Reunion (1)

If there was one difference, this time the journey to the church territory was not on foot but by carriage.

Just as Ceres had a carriage, Alebiang also had one.

The difference was that while Ceres’ was the Regent’s carriage, Alebiang’s belonged to the mage tower.

‘No, the most surprising thing is that Alebiang is a high-ranking person.’

Yona sat with her chin resting on the carriage window frame, staring blankly outside.

Thanks to this, she didn’t need to shiver in the cold and could travel comfortably and quickly, which was nice, but in fact, there had been something else bothering her for a while.

“Hey.”

At Yona’s words, Alec, who had been stealing glances at her, flinched and shuddered.

Seeing this, Yona almost burst out laughing, but she managed to hold it in and maintain her expression.

‘That guy needs to stew a bit. How could he say such things…’

Can’t you not erase the tattoos, let’s just run away and live together—

At that time, Yona had overreacted a bit. It wasn’t something to chase him away for, but from Yona’s perspective, it was understandable to feel upset.

And in fact, Yona knew she had overreacted, so her anger didn’t last that long.

But since she had gotten angry, it wouldn’t do to show that her anger had subsided the very next day, so she was just pretending to be angry.

To be more honest, one of the reasons was that it was fun to watch Alec squirm.

Alec didn’t know what to do as he watched Yona’s sullen expression.

He knew that when he started talking, once he got on a roll, he couldn’t stop himself. That’s why he usually tried to be careful with his words, but that day for some reason—no, he was in such a good mood that words just poured out.

He should have thought first about how saying things like “Can’t you not erase the tattoos?” or “Let’s run away and live together” would sound to Yona, but he didn’t. As a result, Yona’s expression had hardened as soon as she saw Alec from the next day, and that continued until today.

He needed to make up with her, but thanks to the unexpected carriage travel, they would arrive at the church territory much faster than planned, making Alec feel more urgent.

That night.

Even though they were traveling by carriage, only the daytime travel distance had increased; night still came, so camping was the same.

When all the seats in the carriage were laid flat, it became just the right size for a few people to lie down and sleep.

Yona had already laid out her bedding and was lying down, and though it wasn’t clear if she was asleep, she probably was.

Thinking this, Alec poked Kaiyak in the side.

As Kaiyak glanced over, Alec signaled with his chin to go outside, and after Alec went out of the carriage first, Kaiyak followed shortly after.

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

“What’s this about?”

“…You know, you have a child, right?”

“That’s right.”

Alec’s thinking was very simple. At least since Kaiyak had a child, it meant he was married, and being married meant he had a suitable partner. Although they hadn’t met Kaiyak’s wife during this visit to Lizard Den, that must be the case anyway.

In other words, this meant that Kaiyak was more experienced in love than Alec. Alec focused on this point, and that’s how they ended up here.

Alec, who had stirred up the still-living embers in the portable hearth that had been lit for dinner preparation, sat down next to Kaiyak and opened his mouth.

“Kaiyak, you’re married, right?”

Kaiyak’s eyebrows twitched. He wondered if he had eaten something wrong.

After calling him out, to ask if he was married—if he wasn’t, was Alec planning to set him up?

“Of course I am. That’s why I have a child, isn’t it?”

“R-Right?”

Alec visibly relaxed.

“What exactly do you want to say, Alec? You didn’t drag me out here to talk about nothing, did you?”

At Kaiyak’s words, Alec took a deep breath.

“Hasn’t Yona been acting a bit strange yesterday and today?”

“Well, Yona has been quiet, that’s true.”

Now that he mentioned it, it did seem that way—he thought.

But in fact, Kaiyak wasn’t observant enough to notice changes in Yona’s psychology, so he wasn’t sure. They were different species to begin with, weren’t they? Lizardmen aren’t a species sensitive enough to notice such subtle things one by one.

“So what about it? Is there some problem?”

“Well, you see…”

Alec started speaking with difficulty.

As objectively as possible, just the facts as they happened.

“—So that’s how it is.”

Although there was some rambling, Alec’s explanation was relatively accurate.

He didn’t say he hadn’t said things he had said, nor did he claim to have said things he hadn’t.

And after listening to the explanation to the end, Kaiyak stroked his chin without any particular response.

Although they were different species, from Kaiyak’s perspective, and based on his own experience of having had a love marriage, Alec seemed like just an idiot even to him.

“Alec, I think I understand very well why you’ve had no progress with Yona even after following her for three years.”

“…Why?!… Why, why?”

Alec, who almost shouted out loud, covered his mouth in surprise and then asked Kaiyak in a small voice.

He had only wanted to discuss and get some advice, but he didn’t expect to be criticized like this.

“Wasn’t your original purpose for visiting Yona’s room just because you were worried about her?”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

That was true. Alec had been worried about Yona, and although there was also Alec’s impatience behind it—still, the fact that he went to her room was mostly out of concern.

“Then isn’t it enough that you just showed your concern? I really don’t understand why you added unnecessary words there. Yona had gone through so much because of the tattoos, yet you asked if she couldn’t not erase them, and even though you know Yona’s goal, you suggested running away to live together.”

With each of Kaiyak’s words, Alec shrank.

When he had been thinking by himself, he couldn’t figure out what the cause was, but hearing it through Kaiyak, it hit home.

“S-So that part was the problem after all.”

“…Then what exactly did you think was the problem?”

Alec couldn’t answer Kaiyak’s counter-question. This was understandable because although Alec vaguely thought he must have said something wrong, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong, which is why he had sought Kaiyak’s advice in the first place.

“Your approach was wrong from the start, Alec. You should either have a duel for marriage like the Orcs do, or like us, catch a special fish from a nearby lake and propose with it as a gift. I don’t understand what you’re trying to achieve by dawdling like this.”

Here was Alec, getting love advice from a Lizardman of all people.

And Alec wasn’t even realizing that the direction of this advice was somewhat strange.

*

As they say, the important thing in a quarrel is the method of reconciliation. Although Yona’s anger had already subsided, she had no desire to speak to Alec first, who was still only watching her cautiously.

After all, it was Alec who had turned her insides out, so shouldn’t Alec approach her first?

In the past, Yona wouldn’t have cared about such things and would have started a conversation by slapping the back of Alec’s head and saying something like, “Hey, have you eaten?” But now she didn’t want to do that.

So Yona’s activities in the carriage were extremely simple.

She would sit with her chin resting on the window frame, looking at the scenery outside, or if she got bored, she would sleep. When mealtime came, she would get up, eat, and clean up. Then she would go out for a walk, and come back to sleep again.

In these days that passed like a hamster wheel turning, the carriage continued to run and run across the Medial Plains.

The carriage was advancing towards the Infula Church Territory much faster than walking, and they had now reached a point where they were expected to arrive at the church territory by afternoon.

“Um, Yona.”

“…Huh?”

Yona, who had been sitting with her chin on the carriage window frame looking outside, turned around at Alec’s voice.

Alec was looking at her nervously, his expression a mix of apology and embarrassment that was hard to describe.

“What?”

“L-Let’s talk for a moment.”

Yona felt like she was about to burst out laughing inside.

He was still such a cute guy.

“Okay. Here?”

“Ah, no. Just outside for a bit.”

Well, it would be a bit embarrassing to say such things inside the carriage.

Yona followed Alec, who went out first, towards the outside of the carriage.

The cold had intensified.

The wind crossing the Medial Plains seemed to grow stronger as it raced across the plain, and the wind reaching the carriage traveling along the edge of the plain struck them like a blade.

The padded vest worn over her nun’s robe was still cold.

Yona unconsciously shrugged her shoulders and shivered.

“Cold, right?”

At some point, Alec had brought out a jacket with quite thick cotton padding.

And before Yona could answer, he draped that jacket over her shoulders.

It was much better.

The wind that had been so intense and the cold that had been biting at her skin suddenly subsided.

“So, what I want to say is.”

No, it was okay not to say it. With just this jacket, Yona’s feelings towards Alec had all subsided. They had already subsided a long time ago, but that petty pride that made her not want to speak to Alec. It felt like that high wall built with that pride had melted away with just this one jacket.

Yona looked up at Alec with a smile on her lips. It’s quite cute how this bear-like guy doesn’t know what to do when he stands in front of Yona.

“…It’s okay.”

“I was going to say… Huh?”

Alec, who was about to say something before even hearing Yona’s answer, paused at her words. Then, seeing the smile that had bloomed on Yona’s face, only then did Alec manage an awkward smile as well.

“You must have said that thinking of me too. There’s no way you would say such things wanting me to go wrong. Right? I was just in a bad mood at that time, that’s all. We didn’t need to have such a long emotional fight in the first place. We’re not that kind of relationship, are we?”

At Yona’s words, Alec could only nod, saying, “Uh, y-yeah.”

There was nothing wrong with what Yona said.

Compared to Kaiyak’s advice that it would be better for a man to apologize straightforwardly first, it was rather Yona who was being manly in this situation.

Yona’s hand emerged from under the jacket and patted Alec’s shoulder.

“I think I was too narrow-minded this time too. So, don’t worry about it either. Any anger is already gone. We don’t need to get angry or anything like that between us. Got it?”

“Oh, yeah… W-Well, I’m sorry anyway, Yona.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry too.”

Yona grinned.

At the same time, Yona continued to pat Alec’s shoulder.

Alec’s shoulder, fitting snugly in her hand, strangely made Yona feel at ease.

It seemed like she would be able to sleep well tonight.

That afternoon, the carriage arrived near the church territory.

And there, Yona met a welcome person.

“Regent!”

“Oh, it’s been a while. It’s been so long that I came out to greet you.”

A silver-haired, beautiful woman smiling brightly and even waving her hand.

It was Ceres—the Regent of Kapatia Port, Ceres Allkamine.