"Annie, are you okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine, Miss. I'm perfectly fine. I was just a bit startled..."
"Really? Then go in early and rest today. Today we'll just have the automaton do it."
Since Cider began her research, the usage rate of automatons in the mansion had increased. It was unavoidable for managing classified research materials and machinery.
For the sa reason, this shooting range also used cleaning automatons for tasks that didn't require human hands. Annie nodded.
Cyrus pressed a handkerchief against the sharp line that had appeared beside his neck. Esperanza didn't even ask if he was hurt.
So it really hadn't been a question born of sympathy for Cyrus. Though perhaps a tiny bit of sympathy had triggered such thoughts. Her mouth tasted bitter.
She was soone who, once her heart cooled, would turn away coldly, but when giving affection, would pour it out overflowing in both hands. Enough to weigh that affection on the scales even when choosing which world she would live in for the rest of her life.
Though she couldn't change her decision, once shaken, only going to the end would reveal what might happen.
But Esperanza had to return.
"Hey."
Even when angry, her speech had never beco as rough as it was now. When Cyrus looked up, Esperanza wasn't even looking back at him. Her hair wrapped around her straight back.
"Yes."
"My body really is..."
"It's in the hospital. Your family doesn't know yet."
This was the first thing Cyrus had done after learning the plan had gone awry. Moving Esperanza along with the machine and taking asures at her workplace.
It wasn't even legal work, and with little ti available, he had to pour in trendous amounts of money. Like stuffing rag-like bread into a stomach empty for three days, he had frantically finished everything before being able to cross into this world.
"If you can return safely, not much ti will have passed."
Cyrus thought Esperanza would be angry. But Esperanza only tilted her head briefly.
"I thought so."
She had vaguely guessed it from the mont she saw Cyrus. She hadn't been angry or distressed then or now.
The events after returning felt distant, as if they would never happen. They seed so far away, veiled in fog, that she didn't think deeply about them. Just that her body would suffer for a while to recover, sothing like that. There was nothing she could do about it here anyway.
Esperanza, who had sat down, cleaned her thin swords. There were no words while she cleaned the pair of awl-like pointed swords. Cyrus silently activated the cleaning automaton.
By the ti the automaton carrying a dustpan had returned to its place, Esperanza had also finished cleaning all her swords and put them in her inventory.
"Was unni okay?"
"...Yes."
"Then that's good."
Esperanza, who had gotten up, opened the shooting range door. White sunlight poured in, casting long shadows.
"Miss Esperanza!"
Annie, who had left, hurriedly returned. Neither of the two people in the shooting range was surprised.
"Madeline received this from the milk delivery man earlier."
It was a train ticket. It was cheap third-class seating, but that wasn't important. It wasn't a ticket bought for actual use. Sothing that wouldn't arouse suspicion even if carried by a milk delivery man. A smart choice.
Esperanza checked the ti below the train ticket. A train at 11 AM, two days from now. The destination was Finley Central Station.
So Dr. Sullivan was going to Finley. Though the period wasn't long, it would easily take two days to go to Finley and return. That was more than enough ti to infiltrate the research facility and destroy the machine.
"Miss Runderford is quite thorough. I never even requested sothing like this."
"She's soone Tempton uses."
Cyrus, who had appeared from behind, answered. Esperanza quietly looked down at the train ticket.
Was this the 'life debt' Cider had ntioned? Or was it the Pri Minister's goodwill? Either way, it had certainly been helpful.
"Take good care of Cider. Never let her get hurt."
"...Don't worry. I have nowhere to return to."
She no longer trusted Cyrus. But this statent seed believable.
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Cider, who had completely leaned back into the armchair, looked at Esperanza. Leather pants wrapping her legs and a low-saturation sky-blue blouse, a leather belt around her waist with pouches attached to it. A short leather jacket and a hat worn at an angle. It was similar to what she wore when she first arrived. As if she would leave just like this.
Of course, such a thing wouldn't happen. Cider thought of the unfinished machine. The surface that had been rippled beca as calm as a mirror.
He smiled as if nothing had happened. As if he felt no anxiety. As if the two hadn't exchanged any words on this sofa two nights ago.
"You don't even use the pouches."
"They're a set with the belt, so there's no choice. This has the best options."
"Hmm."
Esperanza had put her rifle in her inventory and carried a pistol inside her coat sleeve, her long hair loosely braided. Cider crossed his arms and sank deeper into the backrest. Did he not like it?
"Not good?"
"No, you're pretty. That aside."
He looked Esperanza over from head to toe, then entered the research lab. Esperanza stood on her tiptoes and peeked over Cider's shoulder. When tiptoes weren't enough, she took off her shoes and climbed onto the sofa.
But climbing on the sofa didn't make anything visible, and she couldn't see through the wall. Cider searched for sothing on the other side of the wall for a while before finally coming back out.
"What is it?"
"...You climbed on the sofa?"
"I took off my shoes."
Esperanza ca down to the floor and put her shoes back on. Cider said nothing for a mont. It was the result of exercising the spirit of tolerance to the maximum extent possible for him. Esperanza knew this but pretended not to and rolled her eyes.
"Do you know how to use this?"
What he held out after a mont was a small bead that looked similar to a magic stone.
"Is it a bomb?"
"It's not that dangerous. Originally it's for sothing like fireworks, but if it collides with stronger magical power, it could produce an effect similar to a bomb."
But why this? Esperanza thought as she put the bead in the pouch attached to her leather belt. She just needed to enter an empty house, destroy only the machine, and return. Given the purpose, she planned to take away the part Cider had made when he was young. From any perspective, there was no need for sothing like a bomb.
"Just in case. It would have been good to have at Sterling, but there was no ti to prepare then."
Combat had always co without warning until now. So it would be good to prepare this much. If there were no major problems, this wouldn't be needed either.
"The police have been sent elsewhere, we've confird Daria isn't there. Miss Runderford also sent word earlier that she confird Dr. Sullivan boarding the train."
Sullivan's plans could suddenly change, or the train ticket purchase itself could be a disguise, so they confird he actually boarded the train. Miss Runderford was thorough.
"Ah, the life debt."
"I suppose so."
Esperanza smiled.
"Anyway, since all preparations are finished, it shouldn't take long. I'll be back before dinner, right? Just in case, sit Cyrus in front of the research lab."
"That's your spot."
"I'll specially lend it to you."
Cider reluctantly nodded. Cyrus wouldn't be too pleased either, but discomfort was better than danger anyway.
She opened the window wide. Cold air ca in like a lump. The mont she was about to go out to the garden where spring hadn't co, Cider's hand urgently grabbed Esperanza's arm.
When she turned around, the strength left the hand gripping her shoulder. Cider let out a short gasp. It didn't seem like a conscious action. But the next mont, he smiled as he always did.
"Shall we say goodbye?"
A shadow fell over Esperanza's head like a cover. Because he always matched her eye level, there weren't many occasions to be conscious of the fact that Cider was a tall man, more than a span taller than Esperanza. He bent his waist slightly and looked into the eyes of Esperanza, who had raised her head.
At a precarious distance where their lips might touch, an exploration continued as if surveying an enemy's movents. Strength entered Esperanza's hand gripping the shirt hem at his waist.
Cider didn't seem to mind the wrinkled fabric and tilted his head a bit more. His eyes still remained open.
"Ti is..."
The mont Esperanza's eyes tried to turn toward the clock, the space of about one finger joint remaining between their lips completely disappeared.
Her body was slowly pushed back. Cold glass touched her shoulder. The large hand supporting her back stroked down along the bone joints and wrapped around below her waist. The lips that had briefly separated beca entangled again. Seamlessly deep.
His downcast eyes held laughter. Their gazes remained knotted throughout the repeated separation and reunion of lips.
It was a kiss that didn't excessively heighten excitent, but wasn't appropriate as a re greeting either. Esperanza, who slowly pushed away Cider's shoulder, hid her flushed cheeks under her palm. Her shoulders rose and fell rapidly.
Cider smiled with wet lips. And as if this was enough, he readily said.
"Co back safely."
Esperanza squinted. She seed to have much to say as her mouth moved, but soon she jumped over the railing without looking back.
Cider let out a low breath.
'Should I have held her longer?'
Such a thought suddenly occurred to him. Today felt strangely ominous. Though there was no reason for any of it.
But what was more difficult than that was the fact that he couldn't give weight to that ominousness. This sensation might just be an expression of his reluctance to send Esperanza away.
At other tis, he would have dug into this ominousness instead of doubting it. But he knew how incomplete his current state was. Right now, he couldn't trust his own judgnt. He was afraid that after digging and digging, only emotions would be pooled at the bottom instead of truth.
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