WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ Spring Never Comes to Stolen Fields ◈

Chapter 20: Guest

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As the knocking grew louder, I could feel my heart pounding faster.

If I opened the door like this, I wouldn't be seeing another fight over second place like I had earlier. I'd be watching them fight to the death.

Knock, knock, knock. Luna rubbed her eyes, looking like she was about to get up at any moment.

Thinking alone wouldn't solve this. I had to make a decision.

It was a bit of a gamble, but if I could get through this just once...

I gathered a little mana and cast my Innate Magic on Luna as she tried to open her eyes. It was the first time I'd used it since the ritual with my master.

Since it was already affecting her, I had no idea what would happen, so I kept the spell's power as weak as possible.

Luna, who had been waking up and trying to sit up, wore a completely dazed expression.

I approached her and whispered as quietly as I could.

"If you move or make a sound from now on, you'll never be loved by me again."

Her sleepy eyes flew open, and she nodded to show that she understood.

I wrapped her up tightly in my blanket, making her look as much like a bundle of bedding as possible, then shut the bedroom door behind me.

"...Yes! I'm coming! Right now...!"

I hurried over and cracked the door open just enough to stick my head out.

"Ah, yes. Hero, did you need something from me...?"

Celia looked at me as though she couldn't understand why I wasn't opening the door properly.

"Sirius. Take this first."

She handed me a basket full of fruit.

"What's all this?"

"My attendant Julia's family sent it from her hometown because they wanted to look after me, but there's far too much for me to eat alone."

"You really didn't have to... Ha... haha..."

I accepted the basket awkwardly and prayed that she'd finish whatever she wanted quickly and leave.

"May I come in for a moment?"

It seemed Celia had something she wanted to say.

No. Don't. Not now.

"Uh... My room is... really messy, you know...?"

Even to me, it sounded like a pathetic excuse.

"I don't really mind, but is it that messy?"

"Yes. Very. If you saw it, Hero, you might not want to be in a party with me anymore, so I really can't let you see inside. Ha... haha..."

Celia still looked suspicious, but she seemed willing to back off.

Her expression was half concern, half doubt.

"All right. Then let's talk later."

"Yes, yes. Thanks for the fruit. I'll enjoy it!"

The moment I finished speaking, I slammed the door shut and wiped the cold sweat from my forehead.

Whew...

I collapsed right in front of the door, set the basket down in the kitchen, and went back into the bedroom.

I hope Luna's okay...

Sure enough, Luna was still wrapped up exactly as I had left her. It looked like she hadn't moved an inch.

"...Luna...?"

When I pulled back the blanket, I found Luna on the verge of bursting into tears, her lips pressed tightly together as she made no sound at all.

I pulled her into my arms.

"It's okay now. You can make noise."

Tears streamed down her face as if she were heartbroken.

"...Sob... Sirius... How could you... say something so cruel to me...?"

Anyone watching would think she'd lost the whole world.

Luna wrapped both arms around my neck and rubbed her cheek against me.

"...Sniff... Don't leave me... I really... can't live without you..."

Without saying anything, I gently patted her back.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... You were really scared, weren't you, Luna?"

Innate Magic really was something else. The effect was incredible.

Still, this would be a problem if it kept going like this...

Luna wouldn't separate from me even a little.

Whenever I thought the magic had worn off and tried to pull away slightly...

"...Where are you going... Did I do something wrong...? I'm sorry... I'll do better... Please don't leave me..."

She'd say things like that, and her tears would look ready to spill again.

In the end, I gave up on making her let go and suggested we take another nap while holding each other.

I'd already taken one nap, but I'd used mana to cast my Innate Magic again, and I was mentally exhausted too. Sleep came easily.

That was how we fell asleep without noticing the time pass.

When I opened my eyes, the sun had already set, and the moon hung outside the window.

Luna, who had been clinging to me so persistently, was nowhere to be seen.

After straightening the blanket, I opened the bedroom door and headed into the living room.

Crunch. Crunch.

Someone was chewing something.

My head turned toward the sound automatically.

Luna was there, holding an apple from the fruit basket and taking a bite out of it.

Moonlight poured down behind her as she sat on the sofa with the lights off.

She must have noticed me too, because the sound of chewing stopped.

"...You're awake... Ha... haha..."

She took another bite of the apple and spoke to me.

"I think we have something to talk about....?"

I tried to turn around and go right back into the bedroom.

For a moment, I thought she'd let me run away, but of course not.

"Sirius. It looks like we need to have a heartfelt conversation for once."

My body moved against my will. I trudged over to her and sank to my knees in front of her.

"Who gave you this fruit?"

"Leon."

I just blurted out the name of some random classmate.

"Leon?"

Luna tilted her head.

I could never tell her Celia gave it to me.

"Why would Leon give this to you?"

I repeated what Celia had told me, changing only the name.

"Hmm, I see. Sharing with a classmate... What a nice person..."

Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she fixed my knees to the floor as if she still had more to scold me over.

"Ha ha... Is there something else you're curious about, Lady Luna?"

"You... Why did you mess with me?"

She meant my Innate Magic. What was I supposed to say to that?

"I didn't want to show you..."

"Show me what?"

"Your vulnerable side... I wanted to be the only one who got to see it..."

To outsiders, Luna probably came off as a cold, powerful girl with a nasty personality.

I genuinely didn't want anyone else to see her sleeping defenselessly in bed like that.

When I looked Luna straight in the eyes and said it, she turned her head slightly, as though embarrassed.

"Sirius."

Her voice sounded gentler. Even my legs, which had been pinned in place as if nailed down, could move again.

I figured I could relax a little.

"Even if I wasn't in my right mind because of your magic..."

She paused for a moment.

"Don't say things like you'll never love me again... Please..."

Luna said it with lonely eyes in the moonlight.

I immediately realized that this was what I truly needed to apologize for.

I went behind Luna, who was sitting on the sofa, and hugged her.

"I'm sorry. I won't say something like that again, even as a joke..."

Luna held my hand tightly as she answered.

"Okay. Please don't."

Luna left my room after that.

* * *

What the hell was that homeroom teacher?

Sirius and Luna were already giving me enough of a headache as two people whose identities I couldn't confirm.

I wanted to stop suspecting people, but what I had seen made it impossible to just let it go.

I hated to admit it, but Luna Iaros was strong.

Even after exchanging only a few blows with her, I could tell that neither of us would walk away unscathed.

Had that girl, who'd never even crawled outside her house, trained her ass off in her room or something? Her strength and speed were absurd.

It was ridiculous enough that a young lady who'd never left her home had that much combat ability, but the highlight of the day had been the homeroom teacher.

Where had that man, Luke, even come from, and how had he managed to stop Luna and me?

One thing was certain. He was several levels above both Luna and me.

I was starting to wonder why I even had to be the Hero at this point.

Wouldn't it be easier if the homeroom teacher just became the Hero?

Those impure thoughts flickered through my mind, but they disappeared the instant I thought of my parents.

I'll take the Demon King's head.

Class had ended early, and Julia gave me a huge basket of fruit, saying that her parents had sent it from her hometown.

How was I supposed to eat all of this...? It was far too much for one person.

So I thought I'd share some with Sirius, my neighbor.

I didn't know whether he was Yuwol or not, but it didn't matter. I couldn't eat it all by myself anyway, so it seemed better to give it to someone.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Sirius. Are you in there?"

Thinking he might not have heard me, I knocked once more.

Knock, knock, knock.

Ah... I'd gone to the trouble of bringing it here, and I didn't want to take it all back, so I knocked one last time.

Then I heard some rustling from inside, and Sirius soon greeted me with only his head poking through the gap.

"Ah, yes. Hero, did you need something from me...?"

He greeted me with a troubled expression.

"Sirius. Take this first."

I handed him the fruit basket.

"What's all this?"

"My attendant Julia's family sent it from her hometown because they wanted to look after me, but there's far too much for me to eat alone."

"You really didn't have to... Ha... haha..."

It looked like he had something hidden inside, since he still only had his head poking through the doorway.

"May I come in for a moment?"

"Uh... My room is... really messy, you know...?"

He had moved in only two days ago. How messy could he have made it already?

"I don't really mind, but is it that messy?"

"Yes. Very. If you saw it, Hero, you might not want to be in a party with me anymore, so I really can't let you see inside. Ha... haha..."

Honestly, I didn't quite believe him, but I liked what he had just said.

Unlike that Luna girl, Sirius at least seemed interested in forming a party with me.

"All right. Then let's talk later."

"Yes, yes. Thanks for the fruit. I'll enjoy it!"

The way he hurried back inside made him look like he was being chased by something.

I only grew more curious about what he was doing in there.

And I thought I had a rough idea of what he was so desperately trying to hide.

As he went inside, I had briefly seen a neatly placed pair of girl's shoes in the entryway.

He's even letting a girl into his room...

I considered breaking down the door and going in, but not yet. Not yet, Celia.

The blade in my heart was sharpened once more.

Footnotes:

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