CHAPTER 159
It took about two hours for Babiyen to recover from her death by mortification.
After a great deal of consoling and coaxing, she finally regained her senses, quietly took off the headband, and put her robe back on.
I did praise her for being cute at one point, but all I got was a glare from Babiyen.
“So, why is Aranseol here?”
When Babiyen asked why Aranseol was present, she simply blinked.
Then, she naturally came to my side and linked her arm with mine.
“For this.”
A foxy smile graced her lips.
In contrast, Babiyen’s eyebrows twitched fiercely.
As if responding to Aranseol’s provocation, Babiyen strode to my other side without hesitation and hugged my arm.
The two of them exchanged silent glances with me in the middle.
What is this situation?
Stuck in the middle, I wore a dumbfounded expression.
A person really does experience all sorts of things in life.
To think a day would come when two women would compete over me from both sides.
Was I an alpha male all along?
“Both of you, stop.”
But I couldn’t just stand by and watch my companions fight forever.
I pushed the two of them off and separated them.
“Besides, it’s time for bed. We have a schedule tomorrow, so we should get some sleep.”
We were scheduled to visit the Regular Army first thing in the morning.
Rapha Hastel was in critical condition, and we also had things to hear regarding Cruden Island.
We were going to be busy from early morning.
“Well then, we just have to sleep,”
Aranseol said as if it wasn’t a problem at all.
However, her expression showed no sign of leaving.
“The bed is big enough, after all. We can just sleep together and wake up so we don’t oversleep.”
Miss Aranseol, what are you talking about?
“We’ve always done this, haven’t we?”
Well, that was true.
To save money, we had lived in a single room and slept together in a bed much smaller than this one.
Of course, back then, neither Aranseol nor I were in this kind of relationship.
To be precise, it was through the repetition of that time that Aranseol gradually developed feelings for me.
“I-I did that too!”
Just as Aranseol said something so bewildering, Babiyen jumped in, refusing to back down.
“Babiyen, you were staying at a different inn.”
Despite Aranseol’s sharp point, Babiyen had no intention of yielding.
“N-Not when I was age-regressed, you know!”
Babiyen said, trembling, as if embarrassed to bring it up herself.
It was true that back then, Babiyen had also stayed in our room with us.
To think she would bring that up herself.
I could feel that Babiyen was dead serious.
I stared at the two of them for a moment before covering my eyes.
Right, in the end, this is my fault for not properly managing the situation.
But even so, I’m at a point where I don’t even know my own feelings, so I can’t decide anything.
This was all a result of my selfish hesitation.
“Fine, let’s just sleep for now.”
I decided to forget everything else and just think about tomorrow’s schedule.

In truth, nothing eventful happened regarding our sleep.
Just as Aranseol and Babiyen had said, we were all more than used to sleeping together.
Once we actually lay down on the bed, they each just took a spot next to me.
We all slept well.
Of course, the distance between the two of them and me was much closer than before. Despite the bed being very wide, they had deliberately snuggled up close.
Feeling softness on both sides, I wondered if this is what it feels like to be sandwiched between cushions.
When I came out in the morning, Aigis was watching me with a silent smile.
She works hard every day to guard me, but I often feel like she’s in full-on ‘enjoying the show’ mode.
“Have a safe trip!”
With Vanessa seeing us off, we headed for the Regular Army Headquarters.
The headquarters was built not far from the Imperial Palace.
This was likely to provide aid whenever the palace was in danger, but it was probably also so the Imperial Family could keep an eye on the Regular Army.
‘A world where the Imperial Family fully trusts the Transferees will probably be hard to come by.’
They were the established power.
Moreover, they had even been at war with Transferees before.
It was too much to expect them to fully accept the new power bloc of Transferees.
Therefore, Rapha Hastel’s death would bring about great change.
The death of the Commander-in-Chief meant the existing system could be upended.
Depending on which Lieutenant General takes his place, the future direction of the Regular Army will change.
And my own treatment within the Regular Army could change as well.
The reason the Regular Army currently respects my opinions and helps me is partly due to Rapha Hastel’s will.

‘A change of Emperor and a change of the Regular Army’s Commander-in-Chief.’
While it’s a natural flow of the times, I feel like everything is playing into Black Dawn’s hands.
Even now, as Rapha Hastel’s condition becomes critical, the entire Regular Army has begun to shake.
Chasing Black Dawn with our full strength, as we did before, was becoming increasingly difficult.
Lost in these thoughts, we soon arrived at the Regular Army Headquarters.
As usual, the soldiers of the Regular Army were bustling about.
With the world in chaos, the crime rate naturally rises. Thus, the burden on the Regular Army was also increasing.
Black Dawn and the rising crime rate.
Just about every soldier walking around looked like they were on death’s door.
“Ah, Saint-nim!”
“Saint-nim, you’ve arrived!”
Among them were some soldiers who greeted me with bright faces.
They seemed to be the ones who owed their lives to me from the previous war.
“Is that him?”
“Wow, it’s my first time seeing him in person.”
Conversely, there were also those who showed surprise at seeing me. I could now tell just how far the name “Saint” had spread.
Through the crowd, a familiar face walked over from the distance. The problem was, only the face was familiar; her physique was completely different from before.
Perhaps because of that, as she walked this way, the soldiers’ gazes naturally gathered on her.
Gorgeous golden hair and eyes that shone with a gentle light.
Lululio.
She was there, having grown to an unrecognizable extent.
“It’s been a while.”

Lululio smiled like a graceful young lady and greeted me.
I stared at her for a moment before speaking.
“You’re not Lululio. You’re a fake, brainwashed by Asheria Eve!”
“Wow, that’s a really harsh thing to say, y’know!”
The moment I called her a fake, Lululio booed at me.
What the, it’s just normal Lululio.
Her gentleness vanished, replaced by a playful demeanor. Lululio flicked back her hair, which had grown quite a bit.
“How about it? Wouldn’t you call this an epic growth spurt, right?”
Honestly, I was surprised.
I never imagined a person could grow so much in just one year.
“Lululio, did you not even hit your growth spurt until now?”
“Isn’t that a pretty rude thing to ask?”
However, this was a change that was impossible without a growth spurt, no matter who looked at it.
She had filled out in all the right places.
She had changed to clearly exude a feminine aura.
Perhaps that’s why the male soldiers of the Regular Army kept sneaking glances at Lululio.
For them, suffering through military life, it seemed difficult to tear their eyes away.
Is this the scenario where a friend you’ve only seen as a kid suddenly grows up and you become aware of them as a woman?
It’s a cliché, but there’s a reason why tropes are tropes.
“I’m surprised too.”
“...Why is she taller than me?”
Aranseol was impressed, while Babiyen looked at Lululio with a slightly resentful face.
Babiyen was never tall to begin with, so Lululio had easily surpassed her in the meantime.
“Suddenly, I miss Horizon.”
Don’t use our team’s shortest member like that.
And it’s obvious where Horizon’s nutrients are going.
If you were to add that to her height, she’d clearly be taller than Babiyen.
At that moment, Babiyen threw a punch, which I promptly dodged.
“Why are you trying to hit me?”
“I just suddenly got annoyed.”
Does she have some kind of special sensor when it comes to me?
I miss the cat-Babiyen from yesterday who was going “nya, nyang.”
“Lululio, height aside, how’s everything else?”
“Gasp! Sir Harua, are you asking if you want to know my other grown-up sizes too?”
Don’t say that, the glares from the men around are getting sharp.
Lululio let out a giggle and raised one hand.
A spear of light formed and spun rapidly in a circle.
With movements far cleaner than before, her spear darted around before returning to her.
“I’ve improved a lot. I’ve trained thoroughly, starting from the magic power I use for my Ability, y’know.”
“Hmm, you’ve gotten stronger.”
Aigis herself certified it.
It meant that the effort she had put in over the past year was not in vain.
She must have gone through a lot, too.
“Huhu, you’ll be surprised when you see the grown-up me. You might just fall for me and start chasing me around!”
“Sure, I’ll look forward to it.”
Though I doubt that will happen.
If nothing else, my standards have gotten quite high thanks to the two people next to me.
And I wish those two would stop silently gripping my arms from both sides.
I’m called a Saint, but the glares from the men are too intense.

It’s ruining the universal image of a Saint.
As I was quietly pushing the two away, Lululio, oblivious to everything, smiled brightly.
“Anyway, Sir Inferno sent me. Let’s go together!”
That was enough catching up for now.
We immediately followed Lululio to the Lieutenant General’s office.
Inferno usually stayed at the 2nd World Guard Branch, but the matter at hand was serious.
With the Commander-in-Chief’s replacement imminent, Inferno was also at the headquarters.
My gaze shifted slightly to Lululio.
I wondered if she was okay.
With Rapha Hastel, who had looked after her, in critical condition, her heart must not be at ease.
But since she wasn’t showing it, I decided not to bring it up.
She knew her own heart best.
Upon opening the door to the Lieutenant General’s office, we found Inferno, buried in work as always.
At a glance, the amount of work seemed to have increased.
“Yo, Harua.”
Even buried in work, he greeted me casually.
“Have you been promoted to Commander-in-Chief or something?”
“Hahaha, I’m just catching up on work that piled up while I was hiding out at the Guard Branch.”
Does a man who ran away still work that hard over there?
He’s the type to be so swamped with work that he’d rather go to prison for a breather.
“You came to hear about Cruden Island.”
As if he had already prepared it, Inferno handed me a piece of paper.
On it were the details of the Cruden Island occupation process.
“This looks like a classified document that a civilian definitely shouldn’t be seeing.”
“That’s not something a non-civilian should say.”
I wasn’t even treated as a civilian anymore.
Then again, I had gotten myself deeply involved in various incidents.
I examined the Cruden Island document and quietly opened my mouth.
Inferno’s face showed he had already anticipated the question.
“So, who’s going to be the next Commander-in-Chief?”
The 2nd Commander-in-Chief since the founding of the Regular Army.
It was the most important issue in the current situation.