“Hnn…?”
Once I wake up, the first thing I notice is that my bed feels harder than usual. It feels a lot harder to breathe. Where did I fall asleep last night… My thoughts are still foggy, and I can’t remember it right away.
The next thing I notice… Is the height of the pillow.
It’s not only higher, but harder than usual too. It’s almost like my head is on someone’s lap…”
“Oh? Are you finally awake?”
“!?”
I hear a voice I shouldn’t be hearing, and jolt up… The scenery in front of me is weird. This isn’t my house, and Weiss’ face is in front of me. And behind it… I can see a big coral crystal peeking from the rock surface.
My consciousness is returning, along with my memories.
I was attacked by something… And that’s where my memory cuts out.
“Weiss, I… Ouch.”
A hard to bear pain rushes through my head, and it lands again on that soft surface. What is this pillow that’s a little harder than usual anyway? I can’t gather my thoughts with this pain in my head.
“I think you inhaled some sort of drug. You can use my lap to rest for a bit.”
“Lap…?”
I turn my body, and see where my head is. I guess it’s on Weiss’ lap.
Houhou, I see. Weiss’…
“…＄●♪◎△×￥?!!??”
“I told you to stay still. Aren’t you in pain?”
Weiss holds me down as I can’t handle it and start struggling. I only resist for a bit, before I somehow compose myself.
“Y-yes… It’s fine now. My head just hurts a little.”
My heart won’t stop screaming, but that’s a different issue.
“What happened to the person that attacked me?”
I’m guessing Weiss beat back my attacker.
“He ran away after I threatened him a little. And he dropped this.”
He says while showing me some papers. Is that a map of the cave?
Not only that… But it looks like the exact same I have.
“…Only people in the ministry of magic can take that map outside. If he had that… It means there’s a good chance he was involved with the ministry of magic.”
“I see. So he was after you.”
Weiss plainly says what is hard for me to say.
“…Yes. No doubt about it, if he had that.”
It wasn’t the first time someone was after my life, but still, I’m strangely calm. It’s not known publicly, but officers of the ministry of magic being targeted is not a new thing.
“Was he waiting for me to leave the capital… Only a few people of the ministry of magic know that I’m here. And only a select few would be happy if I died.”
Someone after the position of assistant director of the ministry of magic? Someone who doesn’t want the Floyd family involved with the ministry of magic? A few possibilities cross my mind, but not a specific person.
“…Too bad the culprit escaped. We could have gotten the answer from him.”
“We won’t catch him if we run after him now. He’s very far away.”
“I see… That’s too bad. I’ll try digging into it once we get back.”
“Aren’t you being a bit too nonchalant? Someone’s after your life.”
“No problem. No one’s going to go after me in the capital… Ah, Weiss.”
“What?”
“I haven’t thanked you yet. Thank you for saving me. Where would I be now if it wasn’t for you…”
“No problem. I’m your guard today, so I just did my job.”
As Weiss says that, he looks away, and then I close my eyes. His lap is strangely relaxing, and even though I just woke up, I feel like I might fall asleep again.
I don’t know how long I stay this way, but I suddenly open my eyes, and see him looking at me with a sad look in his eyes. My heart skips a beat, because that’s a rare expression for him.
“What’s wrong?”
“…Nothing. Should we get going? I actually found coral crystal.”
“Ah, over there… Wait, I’m getting up.”
I have my fill of the warmth of his lap, and slowly get up. Then I move my body a little, and check to see if nothing is wrong.
…I don’t think I’m hurt anywhere.
“It’s pretty big, isn’t it? It looks like it’d be hard to mine too.”
“Yes… But if we can mine it without cracking it, there’s over a hundred million zeni here.”
We’re looking at a vertical crack in the rock surface that looks like a bolt of lightning. I’m sure there’s a much bigger coral crystal lying dormant inside.
We check the other walls, and find other similar spots.
“So? Can you use this place?
“Yes. I didn’t expect someone else to have continued to dig, but it looks like this place hasn’t dried out yet. It looks like the path stops here, so let’s make a note and check out the other path.”
After this, we finish our investigation quickly, and return to see the sun again.
We managed to discover that there is even more coral crystal than in that open space, so it’s safe to say that our investigation was a success.
“All right… Are we going back?”
Weiss stretches as he walks to the two-wheeled vehicle, and I call out to him.
“W-Weiss!”
“What?”
He turns around, and behind him, the sky is suddenly being painted with the color of the setting sun.
“…Can you go a little slower on the way back?”
It was pushed back because of all that happened… But I’m not letting that go. I will be pampered by Weiss and that’s that.
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