Ch.8888. In the Piercing Wind (1)

Winter had fully arrived at the County.

The sun, once high in the sky spreading warm light, had weakened in its dominance. With the sun’s lowered altitude, daylight hours shortened while the moon’s time lengthened.

From autumn to winter.

As the season changed and the northern winds descended, the people of the territory continued their busy lives in various ways to survive the cold winter.

Commoners worried about how to feed themselves during winter, while the homeless vagrants contemplated how to survive the freezing nights without dying from cold, let alone finding food.

And servants like me have the same consistent worries regardless of changing seasons.

‘It was around this time.’

It was on a winter day just like this when I was assigned to Sione as a slave and personal servant by Ainel’s order.

Just a year ago, that bastard Sione gave off the strong scent of a hopeless case from the very beginning.

I thought he would never amount to anything, but…

‘How admirable.’

Though not yet particularly competent, Sione is in the midst of growing through continuous development.

Sione a year ago and Sione now.

Both are the same in that they don’t easily leave their beds.

“Nngh… just a little more here…!”

But now Sione isn’t just mindlessly eating cookies; he’s practicing with Mana using an arrow brought from the shooting range.

While Sione was struggling with his Mana…

Woooong!!

“…Huh?”

The arrowhead, resonating with Sione’s Mana, began to emit a clear humming sound.

Her Mana, which had only been emitting a faint blue light at the sharp tip of the arrowhead, suddenly showed a change.

The pale color deepened. The energy that had been spreading loosely gathered at a single point, becoming compressed.

‘No way, already…?’

This wasn’t a skill that could be displayed with the meager Mana interference power of a beginner Mana user.

It was an aura that could only be shown by someone approaching the Expert level of advanced Mana users.

It should have taken much longer; it was definitely not something the current Sione should be able to display.

In my confusion, I quickly examined Sione’s complexion.

Large beads of sweat formed on her face.

Though she was frowning from the effort of maintaining the transformation gathering at the arrowhead, she couldn’t hide her delight.

Woooong…

The Mana gathering at Sione’s arrowhead eventually scattered weakly midway.

“Haaah…”

Sione exhaled heavily after controlling her Mana.

Still, she gently placed the arrow beside the bed and looked down at her hand.

Her slightly upturned lips revealed her elation.

Like a pure child, she raised her head with a bright smile and looked at me.

“Ray! Did you see that?”

I nodded slowly in response to Sione’s words, still feeling dazed.

Then Sione immediately got up from the bed and ran to me, embracing me.

Wham!

“Did you see it?”

“Ah… yes, I saw it.”

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“…I never imagined you could gather Mana already. Can you do it again?”

At my words, Sione picked up the arrow again.

She poured all her effort into trying to produce the same meaningful result by drawing in her Mana, but…

“Ugh…!”

The arrowhead only contained the usual faint blue energy.

There was no sign of it becoming more vivid and densely concentrated like before.

Several more attempts yielded the same result.

The aura that had formed on the arrowhead by Sione’s hand was like a fleeting, sweet mirage.

After dispersing and disappearing, it seemed impossible for her to grasp it again.

‘Well…’

Even though I had awakened her talent through a quest and set her up to grow faster, still.

Sword and arrowhead. There’s a big difference between wrapping Mana energy around a long blade and compressing Mana onto a small arrowhead to coat it with energy.

It would be absurd to fully master an aura at this point.

I stroked Sione’s deflated head and said:

“Don’t be so discouraged. You’ve glimpsed the level you’ll eventually reach today. If you continue to progress steadily, you’ll be able to make it completely your own.”

“…Thank you.”

Perhaps because she had been using Mana so diligently, Sione’s sticky sweat touched my hand.

Tsk… I probably shouldn’t have stroked her head.

But well, I can always wash my hands later.

Right now, praising her for the fragment of potential she showed was the better choice.

I didn’t stop stroking her head.

Thanks to that, Sione was soon able to regain her confidence.

“Still… I clearly remember the sensation from just now. I finally seem to be getting a clue.”

I nodded at Sione’s words.

It’s certainly much easier to reach a level you’ve experienced once before than to reach beyond an unknown boundary.

Then Sione hugged me tightly and said:

“Then… our promise isn’t far off now, is it?”

Suddenly switching her speech style to careful and gentle formal language.

I could see her deep affection for me as she looked up at me.

My master was desperately trying to gauge what answer I would give, watching my reaction carefully.

I quietly looked at Sione’s expectant eyes.

‘…’

I asked myself again what answer I should give to her feelings, which I could no longer postpone or ignore.

In fact, I had given this deep thought several times before, including a few days ago, regarding Sione’s feelings.

Thanks to my somewhat organized thoughts and feelings, my conflict didn’t last long.

‘Because it’s Sione.’

Since confessing her love to me at the shooting range at dusk, she had consistently craved my affection.

It had been a long time since her appearance changed from a wild beast to a beauty. In her speech and behavior too, she was trying to adjust to me.

Love that transcends the status of noble and servant—this isn’t some romance fantasy world.

This is a dark fantasy world that will soon be drenched in blood from wars with demons.

How on earth did it come to this?

A year ago, I would never have imagined ending up like this with Sione.

I smiled slightly and lifted Sione’s bangs with my hand.

Her fair forehead was cutely revealed.

My choice was to respond to her feelings in a small way.

“…Oppa?”

She seemed confused by my sudden action.

I neatly ignored her reaction and briefly kissed her forehead.

“Huh?”

Only Sione’s dumbfounded voice echoed in the quiet room.

For a moment, she stared at me blankly as if not understanding the situation, then pulled me into a tight embrace.

With ears flushed red, she purred for a while listening to my heartbeat.

Nestled in my arms, Sione quietly whispered:

“…I love you.”

* * *

Several days passed.

During that time, a letter arrived saying that Sion Sianella had started returning to the County from the Academy in the eastern part of the kingdom.

And Aria, who said she would come directly to the County of Sianella from the north, was due to arrive at the County in a few days.

And furthermore, the state of Sianella’s territory was—

“The territory has been quite noisy lately.”

It couldn’t be called a good situation.

“…Have they come down again?”

“Yes, and this time I heard Orcs came down simultaneously from the west and north.”

They didn’t do this last winter.

What on earth is happening this year?

The problem was that monsters living in this area, mainly Orcs from the Beltrin Mountains, kept entering the territory and causing havoc without rest.

The huge, solid walls of the County only protected the central area where the main facilities were concentrated and the residential areas.

For those who lived outside the walls, hunting or farming, the frequent rampages of monsters like Orcs could be seen as a disaster.

“This is troublesome. We haven’t even finished exterminating the wolves and kobolds that came down earlier.”

“Yes, I heard most of them fled to the north of the territory and are causing havoc there. And the west, which had been somewhat cleared, is now filled again with Orcs that came down from the Beltrin Mountains.”

“Sigh…”

What a complete mess.

I felt nothing but pity thinking about the knights and soldiers who would suffer even more in this cold winter.

Grateful to remain in the warm mansion and merely hear news of the territory through Sione’s mouth, I said:

“I hope the matter is resolved without major damage.”

I hoped this winter would end quietly without any blizzards, and that warm spring, where life begins to stir, would arrive.

* * *

Whisk!

I roughly threw my clothes, which proved my status as a servant of Sianella, onto the bed.

After putting on several layers of winter clothes given by Sione, I wore leather armor that had been cooling in a storage room near the training ground.

The thin metal plate attached to the chest was engraved with the emblem of Sianella.

The emblem of a sword piercing a demon’s horn was quite classical and had its own charm, but.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a state of mind calm enough to sit and admire such emblems.

Click.

I fastened a sword at my waist.

It was the sword I received from Eunice Kallia.

Then a bow was in my hand.

My elven bow, which I received after saving Adelheid and being recognized for that achievement.

Feeling the cold texture of the wood in my grip, I irritably whispered:

“…Shit.”

It seems questionable whether I, a mere servant, should go this far, but… after the territory had been noisy for a while, a damn deployment was finally decided.

The thought of shooting a bow while facing the freezing wind with my bare face is enough to bring tears to my eyes.