Chapter 18

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Translated By Arcane Translations

Translator: FusionX

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Mirrors were quite expensive luxury items.

Naturally, not to mention commoners, only nobles with considerable wealth could afford them.

But you might think, what’s the point of that on a battlefield where your life is threatened?

Unexpectedly, luxury items like mirrors did not lose their value. Rather, they were traded at even higher prices.

Due to the vanity of nobles who couldn’t bear the immediate luxury over the threat of tomorrow.

The settings book explained it.

That was why there was a mirror in the Time Stop Breeding Uncle’s house.

It was obvious even without looking.

No doubt, he must have stopped time and stolen the mirror. That thief.

But thanks to that, it was a huge help to me.

Because I could immediately check how much fat I had lost.

But this time, I couldn’t check with the mirror.

“Where the hell did it go?”

Was it about a week ago? No matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find the mirror.

I was sure I had hidden it here. Not being able to find it no matter how much I looked was truly maddening.

“Teacher. Breakfast is ready.”

I was startled by the polite voice of a girl coming from outside while I was searching for the mirror.

For a moment, I thought it was a ghost. But fortunately, the owner of the voice was not a ghost, but Helia.

Starting a week ago, Helia had suddenly volunteered to prepare meals for me.

Honestly, it was too burdensome.

It was a bit much to have a future heroine do household chores.

[I-I’m sorry. Teacher. I was being presumptuous…]

So I tried to refuse, but every time, seeing Helia kneeling and reflecting, I ended up accepting the meal.

Of course, I was happy about it. But this was a bit…

“Good work. But…”

“Yes?”

As if still not understanding what the problem was, Helia tilted her head.

Her red hair cutely swayed.

I knew she had worked hard. But…

“Isn’t this too much?”

Usually, I solved my meals with turnip bread with turnips provided by the security forces, or potato or bean porridge.

The food that the Time Stop Breeding Uncle had stolen had already been distributed long ago.

But for the past week, the meals Helia personally prepared for me had too much quantity.

Various vegetables, of course, and even a whole roasted boar and fresh fruits.

In this time of war, a meal of this level was something that only nobles could eat. I knew that too.

But you want me to eat all of this alone?

Before that, my stomach would burst.

“Don’t worry, Teacher. I personally gathered all these ingredients in the morning.”

“That’s not the problem, is it?”

“C-could it be that there’s a food you dislike?”

“That’s not it… No, never mind.”

Helia’s eyes started to become moist.

I nodded my head and reached out to pat Helia’s head.

She prepared this while thinking of me.

I was complaining that there was too much.

I had unknowingly spouted some nonsense.

I immediately started eating. The vegetables, of course, and even the meat were all delicious.

[Where the hell do you get this food from?]

[I personally went out and gathered them.]

[…???]

When I first received a meal that could break the table legs due to the enormous quantity, I had asked out of curiosity.

Then, I received an answer that surpassed my imagination.

She gathered all of this alone?

And that too, alone as a little kid?

Naturally, from my perspective of knowing the future developments, it was truly a roller coaster of confusion.

What if she went into the forest and encountered monsters and died?

Even if not that, what if her arm was cut off or she suffered a serious injury?

Then who would save the world?

Of course, I had tried to forbid it right away. But I couldn’t do that. Because…

“This time, it only took me 10 seconds to catch the boar.”

“…Is that so?”

“It’s all thanks to Teacher’s lessons!”

Helia was accepting this as a lesson.

I had just given her chores that appeared in martial arts novels. But she was voluntarily risking her life and training.

Of course, it was right to stop her immediately.

But… if I stopped this, it would mean that I would have to teach her the next stage of the Thunder Dragon Sword Technique. And that was a problem in itself.

At the very least, I had to come up with a sword technique that looked pretty plausible.

But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with that kind of performance.

But I couldn’t leave it as it was either…

“Teacher, there’s still a lot of food left.”

“This is enough.”

“No, it’s not. Teacher, you need to eat more.”

“…”

“I’ll feed you myself.”

Before I knew it, Helia, who had stuck to my side like sticky rice, picked up a piece of finely shredded boar meat with a fork.

The boar meat, with its juices flowing, was certainly very appetizing.

If my stomach wasn’t full, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to resist and would have put it in my mouth right away.

But now I really couldn’t eat anymore.

However, seeing Helia holding the fork and looking at me,

“Ah~♡”

My body was forced to move.

She worked hard every day to prepare meals for me.

Leaving leftovers was, in a way, rude. In the end, I ate it all.

I forcibly shoved a whole boar, fruits, and various vegetables into my mouth.

It really felt like my stomach was going to burst.

What was even funnier was that somehow, I was able to eat it all.

Indeed, due to the time stop ability, my energy consumption was much greater than I thought.

So my body must have been forcibly shoving energy in to match that. But now I really couldn’t eat anymore.

“Teacher, Teacher.”

“What is it?”

“I have a gift prepared for you.”

“A gift?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

As if slightly embarrassed, Helia’s face turned a bit red as she held it out to me.

What Helia had brought was an iron helmet. And it was properly made.

First of all, not to mention the front and back, it even had a proper front protection attached to it. It was also quite sturdy.

Certainly, I had armor, but I didn’t have a helmet.

“It’s a meaningful gift. Thank you very much.”

“May I make one request?”

“Tell me anything.”

“Thank you. Then please excuse me for a moment.”

A soft girl’s hand naturally took the helmet from my hand. Soon, that helmet covered my head.

It was the feeling of cold iron completely encasing my head.

However, the front cover was wide open.

Thanks to that, I realized that Helia’s face was too close.

Helia smiled faintly and lowered the cover with a single finger.

“Please wear the helmet when you go outside.”

“…When I go outside? Why?”

“It’s just my small wish.”

“Well, it’s not a difficult request.”

In the first place, I would wear armor when I went out.

Putting on a helmet on top of that was no big deal. And there was always a chance of something happening, so it wouldn’t be bad.

“Come to think of it, have you finished preparing?”

“Preparing? Ah, you mean the evacuation preparations?”

“Yes, is there anything I can help with?”

Recently, this refugee camp had been repeatedly attacked by demons and monsters.

So, after much consideration, we chose to evacuate, and the capital had offered to take us in.

That was already a week ago. And we had to finish all the preparations by today. Because today, we would depart for the capital with everyone.

I smiled and said,

“I finished everything long ago. So take some rest.”

“Thank you, Teacher. Then…”

“…???”

Helia bowed her head slightly to greet me, then carefully reached out and gently pulled my shoulder.

Her knee, soft like a pillow, soon supported my head.

Her red hair covered the surroundings like armor.

What I could see there was her red eyes and her faintly drawn smile.

“Captain Hans! Are you there?!”

“Y-yes! I’m here! I’m here!”

“…Tsk.”

If it hadn’t been for Clarence’s voice coming from outside, I would have still been enjoying Helia’s lap. I quickly got up.

I heard a sulky voice, but I thought I had misheard it and quickly opened the door.

Of course, Clarence was outside.

This was the first time I was so happy to see Clarence’s face.

I opened my mouth.

“I’ve finished all the preparations. Can we depart now?”

“Before that, I have something urgent to tell you…”

“It’s alright. I’m Teacher’s disciple, after all.”

“…It’s not wrong, but…”

Clarence’s gaze turned to Helia behind me.

Helia, who met Clarence’s gaze, calmly nodded and said. And I, caught between them, had no idea what was going on.

Why was Helia suddenly being called my disciple?

We were just going up to the capital. Was there some top-secret matter?

Then, Clarence, who heard my words, nodded his head.

“Then I will tell you right away.”

“But why are you suddenly using honorifics…”

“It’s a secret matter, so you must not tell anyone.”

“…Huh?”

I thought something was awkward.

Clarence, who had been speaking casually to me until now, was suddenly being polite and using honorifics.

Clarence took a deep breath and soon opened his mouth.

“The expedition of the Royal Knights ended in failure.”

“…”

Ah, so that’s why he earnestly pleaded to keep it a secret.

If it became known to the people who considered the Royal Knights as the saviors of humanity, it would truly become a cauldron of chaos.

But why are you telling me that, you damn bastard?

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