Ch.2929. Bronte (1)

“I don’t want to. Let’s rest a little longer. I’m tired from talking with Mother.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to resolve this now and then come back to rest continuously, rather than going out in the middle of resting?”

“I’d like to, but…”

Sione fluttered weakly while wrapped in her blanket.

That sight overlapped with the troublesome mermaids from the dungeon, making it not entirely amusing.

Those creatures that would flop around and crawl out of ponds at all hours, spitting water cannons, were incredibly bothersome.

Thinking about how many of my already scarce arrows I wasted on them still brings tears to my eyes.

Wondering why she was acting this way, I quietly watched until Sione’s fluttering came to an end.

“How can I go see Sister Siabel when I don’t even have the strength to get up?”

So our Sione had it all figured out?

I thought she was just throwing a tantrum because she didn’t want to go out, but she even had such an excuse prepared.

I shook my head with a smirk.

Such a feeble excuse won’t be enough to stop me.

I spread my arms wide.

“Would you like me to carry you, or will you walk on your own?”

“Huh…?”

“Since you said you don’t have the strength to get up… I suppose it would be best if I carried you.”

“Uh, uhh.”

The more Sione just opened and closed her mouth without giving a proper answer,

The more I approached her with my arms spread wide.

Thump. Thump.

With each step closer, Sione’s eyes trembled like aspen leaves.

When I reached the bed and prepared to pick her up,

Sione seemed to freeze up from tension, staring at me with a blank expression.

She probably thought I would give up soon if she didn’t react,

But Sione underestimated me.

Unlike months ago when she was a heavy burden, the current Sione is light enough for me to carry around.

If I wanted to, I could certainly carry her around.

Sione hurriedly shook her head to regain her senses.

“…I’ll walk.”

“Are you sure you don’t need me to carry you?”

“I-I’m not a child… I’ll walk on my own feet.”

“Understood.”

In the end, Sione was the first to surrender.

She should have done this from the beginning.

Why does she have to make things so troublesome?

She quickly got up from the bed and adjusted her clothes.

As she was about to leave right away, I stopped her.

“Wait a moment, please.”

“What is it?”

“Your hair is disheveled.”

After fluttering around on the bed and rolling on the pillow, her hair had become tangled.

I slowly untangled her messy hair.

Sione waited with her head bowed until I finished.

It didn’t take long to neatly arrange her hair.

“All done. Now let’s go see Siabel.”

“Y-yes. Let’s do that.”

Tap tap tap.

I wonder why she even claimed to have no strength.

She dashed out with vigorous steps.

* * *

Since Siabel usually practiced swordsmanship at the training grounds during these daytime hours,

Sione and I headed to the training grounds.

But perhaps her daily routine had changed during the month we were away at the Marquisate,

Because Siabel Sianella was nowhere to be found in any part of the training grounds.

Sione asked an instructor who was taking a break about Siabel’s whereabouts.

Her expression had already returned to the emotionless one, unlike when she talked with me.

“I’m looking for Sister Siabel. Do you know where she is?”

“Lady Siabel recently suffered an injury, so she’s probably resting in her room.”

“Injury?”

At the mention of Siabel being injured, Sione’s eyebrows twitched.

The instructor flinched at Sione’s displeased expression.

My face also creased, but for a different reason.

Since the monster subjugation in the Beltrin Mountains would be carried out with none other than Siabel,

It wouldn’t be good if she was in an injured state.

“Could you explain in detail?”

“Well… four days ago, Lady Siabel injured her ankle and right arm during a sparring match…”

As Sione continued to stare silently, the instructor continued with cold sweat.

“We called a priest, and it wasn’t a serious injury, so she should be fine.”

“If a priest was called, the injuries should be completely healed. Why wouldn’t Sister Siabel come to the training grounds?”

“That’s… that’s all I know…”

“I understand. Carry on.”

Sione turned away from the instructor and came back.

“It seems we need to go to Siabel’s room instead of the training grounds.”

“I’ll follow you.”

“Still, it’s unusual for Sister Siabel to skip training due to an injury. How strange.”

Sione’s expression looked quite gloomy as she said this.

She must be worried about Siabel’s condition.

While her relationship with Sion might be completely broken, things seemed a bit different with Siabel.

Well, according to the quest, their relationship was described as awkward rather than murderously hostile.

“It would be good to ask Lady Siabel if her injuries are better.”

“…Yes.”

With that, Sione and I searched for Siabel’s room without further conversation.

When we reached Siabel’s room, Sione took a deep breath.

“Haah, I feel suffocated.”

“She’s your family, isn’t she? Just have a comfortable conversation.”

“Family comes in different forms. Even I wouldn’t want someone like my former self as family.”

“But you’re different now, aren’t you?”

“If only I could say that.”

Sione seemed a bit more relaxed as she gave a faint smile.

Then, for some reason, she suddenly patted my head.

After checking that my hair was disheveled, she finally knocked on the door.

“Sister Siabel… could we talk for a moment?”

“Sione?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“It’s been a while. Come in.”

When Siabel gave permission, Sione opened the door and looked at me.

“I’ll wait here.”

Sione nodded and entered Siabel’s room.

As I waited outside the door, wondering how long it would be before Sione came out again,

Creeeeak—

The door that seemed unlikely to open again for a while reopened.

Curious about who it might be, I turned my head to see a familiar face.

“Ah.”

This guy was definitely…

The personal attendant of Siabel who had wanted to gossip about Sione with me.

Fortunately, thanks to my quest-induced loyalty to Sione, I had defended her instead, which made our relationship somewhat strained.

I thought things might have improved since it had been a while, and we were meeting again after a month.

“……”

“……”

Seeing his face freeze upon seeing me, it seemed he was still holding a grudge about that incident.

He really knows how to hold a grudge.

I didn’t expect it to last this long.

With him showing such obvious dislike, I thought we could just ignore each other and go about our business.

But since he kept stealing glances at me, I couldn’t bear the awkwardness any longer.

At least when I was stuck between Diolia and Evan Feiosha’s servants, neither of them paid much attention to me.

I don’t understand why this guy is so interested in me.

Inwardly sighing, I casually greeted him.

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

When I readily greeted him, he finally stopped stealing glances.

Now he openly turned to face me.

With his sturdy build, angular features, and that magnificent mustache.

And to top it all off,

“Hmm… it’s been a while. That uniform, it seems you’ve become Sione’s attendant rather than just a servant?”

That nasal voice that didn’t match his appearance at all.

I barely resisted the urge to plug his nostrils to make him speak normally.

“Haha… somehow I became Sione’s personal attendant.”

“Hmmmm…”

Again, whatever his dissatisfaction was, he scrutinized my body with disapproving eyes.

The thought of this burly man examining my body so thoroughly sent chills down my spine.

Ian, whom I saw every day for a month, never did this.

I really don’t understand why this guy is acting this way.

“Congratulations. But becoming Sione’s personal attendant… you’ll have a hard time from now on.”

As expected, his attitude of disrespecting Sione remained unchanged.

I couldn’t understand why he would so openly criticize a member of the Sianella family where Siabel or Sione might hear.

Although her mental state might not be fully recovered, Sione was clearly making progress, and it bothered me to hear someone other than myself criticizing her.

Only I get to criticize Sione.

“Hard? Thanks to Sione’s recent determination to change, I’ve been able to live quite comfortably.”

A strange tension began to build between me and that attendant.

Behind me was Sione.

Behind him was Siabel.

We were sizing each other up, seeing who would gain the upper hand in the conversation about our respective masters.

But it seemed that Sione’s prestige still fell short compared to Siabel’s.

Soon, that attendant nodded with a smile close to a sneer.

“Yes, well— good luck.”

“Ahaha, thank you.”

The attendant extended his hand first for a handshake, as if doing me a favor.

His condescending attitude was extremely irritating, but I finally took his hand for the handshake.

While shaking hands, I asked one thing:

“Could you tell me your name?”

Looking at my twisted lips, he smiled with satisfaction.

“Call me Bronte.”

I gave him a rather artificial but quite bright smile.

“Nice to meet you, Bronte.”

I didn’t expect someone who hasn’t even awakened his Mana to look down on me too.

Bronte, I’ll remember you.