Saito shook his head, and cried.
“I... I didn't even know their names.”
Instead of calling it an unbearable pain, it was more of the inability to forgive.
To die for the mission, to die for honor.
He couldn't imagine these feelings at all.
Doesn't Louise understand this?
He recalled Colbert's letter. The teacher wrote: Do not become accustomed to killing each other. Do not become accustomed to death.
He was wondering at the time, “How is it possible that one could get used to such things?”
As Louise looked at Saito's forlorn face, she felt terrible. The things she had just said were not lies. Although she felt sad for those youths who had sacrificed themselves, they had died for the victory of their country.
Louise, who had grown up receiving the education of the nobility, and Saito, who grew up in Japan on the peaceful Earth: there was an obvious rift between them.
Louise felt pain seeing Saito’s crying face. Compared to mourning the dead, she had a greater desire to heal the pain of the living. If Saito's tears were a kind of gentleness, then perhaps this can be said to be another type of gentleness.
Louise thought,
What should one do at a moment like this? How does one comfort a boy who had been hurt?
And...
If it was that maid, what would she do? She used just a little bit of her imagination.
She would... use the warmth of her body! It's all that commoner can come up with.
On this train of thought, she suddenly became angry.
That... that sort of thing... I can do that too!
Recalling that time where he pushed her to the floor, and kissed her a few times on the neck, Louise's face became red at once.
Since at that time he had gotten excited all of a sudden (That's how Louise saw it), Louise hadn't forgiven Saito for what he did, definitely not.
He said something about liking her; surely he said it with doing that sort of thing in mind. Once her mind was on this thought, a burst of anger erupted from within her. After that, she couldn't even forgive herself. Although she was affected by the mood at the time, she actually lowered the hand which had risen to slap him.
That means... that is to say...
But, in the back of her mind, Louise shook her head furiously.
That doesn't mean that I've accepted him.
Because he wanted to do it the hard way; he's doing it unconsciously. That's right! Unconsciously!
Although Louise didn't know what “unconsciously” actually meant, she hugged Saito tightly, her face crimson-red. Hugging a familiar is something which isn't supposed to be done, due to the difference in status between the two. Yes... letting him sit beside the dining table could be said to be a form of pity. But, hugging him like this wasn't pity.
Louise shook her head. She thought, “What am I doing?” The incredible thing was that her heartbeat was quickening. Her racing heartbeat seemed to be dissolving the cruel atmosphere of the battlefield.
Despite all this, Saito was still depressed.
Is it still not enough?
Is simply hugging him tightly not enough?
Hoping that he would pucker up didn't mean that she liked him or anything. However, if a familiar was like this, it would affect missions in the future.
Louise intended to try her best at imitating Siesta. She was trying hard, even putting aside her noblewoman's pride. Although she didn't have any other feelings for this familiar, she didn't want to lose in battle, no matter what. However, there was no movement in Saito's vision.
She remembered what she was wearing now. Underneath the cape was her skin.
No undies.
Louise took a deep breath. It's only a tiny bit. If doing this could comfort Saito a little, isn't it worth a try?
No way Louise!
How can you show others your body when you're unmarried?
If you treat him like familiar, that's still alright. But what are you doing now?
If he sees it, there will be trouble!
You'll have to marry him, those are the rules.
I want to marry?
Marry who?
This familiar?
No way! Impossible! He's a commoner from another world!
Her brain began to fry, as if it was about to explode. Saito stared at Louise in her current predicament, his eyes emotionless.
Sob...now even Louise was feeling down, she really wanted to heal this wound of Saito's.
Does Saito really like me… To think about it, although he did say that he liked me… but that was to take advantage of me… But does my body have that kind of charm… Aaahhhh! This is frustrating!!
Louise grew more and more confused; her brain was really going to explode soon. Just as she was loosening her grip on her cape...
Just as the gentleness of the mourner, and the gentleness of the comforter for the living, were about to meet...
Whoosh!
A sudden gust of wind blew against the tent.
“What... what's going on?”
“What?!”
Saito and Louise shouted at the same time.
Looks like something just landed beside the tent.
On closer inspection, it was a wind dragon.
On its back, one could see the silhouettes of dragon knights.
“Ene... enemies! The enemy is here!”
Saito grabbed his sword hurriedly. At that moment, a man peered out from the dragon's back, and said to Saito in a soft voice, “Oh, you're...”
Upon seeing his face, Saito's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets; he was stunned.
“Aaahhh!”
The men sitting on the dragon were the dragon knights that had been thought decimated.
Saito's mouth fell wide open. He asked softly,
“H... How?”
“It's... a long story.”
That was the reply from a plump dragon knight. The rest of the knights bowed their heads, as if embarrassed.
“We'll talk again later. So… so sorry to have interrupted the two of you…” The plump knight captain said shyly.
Louise, with only a cape covering her, was blankly leaning against Saito.
Louise hurriedly kicked Saito away, and screamed,
“W-w-we didn't do anything!”
Perhaps, it was the miracle caused by the temperature difference between the two types of gentleness.
The dragon knights, thought to be deceased, were standing before them, with not a single man missing.
Besides the dragon which they rode on, the knights lost the rest of their dragon mounts... But no matter, all the men returned safely.
Before Saito's and Louise's relief, they could hardly speak with their mouths now wide open
“You all... How...”
“No... Well... actually, we aren't sure ourselves.”
Seeing the sudden return of the knights, the senior officers in the dragon knight's headquarters tent nearly had their eyes popping out of their sockets.
From the day they were annihilated, a week had passed.
Furthermore, this was enemy territory - the land of Albion. Their survival was already written off as hopeless.
Count Kirnumel, the commander of the 2nd Dragon Knight Group, in charge of three dragon knight squadrons, was the first to open his arms and welcome the return of these warriors, who had miraculously survived.
“Never mind! Regardless, returning alive is something worth being happy about! It really is incredible! A miraculous survival, I say!”
Immediately, applause and cheers rang out inside the tent.