Chapter 13: The Demon’s Temptation (4)

“Wake up.”

“Mm….”

“I said wake up, Kayron!”

“Wha—ahhh!”

A jolt ran through my head, instantly snapping me out of sleep.

Someone had screamed right next to my ear.

I shot up from the couch, frantically scanning the room, only to find Avelin glaring at me with her face flushed bright red.

“Why are you yelling so early in the morning…?”

“When did you get back?”

“I asked why you’re yelling.”

“I said, when did you get back?!”

My head started to clear, but the more it did, the more bewildered I felt.

What’s even going on here? Forget when I came back—I simply returned to my room, so why is she acting like this…?

“When did you get here, Avelin?”

“Late last night. Why didn’t you wake me when you got back?”

“Because I got back even later than that. And, by the way, what were you doing showing up here so late in the first place?”

“You promised, didn’t you? You said you’d help me train.”

“Ah, right….”

I did make a promise like that.

But I never said anything about keeping it at such ungodly hours.

“Training should be done at an appropriate time. How do you expect me to help when you barge in so late at night?”

“But every single day counts! If I train even one day more, I’ll grow stronger, won’t I?”

“Not wrong. But yesterday, you were nursing a terrible hangover. Do you really think you’d get meaningful training done in that state?”

“Even if I’m not in great shape, slacking off for even a single day is unacceptable.”

“...”

This relentless determination is why Avelin kept growing stronger in my previous life.

“Alright, I’m sorry. I was busy with a lot of work yesterday. How about this: I’ll make up for it today. Deal?”

“Really? You’ll make up for it today?”

“Yes, as much as you want. Just don’t collapse from exhaustion. But first….”

Now that I could finally see Avelin’s face clearly, I realized something odd.

She’d claimed my bed and slept so soundly that her skin practically glowed. A faint trail of dried drool and small bits of eye crust were visible, though.

Her hair, however, was perfectly smooth and glossy without a single tangle. That was impressive, at least.

“First, go wash up. Anyone can tell you had a great sleep just by looking at your face.”

“Wh-what’s wrong with my face…? Ah—!”

Avelin’s eyes flew open as she panicked, rushing to the mirror in the corner of my room.

Her reflection seemed to horrify her as she shook with embarrassment, then suddenly covered her face with both hands and bolted from the room.

“Forget what you saw today, Kayron!!”

Forget what? I don’t even know what I saw.

I slowly stepped out of my room to head to the washroom.

But then…

A group of my subordinates stood frozen in the hallway outside my room, their expressions a mix of shock and confusion.

“What are you all doing just standing there?”

“Captain! What was… that?”

“What do you mean, ‘that’? You all know Avelin perfectly well.”

As if they had witnessed something unthinkable, the group swarmed around me, shaking me furiously.

“Why was Avelin coming out of your room?! And so early in the morning!”

“Captain, we demand an explanation! We demand answers!!”

“I should be the one asking why you’re all standing around here in the first place….”

Their eyes were wild with panic, and reason seemed to have left them.

“That’s not the point, Captain! And we overheard a bit of your conversation—this is a matter that could determine the survival of the Black Iron group!”

“What conversation? Nothing out of the ordinary was said.”

“Don’t lie to us! We heard it all! Avelin asked if you’ll make up for it today and you said you’d do as much as she wanted! You even dared her not to collapse! How could you provoke her like that?!”

Everything was so blatantly misunderstood, it left me speechless.

“You lot are really….”

“Line up.”

“…What?”

“I said, line up!”

At my sharp command, the group finally regained their senses and scrambled into a single file.

“Good. Now, answer me. Why were you lurking outside my door?”

“Uh… Vice-Captain Plymouth told us that an ‘interesting guest’ was here. So we came to check it out.”

“What? Plymouth said that?!”

Plymouth’s face floated into my mind, chuckling smugly after throwing me into this mess.

“Well, no point hiding it now. Remember how I won the other day? She must’ve been upset, so Avelin asked me to help her train.”

“Wait, are you saying the proud Avelin actually asked you to help her train, Captain?”

“Proud or not, we’re comrades. If training together makes us stronger, why not? She came over for that yesterday but ended up falling asleep on my bed while waiting for me, so I let her sleep there.”

“….”

The shock on my subordinates’ faces grew even more intense.

“Something feels off, Captain! She came over so late just to train?”

“She definitely had ulterior motives! Either she meant to harm you, or—”

They suddenly trailed off, looking around at each other nervously.

“Or what?”

“….”

I pressed them again, but they only exchanged glances, refusing to speak.

“If you’ve got something on your mind, spit it out. Don’t leave me hanging here. What are you trying to say?”

“Could it be that Avelin… likes you?”

Bang!

A silver blur flashed in front of me, and one of the braver subordinates who had started to speak went flying into the wall.

It was Avelin, delivering a body slam with her specialty speed that left no room for mercy.

“Hey, Avelin! What are you doing to my subordinates all of a sudden?”

“What am I doing? Just shutting up a useless mouth that was about to spout nonsense!”

“Look, I’ll admit they were saying some strange things, but—”

By now, Avelin had washed up and looked much fresher. But…

“Hold still for a moment.”

“What? Hold still? What are you talking about all of a sudden—”

“Just stay still.”

As I slowly reached out, Avelin froze in place, squeezing her eyes shut like a deer caught in headlights.

“There. All done.”

“W-what did you just do?”

“Look at this.”

I held my hand in front of her eyes.

“You missed a bit of eye crust.”

“Ugh…!”

Another flash of silver, and before I even realized what had happened, Avelin was long gone.

Through the window, I could see her figure shrinking rapidly into the distance as she fled.

“Goodbye! See you later!” I called out, waving a hand.

“Be quiet, Kayron!!”

I’d even given her a friendly send-off, but all I got in return was a sharp retort.

I let her use my bed, and she still gets this mad…?

“What are you guys doing now?”

When I turned back, my subordinates were busy scouring every corner of my room, as if searching for clues.

“Don’t worry about it, Captain.”

“We’re just making sure Avelin didn’t leave anything harmful behind!”

“…Get out. Now.”

After kicking everyone out, I flopped down onto my long-lost bed with a sigh.

Compared to the couch, the bed was wonderfully soft and comfortable, but…

“Huh. It smells.”

A scent completely foreign to me had seeped into the sheets.

Oddly enough, it wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, the strangely fragrant aroma tickled my nose in a surprisingly delightful way.

“I should send these for laundry….”

But before I could act on the thought, my eyelids grew heavy, and I drifted off into a deep, overdue sleep.

***

By the time lunch rolled around, I found myself scanning the dining hall, but the face I was looking for was nowhere to be seen.

“Who are you looking for, Captain?”

“Avelin is right over there.”

“…What nonsense are you guys spouting?”

Although Avelin occasionally glanced in my direction and quickly turned away whenever our eyes met, she wasn’t the person I was looking for.

After finishing my meal, I went to find the members of Unit 8.

“Did you enjoy your meal, Sir Kayron?”

“Yeah, it was fine. How about you? Where’s your captain?”

“For some reason, he hasn’t left his room since this morning.”

“Hmm…”

Feeling uneasy, I decided to head to Benedict’s room and knocked on the door.

“It’s me. Are you in there, Benedict?”

“…Kayron!”

I heard hurried footsteps before the door flew open, and Benedict rushed out.

His face was pale, his eyes hollow.

“What happened? I heard you were the one who brought me back yesterday.”

“I did. How’s your body holding up?”

“…I’m fine.”

He said he was fine, but it was an obvious excuse at best.

“Kayron, tell me. What exactly happened?”

“How much do you remember?”

“I remember going to the tavern you and Sophia mentioned. We drank quite a bit… but after that, it’s all blank.”

“So you remember up to that point…”

The fact that he didn’t recall being taken to Sophia’s house or being forced to drink a sleep-inducing potion gave me plenty of room to manipulate the story.

But I had a choice to make—how much, and in what way, should I tell him?

Finally, the moment had come.

I was faced with an unforgiving decision between two options:

The harsh truth or a gentle lie.

Standing at this crossroads, I…

“Sophia asked me to pass on a message.”

I smiled faintly and added,

“She said to take it easy from now on. With your training, that is.”

--- The End OF The Chapter --

 

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