Did she already know what I would ask her for?

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"Well, if we have nothing more to talk about, I'll be on my way," I say, a little tired of talking to Cael, turning to leave.

I feel like nothing is going as planned lately.

It's like I can only react to the situations that come my way.

'I don't like this new feeling that I don't have complete control over my life.'

"Wait..."

'Agh. What now?'

I turn around and see Cael hastily writing something.

"... If Emilia is going to leave her position as healer, there's a group of people who are going to be out of a job. At least momentarily," he says, and I instantly understand what he means.

Without Delia here, Victor and the group of people dedicated solely to protecting my little saint will lose their jobs.

But that has nothing to do with me.

"So? Why are you telling me this?" I ask, thinking with irritation about the possible new responsibilities Cael may want to impose on me.

"Because I think you're the one who should be communicating the situation to them. After all, you're the one who has always spoken on Emilia's behalf until now, so I think it's better that you personally explain to them the reason why they'll lose their jobs."

"Sure, no problem..." I say, mockingly.

"....Cael, I don't have the faintest idea what will happen to them from now on. How do you expect me to explain something I don't know?"

"That won't be a problem. Here..." he says, holding out a second sheet of paper on which he has been writing as we speak.

"... this paper makes it clear where Emilia's security guards should go. Give it to Victor."

"I don't like to play errand boy." I say grumpily.

"Ahh, sorry," says Cael, as if he's just remembered something. "Is this too mundane a task for the great war hero?"

'For someone who claims to want to be my friend, you can't say that his actions really prove it.'

"Cut the crap already. I will, but only because I think you're right that at least Victor deserves an explanation from me…" I say, taking the paper from his hands. "...But bear this in mind. This will be the first and last time I play errand boy for you."

"We'll see..." says Cael with his typical smug grin, and he waves me away, in the same way someone shooes away an annoying dog "...You can go now"

'- You have no idea, kid~'

'@#%@%# stupid old corrupt commander. This time I admit you beat me, but next time it won't be so easy for you to make me do what you want. We'll see who has the last laugh.'

I leave the tent irritated, as I have not been in a long time, and head towards the tent where Delia usually rests when she is not healing people.

As I walk hurriedly, people instinctively move out of my way in surprise.

The good thing about being so annoyed is that I am no longer distracted by every female who crosses my path.

When I arrive at Delia's shop, I see Victor sitting on a stool by the tent doors, waiting for his protégée to arrive and start her day's work.

When he sees me, his expression changes to one of fear for a moment, but then he relaxes the muscles in his face as he realizes that this time my anger is not directed at him.

"Hello, Emir, What brings you here? If you're looking for Miss Emilia, she's not here yet," he says, apparently thinking I've come to find Delia.

"I know. And she'll never arrive. That's why I'm here."

'It feels good to be the one in control of the situation again.'

"W-what do you mean?" He says with concern, "Nothing bad has happened to Miss Emilia, right?"

'- That woman is practically a saint. I'd hate to know that something bad has happened to her while I wasn't there to take care of her.'

'He's a really good person... It would be a shame not to take advantage of it...'

"No. She's fine, but our protector thinks it's dangerous for Emilia to keep coming to this place. That's why she won't come anymore," I say tersely.

"Ahh, it's a pity, but I understand. Not that I don't think we're not enough to protect her, but if the full-scale war had ended with negative results for us.... I know she wanted to stay at the time, and we had planned escape routes, but nothing is certain..."

I already knew that, at the time, the story of the escape routes had been purely Delia's decision.

It doesn't make sense that Victor and his companions would agree that someone as physically weak as a healer should stay in the war zone, not after the threat I had made to him.

".... Anyway, as long as it's for the safety of a kind person like her, I'm happy she's not coming back, but then..." he says, suddenly realizing the true purpose of my news.

'It's a real shame to lose contact with someone like him, who seems to understand the importance of Delia's safety...'

"Yes. You won't have any more guard duty. Here you go," I say, and hand him the paper Cael gave me. "It's supposed to be all explained there."

"Ahh, good," says Victor, taking the paper, after which he starts to read it dejectedly. "Haa... Goodbye to my privileged salary."

'Haa... I feel a bit guilty about putting someone out of a job who hasn't done anything to deserve it'

"Well, soldier's pay isn't so bad either," I say, trying to lighten the mood.

"It is if you have 13 little brothers to support... I'm the eldest and sole breadwinner in a poor family. My father abandoned us when I was little, and my mother died of a stupid disease because we couldn't hire a Solus Temple healer to cure her...." Victor says, sighing again.

'No one asked you to tell me such a story! Shit...

Now the guilt is really killing me....

Maybe I could hire him to work on the project I have in mind.'

"....Either way, it's still better than most salaries. Haa. It doesn't matter. We'll manage somehow. We always do."

"Look... Our protector is thinking of opening a clinic so Emilia can put her skills to good use in the capital..." I say, unsure if I'm not putting my foot in my mouth by telling him this.

"... Maybe I could convince her to hire you as security for the clinic? I don't know if the pay will be much better than what you'll get here, but at least you won't have to put your life on the line."

'This way, I won't feel guilty about putting the future of 13 children at risk, and at the same time, I'll get another reliable bodyguard for Delia, besides Alessia. Once the clinic starts to become known, she will need to have a good safety net around her.'

"That... That would be great! When could I start?" says Victor enthusiastically.

"I don't know yet. I also don't know if our protector will accept you. Don't put too much hope in this offer for the moment," I say hastily, a little stressed at the thought of having a person working for me on a permanent basis.

"Ahh, well…" he says, deflating a little.

"... please look me up as soon as you hear back."

'I can't back out now. I just hope this good deed will serve to offset some of the negative karma I've accumulated for leading Delia astray'

"Yes, I will do that... Well... That's all I came to tell you…" I say, still full of doubts about the decision I've just made.

"...I'll see you another time."

I suppose there is always the possibility of Victor spying on me for Cael.

But I think it would simply be a matter of paying Victor more than the harassing commander pays him, so that he doesn't reveal the information I don't want him to reveal and only tells the gossipy commander unimportant things.

After all, as I saw a few minutes ago, Cael will probably hire people to spy on me, whether I want to or not.

And, if so, it's best to know who the spy is.

I don't want to believe that someone as honest as Victor could be Cael's spy, but given what I've seen, I'm going to think that anyone with even the slightest connection to the commander is suspect.