*He wanted a quiet life. He got a war hero's title, a mountain of paperwork, and two beautiful women he's too scared to answer.*
Lion Fou Bartfort—reincarnated mob character, reluctant marquis, and self-proclaimed future background extra—just wants to live unnoticed. But three days after the great war ended, his desk is buried in urgent documents, his compensation is being docked for every missed deadline, and his sarcastic AI partner Luxion never lets him forget it. Worst of all, he can't stop
Blooming After the War - False Bonds, True Ties — Part Two — The Saint's Smile and the Shadow of the Plaza
Dusk settled over the royal capital of Velmuth, and it was a little quieter than the day before.
The light slanting through the window of the Bartfort family's temporary residence had passed beyond orange and was shading into a pale violet. Lion Fou Bartfort sat before his desk, the quill frozen in his hand. The shadows falling across the documents seemed to overlap with the darkness spreading inside his chest.
Ever since he had touched Luxion's memory data the night before, something cold had taken up residence deep in Lion's heart. A woman with silver hair. A lonely smile. A gentle voice calling Luxion's name. The image surfaced every time he closed his eyes.
(Who was that?)
Lion set down the quill and touched his fingers to the leather bracer wrapped around his left wrist. A plain, unadorned band, modeled after Luxion's terminal. The proof of a partner who had raced beside him across battlefields. And that partner was keeping something from him.
" Master. Your paperwork is progressing far too slowly. At this rate, you won't finish before dawn."
The red single eye floating in the corner of the desk spoke in its flat, uninflected voice. Luxion hovered in the same spot as yesterday. The same voice as yesterday, hurrying Lion along the same way as yesterday. Nothing had changed.
"Shut up. I'm thinking over here."
Lion answered without looking up. There was no force behind his voice. Normally he'd have fired back something sharper. But today he didn't have the energy.
" Thinking, are you? How surprising that Master possesses a capacity for thought. I was quite certain your head could do nothing but calculate rewards."
"...Yeah, that's right. I was calculating money. Wondering how much I'd get once the war-reparations paperwork was done."
Lion gave a careless reply. In truth, he wasn't calculating money at all. Luxion's secret wouldn't leave the corner of his mind. But he couldn't bring himself to speak of it honestly.
Luxion's red eye flickered slowly, brightening and dimming. A pause, as though it wanted to say something. But Luxion said nothing more.
A heavy silence fell over the room. Outside the window, the sound of wagon wheels grinding over cobblestones drew near and faded again. The evening air seemed to seep right through the walls.
Then it came.
A knock. Tap, tap.
A reserved knock echoed through the quiet room.
Lion raised his head. He had no visitors scheduled. Who would come calling at this hour?
"Lion, are you in?"
The voice from beyond the door was soft, yet clear. Lion knew that voice. No—knew was an understatement. It was a voice he had called to mind again and again over the past few days.
"Olivia..."
Lion murmured under his breath and rose from his chair. He approached the door slowly, careful not to make a sound. Before opening it, he took one deep breath. He would not let yesterday's unrest show on his face.
He opened the door.
Standing there was a petite girl with flaxen hair trimmed neatly at her shoulders. Her blue eyes caught the twilight and sparkled. A white blouse, a deep green skirt. Plain clothing, yet there was something almost sacred about her.
Olivia. A special scholarship student at the Royal Academy of Magic—a commoner by birth who had awakened the power of a saint in the great war, and whose name was now known to every soul in the capital. But to Lion, before any of those titles, she was simply the girl who always came running up to him with a smile.
" Lion! Oh, thank goodness—I found you!"
Olivia's face lit up all at once. It was as if the sun had suddenly appeared in the dim twilight corridor.
" O-oh. What's up, all of a sudden?"
Lion asked, taking a step back. He was a little overwhelmed by her momentum.
" Um, well... I wanted to see you today, Lion. Am I intruding?"
Olivia peered up at his face from below. Her blue eyes wavered with unease. She was worried she might be a bother.
"No, you're not intruding. Come in."
Lion said it brusquely and opened the door wide. Truthfully, he'd wanted to be alone right now. He'd wanted to think more about Luxion. But when he saw Olivia's face, he couldn't turn her away.
" Thank you! Excuse me, then!"
Olivia smiled happily and hopped into the room. A faint scent of soap came from her small frame. Clean and soft.
Lion showed her in and returned to his desk. As he moved to sit, he noticed Olivia was still standing.
"Have a seat wherever. Sorry it's a mess."
" Yes. I'll take you up on that, then."
Olivia perched herself on the guest sofa in the corner of the room. Her back straight, both hands resting on her knees. A well-mannered way of sitting.
" Master. Showing a lady into a room strewn with documents—as insensitive as ever, I see."
Luxion's red eye fixed steadily on Lion.
"Shut up. It's a mess because you never clean it."
" To demand housework of me—what exactly does Master take me for?"
" A convenient floating orb."
" Hee hee. Lux and Lion really do get along so well."
Olivia gave a small laugh. That smile softened the air in the room in an instant.
" Get along? Where exactly?"
" Well, because I could never talk to Lux as casually as you do, Lion. It must mean you trust each other that much."
Olivia said it with a serious expression. Her words sent a small pang through Lion's chest.
(Trust, huh.)
Lion glanced at Luxion's red eye. Luxion floated there saying nothing. That expressionless orb—Lion had placed his trust in it. No, he still did. But Luxion was keeping something from him.
"...Anyway. You want something to drink? All I've got is tea."
Lion changed the subject. He didn't want to talk any more about his relationship with Luxion.
" Oh, please don't trouble yourself. I'll be going soon."
" Don't be polite. You came all this way—let me at least pour you some tea."
Lion stood and headed for the small water-heating stand in the corner. A simple heater that used a magic stone to generate heat, boiling the water. Steam rose, and the scent of tea leaves spread through the room.
Lion brewed the tea quickly and set a cup before Olivia. Another for himself. Then he returned to his desk.
" Thank you. I'll have some."
Olivia wrapped both hands around the cup and took a sip. She let out a relieved breath. The gesture was oddly graceful.
" It's delicious. Tea you made for me, Lion—it makes me happy."
" Well, thanks. The leaves are cheap, though."
Lion picked up his own cup and drank. The warm liquid passed down his throat. Just a little, his mood settled.
For a while, the two of them drank their tea in silence. Outside the window, the twilight sky deepened gradually into a dark indigo. In the distance, the bell signaling the night watch's changing of the guard rang once.
"...Lion."
It was Olivia who broke the silence.
"Hm?"
" Um—did something happen?"
Olivia's blue eyes looked straight at him. Her gaze was serious, worried, and yet somehow sharp.
" Huh? Why would you think that?"
Lion tried to play dumb. But Olivia's gaze didn't waver.
" Because you've been distant the whole time, Lion. Even when I arrived, you looked so gloomy. And even now, you keep staring off into the distance."
Olivia set her cup on her lap and clenched both hands tight.
" I watch you closely, Lion. So I can tell. Something's troubling you."
Lion was at a loss for words. Olivia's powers of observation were sharper than he'd thought. Or perhaps his unrest showed on his face more than he realized.
" ...It's nothing serious. Just too much postwar paperwork. I was fed up with it."
Lion hedged again. He couldn't tell Olivia about Luxion's fiancée. He hadn't even sorted it out within himself yet. And he didn't want to drag her into it.
" ...I see."
Olivia's shoulders dropped, just slightly. She didn't believe him. It was plain from her expression.
" But Lion—please don't push yourself too hard. You always try to carry everything alone."
Olivia lifted her face and looked at him. In her eyes dwelled a strong will.
" I want to be a help to you, Lion. I want you to tell me anything. If there's something I can do, I'll do whatever it takes."
Olivia's voice was utterly earnest. Her words seeped slowly into the depths of Lion's chest.
"...Olivia."
Lion spoke her name. He didn't know what to say.
" If you don't want to tell me, Lion, that's all right. But I want you to at least know how I feel."
Olivia set her cup on the table and stood. She stood directly before him.
" I want to be a help to you, Lion. I've always felt that way. During the great war, now, and from here on."
Her words were heavy and warm, and they pierced Lion's heart.
(Why is she so straightforward?)
Lion was overwhelmed by Olivia's purity. At the same time, he was saved by it. Into a heart gone cold over Luxion's secret, Olivia's words had kindled a warm light.
"...Thanks."
Lion murmured it. It was the fullest expression of gratitude he could manage.
" No—I'm the one who's happy, getting to see your face, Lion."
Olivia smiled brightly. That smile seemed to shine brighter than anything else in the twilight room.
After Olivia left, silence settled over the room once more. But it was somehow different from the heavy silence of before.
Lion gazed vaguely at the sofa where she had sat. It felt as though her warmth still lingered there.
" Master. You didn't tell Olivia, then."
Luxion's red eye looked at him.
"...Tell her what?"
" About my memory data. You had ample opportunity."
" How could I? I still haven't sorted it out myself."
Lion spat the words out.
" What does Master need to sort out? That is data unrelated to you."
" It is related! You're my partner. How could I not wonder what my partner is hiding from me?"
Lion raised his voice. He hadn't expected to get this emotional himself.
Luxion's red eye flickered slowly.
" ...Master. I am your partner. That has not changed. However, my past data is of no concern to you."
Luxion's voice was as flat as ever. But in the edges of those words, Lion sensed a faint rejection.
"...I see."
Lion said nothing more. There was plenty he wanted to say. Plenty he wanted to ask. But Luxion's attitude would not permit him to press further.
(An uncrossable wall, huh.)
Lion murmured it in his heart.
The next day.
The central plaza of the royal capital Velmuth was bustling with postwar reconstruction. The rebuilding of burned houses was underway, and merchants' vigorous voices flew back and forth across the market. Wagons and people came and went over the cobblestones, and the lively clamor echoed high into the sky.
Lion and Olivia walked side by side through the central plaza. Their purpose was to buy the materials needed for investigating relics of the old civilization. Thanks to Olivia's visit the day before, Lion's heart had lightened, just a little.
" Lion, look! That shop over there has so many beautiful fabrics!"
Olivia said happily, her gaze darting everywhere as she walked beside him.
" You came here to shop for supplies, didn't you? Is this really the time to be looking at fabric?"
" But it's been so long since I came to the central plaza. And I'm happy just walking beside you, Lion."
Olivia smiled, a little embarrassed. That smile shone as brightly as ever today.
Lion caught sight of it and found himself looking away.
(This girl says things like that without even realizing it—that's what makes her dangerous.)
Lion cursed inwardly. But deep down, he felt glad, too, to be walking with her.
" Master. The shop for supplies is that used bookstore over there. You're going the wrong way."
Luxion's voice reached Lion's ear. Luxion was speaking through the bracer on Lion's left arm.
" Shut up. Let me take a little detour."
" Master's detours always end in waste. A waste of time."
" The waste of time is your lecturing."
" Hee hee. Lux, you sound like you're enjoying talking with Lion."
Olivia laughed again.
" Where do you get that? It's just teasing me."
" But Lion, whe
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