CH 26

From the moment the severed blade was pointed at Lucia, time seemed to stop for Herwin.

The scenery around him gradually slowed down, bringing everything to a standstill, and at the same time, the fierce blade stopped in midair.

Herwin was unaware that he was experiencing a bizarre phenomenon, and his eyes remained fixed on Lucia.

His body moved before his mind realized she was in danger.

The next thing he knew, he was standing in Lucia’s way.

Thank goodness. If Lucia had been hit by the flying blade, she would have been….…

He didn’t want to imagine the aftermath. It was a horrible thing to even think about.

Thank goodness the blue eyes staring back at him came alive.

Relieved, Herwin felt her anxiety creep back up as Lucia fainted on the product.

“Lucia!”

He screamed. He couldn’t calm down, wondering if she was going to die at this point.

All he could think about was saving Lucia.

Herwin hurriedly picked her up and ran to the infirmary.

All the students in the training center stared at his back in awe.

“Did anyone see ……Phoenaeus move?”

“I didn’t see it.”

“I blinked and he was gone?”

“……What, you thought he was a swordsman and could use magic?”

“Besides, I’m pretty sure I saw an auror.”

“Yeah, it came out of his whole body, and I heard you can only do that when you’re a master…….”

“Could it have been a real auror? I mean, he’s only 16 years old!”

“Heh, I can’t believe we already have two Auror Awakenings in the first year.”

While the others were discussing Herwin’s strange behavior and the Auror Awakening, Brian, who had been in a daze, snapped out of it.

“This is no time for this! Let’s go after him!”

“Brian, come with me!”

Brian hurriedly ran after Herwin, followed by Ethan.

“Hey, wait! I’m coming with you!”

Arista, the cause of all this, ran after them, dropping her sword with a white face.

Seeing that her friends were following Herwin, Christine hurriedly packed her things. As she tried to move as quickly as possible, Bianca stood transfixed.

“……This doesn’t make sense.”

“Bianca, come on, we have to go!”

Christine shook Bianca’s shoulder, and for a moment she sensed something was wrong with her, but her priority was to check on Lucia.

Christine hesitated and eventually left.

Bianca left behind and stared at the spot where Lucia and Herwin had been just moments before.

She gritted her teeth.

* * *

Lucia, lying on her white bed, groaned.

“……Hmmm.”

Her closed eyelids fluttered open to reveal a crystal clear wall.

“Lucia……!”

A familiar face, contorted in pain, appeared beyond her blurred vision.

“……Herwin?”

“Are you awake?”

“Huh? Ugh…….”

Lucia shuddered as Herwin’s face straightened a little and he breathed a sigh of relief.

It was puzzling that just this morning she’d been so cold and distant with Herwin, and now he was more friendly than before the fight.

Before she could think about why he’d suddenly changed his demeanor, Lucia’s vision caught sight of something both familiar and unfamiliar.

“The infirmary? Why am I in the infirmary…….”

“Don’t you remember what happened?”

“What happened? No, more than that, why am I here…….”

Clumsily pushing herself to her feet, Lucia suddenly remembered what had happened just before she collapsed.

She thought she was going to die, and then Herwin appeared and saved her.

And then-

‘Did I pass out?’

Lucia’s cheeks flushed. She was so embarrassed to admit that she had fainted in fear, even though she hadn’t been stabbed or anything.

“What’s wrong, are you sick or something, you need to see the school nurse right now…….”

“Oh, no, I’m fine, nothing hurts. More than that, how long was I out?”

“Three hours.”

“Okay, three hours… What, three hours?!”

Lucia, who thought it was an hour at most, was furious.

“I don’t know! I missed class! I need to go to class right now…….”

Before Lucia could get out of bed, Herwin grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back down.

“I told the professor, so it’s okay.”

“Ha, but…….”

“……you almost died today, and is this class a big deal?”

Only when Herwin made a face did Lucia stop.

Herwin was about to raise his voice when he saw Lucia’s confused expression.

“No, I mean. You don’t have to worry about that. Please take a rest.”

“…Yes, I see.”

“……Oh, I didn’t mean to be angry, so don’t make that face.”

Herwin carefully tucked Lucia’s flowing hair behind her ear. After being scolded once, Lucia’s face turned sullen.

“Wait… but isn’t class over yet?”

Lucia realized something and turned her head.

“Why are you here, aren’t you going to class?”

“It’s just a class, missing one or two isn’t a problem.”

“What? What do you call that now? Then it’ll interfere with your grades.”

“I’m into someone right now……!”

Herwin couldn’t finish his sentence. He locked eyes with the crystal-clear wall and clamped his mouth shut.

“……Anyway, I’ll take care of it, so don’t worry.”

A subtle silence descended again.

If he was angry at her for worrying about her attendance as soon as she woke up, she doesn’t know why he was angry at her now.

It’s almost as if he’s worried about her.

For a moment, Lucia was about to ask if her guess was correct, but the look on Herwin’s face made her clamp her mouth shut.

‘What if I’m mistaken?’

She felt like she was getting her hopes up and would be very disappointed to hear otherwise.

Drrrr-

The sound of a door opening and a commotion filled the infirmary. Lucia’s ears perked up as she heard familiar voices.

The curtain was pulled aside.

“Lucia!”

“Hey, guys.”

“Oh my God, you’re awake. Are you hurt?”

“Do you know how surprised we are that you passed out?”

Brian, Ethan, and Christine all looked at Lucia with concern.

Lucia laughed at their concern. Then she spotted a pale blonde among her friends.

It was Arista. When she made eye contact with Lucia, Arista immediately bowed deeply.

“I’m so sorry! I put you in danger……!”

Lucia narrowed her eyes, not knowing why she was apologizing.

But from the atmosphere around them and Arista’s white face, she figured it out.

‘Was it because of Arista?’

It had happened so fast, she didn’t know who had caused it.

Arista bowed deeply and closed her eyes tightly, apologizing sincerely.

Lucia watched her wordlessly for a moment, then gave a light laugh.

“It’s okay, I wasn’t hurt, you didn’t do it on purpose.”

Arista’s head snapped up as Lucia forgave her without a word.

“But……!”

“I don’t know exactly what happened, but you didn’t do it on purpose, and if you did, you wouldn’t have come to apologize to me, right?”

Arista bit her lower lip hard, then nodded.

“That’s it.”

Tears, guilt, and other emotions flashed across Arista’s face.

“I, I’m so sorry…I thought I was wrong and I…….”

“Huh? Ooh, don’t cry, I’m really fine!”

Lucia tried to smile and assure her that it was okay, but Arista’s eyes were already wide with emotion.

Lucia panicked, not expecting her to cry. After a moment of fidgeting, Lucia awkwardly patted Arista’s hand.

Overwhelmed by Lucia’s forgiveness, Arista squeezed Lucia’s hand as a knight swears to his master.

“I’ll be good to you for the rest of my life, and you can tell me anything I can do!”

It was a little overwhelming, but it was clear that she was trying to break the awkward ice, so Lucia relented and accepted Arista’s hand.

“Okay, fine.”

Arista’s face lit up. Lucia felt a bitter taste in her mouth as she saw how happy she was.

‘What the hell did I do to Arista…….’

She should have been the one to apologize, not her, blinded by jealousy.

‘I’m sorry.’

The words tumbled out of her mouth, unable to find the courage to say them.

Just as Arista had vowed to be good to Lucia for the rest of her life, Lucia had vowed to atone for her.

Herwin turned to look at Lucia’s flushed face.

“Where is Bianca? Didn’t she come with you?”

“Huh? Alas, she had to run an urgent errand somewhere along the way, but she’ll be back soon.”

“Okay…….”

At Ethan’s reply, Herwin narrowed his eyes.

BANG-!

“Where’s my sister!”

They heard a familiar voice accompanied by the sound of a door slamming open.

“What is it?”

“Did my sister get hurt?”

Amid her panicked friends, Lucia wiped her dry face.

“Lucia!”

A man who had been looking around spotted Lucia and rushed over.

“Who, who is that?”

“He looks a little like Lucia, but…….”

The friends, who had never seen Lucas before, panicked and backed away from his fierce momentum.

“What kind of lowlife would make my sister look like this!”

“If anyone saw you, they’d think your sister was dead.”

“Who are you, get out of here, is it you, did you do this to my sister?”

Next to Lucas was Ares. Lucas pointed at Ethan and Brian, and they quickly shook their heads in disbelief.

Lucia was so embarrassed that her brother was yelling for the nurse to leave.

“Shut up, we’re not the only ones here!”

Finally, an impatient Lucia shushed Lucas.

“My sister, are you hurt anywhere? If you’re sick, I’m……!”

“I’m not sick. I’m not hurt.”

She appreciated the concern of her friends, but she was irritated by the concern of her flesh and blood.

She was getting tired, especially knowing how Lucas cared for her.

Lucas was relieved only after turning his eyes and making sure Lucia’s hair, fingers, and toes were safe.