Chapter 70: Their Relationship

"...By the way, why are we hiding and watching them like this? Couldn't we just go meet up with them normally?"

"Are you an idiot, Layla? If we did that, we'd just ruin Julia's hard-earned day off. If we're around, she'll go right back to keeping her guard up, won't she?"

As they watched Toma and Julia walking side by side from behind a distant wall, careful not to be noticed, Layla casually voiced her question. Leila, her twin sister, answered as though the answer should have been obvious.

The purpose of their visit from the Yaranli Kingdom was to give Julia, the newly appointed Spear King, a chance to relax. Ever since the previous King's Battle ended and her injuries had healed enough for her to move again, Julia had been buried in preparations for reforming the kingdom.

Every day, mountains of documents arrived. The three of them tried to work through them together, but the sheer volume was overwhelming. As former candidates to become aides to the previous Spear King, they had spent years learning how to govern a nation despite having little personal interest in politics. Even so, managing an entire kingdom with only three people was impossible.

In the end, they were forced to accept assistance from Toma, the Sword King of Swordria, who dispatched civil officials to help them.

"...Julia looked absolutely miserable back then. Personally, I was genuinely grateful to the Sword King. I was just happy to finally get enough sleep."

"Even after the war ended, we still couldn't sleep at night because of all that work. If we'd kept it up, we'd probably still be bedridden."

Of course, Julia hated showing weakness to Swordria. Revealing vulnerability to others was exactly the sort of thing someone as proud as her despised, especially considering her past.

Still, reality had reached a point where there was no other option.

More importantly, the proposal had come from Toma—a man she knew from experience to be both her benefactor and an unbelievably kind-hearted person. That was the reason she accepted.

That alone spoke volumes about how highly Julia regarded him.

"That idiot's impossible to figure out. Sometimes I can't tell whether he's aware of these things or completely oblivious. He notices everything about other people, but somehow his actions still end up completely off-target."

"At this point, all you can really say is that he's Toma. Somehow, he always says exactly what people need to hear, but at the same time, you never know where his train of thought is going to jump next. Watching him never gets boring."

"...Looks like you've gotten pretty good at understanding Toma too, Alicia."

"Ehehehe, have I? Well, that's only natural. I really, really like Toma, after all."

"You've grown a lot..."

Hikari watched Alicia's natural smile, finding it hard to believe she had once been so unstable. Her voice carried a trace of emotion, and perhaps it was only her imagination, but her eyes looked slightly moist.

"In other words, the current Julia and the Sword King are basically a hedgehog covered in raised quills and a heavily armored owner trying to pet it without realizing how prickly it is."

"...That's a pretty questionable analogy, even coming from my sister. Besides, that makes Julia sound like a pet. If she heard you say that, she'd genuinely explode with rage."

"No, Layla. Looking at Julia's current state, that's honestly the best comparison I can think of. Losing the former Spear King removed a huge source of stress from her life, but compared to how she used to be, she's still extremely on edge."

"The king on your side sounds like a pain too. Complicated, I guess. Like she's constantly making life harder for herself because of her pride."

"...It's true. The reason Julia stayed in second place among the Spear King candidates wasn't just because of her strength. Her personality played a huge role too. We were all gathered together as potential vessels for the previous Spear King's possession."

"Yeah. If our rankings dropped too low, we'd be discarded. That's why all of us tried to raise our rankings enough to survive while simultaneously avoiding first place by deliberately lowering our evaluations."

Shion was practically the only exception among the Spear King candidates.

Driven by both her talent and her love for her mother, she relentlessly pursued strength. She quickly distinguished herself and secured the position of next Spear King.

The previous Spear King valued her so highly that he even provided her with a fake mother to stabilize her mentally.

Most of the candidates felt relieved by Shion's existence.

No matter how hard they worked, they could never surpass her. As long as she remained in first place, they would never become the next vessel.

Among all of them, only Julia continued to regard Shion as a rival.

Having her body stolen was absolutely unacceptable.

But so was allowing someone else to stand above her.

She despised Shion's kindness. She despised everything about her.

Even so, she constantly chased after her and somehow managed to maintain second place.

That duality—her relentless ambition and her ability to objectively evaluate herself while carefully managing her position—was arguably Julia's greatest talent.

"But Julia was different. She—and only she—seriously intended to surpass the Spear King and stand at the very top someday. She was even gathering allies in preparation for eventually launching a coup."

"...Though, to be fair, she completely underestimated the Spear King's strength. We all did. None of us imagined he was that much of a monster."

"I still have nightmares about the way he fought. Thinking the other Kings might be monsters on that level too is enough to make me sick."

Even now, everyone who had faced him remembered the former Spear King's overwhelming power.

Despite being poisoned by Shion, he fought all of them and dominated until the very end.

No matter what they tried, he countered it.

No matter what they did, he retaliated immediately.

His skill was the living embodiment of the phrase "easier said than done."

As frustrating as it was to admit, he truly stood at the pinnacle of humanity.

The terrifying part was that he had been using Julia's unfamiliar body while having only recently possessed her. He hadn't even been able to fight at full capacity.

In other words, had they confronted him under any other circumstances, they all would have died.

"Even so, Julia was a light for all of us. Her mouth was terrible, but she gave everyone hope."

Julia was the only one who openly declared her intention to defeat the Spear King.

No one knew what motives lay behind those words.

But she meant them.

And because they wanted to believe her, the other Spear King candidates chose to support her.

"The gap between us was far larger than we imagined. Surviving was a miracle. But that miracle became the catalyst that changed all of us—and Julia most of all."

Naturally, Julia would have died as well if Toma hadn't awakened the Holy Sword's power and cut away only the Spear King's spirit.

There had been no other way to save her after the possession.

That was why Julia had gradually begun opening her heart to him.

"And now that very same Julia is going on a date with the Sword King...!! As her friend, isn't it only natural that we support her with everything we've got!?"

"...What she really means is that she wanted to use Julia as a dress-up doll. She even hauled her collection all the way from the Yaranli Kingdom. There's no way she wasn't waiting for this chance."

"What are you talking about? I only brought about a tenth of my collection. That's perfectly reasonable."

"...The fact that you've already forgotten the utterly exasperated look Julia gave you is honestly impressive."

"These people really do have strong personalities. Seriously, how are they more eccentric in everyday life than they were during the war?"

"A-Ahahaha... no comment."

Alicia couldn't help thinking that Hikari had no room to talk.

Then again, being objective about yourself was surprisingly difficult, so she decided not to dwell on it.

Needless to say, following your childhood friend after he suddenly became a king and becoming his maid in order to stay by his side was hardly normal behavior.

The fact that Hikari cared nothing for the authority, privileges, or influence that came with serving the Sword King and was interested only in her childhood friend made her attachment seem more than a little intense.

The only reason it worked was because Toma had the capacity to accept it.

Still, could they really make this much noise while tailing two people with senses as sharp as the Sword King and Spear King without being noticed?

"What are those idiots doing...?!"

"Come on, cut them some slack. They're just being good friends."

Of course they couldn't.

They were keeping their distance, but anyone making that much noise would be noticed immediately.

Julia's face was bright red from embarrassment and anger at her overprotective friends, her shoulders trembling.

Meanwhile, Toma calmly tried to soothe her.

"Still, those two really care about their friends."

"...What's that supposed to mean? Are you mocking me?"

As they walked through the city together, they listened to the voices of the four people trailing behind them.

Fortunately, the others didn't seem to realize they'd been discovered.

Well, neither of them had turned around, so that was hardly surprising.

It also seemed their conversation wasn't being overheard.

"Just so we're clear, everything Leila and Layla said was complete nonsense. I haven't been influenced by you at all. Absolutely not. Understood?"

"I know, I know. I'm not that full of myself. You're an amazing person who can stand on your own. Though things did get pretty bad during the Spear King incident."

"I'll admit that much. But this is absolutely not a date! A date is supposed to be... you know... more sparkly than this, isn't it?"

Toma understood completely.

Absolutely completely.

After all, dates were sacred events to romance enthusiasts.

Think about it.

A wonderful period of time created so two people who like each other can grow closer.

Such precious moments should never be interrupted.

"Heh. To think I'd find a fellow believer here... Julia, I've never felt closer to you than I do right now."

"I'm sorry, but now I really want to know how you reached that conclusion. Though somehow I get the feeling I'd immediately regret asking."

"Huh? Basically, you're saying you like watching sweet interactions between couples and imagining what happens afterward, right?"

"Th-The afterward...? You perv—"

"Exactly! Like confessions beneath the sunset or watching two people agonize over whether to hold hands! That's the precious stuff! I totally get it!!!"

"...I'm starting to feel like I'm the dirty-minded one here."

"Huh? I think you're plenty beautiful, Julia. Beautiful enough that I find myself staring."

"You probably say that to every girl you meet...!!"

For perhaps the first time, Julia's description of dates as "sparkly" felt perfectly age-appropriate.

She had always been emotional, yet somehow carried an air of detachment.

Seeing this side of her made her feel much more approachable.

The faint redness lingering on her face remained a mystery, though.

Perhaps it was simply because the weather was hot.

"I'm the same way. Watching couples spend time together and enjoy each other's company makes me happy. The fact that I can't know every detail of the stories they create fills me with sorrow...!! But that's exactly why they shine! The most precious moments should belong to the two people involved and no one else!!!!"

"That childhood-friend maid really is incredible. The fact that she managed to keep this guy under control for years..."

For some reason, Hikari's reputation rose another notch.

Well, Hikari was amazing, so that assessment was completely justified.

More people should really know how wonderful she was—

"...Actually, maybe not. I'd rather people not realize how great Hikari is. That would be... a bit of a problem."

"...So even you have someone special. Despite acting like you want to treasure absolutely everyone."

"Of course I have priorities. There are lots of people I want to see happy, but there aren't many I'd protect before my own life."

"Finding someone like that can only be called good luck."

"Then I guess you're lucky too, Julia."

"Huh?"

She looked at him with an exasperated expression.

Yet there was anger there as well.

Having something like that said so casually would probably annoy anyone.

Julia had experienced countless things throughout her life.

Things Toma couldn't even imagine—things he didn't want to imagine.

Even so, he didn't want her to believe that every part of her life had been unhappy.

"There are people who saw how hard you've worked. There are people who want to help you. There are people who want to stay by your side. I don't want to call someone unfortunate when they've met people like that."

"They just gathered around me on their own. It's not like I care about them."

That was probably sincere.

Julia likely believed she was only keeping them around because they were useful.

But who could honestly claim that was her only feeling?

Not even she could fully understand her own heart.

Human emotions were simply too complicated.

"Even so, the next time you're about to fall into misery, maybe those people will be the ones who pull you back up."

"My life hasn't been easy enough for me to be that optimistic—"

"But at least two of them already exist. If there are people willing to risk their lives to save you, then your life can't possibly be the worst."

He remembered Layla and Leila fighting beside him against the Spear King.

It had been a battle they had almost no chance of winning.

Yet they fought until the very end without running away.

There was no doubt they had done it for Julia.

No one could deny that.

"So you're lucky, Julia. You're definitely going to be happy someday. I guarantee it."

"...My parents were murdered. The person I wanted revenge on was killed before I could do it. The reason I kept saying I'd kill the Spear King was because I couldn't find anything else to do with my life. I was just going through the motions."

"I see."

"Do you really think someone like me can be happy?"

"I do."

At the very least, Toma believed it would be wrong if Julia never found happiness.

She had worked this hard.

She had been terrified, yet became strong enough to overcome that fear.

He sincerely wanted all of that effort to be rewarded.

"Well, if you ever decide you really can't be happy, come find me again. No one could blame you for quitting as Spear King and running away."

"How did you even arrive at that conclusion?"

"Because if you can't make yourself happy, then I'll do it for you. You've worked hard enough to deserve that much."

Julia stared at him with her mouth hanging open.

Was it shock?

Or pure disbelief?

Either way, she probably couldn't trust words like that after hearing them out of nowhere.

For now, it was enough to make today's outing a success.

The city wasn't particularly developed, but it still had a few places worth seeing.

Just as Toma reached for a map to decide where to go next, Julia ignored him and started walking ahead.

"Ah, wait a second—"

"You're so annoying. I just saw something I want to check out. Follow behind me. And don't you dare walk in front of me."

She spoke with the same sharp tone as always.

But Toma made a mental note never to forget one thing.

Her ears were bright red.