Chapter 124: Rest

Shortly after, simple market tents were set up in the central square of Benheim Village, and the villagers began gathering one by one, bringing some food.

Though they were called villagers, most of them carried a rough atmosphere and they clearly had some kind of backstory.

There were no kind, warm-faced women, no children running errands, no gentle-looking elders staring quietly in the distance like one usually associated with the word.

Soups of unknown ingredients, roasted potatoes garnished with herbs, dried jerkies, and sticky meat stew of unidentifiable origin.

The warm, steaming meals that came on rustic dishware looked quite presentable.

It was clear that this was the best meal they could prepare.

The standing of the Primordials must be really high in this world.

It wasn’t a far-fetched idea, as after all, despite being strangers, the villagers had practically given everything they had to prepare this food.

“Smells good…”

Sharen plopped down beside Isaac, warming her hands with the heat from the soup.

The cold of the Malidean Wall was still clinging to their bodies, but it was now melting away.

“Happiness is truly such a simple thing, Isaac. Just having a warm soup is enough to make me happy.”

Isaac let out a faint smile as he listened to Sharen’s murmur.

The thing called ‘relative happiness’ was indeed something that could lift up a person.

For example in his case, there was nothing more joyful than being able to use his legs again after not being able to use it for the longest time.

“…”

“Ah.”

“I-I…don’t know how to feel….”

The soldiers’ eyes glistened with tears as they had their first proper meal in a long time. Their exclamations of admiration burst forth spontaneously.

But they couldn’t openly express it.

After all, they were supposed to be sacrifices for sorcery.

No matter how troublesome it was to do it in this situation, they had to feign being gloomy and frustrated.

They were all having troubles controlling the corners of their mouths from rising up as they felt their stomachs fill up and accumulated fatigue dissipate.

And the same held true for Rianna.

Though she was eating silently with her usual blank face, there was a subtle relief mixed in.

As if all the tension had eased, she was eating with her greatsword resting on her knees.

“I should eat here too.”

Silverna approached them, carrying her plate, filled with a generous serving of meat.

“The meat’s really tough. I’m not sure what kind of meat they used.”

“Probably some Demonic Beast that only lives here?”

Silverna and Isaac started talking to each other naturally.

All the while, the former kept glancing at the latter anxiously.

“Anyway, thanks to you, I survived. If you hadn’t come, I would have died back then…”

“…There’s no way I could just let you die.”

In truth, Isaac still felt somewhat dazed. It felt like a dream that they managed to actually save the people of the Malidean Wall.

At least, now Silverna wouldn’t have to abandon her name and live solely as a Cardias.

“Eat quietly.”

Rianna, who had been silently listening beside them, put a piece of meat in her mouth with her fork after she said that.

She was trying to remind them to not appear too cheerful since the villagers were watching.

Isaac could understand this no problem, but…

“What? We aren’t being loud, and small talk during a meal can actually be considered polite.”

In Silverna’s ears, it sounded like Rianna was just trying to pick a fight.

Unfortunately, Rianna just refused to correct her misunderstanding, just as always.

“If a small talk is what you want, go eat somewhere else.”

She said in a curt tone.

Her mood is worse than usual.

He knew the reason why, but Isaac decided to keep his mouth shut.

After all, if he were to bring up the reason, the ‘Silverna’s Kiss Incident’, a commotion would break out here.

“Hell no, I don’t want to.”

Silverna replied, pointing the tip of her fork to where the Cardias couple was.

Uldiran was in a similar situation as the other Northerners.

The warm food and comfortable rest were melting the fatigue on his body.

Since his lower body had been frostbitten, he had taken a spot near the large pot of boiling stew to thaw his legs.

“Ahem, I can eat by myself.”

“Shh, stay still.”

“Everyone is watching.”

“Tut-tut.”

Currently, he was eating while receiving attentive care from his wife, Seleni.

Though he refused out of embarrassment, trying to uphold his dignity as a margrave, Seleni was having none of it as she fed him with a smile.

It was a heartwarming scene, but one that Silverna refused to watch.

“Watching your parents’ displays of affection is more embarrassing than I thought.”

Silverna muttered, glancing at Isaac and Rianna.

“I know not all couples are like that, though.”

“Watch it.”

Rianna glared at Silverna, clearly annoyed.

The latter just laughed it off as a joke.

“Now that I think about it, you’re right. Isaac and Sis never really showed any affection.”

Sharen, who had been eating quietly, suddenly chimed in.

Rianna let out a sigh as she stared at Sharen, who tilted her head in confusion.

“None of your business.”

“There probably wasn’t any.”

“What did I tell you?”

Rianna glared at Silverna, who had interjected again.

The constant prodding seemed to irritate her.

But that was one of Silverna’s ways of showing affection.

Their relationship was a little awkward for her to openly thank Rianna for coming to save her.

“…We had our own ways of expressing things.”

Rianna muttered softly, as if offering her feeble resistance.

“Huh?”

And that prompted Isaac to look at her in confusion.

“…”

Did we?

Seeing the look on his face, Rianna firmly closed her mouth and blushed.

“D-Don’t you remember? We used to hold hands secretly and such.”

“Ah, right, we did…”

Rianna jutted out her lips slightly.

Under her gaze that felt like questioning him, ‘How could you forget?’, Isaac lowered his head, pretending to savor the soup.

If he remembered correctly, the thing that she said happened during their first year of marriage.

Back then, they did share affectionate gestures secretly.

From Rianna’s perspective, it was around 4-5 years ago, so everything was clear.

But from his perspective, it happened at least 14-15 years ago.

There’s no way I could remember something like that.

It’s not my fault, it just can’t be helped.

“Let’s think about what to do next.”

As he said that after taking another spoonful of his soup, the three women’s gazes fixed on him.

“…”

“Look at him changing the subject.”

“Do you want to taste the might of a Transcendent too?”

“Ahem. I believe we should stay here for a few days. Even if we go outside, there’s nowhere else for us to stay.”

At times like this, it was important to press on without yielding.

As he pushed forward, Rianna and Silverna eventually turned the conversation in that direction.

“You’re probably right.”

“In the meantime, we should also find out ways to return to our world.”

No matter how strange and foreign this land was…

To gather information, a massive amount of interaction would be needed.

What Rankelon and the Benheim’s villagers provided was an abandoned cattle shed.

It had been a long time since they last kept some livestocks there; even the characteristic smell of fur and dung had long since been blown away by the wind, leaving only musty dust.

But, even that had almost disappeared since the villagers had just cleaned them off.

Each person in the group held a single blanket.

Originally, the villagers didn’t really want to provide them with those, but after Sharen shouted, ‘Do you want to become my living sacrifices?! Or taste my sorcery instead?!’ they relented without making any more fuss.

For reference, Rianna and Sharen received separate accommodations.

The villagers completely emptied one of the houses, and they’d be staying there.

Since they were being mistaken for Primordials, it was only natural for them to receive special treatment.

In fact, during the meal earlier, Rankelon came over, making a fuss about how they could sit at the same table as ‘those creatures’.

In any case…

Though it was a cattle shed, everyone welcomed the chance to finally lie down.

They were so exhausted that they’d probably lie down all day today.

“What a blissful occasion…”

The one who said that was another person that Isaac had saved.

Anna, Silverna’s adjutant, smiled as she relaxed her shoulders.

“I don’t think I’ve properly thanked you yet, so, thank you.”

She bowed deeply at him.

“No, there’s no need to…”

“Isaac! Over here!”

Having secured a spot in the corner and gathered hay to make a cozy makeshift bed, Silverna called out to Isaac to come closer.

She even spread a blanket over it.

“…”

Seeing him standing there blankly, Anna nudged his back gently.

He sent her a reproachful look, but the woman had already left while humming, saying that she would find another spot.

Isaac had no choice but to approach Silverna quietly and when he did, she threw him a smile.

“Since I’m placing my blanket underneath, let’s use yours as a cover.”

“…You want us to share blankets?”

“It’s a common thing for comrades to do, right?”

“Why don’t you do it with Anna instead? She’s a woman…”

“And?”

“…”

When and why had she become so brazen…?

He was flustered for a bit but eventually sat down beside her, overwhelmed by her boldness.

Then, a brief silence enveloped them.

It reminded him of his wedding night.

When he and Rianna sat together on the bed, not knowing what to say or do.

At that moment, Silverna tapped his thigh with her finger.

“…Why…doesn’t it affect you at all…?”

“…What?”

The first thing he tried to do was to feign ignorance.

After all, bringing up the kiss in this circumstance would only make the situation even more awkward than it already was.

“Seriously?”

She stared at him, looking slightly hurt, but he still didn’t budge.

“…”

“Trying to pretend it didn’t happen?”

“Silverna.”

“Want me to do it again?”

“…Stop making such strange threats.”

She was trying to say that, since she had crossed that line once, she’d do it again without any hesitation whatsoever.

Then, she leaned slightly against Isaac, resting her head on his shoulder.

She wasn’t being brazen this time, as she asked if he was okay with her doing this. Since the timing was too awkward for him to refuse, he just let her do it.

“Thank you… For coming to find me like this…”

“…”

“Thank you, really… You were…really cool back then…”

She let out a gentle smile.

Feeling a lump in his throat, Isaac kept his mouth shut.

Even now, he was still worrying about a lot of things.

Would the Grandmaster—who had been taken away by her disciple—be safe?

With the Northern’s wall gone, was the frontline being properly maintained?

Could they even return to the other side?

Those questions invaded his mind.

But for now, he decided to forget all of them.

“…Isaac.”

Silverna carefully turned her head.

He could feel her breath on the bridge of his nose, and he could see clearly what the emotion in her eyes was—close to a kind of plea.

This time, slowly, and carefully…

She approached her, as if checking for his consent, and…

“Ahem!”

Uldiran Cardias interjected.

“…”

For a moment, it seemed as if sparks would fly from Silverna’s eyes—the kind that appeared from friction between two swords clashing.

Uldiran, whose body had somewhat recovered after a single proper meal, looked down at Isaac.

“Thank you for coming to save us, Isaac.”

“You’ve always been out to protect the kingdom, Margrave. It’s an honor to be able to repay that even once.”

Isaac tried to stand up, but Silverna gripped his arm, forcing him to sit back down awkwardly.

Seeing this, Uldiran didn’t mind much.

“The Malidean Wall is like a guardian deity protecting the kingdom, but now that it’s gone… There’s nothing much we can do…”

Uldiran said, his tone was heavy.

And then he continued.

“But, do you know that my daughter also has a ‘Malidean Wall’ protecting her?”

“…”

“Me. Uldiran Cardias.”

“…”

“The Malidean Wall is one that crushes all the Demonic Beasts who dares to approach it.”

“Um—“

Isaac wanted to come up with an excuse, but he realized that he couldn’t come up with one.

“Tell me. Do I have to crush you?”

Uldiran’s current atmosphere was similar to back when he had frozen his legs to defend the inner wall’s entrance.

Except that right now, instead of a stalwart guardian, he was nothing more than a doting father to his daughter.

“Please…! Just go!”

Unable to endure her father’s tyranny any longer, Silverna shouted, clinging more tightly to Isaac’s arm.

“The mood was good before you came!”

“M-mood?! In this situation, you—! Come sleep on our side! Silverna!”

“No! I don’t want to see you and mother cuddling from up close!”

“W-What, n-no! T-That was just us—”

Uldiran was about to start making excuses.

But at that moment, Rankelon entered the shed, and the whole place instantly went silent.

Then, a question arose in Isaac’s mind.

Do they truly lack hostility toward humans?

Isaac felt his common sense was being destroyed to an uncomfortable degree.

The Transcendent Race he knew were beings that bore deep hatred towards humans, and they’d hunt and subdue humans by force.

They were monsters that swooped in to plunder what humans had.

That was what he had believed, and it was a belief born from experience and memory.

That belief had hardened further in the battlefield, in the blood of dying comrades.

Village of the Sinners…

But, if there were sinners among the Transcendent Race…

What crimes had they committed?

The fact that they were banished to such a place, not even being imprisoned was a bizarre thing that he noticed as well.

Isaac threw a glance at Rankelon who was looking around before making eye contact with him.

Then, he approached Isaac.

“There you are, cherished slave. Your master is looking for you.”

“…”