Maydare Volume 2 Chapter 10 - A Golden Wind Blows (Part 2)

 The final chapter! I'm going to go on a break so I'll probably begin the 3rd volume at the end of December. As for the epubs, I want to go back and edit a lot of things so it'll probably take a while on that front.

Also the novel website released the designs for the three great magicians! Now release Kanon's design you guys I know you have it 

Thanks for all your support! It's amazing how much readers I have now since I started this translation a year ago

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It was a few days later. We finally finished the Potato Report assignment and the whole team went to submit it.

Professor Ponette of【Magical Home Economics】was very complimentary of our report and praised us for working healthily to this point without having our bodies deteriorate.

That meant that some students might have gotten sick from eating too many potatoes or from poor nutrition…

Now that we had completed this terrifying assignment and were able to eat freely, we decided to go out and buy some food in the city, which was in the midst of the harvest festival, and we headed back to the atelier to pick up our bags.

“Ah…”

A knight in black I knew so well and a dragon were standing on the white beach just visible from the atelier.

“Ooh, Leader’s ex-boyfriend is trespassing.”

“He’s not my ex-boyfriend, Frey. He’s my ex-knight. I won’t deny that he’s trespassing, though.”

This was the second time Thor had come to the school. I wondered if he had some kind of business. 

“Makia, you should go.”

“We’ll go on ahead to the capital.” 

Nero and Lapis were also being strangely considerate.

Maybe it was because I revealed my relationship with Thor while I was crying my eyes out before.

“Sorry, everyone. I’ll meet up with you later!”

Then, with my grinning team members looking on, I took my basket and ran down to Thor, who was waiting for me on the beach like faithful dog Hachiko.

“It’s been a while, Thor. What’s going on?”

“...I came to see you, milady.”

Thor bowed like a knight, and then showed me his finger.

He had a little cut on his fingertip. It looked like he cut his finger on the edge of a piece of paper.

“Milady, you once told me to come to you if I got hurt, didn’t you?”

“Yes, well, I did say that, but…”

This wasn’t the kind of injury I was imagining, and I felt like something like this would heal if you just licked it, but…

Still, I was happy Thor came to see me.

“Fufu. Then sit there.”

Thor sat down on a piece of driftwood that had washed up on the beach, and I sat down next to him.

“I saw some of your classmates with you earlier, milady. Since His Highness Frey is there, are they the members of the team led by you?”

“Yes, they are. Garnet Team 9. You know Frey, the girl with dark hair is Lapis, and the boy with platinum blond hair is Nero. They’re all excellent magicians in training.” 

I answered as I opened my basket and searched inside.

“School’s pretty nice,” Thor murmured. I wondered if he wanted to go to school…

“Anyways, are you alright, Thor? The harvest festival’s going on, so I thought you and Airi would be looking around together.”

“No. The allied nation conference will be held soon, so Lady Airi is currently practicing dancing with His Highness Gilbert.”

“Is Airi, ah, doing well?”

“Yes. At first, she was in low spirits after you gave her a hard talking to, but she’s doing well now. The allied nation conference is her first big task after becoming the Savior, so she seems to be full of vigor.”

I see. That was good to hear…

Thor glanced down at me, who was relieved.

“And so, while I was on knight patrol, I saw an opportunity and came to you to have my injury healed, milady.”

He showed me the wound on his finger again. 

“Good grief. You’re not slacking off, are you?”

“It’s part of my duties to heal injuries. And I’m not slacking off. Sir Lionel gave me two hours of free time. He patted me on the back and told me to go visit you, milady.” 

Hoo. That was surprising. It seemed that unlike Prince Gilbert, Sir Lionel didn’t view Thor seeing me as that much of a problem.

I found the bottle of Ribito Salve, a secret medicine of the O’Drielle family, in the basket and took it out. I opened the lid and squeezed out the red ointment on my finger.

I dabbed it on Thor’s injury. I chanted the incantation and healed it.

I tried to force him to take off his clothes to see if he was injured in any other way, but gave up when he told me that would be a bit unwise.

“Thank you, milady. Here is the promised loot.”

“Eh?? Did you get me a souvenir??”

“Yes. I can’t have milady scolding me for forgetting this.”

“I’m not going to scold you for that! Just you coming to see me makes me happy.”

“...You say that, but your hands are being honest, milady.”

I was holding my hand out to Thor, who pulled out a stylish white box and a package wrapped in paper.

When I tried to take it, he toyed with me, lightly moving it out of my hands. I thought, This guy really needs to be punished.

“It’s food, but which one will you eat first, the sweet one or the non-sweet one?” 

“Ahem. I’ll have the non-sweet one first.”

I put a handkerchief on my lap and stood by, putting on a lady-like composed expression on my face.

“Then, this one,” Thor said, then opened the paper package and showed me what was inside.

It was a well-done deep-fried food, round and about the size of an orange. What was this?

“Milady, I believe you like rice, right?”

“Oh, is this arancini!?”

It was said that rice croquettes, or arancini, had recently become a staple side dish for residents of the royal capital. It was a mixture of rice and meat sauce, seasoned with tomatoes, cheese, and salt and pepper, then rolled up, coated and fried.

I took out one from the paper bag and it was still warm, clearly freshly baked. I wrapped it in the thin paper that had been in the bag and bit into it.

Crunch...the sound of the coating was light, and the crispy feeling remained perfectly intact. The oil oozed into my mouth. This was the real pleasure of deep-fried foods.

Mmm, cheese! When I tried to bite it off, the mozzarella cheese grew longer and longer!

Every time I chewed, I enjoyed the lumpy rice seasoned with tomato sauce and the texture and taste of the ground meat. The green peas also made a nice accent. And of course, there was the cheese. There was plenty of mozzarella cheese. 

Mmm, this was very delicious. It was different from the rice dishes I had eaten in Japan, but the rice dishes unique to this country were also good. It was a large portion, but I was so engrossed in it that I finished it quickly.

“Ah, that was delicious. Maybe I’ll try making some myself next time.”

“If you make one, milady, it will probably look like a cannonball.”

“Honestly, I wish I could make something that big and eat it. I’ve been eating a lot lately.”

Thor had already prepared a damp handkerchief, and I gratefully wiped my hands with it.

Since he was no longer my servant, he didn’t have to do this…

In the end, I was spoiled by Thor as well. That wasn’t good.

“Then, give me the next one.”

“Yes, yes.”

My self-reflection was short-lived. In response to my request, Thor opened the white box that contained…

“Aaaaaaah! This…! This is the cannoli that’s popular in the capital right now, isn’t it!?”

The long and thin sweets were lined up in a row, and I couldn’t help but point my finger at them.

Cannoli was a lovely-looking pastry that was a deep-fried wheat flour dough shaped into a roll and filled with plenty of ricotta cheese and sweet cream mixed with drained maraschino cherries, orange peels, and other things. It was similar to a pie roll. It was a traditional pastry, but it seemed to have become popular with tourists recently due to some sort of influence.

“Oh, wow! Big Sis Nagi told me that she walked around the capital while eating the cannoli that’s all the rage right now, and I’ve been wanting to try one.”

So I opened my mouth wide and took a big bite from the end.

The dough was hard and crispy, so it was surprisingly easy to eat.

The flavor of the cream of the ricotta cheese made from goat milk was sweet, refreshing, slightly acidic, and very refined. Rather than calling it rich, it was invigorating. Even though it was filled with cream, I could eat it up quickly.

“I just finished struggling with a report for class, so this sweetness really makes my body happy~~”

As I gobbled down the cannoli, though absorbedly, Thor was staring at me.

“What are you doing, staring at people when they’re eating?”

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking that you’re still wearing those earrings.”

“Of course. They’re my favorite. They’re my treasure.”

My precious red crystal earrings. Thor gave them to me for my birthday, and I wore them everyday as if they were a good luck charm. “Really,” Thor said, as though it was someone else’s affair.

“Your hair...has also grown a little bit.”

“Really? I didn’t really notice. It seems it’s going to take a little while to get to the length it was before.” 

My red hair was a little past my shoulders, and now that he mentioned it, it definitely seemed to be longer than before.

At any rate, Thor sure was looking at me closely…

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I said, “You eat too,” but he shook his head.

“You can eat it all, milady. It makes me feel good to watch how you eat. Ah, I also bought some cold bottled milk coffee. It also has honey in it, which is how you like it.”

“Ooh, as expected of Thor. I’m impressed that you know all my favorites.”

Thor went to his dragon that was digging around in the sand on the beach and playing, and then came back with a leather bag.

Perhaps because it had been hanging from an ice dragon, but the entire leather bag seemed to be well chilled.

He took off the lids of the bottled coffee with the shop’s logo and handed me the sweet one with plenty of milk. He himself had a black iced coffee. It looked like something that made your eyes alert, with a slice of lemon floating on top. Thor, I bet you sometimes drink this during work…

We enjoyed the bitter taste of coffee, chatting with each other as we watched the waves crash on the beach, and spent a relaxing time together.

“...About Lord Eugene Batiste.”

After a while, Thor brought up the topic with a whisper.

“Actually, shortly after Lord Batiste’s death, his fiancee Lira Pisket breathed her last, as if following him. They were buried next to each other in the same grave.”

I stayed quiet and listened to what he said.

“She was already in the terminal stages of the disease when she was admitted to a large hospital. However, she had noticed slight chances in Lord Batiste, and wrote them down carefully in a diary. We are using the diary as a clue to find out when the sorcerer from the Heavenly Empire started contacting Lord Batiste.”

“...I see.”

Because she was his fiancee, she must have been the first to notice the change in Lord Batiste, but perhaps it was a one saving grace that she died after him without knowing the truth. Neither of them were left behind or deserted.

It was very cruel that salvation could only be found there.

“Milady. I understand in no small part how Lord Batiste felt. But I couldn’t make the same choice he did.”

Thor gripped his bottle of iced coffee strongly as he gazed at the sea.

Seeing that, I shook my head strongly.

“No, Thor. You protected me, my family, and everyone at the O’Drielle house by making that choice.”

“...”

“I know that very well.”

I put my hand on Thor’s cheek and made him turn his head towards me. 

Thor wasn’t wrong.

In the end, the only thing that awaited Professor Batiste was the worst possible ending.

“Well, milady. There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

Thor took my hand that was on his cheek, gripping it tightly as he lowered it.

Then, he looked at me with a somewhat sharp gaze.

“Milady, did you know Lady Airi?”

I let my gaze drift off to somewhere, as Thor held my hand.

Of course Thor would be curious. 

I had just exposed myself in front of a large group of people back then. I doubted Thor knew what was going on, but I was sure he had a lot of questions based on me and Airi’s conversation.

“Mm, yes. I remember my past life.”

“...Your past life?”

“It was that day. On the night of that meteor shower, I remembered my past life…”

And, that was the day the Guardian’s crest appeared on Thor’s chest.

I continued to speak slowly, in a calm voice.

“I lived in the same world as Airi before I was born as Makia O’Drielle. And I was her friend.”

“...You said that both of you liked the same person.” 

Thor, I can’t believe you remember that…

It was true that this man had rarely, if ever, missed a word I’ve said, though.

I smiled wryly.

“That’s right. Airi and I liked the same person. He was my childhood friend, and even though he’s cold sometimes, we were always together and he helped me in any way he could. He was the kind of guy I felt comfortable with when we were together.”

I lifted my head, gazed at the clouds moving past, and retraced my memories of the distant past.

The days we went to school together, as though it was natural. Whether we talked to each other or not, the time we spent together was peaceful and gave me a sense of security. It was that kind of relationship.

Yes. That was what was between me and Thor now.

“You don’t remember your past life, Thor?”

“...People usually don’t remember. Their life before they were born, that is.”

“Yes. ...That’s right.”

If that was the case, I couldn’t tell Thor.

That the “Saitou Tooru” me and Airi liked was you.

I didn’t know if Airi noticed this, but I couldn’t confuse or bewilder Thor any more than he already was. 

Because Thor already had his own life.

“Do you still like that man?”

Thor muttered, keeping his eyes downcast.

I’ve been thinking that Thor has been awfully interested in my love life lately, but…

“Yes. But he’s already out of my reach now.”

I answered as I overlapped that boy from my past life and Thor on top of each other.

Of course, my current love wasn’t something carried over from my past life.

In any case, I couldn’t reach him. Even though he was so close to me.

Our time together was always very limited and in secret.

“Thor, what is it?”

He had been looking down for a while now, so I got worried and called out to him.

He finally looked up, with his usual detached smile on his face.

“No, it’s nothing. Thank you for the salve. If I get hurt again, I’ll come to you, milady.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt at all if possible, though.”

“Oh? Is it a bother for you if I come to you?”

“That’s not what I meant. You’re always welcome. No, please come. That’s an order.”

“You said it. I’m a man who will carry out orders without hesitation if they come from you, milady.” 

“...You said something that sounds kind of cool, but I won’t forgive you if you forget to bring a gift.”

“Didn’t you say something like, ‘As long as you come see me, that’s all that matters?’”

“I might have said it, or I might not have.”

Such was a typical exchange between us.

It was as pleasant as the autumn sea breeze, and we both giggled.

“Oh, that’s right. I was going to tell you this sooner or later.”

“What is it?”

“You should just call me Makia. You’re the adopted son of the Bigreitzs, a noble family of much higher rank than me. In the first place, you don’t have to talk so formally to me.”

However, Thor had a very difficult look on his face.

“Milady is milady.”

“Oh, you don’t like calling me by my name?”

“That’s not what I’m saying, but…”

When he was Saitou Tooru, he once told me to call him by his name.

To think that this time it was me telling you that, Thor.

The positions were completely reversed. And Thor seemed to be rejecting it…

“Well, it’s fine. Baby steps. It’s pretty pitiful to make you do something you’re not used to.”

“Please do that. I can’t do it all of a sudden.” 

“...”

But you know what, Thor? There were things that you thought you would do one day, but before you knew it, they would never be fulfilled.

From now on, what are we going to choose, and what are we going to throw away...

I wonder what kind of path we’re going to walk on.

“!?”

That was when it happened. Suddenly, I heard a loud whistling sound, and before I knew it, there was a huge battleship crossing the sea in front of me.

A dark purple steel body, reminiscent of dark clouds. The flag of the Frezier Empire, the great power in the west, was flying, and it looked like it was about to enter the port of Miladriede.

I don’t know why my chest was pounding so wildly.

Even though the sky was clear, the autumn sun was shining, and there was a golden wind blowing in the late afternoon.

“That’s strange. That’s Frezier’s ship. It’s not supposed to arrive until tomorrow.”

Thor stood up and roused his ice dragon Griminde, who was sunbathing on the beach.

He climbed onto Griminde and was about to set off to the ship.

“Wait, Thor!”

I reached my hand out to him. 

“Me too. Take me with you!” 

Somehow, though. I felt as if that whistle was calling me.

I had to go there too. Maybe it was the same with Thor…

“...Okay. Then, let’s go together.”

Thor reached for me and pulled me up.

Griminde soared high into the sky while studded with cold air and snow crystals.

Frezier’s battleship, seen from above, was much larger than I had imagined.

There were multiple magic artillery batteries installed, and a magic barrier was constantly deployed to protect the ship without fail. Even here, in the peaceful harbor of the Kingdom of Ruschia.

A man stood on the large deck.

It was a Frezier soldier, wearing a military uniform and cap that was the same dark purple as the battleship. 

The man was staring at us.

A sharp, crimson gaze.

“Eh…”

Holding the brim of his cap and raising his face, the man looked at me, his beautiful blond hair fluttering in the sea breeze, his gaze like a sharpened, garnet-colored and gleaming blade.

I recognized that man. I could never forget him.

He was the blond man who killed me in my past life——

The pounding of my heart underscored our reunion and signaled the beginning of something.

But I should have known.

That we would meet each other again in this world.

You said it. You told me when you killed me in my previous life.

“No matter how many times you’re reborn, I will kill you without fail.”*

(TN: This sentence is pretty vague in the original Japanese, since when he talks about being reborn, he doesn't specify if he's talking about Makia/Kazuha, himself, or both of them. Having read ahead it might be both of them, but who knows Okay I just read vol 5, it's probably just Makia)

That’s why you showed up.

To kill me, once again.

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