Every Morning, My Mirror Saves the World - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

“Tomorrow morning, we enter the forest and search for Vigia,” Ruiyin suddenly said beside the campfire burning in the night.

“I object!” Galahad protested at once, vehemently. “This island is dangerous. Charging in blindly is bound to get us into trouble. And how do you even know Vigia is on the island? This entire plan is completely pointless, and most importantly…”

Galahad jabbed a furious finger to the right and emphasized his point. “I already carved half my boat!”

At that, Ruiyin gazed off at a certain dark shape standing beside the fire: a tree stump with a cleanly cut end and a hole dug through its center by fine carpentry. The cut surfaces had already been sanded smooth, and even the carving on the outside was halfway done… Every stroke of the blade had been soaked in the bloodied wails of the Silver Sword’s dignity.

Ruiyin turned back to look at him. “I think crossing the sea in a dugout canoe is asking a little too much of it. Also, I suggest you take a closer look at the punctuation in that sentence. Did I ever give the slightest hint that I was asking for your opinion?”

Galahad looked up a few lines. “…”

Then, cornered and indignant, he turned back. “…Hey! Lars, aren’t you going to say anything?”

From the moment the conversation began, Lars had not made a sound. He seemed completely detached from the world, merely staring absently into the fire. Dragged into the topic without warning, he froze for a moment, then immediately answered, “All right.”

“All right what?! You didn’t hear a single thing we said, did you? Otherwise, how could you possibly agree to a suggestion this ridiculous?!” Galahad turned and flipped over his own dugout canoe.

“As long as Ruiyin said it, anything is fine,” Lars answered without the slightest hesitation.

“…In any case, I absolutely refuse!” Galahad began storming around the fire.

“Vigia must be on the island,” Lars said quietly. He raised his hand. Between his fingers was a small black, glittering object. “See this? I found it on the beach. One of Vigia’s scales. It came here too, and it may have even entered the forest. It is our companion. Whether or not we need it to cross the sea, we have to find it.”

Galahad stared blankly at the scale in Lars’s hand. A long while passed before he finally plopped back down where he had been sitting. In the end, with a vacant look in his eyes, he dragged his dugout canoe over with one hand, picked up the Silver Sword, and began silently splitting it into firewood, piece by lonely piece, then tossing each piece into the flames…

Ruiyin gave Galahad a smug smile that said, See? My brainless fan really is capable after all.

“However,” Lars said, changing tack all of a sudden, “Galahad isn’t wrong either. This island really is extremely dangerous. Near the entrance to the forest, I saw highly aggressive venomous pythons and magic wolves. There might be even more dangerous creatures inside. So we can’t act rashly.”

Ruiyin’s smile slowly froze on her face.

Within two sentences, Lars successfully drew aggro from both teammates and won the continent’s Best Tank Award for Moving the Continent.

“Since you’ve already figured everything out, why do you still look so unhappy?” Galahad asked listlessly.

The Little Knight did not speak again. He merely stared silently into the fire while helping toss Galahad’s entire day’s worth of labor into the flames, piece by piece. Ruiyin, somewhat sensitive to the shift, lifted her head to look at him. Lars did not look back at her as cheerfully as usual. His gaze had fallen blankly somewhere in midair, and deep within his emerald-green eyes was the reflection of the heavy night.

“Let’s sleep,” Lars said with a forced smile. “I’ll keep watch tonight.”

Only after everyone had fallen sound asleep did the figure sitting beside the fire with his knees hugged to his chest finally move.

Lars’s steps were as light and nimble as a panther in the night as he silently slipped over to the two sleeping people. He gently draped his cloak over Ruiyin, then walked to Galahad’s side and reached out to poke the Silver Knight’s shoulder.

The sleeping Galahad impatiently swatted away the finger on his shoulder, then continued holding one hand high in the air as before, the expression on his face still brimming with uninterrupted passion.

“Galahad…” Lars called softly.

“Ahaha, it’s fine… There’s no need to admire me that much! I am the Silver Knight, after all, haha…” Galahad twisted happily with his eyes closed, continuing to ignore reality’s summons.

After one last moment of hesitation, Lars closed his eyes and reached out his hand.

“Awooo!” Galahad leaped up with a scream. By reflex, he grabbed the Silver Sword beside him, still covered in wood shavings, and looked around groggily. “What’s going on? Did a magical beast attack the victory banquet?!”

His eyes were wide open, but under the purple moonlight in the middle of the night, there was only Lars shrugging innocently. “I did try being gentle, but you wouldn’t wake up…”

“What the…” Galahad deflated and flopped back down, returning to his sleeping position. “Is there something you need? The victory banquet for the ‘greatest Silver Knight in the world’ is still waiting for me to go back. If there’s nothing else, then I’ll…”

“Galahad!” Lars grabbed him and yanked him up, his expression extraordinarily serious. “Stop sleeping. Hurry. Come somewhere with me.”

“Hey, wait… Ruiyin is still… Hey, slow down!”

Galahad, who had not yet fully woken from his dream, was dragged along by Lars, stumbling and scrambling all the way to the edge of the forest. Panting, he shook off Lars’s hand and looked around. “What is this place?”

There was no answer. The young man did not even turn around. His body, facing away from Galahad, was trembling slightly.

At that moment, the moon was directly above them. Under the purple moonlight, everything was softened by a hazy glow. Galahad looked at the trembling back in front of him, and a strange blush suddenly rose to his face.
“Th-this… uh… this isn’t really appropriate, is it?” Galahad stammered. “Even if you feel that way about me… I… I really do like women, so, Lars, I’m sor–”

“Come look at this!” Lars cut him off like a gust of wind, grabbed Galahad by the shoulder, shoved him down to the ground, and wrenched his face around in a certain direction.

Galahad, whose expression had still been full of bashful awkwardness, reached a height of facial contortion no mortal could hope to attain the instant he saw those things. His face twisted as he growled, “Wh-what are those?!”

A faint mist hung over the jungle in the dead of night, and the deeper reaches had already vanished beyond sight. Towering trees covered every inch of sky they could see, while snake-like vines sprawled wildly across them, like black curtains hanging from the dome of heaven, slicing their already dark and narrow field of vision into jagged fragments.

On the two trees closest to them, two dark silhouettes hung in silence. The figures wore battered armor, swaying as the wind brushed past. When the front of one suit of armor turned toward him, Galahad saw a skull-like face whose bones had already begun to rot.

“…” Galahad instantly filled in the blanks from his earlier imagination. Fighting down the fear prickling through his scalp, he asked, “Wh-what’s going on? Why are there bodies here?”

“There are many more inside,” Lars said softly. “All of the corpses have already been reduced to bone. Judging by the style of armor they’re wearing, they should be knights from at least thirty years ago. There are traces of dark magic on them too. In the end, every one of them had their throats cruelly slit before being hung from the trees.”

He looked gravely at Galahad. As expected, the other’s face was already filled with intense fear.

“You’ve been to so many places, so you must know too, right?” Lars said in a low voice. “The race that hangs the enemies they kill at the entrance as a warning to outsiders…”

“Dark Elves…” Galahad said, trembling. “This is actually Dark Elves’ territory! Damn it, didn’t they disappear long ago after the war? Why would they suddenly show up here?!”

“I’ve heard about it,” Lars said, lifting his head to look at the corpses. “The Dark Elves didn’t actually disappear. After the war, they lost the favor of the God of Darkness, so they were forced to leave the surface. They built their own cities underground and have been preparing all this time to return to the world of light. I never thought it was true.”

Galahad shifted slightly and silently assumed a runner’s starting position. He looked at Lars with hope in his eyes, expecting to find some sign that they were thinking the same thing.

“So when we set out tomorrow, we’ll circle around this place and look for another entrance,” Lars analyzed seriously. “We can’t let Ruiyin see these corpses. Besides, if we avoid the warning area, we might also be able to avoid the Dark Elves’ elite forces. Galahad, that’s what you think too, isn’t it?”

The Silver Knight slowly pulled back the leg that had already been halfway through a sprint and returned to sit where he had been. “You’re right T_T…”

Ah, that perfect mutual understanding that existed only in beautiful fantasies…

“I don’t want Ruiyin to know about these things,” Lars said, lowering his head. “She doesn’t need to learn those combat techniques either. As long as I’m by her side, even if I have to sacrifice my life, I won’t let her be hurt in the slightest. That’s what I believe. But… but why can’t I be stronger?”

He clenched his fists tightly. The frustration and remorse he had been suppressing since dusk now showed clearly on his face. “If I were a little stronger, she wouldn’t have to suffer with me the whole way. She wouldn’t have to fight magical beasts. She wouldn’t have to struggle in the sea. Vigia wouldn’t be missing, and right now we could…”

His voice gradually sank, but his body was still trembling. Galahad looked at the boy’s still-youthful, regretful face, and a familiar sympathy rose in his heart.

“Ahem. There’s no need to be that depressed!” Galahad slapped Lars hard on the shoulder and said in a rough voice, “As long as you keep working hard, you’ll definitely become strong! I used to be weak just like you, but through unremitting effort, I still became a Silver Knight! As long as you have determination and perseverance, you’ll definitely become a great person like me!”

Galahad was generous, heroic, and emotionally charged! After calming himself slightly, he muttered under his breath, “Besides, I think a She-Demon like Ruiyin doesn’t need anyone’s protection in the first place… But none of that matters! When it comes to becoming stronger, a great teacher is indispensable. So? How about you start learning swordsmanship from me today? Since we’re companions, the price… uh, can be negotiated!”

Galahad looked gleefully at Lars, who had his head lowered and said nothing.

“I’ll pass,” Lars said, shaking his head decisively. “I don’t have a dragon, I don’t have a Silver Sword, and I don’t know carpentry. Besides, your path as a knight is far too lofty for anyone to dare aspire to.”

“…” When did this infuriating method of insulting someone through praise start mixing in Ruiyin’s aqua regia-level poison tongue?!

Author’s Note:

New map unlocked. Also, Galahad, just where did your imagination run off to?!