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CSWH Chapter 137: Her Smile
The sun had sunk beyond the horizon unnoticed, and a crimson light shone in from the south.
The air surrounding her that had softened for a period of time, also grew cold and sharp as she once again approached a town.
I observed those changes from behind as I followed after her.
As we neared the town, its noisy and flurried atmosphere grew more and more pronounced.
It appeared as though some sort of incident had occurred.
We quietly observed the scene vigilantly for a period of time.
Eventually, the sun had completely set, and the surroundings went completely dark.
Suddenly, her presence changed.
“……something is approaching.”
Mellice-sama demonstrated her alert senses as she muttered.
“Eh……Mellice-sama……?”
After going on the alert from the faint sounds, what appeared before us was an elderly person and Abel.
Abel seemed to have sustained a serious wound, and was being pulled along by the elderly man.
“Alf-san, over here. Take custody of Abel-san, Shurei-san.”
“Yes.”
She stood in front of the two to protect them.
And then, as though to oppose the new presences that appeared, she drew her sword.
In the midst of the pure darkness where one could not see even an inch in front of them, she accurately felt the approaching presences and cut them down, one after the other.
I moved so that we would not get in her way while protecting Alf-san.
“……they won’t keep coming, right?”
Eventually, as the enemies stopped coming, Mellice-sama sheathed her sword.
“Are you alright? Abel-san, Alf.”
“Th-……thank you so much, Mellice-sama.”
At that moment, Abel collapsed.
“Wh-…….h-hey. Abel-san!?”
Drawing near to the collapsed Abel, she touched his body.
Even in the darkness, it was apparent…….that a thick and lukewarm fluid with the stench of iron dyed her hand.
Her reaction seemed to go into overdrive at what she had just touched.
As though rejecting that lukewarm feeling, her body trembled.
“Abel-san……? Abel-san!!”
“Please move, Mellice-sama.”
While I tried to apply emergency treatment by tearing apart my clothes, I could see what I was doing with the darkness.
“Alf! Prepare a light immediately! Shurei-san, take care of the medical equipment!”
As though to stop Mellice-sama as she gave out her orders, Abel grabbed her arm with a blood-soaked hand.
“……my…apologies. I messed up before getting here……though Alf-san somehow managed to bring me all the way here……”
“Don’t talk! It’ll be alright! If we treat you immediately, you’ll make it!”
“You can’t make a light here. Our pursuers will…find our location……please, take me away from here…right now.”
“What are you saying!? There’s no way we can do that!”
“This……”
Abel took a bundle of paper from his breast pocket and held it out to Mellice-sama.
The paper was stained with a bit of blood.
“This is……”
“……don’t yield to those…….bastards trying to take down the Anderson Marquis House. Please, say that to Gazelle-dono for me. If he weren’t around right now……who would protect that country? Because he was there……the knights and the Army have finally managed to cooperate to some extent. It is because he was there…….that Towair stopped their movements. That is the same……for the other countries. Tasmeria Kingdom still cannot afford to lose that man…….that is why, take this.”
Mellice-sama took the papers presented by Abel timidly……but she certainly did receive them.
“Surely Gazelle-dono and Parx-dono……will not easily accept this. That is why, please tell them. To not let my life go to waste.”
Blood overflowed from his mouth, dripping down.
“You should just tell them that yourself! Tell them not to let your hard work go to waste.”
“……I know my body the best.”
Saying that, Abel made a fearless smile.
Even though he was looking death in the face, he displayed a calm as though he did not feel any sense of crisis at all from that.
“Why……are you-”
Perhaps Mellice-sama sensed the same thing, as she spoke back to Abel with a slightly irritated tone.
“……it’s not like I’m treating my life lightly. Really……*cough* I even have some regrets. But……more than……that-”
Abel burst into a painful coughing fit.
Together with his cough came more blood that overflowed from his mouth.
Even after his coughs stopped, breathing appeared to be difficult as the sound of his wheezing resounded.
“……because…….I will be able…to entrust…the country’s future…….to someone with the same goal as…me. That is why……I can go…in peace……”
Maybe because he could not see any more, he did not lock eyes with Mellice-sama.
It was as though his life’s light was finally about to go out.
Mellice-sama took his hand.
“You can’t just…leave it to someone else…….something…heavy like that. That isn’t something….that will continue just from promising someone.”
Saying that, she smiled while crying.
“I will swear to myself of my own will…….to protect the peace of our homeland.”
“……that is…reassuring.”
He smiled at her words.
Though his brow was furrowed in pain, and his face colourless, the corners of his mouth certainly did rise.
“……Anna is waiting for you. Though she told me to give you her regards……it seems that it’ll be better for her to say that to you directly.”
For a moment, Abel’s eyes widened in surprise.
However, his expression soon returned to a smile.
“Yeah……I’ll…do that……thank…you……so much, Mellice-sama……Rui…sama.”
And then he quietly closed his eyes.
With him before her…….she continued to cry while stifling her voice.
Drop by drop, rain fell from the skies.
The interval between each drop steadily lessened, and eventually, it transformed into a light drizzle.
Those cold drops struck the both of us.
It was as if it were trying to wash away the crimson colour that coiled around us…….and, as if it were responding to her sadness.
……I wonder just how much time has passed?
Alf-san and I, who had seen the whole proceedings from start to finish, were unable to call out to her, and merely stood while averting our eyes.
However, eventually, she silently stood up.
“……let us go. Shurei-san, take Alf. I…….will be bringing Abel.”
“……you are going to take Abel with us?”
Mellice-san turned a cold gaze towards Alf-san, who had a surprised expression while asking that.
“Yes……because I would like to allow him to sleep in the soil of our homeland.”
“But if you take Abel and more pursuers come after us……”
If she were to take his unmoving body, then naturally her mobility would drop.
That was why Alf-san questioned her decision.
“……I will deal with all of the pursuers.”
She made a gentle smile, like that of a blooming flower.
However, seeing that heroic and pure smile made me break out in a cold sweat.
It even made me hesitate to breathe……the smile had such an intimidating pressure behind it.
The sound of my beating heart felt awfully loud on my eardrums.
“Therefore, I will absolutely be taking him away…….I will not allow any objections. In any case, let us return.”
The oppressive atmosphere dispersed as she started to move.
Alf-san and I both let out a sigh of relief at the same time.
“……let’s go.”
And then, together with her, the three of us sent our horses into a run towards the battlefield.
As Alf-san feared, pursuers were sent after us.
However, like she proclaimed, all of them were cut down by her.
She disposed of all the enemies so cleanly on her own, that Alf-san and I did not have any need to fight.
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