Can an Enemy Become Salvation? - Chapter 44

Ibnel prepared for shooting practice with familiarity. At that moment, a helping hand approached to set up the target for her. When she looked up, Demil was standing in front of her.

“Sir Demil?”

“I’ll help you.”

“Shouldn’t you be by Davian’s side?”

“It’s fine. She’s with the knights.”

Demil looked at Ibnel, who seemed no different from usual, and carefully opened his mouth, recalling the voices chattering back and forth at the meeting earlier.

“Actually, at today’s meeting.”

But before he could say anything more, Ibnel firmly cut him off.

“I’ll pass on that story. I think I know without hearing it. Thanks to the knights, I finally felt better, and I don’t want to ruin that unnecessarily.”

Demil understood her feelings and said no more. He too didn’t want to relay all those words to Ibnel’s face.

“What will Davian be doing from now on?”

“For now, adapting to her own abilities seems to be the priority. What comes after that will be decided gradually. And there will be a banquet held for Lady Davian.”

“I suppose Davian’s appearance is indeed cause for grand celebration.”

Ibnel nodded in understanding. From Karies’ perspective, Davian was now nothing short of a source of pride. They’d want to express that joy somehow.

However, to Demil, it somehow felt like the meaning ‘unlike herself’ was hidden at the end of those words, and he found himself asking without realizing.

“Are you perhaps feeling left out?”

Surprised by the unexpected question, she showed a slight sign of contemplation before nodding with a smile that seemed to admit she had no choice but to acknowledge it.

“It would be a lie to say I’m not. Not for anything else, but just a tiny bit because she became close with the knights right after meeting them. I went through so much trouble, you know.”

Being human, Ibnel wasn’t entirely free of such petty emotions. After all, what she had obtained with great difficulty, Davian had gained so simply.

But that feeling lasted only for a moment.

“Now, I feel more relief. That Davian could meet everyone as soon as possible. For the knights’ sake too.”

Recalling the situation when she first met Davian, she thought it was fortunate that she had met Shuher in time. Though she didn’t know exactly what had happened in the past, she hoped that Davian would get along well with the good people here.

“It might sound strange coming from me, but please take good care of Davian. The palace and the people must still be very unfamiliar to her. And I’m fine with it, but if you stay so expressionless, Davian might get scared, you know?”

Ibnel pointed at Demil playfully as she spoke. As a knight, he had a tall stature and build, and he hardly showed any change in expression, nor was he as talkative as Shan.

“She needs to get close to Sir Demil quickly too. You’ll have a lot to do together in the future.”

At those words, Demil recalled how tense Davian had been on their way here. He was quite used to her furtive glances and didn’t mind much.

Come to think of it, it was more surprising how Ibnel could comfortably converse with anyone. He realized that she hadn’t been very intimidated by him from their first meeting.

Rather, she approached him without hesitation, to the point where he was the one who felt flustered.

“Davian suddenly came to a strange place and she’s alone, you know.”

For a moment, Demil barely restrained himself from asking. Wasn’t it the same for her too, being in an unfamiliar place and alone?

“I didn’t train yesterday, so my body feels a bit itchy.”

Having finished preparing for training, Ibnel took out the gun she had received from Shuher yesterday. As soon as he saw it, Demil visibly showed his surprise.

“That gun is.”

“Ah, actually, I visited Count Eunice’s residence with His Majesty yesterday. He gave me this gun that had been left there for inspection to use.”

“So His Majesty brought it up first?”

“Yes.”

Ibnel nodded, puzzled by his stronger than expected reaction.

“Is something strange?”

Demil hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth while staring at the gun she was holding. Why he couldn’t help but be so surprised.

“That gun, along with the sword His Majesty currently uses… were gifts from the late Emperor.”

“…What?”

Ibnel listened blankly, and when she fully understood those words, she was greatly shocked. Then she slowly lowered her gaze to look at the gun in her hand. Unable to believe it, she had to ask again.

Stuttering unlike her usual self.

“So, so you’re saying this gun was given by the late Emperor, I mean, His Majesty’s father?”

“That’s correct.”

She had vaguely felt it was no ordinary item, but she never thought it would be that kind of thing. Was it her imagination that the gun suddenly felt heavier than before?

“No, then why did His Majesty readily give such a precious item to me?”

“I’m curious about that too.”

Demil was just as eager to know. Shuher had always taken special care of it and treasured it even if he didn’t use it regularly, so why did he give it to Ibnel?

If this was his own reaction, others would surely be even more surprised. Though he didn’t know Shuher’s intentions, there could be people who would misinterpret his meaning.

Just giving an item of the late Emperor to a person from Aodin…

‘No, there’s no way she could willingly use such an item.’

Ibnel didn’t have the confidence to stand in front of the target with this gun. She regretted her past self who had happily accepted it without knowing.

It was fortunate that she hadn’t boasted about it to anyone else.

At that moment, the knights entered the shooting range with Davian. Seeing them, she hurriedly put the gun into the holster at her waist. Then she urgently spoke to Demil in a voice only he could hear.

“Sir Demil, it’s a secret that I have this.”

“Understood.”

Demil nodded without further comment, seeming to understand her intention.

“Were you already training?”

“No, not yet. We were just about to start.”

“If it’s alright, may I watch you train?”

Ibnel nodded readily at Davian’s cautious request. As they spent time together, she would soon become close with the knights too.

“I’ll bring you a spare gun.”

“That would be appreciated.”

She tried to focus on training, putting aside the matter of the gifted gun. However, with her mind full of other thoughts, she couldn’t perform at her usual level.

“What’s going on? This isn’t even half of half your usual skill.”

“Sir Shan, you seem secretly pleased about it.”

“Could it be that you’ve never been able to beat Ibnel until now?”

Training with the knights, she was able to forget about Shuher’s gun for a moment. That’s when Davian, who had been watching from a distance, cautiously approached.

“No, it was really amazing.”

As she said, Ibnel with a gun in hand exuded a completely opposite atmosphere from her gentle eye contact and conversation earlier. The reason she had confidently stood up to the men chasing her became instantly understandable.

“Aren’t you bored just watching? The gunshots must have been very loud.”

“It’s alright.”

Contrary to Davian’s answer, Ibnel could see that she was struggling a bit. It was understandable, as the sensation of gunfire reverberating in one’s head could be difficult to endure unless one was accustomed to it.

“Then would you like to come with me? I’ll escort you to the palace where you’re staying.”

Ibnel decided to return first as she couldn’t concentrate on training. There was also an issue she needed to resolve.

At that moment, Shan burst out laughing.

“Aren’t you going to get lost again?”

“That’s not really something someone who got lost coming here in the first place should say.”

“I’ve memorized the layout of the palace now. If you just tell me where, I can find my way well.”

Knowing that he was joking out of genuine comfort rather than to mock her, Ibnel ended up laughing along.

“By that logic, it’s not something someone who lost completely to me in our first meeting should say, is it?”

“How petty, are you planning to milk that incident forever?”

“Shan, you were totally defeated then. Your expression of utter failure was really hilarious.”

Davian, watching them talk about things she didn’t know just like during training, suddenly grabbed Ibnel’s arm urgently.

“Let’s go now.”

Ibnel nodded, and after confirming the palace location with Demil, she left the shooting range with Davian.

Ibnel walked with Davian, engaging in natural conversation.

“The imperial palace is really vast.”

“I agree. Unnecessarily large, you might say. But you’ll get used to it quickly. I’ve already memorized most of the paths.”

“I’m really glad I met you then, Ibnel.”

If the person she had bumped into hadn’t been her, Davian would probably have been caught by those men. Then her miserable life would have continued unchanged.

“When I was young, I was abandoned by my parents and lived in an orphanage. After leaving there, I moved from job to job until I ended up working at a restaurant where I could get room and board.”

The voice that started calmly was now trembling slightly. She had never had a single day of peaceful sleep. From her time at the orphanage, she was constantly subjected to verbal and physical abuse, and things didn’t change much after she left.

“It must have been very hard for you.”

Ibnel couldn’t easily offer words of comfort. Even those few sentences made her feel how difficult Davian’s life had been.

“After that, as you heard then, when I asked for my overdue wages, the madam owner secretly tried to sell me.”

“What a despicable human being.”

How could someone wearing the mask of a person commit such a terrible act?

“But thanks to meeting His Majesty and you, Ibnel, I’m now incomparably happier than before. Come to think of it, I haven’t even thanked His Majesty properly. He saved my life.”

“It was indeed a dangerous situation if His Majesty hadn’t appeared.”

“He took down that terrifying monster in one go, he seems like an truly amazing person.”

Ibnel had to nod in agreement on that point. She had seen Shuher’s power up close several times.

“And he seems like a kind person.”

At Davian’s shy words, Ibnel stopped in her tracks. When Davian, who had stopped with her, gave her a questioning look, Ibnel couldn’t help but ask.

Just what part of that person was kind?