Firefinch (2)

Alex sat on the bed and looked at Inger.

"You were so sleepy yesterday that you couldn't get up in the morning. Why didn't you go to bed earlier?"

"If you sleep, I can sleep."

"Isn't my sleepwalking cured yet?"

"Let's see the effect today. If it works, I can go to bed early."

Alex raised his eyebrows: "Why don't you just knock me out?"

Inger made up a reason: "To forcibly interrupt a sleepwalker might cause shock or brain death."

Alex was startled and lay down quickly.

Inger smiled faintly.

[I actually believed it. You are indeed a fool. ]

But after Alex closed his eyes, the room returned to silence.

Inger couldn't help feeling uneasy.

He strongly hoped that the guy would not come back.

But he had a very strong feeling that the guy would definitely come back.

"Xuer?"

"..." Inger slowly raised his eyes, only to see Ellie staring at him intently. Inger closed the book and sighed, "It seems like it didn't work?"

Ellie's green eyes darkened and she smiled and said, "What didn't work?"

Inger walked over and lay down under the quilt: "Well, didn't I do an experiment yesterday? Ellie, you always get up at night, and I wanted you to sleep more peacefully, but I don't know what went wrong, and you fainted directly."

"It's a bit dangerous. I won't do it anymore. You should adjust yourself. Now let me sleep. I'm going to sleep too. I can't stand waiting for you every day. Haha——"

Inger yawned with his back to Ellie.

【It seems that the spell can only work once. 】

Ellie was silent, but Inger could feel him slowly lying down.

Inger just hopes this guy doesn't do anything.

But his hopes were dashed.

Ellie whispered, "I want to go out and look at the moon."

Inger asked, "Why are you going so late?"

Ellie: "Would you like to talk to me?"

Inger: "Oh no, didn't I say I was going to sleep?"

Ellie: "Then can you sing a lullaby for me?"

Inger half opened his eyes.

【How come these two are the same in this regard? 】

Inger had no choice but to say, "I can't sing it. Sing it to yourself."

Eli said, "Then I'll sing it for you."

"la...lala...lala...lala...la...lala...lala...lala...lalala...lalala..."

No words, just melody.

But very gentle and hypnotic.

The voice was still Alex's, hoarse and deep.

Inger wanted to listen to the whole song, but his eyelids were drooping.

Finally he fell into a deep sleep. Of course he was pretending. He wanted to see what he was going to do.

After singing for a while, Ellie turned sideways, stood up, and gently lifted the hair on the side of Inger's face with his fingers. After seeing that his breathing was even, he quietly got up.

He flipped through the books on the table.

I still couldn't understand the words above, so I gave up.

He walked out of the hotel quietly, walked half a circle on the quiet street and then walked back.

Inger did not follow him out, nor did he get up. He just continued to lie there, not wanting to startle anyone. But his body was tense all the time.

But as he said, he really just admired the moon.

He strolled along the street, muttering in an incomprehensible language: *"It's better during the day, but this body can't go in during the day... This person is really special..."

*"Xuer...I haven't seen you before...Were you dead before that?"

* "If it's just acting... But it's still interesting..."

* “I will make good use of you this time... Don’t let me down again... Humans... Hehe”

*“Tsk, not being able to read and write is a big problem. How can I get Shul to teach me how to read and write?”

…

In the next few days, the two continued their journey south.

But "Avery" no longer appeared.

The two were sitting in the carriage at this time.

"Aren't you going to go check out the house?" Alex asked.

Inger said calmly, "My family is not there, so there is no need. And you have seen it along the way. The people in several towns don't know much about their lords, nor are they interested in them."

Alex smiled, holding his cheek and said, "Yes, the effectiveness of the governance of a territory or a town can be seen from the lives of the lower-class civilians."

It's not complaining, nor is it keeping silent, nor is it keeping silent, nor is it very loving.

The people were not very interested in the lords who were in charge of the lords. They were focused on their own lives and were satisfied with the peaceful and stable days. At the same time, as the times progressed, life was slowly getting better.

"Your father is very good at choosing people."

“It’s always been like this.”

But it was his own territory after all, so Inger wrote a few letters to his father in the last town to report the situation of the territory and sent them through the post office.

"Are we heading to the Southern Duke's territory now?"

Inger opened the curtain and saw the sparkling lake. "Yes. The eldest princess said that a kind of herb appeared there. And the materials also mentioned the South China Sea Phoenix Flower and the Sea God Pearl. I want to look for clues there."

Alex remembered what Ola said to Inger before they left: "Christine must have foreseen that we would go there."

Inger glanced at him and said, "Does this require a prophecy? The eldest princess told her, right?"

“Hahaha, that’s right.”

The two settled down at the southern border of Neka territory. The climate here has begun to warm up. It is now the end of February.

"Look, what is this?"

Alex unfolded the oilcloth and showed it to Inger.

Inside is a large dark brown pine cone.

"...bread?" Inger could already smell it.

Alex broke off a piece and stuffed it into Inger's mouth: "It's a cookie!"

Inger took a few bites. It was crunchy, not like a cookie, but a bit like the meal replacement chips he had eaten before.

"Sit down, let's continue playing chess."

Alex has made great progress in the past few days. The rules of Go itself are somewhat similar to those of deploying troops, so it is not a difficult task for him who is often on the battlefield.

Alex chatted with him while playing chess: "This game is good. Kumpeu must like it very much. He often plays chess by himself at home, and I can never beat him."

Inger looked at the chessboard without raising his head: "Really? Then you can teach him when you go back. But what will he do if you leave?"

Alex put the grapes in his palm and grinned: "I asked him to eavesdrop on the class."

Inger looked at him, a little speechless: "..."

He quickly realized that this was the best solution.

Kunpeiwu's identity was very embarrassing in the academy, and it was estimated that many nobles would dislike him. With his identity, it was impossible for him to enter the classroom and listen to the lectures properly.

"I spent some money to bribe a waiter in the cafeteria to do odd jobs in the cafeteria. In fact, he can go outside the classroom to eavesdrop during his work hours. When he wants to read, he goes to the library. When he eats, he eats in the cafeteria."

"...You are a prince after all."

"I am just a prince without any real power or reputation. For Kun now, learning more is more important than gaining a little self-esteem." Alex picked up the chess piece and tapped it on the chessboard. "I hope he becomes stronger, strong enough to protect himself on the battlefield and survive."

He would still gather around him those who were once his comrades, but he would do everything he could to increase their chances of survival and make them stronger.

Most importantly, Alex himself has become stronger.

He has over 20 years of battlefield experience and mastered swordsmanship to perfection.

All these things will bring about qualitative changes.

But at the same time, Inger couldn't help but think of the possessed Ellie.

If the demon king over there returns with his memories as he thought, then the outcome is hard to predict.

Ellie hasn't shown up these days. There are only two possibilities.

One, he possessed other humans in the Western Continent.

Ellie probably already knew that he couldn't possess Alex during the day, and the information he could collect at night was limited. He practiced Tai Chi with the so-called Shuul for a while, but got nothing. So, it was a reasonable choice to turn to other people.

This was beyond his control. There were hundreds of millions of people in the Western Continent, and he had no idea which person the other party would possess.

Second, what happened there?

The demons are not harmonious with each other, and killing each other is common. In the Eastern Continent, the law of the jungle is the only rule.

Why doesn't he possess me?

Inger couldn't help but think of this question.

But the answer came quickly.

Ellie wanted to continue possessing Alex, but Alex could not be possessed during the day and lost consciousness at night, making it more difficult to expose him.

But this is not necessarily the case with "Sauer".

He didn't think Inger's body was so special that it could resist mental attacks like the protagonist.

And once he is possessed while conscious, he will definitely notice that something is wrong.

Ellie is very smart. After a period of communication, he knows that "Xuer" is not a fool.

He is a wizard and is very sensitive to such things. He can't be easily exposed in front of him.

[No, since he knows Alex's face, he should know that his eyes are golden.]

[So he was still acting with me even though he knew he was exposed? ]

【Why? 】

Inger narrowed his eyes.

Alex asked, "What are you thinking about? Why are you so absent-minded? You spend a lot of time thinking..."

Inger came to his senses and made his move.

Alex looked over there for a long time, then opened his mouth and said, "I'm gone again. Ying, that's amazing."

"You can tell the direction before the end. Your progress is really fast. Sort it out."

Alex refused to admit defeat and said, "I must make you sort out the chess pieces once."

Finne screamed, as if responding to him.

In the evening, when Inger came out of the bathroom after taking a shower, Alex sat at the window looking at the moon.

His hair was wet like a golden retriever drenched in rain.

"Alex, you'll keep watch for me today."

Alex turned around and said, "Of course you can, but why?"

Inger said, "I want to do an experiment."

Alex asked curiously, "What experiment?"

Inger said seriously, "I want to see if I can sleepwalk."

Alex was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Inger looked at him expressionlessly and smiled.

Only a fool would believe such a ridiculous excuse.

"Okay, I'll watch you sleep today. Do you want me to sing a lullaby for you?"

Inger looked at him as he lay down on the bed: "Why do you like lullaby so much?"

Alex blinked and thought for a moment: "...My mother often sang lullabies to me when I was a child. Later, I had too many nightmares, and I could only fall asleep by singing lullabies to myself..."

nightmare.

He knew why without asking.

"Sorry..." Inger lowered his eyelids and whispered.

Alex: "Why are you apologizing? I've never had a dream since I slept with you these days. I'm the one who should be thanking you."

Alex patted Inger's shoulder, and his expression softened.

In this era when people know nothing about the cruel future in the near future, there is someone who knows their past, understands themselves, and stays by their side.

He was really grateful.

"Ying, I will definitely let you get the life you want. I swear."

Alex whispered softly.

He had repeated this sentence to himself countless times.

Inger fell into a dream under his gentle singing.

This was the first time Alex watched Inger fall asleep.

No groans from pain and no terrors from nightmares.

Inger in his sleep is really just a quiet child, with a childish and peaceful face when sleeping, a pampered little prince.

When Alex talked to him during the day, he always had a hard time thinking of him as a 16-year-old.

His wisdom and aura are so mature, and he always has an adaptable mentality.

Looking into my own eyes, I often cannot understand them.

That look of being afraid to get close yet unable to help worrying about everything is not frank enough, but cute enough.

He knew that this person would never fight alongside him in the future, but as long as he lived in this world, it was enough.

People who had never existed beside him in the past.

It’s hard to describe the feeling of peace and contentment.

The night was silent.

Alex enjoyed the peace, reading a book or looking at Inger.

However, a sharp pain suddenly hit my head.

Suddenly disappeared again.

Alex frowned.

I always feel that this pain is familiar.

***

The next day, Inger got up and Alex greeted him while doing one-handed push-ups.

"Morning?"

Inger was confused for a few seconds and rubbed his eyes: "...Alex, did I sleepwalk yesterday?"

"No, not even a turn."

"……Why are you like this……"

Alex raised his face, sweat dripping down his chin to the floor, and smiled: "Knights generally won't die even if they don't eat, drink or sleep for three or four days."

Inger was very upset and asked, "...Did you notice anything unusual yesterday?"

"What's wrong?"

Alex remembered the throbbing pain in his head yesterday and looked at Inger.

[Yesterday? He expected it? What does that mean?]

Inger rubbed his head and said, "Nothing, I just asked casually."

Alex suddenly said, "I had a headache yesterday, but it went away quickly."

Alex stared at him with clear golden eyes. Inger was stunned, his eyes were hazy as if he hadn't woken up yet: "...Really? Then you'd better not stay up late today."

Alex thought his acting was really good.

Inger thought, "I failed to possess you yesterday."

Alex looked at him looking into the distance. He was not in a hurry. He was waiting for Inger to tell him.

Inger turned to look at Alex, who jumped up, stretched his arms, and gave him an innocent smile.

Inger turned his face away expressionlessly.

[The protagonist is really very sensitive and can't hide it. 】

However, he still didn't intend to say it.