WLWES 24

Rio had been in bed for three days but returned to work on the fourth day. The doctor had told him it was okay to start moving gradually. While tending to the garden, Gideon suddenly showed up with a stern expression and began scolding him. “It’s still far too soon for you to be out of bed!”

Rio could no longer lie quietly in bed. He felt fine and believed the doctor had given him permission to get up since he had said that his sprain had healed. Now that he felt better, Rio was eager to return to work.

The doctor checked on him every day and was always surprised that Rio was healing incredibly quickly. Each time he left the room, he would mutter, “I can’t believe it.” It made sense, as it should have taken Rio at least another five days to fully heal under normal circumstances.

Rio was frustrated with the whole situation. Doing nothing and lying in bed was unbearable. An wasn’t around either. Atlas, who had gotten a bit carried away after An warmed up to him, said, “You won’t be able to rest properly like this, so I’ll take care of her until you’re fully recovered,” and then took her with him.

Feeling impatient, Rio resorted to using magic. He healed his sprain bit by bit but accidentally healed it all at once due to his impatience. Thankfully, he was careful and only healed the sprain. He couldn’t heal the visible wounds on his forehead and arms, as healing those too quickly would raise suspicion. He worried that people would start accusing him of being the magical beast instead of An, and well, being thought of as a magical beast might actually be better than being accused of being able to use magic.

“Rio! Are you listening?” Gideon asked.

“I am. That’s why I’m telling you I’m already fine. Even if I weren’t, I’ve only been doing simple tasks that I could manage, and even if I wasn’t healed.”

“But still…”

“Oh, right. What happened with that thing we talked about?”

“Which thing exactly?”

Rio left the gardener, who had been trimming trees with him, and guided Gideon around to the other side of the rose hedge. After ensuring that the gardener wasn’t following them, he looked up at Gideon and spoke, “The thing about letting me see Kenny. How is he? Have you talked to him?”

Gideon’s nose wrinkled slightly, a sign that he was upset about something. Rio chuckled at Gideon’s expression, knowing he didn’t want him to meet Kenny.

“What?” Gideon asked, confused.

“You don’t want me to meet Kenny, do you? I won’t be able to relax until I hear the reason directly from him. I just won’t accept it otherwise. I have the right to know. I also want to give him a piece of my mind for trying to kill An.”

Gideon stared at Rio in silence, deep in thought. After a while, he let out a long sigh and nodded. “Fine.”

“I already received a report from Gale about that. But I think it might make you angry. Are you sure you want to know?”

“Huh? Well, I guess it depends on what the report says. Even if I get mad, I won’t take it out on anyone. But if I get too upset, Gideon, come stop me, okay?”

“Heh… I understand.” Without warning, Gideon reached out and gently patted Rio’s head.

What was that? The way Gideon narrowed his eyes made him look incredibly handsome. His hand felt warm and comforting. Rio wanted to go on another journey, but being by Gideon’s side felt far too comfortable. He thought to himself that he would like to stay by Gideon’s side until he was specifically told to leave.

Kenny was currently staying at the knights’ dormitory in the castle town.

Right after Rio had fallen from the cliff, Kenny had been thrown into the dungeon beneath the castle. However, once it was clear that Rio was safe and he expressed remorse and apologized, swearing he wouldn’t run, he was allowed to return to the dorm, though guards were assigned to watch him.

Two days after returning to work, Rio was finishing up his shift when Gale called out to him from behind. Gale had come to escort Rio to a small room on the north side of the castle, as he had finally been granted permission to speak with Kenny. Rio quickly wrapped up his tasks in the garden, and Gale led the way, explaining that Kenny was already waiting in a room at the back. Just as Rio was about to enter the back room, he paused and turned to face Gale.

“Thank you, Gale, for letting Gideon know when I fell. And also, thank you for holding Kenny back. If you hadn’t seen me, I don’t know what Kenny would have done to me after that.”

“…No, I should have prevented you from falling. I was late, and you ended up getting hurt. I’m sorry.”

“No, please don’t say that! You’re a good person, you know. But you’re just hard to read, like Gideon. Um… by the way, can people hear through the walls in that room?” Rio asked nervously. He didn’t plan on saying anything strange, but if the word “magic” came up, he didn’t want anyone overhearing.

Gale’s eyes widened slightly before returning to a blank expression. “No. The walls are thick, and it’s hard to hear through them, but not impossible. Is there a problem?”

“No, depending on Kenny’s answer, I might get a little worked up…”

“Yeah, I heard from Lord Gideon that if you get too upset, he would step in and do something about it. Although I’m afraid Kenny might get violent, so I would like to keep a close eye on him.”

“Yeah… got it. So… can I go in now?”

“Lord Gideon will be here soon, so please wait… ah!”

Rio opened the door before Gale finished speaking. Without noticing Gale’s hand reaching out behind him, he went inside and closed the door.

Inside the room, there was a desk and two chairs, and Kenny was sitting in the chair at the back. With the setting sun shining through the window onto his left cheek, he looked at Rio and smiled.

“Hey, Rio. It’s been a while.”

“You look way too relaxed.”

“I was really looking forward to seeing you today.”

“…Huh. Lucky me.” Rio pulled out the other chair and sat down, keeping a bit of distance between them. Kenny watched him with narrowed eyes, the corners of his lips lifting into a smirk. That smirk was incredibly unpleasant, and Rio’s face twisted with open disgust as he glared at Kenny.

“What? If you’ve got something to say, just say it.”

“You’re the one who came to complain, right?”

“Yeah. Using An like that was cowardly as hell. I’ll never forgive you.”

“That dog growled at me every time I looked at her. She’s not cute at all.”

“But that’s just because you’re a bad person.”

“Is that really what you think of me?”

“Obviously.”

“Harsh,” Kenny replied, but he didn’t look the least bit hurt.

Rio thought bitterly that this guy’s words couldn’t be trusted at all.

“And too bad for me… right after you fell from the cliff, Gale took me down. So I don’t know how you fell or how you got away with so few injuries.”

“It was just luck. There were a bunch of trees below. The branches broke my fall, and the ground was soft.”

“Hm.” Kenny rested his chin on one hand. He wasn’t smiling anymore, and his face looked bored. Clearly, that wasn’t the answer he wanted. Rio met his gaze and continued.

“Tell me the truth. Why did you do it? Was it because you hate me? Then target me, not An.”

“I don’t hate you.” Kenny didn’t look away. His eyes locked onto Rio’s, and Rio nearly looked away first. However, doing so felt like losing, so he stubbornly held his ground.

“Then why?”

“I wanted to get along with An, but she just wouldn’t warm up to me. Every time I tried to reach out, she’d try to bite me. It really got on my nerves. I thought she needed to be taught a lesson for biting me, a human when she’s just a little beast.”

“What the hell?!”

“…Or at least, that’s the reason I gave Gale.”

“So that’s not the real one, huh?” Rio leaned forward slightly.

In response, Kenny leaned back just a little, crossed his arms, and looked out the window, squinting against the sunlight. “How many years has it been since then? I was when I was still training to be a knight, and my team and I were heading out to defeat monsters.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Kenny suddenly began telling a story from the past. Even when Rio asked, he didn’t glance his way.” How many magical beasts have you seen, Rio? Do you know that there’s this really powerful beast out there somewhere in the world? Normally, it doesn’t appear in places where people live, but if you mess with its territory, it gets super angry and comes out. Apparently, someone had disturbed its territory at that time. It was rampaging and impossible to control. That’s why they called in skilled knights and even apprentice knights from all over the country.”

“I see.” Rio wondered why he was telling him such a story, but he was intrigued by what Kenny was saying and listened intently. Kenny was still looking outside, but his eyes seemed to gaze into the distance, perhaps reminiscing about the situation at the time.

“When I saw it, I was so terrified I couldn’t move. I had some confidence in my abilities, so I thought no matter how strong it was, I’d be able to take it down. But I was wrong. It was overwhelmingly powerful. Knights were going down one after another. It was hopeless. I realized I’d be next, so I ran. But for some reason, it targeted me. It chased me down, smashing through the trees as I ran between them. I didn’t think I’d make it. But I knew I couldn’t stop and fight either because I’d lose for sure. I ran and ran, trying to figure out what to do. But then I tripped, exhausted… and fell.”