Chapter 45: A Fleeting Youth

After everything that happened with Hikari, I’d finally reaffirmed my resolve. But in the end, what I needed to do hadn’t changed — all I could do was continue building things up day by day.

The battle methods and rules for the “King’s War” would vary depending on the circumstances unless it was a straightforward one-on-one match, but that area fell under Foreign Minister Deplon’s jurisdiction. Until the final decisions were made, there wasn’t really anything for me to do.

Which meant that today, like every other day, I was working through my usual mountain of paperwork...

"...Staaare."

"...Uh, Alicia? Why have you been glaring at me this whole time?"

"It’s nothing... I just feel like your atmosphere changed somehow."

She was staring hard. Seriously hard. Our beloved Saint’s intuition was probably sharper right now than when I used the Holy Sword’s second ability.

More importantly, though, she said my atmosphere had changed, but I honestly didn’t feel any different. My worries had started yesterday, and Hikari and I had already talked everything through afterward.

Still, you should never underestimate a woman’s intuition at times like this.

The moment you get complacent and think they haven’t noticed anything, they somehow arrive at the exact truth in a single leap. No matter how absurd the answer might seem, women trust that intuition with absolute confidence, so trying to bluff your way through never works.

The important thing is to change the subject before that intuition fully kicks in.

"Did something happen with Miss Hikari?"

She figured it out instantly.

I hadn’t even said a single thing, and yet she arrived at the answer immediately. Cold sweat ran down my face while the hand holding my pen trembled uncontrollably.

I mean... maybe I did have something to feel guilty about after we bathed together. But still, it wasn’t like Alicia and I had officially become anything... though, well, she had kissed me during the previous King’s War while I was unconscious, and I already knew she had feelings for me after that.

And if the guy you liked ended up getting involved with another girl somehow...

Yeah. I couldn’t exactly blame Alicia for reacting this way.

Though honestly, the way she puffed out her cheeks was so adorable I could’ve watched her forever.

By the way, Hikari wasn’t here right now. Sebas — the man in charge of managing the royal castle — had informed me that she wanted to take the entire day off.

She’d probably become overwhelmingly embarrassed about what happened yesterday now that some time had passed.

Ever since long ago, she’d always had a habit of charging ahead emotionally and regretting it afterward, so there was an extremely high chance she was currently writhing around on her bed in embarrassment.

"Ah, yeah... well, a lot happened. We confessed our feelings to each other, for one."

"C-confessed?!?!!"

Alicia’s cooperation would absolutely be necessary going forward, and more than anything, it would’ve been unbelievably rude to keep deceiving a girl who clearly loved me — and whom I undoubtedly loved in return — so I decided to just spit it out immediately.

Besides, I was completely convinced she’d figure it out eventually anyway, so staying silent had never really been an option.

From experience alone, I wasn’t foolish enough to believe I could hide anything from them. For some reason, everyone constantly described me as ridiculously easy to read, so there was no way I could be confident about keeping secrets.

"Um... s-so then... are you two dating now...?"

"...Honestly, I’m not sure. We never actually talked about that part. But... I guess we did promise we’d walk through life together forever."

"That’s WAY farther along than I expected!!!"

The shock must’ve hit hard because Alicia’s mouth hung completely open.

Watching her like that filled me with an oddly warm feeling. Surely I wasn’t the only one who’d find it endearing.

Still, if things continued like this, it was only a matter of time before Alicia started feeling lonely.

Considering her past experiences and everything she’d been through, it wasn’t hard to imagine how stressful that kind of emotional isolation would be for her.

She was probably the type who couldn’t endure loneliness — not physical distance, but emotional distance. The kind who suffered most when someone’s heart drifted away.

And I wanted to avoid leaving someone like that alone.

More than that... I simply couldn’t accept a future where Alicia couldn’t smile.

"Alright then, paperwork’s done for today... Alicia, wanna go somewhere together?"

"Huh?"

"A date. A date. People teased us constantly about being together after the last King’s War, but enough time has passed that things should’ve calmed down by now. Hikari isn’t here, but if you’re okay with it just being the two of us, let’s go have fun."

"Wha— ah, y-yes!! I’ll go get ready right away!!!"

With that, she rushed out of the room wearing a radiant smile.

Watching her leave, I felt certain this was the right decision.

There was no doubt I needed to become stronger — and quickly.

But at the same time, I could say with absolute certainty that abandoning Alicia right now would’ve been wrong.

After all, if the future I wanted was one where the people important to me could smile, then neglecting the present for its sake would defeat the entire point.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!!!"

"Nope, I just got here myself."

After both of us changed into clothes completely different from our usual appearance — enough to count as genuine disguises — we met up and began walking side by side through the city.

Alicia had bundled up her distinctive golden hair, which gleamed like threads of sunlight, and hidden it beneath a hat.

The hat itself came from the Kingdom of Aikatemura, where the “King of Myriad Sovereigns” ruled. Ever since they learned that the “Sword King” had drawn the Holy Sword and ascended the throne, our countries had begun trading without resorting to a King’s War.

A King’s War was supposed to be a last resort — something used only when neither side could compromise. Naturally, if problems could be solved through discussion, nobody wanted the hassle of war.

Well... there were exceptions.

And the “Mad King,” one such exception, could decide to attack us at literally any moment for whatever reason suited him.

Still, the King of Myriad Sovereigns seemed extremely peace-loving, and the number of King’s Wars he’d participated in was remarkably low.

Even before I became the Sword King, trade and merchant traffic between our nations already existed, but now it had increased even further, bringing profits to both sides.

Especially magical tools. Everyday-use magic devices and the things Clarisse made sold like crazy over there, practically supporting our national finances at this point.

Anyway, back to Alicia.

Right now, she was wearing clothes imported from Aikatemura — stylish outfits supposedly considered cutting-edge fashion according to memories from “that side.” Though honestly, I’d never cared much about fashion, so I couldn’t say for sure.

Still, they’d become trendy recently in the royal capital.

Mostly among students attending the noble academies there. Sometimes I’d see them out shopping and think the whole thing looked oddly heartwarming.

"D-does it suit me?"

Noticing me staring, Alicia blushed and nervously pressed down the hem of her unusually short skirt while looking at me shyly.

Just hiding her hair beneath the hat and wearing fake glasses already gave her a completely different atmosphere from usual.

But more than that, she normally wore a nun’s outfit that concealed everything, so seeing her pale legs fully exposed like this made the disguise almost perfect.

The only problem was—

"She’s way too cute. I’m worried guys are gonna start hitting on her..."

"U-um, I really don’t think you need to worry about that..."

Alicia having low self-esteem was nothing new, but objectively speaking, she was absolutely beautiful.

Even so, nobody usually approached her like that when she walked around town.

The biggest reasons were probably her status as the Saint, along with the broadcast footage from the previous King’s War.

Thanks to that, everyone immediately started viewing her as someone connected to the Sword King.

People in town teased her sometimes, sure, but troublemakers generally stayed away for that exact reason.

After all, if someone messed with her, I’d get involved.

Can’t really blame them for avoiding that.

"Well, whatever!! I get to see adorable Alicia dressed like this, and if it’s just some flirting, I’ll handle it somehow!!!"

"I-I told you, that’s not going to happen... and stop calling me cute so many times..."

Honestly, walking around beside a cute girl like this made me feel unbelievably lucky.

Even considering all the headaches that came with becoming the Sword King, happiness and misfortune felt completely unbalanced.

The scale was obviously tipping far more toward happiness.

"Come to think of it, the first time we met, we walked around together like this too."

"That’s true. Back then, I thought it would only happen that one time, but now I’ve gone out with you so many times, Toma."

It hadn’t actually been that long ago, yet because we’d gone through so much in such a short period of time, it felt like a distant memory.

Maybe forgetting most of my past-life memories played a role too... but perhaps I was more forgetful than I realized.

Still, I was certain these memories would never fade.

"Back then, everything was a first for me. My first friend. My first street food. My first personal question. I’d never even been asked what kind of person I liked before."

"That’s something I always ask people when I meet them. It’s important to me. Honestly, if I didn’t ask, I probably wouldn’t even be me anymore."

"Is that so...? Ah, wait. But you didn’t ask Miss Shion that, did you?"

Even the way her expression shifted from a wry smile into confusion was adorable.

She truly had an incredible talent for making people happy just by existing.

As for why I hadn’t asked Shion, the reason was simple.

I could tell she’d probably never even had the opportunity to think about falling in love before. She’d never had the emotional room for something like that.

So asking her out of nowhere would’ve sounded more like provocation than curiosity.

"At first, we spent most of our time provoking each other anyway. Honestly, I’m impressed we managed to improve our relationship this much."

"Ah... yeah. Before the King’s War, you really did seem like you hated each other..."

"From her perspective, I was a king trying to destroy an opportunity for national gain over one person. From mine, she was someone trying to take Alicia away from me. Considering our positions and mindsets, that outcome was inevitable."

Without question, the reason that changed was our battle during the King’s War.

Both Shion and I fought with everything we had, desperately throwing every card available onto the table.

And now that I’d heard Ciel’s story, I finally understood how desperately Shion must’ve struggled to gain that kind of power.

Just as I refused to lose Alicia, Shion had probably continued refusing to lose Ciel as well.

"Alicia... I think we’ll probably accept another King’s War against the Kingdom of Yaranli. There’s no way they’ll give up on Shion, and I have absolutely no intention of handing her over either. So there’s a high chance I’ll get hurt ag—"

"If you get hurt, Toma, then I’ll heal you."

I hadn’t wanted to make Alicia worry.

Still, since there was an extremely high chance I’d end up injured again, I thought it was only right to tell her beforehand.

But before I could finish, she interrupted me with a smile.

It was the kind of smile she wore when looking at someone hopeless — yet filled with affection and unmistakably gentle in a way that suited her perfectly.

I couldn’t look away.

"You’re going to fight to protect Miss Shion, just like you did for me, aren’t you? That’s the kind of person you are. Even if I tried to stop you, you’d never change. And... that’s exactly what made me fall for you."

"Yeah. I feel bad about it, but I’m never backing down."

"I know. That’s why I’ll support you. I can’t fight beside you like Hikari can, but I’ll wait for you in the place you return to. And when you come back, I’ll make sure I can properly heal your wounds."

She was worried about me.

Even so, she understood I would never stop.

Alicia had seen things even Hikari hadn’t — the sight of me dying over and over while desperately struggling against fate.

More than anyone else, she’d probably witnessed me getting hurt.

That was why she understood I’d throw myself into impossible situations without hesitation.

And rather than reject that part of me, she accepted it.

I thought Alicia had become strong.

And if I’d played even a small role in helping her become that strong, then honestly... that made me happy.

"So please go and seize the ending you want. A perfect ending where everyone can smile. More than anything... a future where you can smile too."

I loved seeing everyone smile.

I wanted a future where the people I loved could smile.

And I had no intention of changing that selfish desire.

Still, there were times when I froze, wondering whether it was truly the right path.

Times when I didn’t know what I should do anymore.

And during those moments, the girls were always there — taking my hand or pushing me forward.

Only I truly understood how much that had saved me.

"As long as I have that, I’ll be happy!"

Hearing her say that while holding my hand gave me strength.

Protecting this smile became absolute proof that I could keep going.

It only intensified my desire to never let go of anything precious to me.

"I see. But that alone won’t satisfy me, so let’s enjoy today to the fullest!!!"

I squeezed her hand back and pulled Alicia along as we started walking again.

There wasn’t even the slightest hesitation left in me anymore.

The tiny remnants of fear had completely vanished.

All that remained now... was to seize everything.

"That’s the King walking over there, right?! Which means that girl must be Sia-chan!! Man, your usual Saint outfit looks great, but this look is adorable too!!! You two make such a perfect couple!!!!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh~~~~~~~~~!!!!"

Unfortunately, our disguises were blown instantly because I was standing next to her.

I apologized to Alicia over and over again, and only managed to fix her mood after buying her a bunch of gifts.

Next time... I guess I’ll need a disguise too.