Hunter and Mad Scien Chapter 55

"Shouldn't we go help her? Lord Avondale!"

"No."

Cider answered with half his attention outside the window.

"There's no need."

That was sincere. Though it was an attack that no one in this mansion could have withstood, Esperanza brilliantly deflected it even while being hit.

But really, should he just watch?

Until Esperanza finally pierced the enemy's heart, for reasons different from before, he couldn't take his eyes off for even a mont.

The blackened sky was clearing. The dungeon had disappeared.

Cider threw open the door and ca outside. The dungeon detector sensed the change in magic power and sounded an alarm.

Esperanza, who had been running toward the recovered reality, slowly ca to a stop. Her gaze, which had been hazy from the lingering pleasure of slaughter, discovered Cider and gently settled. Only the flush on her fever-heated cheeks remained as a trace of battle.

A thrill ran down his spine. More ecstatic than Esperanza's cruelty was the mont that cruelty discovered him and subsided. An emotion difficult to describe in words surged up, then spread out gently.

Esperanza's shoulders moved lightly. It was hard to tell if she was laughing or gasping for breath. Maybe both. Cider placed his hand on Esperanza's shoulder, which seed about to run off sowhere imdiately, and asked.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No!"

Esperanza giggled pleasantly. She seed drunk on alcohol rather than slaughter. In the mont Cider was briefly flustered, soft arms embraced him.

"Esperanza?"

But instead of an answer, only cheerful laughter tickled his ears for a long while. Cider just kept his eyes wide open, holding his arms awkwardly, unable to either embrace back or push away.

"I've been thinking."

"During combat?"

"I said I've been thinking."

It was a self-centered tone that expected neither answer nor reaction. Really like a drunk person. Cider decided to listen quietly instead of asking back. He still didn't know why this conversation had to be whispered with lips almost touching his ear. The mingled heartbeats were louder than her voice, so Esperanza's words ca through intermittently and weren't clearly audible.

"Like you said, we're comrades. And I think we could call ourselves friends by now. So......."

His large body stiffened completely as he waited for the next words. He seed to be half-listening, actually. Does intoxication transfer? His mind loosened gently.

"Thank you for worrying about , Cider."

"Ah......?"

"Na. You wanted it, didn't you?"

Of course he had. He had often, clearly enough for anyone to understand, shown his desire. But he hadn't thought he would hear it at this mont.

And his na heard in Esperanza's voice—was it because it was the fruit of waiting? He had never heard such a sweet voice before.

Esperanza released her arms without regret and pulled away. When he was flustered before, and now, cunningly, he missed it. Esperanza, who had separated from Cider, shouted with an unusually bright smile across her face.

"And this is a gift for a friend!"

Thud. With a sound enormous enough to shake the mansion, the Hydra's corpse revealed itself. Seeing it up close, it really was as big as a house.

"Go back and research it!"

The corpse returned to inventory, and Esperanza passed by him without regret, entering the mansion with light steps. However, Cider remained still, savoring the lingering feeling.

The embrace was sweet. The greeting was gentle. Like the pleasure when the rciless slaughterer's gaze lted away.

......Friends?

"Ah, don't make

laugh, Esperanza."

??????°??☆????°??????

Even before sunset, the disaster vanished without a trace. Shadows that had moved silently from the opposite tail of the forest lted into the darkness.

The villagers, except for the injured, either returned to their respective hos or decided to spend the night at the mansion. Since most people whose houses hadn't collapsed returned ho, the mansion was much quieter than a few hours ago and had fallen into deep sleep.

A quiet bedroom on the mansion's fourth floor.

Cider's consciousness was clear. Today had been a difficult day for him too, but he was soone who never fell asleep before midnight. He would rather take afternoon naps.

He rolled paoran, lit it, and sat quietly on the sofa positioned toward the open terrace. Thick smoke obscured his view.

It would have been comfortable if everything could be as ambiguous as this smoke. He could have pretended not to know. But ironically, the mont he felt the emotion, he knew its identity.

He had already expected this. It wasn't as if he had been thoughtless until now and suddenly fallen in love at first sight. He had always been sowhat fascinated by Esperanza.

Esperanza was his one and only magician in the world, and almost the first person with whom spending ti wasn't boring since he was born. When a young, beautiful man and woman whisper secrets together in one house, isn't it natural to cross between this emotion and that?

He had simply gained undeniable certainty at that mont.

'It was force majeure.'

Cider, who had stubbed out his cigarette, sighed. His magician, for unknown reasons, drew lines and didn't give affection to anything. She lingered far away like soone afraid to get closer. The reason was quite guessable. Not very pleasant, though.

Coward Esperanza, who didn't hate him but hesitated for a long ti even when he opened the door saying "you can co this far in."

Then, at an unexpected mont, she leaped in boldly. Making it impossible to escape or avoid. She looked straight at him and called his na. At that mont, even the innermost latch he hadn't opened for Esperanza lted away completely.

There was no way around it. When eyes that had been flickering with murderous intent looked at him and gently softened, when she smiled so brightly while embracing his neck and calling his na.

Cider buried his face in his palms and slowly exhaled. The heat from that mont still seed to remain.

Should he seduce her?

Seduce her, enjoy romance until they tired of it, then return to their previous relationship like mature ladies and gentlen. Light romantic feelings. Flirt to their heart's content, have fun, and when they tired of it, cleanly brush it off. These kinds of emotions weren't ant to last forever anyway.

After thinking that far, he beca surprisingly unpleasant. He unconsciously tried to light a new cigarette but put it down and got up from his seat.

What if not? When Cider grabbed the door handle, the astute researcher in his head raised a question. If the place where he threw himself thinking there would be an end turned out to be an abyss, what should he do then?

The hedonist answered. It didn't matter if his interest wasn't shorter than his life. That wouldn't tornt him. At most it would be a year.

The door opened and he pushed himself into the pitch-black corridor without hesitation.

Mabelwood's night was cold. However, it was quiet and peaceful as if the monsters appearing and ravaging the village and forest had never happened. The mansion's nurous rooms had closed their curtains and fallen asleep. Except for just one place. A room with curtains wide open and a yellow lamp placed on the terrace.

Cider, who had co down to the garden, looked up at the terrace. Based on the conversations so far and the mansion's structure, he could tell whose room that was. A chuckle escaped. The room's owner, who had co out to the terrace with steaming milk, was startled and hung onto the railing.

"Why are you outside?"

"Isn't it similar to your reason for being awake?"

Esperanza clicked her tongue as if exasperated. Cider asked.

"Want to co down?"

"Should I go down?"

Perhaps because the excited mood from earlier hadn't yet faded, Esperanza readily nodded to a question she would normally have firmly refused. She threw open the terrace door, stepped back to secure running distance, then jumped down while holding the lamp.

The curtains fluttered roughly. The landing was perfect. She wasn't hurt, nor did she collide with the gentleman waiting below to create an absurd scene. The problem was elsewhere.

"Oops."

"Do you get short-sighted when excited?"

There was nothing to say. The candle that had taken the strong wind head-on had gone out. This made bringing the lamp down aningless.

"You should have stopped

if you knew."

"Didn't you say not to worry?"

"I definitely also said thank you for worrying afterward."

Cider smiled brightly. So you wanted to hear this? Esperanza pouted. How annoying.

"The fire, since I didn't ntion it beforehand, is my fault."

Cider said this while taking out a lighter and lighting the wick. Ah, there was a lighter. There was also magic. Her mind finally began to work little by little.

Once the light was on, they could see each other's appearance, which had only been vague outlines until now.

His golden hair sparkled like jewelry over the simple outfit of just a light coat over a shirt. His lowered eyelashes and thin, delicate lips were as quiet as if drawn. The cool fragrance mixed with the cold wind made him seem human.

Moon-colored eyes looked at Esperanza's cheek illuminated by the lamp. Quietly. Observingly.

A dimly bright lamp. A woman holding a lamp lit with candles in the age of magical engineering. Hands that had held a giant gun instead of a lamp just hours ago. Yellow light pooled and swayed between white skin and the wide neckline of the muslin dress.

Esperanza, who had comfortably let down her hair that had been pinned up high, showed no trace of her earlier aggressiveness. Cider finished his observation with a slight smile.

"So, Esperanza. What are those cute twin tails?"

"Ah. Right."

Esperanza, who belatedly touched her hair, pursed her lips round. Her hair tied down on both sides swayed behind her back. It was really a hairstyle that only a young girl would have, but it suited Esperanza naturally without being awkward.

"Just leave it. It's not strange."

Cider saw wrinkles form around her docile eyes like a puppy. Esperanza seed to want to draw his gaze away from her hair and changed the subject.

"......Why are you outside without even a lamp?"

"Because it's not ti to sleep."

Right, this person was nocturnal. The answer was too clear. Unlike the paoran scent that hadn't been completely erased.

"What about you? You must be tired."

"I can't sleep."

Esperanza said while blinking dry eyes. Cider silently took the lantern Esperanza was holding. Their eyes t when their fingers brushed, but they let it pass as if nothing had happened.

Since they didn't need to worry about others' gazes, the two walked with about an arm's length distance between them, centered on the lantern. Walking itself had no aning. It wasn't bright enough to thoroughly examine the garden, and there was no destination. It was just an act to fill the gaps in conversation.

When they had walked halfway around the garden, Esperanza raised her head and glanced at Cider.

"Today, I made a... mistake."

"A mistake?"

"I did."

He understood what she ant but was deliberately asking again. Esperanza bit her lips tightly. When silence continued as if saying 'Do you really need to hear it from my mouth?', Cider asked again.

"Was it a mistake?"

Not entirely. When Esperanza hesitated to answer, Cider continued.

"I was glad you made that mistake. Even if it wasn't sincere."