Can You Please Keep the Original Setting? - Chapter 35.2

“To be patient. What that feels like, a kid like you would never know.”

“How can I not know? I don’t know what you endured, but I’ve endured as much as you have. And I’m still living patiently enough.”

Mikael scoffed.

“But I’m glad for that patience. Because I know how sweet the fruit at the end is.”

“Talking like a nerd with the way you look? Seriously. You really are the disciple of the Archmage.”

Zeno said sarcastically.

“Excuse me. Wait!”

Before the atmosphere deteriorated any further, I raised one hand and protested vigorously.

“I absolutely oppose the two of you fighting here!”

“Don’t worry. I don’t intend to fight today. I came here because I have something important to do.”

Suddenly, Zeno began tapping his finger on the back of his hand. With an emotionless smile hanging on his lips.

“This time was very well spent. It was very helpful to match your foolish rhythm. Thank you, daughter of the Archmage. I’ll visit you next time to show my gratitude. I promise.”

It was an ominously consistent move. The sense of alienation I felt earlier grew a little more.

“Then. Good work, both of you. Stay healthy.”

The moment his fingers touched the back of his hand again, I could feel a vibration that shook the ground.

Arrrrgh! Fortunately, the pig-like sound I uttered as if I was completely throwing away Celina’s dignity as an aristocrat was muffled by Mikael’s embrace and faded away.

“Celina.”

When I came to it, I was lying on the floor. Mikael looked all over my body with a very worried expression. Zeno was already gone.

The place that was a warehouse a few seconds ago was a complete mess right now.

Strawberry jam was leaking from the broken bottles. The pickled olives were half-crushed and rolling around on the floor. The burning smell reeked through the walls.

“… What was that just now?”

The voice of Celina I uttered in a murmur lingered indistinctly. Beeeeep―An irritating tinnitus struck my head. I frowned and patted my right ear.

“I don’t know exactly either. In any case, I think we should go back to the main street.”

“Then let’s go. Help me up.”

I reached out to Mikael. He hurriedly raised me and crumpled his face as he was about to put the cloak around me.

“Your dress…”

“Hm? Well, who cares? It’s not important.”

I unashamedly grabbed the fraying sleeve and ripped it open. I looked ridiculous thanks to this, with a long sleeve on one side and a short sleeve on the other.

“Are you hurt?”

I looked at Mikael. There was a clear red smudge on his collar, but I decided to ignore the fact that the cause of the mark was the cosmetics I applied on my lips.

“I’m fine.”

He answered with the same expression he had when he looked at my dress.

“But because of me, Celina…”

“No. It’s not because of you. And there’s something more important right now, so we will continue that conversation later. Let’s go now.”

I cut him off. It was strange. At this scale, it surely must have been something I set up, but nothing came to my mind.

Why?

“Then, please excuse me.”

Mikael held me up again. Do I really need to get used to the embarrassment of being carried like a princess? I half liberated myself from my thoughts and leaned on him.

The more Mikael entered that section of the city, the more his expression hardened. It was the same for me.

On the side where we were earlier, the items on the shelves had only fallen and cracked, but on this side, the buildings themselves were like that. My eyes stung from the pungent smoke that rose.

I buried my face in the cloak and coughed again and again. It was not a normal earthquake. The buildings in the capital where the imperial palace was located were designed so that they would not be damaged by natural disasters, so the fact that they looked like this meant that magic was involved.

The culprit was obvious.

I could see a man with blood flowing down his head trying to get his wife out of the rubble. I was the one who set the two as villains, so I knew there was no helping it, but seeing the direct damage in this way made me feel like I hit rock bottom.

“Can you help them?”

I pointed to the couple.

“Yes.”

He bent one knee while holding me. Two long, thin fingers touched the ground. A few seconds later, the large debris from the surrounding buildings floated in the air.

The man looked at us with a surprised expression and hurriedly pulled out his wife. Fortunately, neither seemed to have been hurt much.

A wizard, it’s a wizard! People started whispering when they saw us. Amid that chaotic commotion, a horrible shriek that seemed to squeeze one’s throat crept in and enveloped us.

I felt goosebumps all over my body. I knew exactly what the identity of the sound resonating in the distance was. At the same time, I realized what had happened today.

The monster mutation incident.

“… The people are in danger.”

As soon as I finished saying that to myself, Mikael hastily straightened his legs.

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