, she could only imagine that It would hurt Lunois even more.

“No, I don’t want it… I don’t want you to get hurt more than this… and yet, I want to believe you. What, should I do…?” Aine said, as if she were pleading. 

Lunois’ expression did not change. Gently, he touched Aine to soothe her. “Then, I want you to watch this time,” Lunois spoke up like so to Aine, who was wishing for an answer.

“…Watch?”

“Yeah, I want you, to watch me fight. I’ll make that as a proof—that I, have the power to protect you.”

Lunois gently made Aine sit, and faced Domiro once again.

If not stopped, with both eyes losing its sight and wounds all over his body, Lunois would now fight the enemy.

Despite all this, Aine was unable to move; it was because Lunois had said, ‘I want you to watch me fight.’ Lunois’ determination had reached Aine.

Seeing such Lunois, Domiro sighed in astonishment.

“Oh really, it turns into ‘this’ in the end. I wasted time waiting, you know?”

For Domiro, someone like Lunois who was in a state where it wouldn’t be weird for him to collapse at any moment was probably not even considered as an enemy. An overwhelming sense of complacence could be felt from him.

“Yeah, looks like I kept you waiting a bit. But, it’s not like you were waiting, weren’t you? From the start, you planned to kill me after all,” Lunoise stated clearly. It was a powerful statement through and through.

“Oh my, it seems I’m not trusted.”

“That’s just obvious. But I want you to be grateful—that life of yours, it got extended for just a little bit as a result, right?” Lunois said to provoke him.

Looking amused, Domiro’s mouth warped into a smile.

“Pff—HAHAHA! What a funny joke. Or perhaps, do you really think you can win against me?”

“Yeah, I promised her I’ll absolutely win.”

“Kuh, fufu… This is just wonderful. To win against me in that state, that is. However, it seems you have considerably looked down on me. By the way, just how you plan to win against me I wonder? Even though you can’t even see with your eyes!”

Domiro took out a single ball from his pocket. The magic engraved on there was probably the same explosion magic from before.

And he threw that towards Lunois, who couldn’t even see.

“LUNOIS!” Aine screamed out his name.

In his current state, he shouldn’t even be able to detect the lightly thrown ball.

Indeed, not only Domiro, even Aine believed so.

The ball that had been thrown at him, Lunois cut it off—without hesitation in a state where he couldn’t even see, he even sliced off the resulting blast.

Unhurt, he pointed his sword at Domiro.

“…Huh?” Domiro watched the spectacle with a surprised expression; the same for Aine. As if he could see with both eyes, Lunois faced Domiro straight on, his sword set at the ready.

“I am also called ‘The Second Sword Saint.’ To be blunt, I’ve no interest in such a title… However, it’s not just a rumor that I’m being called so—don’t think you can win against me just because you took my sight,” Lunois clearly proclaimed in front of Aine.

Aine’s gaze was fixed on Lunois’ back. Since he had promised her, Aine would also respond to that promise, by making sure to watch the fight with her eyes.

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