At first, he thought it was the sound of the walls moving. But it wasn’t.
It was a sound resonating from right by his ear, from inside Rowen’s chest touching him with only a thin shirt between them.
A heartbeat.
Excessively fast, excessively intense. It was different from a heartbeat that would race simply because of a crisis situation or from running.
It was like… a scream unable to control the explosive excitement while simultaneously feeling relief that the being in his arms was safe.
“…Nigel.”
Rowen called in a locked voice.
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt?”
Though his own body had become covered in dirt, Rowen checked Nigel’s complexion first. Nigel stared down at him blankly, then felt Rowen’s hand touching his cheek.
It was hot.
Extremely.
“…I’m fine.”
Nigel propped himself up against Rowen’s chest and raised his body. But his legs had no strength and he staggered. He couldn’t tell if it was because of the medicine’s effects or because the tension had released.
“Careful.”
Rowen quickly raised his upper body and supported Nigel.
Nigel’s gaze caught on something that had fallen to the floor. It was the fragments of the scabbard Rowen had sacrificed earlier.
Crumpled leather and broken iron pieces… it was the scabbard of the famous sword Rowen had cherished.
“…It’s all ruined.”
“Ah, this?”
Rowen kicked the broken fragments with his foot as if it were nothing. “It doesn’t matter. I can just buy another one of these. As long as you’re not hurt.”
Rowen grinned broadly and brushed off his dirt-covered hands.
That smile was so excessively bright that Nigel was momentarily at a loss for words. This guy was always like this. An idiot who couldn’t bear even a single hair on my head being damaged more than losing his own things. A corner of his chest tickled strangely. Nigel cleared his throat and turned his gaze away.
“…Let’s go. We need to get out of here.”
“Right. I think we should go this way.”
Rowen took the lead. His back was a mess covered in dust, but it looked broader and more solid than ever. Nigel looked at that back for a moment, then moved his lips.
“…Thank you.”
It was a very small voice, but it rang out clearly. Rowen’s steps hesitated. Without turning back, he answered with only his earlobes reddened.
“…Don’t mention it.”
Looking around, this was a maintenance passage between the maze’s outer wall and the building’s inner wall. A narrow corridor where complex wires and pipes were tangled.
Just then, urgent footsteps were heard from the other end of the passage.
“Your Highness! Rowen!!”
Lisa, with goggles hanging around her neck, was running toward them, her face deathly pale. In her hands were a spanner and blueprints.
“My goodness, you’re safe! Since it’s still in the construction phase, the door won’t open from outside once it starts… Do you know how shocked I was?!”
Lisa looked on the verge of tears as she checked the two’s condition. Nigel covered in oil, and Rowen’s forearm with blood beading between his torn shirt. Her mouth fell wide open.
“What happened to you both….”
“That’s what I want to ask.”
Nigel shot back coldly. He irritably brushed off the oil on his shirt.
“What on earth did you make? You said it was a festival maze, were you planning to kill people?”
“Moving walls, high-pressure steam, plus even a magnetic field to confiscate weapons. This isn’t just a maze.”
Rowen also protested while showing the broken scabbard.
Then Lisa shouted as if wronged.
“What?!!”
Lisa knocked on the outer wall of the device Rowen and Nigel had entered with her thick-gloved hand with a thunk!
“This isn’t for the festival!”
“What?”
Rowen and Nigel’s brows furrowed.
“This is the <Automated Tactical Training Center Prototype> being manufactured under commission from the Imperial Knights! You can’t just enter a magical device under construction!”
Lisa pointed to an old sign attached to the wall. Though it was hard to see because it was soaked in oil grime, looking closely there was text that read [No Entry Except Authorized Personnel – Under Assembly].
“Plus, since it’s for knight training, we set the difficulty to hell level. The control device isn’t even finished yet, how could you go in there!”
“……”
“……”
Nigel and Rowen were at a loss for words.
So, they had crawled into a trap on their own feet—no, into a knight training ground—because they didn’t know the layout.
Nigel pressed his forehead in futility.
“…Haa.”
Then he grabbed Rowen’s shoulder.
“Let’s go. We wasted time.”
“Huh? You’re just going? You should at least get treatment…”
Lisa tried to stop them restlessly, but Nigel waved his hand in refusal. He didn’t want to stay here any longer smelling machine oil.
It was the moment the two were about to turn around.
“Wait! Rowen! You need to take your sword!”
Lisa shouted urgently. She had operated the maze control room to drop and retrieve Rowen’s sword that had been stuck to the ceiling magnet.
“Here! Since it’s a training magnetic field, the sword shouldn’t be damaged. I’m really sorry!”
Lisa respectfully held out the sword with both hands. If it had only been Rowen who entered that device, she wouldn’t have cared much. But for that Nigel Kaiserion to accidentally enter there! It was fortunate he came out safely and left the building like that.
“Ah, I almost forgot. Thanks.”
Rowen grinned and received the sword.
Click. Rowen checked the sword and inserted it at his waist.
The scabbard had been shattered while widening the gap earlier, so the blade was exposed. Nigel looked at it and tilted his head slightly. Because he remembered Rowen Ashfield happily bragging when he obtained that sword.
‘He definitely cherished it.’
Yet despite that, Rowen had only been checking Nigel’s complexion inside there. As soon as he thought he needed to widen the gap, he had used the scabbard without hesitation.
‘…Foolish guy.’
Nigel clicked his tongue inwardly, but couldn’t help the heaviness settling in a corner of his chest. He should just take care of his own well-being.
“Let’s go, Rowen.”
Swish— The uniform cloak draped over his shoulder spun around. Nigel walked ahead with an indifferent face, thinking about what kind of scabbard he should buy for Rowen Ashfield.
***
It was when they were exiting the Magical Engineering Department building.
Clap, clap, clap.
Slow applause was heard.
“Wow, quite the lovebirds, aren’t you.”
Nigel and Rowen turned their heads simultaneously.
Next to the building where the Magical Engineering Department’s work items were abandoned, there was a student sitting crookedly on top of a pile of materials.
Red hair, amber eyes.
And lips containing a fishy sneer.
It was Veil Khalid.
He looked up and down at the two who were stuck together soaked with sweat. His eyes flashed fiercely enough to be savage.
“…Was the rumor true? Not satisfied with a corner of the dormitory room, now you’re rolling around even in the sacred practice area?”
“…What?”
At the unpleasant words, Nigel furrowed his brows.
“You look quite the sight. Soaked with sweat, you’re advertising exactly what you did inside.”
Veil spoke as if spitting and jumped down from the platform.
He strode over and roughly snatched at Nigel’s arm that Rowen was holding.
Thwack.
“Let go of this.”
No, he tried to snatch it. Veil’s arm was blocked by Rowen before it could even reach Nigel.
Veil growled at Rowen.
“If you have something to say to Nigel, say it with words.”
Rowen smiled brightly and put strength into his hand. Though they were similar in height, there was a difference between the strength of Rowen, who had done physical training his whole life, and Veil, who had only done magical training.
Squeeze, seeing the strength felt on his arm and Rowen Ashfield’s deepening smile, he shrugged his shoulders and shook off his hand first.
“……”
‘Really, this guy and Nigel Kaiserion?’
Veil Khalid looked up and down at Rowen in front of him with cold eyes, then spoke curtly.
“Of course I’ll use words. Anyone watching would think I’m doing something to the prince. Rowen Ashfield, are you Nigel’s attendant or something?”
Or not. Rowen roughly ignored Veil’s sarcasm and raised both palms. He had reevaluated his judgment of the guy when searching for Nigel a few days ago. He had no personal ill feelings toward Veil Khalid.
“An attendant. That’s harsh.”
Rowen shrugged and shot back leisurely.
“Veil Khalid, you still haven’t heard about ‘that’ rumor, I see?”
Those words were clearly a provocation. While saying that, Rowen subtly stroked up near the upper part of Nigel’s arm. At the attitude affirming the scandal spread throughout the academy, Veil’s eyebrows twitched.
His amber eyes rippled fiercely.
“Ha! That’s really true? Not even funny.”
Veil scoffed, but his gaze was fixed on Nigel, not Rowen. Hair disheveled and soaked with sweat, cheeks flushed red, and wearing a shirt with soot smudged in patches from rolling around who knows where.
It was a sight perfect for anyone to misunderstand.
