Chapter 38
Joshua welcomed the morning in the ruins for the first time.
Normally, he would have returned to the tower after finishing his business.
Even a hard mattress would be more comfortable than sleeping on the street.
However, he could not do so yesterday.
His entire body was exhausted due to the fatigue accumulated at the research center.
“Damn it, my back.”
He had underestimated the chill of an autumn night.
A single blanket was far from enough.
His spine felt cold, and his throat was stuffy like he had a cold.
It would have been better if he had started a campfire.
He felt a belated regret.
“Cheep, cheep.”
There were lives that woke up more diligently than he did.
Yellow balls of fluff.
They were the chicks he had hatched last night using [Growth].
Thirteen in total.
Every single one of them had broken through their shells and was chirping loudly.
“Calm down, calm down.”
He stroked them with his hand.
The feathers that had been wet at birth had all dried at some point.
The fluffy texture felt good.
“Could you guys step back a little?”
The shed was very spacious compared to the number of livestock.
Nevertheless, these small lives refused to leave his side.
Their parents had fallen fast asleep in a corner.
Did they intend to leave the surrogate parenting to him?
[Clever] and [Cool] began to mock him.
“Whew, seriously.”
He pulled them away one by one with his hands.
Then they tried to climb back up.
Regrettably, he could not afford to bestow affection upon them.
Depending on the situation, they would have to be handled as food.
At other times, they would be processed as currency for trade.
Since he possessed [Cool], it would not be painful, but he felt a sense of guilt regardless.
“So don't try to get too close to me.”
He left the chicks behind and exited the shed.
He quickly locked the door.
The sound of chirping continued from inside.
“Now it is your turn.”
He intended to use [Growth] one more time on the magic herbs he had planted.
[Growth] resets every day, and the time is based on midnight when the date changes.
He had matched the timing on purpose.
It was because he wanted to feel like he was having a nutritious meal in the morning.
He reached out and emitted light.
The magic herbs that had grown to his ankles rose to his knees all at once.
“Phew… it is your turn to step up once again.”
He spoke to [Patience].
From now on, he would eat the magic herbs.
Originally, he should extract the essence, mix it with other ingredients, and consume it as juice.
That would be far superior in taste.
[Patience] comforted him by telling him not to worry.
While he thought it was reliable, he felt gloomy at the fact that he could not avoid the pain.
“First, one.”
He tore off the fully grown head of a magic herb by hand.
He threw it straight into his mouth.
“Bleghh!”
How could he describe this terrible taste?
Curry that tastes like diarrhea.
A tomato that tastes like vomit.
It was a taste so horrific that such expressions came to mind.
[Mana increases by 5.]
[Current Mana: 255]
As he barely swallowed it down his throat, a change occurred in the status window.
The amount of mana that could be raised with pure magic herbs was 150.
He had to eat thirty more stalks.
The amount he had to eat today was four stalks.
Cold sweat, which he had not even shed when meeting zombies, poured down his forehead.
This was dangerous.
“Eat to survive.”
The determination he recited at every moment of crisis.
He did not think he would be saying it while eating something.
He tore and ate again.
The taste was still terrible.
[Patience] encouraged him to finish eating everything somehow.
“You are just happy because the work you have to do has increased.”
He grumbled irritably to [Patience].
While he held a mouthful of magic herbs.
* * *
Tania was busy looking for Joshua since the morning.
Clearly, he had been sleeping in the hall until yesterday.
Thinking that she should not wake him, she had covered him with a blanket from her room.
Would he catch a cold?
With that worry, she ran out as soon as she woke up.
He was not seen.
Nowhere in the tower.
With a lingering hope, she also went to find Talleon and Gavinu.
The answers from the two boys were absurd.
“You are saying Sir Joshua is nowhere to be seen?”
“Yeah.”
“I see.”
“Are you not answering too calmly?”
“Even if you say that… It is hard to imagine Sir Joshua being in danger, and if he really were in danger, it would be a danger at his level. There is not much we could do, right?”
Tania let out a sigh.
Boys are so indifferent.
She complained inwardly and left them.
“The only floors I have not checked yet are,”
Above the 10th floor used by the knighthood executives.
She had to meet her older sister, Lucille.
Coincidentally, she ran into her on the spiral staircase.
“What the, you were here?”
“...Yeah.”
Tania looked a bit surprised.
It felt like her sister had been looking for her as well.
“That is good. Do you have time right now?”
“...Ah.”
“Why, are you busy now?”
“I am not particularly busy.”
“Hmm~”
Lucille checked the floor.
The 5th floor.
It was the place where male students stayed as their lodging.
A girl of this age would not be without interest in the opposite sex.
If so, she had to stop it even more.
It was her conviction that the more innocent a first love was, the better person one should meet.
“Tania Rainwood.”
“Yes?”
“I have told you every time, but your partner must be a child of a prestigious family. Once the situation settles down later, I will choose one for you myself. Keep that in mind and stay put for now.”
Tania’s face flushed.
“It is not like that!”
“It is not? Well, fine. Let us go upstairs for now.”
“Upstairs?”
“Rodwell wants to meet you.”
Tania’s eyes widened.
Rodwell Dandelion.
Her sister’s superior and the Captain of the Order of the Star.
She had only made a few brief impressions on him through her sister’s introduction in the past.
“Why is he suddenly looking for me?”
“He said he has a proposal for you.”
“To me, who is not even a knight?”
“Yes.”
Tania followed Lucille and went up above the 10th floor where the executives stayed.
Could her senior also be here?
If it were her sister, she would know something.
But she could not ask.
The words her sister had used to tease her a moment ago remained in her mind.
“Don’t worry. I will be by your side too.”
The two arrived at the conference room on the 15th floor.
They opened the door and stepped inside.
There, Rodwell was looking down at the window alone.
Tania looked around.
No other knights were seen.
It seemed he had dismissed all irrelevant figures in preparation for a visitor.
“You have arrived.”
Feeling their presence, Rodwell turned around and smiled brightly.
“You have become much prettier since I last saw you.”
“Thank you.”
“...Wait.”
Lucille interjected in their conversation.
She slammed her hand down on the desk in front of her.
“You did not tell me to bring my younger sister because you harbor some hidden motive, did you?”
Whenever it involved her younger sister, Lucille was truly terrifying.
Rodwell, knowing that point, quickly corrected himself.
“Calm down, that was just a formality.”
Lucille’s gaze was still sharp.
Rodwell gestured for the two of them to sit down for now.
“Could you take a look at this?”
Rodwell glanced at a parchment in the center of the desk.
Lucille reached out, picked it up, and read the words written inside.
Her eyes slowly moved downward.
As they did, a shadow cast over her expression.
“...Are you planning to go here with Tania?”
“Yes, that is why I wanted to discuss it with the two of you.”
Tania looked back and forth between the two with a stiff posture.
As someone who had not read the parchment, she could not grasp the flow of the conversation.
“Show it to that child as well. The party involved needs to know what the situation is.”
Lucille glared at her superior with a dissatisfied face and handed the parchment to her sister.
Tania examined the parchment she was given.
The place and date to meet.
The names of the participating groups and the seals of their leaders.
And the conditions for the personnel to accompany them were written.
After confirming all the contents, she turned her gaze to Rodwell.
“Are you meeting with other survivor groups?”
“Yes.”
“If what I read is correct, the people who must go are the leader of the group and two talented survivors within the group, right?”
“That is right, I looked for you because of that issue.”
Tania tilted her head.
She was not part of the knighthood.
Except for the fact that her sister was a knight, there was no connection at all.
“This summit is a custom of the knighthoods that has continued since before the situation became like this. It is a tradition where each knighthood gathers twice a year to promote harmony and compete for superiority.”
“...Tradition.”
“Of course, we are not meeting for the purpose of keeping tradition right now. We are using that as an excuse to gauge each other's strength and discuss countermeasures.”
“If it is such a place, is there any reason for us students to go?”
“It is because there is a rule in this tradition that new faces must be shown. I was against it, but the other two knighthoods insisted.”
Tania fell into thought for a moment.
The reason the other party tried to follow the rules even in such a situation.
“Is it because the two knighthoods have promising students and they want to show them off?”
“Yes, they want to show that their power is solid. They want to show that the people under them are not just knights. Since the situation is like this, I cannot back out either.”
“How about not participating?”
Lucille, who had been listening quietly on the side, spoke up.
She did not want to send her younger sister to a distant place.
“This is madness. What is the importance of tradition in this situation?”
“That is not something for you, who are authoritative, to say, is it? Have you also been influenced by Joshua?”
“N-No, I have not.”
“Rest assured. I will protect your younger sister even if it means risking my life.”
“Is my older sister not accompanying us?”
At Tania’s question, Rodwell turned his gaze.
“The venue for the summit changes every year, and this time it is the turn of the Moonlight Knights. The knighthoods that are not the host are supposed to bring a minimum number of personnel. That way, they can avoid conflict. Furthermore, if both the Captain and the Vice-Captain are absent, the order of the tower will be disrupted.”
Tania fell into thought.
What could be the intention of the people hidden behind this summit?
If it were her senior, he would surely have pondered and seen through it.
“...If the opponent's power is judged to be weak, are they planning to attack and take from each other?”
Silence settled over the conference room.
The two knights stared intently at the girl, conscious of the words she had uttered.
“I mean, I thought that my senior would surely have thought like this.”
“Senior?”
“I am talking about Senior Joshua.”
“I see.”
Rodwell looked a bit displeased.
“It is not very pleasant to have his name mentioned repeatedly in a place where the party is not present.”
“Do you dislike my senior, Captain?”
“It is not that I dislike him, but rather that he is uncomfortable. That fellow is an old soul. He is not eighteen.”
Rodwell distorted his expression as if he truly thought so.
“Anyway, returning to the main point, Tania, your judgment is likely correct. If the level of the people brought along is poor, they may attack using that as a yardstick. However, if we don't participate, we will be looked down upon for that as well.”
A group attacks another group.
In the past, it was a story difficult to believe.
However, she knew now.
A human being can do anything to survive.
“It means it cannot be avoided.”
“Yes, so I want to take you with me. Of course, I have no intention of dragging you in by force.”
Tania checked Lucille’s expression.
She did not oppose it.
It seemed she was seriously contemplating it.
In other words, from her perspective as well, she judged that it was reasonable for her to accompany them.
If there was a reason for hesitation, it would be the heart of an older sister who did not want to send her younger sister away.
“Um, then who is the other person going?”
“...Sigh.”
Rodwell twisted the corner of his mouth.
By this point, even someone who lacked tact could tell.
What he was troubled by.
“I want to take Joshua with me. This is my honest feeling.”
“Were you rejected?”
“No, it is even before I made the proposal. If it is alright, I would like you to ask him.”
“Well, would it not be better if you spoke to him directly, Captain?”
“That is difficult.”
Rodwell gave a bitter smile.
He had proposed to Joshua to become a knight yesterday afternoon and was rejected spectacularly.
The date had changed by one day.
He could not admit to himself that he was now in a position of asking for a favor.
Therefore, he wanted a contact person to connect himself and the boy.
Tania was suitable.
She was a colleague who had survived together with him.
And above all, there was another reason why he did not want to meet Joshua.
“That fellow will surely demand something from me as a condition for accompanying us. He will not let it slide.”
Tania sympathized without realizing it.
If it were that person, he was more than capable of doing so.
“I will try to speak to him. If I can decide the person to go with me, I like my senior the best.”
Lucille narrowed her eyes.
It seemed she did not like the word 'like'.
“Then may I interpret it as you also wanting to go, Tania?”
“Um… sister?”
“If you want to go, I will not stop you. Rodwell, you must take responsibility and look after her well. Do you understand?”
Feeling that there was a thorn in her voice, Rodwell shrugged his shoulders.
Once the permission from her sister was granted, Tania also solidified her determination.
Now, she had to return to the beginning and finish what she had been doing since the morning.
It was looking for Joshua.
Looking at Rodwell’s reaction, it seemed he also did not know where Joshua was.