Ch.430Chapter 430 – Request (1)

When I opened my eyes, I found that my surroundings had grown dark.

Thinking that Metis might have called for me again, I sat up, causing the blanket that had been covering me to slide off with a soft rustle.

I immediately understood the situation when I noticed something draped over me that definitely hadn’t been there before I’d decided to rest.

‘I fell asleep.’

It seemed I had dozed off while leaning against the stone lantern after saying I would take a short break.

While this snowy region wasn’t particularly cold compared to other snow-covered areas, as I moved my body slightly upon realizing I’d fallen asleep, I noticed something covered with cloth on the ground right in front of me.

Light was seeping through the cloth, so I lifted it curiously to find a lamp emitting warm energy underneath.

‘Did Sera make this?’

It appeared to be a device that transferred heat to its surroundings when lit.

I suspected it was originally designed for traveling through the snow when darkness fell.

It seemed that when I had inadvertently fallen asleep, Sera, concerned I might catch a cold, had brought this device and covered it with cloth to prevent the light from waking me.

“You didn’t need to go this far for me.”

I found myself muttering, feeling guilty. Of course, I wasn’t displeased that Sera had been thoughtful enough to look after me.

Thinking I should quickly find her and put her mind at ease, I looked around and noticed Beatrice sitting before me with her eyes closed, her head bowed.

I approached her, wondering, and heard the sound of regular breathing.

‘She’s asleep.’

Whatever magic she had used, the air around Beatrice was warm.

But with the spellcaster asleep, there was a risk the magic might suddenly dispel.

Thinking she needed the help of a device, I quietly set down the lamp Sera had left.

As I placed it on the ground, a small sound emanated from the lamp.

“Huh?”

Beatrice immediately opened her eyes.

She quickly surveyed her surroundings, glanced at me standing before her, looked at the lamp on the ground, and quietly nodded.

“You’re awake, Helmet.”

“…Sorry. I woke you up.”

I apologized, feeling bad for disturbing her by touching the lamp, but Beatrice said she had slept enough as she got to her feet.

Then she stretched her arms wide.

The stretch accentuated certain parts of her body, so I averted my gaze, which made Beatrice giggle.

“Helmet, you’ve already seen everything there is to see of me, haven’t you? Is there really any need to look away?”

“…Shouldn’t people try to be as decent as possible?”

“Fair point.”

Beatrice approached me with a mischievous smile.

Then I asked her a question.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Almost half a day. You could probably go without sleep until tomorrow night.”

“What about the others?”

“They went to the carriage. Everyone was injured and quite tired, so it’s best they get proper rest.”

Beatrice added that even those on watch duty had gone to rest, with the people at the carriage taking turns standing guard.

Then, as if just remembering, she spoke again.

“I almost forgot. Everyone wanted to stay here, but I forced them to leave. I told them you would feel more guilty and burdened, Helmet. I said I would keep watch, so they should prioritize resting.”

“You did well.”

Just as Beatrice said, I would have felt more guilty if they had all stayed around me.

While it might have been surprisingly warm to rest here, there was no need to explain which would provide better rest: lying in a bed or leaning against a stone pillar.

Though I suppose there might be rare individuals who would find the latter more comfortable.

At that moment, I remembered something I’d forgotten and looked at Beatrice again.

“Sorry. You couldn’t rest properly because of me.”

“If anything, I enjoyed getting to see something nice. I got to see what everyone else wants to see, so it’s fine.”

“…Something nice?”

What on earth did she see?

I felt uneasy.

As I looked at her, wondering if I should press her for details, Beatrice grinned and said:

“Helmet, just to be clear, I didn’t see anything inappropriate. I was just watching you from a distance like this.”

“…Really?”

“That’s right. Besides, I’ve already seen everything there is to see of you, so there’s no need to be so guarded.”

After saying that, Beatrice soon grinned and continued:

“All I saw was your peacefully sleeping face.”

“I see.”

Come to think of it, my helmet had flown off during the fight with the Hero’s Shadow.

My bare face would have been completely visible.

Then Beatrice waved her hand and said:

“Enough chatting, let’s go to the carriage. I’m hungry.”

“…Right, we basically missed a meal.”

Having slept until it got dark, we had essentially skipped a meal.

At Beatrice’s words, I realized I was a bit hungry too.

Then Beatrice looked at me and asked in a subtle voice:

“Shall I make us a late-night snack when we get there?”

“I’d appreciate that, but I don’t think it will be necessary.”

If I knew Sera, she would have prepared food for us to eat when we woke up in the middle of the night.

While Beatrice’s offer was kind, it would likely be unnecessary.

And as if she had thought the same thing, Beatrice nodded and said:

“Anyway, let’s go now. If Miss Sera has prepared a late-night snack, we can eat that and rest for a bit.”

I nodded and headed toward the stairs I had seen before coming here.

As I stood at the landing, I briefly turned around.

“…I hope you all sleep well.”

Though it was probably unnecessary to say this to what were essentially just copies, I quietly bid farewell to the shadows who had fallen asleep here after the battle.

+

To cut to the chase, Sera had indeed prepared a late-night snack.

When we went down, I noticed Eve looking surprised to see me, and beyond her, I could see food that Sera had prepared laid out on a makeshift table.

Seeing the food made me feel hungry, and I wanted to head straight to the table, but I couldn’t just ignore basic courtesy, so I raised my hand in greeting to Eve.

“If you’re tired, why don’t you go rest?”

“How could I rest comfortably when Kay is sleeping in a place like that?”

Eve said with a slight pout.

“We were all surprised when we saw you sleeping deeply there. We thought you were just closing your eyes for a moment.”

“The best part was when Miss Sera seriously discussed whether we should carry you down here.”

With Sera’s strength, she could easily lift and carry someone like me, so it was worth discussing.

Incidentally, the reason they didn’t do it was because they thought I might wake up if they touched me.

“While you were sleeping, Christina examined your condition. She said you were just sleeping deeply due to accumulated fatigue.”

“I see.”

“Nothing happened while you were asleep, so let’s leave it at that. You must be hungry, so please eat, Kay.”

I saw Eve preparing a kettle, saying she would brew some tea in the meantime.

I headed to the table and checked the prepared food.

“Simple but sufficient.”

I commented, looking at the steaming pot.

Whether by magic or some other means, the stew inside the pot had maintained its warmth despite some time having passed since it was made.

Next to it were roasted bird meat and fruits cut into bite-sized pieces.

However, the meat was noticeably diminished compared to the fruit.

“The nun, perhaps?”

“Probably Chris.”

Chris was the one among us who loved meat the most.

Whether she had eaten a lot during the meal or had been sneaking bites, I couldn’t tell.

Still, as if Sera had anticipated this, there was still plenty of meat left.

I ladled some stew into a bowl and took appropriate portions of meat and fruit, then sat down by the bonfire. Beatrice took a similar amount and sat across from me.

As I slowly sipped the warm broth, I felt its warmth spreading throughout my body.

“Sera’s cooking is definitely the most delicious.”

“…I should really study cooking too…”

Beatrice muttered quietly as she continued to eat her stew.

Both of us were hungry, so we continued eating in silence, and just as we were finishing our food, Eve sat down beside me with the teapot and said:

“Would you like some tea after your meal?”

“Of course.”

Eve poured tea into a cup for me.

Taking a sip of the perfectly warm tea, I tasted a slight sweetness.

“What kind of tea is this?”

“Bestian honey tea, they call it. Apparently, you boil tea leaves in water with a bit of honey dissolved in it.”

Eve added that she had learned it from Miss Jusha.

Eve usually brewed tea with carefully selected tea leaves, but it seemed she had made this for me to try.

As I took another sip of the tea, Eve smiled slightly and then quietly asked:

“Kay, what are your plans going forward?”

“I’d like to suggest we rest one more day before moving on, but…”

Unfortunately, I too had time constraints.

Having somehow spent the rest of today sleeping deeply, we needed to move on now.

“Tomorrow morning, after everyone wakes up and has breakfast, we’ll head straight for Evgenia’s seal. We’ll leave the carriage and Moo here.”

Leaving the carriage here had been discussed beforehand.

According to Noah, while we could escort the carriage to the Warrior’s Sanctuary, it would be difficult to go further inside where Evgenia’s seal was located.

The plan was to first move the heavily loaded carriage here, and if going deeper proved difficult, we would return to the sanctuary and use the carriage as our camp.

Since monsters didn’t come to the sanctuary, and according to Noah’s investigation, there were no beastkin groups planning to head to the Warrior’s Sanctuary, it was optimal for safely hiding Moo and the carriage.

When our journey here ended, we could rest here again before moving on.

“Then we’ll need to prepare food and other supplies from the carriage.”

“Should I help you with that now?”

“Then I’d have nothing to do. I’ll handle it, but would you take over the watch for me?”

“I don’t mind, but… let’s do it together a bit later. I’ll help you, so rest for now.”

Eve nodded at my words.

Since Beatrice and I had just had a good sleep, I didn’t mind either standing watch or helping with the preparations.

Given the circumstances, I could just stand watch until morning after helping Eve.

As we were talking, I happened to look down at the bonfire and noticed it had weakened since earlier.

It seemed we needed to add more wood, but I couldn’t see any suitable branches.

“Hmm, I gathered firewood in advance, but I must have misjudged the amount.”

“Should we get some from inside?”

There should still be firewood left in the carriage.

As I was considering getting some, Beatrice stood up and said:

“There’s plenty of wood around here, so I’ll go gather some.”

“Isn’t it dangerous in the dark?”

“I’m a mage. Besides, not just any branch can be used as firewood, so I’ll gather some, process them a bit with magic, and bring them back.”

“I have to make myself useful somehow,” Beatrice muttered quietly.

As Eve smiled wryly, seeming to understand what she meant, Beatrice stood up and said:

“I’ll be back soon, Helmet. Don’t worry, I won’t go far.”

“Alright.”

Though she was a woman going into the forest alone at night, Beatrice would be fine.

There were no monsters here anyway, so she just needed to watch her step.

With that, Beatrice went into the forest to gather branches.

And so, with just the bonfire between us, Eve and I sat facing each other.

For a while, we sat in silence, gazing at the bonfire, lost in thought.

Then Eve quietly spoke:

“…It feels like it’s been a long journey.”

“A long journey?”

“From the Kingdom of Mikea to here. After slaying the dragon, we were condemned as heretics… and then we ended up searching for five of Evgenia’s seals, which brought us here.”

Perhaps because we were alone, Eve seemed to be feeling somewhat nostalgic.

“It’s not over yet.”

“It’s almost over, isn’t it? There’s only one seal left. And there’s a high probability that the Philosopher’s Stone is there too.”

Eve smiled and said:

“When we find the seal, Christina will finally learn what arrangements Evgenia made. And you, Kay, will be able to find the Philosopher’s Stone and restore your lifespan.”

Eve looked at the bonfire and said:

“It’s been such a long journey, but thinking that it’s almost over makes me feel somewhat sentimental.”

“I see.”

However, I couldn’t assume everything would end well.

“…I’m still worried about the troublemakers who remain.”

At my words, Eve’s expression changed, and she nodded.

Emiris and Idea.

These two could interfere with us at any moment, and it wouldn’t be surprising.

Rather, it was unsettling that there had been no interference yet.

“…Their goal isn’t Evgenia’s seal but the Philosopher’s Stone, right?”

“Probably. They’re likely waiting and targeting the moment we obtain it. That will be the final hurdle.”

Whether I would survive or Emiris would survive.

In a situation where both of us needed the Philosopher’s Stone to survive, our fates would be decided then.

Eve, also aware of this, abandoned her sentimental expression and adopted a sharp look.

“…Compared to the others, my combat abilities may be lacking.”

Eve looked at me and said:

“But I will never let them take it from you, Kay.”

As if making a vow to herself, Eve looked at me and said:

“I will never stand by and let them take you from me.”

“You’re quite passionate.”

“Of course. I can’t let several women become widows, can I?”

“…That sounds like a pointed remark.”

I felt a slight pang of conscience.

Eve laughed and said:

“Does it prick your conscience?”

“Yes.”

“Then be good to the person right in front of you. When you’re alone with someone, focus all your attention on them. Can you do that?”

“I’ll try.”

At my honest answer, Eve spoke softly.

Soon, Eve and I looked at each other and smiled.

And as I gazed back at the bonfire, memories of the past suddenly came to mind.

‘I’ve kept watch by the bonfire with Eve alone before.’

It was shortly after we had escaped from the New Kingdom.

Without Eve’s help, I would have died without being able to escape.

Conversely, Eve had said she would have died without my help.

Afterward, Eve had thanked me for saving her life.

I quietly gazed at the dying bonfire.

Back then, the bonfire had burned fiercely, but now it was dying out.

Was that why?

The final image of the Shadow Priestess flashed through my mind.

‘…There’s always a possibility.’

I quietly contemplated, let out a small sigh, and steeled my resolve as I looked at Eve’s face.

“Eve.”

“Yes.”

“May I ask you for a favor, just in case?”

Perhaps it was the magic of the bonfire.

Weak words slightly slipped from my mouth.

After a moment, Eve’s face darkened a little.

“Kay.”

“It’s just a precaution.”

“Why are you asking me, of all people?”

“Because I trust you.”

I quietly said to Eve:

“If it comes to that, I’m asking you.”

“Kay.”

“…Please.”

Perhaps it was my resolute tone.

Eve quietly looked at me, then turned her gaze toward the bonfire.

Was it because the firelight illuminated her face? There was a shadow cast over Eve’s expression.

I too deliberately pretended not to see Eve’s reaction and quietly gazed at the weakened bonfire.

The night deepened.

There were no more words between us.