novelraw Chapter 66 : Chapter 66
Chapter 66 : Chapter 66
Chapter 66: Moonlight Day (2)
Cia-Harphe Academy, the 3rd Training Ground.
As the frost that had settled in the early morning glistened,
“──Phew!”
Monika let out a big breath, and
‘Tired…’
She bent her body low. With a weary smile.
In a corner of the training ground, Monika was resting after finishing her morning training. It was the result of following the daily schedule she had posted on her dormitory wall.
Wake up at dawn and run three laps around the training ground. Review the training process written in the manual. Not only follow the institutionalized training methods, but also move the sword freely to cultivate application skills. Finally, after wiping the great sword used in training…,
“...You were hungry, weren't you, my animal friend?”
feed Thunderstorm.
“Today’s ration is two.”
Monika rummaged through the feed bag.
Pant, pant. Thunderstorm, who had been sitting next to Monika, stood up straight. His short tail wagged busily.
“Trisha and Melisha are making a fuss. They say you’ve gained weight.”
──Woof!
Thunderstorm barked loudly.
“You don’t seem to agree?”
Monika dropped a finely crumbled biscuit.
Specialized dog food made by mixing wheat, beet root, and cow’s blood. As Thunderstorm ate it, Monika looked around the now deserted CIAR campus.
It was the first day of the Moonlight Day. The faculty members would be enjoying a late sleep, and most of the students had left for their homes over the weekend. The few students remaining in the school would also be enjoying the holiday. The only student who was busy since morning was Monika.
“It’s just the two of us this morning.”
Monika muttered softly.
The next moment, as she was about to reach out with her prosthetic arm to pet Thunderstorm,
Suddenly, a human skull was thrust forward.
“...Crazy.”
Crack.
Monika’s prosthetic arm struck the skull.
It wasn't an intentional action. The prosthetic arm, sensing danger, had moved faster than her thoughts. A startled Monika stepped back and looked straight ahead to see a skeleton knight in heavy armor with an apron over it, staggering. Alberge Hildeberg. The guard that Fleur had shown in her pocket plain.
“I-I’m sorry…”
Monika clutched her prosthetic arm.
“This prosthetic arm sometimes moves on its own…”
Alberge held his skull with both hands.
Creak, creak. An unpleasantly echoing sound of bones. After adjusting the angle of his bent neck bones, Alberge stood straight next to Monika. His expression couldn’t be seen, but he looked resolute. It was because the spectral light in his eye sockets had expanded.
“...Pardon?”
Alberge clasped Monika’s left hand.
“Please just go away…”
Woof, woof, woof!
Thunderstorm began to bark at Alberge.
It seemed he had judged Monika to be in danger. Alberge narrowed his spectral light, let go of Monika’s left hand, and bent down towards Thunderstorm.
Alberge’s hand extended towards Thunderstorm.
<...You are quite plump.>
──Chomp.
Thunderstorm bit Alberge’s finger bone, and
Alberge whispered in a voice filled with joy.
‘No, what on earth is this…’
Monika stared blankly down at Alberge.
Her head felt dizzy. It was as if she was secretly watching an indecent performance by some traveling troupe. Monika shook her head violently, then quickly scooped up Thunderstorm and stepped back. He shouldn’t develop a taste for bad things.
“What is it, Sir Alberge.”
Monika asked, narrowing her eyes.
Thunderstorm busily pawed the air. He was aiming at Alberge.
“Why did you come looking for me?”
Alberge made a laughing sound.
Then he looked around. Although there were few people, the scenery of CIAR was full of vitality. Lush bushes, neat buildings, freshly filtered air. It was a scene that was difficult for Alberge to blend into.
Above all, Monika Lohengrin. Alberge thought, sharpening his crimson spectral light. That girl survived? From the clutches of Deserick de Saint-Pierre, having lost only one arm.
She is so full of life it makes one jealous.
“What a shame. I don’t have time.”
Hmph.
Monika turned away, snorting.
“I’m going to the dormitory. I need to drink some tea.”
“No. I’ve decided to drink tea by 10:30. To soothe my stomach.”
“Don’t tempt me with refreshments. You sound like a kidnapper.”
“Not at all.”
Monika walked away roughly.
Alberge followed Monika. Thunderstorm began to bark at Alberge.
Woof, woof.
“Can’t you just stop with the skin obsession already?”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Deserick de Saint-Pierre.
Alberge uttered that name.
Monika’s steps gradually slowed. Thunderstorm, who had been barking at Alberge, flinched for a moment, then looked up at Monika with a whimper. Monika had, at some point, come to a standstill. Thunderstorm’s front paw touched her tightly closed lips. The soft paw pad caressed Monika’s mouth. As if to pet her.
Monika looked back at Alberge.
Beyond her black hair fluttering in the cold wind, Alberge was flashing his crimson spectral light.
“It’s a question not worth answering.”
You know everything, don’t you?
You’re asking because you know, aren’t you?
Monika whispered so.
Alberge gave a respectful silent bow.
I, Alberge Hildeberg, he thought.
Alberge strode forward, speaking in a somber tone.
He then stood facing Monika. A damp wind carried the metallic scent of his heavy armor.
while feeling disgust from rotten skin, the distinct smell of blood, and wilting entrails…
are indifferent to bones.
Alberge muttered so.
Alberge’s hand rested on Monika’s head.
Monika’s amber eyes flinched. She seemed to be on guard because she didn’t know what was happening. Alberge stroked Monika’s head without caring.
“...What is it.”
So won’t you grant my request?
By all means, please meet with Lady Fleur.
<...To honor the spirit of the dead.>
* * *
“──Monika!”
Fleur raised one arm high.
She then waved her arm and smiled brightly. The ivory sack-back gown that enveloped Fleur’s body swayed along with her movements.
‘This is…’
Monika looked around.
It was a meticulously decorated greenhouse. As the sunlight penetrated through the glass, colorful flowers were arranged in a circle. Red, yellowish, or bluish. Monika walked, looking around at the glistening leaves.
“Good morning. Would you like some coffee?”
“No thanks.”
“I guess so. You prefer tea, Monika. Would you like a sandwich too? I made it myself.”
“Cut it out.”
“My, my, and it was praised as being much better than a golem’s cooking.”
Sir Alberge, she said.
Fleur opened her mouth in an excited tone.
“Please prepare some tea. Mixed with orange peel and bergamot petals.”
Alberge nodded to Monika and went on his way.
Monika stared at Alberge’s back. That man was killed by the Marquis of Saint-Pierre? With that thought, she shifted her gaze. She looked down at Fleur, who was sitting at a round table in the center of the greenhouse.
“Won’t you sit?”
Fleur gestured.
Towards the opposite side of the round table.
“Just tell me what you want.”
“Let’s sit and talk. It’s the first day of the Moonlight Day. Shouldn’t you rest a little?”
Haa.
Monika let out a sigh.
She couldn’t figure her out at all. Did she want to have an idle chat? Monika wondered as she sat opposite Fleur. She glared at a random spot, not wanting to make eye contact.
“It’s mine.”
Fleur said, gripping her mug.
The thick scent of coffee caressed the bridge of Fleur’s nose.
“It’s my own greenhouse.”
Meanwhile, Thunderstorm brushed past Monika’s ankle and went on.
Whine, whine. As he whimpered, the flower petals rustled. Along with that, a shining red spectral light. Lisian, who had emerged from between the bushes, walked over. A living dog and a resurrected dog faced each other, and
“Because the floating island is wide.”
they nuzzled their faces as if they were extremely glad to see each other.
“That’s why you just have to pay a small amount. You can have your own private building. And I happened to have the money for it.”
“So what about it?”
Monika propped her chin on her hand and pouted.
Thump. A teacup was placed next to Monika. It was brought by Alberge. The fragrance flowing from inside the teacup was elegant. It was on a different level from the tea leaves Monika usually used.
“Thank you, Sir Alberge.”
Fleur smiled once, then placed the toe of her flat shoe on her own shadow. That was the signal.
Alberge’s body melted into Fleur’s shadow. It was the process of being stored in her pocket plain.
‘...How bizarre.’
Monika thought, looking down at the teacup.
Bizarre. Fleur de Saint-Pierre is unspeakably bizarre.
If Alberge was killed by Deserick, why is Fleur keeping such an Alberge with her? Why isn’t Alberge hostile to Fleur? Finally, the murder case. Fleur has lost several family members in a few days. Yet, that child, as well as Raphael de Arcturus, are living as usual.
Is it a power struggle within the family?
Are Fleur and Professor Arcturus related to the murder case?
No, that can't be. Monika concluded, shaking her head. She had run into Fleur every morning during attendance, and had received supplementary lessons from Raphael after every lunch.
The two of them had no time to be away.
“Monika.”
Suddenly, Fleur opened her mouth.
Monika lifted her bowed head.
Glistening light blue eyes holding moisture. Fleur’s eyes sparkled as she opened her mouth.
“CIAR, won’t you drop out?”
Silence.
Monika’s expression crumbled.
She wasn’t flustered. She was just dumbfounded.
What is this child suddenly trying to say?
“Don’t misunderstand. I don’t want to drive you out of CIAR. I just want you to be safer.”
Fleur smiled sweetly, then touched her neck.
A necklace was placed on the round table. It was the accessory Fleur had been wearing. A necklace with a thick, lumpy gem hanging from it. Monika didn’t know its value.
“I’ll give it to you.”
It was just annoying.
Fleur’s exceptionally clear whisper.
“Isn’t it strange, Monika.”
Isn’t there something wrong with this world?
A commoner can live their entire life with a nobleman’s accessory.
Sell that necklace. You won’t have to worry about how to live from now on.
You won’t have to hold a sword.
You won’t need a prosthetic arm that fires cannonballs either.
The reason to strive to become a cleric will disappear, and then the danger of standing on a battlefield or fighting monsters will also disappear.
“Am I right?”
“You…”
Monika’s expression distorted.
Her eyebrows trembled and her throat felt hot. The prosthetic arm, sensing this, began to tremble, and Monika gripped it tightly and glared at Fleur.
“...What are you trying to do with me right now?”
Monika asked, clenching her teeth.
“Answer me. Did you call me here just to say this crap?”
“I told you. I want you to be safe. There’s no good in becoming a cleric. It only increases the risk of dying. So let’s just quit.”
Hmm? Please.
Do as I say, Monika.
“If you need more money, tell me. I can provide as much as you want. By all means, go to a quiet place. How about running a flower shop there?”
I heard Sarrifis is a place lush with greenery.
Most of the villagers were engaged in agriculture, right? In that case, you’ll be able to grow very beautiful flowers.
Fleur whispered so.
“Haha…”
A dry laugh escaped Monika’s lips.
What would it have been like if she was still living in the slums? Monika thought, looking down at Fleur’s necklace. Would she have accepted it with a bow and a thank you? Even if she knew that the Saint-Pierre family had destroyed Sarrifis, would she have taken the gem in the name of survival?
She didn't know. That’s why it was a relief. That she had come to be able to distinguish between a right life and a bad life.
“Hey.”
Monika stood up from her seat.
“I heard from Roberta. You said it. That it seemed like I had a hard time with nobles. So you asked them not to approach me rashly. That’s why everyone was hesitant to talk to me, is that true?”
“That’s right.”
Fleur nodded.
“Is that wrong?”
“Are you kidding me right now? Why are you going around spouting that crap on your own?”
“Roberta is a little mischievous, but she’s a smart child. Ernst-sunbae often grumbles, but he’s very considerate. What about Demian-sunbae? He’s as foolish as can be, but there are few people as pure as that man.”
But none of that matters.
The Sinclair family is in the business of manufacturing weapons. They contribute to the development of not only cold weapons, but also explosives. Roberta will also have to think about it someday. About how to take more lives, more easily and efficiently.
What about the Tresckow family?
It’s a family riddled with power struggles. It’s said that it’s common for siblings to kill each other. Although the aging head of the family is currently suppressing the conflict, when he dies, Ernst-sunbae will also be swept up in political intrigue.
Do you think the Farenheit family is any different?
Even if they are a prestigious family of swordsmanship that everyone praises as upright, in the end, it’s the same as standing on a battlefield with a sword in hand. Demian-sunbae will also kill someone someday. Is there a guarantee that there will be no innocent lives among them?
“That’s exactly why, Monika.”
Clank.
Fleur rose from her chair.
“Even if we can get along in one place for now, in the end, we will all become adults in our own ways. But they’ll all be fine. Because they have parents, and they have wealth. But you don’t. You shouldn’t be in a place like this. You must go to a safer place.”
Professor Argento…
Do you think Abel Argento is any different?
Fleur asked, raising the corners of her mouth.
“That man will one day send you to the battlefield…”
“──So why!”
Monika stood facing Fleur.
She held Fleur’s face in her distorted eyes.
They were close enough for their breaths to touch. And yet, Fleur’s ice-like features were intact. Even as Monika gasped for breath in anger, Fleur was constant with a faint smile.
“Why do you keep crawling into my life?”
To Monika’s words,
“Because your life is precious.”
Fleur answered concisely.
“I want your happiness more than anyone.”
Rustle.
Fleur’s hand brushed against a flower crown.
She then pushed aside a blade of grass and plucked a flower.
“I can help you. Because my family ruined your life, I want to complete your life myself.”
A bright blue delphinium was placed behind Monika’s ear.
Monika snatched it. She then buried it in her nose to smell it, then crushed the flower and scattered it.
As the crushed petals fluttered and fell,
“...You.”
Monika’s lips twitched.
“You keep saying it. That you have no ill will towards me. I can’t believe it, but it might be true. When CIAR was invaded, when I tried to save Dante-sunbae, and even at this moment… you might be speaking to me without any ill will.”
But even so, nothing changes.
Fleur de Saint-Pierre, you are the worst.
“In your eyes, it must look like a flower. The life of a commoner like me. It must seem like it will crumble if you just step on it. You’re not treating me like a person, but like a flower, with pity, right? That’s why you judge on your own, restrict me, and want to play with my life.”
I’m not wrong, am I?
Some commoners are played with by nobles until they die,
and some commoners die for the reason of having brushed against a noble’s body.
And then there are other commoners. They were swept up in a damned noble’s experiment and evaporated along with their homes. Truly a fragile life.
They die, and die, and die like that,
but the partner of the commoner who died as a noble’s plaything lives on,
the child of the commoner who died for brushing against a noble’s body also lives on,
and the reason why I am living so well in front of you right now….
“Don’t you think it’s too deceptive to think I simply need help?”
Take care of your own life, she said.
Monika whispered as she passed Fleur.
In a sharply honed tone, but with a strange sense of pity.
“...The flowers here, they’re all a mess.”
That was the end.
Fleur watched Monika turn her back on the greenhouse. She could have stopped her if she wanted. She could probably have subdued her as well. But what then? What words would be appropriate to say? Fleur thought, placing a hand on her chest. The tea that had filled the teacup had long since cooled, and the necklace on the round table was just shining blankly.
‘So it’s no use after all.’
It’s hard. I just don’t know.
How can I convey my feelings?
‘Why can’t I be the one?’
Fleur bowed her head.
The shadow engraved on the greenhouse floor was too short.
It was because it was too bright. As the sound of the bell announcing noon could be heard, Fleur let out a faint breath and held a smile.
‘Today will be the last.’