Chapter 31
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After that, it was neither Van's nor Cadel's point of view, but the observer's point of view. Cadel was able to move freely and take pictures of them as if he were a camera that reflected them.
“We saved each other's lives!”
They were on their way down the mountain toward a private house visible below the mountain. Both of them were in terrible condition, to the point of being miserable, but Cadel was at least vocal even while being supported by Van.
“I don’t remember it.”
“But I do? Twice.”
“……Noisy.”
Perhaps the evasive appearance of Van was funny, Cadel moved his arm on his shoulder and pinched Van's cheek. He didn't care about Van's nervous reaction.
“You promised to speak beautifully when you survive! Be nice to me, Van.”
“…….”
“Oh, you're not going to talk at all?”
“Don't waste your energy.”
Van’s face was a mess from scars, but he could quickly tell that he was blushing. The louder Cadel's laughter grew, the more his expression became grim. Cadel, who had been laughing for a long time without noticing, suddenly said while holding his throbbing stomach.
“Do you want to travel with me?”
“……Travel?”
“Let's travel! Okay?”
A suggestion that was announced without warning. Cadel’s eyes sparkled like a child, looking at Van's bewildered face.
“If you travel with me, something good will happen.”
“It will be tiring.”
“No! I'm a genius magician who will one day put the world under my sword! It's no joke, it's definitely going to be like that. Therefore…… You're a precious companion who will share that glorious first step.”
Certainly, that was not a joke. Cadel Lytos of the distant future would truly become a famous hero respected by the world.
‘Still, I think it's a bit excessive to be a companion or something.’
That was why Van's favorability was 70 from the beginning.
Cadel, who clicked his tongue while looking at the blabber-mouthed protagonist, paid close attention to Van's reaction. Van looked at Cadel with a mysterious expression that was hard to understand.
A short silence passed between him and Cadel, who stood tall and even stopped walking. Van, who had opened his slightly parted lips, spoke in a calm tone.
“You said you would put the world under your sword, so where is it? I'd rather call it a wand.”
“A wand is not cool! And you don't talk beautifully? If we travel together, I'm the leader, so use honorifics regularly.”
“You said I was a companion at one point.”
“Even among companions, there is a hierarchy.”
The two of them bicker while arguing with each other. Cadel realized that his vision was not moving with them. He was nailing to his seat, capturing the image of the two of them moving away. It was not voluntary.
Following the shrinking background, the faint sound of conversation lingered in his ears.
“You're coming with me, aren't you? Yeah?”
“……I’ll think about it.”
“Okay, then tell me in 1 minute. I'll be looking forward to it.”
“I'm telling you I’ll think about it.”
“Don't do it, just come. Be nice to me?”
After thinking about it for a minute, Van would eventually choose to travel with Cadel. They must have gone through a lot together, and along the way, he must have learned to speak beautifully.
Having spent such a long time, he became the current Van Herdos.
Cadel took a deep breath as he watched the vision gradually turn white. From now on, Van Herdos was his own man. He wouldn't be able to become the commander he used to see, but at least he wouldn't be the one that made him regret his loyalty.
With a rising system window, Cadel vowed.
「Van Herdos' Memory - You have finished watching the Starting Member Limited Story.」
「Fatigue recovery is reduced by 50%. Be mindful of physical fatigue.」
When he opened his eyes, the dim morning sun shone through the window next to the bed. Cadel rubbed his stiff eyes and yawned loudly. When he stared into the air for a while with only his upper body raised, he felt a new realization.
“You really reduced the fatigue recovery by 50%.……. I'm dying…….”
It felt like he just closed his eyes for a while and woke up. He felt that his body was heavier than usual and his brain was spinning slower.
“Ah…… I have to go meet Mamil…….”
If he had known he would be this tired, he would have postponed it for a day or so. Of course, seeing Van's miserable state made his heart weak.
It was when he stepped under the bed, tousled his hair in annoyance, he heard someone knocking.
He stared blankly at the door for a moment, but after a while, he realized that he had asked for morning bath water, and he sprinted to open the door. It was like that before the possession, but he felt so uncomfortable that he couldn't stand it if he didn't bathe every morning and evening. When you have a chance, you should bathe until you get tired of it.
Cadel finished his bath, longing for the cool water pressure. Dressed in neatly folded clothes, he stood in the center of his room, deep in thought. Cadel, who was slowly contemplating something with his slowly spinning head, nodded his head slowly and murmured.
“I should go see Van first.”
There wasn't any particular reason. Still, once he experienced Van's past vividly, he felt that he had to look at the current Van to realize that he was back.
With such a trivial purpose, he went to Van's room and knocked, and soon the door opened. Warm heat flowed through the half-open door, revealing Van’s figure. He, too, must have just finished taking a bath, and only the lower half of his body was roughly covered with a towel.
Water droplets were forming on the solid upper body that had not yet been wiped dry. Cadel was speechless for a moment at the feast of flesh that unfolded without warning.
A body with long and short scars here and there. A delicate abdominal muscle that stood out along with the movement and a smooth, stretched waist without any flab. Thick chest that rose and fell regularly in sync with breathing, and oblique muscles in the neck that revealed a clear presence under a slightly tilted head. Even the thin water that ran down the muscles that were so dense that you could admire them naturally
It was as if a craftsman with a gift from God had been looking at a sculpture that he had worked hard on for ten days and nights. It felt like you'd feel guilty just by touching it. It had the soul of the craftsman and the will of God…….
“Commander?”
His gaze, slowly rising along the muscles, met Van's questionable gaze. Only then did Cadel catch the string of reason that was flying somewhere.
“……Uh? Ah, uh. H……hi.”
Am I crazy?
What was I just watching? Touch it? Feel guilty? I must have been crazy. I can't believe I'm mesmerized at the sight of a person's naked body. A body belongs to a man, the same gender as me!
Had he been tainted by this female-oriented game? As Cadel, whose shame came with his belated realization, lowered his gaze, Van tilted his head.
“What happened for you to look for me in the early morning?”
“Uh…… It’s just.”
“Just?”
When Cadel mumbled without saying anything, Van opened the door wide. He meant to come in. At that, Cadel hesitated and entered the room.
Van glanced at Cadel as he wiped the water from his hair with a towel that had been draped over the bathtub. Even to him, today's Cadel seemed odd. Even so, he didn't open his mouth first, and as he waited patiently, he heard a small, quiet voice as always.
“Do you remember that day?”
“That day?”
“The first time we met…….”
The day he first met Cadel? There was no way he couldn't remember. That day was the starting point that changed his whole life, and it was a precious moment that would not cool down until the moment he died.
A benign smile appeared on Van's face as he recalled his old memories.
“Why mention that day all of a sudden?”
“It’s just…… I had a dream about it today. It's been a while since I've seen you in the past, so it's both strange and awkward.”
“Ah, forget the me back then, Commander. To be honest, I was a jerk.”
When Van said it jokingly, Cadel also burst into a light laugh. His thin eyes curved in a neat curve.
“Yeah, you were such a jerk. I can't even compare with the you right now. You've become a total human being.”
“Aren't I okay because I’m behaving beautifully now?”
“Well, that's true. Sometimes, when I see you get angry, I think you still have that image.”
“Because I decided to be nice only to Commander.”
How many trials and errors did he go through to kill his naturally rough personality and become a gentle subordinate of Cadel? When he recalled those days, he smiled bitterly.
After roughly drying his hair, Van put the towel back over the bathtub, and the floor creaked. Into the field of vision that followed the sound, Cadel's face suddenly came closer.
Van saw his white cheeks. He could see his lively pink lips with the tip slightly raised, and the bridge of his nose that stretched out in a soft curve. The half-moon-shaped eyes that were especially pretty when smiling, and the long eyelashes that cast dense and neat shadows on top of them.
It was a face that he couldn't figure out where the hell such power came from. A person who didn't mind doing dirty work even though he looked like he'd never had a drop of water on his hands, let alone blood.
The moment he faced his own image captured by Cadel’s dark auburn eyes, in an instant, Van felt a dull pain as his heart plummeted to the floor. His queasy feelings surged irregularly to the point where his stomach churned and washed away over and over again. Cadel's strangely different atmosphere also confused him.
However, Cadel, who had no way of knowing Van's condition, quietly held out his fist.
“……?”
A white fist nestled in front of his chest. Van, who had been staring down at the tight fist, hesitantly grabbed his hand, and Cadel snorted at him incredulously.
“Why are you holding it?”
“Th, then…….”
“You have to do this!”
He folded Van’s fingers one by one and made them into a fist, then put his fist on top of it again. Then, with a very satisfied expression, he spoke very boldly.
“I'll make sure you never regret it.”
“Pardon……?”
“Being with me on my journey, joining my mercenary squad, fighting for me. I promise to make sure you won't regret it until the day you die.”
The smile on his face as he said that was surprisingly similar to Cadel's when they first met, so Van swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.
To him, Cadel was an irresistible existence, both before and now. If he said he wouldn't let him regret it, whether it was true or not, Van would believe it unconditionally.
It was such an unfair feeling, Van thought as he met Cadel's straight gaze.
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