Chapter 52 : The Night is beautiful

The vast net that obscured the sky was burning fiercely in the air. The scattered sparks of light cast a glow that made the moon pale in comparison.
It wasn’t true fire, but a magical flame, so it wouldn’t burn the forest itself.

Boom!

The sound of a giant creature collapsing shook the entire forest. And what caused that movement was—a maid with pink hair, who looked a little cute and foolish.

She took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from her hands, looking at the tragedy she had caused with a lack of interest.

The spider before her had lost all signs of life. Flames now surrounded it, burning it to ashes.

“Oh dear, it was too weak to fight…”

Let alone fighting a round, it was a blatant massacre.

From beginning to end, the spider couldn’t even touch a single hair on her.

“But, it could really run…”

The spider frantically fled through the dense webs in the forest, losing its trace to Aileen several times.

“Oh dear… what is that thing…”

Just before the spider died, she saw a “certain” mark appear on its forehead.

Regarding that mark, she was absolutely sure—it was Ophelia’s unique “Saint’s Seal.”

In other words…

“Is this thing Ophelia’s pet?”

Aileen couldn’t understand why, even for a Saintess, she would keep such a thing… and it was clearly in its juvenile stage.

“Could it be that she’s actually letting it out to hunt humans?”

After all, that spider was also a demonic beast. High-level demonic beasts evolved by actively hunting humans and other creatures of their kind. This was something scholars had already proven.

If no one were to stop it, the upper limit of demonic beasts would be limitless.

There was even a saying—nine dogs and one mastiff—like raising poisons in the same jar.

“H-how could that be? Besides, that’s the sacred Saintess…” Aileen laughed awkwardly, dispelling her unnecessary doubts.

“It must have been that the cage wasn’t closed properly!”

Next time she saw her, she must remind her to close the cage properly!

“Alright, mission accomplished!”

Aileen confirmed once again that all demonic beast auras had disappeared. She patted the dust off her clothes and suddenly remembered that she seemed to have forgotten someone….

“Hmm… Was it my imagination?”

Her heart no longer needed to hold anyone else. Whether it was codependence or something else.

To her, none of that mattered.

She prepared to report her mission completion to her master.

“~~” She hummed a song happily. She had been away from the manor for several days. She wondered how Schiller was doing now.

“Did he eat well? Did he subdue Lady Sheryl? Did he stay up late?”

She looked at the position of the moon again. The chase just now had made her lose her sense of direction.

“Hmm… those three stars connected in a triangle…”

Aileen stared at the three brighter stars in the night sky.

She remembered Schiller talking about stars once. He was surprised that Aileen didn’t know the direction of the stars.

However, for Aileen, this was a normal thing.

But at that time, she felt that Schiller, who talked about the universe and distant stars, was very handsome.

So, what was the direction of those three stars…

“Southwest! That’s right, it’s southwest.”

“The Viscount’s manor is to the southeast, which means I have to walk in the opposite direction of the stars!”

“Hmph hmph, this time, who would dare call me directionally challenged!”

She lifted her chin, already imagining Schiller praising her in her mind after she perfectly completed the mission.

“Ah wah wah wah… Heheh…”

And so, the girl headed in that direction.

“The Saintess is really something… why keep a spider of all things?”

Rustle, rustle.

Rustle, rustle…

“Shi, Schiller, where are you?” It was late at night. Ophelia hugged herself, her four limbs stiffening. The sound of twisting her neck creaked like winding a clock.

“Hey! Where are you?” Tears were faintly visible in her eyes. She had woken up only to find herself alone.

An unfamiliar sense of loneliness, this feeling… made her unable to articulate what was wrong.

She just felt that without Schiller’s presence, her heart felt a little empty.

If she had never seen the light, she could have accepted the darkness.

“Don’t, don’t stay silent…”

“Waaah… Waaah!”

After meeting Schiller, although they were noisy, all the events were joyful. She suddenly felt wronged and wanted to cry her heart out—only then would someone come to save her.

Ophelia had completely become a young lady—she had even forgotten that she could use magic.

Ever since she lost her memory, she had probably been forcing herself a little. Now, whenever she encountered trouble, her instinct was to rely on Schiller.

An inexplicable sadness made her sob softly. It was a mixture of fear, sorrow, and unease.

A sound of hurried footsteps approached.

“Opheliel… wh-what’s wrong!” Schiller rushed to her side, his hands waving, not knowing where to put them.

Ophelia’s sudden crying disrupted his plans.

He had only gone out to scout the surroundings. Before leaving, Ophelia had fallen asleep with a blissful expression, but it seemed she had woken up after he left.

“Schiller… waaah! Don’t go!”

[Don’t go!]

[Where are you going?!]

[Don’t leave me alone!]

At that moment, his mind seemed to be interfered with. A voice from the depths of his mind made him dizzy.

That familiar feeling—a sense of déjà vu, an inexplicable sense of déjà vu washed over him.

He seemed to have seen that place in a dream.

The golden-haired girl—the child-like figure—was desperately grabbing someone’s clothes, desperately trying to convey something.

That person had fallen to the ground, handing her something.

“What is…?”

Before he could savor it, Ophelia grabbed his hand and forced him to sit on the ground.

The girl stopped crying and put on a look of anger.

“Don’t disappear again!”

Because Ophelia was small, she sat between Schiller’s legs, leaning against his chest, silent.

“Miss Opheliel?” Schiller looked at the girl in confusion. She kept rubbing her hair against Schiller’s chest, as if urging him to do something.

Her fidgeting movements made Schiller’s heart tingle. Perhaps it meant, “Pat my head.”

It is said that head-pats don’t exist in reality—it must be that reality is mistaken.

Schiller shouted to himself in his heart: “It exists, therefore it is reasonable!”

Schiller gently stroked her perfectly maintained hair. The faint scent of roses invaded his nostrils. The girl’s body was enveloped in his embrace, but surprisingly, at this moment, apart from the warmth, he had no other inappropriate thoughts.

The two remained silent, letting time flow by.

Ophelia seemed to feel very comfortable. She gently closed her eyes and let out a murmuring sound, “Heheh,” looking as if she could fall asleep at any moment.

“I’m glad I took care of my hair every day with [Cleanse]!” Ophelia said as she floated in the pleasant moment, feeling a slight heat in her chest.

“So… hot…” She felt the air was incredibly hot, as if roasting her face. For some reason, by Schiller’s side, she always felt a sense of long-lost security, as if her body was already familiar with him.

Was it a memory engraved in her flesh, or just a mere illusion?

“So… strange…” Ophelia, with a sweet smile, fell into a deep sleep, exhausted.

Schiller remained in his position, supporting Ophelia’s body, and gave a wry smile:

“What a child…” He felt that the amnesiac Ophelia was a bit too cute.

“What should I do to pass the time…”

Inside the cave, the stars were invisible, but he felt that the moonlit night was beautiful.

Perhaps if he moved away from her even slightly, she would wake up. To avoid such a situation, he could only maintain his position until dawn.

The night was still long, but nothing could compare to the girl’s smile.