Chapter 49

I was about to ask if it was okay for others to touch your body like that, but I held back. You must have been fine with it, or you wouldn't have let them.

"Mi? What does that 'Mi' mean? Is it a term of endearment?"

"Mi means 'Are you crazy?' or 'You lunatic.' It's a new abbreviation I came up with after getting tired of asking if you're crazy, Lu. It's definitely not a term of endearment. Got it, Mi?"

"Ah, creative. I can't tell the difference from a term of endearment, though."

"Mi?"

Lu tilted his head slightly and sneered at me.

Yeah, that's your smile. I felt a lot more at ease as I passed by him.

I saw a large bed in one corner of the small greenhouse.

Mi? A bed in the forest? The scene was so fairy-tale-like that I found myself running over and throwing myself onto it without thinking.

Wow.

"Mi?"

Have you ever seen such a cozy bed? It's so comfortable?

I couldn't speak, feeling the soft touch enveloping my back, waist, and buttocks.

Lu, who had been slowly following me with his long legs, looked at me with an odd expression as I busied myself with the bed.

It's a pretty unpleasant look. I buried my face in the soft pillow and glared at Lu.

"What? If you have something to say, say it."

Lu had a look that said he had nothing to say. He doesn't.

"Just now, what were you thinking when you looked at me?"

"…Ah, thinking. I was thinking that it's been a while since I've seen someone else in my bed."

Hmm.

"Ahem."

I slipped out of bed and headed for the sofa next to it.

The sofa, in name only, is as wide and high as the bed I use. I sat down on the sofa as if nothing had happened.

'You acted so naturally like it was your bed. Now that the act of pretending to be a couple is over, let's go back to being strangers.'

If it were Lu, I expected him to tease me with something like, "Did you want to share a bed with me? Oh, you're trying to undress me in bed? Go ahead, undress me." But he sat down opposite me without a fuss.

However, Lu was only wearing a pair of pants, which made me feel even more uncomfortable.

His body, despite being a magician, was as perfect as someone who had dedicated five years to swordsmanship, making it even more awkward.

I pretended to look around the greenhouse and asked.

"Mr. Lu. Is Calepha your real name?"

His answer was surprisingly straightforward.

"No."

I was about to ask what Calepha meant when I heard formal footsteps approaching through the grass.

A black-haired man in ordinary modern clothing appeared from behind a small willow tree, different from the others I had seen.

'Knight.'

I looked at the long sword attached to his waist.

There was no resonance.

From his posture and aura, he was no amateur.

That means he's a skilled enough swordsman to hide his resonance.

The black-haired knight spoke in quite fluent Imperial language.

"It's been a while, Calepha. I heard you drove away the Senyots. I've come to attend to you."

The black-haired knight, who had risen from his seat, looked at Lu with a cautious gaze.

No, he only looked at 'Lu.'

Just like those perverts earlier. Do the foreigners on this airship see me as a transparent person?

"You just finished changing. I'll help you."

The black-haired knight placed his sword on the ground and approached Lu.

He knelt on one knee in front of Lu and, with a gentle movement, grabbed the waistband of Lu's pants. Then he slowly pulled them down.

"Stop!"

These perverts have no sense of propriety.

At my desperate cry, the black-haired knight turned around. His hand was on the hilt of his sword, ready to cut my throat if necessary.

'But this one is different from the perverts earlier.'

For this knight, undressing Lu seemed more like a task or duty. The foreigners on this airship are strange in many ways.

'The same action, but one has ulterior motives, while the other is just doing his duty.'

Using physical contact only with perverts and trash.

I tried to start a conversation in a modern way.

"Hi."

The knight's guard didn't lower at all.

There's no way someone who knows Imperial language wouldn't understand 'hi.' I spoke each word clearly, considering the foreigner.

"My name is Daisy Pagger. I'm Calepha's coworker. Calepha needs clothes to wear, not to take off."

The man's face suddenly turned blank. He looked at Lu and asked.

"Calepha, this person is…?"

Lu answered indifferently.

"Didn't you hear? A coworker."

"A coworker…?"

His response was a mix of sigh and admiration, making me frown. Is he not understanding 'coworker' because he's a foreigner?

Well, that's not important information. I pointed at Lu and continued seriously.

"Calepha needs clothes."

The black-haired knight looked at me again. His eyes were like those of someone looking at a lunatic. Does this guy know 'changing' in Imperial language but not 'clothes'?

"Calepha needs clothes."

"…"

"Clothes! This. What I'm wearing. Calepha needs clothes."

Lu, finding my attempt to communicate with the foreigner amusing, chuckled and nodded at the man.

"What are you doing? Bring clothes to wear. You keep nagging."

"…Yes, I understand."

The black-haired knight bowed with a dubious expression and left the greenhouse.

'What's wrong with him? He understood but is acting so slowly.'

Anyway, since they're Lu's acquaintances, there's nothing I like about them.

But I'm a passenger on this airship.

In the end, I got Lu's clothes and he's not a pervert, so I'll behave myself.

I carefully looked around the greenhouse, which is essentially a collection of modern magic.

Even with high-purity, large quantities of refined stones, it's almost impossible to maintain such a complex ecosystem on an airship for a long journey.

'Could all thirty of them be magicians?'

Or is the magic of the Northern Continent Federation far beyond the level of the Empire?

"Is this your first time seeing such a place?"

Lu, who had been watching me, asked in a slightly lazy voice.

"Yeah."

"I'll only answer one question, so think carefully."

Suddenly?

I looked at Lu with a suspicious eye. But I stopped.

His chest is too beautifully scary to look at. I see his naked body every day in the military, so why am I uncomfortable now?

"…Can I ask any question?"

"No way."

I slowly chose a question in my mind.

The best would be to ask about Lu's purpose or identity.

But if I ask, he'll definitely say, "How dare you ask such a greedy question? You're trying to eat me before I bloom."

I'll choose a safe one.

"How old are you, Mr. Lu?"

Meanwhile, Lu was being dressed by the knight.

The coat he wore, like an overcoat, was a deep blue, slightly darker than Lu's hair, with silver embroidery, in a traditional style.

Wearing such flowing clothes made him look different. The arrogant and haughty appearance suited Lu perfectly.

Lu, who seemed lost in thought, stroked his chin and asked the black-haired knight.

"How old am I?"

The man answered lightly.

"You are 179 years old this year."

...What?

"Hmm. Already? Just remember I'm about seventeen, Miss Daisy."

Is that even possible?

'I had a pretty good idea when you said you knew Dian Ket, but 179 years? Is that possible?'

The problem is that it doesn't seem like a lie. Obviously, a normal human can't live for 179 years.

'Either he extended his life with a powerful magical artifact or achieved the enlightenment of a Sword Master. One of the two.'

I looked at Lu's face in pure amazement. It was hard to believe he was a grandfather nearing 200 years old.

"Mr. Lu… You're older than I thought."

The black-haired man gasped and looked at Lu. Lu nodded roughly.

"Yeah."

"You're really old."

The black-haired man looked at Lu with half-anger at my words. Lu apologized to me roughly.

"Sorry."

"I'll treat you better as an elder in the future."

"Ah, I really appreciate that."

"Don't go away."

After that, I fell asleep for a short while.

I thought I had just closed my eyes for a nap, but when I opened them, it was pitch black outside. And, as before, I was lying on the bed.

"Ugh."

Being with Lu, I strangely fall asleep easily.

After stretching, Lu took me out of the greenhouse.

The airship was already docked at the Midwinter High-speed Airline Station. Did they wait for me to wake up?

The black-haired knight, who had guided us to the ground, knelt and greeted Lu.

"I'll see you next time. Stay healthy, Calepha."

With his farewell, we left the Midwinter High-speed Airline Station. After a long ordeal, we were finally home.

I learned one thing from this outing.

I won't...

I won't go outside the house again.