Growburn Village – The Cart

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-Clatter, clunk.

Jade was gazing at Annie, who was sound asleep across from him.

Leaning against the carriage seat with her head tilted back and her mouth open, she was clearly in a deep slumber.

‘She’s more like a little sister than a friend.’

Is this why Lena always doted on Annie?

Today, Jade empathized with Lena’s affection for Annie more than ever.

Every little thing she did was so endearing.

Not that she seemed like a complete child. Her depth of thought often surpassed his own.

He had received help from Annie more than once or twice at the Academy.

Immediately after the carriage set off, Annie seemed excited, thinking of it as a carriage trip with friends.

But she quickly grew tired of the repetitive scenery of trees outside the window and fell asleep.

Conversely, Jade was quite satisfied with this journey.

Carlson’s driving skills were as good as his master had boasted.

Although it was a bit bumpy, the combination of the plush interior of the carriage and his delicate handling of the horses made for a comfortable journey.

Carlson’s first impression had been the worst because of his lecherous gaze towards Lena. But perhaps that was just a one-time mistake that any man could make.

“Are you comfortable?”

“Yes, I’m fine!”

He consistently checked on the conditions inside the carriage while driving, striving to make this journey a comfortable and memorable one.

Jade had been slightly taken aback when Lena first recommended this place.

‘I hope she hasn’t been scammed…’

To his eyes, the establishment looked problematic from the outside.

But Lena’s choices were never wrong.

Jade was praising the wise Lena when he noticed her looking out the window.

Lena, sitting next to him, had been staring blankly out the window for some time.

‘Is she worried about something?’

Jade gently tapped Lena’s shoulder.

“Lena, is something bothering you?”

“Huh…? It’s not that, it just feels like the events of the past week were a dream. Everything happened so quickly.”

Lena turned her gaze from the window to Jade for a moment. Then, she slowly began to move closer to him.

“Would it be okay if I held your hand?”

“H-Hold my hand?”

Jade was taken aback by Lena’s sudden request.

“It’s embarrassing to say this… but I’m feeling very anxious right now.”

Lena closed her eyes and lowered her head.

“I’ve tried to act like everything’s fine, but it’s not easy. Every time I close and open my eyes, I remember being brutally violated by Doran.”

As she spoke, Lena’s eyes trembled, as if she were reliving those moments.

“Ah…”

Jade reproached himself for his indifference.

He had been worried about Lena’s condition after she was freed from Doran, but he had been somewhat relieved by her return to her usual self.

But unbeknownst to him, her heart had been rotting away all along.

A week was not a short time. During that time, Lena had been enslaved and her humanity had been brutally trampled upon.

There was no way that could be easily forgotten.

“I’m sorry, I think I’ve been too indifferent to you.”

Jade intertwined his fingers with Lena’s.

“If it’s hard, you don’t have to hide it anymore. I may be lacking, but I’ll be your support.”

“Thank you so much.”

Lena usually had a somewhat cold and indifferent demeanor towards people she wasn’t close to.

Jade felt warmth from her hand.

‘It’s warm.’

Others might think differently, but to Jade, Lena was a beautiful person, not only on the outside but also on the inside.

“Jade.”

“Yeah— Huh?!”

When did she get so close? Jade almost stopped breathing at Lena’s face, which was right in front of his nose.

“W-What’s wrong?”

“Were you perhaps upset that I only gave a gift to Annie earlier?”

“…No. Of course not.”

Of course, when Jade saw Annie receiving the Wand from Lena, he had expected to receive something as well.

It would be a lie to say that he didn’t feel a little disappointed.

“Hehe, don’t pretend you’re not. You’ve done so much for me, there’s no way I wouldn’t give you anything. I’m going to give you the gift I couldn’t give you earlier.”

-Swish.

Lena wrapped her arms around Jade’s neck and began to bring her face closer and closer.

Taken aback by the sudden gift, Jade whispered in a fluster.

“Annie is right next to us?!”

“…Are you going to be this clueless until the end?”

At Lena’s words, who couldn’t bear to watch any longer, Jade realized his foolishness and shut his mouth.

At the moment when Lena and Jade’s lips were about to meet completely.

-Screech!

The carriage suddenly stopped.

“Ugh?!”

“Eep?!”

-Thud.

Due to the sudden impact, Annie was thrown from her seat and fell.

Jade and Lena had to separate as soon as their lips met.

“Ah…”

“Annie! Are you okay?”

Jade was stunned by the interrupted gift and stood there blankly, but Lena hurriedly got up and helped Annie up.

“Ouch… What a bolt from the blue while I was sleeping. But I’m fine, except for a slightly sore butt.”

Lena was relieved to see Annie rubbing the area she had bumped and getting up.

“I’m glad you weren’t seriously hurt. But what happened?”

Lena opened the carriage door to assess the situation.

“Carlson, if you stop this abruptly… Why did you stop?”

“W-Well…”

When Lena saw Carlson’s trembling voice, she looked ahead and saw a group of about ten Orcs blocking the road.

“Orcs? I’ll take care of them quickly.”

Lena drew her sword to deal with the Monsters and was about to step out of the carriage.

-Thud.

But Jade’s hand, which had come from behind, stopped her from leaving.

“Huh?”

“Just a moment. Lena, rest here.”

He couldn’t let Lena, who still had scars from the trauma, fight Monsters.

What if she got hurt while fighting in an unstable mental state…?

Jade shook his head to shake off the terrifying thoughts.

“I’ve gotten a lot stronger now, you know? Trust me and wait.”

“But!”

Leaving behind the flustered Lena, he drew his sword and rushed towards the Orcs in an instant.

-Thud thud thud!

Jade quickly sprinted forward and lightly swiped his lips with his fingers.

Although it was only for a brief moment, Lena’s lips that he had tasted were truly sweet.

He had to show those guys who ruined his gift a thing or two.

**

An Orc led its massive body and rushed towards Jade.

“Krrr!”

Whether it was to avenge the human who had killed its comrades, it swung its club with all its might.

But Jade easily dodged the incoming club. And then, he swung his sword, covered in a blue blade, towards the Orc’s neck.

Slice-! Thud.

The last remaining Orc’s neck was cut off and fell like tofu.

“Hoo… Is that the end?”

As if the days when he struggled against even one Orc were a thing of the past, Jade scattered Aura and quickly slashed down the Orcs.

He lacked talent for mana, but he had made bone-grinding efforts to overcome this.

It was the moment when his swordsmanship and physical training, which he had built up until now, shone.

“I’ve gotten a lot stronger too.”

Jade looked at the Orc corpses in front of him, which had lost at least one body part and were lying on the ground.

At first, it was difficult to even handle the explosively increased mana, but the more he used it, the more he felt like the mana loved him.

Moreover, the amount of mana he could handle increased every moment. He probably had the most mana among people of the same realm.

‘At this rate, is 6 Star not far off?’

The power of the Hero was truly an absurd power.

Jade, feeling proud of his strengthened self, turned around and headed towards the carriage.

As Jade returned to the carriage, Carlson had an expression of admiration for the passenger’s great prowess.

“You are truly amazing. You are among the most excellent of the many mercenaries I have seen.”

Meanwhile, Annie had pulled out her Wand and came outside, ready to help Jade.

But she comfortably watched him wipe out the Orcs in an instant.

“He’s really gotten stronger. At this rate, he might not be inferior to Lena?”

At Annie’s words of praise for his skills, Jade waved his hands as if embarrassed while wiping off the blood.

“Hey, it’s not that much. I’m still lacking compared to Lena.”

Someday, someone might say that Jade was stronger than Lena. But to him, Lena would always be the strongest person.

Jade could not forget her beautiful swordsmanship and the way she had sacrificed herself to save him.

“…That was amazing, Jade. It made me think I need to work harder too.”

Lena was sitting on the carriage threshold with a somewhat gloomy expression.

Jade was a little taken aback by her reaction.

He had been expecting at least a word of praise for his coolly defeating the Orcs.

‘Did I make a mistake?’

Thinking it over, he realized that he had been too headstrong.

His actions had unintentionally become an act of ignoring Lena.

He had hoped that Lena wouldn’t overdo it, but from her point of view, she might have thought that he was treating her as someone who couldn’t even handle Orcs properly.

Jade reflected and bowed his head to Lena in apology.

“I’m sorry… I just didn’t want you to get hurt. I didn’t mean to ignore you. I won’t disregard your opinion and act rashly from now on.”

“Hehe, it’s not that. I was just amazed by your skills.”

Of course, Lena was disappointed that she couldn’t enjoy herself because Jade had wiped out the Monsters by himself.

‘I didn’t even expect to be impaled by the Orcs, I just wanted to be hit by a club at least once…’

Jade is taking away my small happiness. I can’t tolerate this.

Jade’s considerate actions instead led Lena to carry out a small plan she had devised in advance.

This was quite unfortunate for Jade.