The Female Soldier Has Been Told to Infiltrate the Imperial Magic Academy

Chapter 53: Folia and Zale

When Folia finally woke up, she was lying on a bed shone by the moonlight.

“Huh?” She couldn’t remember why she was there. Her mind was blank as she tried to get up. Then, she noticed her hand felt warm. She turned to look and was so surprised that she almost yelled.

Za- Zale-sama!?

She saw Zale leaning against the bed while holding her hand. It was the first time for her to see him sleeping unguardedly like this. Her heart was pounding furiously.

She tried to calmed her heart down. She was relieved to see that Zale seemed to be fine, unlike his previous state. She unknowingly squeezed back her left hand which was held by him.

Zale felt it and woke up from his sleep. The moment he saw her fresh green eyes wide open, he pulled her into his arms. “Folia!”

“Huh!?” Folia goggled in astonishment by the sudden event. Zale was an undemonstrative person. Getting hugged by him was beyond her expectation. Although he was a priest, he was a well-built man. Her face gradually turned red.

“I was worried about you…”

When she heard his words, she felt her heart tightened in her chest. His voice sounded so sad and she knew it was because he cared about her.

“Zale-sama. How is your injury? Are you okay?”

She was only exhausted after overstraining herself. But he was different. He was heavily injured. After she had calmed down, that was the first thing that came to her mind.

But when Zale heard her question, he let go of her body and then said to her with a grim face, “Why worry about others? You should worry about yourself. You’ve been unconscious for four days.”

“What?!” Folia was dumbfounded. For her, the incident happened just a few hours ago. When she looked around, she noticed that she was not in the church.

“I- I’ve slept for four days?”

“Yes. It was the repercussion for overstraining your magic. I could only wait for you to wake up. I was so worried.”

Being stared with sincere eyes by the person that she liked, Folia was at a loss for words. After contemplating for a while, she decided to ask about the voice that she heard right before she fell unconscious.

“Hmm. Did Razé-chan come when I was unconscious?”

“Razé…? Oh, Razé Granoli? I didn’t hear anything about that.”

“Really? Perhaps I heard wrong…”

But she was sure that she was hugged by someone at that time. Folia thought about it a little more, but couldn’t find an answer. An awkward silence hung between the two of them.

“…Hmm-” Folia broke the silence. “I’m glad that you’re okay, Zale-sama. Thank you for taking care of me. I- I feel bad for you helping me all the time.”

Her smile looked fragile and forced. Seeing Folia illuminated by the moonlight, Zale clenched his fist. “That’s not true. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead by now.”

He dropped his gaze. Back then, Zale seriously thought that he was going to die. He couldn’t move his body at will and gradually had difficulty breathing. And then he was half conscious. Or perhaps, instead of half conscious, he was half dead. When he was dying, the person that he wanted to see the most was the girl right in front of him now.

Please don’t be happy in a world without me. That was his true feeling that he hid deep inside his chest.

He was the one who helped her to enter the school, but he couldn’t help but be anxious when Folia talked happily about things that he didn’t know. He knew obviously she needed to participate in Battle Fiesta, but he was so worried that he couldn’t concentrate on his job. When he saw her looking like a different person during the tournament match, his heart felt uneasy. He thought that she was getting further and further from his reach. And the problem was, his love for her just kept growing.