Ch.160160. Sione and the Spirit (2)

The carriage journey continued for a long time.

The carriage traveled without rest until it reached the royal capital.

The royal capital was quite distant from the County of Sianella where the war had broken out, and the same could be said for the eastern border.

Except for the attack on the royal palace, they had only encountered the kingdom’s current chaotic situation through rumors and newspaper articles.

The dry delivery of information and secondhand experiences were far less impactful than experiencing things directly.

Although reading those words might have initially made them worry about the future of the kingdom and the continent’s turmoil, those concerns seemed to have faded from their minds.

The vast majority of humans and other races in the royal capital were simply living their peaceful daily lives.

I quickly surveyed the lodgings where our county’s people were staying in the royal capital.

‘As expected.’

It was the same inside the inn.

The members of our county maintained expressionless faces, acutely aware that we were getting closer to the Marquisate of Kallia and the Great Forest.

They too had begun to realize what burden they had been given and what might happen in the Great Forest.

Though they tried to hide it, their worries occasionally surfaced, making it undeniable that only those connected to Sione and me carried these concerns in the otherwise quiet and peaceful inn.

After observing them, I glanced at the stairs leading to the upper floor.

“…She’s late.”

It was almost time to board the carriages again.

Perhaps she rushed to the bathroom while pretending to go to her room.

Sione, who said she’d come right back after going to her room, was still nowhere to be seen.

Just as I was wondering if I should go up to check on her,

Sione finally came down the stairs.

Her clothes were neat, and she had used a hairpin to sweep her bangs to the side. She must have been tidying up her appearance.

“Sorry for making you wait. I had something to do in my room.”

“I see you’ve tidied your clothes. We should head to the carriage since we’ll be departing soon.”

“Right.”

As Sione and I left the inn, the others followed behind us.

We were heading toward the carriage.

Glance. Glance.

My master kept giving me meaningful looks, as if wanting me to say something, occasionally sending expectant gazes with silent pressure.

‘What’s she up to now?’

I’m not a mind reader. If she has something she wants or wants to say, she should just use her perfectly functioning mouth.

Though it was annoying, I had nothing better to do than look around or casually ignore the various emotion-filled gazes from women on the street who kept focusing on my face.

I decided to play along with her for now.

‘I wonder what she’s thinking this time.’

The inn’s breakfast was quite delicious. Perhaps she’s looking at me like that because she hopes lunch will be just as tasty.

Or maybe she wants me to compliment her for dressing so neatly.

As I was watching her, I noticed the hairpin stuck in her hair.

‘That’s…’

It was the blue hairpin we bought together at an accessory shop during the festival before the county was turned upside down, when fireworks were lighting up the sky.

I can still vividly remember how Sione kept looking around nervously in that shop filled with men and no women in sight.

Well, in this masculine world, such shops filled with flower and butterfly-loving men would hardly be places where tough women would want to wander.

I decided to start a conversation about the hairpin.

“That hairpin… it’s been a while.”

And strangely enough,

It was as if she had been waiting for exactly this comment.

Countless stars seemed to appear in her eyes, blue as the sky.

Sparkle sparkle!

Her gaze was so satisfied it was almost uncomfortable to watch, and I could only offer a weak smile as I said:

“It suits you well.”

“Really?”

“If it didn’t suit you, I wouldn’t have recommended it to you back then.”

“Y-you’re quite the smooth talker. Always saying nice things.”

Thump thump.

Embarrassed again, Sione hit my back.

“Ouch…”

As always, her strikes were much more painful than expected, and I quietly writhed in pain.

After seeing that her expectations had been satisfied, she started humming a tune, and I asked:

“I haven’t seen you wear that hairpin during our carriage journey… did you take some time to find it, which is why you were late?”

It did seem like she took longer than necessary just to tidy up and put on a pin.

When I asked, Sione shook her head.

“No, I was late because I was trying to decide which one to wear.”

Sione reached into her pocket and pulled out a small hairpin.

The cheap hairpin we bought on the way to the Marquisate of Feiosha. I didn’t expect her to have kept it.

I nodded slightly at the small hairpin.

“Then from now on, you should carefully store that hairpin and continue wearing the one you have on now.”

“Store it?”

“Yes, you seem to treasure it so much. It would be quite disappointing if it broke while you were wearing it.”

“Hmm… that’s not a bad idea.”

Sione nodded as she spoke.

She quietly looked down at the worn hairpin in her hand, then glanced up at me.

“Well, we have plenty of time, so this…”

Sione gave a pure, bright smile.

“Let’s think about it together, just the two of us.”

We boarded the carriage once more.

* * *

“Ah…”

Sione’s expression twisted with irritation.

Swoosh swoosh!

“Really…!”

—Kyung kyung!

Our cotton puff was energetically flying around in all directions.

My spirit was the cause of Sione’s irritation.

Well, it’s constantly circling around Sione and me, so it’s impossible not to be annoyed.

I acknowledged Sione’s justified anger.

“Can’t you stay still for just a moment?”

—Ing?

“I know you understand! You seem to understand everything Ray says before he even speaks!”

—…..

The cotton puff looked at Sione and me with bright eyes, then after noticing I was watching it, it turned its head to face Sione.

—Heng.

After openly mocking her,

“Why you…!”

Just as Sione let out a small, irritated voice,

—Kiiing…

The spirit immediately put on a frightened expression and made a pitiful sound.

Flutter flutter…

Its wings, which had been moving energetically, drooped.

The wind spirit surrendered itself to the small updraft it created and flew unsteadily to my shoulder, landing like a sinking ship.

—Kiing…

Then it approached me and rubbed its face against my cheek.

Sione watched the spirit with a dumbfounded expression, and the spirit turned around.

—Heng.

“Haah…”

It simply gave Sione a leisurely winner’s smile.

I tapped the spirit lightly while scolding it as its master.

“Tsk. You shouldn’t do that. You’re in the wrong this time.”

—Yang?

Pretending not to know again.

Wind spirits, especially lower-ranked ones, are typically full of mischief to the point where communication is difficult.

I’ve explained this to Sione, and she’s been somewhat understanding about spirits, but at this rate, she might die of stress before anything else.

I should probably tell the spirit to play pranks on Diolia instead of Sione, who gets annoyed and irritated. Diolia can’t take her eyes off this cotton puff and would love to play with it.

‘For now…’

I should comfort the angry Sione first.

I skillfully took out a cookie from the cookie pouch I had managed to secure.

—Myung!

Since I had fed the spirit a cookie once before, it had become as enchanted with cookies as Sione.

The cotton puff eyed the cookie greedily, but…

“No. This isn’t for you.”

Unfortunately, this is a precious snack meant to relieve Sione’s stress.

“Please have a cookie.”

I immediately handed the cookie to Sione.

Just as Sione took the cookie and was about to put it in her mouth,

—Kyung!

Hop!

The spirit jumped up.

The cotton puff rubbed itself against Sione’s neck with all its might to get her attention.

Eventually, it even fluttered its wings and rubbed its face all over Sione’s face.

Finally, Sione gave up.

“What if your fur gets in my mouth… here, I’ll share a little with you.”

—Myung!

When she tore off a small piece of the cookie’s edge and gave it to the spirit, it immediately took the cookie in its mouth and sat next to me.

—Heng.

Then it smiled at Sione as if to say “I knew it.”

She can’t even hit it.

Sione looked down at the spirit with a hollow expression, put the cookie in her mouth, and turned to me.

“Ray, you still haven’t named it, right?”

“Yes, the name given by the contractor can affect the spirit’s growth direction and speed, so I need to be as careful as—”

“How about ‘Moth’? It sheds fur… flies with wings… annoyingly flies over and sticks to you…”

“…”

“I think Moth suits it best…”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Haah…”

As Sione sighed, the cotton puff flew up and circled above her head, then…

Plop.

It gently placed itself on top of her head.

—Kyung!

And then it cried out confidently.

“Ray, I really don’t think this thing and I get along—”

Just as Sione was speaking in a tired voice,

“…?”

The carriage, which shouldn’t have stopped at this hour, came to a halt.

Then the coachman hurriedly came to deliver news to us.

“There seems to be a small battle taking place up ahead…!”

“A battle, you say?”

I couldn’t help but frown at the coachman’s unbelievable words.

With so many carriages in our procession,

Even bandits with functioning brains would be intimidated by our numbers and the mercenaries guarding the carriages, preventing them from approaching easily.

Moreover, our carriage procession clearly included one that would carry a high-ranking noble. It’s only natural that there would be knights or a considerable number of regular soldiers mixed in as escorts.

So until we approached the Marquisate of Kallia, we hadn’t encountered any attacks except for a few goblin raids, making the word “battle” seem somewhat unfamiliar during this long journey.

‘But up ahead, he says.’

The carriage at the very front was none other than the elf’s.

If some foolish bandits had attacked her, they would only receive profound contempt and death.

Just as I was thinking how unlucky those enemies were,

“…”

I noticed Sione’s expression subtly hardening.

“Do you happen to know what kind of battle is taking place up ahead?”

“Well… for some reason, there’s a battle with frenzied magical beasts.”

“…Frenzied magical beasts, you say?”

“Yes, with this many carriages and people, magical beasts should be hesitant to attack, just like bandits… but the ones attacking this time are charging in like dogs with rabies.”

Frenzied magical beasts. The proximity to the Marquisate of Kallia near the Great Forest. And Sione’s subtle expression.

There was something suspicious about all this.

“Lady Sione, shall we go take a look?”

“…Let’s go check it out.”

Sione and I quickly grabbed our bow and secondary weapons and left the carriage.

—Kyung!

The cotton puff naturally climbed onto my head and joined us.

Running more swiftly than Sione, I arrived first at the carriage near the front, where we saw an elf.

“To think that magical beasts tainted with such malicious energy would be roaming here alive already…”

Friel Arielt had a sword at her waist.

Tap tap.

She tapped the handle while observing the situation.

Magical beasts drooling and on the verge of charging.

And a single elf standing before them.

She seemed to be muttering something to herself.

“I clearly advised the second son who remained at the marquisate to prioritize the border security and magical beast subjugation around the territory, along with the border line.”

When I enhanced my hearing with mana, I could hear her small voice spreading in a monotone.

Though it was just a small mutter, I could clearly feel the fundamental contempt within that coldness.

She considered the second son of the marquisate to be worth less than an insect.

“…As expected of that lustful male who kept throwing advances. He must have forgotten as soon as we parted.”

Whoosh!

Wind concentrated around her.

“Just like an incompetent human male who knows nothing of loyalty and integrity. Even when shown kindness and given advice, he can’t make use of it.”

The magical beasts’ attention focused on Friel due to the unusual energy manifestation.

“Still as foolish as ever, doing the same old things.”

Bang!

“Ray!”

Just as Sione stood beside me, Friel’s magic shot into the middle of the magical beast horde.

Sharp wind blades tore through their tough skin, taking bone and flesh.

“Huh?”

Sione’s pupils took in the carnage created by the elf.

As blood droplets scattered into the air from the turbulent wind,

Seeing the blooming flower of blood, Sione could finally clearly realize:

The elf who abhors fighting and lives by drinking only the morning dew on grass leaves is nothing but a fictional creature from fairy tales.

The elf now seemed accustomed to such crimson wind curtains, calmly observing the blood whirlwind she had created with a bored expression.

Indeed, elves were familiar and comfortable with wind, as they knew how to handle it.

Even if that wind was a blood-soaked gale.