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Chapter : 24
Next Time
“Will you help me?”
When Leon just stared at him without saying a word, Lowell grew awkward and asked again.
“……”
“Sir Leon?”
“…If I assign someone to you, are you going to go around with them to investigate?”
After a bit of silence, Leon finally spoke. His tone was oddly slower than usual.
“Yes. I think I’ll only feel at ease if I look into it myself.”
“Then I’ll assign you people, but leave the investigation to them. You’re not going yourself.”
“What? Why?”
Lowell widened his eyes in surprise. He had been planning to run around and gather information himself.
“You stand out too much.”
“Me?”
Lowell looked down at the clothes he was wearing. Clothes so plain that even Ella had scolded him for it.
“I don’t stand out at all.”
“No, you do. Especially your hair color. Walking around with that hair, everyone will know exactly who you are from a distance.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Lowell remember the impression his long black hair gave off. By this world’s standards, black hair was definitely not suited for sneaking around.
“I’ll go to my family’s estate and ask for some servants. I need to fetch something from there anyway.”
“What are you getting?”
Lowell asked immediately—not from real curiosity, but out of reflex. Once Leon had agreed to help, his head had been racing ahead, sorting out what to do next, and that meaningless question just slipped out.
“I’ll be going to war soon, so I need to bring back some magic orbs from the family vault.”
“…What?”
Leon’s reply was far more unexpected than Lowell had imagined, and Lowell jumped to his feet—breaking their joined hands and stopping the flow of magic between them.
“You’re joining the war?”
“…I told you yesterday.”
“When?”
“During dinner.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Lowell remember that after meeting Andy, he’d spent the whole day lost in thought, replaying Andy’s words and likely ignoring all other conversations.
“I’ll be taking part as a special knight.”
Seeing Lowell rolling his eyes guiltily, unable to hide his embarrassment, Leon continued.
“Are you going to be all right? I mean, with the Knights…”
Lowell stopped short. They kicked you out—won’t it be awkward to work with them? What if they bully you again? He swallowed the words down.
“Well… The ones who expelled me might run their mouths or whatever. Still, this works out for the best. Special knights don’t belong to any order, so I can move freely, show my skills, and earn merit.”
Leon answered, expression unchanged.
“Oh… I see. Then that’s good.”
Lowell sat again.
He placed his hand back on Leon’s to resume transferring mana. Magic spread softly once more—
—but only for a moment.
“Wait!”
Lowell shot up again with a shout.
“….”
Leon once again stared helplessly at his empty hand.
“If they’re calling even you in… doesn’t that mean the war is about to start?”
“Yes. That’s why the request reached me.”
“Then… Miss Aria doesn’t have much time left before the dissolution deadline she set.”
“What?”
“Before I came here, she was reading a book about dissolution. Then she declared she’d go to war. She must be…”
Lowell trailed off. Aria’s wish—to end the endless cycle of return by dissolving—suddenly felt frighteningly close.
“…Do you think about the Lady all day? It seems your two states of being are ‘spacing out’ or ‘thinking about her.’”
Seeing Lowell’s trembling eyes, Leon let out a sigh-like comment.
Indeed, Lowell’s erratic train of thought always circled back to the Heinstine Lady.
“Can’t I go too?”
Ignoring Leon’s remark entirely, Lowell asked with deadly seriousness.
“Go where? You don’t mean… the battlefield?”
“Yes. The demon who fixed her timeline will definitely show up during this war. They’ll approach her again. Then I can destroy the axis of the return magic—”
“Be serious.”
Leon cut him off sharply. A familiar irritation pricked under his skin.
“You’re a commoner who’s never been to war. Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m not just any commoner.”
Lowell snapped back, meeting his eyes.
Magic resonated around her as if echoing her emotions. Books, candlesticks, cushions—objects rose into the air, however slightly.
“So you plan to ask them to let you enlist because you have that kind of ability?”
Leon rubbed his brow.
“If people find out a commoner has magic—this much magic—you won’t go to war. You’ll be dragged straight to the Imperial research labs. Or locked up for consorting with demons.”
“……”
The floating objects dropped back to the floor.
When Leon looked back at Lowell, her face showed a mix of confusion and resignation.
It can’t be helped. I suspected the same at first.
Leon murmured inwardly.
When he had first seen Lowell’s power, demons making pacts with humans flashed to mind.
But there were no signs—no red eyes, no taint—and when the Holy Knight used sanctified healing on her during the demon attack, she showed no reaction at all.
So her power was pure—demonic origin or not, untouched by corruption.
“Then what do I do? If we miss our chance, all my training will be useless. If we fail, I’ll never get another chance to save her.”
Lowell’s urgent breath cut through Leon’s thoughts.
There was a sheen of water in her eyes.
“……”
In Leon’s gaze, it rippled, then swelled—ready to spill over.
Annoyance twisted inside him. What is so important to her?
Comradeship from shared returns?
A debt because Aria saved her life?
Whatever it was, he couldn’t understand it—and didn’t want to.
“…There’ll be another way. I’ll find it.”
Leon finally broke the long silence. His voice was dry, but his eyes softened.
“Ah… thank you.”
Lowell exhaled, finally steadying.
“But even if I tell you another way… and you still fail…”
Leon leaned forward, reaching toward a book beside Lowell.
“Come find me again next time.”
“…Huh?”
Lowell flinched from how close he was, then blinked at his words.
“You remember everything anyway. So if a return happens, track me down and ask to make a new contract. That’s my last card.”
“Oh.”
Lowell finally understood.
“But next time, don’t barge in asking to marry me out of nowhere. At least take time to get to know me first. Who proposes the moment we meet?”
Leon grimaced, remembering the bold Lowell of the past.
“What? Haha…”
Lowell burst into laughter—for the first time that day.
And in that laughter bloomed the fleeting thought that, if there was a next time, she wanted to stand by Leon’s side again.
