Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance – Chapter 96

Author: Dakku-san

“You tie it up.”

Eileen froze for a moment at the imposing head. Then Laquerta glanced up at her and muttered softly.

“I wonder if I’m the only one falling apart again.”

The boy’s eyes looked so sullen as he said that. Eileen couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Lua had been similarly insistent when she had gone to the port and was about to return to the Academy.

“Sis, tie my hair up before you go!”

Eileen’s eyes softened.

“I see who Lua looks like.”

Pulling Laquerta to her feet, Eileen led Felix, Lucian, and Cordelia away before leading him to a secluded clearing.

“Sit down here.”

Plopping down with his back to a suitable rock, Laquerta looked up and met Eileen’s eyes.

“Everything okay?”

“Huh? I’m fine.”

Laquerta was silent for a moment. Eileen curled her fingers into a ring and slowly brushed her fingers through his hair.

“So soft.”

The dark green hair flowed between Eileen’s fingers like silk. As she was reveling in its texture, which was so much softer than she’d expected, Laquerta spoke.

“I know people can’t always be okay.”

Suyin’s senses are feral.

Even when he wasn’t consciously aware of it, his sharp nerves observed his surroundings and sensed danger. It wasn’t unusual for that sharp neural network to pick up on Eileen’s low mood.

So Laquerta offered crude comfort.

“But I also suddenly realize that it can be okay. Very suddenly, like the sun breaking through the clouds.”

As if Eileen had walked into her life.

Eileen said nothing, concentrating on tying Laquerta’s hair. Laquerta didn’t bother to check Eileen’s expression.

He decided not to offer any false comfort that everything would be okay. When he was a child, abandoned by his parents and thrown out on the streets, if anyone had tried to reassure him that everything would work out in the end, he might have bitten them.

Laquerta merely fumbled with the hair Eileen had tied back and said,

“Very nice. I could use a hairdresser.”

“Because you’re the first person to say my handiwork is fine.”

Eileen playfully shook Laquerta’s shoulders with both hands. Smirking, Laquerta looked up and said to Eileen.

“I guess I shouldn’t wash my hair until it’s untied.”

“No, you have to wash your hair!”

Laquerta laughed hysterically at Eileen’s frustration. Eileen couldn’t help but laugh with him at the sight of the impatient 16-year-old.

“…But do you still wash your hair?”

***

“Your hair, I assume?”

“How long are we going to go on about that?”

Cordelia clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“We’re here, get a grip.”

Second aid station, Camomar.

It wasn’t a bustling city, but it was an estate known for its textile industry. The Sage, Orgen, had recently cleared the canyon of a stronghold demon that had blocked the way into the estate.

“Master, you said you were still here, right?”

“Yes. Rosalia will be with you, too. She said you were sent to the same place.”

Rosalia.

Eileen’s eyes deepened. The image of Rosalia’s return as a swordswoman was still fresh in her mind. Cordelia opened her mouth in question.

“But if there were no casualties and the demon had already been removed, why did they call in a special class when Master and Rosalia would have been enough?”

“That’s right.”

For Orgen, Rusyn’s savior and supreme earth spirit, repairing the damaged terrain should have ben as easy as breathing.

It didn’t take long for their questions to be answered.

“Voila, this old man left a bunch of stuff for you to practice on!”

“Whaaaaatttt?!”

Orgen exclaimed as he excitedly greeted the children upon their arrival at the Camomar estate.

“No, you can’t just clear rocks forever, you youngsters, not when I was your age, not when I was trying to do easy work!”

Albert’s head snapped up at the steadfastness of his long-lost mentor.

Orgen hadn’t completely subdued the creature. Rather, once he had identified a stronghold within a habitat, he would trap it in the forest, controlling its power just enough to keep it from spreading.

“Not a bad place for baby food.”

The forest was supplemented by the arrival of Rosalia, and he sent a request for assistance to Verotanis.

“…I think you should have told me in advance.”

“Surprise! I’ve just confirmed that there are dozens more small demons, so it’s perfect for the kids to practice, and it’s rare to get a chance to do so with a sage in attendance! In the past, I would’ve just shoved them into the fray ignorantly, and they would’ve died by the dozens!”

He was brash, but he was right. It’s rare to have such a safe hands-on experience in these horrific times.

“Especially Eileen, I’ll take a look at her myself. See how much she’s grown.”

Orgen said nonchalantly, turning his attention to Eileen, who was exchanging pleasantries with Rosalia. The pressure from the imperial court and the shrine to utilize Star and his contractor in the hunt for Magi was slowly building.

“Even with Star on board, it’s crazy to push a kid who was just growing plants into the battlefield.”

It was for this reason that Orgen, who was already out of breath just from researching, was putting on such a show by participating in the slaughter himself.

“Rosalia!”

“Master.”

“How’s everyone doing~?”

Rosalia’s face had turned a nice wheat-colored color, thanks to the increased outdoor activities she’d been doing while actively participating in the slaughter. Eileen, seeing this, asked with her eyebrows drawn together.

“How’s Torvall?

“Well, it’s hot and annoying and smells like a monster, but it’s worth it, among other things.”

Rosalia squared her shoulders and hips and clasped her hands around her waist.

“Because I’m a grown-up!”

Felix was speechless at the sight of his regal mentor.

“I see you’re still cool.”

“What do you mean, still cool? Shall we see some magic after all these years?”

“You might be surprised.”

As the reunited master and apprentice chattered about Torvall, Eileen glanced between them with a newfound interest. What had happened to them in the lost tale had been a tragedy that made her shudder to think about, but now they seemed to have a bond that made her feel as if they depended on each other.

‘Good.’

Eileen’s anxiety ebbed away in that comforting feeling. It was then that Orgen sneaked up behind the smiling Eileen.

“Chew.”

Star, who recognized Orgen before Eileen did, rushed to him. After picking up Star, who leaped to his feet, Orgen raised one eyebrow and smiled.

“Hey, Eileen, it looks like we can train together after all these years.”

Eileen’s face turned a deep shade of white.

Being buried in the ground. Thrown into a forest of cannibalistic plants. Thrown off a cliff, and so on. Everything that had happened in her training with him quickly flashed through her mind.

“I’m dead.”

***

“Now, don’t be nervous. Don’t let Star get the best of you. You’re attacking with your own will.”

The next day, early dawn.

Eileen traveled to the forest sealed off from Orgen and the others to train separately.

“Don’t worry about the other beasts. That’s their experience. All you need to focus on is the one in the center of the forest.”

Eileen nodded and took a deep breath.

“You know, as soon as we get in, can we just hand the initiative back to Star and kill them all?”

“Okay!”

“You’re the one with the temper, Rosalia, open the door.”

“Yeah.”

Rosalia, still in her drowsy pajamas, reached out to the forest’s grid. A gap opened up in the air, like a crack in the membrane of water.