Chapter 28: 28

Only this time, Wisteria told him that she would never back down.

Then, lightly with her eyes, she traced the young man’s arms and collar. As if to see through what was under the long sleeves and collar.

“You’re wearing some sort of tool to absorb the miasma. Is it a bracelet or a necklace?”

Lloyd didn’t deny it.

“It won’t last long. You have a month at most.”

“But what about in a place like this, where the miasma level is so low?”

The young man who wanted to be her apprentice was quick to reply.

Wisteria laughed inwardly a little at his shrewdness and thought for a moment, He has a point.

“Even so, it would be better to maintain it for two months. You didn’t come here in the first place with the intention of staying here for very long, did you?”

There was no way someone who became a Guardian would be alive, and even if they were alive, it would only be a monster in the form of a human——that must be what he thought. In any case, he would quickly retrieve the holy sword Salutis and return immediately. He would have made such an assumption.

Ah, Lloyd nodded shortly. As expected, his face was grim. No matter how confident he is, he probably feels that it would be difficult for him to be recognized as the true master of Salutis in just a month or two.

Wisteria let out a long breath.

“Of course, I wouldn’t ask you to do it under such adverse conditions. It depends on the strength of that tool, but if it reaches the limit of its absorptive capacity, we’ll try to repair it by removing the miasma. It will eventually break because it will inevitably deteriorate, but if we can also learn to convert the miasma in your body into magic, then you should be able to manage for up to six months.”

Lloyd’s eyes widened slightly. He then smiled a cold smile that could neither be called self-deprecating nor sarcastic.

“I have the spirit of a noble knight, but is that okay?　Six months―don’t you think that in that time, I’ll surpass you and take Salutis?”

Before Wisteria could answer, Salutis let out an exasperated grumble.

“That’s right. You’re going to go out of your way to be ridiculously honest and take care of this kid for six months? Such hard work.”

“Hey! It was your fault to begin with, Salutis!”

Angry at the holy sword, which was making it unclear as to which side it was on, Wisteria secretly regretted it. It was true that it would have been easier to give him a shorter estimate— or even not bother to teach him how to deceive the miasma to stay and briskly round it down to a month.

She was not about to give up Salutis when she heard Lloyd’s reason.

She crossed her arms without thinking.

(…But it’s hard to believe that he can even master the <Black Lightning> in about half a year. I don’t even think Salt is seriously thinking about its true master…)

It might be a little careless, but if you took magic into account, it was hard to believe that he was such a strong enemy that he couldn’t be caught off guard at all. It was no mean feat to be recognized as the true master of Salutis.

And it would take time to make this seemingly stubborn young man give up and turn him away.

Suddenly, she felt a gaze on her and turned to look.

Lloyd’s eyes were filled with a faint hint of confusion.

“You…are very different from what I’ve heard, Wisteria.”

A hesitant voice. The golden eyes turned toward her.

The sharpness of his expression softened slightly, and without warning, shook Wisteria to the depths of her heart.

——You truly are kind, Wis.

The voice from the past comes vividly back to life and overlapped with Lloyd’s. His voice, his eyes, his figure, the color of his hair, his entire appearance.

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Wisteria looked away.

“Call me Irene.”

She found herself saying that. ——She found herself unable to bear the thought of having her name be called by someone with the same face and voice as Bright.

Lloyd did not quibble with the strange suggestion, but simply said, “Okay.”

“…How pitiful, Irene.”

Salutis murmured quietly, its words sounding somewhat drier than before.

Wisteria exhaled, shook her head, and asked a question to change the subject.

“What is the story you’ve heard? Did they tell you that I’m a witch or a monster?”

“——You’re recorded as the person who was banished for stealing the holy sword Salutis. You being called a witch seems to have come from your resistance towards miasma, but…”

Lloyd said in a matter-of-fact tone, adding that there seemed to be some discrepancies.

The holy sword sniffed derisively.

“Do you think I would be stolen without any resistance? Do you think I’m just a sword? Absolutely ridiculous.”

The corners of Wisteria’s lips raised at the dry irony.

(That’s the plot?)

——The Institute for the Control of Magic had to have a good reason to overturn the “Guardian” candidate once they had selected them.

To replace a once-decided candidate so easily would damage the honor and authority of the party that selected them.

The quickest way to approve the change of the candidate where the Institute for the Control of Magic hadn’t been at fault in their selection would have been to pin the blame on the new Guardian.

But it was predictable enough. Besides, there was no honor in being as good as dead now.

“…The Lafferty family hadn’t been implicated in the crime, has it?”

“No. The good reputation of the head of the family and his wife helped…”

Wisteria nodded her head briefly.

——An adopted child. She was not related to the Lafferty family by blood.

That was probably also the official reason why the crime didn’t extend to the head of the family. In reality, it was actually a creation of convenience on the part of the Institute for the Control of Magic, so it must have been their intention not to have it affect the head of the family as well.  

Wisteria suddenly felt a strong gaze on her and raised her eyes.

Golden eyes were staring straight at her.

“If the theft was a misunderstanding, why such a misunderstanding? Why were you punished with banishment?”

Lloyd furrowed his eyebrows faintly.

“——Why were you chosen to be the Guardian?”

He continued.

Wisteria’s breath stopped for a moment. For an instant, her vision wavered.

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