Interlude. scissors and knight

“Senior, do you think your hair has grown a lot?”

Christine spoke to Maxim after work one weekday after the new order of the Jackdaw Knights was established. Maxim ran his fingertips through his long bangs.

“is it.”

Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I didn’t trim my hair. Maxim looked at the mirror hanging in the hallway and measured the length of his hair. Was it long enough to slightly cover your eyes? Maxim thought that sooner or later he would have to cut his hair.

Looking at Maxim from the side of Maxim in the mirror, Christine ran her hand through Maxim’s brown hair and touched the tip.

“Shall I cut it after a long time?”

Maxim calmly accepted Christine’s hand and frowned as if in agony.

“Um… is that so?”

“Don’t deny it. The vice-captain said he would cut it himself.”

Christine smiled mischievously and squeezed Maxim’s hair. Maxim accepted the offer when he smiled as if he couldn’t help it.

“great. Let’s see your skills once in a while.”

“Leave it to me. When have I ever let you down?”

Christine walked to the vice-captain’s office, humming as if in a very good mood. Maxim followed those light steps slowly from behind. After entering the vice-captain’s office, Christine took a rag and fluttered it off and wrapped it around Maxim’s neck as he sat in a chair.

“long time no see.”

“It’s been a while.”

Christine murmured as she ran her hand through Maxim’s hair. His soft hair tumbled down from Christine’s pale fingertips. Christine picked up the scissors she didn’t know when she had them and began to scissor the air.

“…It’s been a while, so I’m nervous.”

“Senior, I told you that I do my own hair. Don’t worry.”

Christine continued to scratch Maxim’s hair while saying that.

“…When was the first time you cut my hair?”

Christine laughed softly.

“Maybe it was when I first joined. How many years has it been? I think it’s been two years.”

“I was surprised that he suddenly offered to cut his hair.”

Maxim recalled that time as he watched his hair fall as it was being cut.

—

Fall was actually short enough to be called a transitional period between summer and winter.

The sky after passing through the record-breaking heatwave seemed to still have traces of it lingering. It was a terrifyingly clear sky without a single cloud. Today, the training ground was as empty as the sky. Maxim frowned at the cracks in the stones at the training ground overgrown with weeds. The people who should be managing this training ground, the knights who should be using this training ground normally, have long since left work to drink.

The only one left was Maxim. The leader also gave the order to leave work and disappeared with an expression of great annoyance. The leader allowed them to leave, but how could the vice-captain catch the members leaving work? Maxim grabbed his aching head. These f*cking assholes.

“Ehh.”

There was no time not to let out a sigh. four o’clock in the afternoon. The days were getting shorter, but the sky was still bright. Like an old man, Maxim walked around the training ground with his hands behind his back as if he were taking a walk.

about a year and a half

Maxim visualizes how much time has passed.

The past has become ashes. Maxim shook his head, trying not to complicate things further. Last summer vacation, I took Marion to the river. The image of Marion hesitantly dipping her feet into the clear flowing water was drawn.

“…It’s pitiful.”

Maxim always evaluated himself and the knights that way. There was no one who was not pathetic. No one had the will to move on and live. It was no different from a meeting of those who sacrificed the present while losing their minds to the past.

no, not one

“Hmm,” Maxim said thoughtfully. The guy who just came in probably hasn’t come home yet. Birds were chirping on the roof of the main building, which was entwined with ivy. Maxim stopped walking aimlessly around the training ground and headed for the main building.

“Damn the captain.”

Maxim opened the door to the main building, cursing at the old leader. The damn leader, the dog-like leader. Maxim himself was grunting like an old man. And, as Maxim opened the main building, what he saw in front of him were the wrinkles of a familiar old man.

“What did the captain say, hey?”

Maxim, without thinking of making an excuse for making a mistake, faced that expression and crumpled his face.

“it’s nothing.”

Of course, the leader was well aware of Maxim’s dissatisfaction. However, with only a few days left before he would be discharged, he had neither the will nor the will to point out Maxim’s attitude. Wasn’t it the role of the leader of the knights who had no intention of being active as knights in the first place?

In addition, he was doing the paperwork of the leader he was entrusted with properly. Maxim’s competence, which was rare, was such that he could lightly pass over various swear words and curses against the leader himself.

“Have you not left work yet?”

Maxim questioned the leader with a hint of sarcasm. The leader snorted and shrugged his shoulders as if he knew the intention of Maxim’s question.

“Wait, where did you go? I’m really going to work now. No matter how bad a driver you are, you won’t leave work that early.”

Wasn’t that person who said with an annoyed expression that it was okay to leave work, wasn’t our leader? Maxim felt like he was getting a migraine.

“Oh, about the regular budgeting for this quarter.”

The leader handed a file folder to Maxim. Maxim took the stack of papers and glared at the leader with eyes as if to say something else.

“Well, there must be a way to get more money out of maintenance costs.”

It was an obvious embezzlement story. Maxim sighed in exhaustion.

“We are really running out of swords that can be used for training, Captain. It’s already tight because the number of scarecrows isn’t enough…”

The captain narrowed his eyes and looked at Maxim.

“Gee, why are you looking for training equipment when you don’t actually practice training? If you want to train personally, that’s all you need to do.”

The captain clicked his tongue. Blood vessels burst from Maxim’s temples. It was a sight that sounded like a snap. The leader didn’t even pretend to care about Maxim’s reaction and shook his head, continuing to say what he had to say.

“You are very stubborn. I don’t know if he’s stubborn, inflexible, or insensitive. At a time like this, can’t you just take care of your share?”

Maxim lost his energy and listened to what the leader said. I didn’t have the energy to get any more angry. Maxim has realized over the past few months that there is no point in getting angry.

“Or maybe it’s because he’s just a young bastard who’s just been officially appointed…”

The leader had the expression typical of the old man, as if he knew everything about the world.

“Well, whatever happened to you, after all, you’re now the vice-captain of this filthy knights, aren’t you?”

The leader who calmly calls the knights he leads a piece of sh*t.

“Accept your reality. Most of the knights of this order live in the past. Even you, like me, wake up and take care of what you need to take care of… Huh?”

The leader patted Maxim on the shoulder and left for work. Maxim crumpled his face once more as he looked at the folder in his hand. Barely suppressing the urge to throw away this useless wad of paper, Maxim moved to the vice-captain’s office.

“You are tired.”

Maxim muttered to himself and grabbed the doorknob of the vice-captain’s office.

“…Eh.”

Then, he tilted his head at the sudden presence in the vice-captain’s office. Who ever came into my office? Maxim scratched his head with the hand holding the paper and turned the doorknob to open the door.

“you…”

And I was looking at the unexpected person in the office I was facing, with my eyes wide open.

An article that just came in. Her voluminous, soft flowing blonde hair and sparkling green eyes were impressive. In particular, those eyes were showing off a vivid green light, as if they contained the summer forest as it was.

Did you say magician? I don’t know why a high-class manpower like her came to join such an order. After joining the company, he only said hello a few times, so he wasn’t familiar with it yet. The name is obviously…

“Christine Watson? Right? Wizard.”

The wizard nodded. With a soft smile on his lips.

“Yes, vice-captain. I got an errand to leave this in the vice-captain’s office for a while…”

Christine hesitantly lifted up a file and looked at it. Looking at the pile of papers, Maxim involuntarily let out a deep, heavy sigh.

“Damn it… what else is that?”

Maxim felt that the quarterly settlement papers in his hand were even heavier. Christine looked at Maxim’s rotting expression and put the paper she was holding down on the desk.

“They say it’s a personnel related document, but they said that the payment has already been completed, so I just need to review it.”

Maybe it was fortunately, or maybe he had to get angry because there were more things he didn’t have to do.

“Okay. thanks.”

Maxim walked helplessly to his desk and looked at the papers Christine had put down. There must have been another guy who had an accident this time. It didn’t seem like it was just one or two. The future was not bright again when I thought that the knights who were needlessly increasing the number of people would be added to the ranks.

Took, and the papers that Maxim had brought were placed on the desk.

I don’t have much to do after work anyway, so I’m going to take care of this paperwork and move.

Maxim leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. The vice-captain’s office had a damp, old smell. It wasn’t a very pleasant smell.

“Good job, it’s good to go to work. Everyone is leaving work, but new recruits are being left with chores like this…”

With her eyes fixed on the papers, Maxim said something to Christine, whether comforting or complaining. Christine gave a small laugh. Maxim opened the papers and began to work.

“Ah… damn…”

It wasn’t easy to search through the books and find the numbers that didn’t fit. Maxim rubbed his dark eyes and continued reading the ledger.

“…”

In the meantime, Maxim glanced at Christine, who was still not leaving.

“…Aren’t you going to work?”

Christine was looking at Maxim’s work with a little curiosity.

“You have a lot of work.”

“A lot. Unintentionally.”

To Christine’s words, Maxim groaned and answered with a muffled voice.

“…I think I can help.”

Maxim raised his head. After being assigned to the knights, for the first time someone extended a helping hand, Maxim snapped at it.

“yes?”

Christine pulled her head back as if taken aback by Maxim’s sudden change of attitude. If it wasn’t too much work, I would have let him go, saying he would take care of it alone, but these days, there was so much useless paperwork to do.

“Can you… help me?”

Realizing that he had reacted too hastily, Maxim cleared his throat and asked.

“…Yep.”

Even after all this, Christine rolled up her arms, saying that she had a long record of doing paperwork at the Mage Tower. Personnel papers will have to be reviewed anyway, so Maxim took some of the papers and gave them to Christine, asking for help with the ledger counting.

“You are the first person to offer to help.”

Maxim looked at Christine with desperate eyes. With a meaningful smile in her eyes, Christine took the document that Maxim held out and began to read it.

square, square.

And in silence, the paperwork of the two began. The autumn sunset was setting outside the window. The sound of the paper shimmering and turning went quite well with the scenery.

“How did you come to join the Knights?”

Maxim did not know that Christine was called the genius of the Mage Tower. It was just an extremely pure question, I wondered why a wizard had come to join the knights who did not even go to combat. Christine looked into Maxim’s eyes. For some reason, Maxim had a hard time taking his eyes off those deep green eyes.

“I fought with the superior and hit the mage tower.”

Christine said in a very flat voice. The tone seemed to be saying that he had a fight with his boyfriend in the morning and went to work. There was only a slight annoyance, but no other emotions could be seen.

“…I see.”

Christine was smiling. Maxim decided not to inquire further, thinking that she must have her own circumstances.

Reviewing the document was completed sooner than expected. Not only because Maxim worked hard, but also because Christine was a very competent assistant and helped Maxim.

“You did a great job, Christine.”

“No, vice-captain, you did a good job.”

The color of the sky colored by the setting sun resembles the mountains of autumn. Maxim stretched to wake up his tired body.

“Bob or I will live. Would you like to go to dinner together?”

Christine opened her eyes wide and nodded slowly, as if the suggestion was unexpected.

“Yes… have dinner.”

“yes.”

Maxim muttered as he was about to get up from his seat, grabbing a strand of hair that suddenly caught his eye.

“Your hair is very long.”

Her hair, which had been cut short at the beginning of summer, had grown quite long in the fall. Maxim grumbled as if he was tired of cutting his hair.

“It’s annoying to cut…”

Christine was watching Maxim intently.

“Now, shall we wake up?”

“That, vice-captain.”

Christine called Maxim.

“what’s the matter?”

Christine narrowed her eyes for a moment and looked at Maxim’s hair.

“That hair, if you don’t mind, I can cut it right now.”

Maxim raised his eyebrows at the unexpected suggestion and looked at Christine.

“Do you know how to get a haircut?”

Christine said yes and smiled.

“I cut pretty well.”

Maxim looked back and forth between the sun setting outside the window and the laughing Christine. It might be time to get a haircut.

Maxim nodded his head, intuition that the counterweight of the balance between curiosity and stability had tipped with curiosity.

“Okay…then I’ll cut my hair and go eat.”

The preparation process was simpler than expected. Maxim was sitting on a chair in the office with an old cloth Christine found in the storage room wrapped around his neck. After Christine restored the rusty scissors she found as a bonus in the storage room with magic, she was trying to scissors to see if it fit her hand.

“Okay then, let’s begin.”

Christine began to cut Maxim’s hair in a rather excited voice. Maxim regretted letting Christine do his hair right before her touch touched his hair.

“…uh?”

However, the touch was unexpectedly soft and without hesitation. Crunchy, crunchy, like someone who knows where to cut, Christine shaves Maxim’s hair. Maxim was secretly expressing surprise at the smooth and stable hair cutting.

“Are you good at cutting…?”

Maxim asked Christine, who was smiling softly.

“My hair, I always have it trimmed.”

Christine said that while trimming Maxim’s hair little by little.

“And… I’m from an orphanage, and I cut the children’s hair there. That’s why I’m used to cutting other people’s hair.”

Maxim thought it was strange that Christine told her story without adding or subtracting anything.

“I see.”

square, square.

Even after she had finished shaving her hair, Christine clipped it a little more, as if she didn’t like something.

“Okay… It’s over, Vice-captain.”

The hair that Christine cut like that was unexpectedly clean and straight.

“That’s great… Thanks, Christine.”

Maxim admired that and touched his own hair in the mirror. Behind him, Christine was smiling sadly in a blind spot. That smile for atonement bloomed like a daffodil in the fog.

“No, vice-captain.”

—

“…It’s the same as back then.”

Maxim groped his neatly cut hair and said it with wonder. Christine was smiling brightly.

“What did I say, old man?”

“Although his attitude has changed a bit to be arrogant.”

Christine puffed out her cheeks slightly, as if dissatisfied with that statement.

“How much do I…”

“I get it, I get it.”

Christine ripped through Maxim’s head, who had cut off her words.

“Ouch! Hey, the hair you just cut!”

“Wash your hair underneath, senpai.”

Seeing Maxim giggle, Christine smiled at him. It was one of their daily lives that probably will never come back.