The Protagonist’s Party is Too Diligent – 76
EP.76 Back to Normal? (3)
“Are you really sure you don’t want to go?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
I’ve learned everything I needed to.
Besides, going there right now… it wouldn’t be very dramatic.
I considered Sword Saint my teacher, and he had told me to come visit again, but going the very next day seemed a bit too much. Besides, I had already climbed the mountain too many times. I didn’t want to climb it again.
“……Well, it’s understandable that you’d want to rest.”
Alice nodded at my words, and it seemed like the rest of the group agreed as well.
Yeah, I did want to rest a bit. If it were before I learned meditation, I might have tried to follow them and turn back time to learn more, but now… I had just returned from wreaking havoc on the enemy camp this morning.
“If we go up there, we might not come back down until tomorrow.”
Just imagining all of them staying in that small cabin made me feel suffocated.
“I’ll be waiting here.”
When I said that, the group exchanged glances before turning back to me.
“Alright then.”
It seemed like they were a bit disappointed that they wouldn’t hear the story behind Claire calling me “sister” just yet, but that could wait until they returned.
“See you later, sis!”
Claire waved enthusiastically, while the others looked at her with expressions that still showed some confusion.
The only one who seemed unfazed was Leo, probably because Claire had already told him everything. They had grown pretty close, after all.
“……”
I watched the kids board the large carriage. Only after the carriage disappeared from sight did I turn around.
*
“Hey, you there, miss!”
I wondered if I had made a mistake by not heading straight back to my room and instead wandering around the village.
Because now, I had somehow gotten involved with a strange man.
“Over here, over here! There’s a seat, why don’t you come join us?”
The loud voice of the man drew everyone’s attention.
People in the North were generally reserved, and they didn’t care much for loud or flamboyant people. The man was getting quite a few disapproving looks, but he didn’t seem to mind at all.
The man had striking red hair, the kind that left an impression after just one glance. He had dragged over an extra chair and was resting his feet on it, completely at ease. The café owner was glaring at him with a frown, but no one seemed brave enough to kick him out.
Perhaps it was because he was wearing clothes that looked exceptionally expensive. At a glance, it was clear he was of high rank. No one wanted to get involved with him, probably fearing the hassle it might cause.
If there was a noble in this village, it was either a guest of the Winterfield family or a soldier—one of the two.
But this man was neither a noble nor a guest, and he certainly wasn’t a soldier.
He was a member of the royal family, though not summoned by anyone in particular, and his personality didn’t suit the military, even if his aptitude might.
“……”
I felt a headache coming on as I approached Lucas.
As I neared, Lucas greeted me with a broad smile, lowering his feet from the chair and brushing his hands off before gesturing to the seat he had prepared for me. However, I silently pulled over a different chair and sat down.
Of course, Lucas didn’t seem to mind my attitude much.
“Enjoying your trip, little sister?”
“……I was, until just a moment ago.”
“You make it sound like I’m the reason your fun’s been ruined.”
“……”
He knew exactly what he was doing.
Lucas clearly didn’t expect me to be happy to see him. His face was still smiling, but there was no real warmth behind it.
Why would he reveal himself so openly now? Was it because Jennifer, who had been acting as the head of Winterfield, was away? Or because Alice had temporarily left?
But no, that didn’t make sense. There were still students wandering around. With his fiery red hair, Lucas stood out on his own. I might not think of myself as particularly noticeable, but I didn’t have such a plain face that people wouldn’t recognize me.
A princess of the Empire, sitting face-to-face with a nameless handsome man in a café.
Even if rumors spread, they’d die down quickly. Any high-ranking noble who recognized Lucas would know our true identities. Once that happened, this scene wouldn’t be perceived as charming gossip but rather a chilling spectacle no one would dare look at directly.
“When did you start spying on me?”
“You already know the answer to that.”
No, I really didn’t.
…Though I couldn’t blame him for reacting that way. If he had been following me throughout this entire training exercise, he would have witnessed me fighting in the battlefield.
It wouldn’t make sense for someone like me—who fought inhuman battles—not to know that Lucas had been tailing me.
“It must’ve been the whole time, right?”
“Of course.”
He responded calmly, unfazed by my question. His coffee remained untouched, still steaming, as if he had only just sat down after seeing the kids off.
Lucky for him, it seemed he had timed things just right.
…But had he truly been following me all the time?
“Well, not exactly 24 hours a day. When you went into your room, it was hard to track you, so I didn’t bother. I had to report to His Majesty, and you know, I still need to eat, sleep, and… take care of other things.”
Well, obviously.
That also meant he hadn’t switched off with anyone else to keep an eye on me.
“And if I had placed something in your room, you’d have noticed right away.”
I stared at his face, trying to determine if he was being serious or not. …If it was true, I would need to turn back time and remove whatever he might have planted.
But no matter how long I stared at Lucas, I couldn’t see past the surface of his expression. I didn’t have mind-reading powers, and my eyes were no different from an ordinary person’s.
So, for now, I decided to assume Lucas was telling the truth and move on, but I also made a mental note to be cautious from now on. …I’d definitely need to flip my room upside down later just to be sure nothing suspicious was hidden there.
“Then why reveal yourself to me now?”
If Lucas had overheard my conversation with Jennifer, it honestly would have made more sense for him to follow my friends instead. After all, it would have given him a chance to meet the Sword Saint, whom he had been pursuing.
In the original story, even after Lucas learned of the Sword Saint’s location, he continued training until he was certain he could win. So, even if he were caught now, it wouldn’t derail the main plot much.
“…Who knows.”
Lucas muttered, staring blankly at the sky. The sky was an almost unnervingly cold, clear blue with not a single cloud in sight. In the capital, the sky rarely looked this clear due to the smog and steam engines everywhere, even near the academy. While they had steam engines here too, the sky was far less polluted.
“I just had a few things I wanted to ask.”
“What do you want to ask?”
“……You.”
Lucas remained silent, simply staring at me. His gaze felt heavy and unpleasant, so I asked again.
“…What about me?”
Lucas broke into a grin, an amused smile playing on his lips.
“Fight me sometime. For real. A life-or-death battle.”
“…What?”
“A real fight, with our lives on the line.”
“……”
I tried not to show my surprise. I think I managed quite well—my expression probably didn’t change much at all.
“Hmm.”
Seeing my expression, Lucas smiled.
“I think I understand a bit now how Alice reads your expressions. She’s pretty impressive, huh?”
Before I could even respond, Lucas stood up from his seat. He approached me, patted my shoulder a few times, and then left.
“……”
What just happened?
I sat there for a moment, frozen in place, before finally managing to piece together what he might have meant.
Did he just decide that fighting me would be more entertaining than fighting the Sword Saint?
“…”
Did I just get myself into trouble?
*
He didn’t sense any killing intent.
But the moment Lucas said those words, he felt chills down his spine and cold sweat on his back.
It was an eerie sensation, a fear born from feeling nothing at all.
Even after seeing Sylvia shoot down countless people and single-handedly destroy a bunker on the battlefield, Lucas hadn’t sensed any killing intent from her.
Was this the famed state of mind that people referred to as “a still water without ripples”? or was it simply that the opponent was too weak to evoke any strong emotions?
…No, it wasn’t that. It was something different.
It felt more like…
Like an attitude of ‘what was meant to happen, happened.’
The way Sylvia fought, it was as if she thought, “This is how things should be.”
Because of this, Lucas couldn’t even imagine himself defeating her.
But…
“Is it a challenge I must face?”
He murmured.
If he could truly defeat Sylvia, it would be as if he were cutting through the future itself.
A stronger conviction, a sharper instinct than he had ever felt while crossing swords with her in the past took root within him.
And so, Lucas finally made up his mind.
He would face that future head-on and cut through it.
“With an opportunity like that, how could I say no?”
Muttering to himself, Lucas’s lips curled into a smile full of fierce determination.