A Former Child Soldier Who Uses a Magic Sword Wants to Live with an Older Sister of a Former Enemy Executive - Chapter 80

• Chapter 80 : I love you.

After returning to their room, Seto was completely exhausted from fighting one battle after another.

He sat vigorously on his bed, as if to say that resting came first.

[Thanks for your hard work, Seto. Here, have some water.] (Satis)

[Thanks. ——Puhaaah!] (Seto)

The water he drank from the canteen handed to him by Satis, who was sitting next to him, went down his throat and cooled the heat that was still burning inside his body.

This feeling of freshness that chilled him deep into his veins brought forth a sensation akin to gentle wavelengths flowing into Seto’s head.

In the midst of that, Satis was beside Seto, smiling and stroking his hair.

Now freed from her worries, Satis felt very much at ease.

She even felt as if it had been forever since the two of them were alone together like that, in a quiet room at night.

This showed how much she loved her time with Seto.

It was the same for the boy, whose greatest happiness was to be at ease with Satis just like that.

However, at the same time, a feeling akin to guilt arose from the darkest depths of Seto’s heart, making him think that maybe he was actually just using Satis for his own convenience.

The boy felt that, thinking back on it, she had continually been forced to go along with every situation he got himself involved in.

Seto was considering the harshness of his own fate and the kindness of Satis, who stood by his side to support him.

However, Satis flatly rejected Seto’s negative thoughts.

[Seto, whatever you’re thinking, I won’t change my mind, you know? I want to be with you. And that’s all.] (Satis)

[No, it’s not that I’m thinking about splitting up or anything like that. It’s just that, I’m wondering if you really feel safe… I asked myself the same thing back in Benjamin Village…] (Seto)

[Hmm…] (Satis)

Satis was choosing her words while watching over Seto next to her.

By the look of things, he was not particularly depressed.

However, he was anxious about his own prediction of the future based on his personal experience, which told him that “From now on, he would keep going through incidents that would force him to wield his magic sword”.

If so, then as his elder, she had to tell him.

[Listen, Seto. Being with someone isn’t always easy. It’s the same in relationships within an organization, and in communities such as family.] (Satis)

[…Yeah. I guess you’re right.] (Seto)

Seto scratched his head, remembering the days when he worked as a child soldier on the battlefield, or his life as a member of the Hero’s party.

[Being with someone you care about is a beautiful thing in its own right. But you see, Seto, that’s not the end line. If anything, it’s a new starting line. Remember when we met in that forest. It was from that point on that you and I started our new life together, right?] (Satis)

[Yeah, it was.] (Seto)

[What’s really important isn’t that each of us recognizes the other as someone precious. Rather, it’s the relationship we have after that. Live your life thinking of it as “a life for two” instead of a life only for yourself. That’s the most important and difficult part.] (Satis)

[“A life for two”? …And not just “my life and your life”?] (Seto)

[Yes. This life for two is our life, so we have to create our own happiness together. I’m sure there will be hurdles along the way, including battles involving your magic sword, as you mentioned. But I can’t pretend not to care about them and treat them as your problem alone. —Love is a thorny path. But can you love another in spite of it? Because I know I can love you, Seto.] (Satis)

[L… Love…!? Sa-Satis…] (Seto)

Satis looked down at Set with a cheerful expression and gently stroked his head again.

She spoke gently about what she had felt on their journey so far while gazing at Seto, who was blushing with embarrassment and narrowing his eyes.

[Even if we’ll be walking a path full of hurdles again from here, I want to be with you. I will overcome those hardships together with you. Don’t worry, I’m sure the two of us can manage. …So we can live a peaceful life together in a quiet place. All we can do now is work on it to the best of our abilities. I’m sure it will be much harder than living a life where we always worry about winning or losing, but I know I can hang in there if you’re with me. What about you, Seto?] (Satis) 

[Me? I… Yeah. I feel the same as you do. I want to be with you, Satis. I want to live with you. I don’t really get what that… l-l-l-love stuff is about, but… Yeah, I’ll work on it.] (Seto)

[Fufufu! It’s not like I know everything about love either, you know? So let’s weave our story from now on, okay? Don’t worry about anything, and face reality with everything you’ve got. And I’ll be with you all the way. Okay?] (Satis)

Satis stood up as she said that.

It was time to go out for dinner.

It appeared that the annihilation of the bandits was attributed to Chiyome, making her the center of attention in town.

It would be ungrateful of our protagonists to disregard Chiyome’s goodwill.

Seto understood that too, and with a rumbling belly, he took Satis’ hand, and walked to the city with her.

The streets were more crowded than the previous night since the bandits had been wiped out.

The wind blowing in this historical city felt dry, yet strangely warm.

Just as colors on a canvas expressed the temperature of the world depicted on it, the wind blowing in Hopi Mesa was surely filled with a myriad of colors.

Seto couldn’t help but imagine that it had been watching over the earth and mankind since ancient times, and that it had come back here with the fervor of the times and a whirlwind of various emotions.

——Delight, love and respect, justice, humanity, as well as jealousy, sorrow, fear, void, and fury…

It was a complex mixture of thoughts, and it would blow through again to the next era.

Without stopping, the wind of the times kept blowing after Seto and Satis.

But without caring, the two of them kept walking.

Feeling each other’s warmth in their hands clasped together, they pressed on and pushed forward with their lives.

As he thought over what he had discussed with Satis earlier, Seto enjoyed the atmosphere on the way to the restaurant.

Remarking how people were inclined to drinking when they were happy, as the scent of alcohol was all around.

[Looks like this smell is the only thing even the winds of history can’t do anything about.] (Seto)

[Ahaha! I guess you really hate alcohol, Seto.] (Satis)

[More than tobacco, even…] (Seto)

They entered a restaurant and enjoyed a peaceful meal.

The meat had a flavor distinctly different from that of other cities, as if it was cooked differently.

The mildness of the meat juices permeated Seto’s battle-worn body.

And Satis happily watched over him as he joyfully devoured the meat.