Ch.101101. Small Reward (2)

“Please be seated.”

“…Then I’ll excuse myself for a moment.”

I carefully sat down across from Siabel. The plush leather chair supported my body. Though I wanted to sink into the comfort the chair offered, I remained vigilant against relaxing my posture.

As I maintained a proper sitting position, Siabel shrugged her shoulders. Various refreshments and tea were prepared on the table. Siabel silently looked at me before taking a sip of her tea.

“It’s the same tea you made when I went to Sione’s room before.”

“…?”

“It’s much better than the bitter tea Bronte usually makes. I told her to make this from now on. There’s plenty prepared for you too, so enjoy it comfortably.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Afterward, Siabel sipped her tea instead of speaking. However, that was all. Despite quietly drinking her tea, she wasn’t enjoying the aroma spreading through her nose or savoring the taste lingering in her mouth.

Her interest was fixed solely on me, not the tea. Even while drinking, her open eyes were focused on my face.

Clack.

After slowly examining me, Siabel put her teacup down on the saucer.

“Hmm—”

With an intentionally audible voice, she showed me a playful expression.

Then, with her palm facing upward, she extended her hand to me with an elegant gesture.

“May I borrow your right hand for a moment?”

“My right hand?”

I don’t know why she suddenly wants my right hand, but…

She’s quietly waiting for my right hand to be placed on hers. Seeing that Siabel had no intention of backing down, I placed my right hand on hers.

Siabel, who had shown the coldest and most ruthless actions during the battle with the orcs. Her hand touching my skin wasn’t cold but warm.

“Oh.”

Siabel made a small sound as she brought my hand toward herself.

She examined various parts of me with her eyes, touching and checking.

“You handle bow and sword so skillfully. Yet it seems you don’t train separately in your daily life. The calluses on your hands are significantly fewer than your demonstrated skill level would suggest.”

“……”

“Of course. You probably trained with sword and bow until a year ago, before being sold to our county. A mere servant, and a male at that, couldn’t swing a sword in a training ground full of rough women.”

Siabel’s red lips curved upward. Her deep, intense smile blended elegantly with her proud impression, creating a seductive atmosphere.

“Ray. Do you think you have a skill level commensurate with the time and effort you’ve invested?”

Siabel released my hand. My hand hung aimlessly in the air before returning to my knee.

Siabel poured more tea into her cup.

She lifted the teacup and, this time clearly inhaling the tea’s aroma, continued speaking.

“You must know it too. Your skill level is excessively disproportionate to the effort you’ve put in.”

I responded to her words with silence.

The effort I’ve put in, she says. I’ve put in more than enough effort.

Hunters are all madmen. They’re the type who willingly crawl into dungeons filled with all sorts of insane dangers where one mistake could get their heads cut off or their bodies riddled with holes. Hunters are lunatics.

And I was one of those many madmen. Not just an ordinary madman, but a proper one. I was one of the world’s elite Hunters who headed into an S-rank dungeon, of all places.

‘A skill level excessive for me?’

What nonsense.

How many monsters have I killed over the years, constantly raiding dungeons? How desperately have I struggled to become more proficient with my mediocre archery, swordsmanship, and magic?

My skill level is the result of appropriate effort.

Yes, it’s an appropriate result, but…

‘…I can’t even argue with this.’

However, as she said, the original owner of this body, Ray, and I who took over this body haven’t shown much effort.

I simply maintain eye contact with Siabel in silence.

“…So if you reached that level of skill because of heaven-given talent, I’m asking you this. Ray—”

“…?”

“Would you like to learn swordsmanship from your big sister?”

“…Pardon?”

Learn swordsmanship from Siabel?

I’m sorry, but… would there be anything to learn?

“…Are you asking me to become your disciple, Lady Siabel?”

“That’s right.”

After saying that, Siabel stood up from her chair and walked to my side.

As I was about to stand up, Siabel, who had somehow moved behind my chair, gently pressed down on my shoulders. Thanks to that, I sat back down.

She still had both hands on my shoulders and bent her waist to narrow the distance between us.

“May I ask the reason?”

“I’ve already told you the reason. It’s because of your talent. Besides—”

Saying that, Siabel began to leisurely stroke my head.

“It seems your relationship with Sione is growing deeper by the day. If I don’t secure a position as your teacher, won’t it be difficult for big sister to get between you two?”

“Sione and I—”

“Let’s discuss this later with Sione.”

Siabel, who cleanly cut off my words, stepped back. Then, standing beside the chair rather than behind it, she exchanged glances with me and put her left hand in her pants pocket.

Then, just like when she asked for my hand earlier, Siabel extended her right hand to me and smiled.

“Now let me give you the reward you’ve been expecting. Come on, take my hand and stand up.”

“…Excuse me.”

“There’s no need for such formality.”

I grabbed Siabel’s hand and stood up from the chair.

Then, as if she had been waiting for this, Siabel took out her left hand from her pants pocket.

‘A ring?’

In Siabel’s left hand was a ring. A cold silver metal ring. It had no flashy decorations like jewels, but the precisely engraved intaglio gave the ring an antique feel.

Siabel explained as she put the ring on my index finger.

“Three times in total. The ring will protect you in dangerous moments. Try to keep wearing it from now on if possible.”

The ring was a tool imbued with magic. An artifact.

The price of artifacts wasn’t cheap even on Earth. In this world, it would be even more expensive, not less.

Moreover, it wasn’t just a simple magic but magic engraved to protect the wearer. It would certainly be useful.

Having received an unexpected reward, I bowed my head to Siabel.

“Thank you.”

Siabel smiled deeply at my gratitude.

“There’s still another reward left. Let me hear your thanks after that.”

As I showed curiosity at her words, Siabel soon raised her right hand that was holding mine.

My hand, led and guided by Siabel’s hand, went up and up.

That back of my hand—

“Lady Siabel?”

Only stopped rising after touching Siabel’s lips.

Siabel kept her red lips on the back of my hand for a moment. The warm and soft sensation of her lips was felt through the back of my hand. And even after she removed her lips, the place she touched remained warm, as if to prove it wasn’t a dream.

Siabel suddenly kissed my hand. As I stared blankly at her face, wondering why she did this.

“Hmm…”

Uncharacteristically, Siabel slightly avoided my gaze.

“…This should be sufficient reward.”

After saying that, Siabel gently released my hand. In an instant, she composed her breathing and organized her expression. She returned to her characteristic mischievous smile and said:

“How does it feel to receive the first kiss from the future head of the county?”

“Wasn’t it just a hand kiss?”

“Well, a kiss is a kiss in the end, isn’t it?”

I barely suppressed a sigh that was about to burst out and thought.

Why on earth are the people in this household so desperate to devour me?

It seems I need to add Siabel’s name to my list of people to be wary of, alongside the drunk Sione.

* * *

Tap. Tap. Tap.

In the quiet office, Ainel Sianella rests her chin on her hand, tapping the desk in a regular rhythm.

Diolia, who returned to the county from the western part of the territory. She successfully eliminated the monsters that had suddenly flooded in, suppressing the commotion in the territory, but the stability that returned once again feels like the calm before the storm, she mentioned.

“The calm before the storm—”

Certainly, considering that cultists were operating in villages near the territory, and that Demonkin were found in the Beltrin Mountains just half a year ago.

Perhaps because the recent situation in the territory, no, the kingdom, has been unsettling, Diolia’s words remained in memory and wouldn’t be forgotten.

Tap. Tap. Taaap—

Ainel’s index finger, which had been tapping the desk, stopped.

“…The reconnaissance team sent to the mountains hasn’t returned yet either.”

Screech.

Ainel pushed back her chair and stood up. She put on the coat hanging on the coat rack and picked up a document.

A paper briefly summarizing information about the cultist altar and Demonkin discovered in the mountains half a year ago. She neatly folded the document and put it in the inner pocket of her coat.

Then, fastening the sword hanging on the office wall to her waist, she whispered as she opened the door.

“…I need to send a new search party and reconnaissance team.”