CH 109

[A Disturbing Development]

Everyone held their breath.

I was wrapped by a sense of tension that was unsuitable for the idyllic scenery.

“E-err… is something wrong?”

Mr. Abel noticed the strange atmosphere around us.

—Us, and of course Reina, in the center of it.

“R-Reina…?”

“U-um… p-please have this!”

With a face so red like never before, Reina held out the thing she was holding. It was a cute little basket, the contents of which were, of course, the sweets she had made with Tayte and Marina. Upon a closer look, there was even a message card on top. When did she write it?

“T-this is…?”

“A-a gift… I made it myself, though with the help of many pewple.”

Ah, she fumbled at the end.

But she had conveyed what she wanted to convey.

Mr. Abel received the basket with a smile, “You made it? Wow, I’m so glad.”

Mr. Abel was exhilarated.

It was a matter of course.

Mr. Abel was extremely fond of Reina.

Reina didn’t notice it because she was a little insensitive, but Mr. Abel was madly in love with her.

…But in the original storyline, Mr. Abel ended up losing his life precisely because his love for Reina that was even deeper than the sea.

At the end of the school life arc, seeing Reina fretting about how to reform Barrett who continued to do bad deeds, Mr. Abel decided to give her a hand, saying, “Allow me to help, he is my future brother-in-law, after all.”

After that, he had Barrett accompany his team on an expedition to retrain his spirit, however… as a result of Barrett’s arbitrary actions, the team fell into a predicament, and worse, he abandoned Mr. Abel, saving his own sorry ass.

Later, the fact that Barrett was responsible for Mr. Abel’s death was uncovered by the protagonist Raul, and after learning about it, his parents disowned him. Furthermore, Reina ended up giving her love to Raul—

“……”

No, let’s stop.

Reina and Mr. Abel who was happy to receive the gift.

And Raul who was celebrating Reina’s success along with the rest of us.

They were fine as they were now.

I unconsciously heaved a sigh of relief.

In this world, Reina and Mr. Abel were going to have a happy future together.

Afterward, we were led to the Order of Knights’ office, where we took a rest.

Mr. Abel had the sweets by Reina, while we had sweets made by Tayte and Eureka.

Being an alumnus of the academy, Mr. Abel asked us about how the academy was like these days, and from our side, especially Jarvis and Raul—who were aiming to join the Order of Knights—enthusiastically asked about knights’ lives.

At that time…

“Captain Abel!”

A young soldier rushed into the office.

“What happened, Deike?”

“W-well…” The young soldier named Deike whispered to Mr. Abel.

In the next moment, Mr. Abel’s expression changed completely.

“…I’m sorry, but we’ll have to end the tea party here.”

His voice was completely different from when we were having a fun conversation just now.

When I looked closely, I could see the sweat on his forehead.

…What happened?

This was such a peaceful rural town, what could possibly make him so tense?

“Mr. Abel… is there something wrong?” Reina asked, worried about him.

However, Mr. Abel answered with his usual smile. “No need to worry. A patrolling soldier just said he found something interesting, so I’ll go to check it out.” Mr. Abel spoke lightly.

However, I sensed the tension behind his expression.

“Mr. Abel.”

My body began to move on its own.

“What’s up, Barrett?”

“I would like to go with you. Please allow me.”