Every Morning, My Mirror Saves the World - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

The night of the full moon had been a bloody storm for survivors and fallen alike. But just like countless wars throughout history, all that pain and glory did nothing to stop the sun from rising the next day. The bright sunlight spilling over the beach looked as if it had never suffered a thing, washed clear and brilliant by the previous night’s blood and violence.

The peaceful, pleasant beach now seemed to have forgotten every disaster and every trace of the past. It was filled with the laughter of young men and women chasing and roughhousing with one another…

“Galahad, you idiot! Back then, you actually dared to throw the great Lord Vigia into the sea and run for your own life! Get over here!”

“Waaah, I didn’t have a choice… Besides, you’re back now, aren’t you? Can’t we just let bygones be bygones?”

“Traitors must be punished. Dragon Flame!”

“Aaaah! Don’t breathe fire there, you bastard! That is the most sacred, inviolable part of a man!”

An idiot and a ball rolled back and forth in the shallows, accompanied by lighter-sized purple flames and tearful, snot-nosed howls. Youth in a world of magic and youth in a world of science were actually… ahem, not all that different, were they…

Ruiyin squatted on the sand with her arms wrapped around her knees, curled into a little ball. Her face was numb as she watched the adolescent boys and girls in front of her, her entire body radiating a dark, damp aura fit for cultivating mushrooms.

A rapid patter of footsteps came running over cheerfully. When they reached behind her, they abruptly turned into deliberately softened little steps, pacing behind her with a hint of unease.

She knew who it was without looking. So there was no need to respond.

“Ruiyin!” With that cheerful call, a large, colorful conch shell was shoved in beside Ruiyin. Lars, his cowlick sticking up in a glorious mess from a night’s sleep, sidled over with a brilliant smile. “Ruiyin, look! A pretty shell!”

She lifted her head, gave him a flat glance, then continued hugging her knees in a ball and bubbling black gloom.

“Ruiyin… don’t be mad anymore…” Lars pressed his fingers together, pitifully tugging at the corner of Ruiyin’s clothes and swaying it, wagging his tail (?) as he acted adorably. “I was wrong… I won’t do it again… really!”

…For such a grown man, he could turn cute and wheedle at the drop of a hat without the slightest hesitation. And somehow, for once, it was actually not disgusting…

A long while later, Ruiyin finally raised her head and looked at him. She did not speak. For a moment, the beach was so quiet that the only sound was Vigia’s tail slapping the water.

“Where is Orc King Kandaru?” Ruiyin asked.

“He already ran away… but I’ll catch him and bring him back!” Lars lowered his head guiltily, then made a firm promise.

“And the Dark Elves?” she continued interrogating him.

“Quite a few died… Uh, but I’ll help them reproduce!” Completely ignoring the issue of species, Lars pointed to the sky and the ground as he swore an impossible oath.

…Did he think they were pets he was breeding?!

Ruiyin rubbed her forehead and adjusted her expression. Then, in her most serious tone, she asked, “Then… what exactly is going on with that outfit of yours?”

“You don’t like it, Ruiyin?” Lars widened his eyes. “Then I’ll take it off right now!”

Lars sprang to his feet, tossed aside the obviously high-end longsword as if it were trash, then began swiftly loosening his clothes without the slightest concern. Bare back, fragrant shoulders, sharp V-lines, all of it came spilling out like a clearance sale. Just as the little bird lower down was about to spread its wings and take flight, Lars actually blinked at her with no shame whatsoever, wearing an expression that said, “Go on, say something. If you don’t, I’ll assume you’re still enjoying the view,” in the most shameless manner imaginable…

“…I like it. So put it back on.” She was completely drained.

…Had this guy spent the past few days making a special trip to Tio to train the thickness of his skin?

Since they had not yet figured out how to leave the island, the five of them decided to camp on the beach for another night. Although they had ample male resources this time, Juvina needed her beauty sleep, and Galahad inspired no confidence in anyone, so the person keeping watch was still Lars.

The young man sat quietly beside the fire, gazing at the leaping orange flames. The silence around him was almost frightening. He closed his eyes to rest for a while, but in the end, he could not hold back. He slowly crept over to Ruiyin’s side and lowered his head, staring dazedly at her sleeping face. Finally, he took off the cloak from his boss outfit and gently draped it over Ruiyin.

A hand caught his before he could pull it back.

“Lars, are you really an envoy of Dark God Seres?”

Ruiyin’s face was hidden in shadow, but those pitch-black eyes gazed at him quietly. There was no blame or disgust in them, yet his heart suddenly clenched.

“If… I really am, will you leave me, Ruiyin?” Lars asked softly.

“I won’t.” After a pause, Ruiyin said through gritted teeth, “But I will punish you by making you copy the knight’s code a thousand times. I will hang you from a tree, pull down your pants, and beat your backside with a switch until you mend your ways!”

“You’re so strict, Ruiyin.” Lars laughed and stuck out his tongue. “Then don’t worry. I am not Seres’s envoy. And… I will forever be your knight alone.”

His hand turned gently, and his fingers, rough from years of holding a sword, easily enclosed Ruiyin’s hand in his palm. With his back to the firelight, he leaned toward her. At that moment, those emerald-green eyes were so close that Ruiyin almost thought he was going to kiss her.

Lars’s eyes shone. “I…”

“But you clearly came out of the Dark Moon Gate,” Galahad interrupted, unable to hold himself back.
“That’s right, that’s right! And you’re wearing the Demon King’s clothes and holding the Demon King’s sword!” said Vigia, who had apparently been eavesdropping for ages.

“Don’t worry. I believe he has absolutely nothing to do with the God of Darkness,” said Juvina, who had been woken up by their lovey-dovey display.

“…” So after all that, not a single one of these people who had shoved off night-watch duty had actually been asleep!

“You believe him?” Ruiyin simply sat up, looking at Juvina in some surprise. The bat-dung face mask really did have miraculous effects. In just two days, the wrinkles on his little Baozi face had basically evolved in the direction of a steamed bun.

“Yes. Just as he said, this gentleman is a true knight.”

“How do you know?” Galahad looked at him suspiciously. “If we’re talking about true knights, then I’m clearly more…”

“Because of that sword.” Juvina sat up with the blanket wrapped around him and looked at Lars with a rather displeased expression. “How could a knight capable of wielding the God of War’s relic, the Sword of Shadow, possibly have anything to do with the God of Darkness?”

“A relic of the God of War?!” Galahad and Vigia roared in unison.

“A divine artifact quenched in the blood of a Polar Ice Demon Dragon, baptized in the lava of the Abyssal Demon Prison, and capable of cutting through the boundary between dreams and reality… the Sword of Shadow. No one but a true knight can command it,” Juvina said evenly. “I hid it with my own hands in a certain dream. I simply never expected that someone would truly be able to find it and earn its acknowledgment.”

After a pause, Juvina smiled with faint mockery. “Of course, I also never expected that in a party with a Silver Knight and the Dragon’s Hoard, not a single person would recognize it.”

“…” Ruiyin silently turned to look at Galahad.

“I… I knew about it! The Sword of Shadow is a legendary divine artifact. I only knew that much. How could I possibly recognize it at a glance?!” Galahad was practically crying tears of blood.

Ruiyin shifted her gaze to Vigia.

Vigia hurriedly waved both claws. “I… I was only in charge of guarding it! Who would pay attention to what one unremarkable sword among countless treasures looked like? To me, the person carrying the sword was far more captivating than the sword itself… Huh? Wait!”

As if suddenly remembering something, Vigia widened its golden eyes and stared warily at steamed-bun-faced Juvina. “You said you were the one who hid the Sword of Shadow? How did you take the sword from my beauty?!”

“Your beauty?” Juvina opened his slit-like eyes wide.

“Of course he’s mine!” Dreamy light shimmered in Vigia’s eyes. It swayed to its feet and began reminiscing in an operatic voice. “My beauty… He had golden hair as dazzling and soft as the Golden Fleece, skin as fair and delicate as white roses, eyes as deep and blue as the waves of the Biqin Sea, and lips like roses… One sigh from him could melt moonlight into a dream…”

Vigia’s eyes rounded in fury. “A beauty like that naturally belongs to the world’s number-one Flying Dragon Majesty, Lord Vigia! Speak! What did you do to my beauty?!”

“Beauty?” Juvina looked at it with a smile that was not quite a smile. “From your description… could you be talking about the prince of the Sunan Empire?”

“Yes! So you really did do something to him, didn’t you?!”

“Ah.” He did not seem the least bit angry at being questioned like this. On the contrary, his smile was quite pleased. “My apologies. I am the prince of the Sunan Empire, the beauty this dragon lady speaks of.”

Juvina stood up and elegantly brushed back his long-unwashed straw-like hair–his golden hair as dazzling as the Golden Fleece–then stroked his steamed-bun face–his skin as fair as white roses–and blinked his eyes, squeezed into narrow slits–the waves of the Biqin Sea. Then his rose-like lips parted gently. “I truly never expected that even in a place like this, I would still encounter one of my admirers. But my adorable dragon miss, due to our difference in species, I fear I cannot return your passion.”

At that moment, everyone heard the sound of one pure, budding maiden’s heart shattering into bat-dung face mask…

“It’s about time.” Juvina stood and gazed out over the calm sea. “This… Mr. Apprentice Knight, may I have the honor of inviting you to visit my kingdom?”

“Not interested,” Lars said flatly.

“Is that so?” The smile on Juvina’s face did not change. “Orc King Kandaru has escaped his seal. Barring any surprises, he will certainly join the Orcs in their war against humanity. Unfortunately, this calamity happens to be rather closely connected to you. And at a time like this, I imagine our army also needs a knight who possesses the Sword of Shadow to raise morale.”

“What does that have to do with me? I didn’t–” Lars got only halfway through before his features twisted and he whipped his head around. Behind him, Ruiyin had extended two fingers and, with a face full of dark menace, was viciously pinching the muscle at his waist.

“Of course he’ll be very, very happy to go,” Ruiyin said with a sinister smile. “Becoming a hero and saving humanity has always been his one and only dream–right, Lars?”

Lars puffed out his cheeks in dissatisfaction and opened his mouth to retort. “But I clearly–”

“Hm?” An eyebrow lifted.

“…Right…”

Behind every successful hero, there must be a successful tutor. So Ruiyin, in the difficult days ahead, please do your very best.

Author’s Note: Actually, I’ve wanted to say this for ages: Mr. Thief was mentioned before… but the fact that none of you figured out who he was is seriously disappointing!