I Became the Main Character’s Demon Sword

22

“… Haa.”

What followed was a troubled sigh. Arpel’s gaze briefly turned towards him.

Arpel had also read the research journal that had just been handed over. The journal, which compiled the results of countless experiments, vividly described the process of the experiments.

It included information on how they recruited subjects for the experiments, as well as data classifying the ages of those recruited. There was a particularly high number of young children. It was to prove the hypothesis that ‘periodic injection of spectral power into growing children leads to faster adaptation.’ Whether the hypothesis was actually proven remained unclear.

It detailed how many times a day the power was administered, the immediate reactions after administration, and what other changes occurred if the subjects survived. There were even sections describing any peculiarities in the decomposition process of deceased bodies.

“I knew they were scum, but… I didn’t realize it was this bad,” Lexia said with a bitter smile. It was clear that the Salvation Church needed to be eradicated. Even Arpel, who rarely felt sympathy or pity, acknowledged this.

The medicine given earlier seemed to have been quite effective, as Rohan’s forehead, which had felt feverish before, was now just comfortably warm. Not wanting to wake the child, Arpel gently stroked his cheek with a feather-light touch and spoke. His gaze remained fixed on Rohan.

“Do you know about that symbol?”

“This is…”

A shadow rose smoothly and spat out a piece of paper. Lexia’s eyes grew strange. It was an action that could only be described as ‘spitting out.’ It wasn’t a bad feeling, but it wasn’t good either—just odd. Ignoring the discomfort, Lexia checked the seal stamped at the bottom of the paper.

It was a symbol he had never seen before. The crudely twisted lines that formed the symbol were strangely broken, giving it an eerie feel.

“I don’t think this was in the research journal we received earlier.”

“It was only stamped on some parts. About 30 percent.”

After studying it for a while, Lexia concluded that further investigation was needed. Symbols used as seals usually follow certain rules. So even if it was a shape he had never seen before, he thought there might be some commonalities with what he had seen so far.

Lexia buried his head in the paper, trying to find similarities until his eyes ached. He finally stopped trying to find similarities when he realized there was nothing he could discern from the information in his memory alone.

Overtime work was confirmed for the foreseeable future.

***

The next day, Rohan quickly recovered. Thanks to Arpel staying by his side all night, he didn’t have any nightmares. As soon as he woke up after a good night’s sleep, he opened his eyes brightly and gave Arpel a wide smile.

Seeing the child like this, Arpel couldn’t help but vow not to create any situations where he would have to separate from the child in the future.

It was clear that Rohan was attached to him. This was likely because Arpel was the only one who remained by the child’s side after he had lost everything in a terrible incident. Arpel felt a bit of joy at this fact, but also guilt about the uncertain future where he might not be able to stay with the child who was so blindly devoted to him.

If by any chance he had to separate from Rohan…

It was a future he absolutely didn’t want to imagine, but one that was entirely possible. Despite this, his mind was in such a jumble that he had no idea what he should do or what he should say to the child if such a situation arose.

“… Ah. It’s still too much, even looking at it again.”

Even while thinking, Arpel dropped all the documents gathered from raiding the Salvation Church’s branch in front of the people Lexia had brought. Standing next to him, Lexia lamented the vast amount, once again holding his head.

Among the group was the man who had previously helped Arpel and Lexia judge a duel. Although he had heard from his superior to ‘come prepared for a lot of material to investigate,’ he clearly hadn’t imagined it would be this much. The others standing around also had similarly overwhelmed expressions.

Unlike before when only papers poured out, this time three unconscious men tumbled out of the flickering shadows. As an added bonus, they were muttering “save me” with pale faces, though it wasn’t clear what they had seen.

Although it was a mess, it was somehow sorted out. Lexia, looking noticeably more tired than when they first met, gestured towards Arpel.

“I should keep my promise. There’s a carriage prepared downstairs, so you can take that. I’ll assign trustworthy attendants and a coachman, so enjoy your sightseeing at your leisure. If anything happens, please tell them. If it’s something we can resolve, we’ll give it top priority.”

Arpel frowned as Lexia winked with one eye.

Glancing out the window, Arpel realized that the child was looking at it with sparkling eyes. He wasn’t sure how it had been arranged, but it was even more lavish in appearance than the Count’s carriage they had ridden before.

“Oh, and this.”

Just as it seemed Lexia was about to cut his words short, he pulled something out of his pocket and handed it over. It looked similar to the mercenary badge Arpel had, but in a different color. Arpel stared at the black object in his hand for a moment, then fixed his gaze on Lexia as if asking the meaning of this gesture.

“It doesn’t have any strange meaning. It was part of the initial offer, wasn’t it? It’ll be quite useful if you have it for now.”

“…Alright.”

Can you return the A-rank mercenary badge?

Lexia held out his hand, waving it gently, and even shared the useless information that ‘if you melt the engraved name part and re-engrave it with another name, it can be reused.’

After receiving the badge, Lexia left with a parting message that he would contact Arpel separately if he learned anything about the seal. Arpel didn’t know how Lexia planned to contact him, but he wasn’t particularly interested and didn’t try to stop him. More important was the small child firmly holding his hand.

“Are we going on a trip now?”

“Yes, we’re going on a trip.”

“For how long?”

“Well…”

Rohan, now showing no signs of his previous illness, blinked and asked. Arpel unconsciously pressed the child’s cheek, which seemed to have lost a bit of weight. Though less chubby than before, it still had a soft, squishy feel. Fiddling with his fingertips, Arpel hesitated before answering the child’s question.

In the original story, Rohan was only taken in by the temple three years after his village burned down. The investigation team dispatched upon learning of Rohan’s disappearance found the child after half a year.

In other words, the temple would send an investigation team two and a half years after the incident. Although they had received requests while passing through various villages, they had traveled quickly, and now it was only about a month and a half since the incident, quite different from the original timeline.

There was still plenty of time left. The goal of reaching the temple as quickly as possible had already been forgotten. The child’s eyes, which were always bright, now seemed to hold the radiance of a sun full of anticipation.

“How about two years?”

“…That sounds great!”

Rohan’s eyes widened briefly at Arpel’s answer, perhaps expecting a shorter period, but then he nodded with a bright smile.

Despite setting the travel period as long as possible out of his own selfishness, Arpel felt elated seeing Rohan’s joy. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Rohan that arriving at the temple earlier might actually be better for him.

This was purely Arpel’s desire. The sole desire to stay by the child’s side a little longer, fearing they might be forcibly separated once they reached the temple.

“We’re departing now.”

Arpel picked up Rohan, left the inn with a slight nod to those following them, and boarded the carriage.

Soon, as the scenery outside began to move slowly, Arpel felt fidgeting fingers and looked down. Rohan, who had apparently been staring at him the whole time, immediately met his gaze with a beautiful smile. A small smile also appeared on Arpel’s face.

It was their first journey together.

***

The two-year period that had seemed endlessly long passed quite quickly.

Since it wouldn’t actually take two years to reach the temple, Arpel and Rohan retraced their steps and circled the empire, sightseeing here and there.

They visited the bustling imperial capital, quiet rural villages, and even a domain where a festival happened to be taking place. They also spent a few nights at the seaside, which wasn’t very crowded due to the cooling weather. Sleep came sweetly with the gentle sound of breaking waves as background noise.

The only place the two didn’t go was the mountains. There was a village halfway that was quite famous as a resort due to its lush forest, but they didn’t go there.

It was Arpel’s decision, remembering that Rohan’s hometown was a small village surrounded by forests. Rohan just smiled quietly as he heard Arpel say they wouldn’t go to that village. Although his face showed no trace of sadness, Arpel still believed Rohan was sad.

“Are we going to the temple now?”

“Yes.”

It was almost two years.

That meant the day of arriving at the temple was not far off. And perhaps the day of parting with this child.

Arpel looked at Rohan, who had grown much taller since they first met, with fresh eyes. He had grown almost as much as a palm’s width. Is this how much kids usually grow at this age?

As a result, holding Rohan in his arms now created an awkward posture. It was strange to either bend over or stand straight. If he tried to lift the child to hold him, Rohan’s legs would be in an odd position. While Arpel was happy to see Rohan excited about growing taller, he couldn’t shake off a feeling of regret.

“Arpel, can you hug me?”

Despite this, Arpel didn’t say anything because the child would still come to be held. Even though his body had grown awkwardly larger, Rohan would somehow scrunch himself up and burrow into Arpel’s arms.

It might have looked ridiculous to others, but at least Rohan and Arpel were satisfied with it. As long as both of them were satisfied, there was no problem at all.