Ch.59Chapter 59 – More Than Friends

So far, nothing unusual had happened.

“Still, it’s not very pleasant.”

Thanks to them, I couldn’t properly enjoy the festival.

I came here to relax, but the thought of strange guys following us made me increasingly frustrated.

‘When exactly did they start following us?’

What was certain was that it happened after we left the brewery.

Following Cordelia’s directions, I felt eyes tracking us as we entered the inn, and they continued to follow us when we went out to enjoy the festival.

Several men, who appeared to be adventurers, were maintaining a consistent distance while following us.

They seemed to think we hadn’t noticed them yet, blending into the crowd as they were.

‘At least their numbers are small.’

I considered confronting them but decided against it.

If I could approach them quickly, that would be one thing, but forcing my way through the crowd would only alert them that I’d noticed.

Then they’d either retreat or call for reinforcements.

I didn’t want to carelessly throw away the advantage of them not knowing that I was aware of their presence.

Above all, I hadn’t figured out their exact numbers yet. I wanted to avoid putting my companions in danger through hasty actions.

In the end, only I, who had noticed their presence, continued uncomfortably wandering around the festival grounds.

“Kay, are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“Huh?”

“Your mind seems to be elsewhere.”

Eve was looking at me with a slightly displeased expression.

From her reaction, it seemed she hadn’t noticed them yet.

‘What should I do?’

I didn’t want to worry her by telling her about those guys.

“No, it’s nothing. Where are Sera and Christina?”

“They’re over there watching some arm-wrestling contest.”

If Sera participated in that, she could probably win everything.

“Please be honest with me, Kay. We’re companions after all.”

Eve spoke softly, as if she had already guessed something was wrong.

I had no choice.

“…Someone is watching us.”

“Is it the Order?”

“I don’t know. Their clothing lacks uniformity.”

At my words, Eve’s expression darkened slightly.

“…There are too many troublemakers…”

“Hm?”

“Nothing. More importantly, what are those people doing right now?”

At Eve’s question, I looked at those people again.

I had memorized their faces since they’d been glancing at us for a while.

“They’re still just watching us.”

“Still, huh.”

Eve fell into thought for a moment before speaking.

“…Kay, they probably want to handle this quietly.”

“Why?”

“Because if they try anything strange here, they might not be able to leave this territory.”

Eve explained.

“The lords aren’t irresponsible enough to turn a blind eye to crimes occurring within their territory, especially at a festival site.”

“I see.”

“Above all, there are too many eyes here. So they can’t do anything reckless.”

She had a point.

So they were just keeping watch for now?

“But I still don’t understand why they’re following us.”

Eve seemed lost in thought again.

“…The festival is ruined now.”

“Indeed. I feel like venting my frustration.”

Eve said this while slightly shifting her gaze.

Now she too had noticed, as her eyes landed on one of the men watching us.

“…For now, you can still enjoy the festival. You need to rest a bit.”

“Even so—”

“Shh.”

Eve gently embraced me.

“I said it’s fine.”

“……”

“I appreciate your concern for our safety, but please forget about it for a moment.”

Eve looked up at me with a smile.

She was taller than Sera and Christina, but still shorter than me.

“…No, I still—”

With those guys constantly staring at us, I couldn’t focus on relaxing.

Eve thought for a moment and then spoke.

“If you keep this up, I can make you forcibly forget about their existence?”

“How?”

“Hmm.”

Eve began to smile mischievously.

“Like this.”

Soon, Eve grabbed my arm with both hands.

Then she rested her head on my shoulder.

“Hey, you’re too close.”

“That’s because I’m trying to be close.”

“No, but—”

“Isn’t it nice?”

“Listen—”

“Isn’t it nice?”

Honestly, it was nice.

I could feel something soft pressing against me through our clothes.

I was deliberately trying not to think about what that might be.

“Look, we’re not exactly safe right now…”

“I told you it’s fine, didn’t I?”

She was being quite insistent.

“…This is already a big concession on my part. Now, shall we walk like this?”

“It’s uncomfortable to walk.”

“But I like it.”

In the end, I had to move with one arm held captive, pressed tightly against Eve.

“Ah, what the—!”

“Oh my, you noticed.”

Eve looked at me with a playful smile.

“Just for today, relax properly.”

After that, even when Sera said something to Eve, she remained firmly attached to my side.

As if that was her rightful place.

In the end, as Eve had intended, I was forced to divert my attention from those men.

+

The next day, when morning came, we decided to leave quickly.

Sera and Christina were a bit disappointed, but it couldn’t be helped.

With watchers around, staying longer didn’t seem like a good idea.

“Shall we go, Moo?”

“Moooo-“

Responding to Eve’s words, Moo began pulling the cart.

While we were at the festival yesterday, we had loaded several boxes of wine and grapes that weren’t quite suitable for winemaking from Cordelia’s factory.

“In exchange for distributing wine, I also handle those grapes that aren’t quite up to standard.”

“What do you usually use them for?”

“Well, food products, usually.”

One cart was loaded with well-packaged wine boxes, and three more carts behind it were filled with grapes.

Of course, being a beast from the New Kingdom, Moo had no problem pulling even heavier loads.

I noticed Sera and Christina had climbed onto the cart with the wine boxes and were sleeping, probably tired from yesterday’s festivities.

After a while, I looked at Eve.

“Do you have something to say?”

“I just became curious about something.”

“Like why I left home?”

“Yes.”

Eve fell into thought for a moment.

I left her to her thoughts and looked around.

There weren’t many people on the quiet road.

Still, occasionally armed individuals passed by, probably adventurers with business nearby.

While watching these adventurers, Eve spoke again.

“Do you really need to know?”

“It’s just something friends might be curious about.”

“Friends, huh.”

Eve looked at me.

“Are we really just friends?”

She seemed slightly displeased. Did I say something wrong?

“Yesterday, at the festival, I was so close to you, and yet you still…”

Eve began to look at me reproachfully.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. Even friends have secrets.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Though sharing such secrets would make us more than friends, I suppose.”

If Eve didn’t want to tell me, I wasn’t going to press her further.

“More than friends, huh.”

Eve thought for a moment before speaking.

Soon she smiled and said:

“If we’re more than friends, then is it that?”

How should I respond?

While I was thinking about my answer, Eve seemed to have reached her own conclusion.

“I see, Kay wants to be more than friends with me.”

“Um… yes.”

It felt like Eve was misunderstanding something, but I affirmed it anyway.

It was true that I wanted to become closer to her.

After all, Eve was both wealthy and beautiful.

“Well, it’s actually quite common in noble families.”

Soon Eve looked at me with a smile.

“Since it’s related to this journey, I’ll tell you.”

As if recalling old memories, Eve closed her eyes and slowly began to speak.

“As you might have guessed from yesterday’s conversation, I was the eldest daughter of Count Metis.”

Eve said with a smile.

“Eldest daughter?”

“Yes. The eldest daughter of a count. I had an older brother and a younger sister, and I was a young lady just waiting for the day I would be married off to another noble family.”

I tried to imagine Eve dressed in a gown, hiding her mouth behind a fan like Cordelia.

It didn’t seem to suit her.

Her hair also seemed too short to be styled up.

Unaware of my thoughts, Eve continued with her story.

“It was just before I was about to graduate from the academy with excellent grades. My father contacted me saying he had decided on a fiancé for me.”

“A fiancé, huh.”

This means if Eve hadn’t left home, she might be married to someone else now.

Somehow, I didn’t like that thought.

I should forget about it quickly.

“Did you run away because you didn’t want to get married?”

“Something like that. Not wanting to be tied down to a fiancé I’d never even met played a part.”

Eve gave me a meaningful look.

I glanced back slightly to check if Sera and Christina were still asleep.

“It was because I could see the future from around that time.”

“Then…”

“In the future I saw, after I married my fiancé…”

Eve laughed hollowly.

“My family and I were all massacred.”

“What happened…?”

“Even in that future, I didn’t seem to know the reason. I knew nothing.”

She had said that at that point, she would know what she knew then.

So does that mean she really died without knowing anything?

“The first time I saw him, I knew he was my fiancé, but what I saw was him already dead, pierced by a sword. I was frantically trying to escape. While fleeing, I saw that my mother, father, sister, and even my brother had been killed.”

“Couldn’t it have just been a dream?”

“Kay, I told you before.”

I knew the answer, but I still had to ask.

“When I see the future, I immediately sense that it is the future.”

“But isn’t it strange that it just ends with everyone dead, without any clues?”

“That’s true, but there were some clues.”

Eve narrowed her eyes.

“I only noticed recently, but the weapons used by the people who massacred my family…”

Eve took a breath before continuing.

“They were the swords used by the holy knights of the Emiris Order.”

“Are you sure?”

“They were the same as the swords used by the Red Holy Knights who attacked you, so I’m certain.”

Eve looked up at the sky.

“Despite appearances, I’m quite knowledgeable about swords. I studied diligently at the academy, especially in the knight department, focusing on swordsmanship.”

“Really?”

“Yes. During my school days, I was known as an all-rounder, excelling in both beauty and martial arts.”

Is she really saying that about herself?

Anyway, this explains why Eve’s swordsmanship was surprisingly excellent for a mere merchant.

“Thanks to that, even after leaving my family, I was able to create my own castle using the fact that I graduated with honors from the academy.”

Eve said with a smile.

“If you graduate with honors from the kingdom’s academy, you can receive a knighthood. It’s usually just a decorative honor for young ladies, but I used that to create Lavencha Castle. Isn’t it quite pretty?”

Eve slightly boasted about her castle being quite nice, but I ignored it.

“So having a knighthood allows you to build a castle.”

“Yes. However, it’s not a significant position, so you can think of it as just a quasi-nobility. Surprisingly, there are many quasi-nobles who live no differently from commoners.”

Eve glanced slightly at Sera.

‘Come to think of it, Sera also had a castle.’

It was definitely called Medimaker Castle.

Does that mean Sera is actually nobility?

“To get back to the story, since it was the same sword I saw then, I think it’s right to assume that the tragedy in the future is also connected to the Emiris Order.”

Eve paused for a moment.

“Of course, I still don’t know why we were targeted or what their purpose was.”

“So running away was…”

“It was the last desperate attempt of a noble young lady who didn’t want to face that future.”

Eve said with a smile.

“That young lady pretended to be crazy, caused disturbances, and eventually ran away with a maid who had been like an older sister to her since childhood.”

“That would be Rachel.”

No wonder she seemed to cherish Eve so much.

“At that time, she intended to persuade me to return home. Now she seems to have no intention of going back since her income is several times better than before.”

“Money is truly frightening.”

“Money is indeed frightening.”

It seems that with enough money, changing someone’s mind isn’t difficult.

Can’t get your way?

That means you don’t have enough money.

I laughed softly along with Eve.

“Do you have no intention of going back home at all?”

“No. I’m content with my current position.”

Eve smiled.

“When I was young, I learned about proper noble conduct and whatnot, and I prefer living as the merchant Lavencha, freely selling goods and collecting gold coins, rather than living as a noble wife from the Metis Count family, with my head bursting from useless political battles.”

“It must have been tough for you.”

Eve laughed softly.

“Once, I got lost while traveling far away and was stranded for days without food. I really thought I might have to chew on tree bark.”

…I suddenly felt an infinite sense of kinship with Eve.

Fortunately, neither she nor I had to resort to chewing tree bark.

“By the way, from what Cordelia said, do they regularly look for you at her place?”

“Yes. They always say the same thing: come back and marry into another family.”

“So you go on business trips to avoid hearing that, huh?”

“I have to hustle on my own feet to earn even a bit more. I don’t mind it.”

Eve hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Rather than being forced to marry a fiancé whose face I’ve never seen and whose personality I don’t know, I’d prefer to live freely with someone I get along with.”

“From your family’s perspective, I’m not sure, but if that’s what makes you happy, then that’s right for you.”

Normally, going back home might be the right answer, but Eve’s situation seems different.

She has the strength to live freely while taking responsibility for herself.

“Kay, you want me to be happy, right?”

“Whatever it is, being happy yourself is the best, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

After walking for a while, Eve spoke again.

“If I asked for your help for my happiness, would you help me?”

“Of course.”

There was no response.

Finding it strange, I looked toward Eve, but she was looking elsewhere.

Then, she turned to me with a smile.

“Now that you know my secret, you and I are not just ordinary friends, right?”

“We weren’t just ordinary friends even before that.”

At my words, Eve made a slightly confused expression.

“You came rushing into danger when my life was at risk; it would be wrong of me to consider you just a casual acquaintance.”

“That’s true.”

Eve smiled.

“But I’m aiming for something even higher than that.”

Eve briefly rested her face on my shoulder.

Despite the bumpy ride and her being higher than my shoulder, she somehow managed to rest her head on my shoulder while walking beside me, then returned to her original position.

“That’s dangerous.”

“I’m quite flexible, you know.”

“It makes people watching nervous, so take it easy.”

“Next time, I won’t do it on top of Moo.”

Does that mean she’ll do it again next time?

Eve was still smiling, and I couldn’t find words to respond for a moment.

After a brief silence, I spoke softly.

“Whatever suits you, but still be mindful of our surroundings…”

“Considering how much I’m holding back, this is already a lot.”

Wondering what she meant, I turned my head, but Eve had turned her head away again.

After an awkward silence, we resumed walking side by side, looking ahead.

By the way.

“They’re still following us.”

“They were annoying during the festival, and now they’re still bothering us.”

Eve and I exchanged sharp glances.

Shortly after I began hearing about Eve’s secret, the same men we saw at the festival yesterday had started following us.

While focusing on our conversation but still remaining vigilant, I noticed their numbers were gradually increasing.

“It seems they’re timing when to pounce on us. Should we wake up Seraphina and Christina?”

“Let them sleep a bit longer.”

I said while glancing back slightly.

“Let’s go out and deal with them.”

I said this while waiting for the inspection at the city gate.

“The mood was so nice, but these bad people just had to ruin it.”

I could hear Eve grumbling.