How to Live as the Terminally Ill Younger Sister of the Villain - Chapter 20
Sean was a mage. Although his skills were insufficient, barely able to light a campfire, and thus not registered at a magic tower, he could still sense the energy of barriers created by magic.
“As Mason said, the chance of meeting someone is significantly low, and even if we do meet someone, it’s better than continuing like this……”
Sean held back his words, but what he wanted to say was conveyed.
The thought is that if they continue like this, they might survive but lose their minds.
But Sean also knew that Blake must be aware of this. What he couldn’t understand was why Blake couldn’t come to a decision.
“Why are you so reluctant to take the tower’s path?”
To Sean’s question, Blake answered while looking towards the direction where the barrier energy of the ‘tower’s path’ was faintly felt.
“I can’t get a sense of it.”
“What kind of sense do you mean, Your Grace?”
“Whether going to the tower’s path is the right choice or not.”
“……”
While talk of a ‘sense’ might sound vague to others, it resonated strongly with Sean.
There had been numerous times when the entire knighthood had their lives saved by decisions Blake made based solely on his intuition.
Naturally, all the close aides, including Sean, trusted Blake’s ‘sense’.
“Haah.”
Blake pressed hard on both his eyelids. His head was throbbing.
It was a first. To be this indecisive.
If he decided not to take the tower’s path, they would eventually find the exit, even if it took a long time.
But then they would completely lose the reason they came this far. It would be as if they had just suffered and wasted time for nothing.
On the other hand, what if they took the tower’s path?
He felt like they would be caught up in something enormous.
It seemed as if they would encounter a whirlpool so large they couldn’t do anything about it, completely overturning the future they had envisioned, unfolding a world they couldn’t fathom at all.
But if asked whether that was bad, he couldn’t answer with certainty either.
An ambivalent feeling of not knowing whether it was good or bad because he couldn’t gauge it.
“High risk, high return.”
“Pardon?”
“That’s exactly how it feels.”
Sean, who had somewhat understood why Blake was hesitating, spoke.
“Then let’s go.”
“……?”
“Has our life ever been easy enough to choose the safe path?”
At those words, Blake couldn’t help but smile.
“That’s true.”
From the moment they were born, there had never been an easy choice, so why was he being so cautious now?
Wasn’t it for this very reason that he thought of coming to meet the magic tower master in the first place?
“We’re changing our destination.”
He wasn’t sure why he had this ambiguous feeling, but one thing was certain.
If they took the tower’s path, they could gain an enormous opportunity. Something that could become a diamond if polished well, but could turn into a bomb if mishandled.
It was all based on his intuition, but not going would mean missing out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so this was a gamble worth taking.
“We’re going to the tower’s path.”
Rather than not seeing it and regretting it later, shouldn’t they at least check what it is?
━━━━༻❁༺━━━━
Angelina slept deeply. It was a night without dreams.
She woke up when the blue twilight of dawn was seeping into the tower’s path. It was earlier than usual.
“Kruung.”
As soon as she regained consciousness, even before opening her eyes, the fox monster sleeping with her noticed and made a purring sound.
That sound seemed louder than expected, causing Angelina to stir. The sound that should have come from her arms was filling the area around her head.
“Umm……”
Moreover, the feel of the blanket covering her was strange. Instead of smooth silk, it was soft and fluffy.
“Why is it so fluffy……”
Angelina opened her eyes with a deep groan, trailing off at the end of her sentence. She silently looked back and forth between what was covering her and what she was resting on.
“……Am I not fully awake?”
She rubbed her eyes.
But even after rubbing her eyes and opening them again, the situation remained the same.
“It doesn’t seem like a dream……”
Angelina muttered, looking at the fox monster that had grown large enough to fill the entire carriage.
The fox monster had curled its body as if trying to hide her in its embrace, and its lush tail was warmly covering her in place of a blanket.
“Sniff?”
As Angelina just stared at it, the monster tilted its head as if asking what was wrong.
As if trying to be affectionate, it gently placed its face on her chest. It lightly licked her chin with its tongue and then made that pleasant purring sound again.
After staring for a while at the fox monster that had become a completely different size from when she brought it yesterday, Angelina finally relaxed her body.
“I could ride on it.”
She muttered softly and leaned back against the monster. It was cute when it was small, and now that it was big, she liked it even more.
The warmth of the monster and its purring sound made her feel at ease.
“Somehow, even though we slept with the window open last night, it’s warm…… Ah, it’s closed.”
As she was speaking, she noticed that the window was closed. And in response to Angelina’s whisper, the monster snorted as if answering.
“Kruung.”
The breath from its nose gently ruffled Angelina’s silver hair. Enjoying that feeling, Angelina closed her eyes and dozed off again.
As she was about to nod off, there was a knock on the carriage door.
“Young lady, did you cough?”
As always, Haley had noticed her stirring and called out.
“Yes, just now.”
“How about some light yogurt for breakfast? I think the one I made a few days ago is just right to eat now.”
As Angelina responded with a still sleepy voice, Haley spoke with a somewhat excited tone.
“Alright.”
Angelina got up and opened the carriage door. And just as she was stretching, that’s when it happened.
“Eek!”
Haley suddenly screamed.
Startled, Angelina pressed herself close to the monster, and the monster also curled its body as if to protect Angelina.
Its already large body swelled even more, threatening to break the carriage ceiling, and Angelina’s body was hidden in its lush tail with only her face peeking out.
“What’s the matter!”
“What’s going on?”
The knights and Laura reacted immediately. Some drew their weapons.
“Haley, what’s wrong?”
Finally, Angelina asked. Hugging the fluffy tail tightly to calm her startled, pounding heart.
“Y-Young lady! There…!”
Haley asked with magic circles at her fingertips. Her agitated voice carried a hint of bewilderment.
“What? What’s here?”
Angelina looked around the carriage, hugging the tail even tighter at Haley’s words.
“No, that…!”
Haley was at a loss for words.
Wouldn’t it be natural to scream if you opened the door and found the young lady caught by a giant monster?
But to answer that way seemed odd, as Angelina was nestled so naturally in the monster’s embrace.
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“…?”
“I mean, I just thought it would be hard for Senior Laura to clean up the fur, so…”
Haley fumbled for an excuse.
Fortunately, that excuse worked, and Angelina relaxed.
“You scared me. I thought a ghost had appeared or something.”
She sighed and examined the bedding.
“Hmm… It doesn’t seem to shed much. I guess we don’t need to worry too much about cleaning the bedding?”
While she was checking on the point Haley had made, which she hadn’t thought of at all, Laura approached the carriage and spoke.
“So it’s a creature that can adjust its size.”
“Hm? Ah…”
At Laura’s words, Angelina stroked the monster’s head and held back her words for a moment.
In fact, she had just learned about this herself when she woke up, but if she said she didn’t know, Laura would surely lecture her.
“It can turn invisible and such too.”
Unable to lie to her face, she gave a vague answer.
“Disappearing and growing, it’s quite versatile.”
The unexpected incident had put everyone on alert for a moment, but Angelina’s reaction eased the tension.
They felt relieved, thinking that Angelina seemed to know more about the monster than they had assumed.
“But how will it get out of the carriage when it’s this big?”
Unaware of their bewilderment, Angelina made an unexpected comment.
“Kruung!”
As if answering Angelina’s question, the monster’s body began to glow.
And not long after, it revealed its fox-like small form.
“Kyuu!”
It was the familiar appearance they all knew.
“That’s useful.”
Angelina smiled and hugged the monster as it leaped into her arms. Gently stroking it, she slowly stepped out of the carriage.
Watching Angelina stretch lightly, Laura let out a small sigh.
“It seems I’m still quite inadequate to serve the young lady.”
“Hm? What’s this all of a sudden?”
Laura recalled the previous night.
