Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 40

To the indifferent Vanessa Rose.

What’s going on? It’s been two weeks and not a single reply. What happened?

I’ve already finished my practical training and returned home. It feels like a semester has already passed.

I’m trying to find out if something happened to the Special Forces, but I can’t get any reliable information from the West.

The only news I’ve heard is that the majority of the Special Forces have been dispatched to the West, on a scale large enough to wipe out all the monsters there.

There are also rumors that someone went missing. It’s not you, is it?

What on earth is going on? All I do these days is stare at the entrance to Hornir!

Staring at Hornir with burning eyes,

From Lina Dellina.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Tap. Tap.

Vanessa opened her eyes, jolted awake by cold drops of water falling on her forehead. Her body felt heavy, and her head throbbed as if it would break.

Without even fully opening her eyes, she barely wiped away the moisture with her hand when a soft whisper reached her ears.

“Vanessa?”

Huh. Vanessa quickly opened her eyes. Looking up, she saw a firm jawline. Golden eyes, having noticed she was awake, were fixed on her forehead.

She felt like she was floating; when she finally came to her senses, she realized she was being carried in Gideon’s arms. Orbs of light floated around the man, radiating warmth.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I… I’m fine!”

Vanessa hurriedly struggled to get down, but the firm arms, already anticipating her movements, only tightened around her. Gideon chuckled softly.

“Just stay still for a moment. The ground is wet.”

Despite her throbbing head, Gideon held her, who was startled and flailing, and moved a little further. The tall, broad man carried the equally tall Vanessa without a single wobble, walking steadily.

Eventually, Vanessa gave up on getting down and slumped against him again, succumbing to the pain. Spatial magic really does have such significant aftereffects.

Ah, right. Spatial magic.

Vanessa remembered following the boy, the boy smiling at her, and the spatial magic circle passing beneath her feet.

And the warmth that enveloped her body at the end.

“Did… did you fall with me?”

“Of course. I grabbed you right away and we moved together. It’s a great relief that I did.”

Vanessa’s face turned pale at the thought of the trouble she had caused.

She had dropped the leader of the Special Forces in an unknown location, all because of her mistake! Because she didn’t keep her promise not to go outside the ward [a designated safe area].

However, Gideon’s voice was still gentle and full of relief.

“This place is….”

“I only know it’s a cave; I don’t know exactly where it is. The place we fell into was blocked off, so we could only move forward in one direction.”

Vanessa barely inhaled.

“I’m okay now. Just put me down….”

As Vanessa mumbled weakly, Gideon studied her expression for a moment. He silently set Vanessa down in a relatively dry spot.

Vanessa staggered for a moment but soon stood upright.

Looking around, all she could see in the pitch-black darkness were the clusters of light Gideon had created.

There was only one path, and it seemed she could only go forward or retreat. The stone wall she reached out and touched was uneven but slippery.

Having assessed the surroundings, Vanessa blankly looked up at Gideon. He calmly met her eyes, but Vanessa blinked a few more times.

In the dim light, the area near his cheekbone was slightly torn.

“Your injury….”

He raised his hand and roughly felt around that area.

“It’s alright.”

Gideon had been fighting monsters all night and had fallen here without rest. Crying wasn’t something she should be doing now. So Vanessa gritted her teeth and held back her tears.

The boy must have been someone’s prank to lure Vanessa down. Or maybe that boy was a small magician.

She only had herself to blame for falling for it.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come out.”

Vanessa barely managed to apologize. Because Gideon had focused the orbs of light on her, half of his face was hidden in darkness.

Vanessa’s fingers reached out to touch the scratch on Gideon’s cheek, but then fell powerlessly.

“It’s not Vanessa’s fault. You went to save a child. I didn’t expect something like this to happen. It’s my fault.”

Vanessa roughly rubbed her dry eyes. It was absurd to say it was his fault. She changed the subject to avoid hearing such words.

“…There’s no other way but to follow this path, right?”

“Hmm.”

Gideon hesitated for a moment. He sensed that Vanessa seemed to want to blame herself. But the truth was hard to hide.

Eventually, Gideon carefully opened his mouth.

“Every time I try to use teleportation magic, it seems the flow of magic is being blocked by something. It’s the same even if I draw a Barlo magic circle [a type of teleportation circle].”

He spoke gently, but the conclusion was that ‘teleportation magic is impossible.’ Vanessa slowly nodded and then dropped her head.

“You must be tired. How about resting for a while?”

Gideon’s physical condition was clearly not at its best. Fatigue had accumulated from days of continuous subjugation, and he hadn’t even rested today, so his condition was truly miserable.

Even if he cleaned his body with magic, magic couldn’t eliminate fatigue.

Gideon eventually agreed with Vanessa’s words.

“Yes, it might be good to rest for a while.”

He first sat down and leaned against the stone wall. It wasn’t damp, as it was one of the drier spots.

He looked up at Vanessa and slowly blinked. Vanessa met his gaze. But she didn’t like that part of him was consumed by darkness. So she summoned orbs of light around him.

However, the light didn’t shine as brightly and strongly as usual. She felt a strange sensation as magic flowed through her fingertips. Her mood sank even further.

“It’s better to conserve your strength.”

Gideon gently advised, seeing her gloomy expression, but Vanessa shook her head.

“It’s a little cold, and it’s too dark.”

“I’ll do it.”

“You should rest, Captain. You haven’t even recovered yet. I can do this much….”

Vanessa gathered warm light around Gideon and then sat down, hugging her legs.

With her forehead on her knees, the surroundings were very quiet. Only the hard stone floor and damp humidity were felt.

“I should have pushed you away.”

Gideon sighed softly. He deeply regretted that last situation. Instead of hugging Vanessa, he should have pushed her away completely.

He thought it was an unavoidable choice since the magic circle was already activated, but what if he had at least tried?

“I should have fallen alone.”

Vanessa mumbled with her forehead on her knees. Gideon’s gaze softly fell on Vanessa.

Gideon had joined the Special Forces at a fairly young age and had experienced a lot, so he wasn’t afraid of this. Weren’t they already with their foot in the grave? He was just worried that Vanessa might be scared.

“Vanessa, are you afraid?”

Vanessa raised her head. Her golden hair, shining even in the dim light, was slightly damp with the humid air.

However, it was difficult to read his expression. Was he tired?

“I’m afraid of my inadequacy. You were dragged here because of me. I’m sorry.”

Suddenly, Gideon burst into laughter. His laughter echoed through the cave.

Vanessa glared at him. What? What’s so funny?

“Vanessa, you are a student. I belong to the Special Forces and am in a position to protect students. I should have protected you from any possible danger, but this is clearly my mistake. I’m sorry.”

“I walked into that danger myself.”

Vanessa said dejectedly, but Gideon only wore a sighing smile.

“Oh, good heavens, Vanessa.”

Gideon took off his coat and covered Vanessa with it. Special Forces members wore black tops that clung to the inside of their coats for activity, and through the torn seams of the top, she could see deeply cracked wounds.

Seeing his wounded body, Vanessa was horrified and tried to take the coat off him again, but he carefully covered her and tied the sleeves around her.

“It’s dark and cold, so you keep having bad thoughts. Keep it on.”

Vanessa was tall, but there was no way around the difference in build, so the coat completely enveloped her and was still loose.

“You can use magic.”

Vanessa mumbled sullenly, and Gideon smiled.

“Still, it’s nice that it looks warm visually.”

At the same time, Gideon ran his finger over his sword. It felt like the temperature nearby rose just from that. He sat next to Vanessa and leaned his head against the stone wall.

Vanessa, who glanced at his slightly lowered eyes, barely opened her mouth.

“Does it hurt?”

“It’s alright.”

Vanessa hesitated and then brought her hand to his wound. The bleeding had barely stopped, and the wound healing was slow, so the wound was still exposed.

“Vanessa, don’t use more strength. Healing magic takes too much magic power.”

“……”

In any case, healing magic was a field that Vanessa wasn’t good at. It was obvious that she would just waste magic power.

Vanessa dejectedly lowered her hand and buried her forehead in her knees again.

Gideon’s words were wrong. Even if her body warmed up and the surroundings brightened, her depression didn’t improve. She felt like she was going to cry because she kept thinking it was her fault.

“Get some sleep.”

“Who are you to say that? You should get some sleep. I’ll keep my eyes open….”

Gideon reached out and made Vanessa, who wasn’t listening at all, lean her head on his shoulder. The height wasn’t quite right, but it would be better than the stone wall.

“Close your eyes. I’ll pretend I didn’t see the tears.”

Tears eventually flowed at his kind and gentle voice.

“There was no way a child would be there… I’m really an idiot. I’m sorry….”

“Vanessa, if it’s magic that makes you mistake it for reality, anyone would have been deceived. Those who took advantage of your warm heart are the bad ones.”

“But….”

“Close your eyes and rest.”

His voice was firm. Vanessa sniffled and closed her eyes.

Exhausted in body and mind, Vanessa quickly fell into a deep sleep.

When Vanessa opened her eyes again, her vision was still dim. However, there was a warm feeling where they touched, so the cold couldn’t invade.

Mumbling, wondering what this was, Vanessa realized that she was leaning heavily on Gideon and gasped.

The two were completely pressed together. They were in a position where they were leaning their heads against each other, and Vanessa was about to fall into Gideon’s arms, perhaps having moved in her sleep.

Surprised, Vanessa carefully tried to move her body, but stopped moving when Gideon slightly frowned.

“Gi, Gide….”

Her faint voice was very timid and barely audible even to her own ears. Vanessa rolled her eyes around and examined Gideon.

He must have been very tired, as he was breathing evenly without waking up even at Vanessa’s movements. His lowered eyelashes were so long that they cast a shadow on his cheeks.

Was it because of his eyes when he was awake? He gave an impression of being like a sculpture, without a single gap to poke at, but with his eyes closed, he somehow looked very innocent and harmless….

She almost touched his eyes without realizing it. Vanessa quickly stopped her hand.

Crazy. What are you thinking, with someone who even has a fiancée!

However, her cheeks were already red. It was fortunate that it was dark. Vanessa quickly but carefully moved away from him.