Youngest 033
by CristaeEpisode 33
“Heh.”
“Don’t laugh. I’m really pissed off right now.”
Yet her eyes seemed even redder than usual for someone who claimed to be angry……
“Haa.”
Khalid rubbed his face in the weary manner of an adult. His perfectly sculpted features looked utterly exhausted.
“……So you’re saying there’s a reason you have to stay in Zevert territory, no matter what.”
“Mm……”
Khal pressed his lips together for a moment, then let out a resigned sigh.
“Fine. If that’s how it is, there’s nothing I can do.”
He finally raised the white flag to my stubbornness. I offered an apologetic smile.
“In that case, I’d better think of a few ideas myself.”
“About what?”
A faint, brief smile flickered across his pale face. Bathed in moonlight, he looked even more enigmatic and beautiful than usual.
“I have my secrets, too.”
“Damn.”
As I was hiding things myself, I couldn’t very well pry into his—how frustrating!
We sat side by side by the base of a tree and exchanged stories.
Khalid said that the moment he lost contact with me, he pushed the number of his familiars to the limit, scouring the continent in search.
‘An incredible amount of mana…’
Normally, the range over which one can use familiars is limited to the surrounding area.
Why would someone like him have been trapped in a cave?
“I told you. I don’t remember.”
Khalid rummaged through an old bag and handed me a red mountain berry. Oh, this is the one I often ate while wandering the eastern continent’s forests.
“Whoever those bastards were, they must have used some nasty magical device.”
“It wasn’t the typical kind of magical formula… But really, that’s a bit much to do to a kid.”
“Can’t expect much from back-alley mercenaries.”
A handful of red berries tumbled into my palm.
Maybe it’s because he’s had a rough life since childhood.
‘Sometimes, he sounds even more mature than I do.’
Without parents or a hometown, Khalid had lived as a wandering mercenary for a very long time.
‘The only thing he remembers is his name. Even the surname Riorc—he just made it up for missions.’
Perhaps that’s why Khal didn’t really like being called by his surname. He said it just never felt right, no matter how often he heard it.
Ah, I was speculating that his cave imprisonment might have happened while he was on a mercenary job and fell into a trap.
“Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter. I’ll track down the bastards who locked me up and get my revenge.”
I stared absently at Khalid’s profile.
‘Hm, as expected.’
The second male lead really is different.
Indeed.
In part two of , the boy sitting beside me becomes the protagonist.
Of course, after experiencing the overwhelming betrayal in part one, I couldn’t bring myself to read the sequel for a long while. But the moment I finally attempted just the first chapter—
‘I was hooked.’
Sigh. I should have picked a healing story instead.
Part two begins when a young man, confined in a cave for unknown reasons, escapes his prison by himself.
He sets out to uncover why he was locked away and vows vengeance on those responsible, planting his sword in the ruined earth as a sign of his resolve.
‘That was about one chapter’s worth.’
So I never found out why Khalid was imprisoned, or if he ultimately succeeded in his revenge…
If the author had any sense, surely they would have given the protagonist of part two a firmly happy ending?
“……You’re looking at me like that again.”
A sudden voice pulled me out of my reverie.
“Ah, sorry. I was just praying for your revenge to succeed. I’ll stop looking now!”
“……It’s not like I told you to stop looking.”
Khalid murmured as he absentmindedly scratched his nose. I grinned and split the berry in two.
‘Sigh. Sorry, Khal.’
You probably won’t get to shine as much as in the original…
Because the main lead of part one isn’t going to die. That dramatic moment where you slam your sword into the ruinous earth with all that gravitas? That’s never happening…
‘Still, I’ll make sure you have a happy ending!’
I’ll help with your revenge—after I finish what I need to do!
In fact, in the original, Khalid only escaped the prison when he was nearly an adult. I’d inadvertently twisted the story.
‘Maybe that’s for the best. Good job, past me.’
Of course, things outside the cave were hardly easy, either.
‘But to think a child had to rot away, bound in a dark cave for years—how awful!’
In the original, Khalid grew up in darkness, spending his youth in that cave, and became a rather damaged adult as a result.
“There’s no way there was any shy, pure phase where he blushed and tried to give someone food.”
“There were mercenaries to threaten into picking these berries, so just eat up.”
He’s still not broken, right?
“My goodness. You really are unlucky.”
I let out a long sigh, stretching my short legs in front of me.
Khalid raised an eyebrow, asking what I meant, but I didn’t elaborate further.
“So how did you get in here, anyway?”
With the conversation winding down, I shifted the topic lightly.
“A crawlspace. Took a while to find.”
The words came out matter-of-factly, as though he was accustomed to it.
No doubt he’d found a small passage used by the animal friends coming and going.
“Be careful not to get caught. Oh, and one more thing…”
I rummaged through my clothes and handed him the items I’d prepared in advance.
“What’s this?”
“My shop key and a map. Honestly, I’d like to just take you to the main house with me, but… I’m just a guest here myself, so it’s not really an option.”
“……”
“For today, just stay here. There’s a heat stone, so you should be able to sleep warm.”
“You bought a shop? Are you here to loot Zevert’s wealth?”
“What are you talking about?”
I dusted off my hands and got up. It was about time for this runaway child, who had sneaked out of the bedroom, to return.
“Just stay put here for today, and then head to a nearby town. We have this, after all…”
I tapped my earlobe with a smile.
“We can keep in touch even if we’re apart! It’s a relief, isn’t it?”
The boy replied with a gentle smile.
“You really don’t know what ‘relief’ means, do you?”
“…? Is that an insult?”
“Who knows.”
Ugh, this guy.
I gave Khalid’s forearm a good thump. Of course, I was always the one who ended up sore…
“Anyway, just behave yourself, all right? And don’t block me again!”
“No more pointless talk.”
Khal, also dusting off his clothes, extended his arm toward me as he stood.
“But there’s something that’s been bothering me for a while…”
“Mm?”
“Come here.”
He unclasped the bracelet from his wrist.
“Let me see your mana. Haven’t you had a hard time without it?”
“Oh…”
I couldn’t hide the sudden surge of emotion.
“What’s with that cute expression?”
“I’m just so touched to finally have someone who understands how a mage feels… Wait, what was your question again?”
“……I said, what’s with that pitiful face?”
“Oh, I really have been struggling. It’s a little better here, but in the capital, it was seriously, seriously rough.”
As I waved my arms for emphasis, Khalid’s eyes softened into a smile.
The stiffness disappeared from his expression; at last, the familiar boy I remembered seemed to return. The mercenary kid who always had my back on the battlefield.
“Yeah. The capital of Babylon was tough for me, too. Here.”
He offered me his hand, and I lightly took the tip of his finger.
“Wow!”
As if he’d been waiting for it, pure mana began to flow into me.
The mage’s circle etched on my earlobe heated up warmly. Only Khalid, who shared the same Oath Sigil, could grant me mana.
Like tangled tree roots, our mana intertwining allowed us to freely give and receive power between us.
Of course, Khal had never had any use for my meager bit of strength…so I was always just on the receiving end.
“This feels like I’m really alive again…”
“Then why’d you leave me behind?”
He grumbled lightly.
“What am I, that…what was it?”
“What?”
“A back-up… battery? That thing!”
“Gasp, you actually remembered?”
When I chuckled, the tips of his ears seemed to redden ever so slightly.
“I remember everything you say.”
I let the surging mana wash over me. The vigor—no, the power circulating through my body! It had been so long.
“Happy now?”
“So—much!”
Then Khalid tilted his head slightly.
“So. When are you going to welcome me back?”
I quickly pulled my hand away and brushed it off.
“Right now!”
I hopped up and flung my arms around his neck; he swayed a bit. Bright, refreshing mana flooded into me like a wave.
“It’s so good to see you again, Khal!”
The next day.
It was a gloriously sunny day.
Birds chirped, and warm sunlight filtered into the bedroom.
“…You…rotten…”
In the midst of that peaceful morning, I was trembling with an utterly unpeaceful expression.
‘Khalid? Khal! You !#^%!’
Because Khalid Riorc had blocked me again!