kscans

Chapter 14 - I Thought I Made Him Angry, But He Returned to a Fire

I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t look away. I saw.

No, there was no ulterior motive.

Still, my chest pricked with a strange feeling. I was filled with a sense of apology toward Mireille and an unbearable embarrassment.

So, what now. This can’t continue.

I could make it to town if I left now, but... what if a man with no shadow of a woman in his life suddenly bought several sets of girls' clothes during his paid leave? It would definitely start rumors. Bad ones.

"...I need an accomplice."

The faces of the Knight Order floated in my mind. They were skilled, but it was hard to say they were "safe" for Mireille, and there was the matter of the supreme commander. One slip of the tongue and it would be over.

...Oh, right. Vice-Captain Kyle! He’s always giving things to women, isn’t he? I’ll ask him to buy them with me. He’s used to choosing, and it shouldn't arouse any strange suspicions.

Confirming that the bonfire was stable, I stood up. I couldn't mentally handle her walking around like that for days.

I removed the ring and returned to my room, erasing my presence.

◇ ◇ ◇

Mireille hastily wrapped the sheet around herself and rushed outside.

I made him angry. I have to apologize.

I’ve always had a tendency to get excited and lose myself whenever I find something related to alchemy.

But that outfit was not okay.

Instead of Leonhard turning bright red, it should have been me who was embarrassed.

"Leonhard-san, I’m sorr—"

I started to call out, but my feet stopped.

The bonfire was surrounded by stones, the smoke was white, and the wood crackled. But the man himself was nowhere to be seen.

"...He’s gone."

I hadn't expected him to come back in the first place. Just bringing me food was more than enough.

Even as I tried to think that, a sense of guilt spread in my chest.

It was my fault. I made him angry.

I couldn’t even apologize, and just felt dejected.

...My master actually has a similar personality.

Unlike me, she doesn't coop herself up in the workshop all day. She's the type to fly all over the outside world.

But I know almost nothing about what she was doing out there.

I only knew about her relationship with Darius-san because he came to the house sometimes. I don't even know how they met.

"We’ve known each other for a long time now." That was the extent of our closeness.

"...For now, I’ll wash my clothes while there’s still a fire."

Muttering this, I threw the clothes I was wearing before this into a pot and boiled them in hot water. There was no detergent, but the heat would loosen the mud and blood. If I let it cool, most of the stains should come out.

After finishing the laundry, I fed twigs to the fire and started cooking the monster bird meat. I'll cook it while there's fire and eat it tomorrow.

As night deepened, exhaustion washed over me. The backs of my eyelids grew hot, and tears threatened to well up.

--I’ll cry later!

Fat from the monster bird dripped onto the fire with a pachi. The next moment.

"...W, wah, wah wah wah!"

The fire leaped over the stone enclosure, flaring up.

A fire!? I have to put it out!!

Mireille scrambled to her feet, tearing off the sheet she was wrapped in.

She lifted the pot with her clothes still in it, to get water—

"I told you, but you’re still not wearing it. ...And why are you cooking a bird? Ah, it’s completely burnt."

A low, exasperated voice. I turned around to see Leonhard standing there, as if he had been there all along.

He glanced at me briefly before starting to deal with the fire.

He calmly removed the bird, poured a small amount of water to calm the fire. The flames didn’t go out, but remained at a manageable level.

"I thought I told you to stay in your room with the blanket on."

The moment I heard his voice, twisted in a troubled way.

Mireille realized she hadn’t been abandoned, and the tears she had been holding back burst forth all at once.