The standoff between Van, filled with shock, and Rowy, breaking out in cold sweat from his predicament, ended due to a sudden roar. *Rumble, boom!* At the abrupt loud thunderclap, both their heads turned toward the window simultaneously.
“…Is it raining?”
At the ominous sound, Van pulled back the half-drawn curtain and looked outside. At that moment, his vision turned white. *Flash!* Light instantly split the sky and struck down into the middle of the surging sea. And again, *rumble, boom!* The thunder was so resounding it shook the windows. At the sound ringing even louder than before, Rowy was also startled and approached Van’s side.
“What a shock. It’s raining incredibly hard.”
“The weather suddenly turned bad.”
“I know…”
Rowy nodded as he looked out the window where thunder and lightning raged. Sudden weather changes weren’t rare on the island, but this time it felt particularly capricious. Just moments ago, dawn had clearly been breaking blue, but now the sky had become even darker than night due to dark clouds.
Again, *flash*, lightning struck down. Rowy, anticipating the roar that would ring out shortly after, covered his ears first. …*Boom!* It was a tremendously loud sound. At the loud sound that rang even through covered ears, Rowy’s body flinched and trembled. Van, who glanced at such a Rowy, pulled Rowy back toward the interior of the bedroom. The wind penetrating through the window was ominous.
“It’s coming down frighteningly. It doesn’t look like it’ll stop soon.”
“The boat won’t be able to set sail today.”
At Rowy’s words, Van let out an “Ah” of realization.
“That’s right. The Butler, Fin, everyone won’t be able to come to the island.”
“Yeah.”
Until the rain stopped, Rowy and Van would remain in the castle, just the two of them.
‘Maybe that’s fortunate.’
Saying there’s a demon in the castle—if a dangerous situation arose, it would be terrible. Of course, these were people who had already worked in this castle for a long time without even knowing the demon was right beneath their feet.
“……”
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it was. What fearlessness. How could he think to imprison a demon… And what? Experiment on it? At the emotions surging up, Van looked at Rowy again with sharp eyes. He planned to scold him sharply.
“Haaaam… *hup*.”
Rowy, who had been rubbing his eyes and yawning, made eye contact with Van and unconsciously covered his mouth with a *hup*. Then he rolled his eyes around.
“…Am I going to keep getting scolded?”
Keep getting scolded—he hadn’t even been properly scolded yet. What, this is just the beginning. Van stood before Rowy with his mind firmly set. However…
“Haaam… Sorry. But I keep yawning.”
The very person who should be scolded, Rowy, began yawning continuously. Rowy, who had tossed and turned all night without sleeping, was now drunk on the sleep pouring over him and couldn’t even open his eyes properly.
“Huaaaam…”
“…Good grief.”
At that sight, Van, whose strength completely drained, eventually exhaled a sigh. What good would it do to get angry at someone who’s drowsy—would they even hear it? Even while half-closing his eyes, Rowy, who keenly noticed Van’s reaction, subtly grabbed Van’s hand and dragged him to the bed.
“I couldn’t sleep yesterday because you weren’t here… Let’s keep sleeping together from now on. Okay?”
“If you’re trying to just gloss over this like this…”
“You lie down next to me too.”
He should firmly discipline him at times like this… He must… While thinking that way, Van was swiftly lifting the blanket. It was Rowy who, despite making all sorts of demands all night to hold his hand, to stroke his head, had never once said to come up on the bed. Van, who didn’t want to miss the opportunity to lie on the bed together, ultimately succumbed to his desire.
“Ahem, well, you seem too sleepy. Let’s talk again after you sleep and wake up. Just tell me this one thing. That demon you say you’ve imprisoned—it’s not dangerous, right? It can’t escape by itself or anything like that, correct?”
“Mmm, it listens well.”
“……?”
A demon that listens well? What on earth does that mean? Van’s expression became bewildered. At the absurd words, he tried to ask something more, but… Rowy had already fallen asleep in that brief moment.
“……”
Van, who ultimately swallowed the words he’d been about to say, stroked sleeping Rowy’s hair and tucked the blanket around him more snugly. …What else could he do but let the child sleep? While continuously patting Rowy, who burrowed into his embrace seeking warmth, Van exhaled a sigh.
“Haah…”
Raising a master is this difficult. Though Van had often thought inwardly that Rowy was like a child, if this is what a real child is like… isn’t that too harsh on guardians? At the childcare difficulty beyond imagination, Van deeply exhaled another sigh.
* * *
The two, who had slept embracing each other tightly until nearly lunchtime, continued to roll around on the bed even after waking up. It was because Rowy, who had noticed that Van became softer on the bed, kept pulling back Van who tried to go outside. Thanks to that, Rowy obtained plenty of what he wanted on the bed. For example, things like this.
“If you want, you can kill the demon. I don’t really have interest in the demon anymore…”
“……”
“But, can I watch too? The killing…”
“……”
“The Holy Sword, that Holy Fire… I really want to see it…”
At that shamelessness, while dumbfounded, Van, who couldn’t bring himself to push away Rowy nestled in his arms, could only nod his head.
Rain was still pouring down outside the window frighteningly. As expected, all the servants couldn’t come to work. From the Butler, the only one who had an artifact that could contact Rowy, came word that he would come to the castle as soon as the rain stopped.
However, as if a hole had opened in the sky, the rain that only grew heavier showed no sign of stopping at all. It seemed that the others’ coming to work today would likely be far off.
The castle left with just the two of them. The two woke up late and rummaged through the kitchen to eat a hearty meal. They didn’t forget to bathe in warm water since the day was cold. And currently,
“Are you ready?”
“Mmm.”
“Well then, let’s go.”
Finally, the two had finished preparing to go to the demon and were about to set out. As for preparations, all they’d done was dress Rowy a bit more thickly in case he’d be cold in the inclement weather. In any case. Rowy, wearing thick fur clothing, went down the stairs with his characteristic light steps, *flutter flutter*. And Van closely followed behind him.
The first floor corridor they arrived at like that.
Though it was still midday, the inside of the castle, where a storm raged, was as dark as night. However, today a completely different situation from yesterday, when Van had fought alone with the darkness, was unfolding.
*Flicker*… *flicker*… Every time Rowy passed through the corridor, the candles on the walls began to burn one by one. Van stared at those candles as if entranced. The floor and walls, broken and cracked here and there, also repaired themselves as if turning back time with each of Rowy’s steps, clinging to each other on their own.
Van continuously marveled at Rowy’s wondrous magic and slowly followed behind him. After walking like that for some time, in the middle of the now perfectly restored corridor, Rowy asked.
“How did you go down to the basement? All the paths to the basement collapsed.”
“I jumped down below.”
“…You just jumped down?”
From that height? Is that possible? Rowy, who had never once thought it possible to land safely without using magic, looked over Van’s body with his eyes as if seeing him anew. A knight is indeed a knight. Rowy, who had no talent at all for using his body, exclaimed softly in admiration. And soon he lifted his chin.
“If you go with me, you don’t have to fall.”
Because I’ll go down with magic. His proud appearance as he said that was quite cute, so Van eventually smiled slightly. Rowy was certainly a magician of tremendous skill, but his actions were so adorable that it didn’t really sink in.
However… because of that, even more firm caution was necessary. A child with tremendous magical skill. That sounded more dangerous than a bomb. Van, who quickly hardened his smiling face, spoke to Rowy in a stern voice.
“We promised to exterminate the demon.”
“Ah, I said I know.”
“You absolutely must not change your words. In exchange, I promised to show you using the Holy Sword. If you act foolishly, I’ll go alone.”
“I said I know. Really.”
Why is there so much nagging… The sound of his small muttering reached Van’s ears all too clearly. Seeing that Van showed no sign of getting very angry, Rowy gradually returned to his original willful attitude. At the disciplinary effect that didn’t even last half a day, Van laughed emptily.
‘Right. What power does a slave have to scold his master?’
Van, who ultimately gave up, shook his head. As the two walked while bickering like that, stairs leading to the basement revealed themselves before them. Last night, Van had discovered this place too, but it was a place he’d passed by without daring to step on the collapsed stairs and go down.
“Is this the path to the basement?”
“Mmm, this is originally the passageway.”
Rowy, who had been gauging below for a moment, waved his hand in front of it. Simultaneously, silver mana that closely resembled Rowy’s hair combined with the broken stones and began to create new stairs, one by one. Unlike the previous magic, at the movement of mana visible clearly to the eyes, Van was impressed.
