To be honest, security asures for camping on the roadside aren’t much to speak of.
You just drive short stakes about ankle height around the campsite and hang thin, barely visible strings on them.
In the middle of the strings, you attach security bells or objects that resonate well at intervals, and that’s it.
Just doing this much is usually enough to catch careless groups of thieves, not to ntion low-intelligence monsters. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]
Of course, if we were dealing with assassins who are determined to take our lives, these security asures wouldn’t an much, but surely there’s no one bold enough to send assassins after Ethan.
“There are no forests or mountains around here, and there are no villages or territories nearby. Probably, no thieves or such will show up.”
“I think so too, but I still believe we should set up proper security asures.”
“Yeah. We should, of course. Just in case sothing happens.”
As Ethan said, there probably won’t be any thieves, and at most, so low-level monsters might pop up, but it’s always better to set these things up properly to avoid trouble later.
According to the ‘Security asures Statistics’ soone posted on LuAGal, there’s a statistically significant difference in the probability of encountering danger when camping with and without security asures. Needless to say, statistically, it’s safer to have asures in place.
In other words, although it’s botherso, setting up these security asures reduces the chance of unnecessary risks, so there’s no harm in doing it.
‘In the ga, I often skipped this out of laziness.’
The act of driving stakes and tying strings and bells feels quite labor-intensive, and by the mid-ga, you beco strong enough that security asures beco aningless anyway.
Whether monsters or thieves appeared, it was usually quicker in terms of playti to just fight a battle or two than to set up security stakes.
Also, defeating thieves was pretty good for farming, so I often intentionally camped without such asures. Above all, catching the nad thief, ‘Elf Hunter,’ who appeared every ti I camped with Selena, was efficient farming.
Of course, I had no intention of doing such life-threatening, crazy things now that this world had beco a reality. Besides, Isabel, a non-combat personnel, was with us at today’s campsite.
If I didn’t set up proper security asures and Isabel was to lose her life to thieves or monsters, I probably wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.
The sa goes for Ethan, of course. …Well, he’s so strong that I’m not really worried about him being attacked.
As I was driving stakes into the ground one by one, encircling the campsite like a long oval, and about to take out my dagger from my chest to cut the thin rope for tying the security devices…
Instead of the thin handle of the silver dagger I usually held, I felt a slightly thicker handle wrapped around my hand.
Wait, is this…
“Ah.”
“What’s wrong, Lilith?”
“…No, it’s nothing.”
“…Isn’t that the dagger you picked up when facing Luke in the last duel?”
“…Regrettably, it is.”
It was the dagger that Luke received as a gift from Seraphine that I had kept to provoke the forr during our evaluation duel.
It was the mont when a sigh inadvertently escaped my mouth as I belatedly realized I had forgotten to return that dagger.
No, I really ant to return it. I even visited the academy branch of the church twice.
…But what could I do when they said patients in the ergency room couldn’t be visited until they fully recovered, except for guardians? [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]
I couldn’t just carelessly entrust Luke’s possession and Seraphine’s gift to soone else to pass on, so in the end, I ended up keeping it and bringing it all the way here on our journey ho.
‘…This makes it look like I really stole Luke’s dagger.’
I surely won’t be called a thief by Seraphine as soon as we return to the academy, right?
No, given Seraphine’s personality, she probably wouldn’t say such things, but there was still a good chance she might be disappointed.
The only option is to keep it safe and return it as soon as school returns to avoid misunderstandings.
“You’re going to return it, right, Lilith?”
“Yes, of course…”
Swish.
“…I will…”
…But it cuts well. Is it because it’s made by the princess?
Compared to the one I received from the young lady of the August family, there’s definitely a significant difference in quality…
“…You will return it, right, Lilith?”
“…Of course, Young Master Ethan.”
“If you need a new dagger, I’ll buy you one. There’s no blacksmith in the Blackwood Estate, but there are many skilled craftsn in the nearby territories.”
“…Yes, Young Master Ethan.”
I wonder if those craftsn are skilled enough to make a dagger like the one that Seraphine personally commissioned for Luke.
I didn’t tell Ethan that such a thought had inadvertently entered my mind.
Late at night, when everyone was asleep…
As the ti on the hourglass passed number 1, the only sources of light remaining were the campfire in the center of the campsite and the moonlight in the night sky.
Even though it was still late sumr, it got a bit chilly at night, and I was warming myself by the quietly burning campfire.
‘I’m bored.’
Well, I had expected this to so extent, but standing night watch alone was quite a tedious task.
I was reading a book I bought from the Island of Knowledge by the campfire light, but reading a book in a dimly lit place with irregular light tends to break concentration.
After trying to focus on reading, I eventually gave up and quietly closed the book in my hand.
Now that I’ve learned Mana Chain and advanced from the first tier to the second for the Auxiliary Magic ability tree, it might not be bad to boldly learn a spell like Unquenchable Light.
…But I couldn’t afford to waste skill points just for reading when I still hadn’t even surpassed Level 10.
Although I gained about 1,000 XP from defeating Luke in the evaluation match, I still needed a bit more experience to reach Level 11.
It would be frustrating to waste points carelessly and then not be able to use them when I really need them.
As I was thinking about this and poking at the burning campfire with a stick a few tis…
…Suddenly, I felt an unexpected presence behind .
“…Young Master Ethan?”
“How did you know?”
“It’s not that I knew; it was just wishful thinking. I thought it would be better if it were you, young master, rather than a thief or monster.”
“…Sorry, did I startle you?” [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]
“I wasn’t startled, but please be careful next ti. If I had mistaken you for a thief, young master, I might have attacked without thinking.”
“…I’ll be careful from now on.”
“No. Strictly speaking, my mistake was worse since I wasn’t paying attention.”
I had clearly checked that he was in the tent about 10 minutes ago, so when did he sneak up behind ?
It seems he ca out of the tent while I was montarily focused on trying to read sohow.
Seeing that I couldn’t even notice the tent right in front of opening, reading during my shift was sothing I clearly shouldn’t be doing.
“Why are you up already? You still have an hour left before your shift, young master.”
“…Just… couldn’t sleep much, you know?”
“Co to think of it, Young Master Ethan, you couldn’t fall into a deep sleep for the first few days at the academy dormitory either. I guess you’re the type who can’t handle unfamiliar sleeping arrangents.”
“No, Lilith, that was because you… No, it’s nothing.”
What did I do? What does his insomnia have to do with ?
These days, there have been many cases where things I didn’t do turn into misunderstandings and strange rumors spread, and I didn’t want to hear unfounded accusations from Ethan, too.
Moreover, as soone who was literally giving my body to assist Ethan, I felt wronged in many ways.
“Are you accusing knowing that I’m accepting your raging sexual desire about once every two weeks?”
“Ah, no… That, that’s really… um, pleasurable- ah, no, I an, I’m grateful for it, but…”
“I even let you touch without any conditions just four days ago. I went along with your excuse that you were worried about your duel with Miss Natalie in the evaluation match.”
“That, that was actually because you seed a bit upset after your duel with Luke…?”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, it’s nothing! …Th-thank you for letting touch you, Lilith…”
“As long as you understand, that’s fine.”
Well, I reluctantly allowed it because I didn’t want to see Ethan lose to Natalie either.
No matter how much Natalie was my favorite character in my past life, she and I were only Academy Freshman 1 and Academy Freshman 2, who had nothing to do with each other.
On the other hand, Ethan and I had grown up together since he was young, so we had a relationship with both good and bad feelings mixed in. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]
It wasn’t particularly strange for to support Ethan instead of Natalie now.
“…Um, Lilith.”
“Yes, Young Master Ethan.”
“Can I ask you one question?”
“Yes?”
“It might be a bit sensitive for you to answer right away, but…”
“……”
Why is Ethan suddenly creating a strange atmosphere again?
In an atmosphere that seed like it would be a heroine’s confession event if this were a ga, Ethan carefully asked a question.
While I was montarily flustered, not knowing how to respond to his reaction, only the crackling sound of the campfire tickled my ears.
“What is it you wanted to ask, Young Master Ethan?”
“…Lilith, do you perhaps still have negative feelings towards ?”
“Pardon?”
“Well, Lilith, I don’t rember leaving a good impression on you when I was young. I kept calling you when you were busy working, playing weird pranks, and doing things you hated most, like sexual harassnt.”
“……”
“I was wondering if you might still be angry at because of what I did back then.”
…And here I thought he was going to say sothing after setting up the mood.
I didn’t expect him to ask if I was still angry about sothing that happened years ago.
Needless to say, I had long forgotten about the things that happened back then. If anything, it was only when Ethan just ntioned it that I rembered, ‘Oh, that happened.’
In fact, what made angry back then wasn’t particularly the sexual harassnt. I just hated how he kept interfering with everything I did and being a nuisance.
I was already in an irritated state, and he did things like kancho *1, and then provoked when I couldn’t even get up due to the pain, so everything I had been holding back just exploded.
It’s been several years since then, and even I could see that Ethan had reflected and grown since then, so if I still held a grudge from that ti, it would be similar to having a ntal illness.
I just replied to his query by saying there was no need to worry about sothing from ages ago.
“No, I’m not particularly holding onto those past events in my heart anymore.”
“R-Really?!”
“It’s been several years already, hasn’t it? At the ti, I certainly got angry at you often, Young Master Ethan, but not anymore.”
“I-I see… That’s a relief…”
Why is he so concerned about my feelings when he’s my master and I’m his exclusive maid?
What would he do if I was still bothered by what happened back then? Pouring out my personal grudges in front of the son of a ducal family was enough with that one ti back then. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]
With those thoughts, I turned my gaze back to the burning campfire and threw another piece of firewood in it when Ethan, sitting next to the campfire, called my na once again and carefully spoke.
“…Um, Lilith. I have sothing to say.”
“If you have sothing to say, please go ahead.”
“Well, I’d like you to listen a bit seriously, Lilith.”
“…Yes?”
…Wait, what? Is this really a confession?
No, that can’t be, right? Why would Ethan suddenly confess to ?
For so reason, the atmosphere seed like it might be just that, so my heart started to race with a bit of confusion. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]
Not knowing whether he understood my feelings or not, Ethan took both my hands as if he was really going to confess and began to speak seriously.
“I don’t like beating around the bush, so I’ll say it directly.”
“…Young Master Ethan? Please calm down for a mont and organize your thoughts again…”
“Lilith. After we graduate from the academy, will you be my…”
Jingle jingle jingle.
“……”
“……”
Just as a serious conversation that seed like it would be a turning point was about to take place, the sound of bells suddenly rang in our ears.
At this ti of night, there could only be one or two reasons for the sound of bells.
In the silence filled with a strange tension, one emotion naturally arose in my mind.
‘Shit, there goes all my sleep for tonight.’
I knew sothing was off from the mont we’d been jinxed.
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