I Became the Main Character’s Demon Sword

30

“Rohan?”

Entering the room opposite to where he had laid the child down, Arpel discovered a small figure covered by a blanket. The blanket cover, which had been neatly arranged, was now wrinkled and in an unnatural state, as if the child had hurriedly hidden under it.

“I’m sorry. I wanted to be by your side when you woke up.”

As Arpel carefully approached the child and began to fiddle with the edge of the blanket, he heard sobbing from underneath. His mood instantly sank.

“…Did someone do something to you?”

He grabbed the surface of the moving blanket but couldn’t bring himself to pull it off completely. However, his eyes were sharp. Even though he had only sensed the child’s presence, he wondered if something terrible had happened in the meantime. Just as he was beginning to deeply regret not having paid more attention, the child spoke.

“…Arpel.”

A face peeked out from the gap in the blanket. It was just a little, only showing the tear-soaked eyes. Though the crying had stopped not long ago, both cheeks were already wet with tears.

The child, who had been silently sobbing for a moment, threw off the blanket and rushed into Arpel’s arms. Worried about a possible fever, Arpel placed his hand on the child’s forehead, but fortunately, it wasn’t concerning. He gently wiped the eyes that were spilling tears and occasionally examined the child’s expression.

“I…”

A muffled voice emerged from within his embrace. It was a voice trembling with tears.

“I’ll get rid of all the people who hurt Arpel.”

“…Huh?”

The words that followed were clear. Arpel, who had been stroking Rohan’s head and patting his back with familiar gestures, paused and looked down at the child.

The child, burying his face in Arpel’s chest, continued to hiccup. When he slightly raised his head and their eyes met, his eyes welled up again, seemingly overcome with more emotion. Before Arpel could comprehend what the child had just said, he could only hurriedly embrace him tightly.

“I don’t like it when Arpel is hurt…”

“…I’m fine, Rohan.”

“Liar…”

Although he was holding the small body close, Arpel felt a bit troubled. He finally understood why the child, who had been sleeping until just now, had suddenly burst into tears and said he would get rid of all the people who had hurt Arpel.

The small presence that had been peeking into the room must have heard everything Arpel had said. The voice that had said every day was painful and he wanted to end it all.

“You don’t need to worry. I was lying.”

“……”

Rohan, who didn’t respond, clearly didn’t seem to believe him. Arpel felt a bit wronged. He never dreamed that the words he had blurted out to resolve the situation as simply as possible would come back to haunt him like this.

Arpel was about to explain again that it wasn’t true, but he closed his mouth when he saw the look in Rohan’s eyes. It was the look of someone pushed to the brink, asking if Arpel didn’t trust him.

In the end, unable to either confirm or deny, Arpel just held the child.

The seeds of misunderstanding grew deeper.

***

Dionel came to visit late in the evening.

Arpel, who had been comforting Rohan for hours, thankfully without the fever returning, only gave Dionel a glance as he gently knocked and entered the room. Seeming now accustomed to this attitude, Dionel calmly approached and sat on a chair near the bed.

“I’ll keep my promise.”

Arpel just nodded in response.

Dionel, who had pulled up a chair as if about to start a serious conversation, remained silent for a while. Arpel didn’t ask about the main point either. Dionel, who had been watching Arpel’s hand as it continued to pat Rohan, finally broke the silence, unable to bear it any longer. His voice was filled with hesitation.

“…May I ask one thing?”

“Do as you please.”

“Why didn’t you reveal that you were the Demon Sword from the beginning?”

Was he referring to when they first arrived at the temple and were subdued? Arpel tilted his head slightly as he glanced at Dionel. It was a gesture indicating that he didn’t understand the intent of the question.

“I’m not blaming you. It’s just that we’ve committed so many discourtesies, I wondered if there was a special reason you couldn’t tell us.”

“…There wasn’t any particular reason.”

“That’s a relief.”

Dionel’s expression visibly relaxed.

There really wasn’t any special reason. It wasn’t an action based on reason to begin with. It was largely due to being overly sensitive to the novel’s narrative that ‘the fallen Demon Sword was sealed by the temple.’ It was almost a reflexive action.

“Actually, the reason I came to see you is about Elder Gilbert’s disposition.”

“Is there a problem?”

“For now, I’ve left him with Owen… but it doesn’t seem like he’ll reveal information about his backers. Although it seems he’s worked with the Salvation Church, it’s not something he could have done alone.”

As Arpel stared at Dionel, who was smiling bitterly, he suddenly asked.

“Who’s Owen?”

“…That guy. I know he’s not interested in people, but to think he didn’t even introduce himself. Owen is the priest who guided you earlier.”

Arpel recalled the face of the man who had seemed particularly businesslike. Even though he hadn’t looked closely, making the details fuzzy, he at least roughly knew who Dionel was talking about. He remembered the man having quite a sensitive impression.

“Among the temple’s priests, there are nobles who have acquired magical power or holy power later in life. Nobles are given two choices. One is to visit the temple, give up their power, and continue living while maintaining their noble status. The other is to give up their title and serve in the temple as a priest. That’s also why priests don’t have titles.”

“Elder Gilbert was a Count before becoming a priest.”

As Dionel continued to explain, Arpel quietly traced the flow of the original work. There had been mentions of a spy, but there were no explanations about exactly who it was, what their name was, or what their status was.

They had only been referred to as ‘the man,’ and even that was barely mentioned a few times after being discovered by Rohan before meeting a swift death.

So there was no way Arpel could have known information about Gilbert. Of course, he had just learned that Gilbert had been a Count.

“I knew all his actions up to now were fabricated, but he remained confident to the end. I suspect he might have significant backing… but for now, it will be effective to have Owen handle him.”

“Is he also a noble?”

“Owen? Yes, that’s right. Gilbert seemed to know Owen’s status too, which is probably why he looked so scared. Owen is from quite a well-known family, the youngest son.”

Dionel’s expression looked quite pleased as he added that Gilbert was probably panicking quite a bit. His slightly raised eyebrows looked quite cheerful, but there was also a hint of lingering concern.

“Lend me that man for three days.”

Considering that this would be the place where Rohan would stay from now on, it was better to wrap up this matter as quickly as possible. Who knows what harm might come to the child if they dragged it out unnecessarily.

Dionel’s eyes widened, as if he hadn’t expected Arpel to voluntarily offer help. Realizing it was because of Rohan, a subtle smile, neither happy nor displeased, appeared on his face.

“…I’ll be counting on you.”

The conversation with Dionel ended there.

Rohan, who had been holding his breath during the conversation, spoke up only after Dionel left. Concerned about his slightly cracked voice, Arpel handed him a glass of water from nearby and held it to the child’s lips.

“Do you like that person…?”

After moistening his lips with water for a moment, eyes filled with an inexplicable disappointment met Arpel’s. Arpel froze, still holding the water glass.

Thinking that he had been caught off guard by Rohan’s words quite often lately, Arpel gathered himself and shook his head firmly.

“I don’t want to create any more disturbances in the place where you need to be.”

“…You’re trying to protect me?”

“Yes. I’m your guardian, after all.”

Rohan’s expression became somewhat strange after hearing the answer.

…Is this not right? As he examined the child’s expression, Arpel belatedly thought he might have said something wrong and couldn’t keep his gaze steady.

“…And we’re family too.”

“That’s right…”

This answer didn’t seem to be right either. As the unfavorable expression showed no signs of improving, Arpel felt restless for no reason. Until a small hand approached and grasped his firmly.

“I’ll become stronger. That’ll work, right?”

“Huh? Yeah…”

The blank expression had somehow cleared up. For a moment, Arpel was lost in the child’s brightly smiling face. Although his eyes were swollen like a carp’s from crying for so long, it didn’t matter much to Arpel. To him, Rohan looked pretty and lovable no matter what.

As the child leaned his head against him, Arpel reflexively stroked Rohan’s head. The fluffy hair passing between his fingers left a pleasant sensation.

Whatever it was, it seemed like a fairly peaceful conclusion, Arpel thought as he moved his hand as if entranced.