Ch.3131. To the Mountain Range (1)

After finishing our business with Sione and Siabel, we returned once again to Sione’s room.

I thought she would dive straight into bed claiming exhaustion upon our return.

Instead, Sione sat at the table where I had placed refreshments and began eating cookies one by one.

“Would you like some tea with that?”

She nodded.

Sione nodded while tasting the cookie in her mouth.

I poured tea for her.

She must be possessed by a hungry ghost—watching her eat like that, I’m worried she’ll choke any moment.

“Keck! Ugh…”

Just as I thought, she seemed to have swallowed a cookie wrong and coughed while drinking her tea.

I don’t understand why she eats so hastily when no one is trying to steal her food.

Shaking my head, I asked about what had happened earlier.

“How did your conversation with Lady Siabel go?”

“We exchanged greetings and talked about the Beltrin Mountains. It went better than expected thanks to my sister leading the conversation.”

“Was the atmosphere decent?”

“Haa… it was still awkward, unavoidably so.”

“You did well. Would you like another cup of tea?”

“Please.”

I poured more tea into her cup.

Sione watched the rippling tea slowly, then lifted the cup.

After drinking it, she shook her head slightly.

It seemed she was trying to shake off the lingering memory of the awkward encounter with Siabel.

“If you continue making conversation bit by bit, things will gradually improve.”

“If it happens as you say, that would be wonderful.”

Scrape.

Sione rose from her chair.

As she trudged over to her bed and lay down, I cleaned the table.

After tidying up the cookie crumbs and empty teacups, I heard Sione, who was rolling around on her bed, heave a deep sigh.

“Haaa…”

I wonder what she wants to say now.

I responded to her deliberate sigh as she stared at me intently.

“What’s the matter?”

“She said we’re going to the Beltrin Mountains in three days. I just got back, and it’s disappointing that I won’t get much rest.”

I could only shake my head at Sione’s words.

She had rested plenty during our carriage ride, so what was she complaining about?

She hadn’t even sat properly—she’d laid down comfortably on a blanket spread on the floor.

My fists clenched as this Sione, who had traveled in comfort, complained to me who had worked hard cooking soup and washing dishes.

Perhaps one light knock on her head wouldn’t be too much.

As I was contemplating how to deliver this knock, I remembered something I needed from her.

She had promised to lend me a flower language dictionary.

I was quite curious about the meanings of the flowers she had read, so I hadn’t forgotten.

“Lady Sione.”

“Hmm?”

“Could I borrow that flower language dictionary you mentioned before?”

“Ah… that.”

She sat up and pointed to a bookshelf standing in the corner of the room.

“It’s on that shelf over there, go find it.”

Would it kill her to find it herself?

Apparently, Sione had no intention of leaving her bed.

I had no choice but to search for the dictionary myself.

I diligently read the titles of books written in the continental common language, looking for the flower dictionary.

“Ah, here it is.”

I pulled out the book.

The cover was illustrated with various flowers, and it was quite thick—finding the flowers I wanted would be a challenge.

“First, the immortality herb.”

I looked up the flower language for the immortality herb.

Its meaning was “I trust and follow you.”

Was it that I trust and follow Sione?

Or that Sione trusts and follows me?

Either way, the meaning was quite amusing, and I chuckled.

“Next was the plum blossom.”

I then looked up the plum blossom.

Let’s see, plum blossom means… noble heart.

It seemed Sione had a generous assessment of me.

Being told I had a noble heart made my shoulders rise with pride—I’m only human after all.

“And the last one was…”

Ah, the corn poppy.

Finally, I looked up the corn poppy she had mentioned.

When I saw its meaning, my thoughts froze momentarily.

Weak love? Fleeting love?

Why was love appearing here?

Even rubbing my eyes and reading again, the words remained unchanged.

I looked back and forth between the flower meaning and Sione.

“Lady Sione.”

When I called her, Sione turned to face me.

“I’ve seen the meaning of the corn poppy…”

“Ah…”

“Do you like me?”

At my straightforward question, Sione’s expression subtly contorted.

Her face seemed to redden a bit… she probably got angry at my absurd question.

Well, I was just curious and thought I’d ask.

“O-of course I don’t like you…!”

“But when you were telling me about flowers that suit me, you included the corn poppy…”

“You must have misheard!”

With those words, Sione disappeared under her blanket.

Getting so upset over a simple misunderstanding.

I put the flower dictionary back on the shelf and had no choice but to wait until Sione’s anger subsided.

* * *

Finally, three days passed, and the day to head to the Beltrin Mountains arrived.

I was dressed not in my usual servant attire but in leather armor, fully armed.

‘Given the quest details…’

The monster subjugation quest specified escorting Sione until the Beltrin Mountains were cleared.

Since even the quest told me to protect Sione, despite being accompanied by dozens of soldiers,

there would likely be at least one occasion where I’d need to protect her.

It would be troublesome to face orcs or wolves without proper equipment, so it was better to be thoroughly prepared from the start.

As I was carefully checking my equipment beside Sione, Siabel, who had been talking with other soldiers, finally approached Sione.

Bronte following behind her was a bonus.

“Sione. We’re about to depart, are you ready?”

“Of course. We can leave anytime.”

“Good.”

As Siabel nodded with satisfaction at Sione’s decisive response,

I waved at Bronte.

Bronte briefly checked my expression before waving back in response.

After completing our brief greetings, we boarded the carriage.

Originally, we were supposed to ride with Siabel in this carriage that had taken us to the Marquisate.

But since Siabel said she had matters to discuss with other soldiers and took a different carriage, only Sione and I were in this one.

“We’re departing!”

With the coachman’s announcement, the carriage began to move forward.

As the carriage traveled and was about to pass through the castle walls,

I asked Sione, who was unusually quiet with her eyes closed.

“May I ask how long it takes to reach the Beltrin Mountains?”

Sione opened her eyes at my question.

“About an hour or so. It’s not far, so taking a short nap wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

Sione seemed quite low on energy as she spoke.

She had been so energetic this morning, but why had she become so listless now?

I really couldn’t figure her out.

“You seem to lack energy… are you feeling unwell?”

“Thank you for your concern, but it’s nothing to worry about.”

“I’m worried about you.”

“I just don’t like the idea of camping in the Beltrin Mountains… thinking about it makes me…”

…Despite looking like she was carrying the weight of the world’s exhaustion.

That was her only reason?

I felt drained after worrying unnecessarily.

Seeing me like this, Sione chuckled.

“Didn’t I tell you it was nothing?”

“Yes, you did.”

Making people worry for no reason.

Afterward, I lost interest in Sione and closed my eyes.

After some time had passed, I opened my eyes to the bustling sounds around me and saw Sione gathering her quiver.

“…What’s happening?”

“They say they’ve spotted goblins. If we let them be, they could harm nearby villages since they’re not far from our territory, so we need to eliminate them.”

“Are you planning to help, Lady Sione?”

“Goblins are perfect targets for archery practice after a long time.”

“I’ll accompany you.”

I quickly gathered my bow and arrows and followed her out of the carriage.

Outside, a small number of soldiers and Siabel were already engaged with the goblins.

Seeing the soldiers confidently cutting down goblins, it seemed all the goblins would be eliminated soon.

“At this rate, we won’t get to catch any.”

“Let’s hurry.”

Sione stopped mid-run and took an arrow from her quiver.

Following her gaze, I could see a goblin in the distance.

The problem was not only the considerable distance but also that friendly forces were fighting nearby.

I spoke seriously with a stern expression.

“You mustn’t hit our allies.”

“Hmph, stating the obvious.”

“There are quite a few soldiers around.”

“Don’t worry.”

Even when told not to worry, I couldn’t help but be concerned.

The distance was considerable, and a slight mistake could result in an arrow lodged in someone’s stomach.

Ignoring my concerns, Sione released her arrow with a sliding release.

Sione’s arrow flew.

Fortunately, her arrowhead did not tear through any of our allies’ flesh.

Sione’s arrow successfully pierced the forehead of a rampaging goblin.

The goblin, with an arrow embedded in its head, collapsed lifelessly.

“How about that? Clean, wasn’t it?”

Sione smiled brightly, clearly pleased with her archery skills.

Riding that momentum, she enthusiastically fired more arrows.

And in the end—

“Very clean indeed.”

“…Be quiet.”

Most of her arrows had cleanly missed their targets.