Chapter 141

Chapter 141

Episode 141: A New Beginning It’s not uncommon for manors to be spread out around a city. Most of these villages and lands are noble estates belonging to the nobles who rule the area, and the villagers pay taxes in exchange for living and farming in the area. And the lord who rules the city needs to take responsibility for the nearby villages. Larkard was a village belonging to the Halfheid Margraviate and was under the jurisdiction of Baron Etman of Karaldin. This meant that even soldiers belonging to Mesatria should not cause trouble in other territories without permission. Therefore, Kastuf had no choice but to sit still. To be precise, there were a few other reasons why he was sitting still. “…..” Baguettes and soup were placed on the table. The freshly baked bread and warmed soup gave off an appetizing warmth, but Zarata Kastuf couldn’t focus on the hunger-inducing food. His gaze was directed beyond the table where he was sitting. To be precise, he was completely captivated by the three women beyond the table, or rather, one of those women. “Haaa….” When the woman, holding a spoon, sighed softly while fiddling with her soup, Kastuf quickly regained his senses and turned his gaze back to his table. Then, he cursed inwardly. ‘Crazy.’ There was no way he couldn’t recognize her. It was a face he had seen dozens, or even hundreds of times, while traveling from the far west to the east, and when he had no one to talk to, he would look at her portrait and talk to himself. Black hair and red eyes. A high nose, a white and broad forehead, and thick black eyebrows. Although portraits and real people are clearly different, the woman across the table showed the characteristics of the portrait as they were. It was so similar that Kastuf couldn’t help but wonder if he was dreaming. Coincidence couldn’t be this amazing. To think that he would find the woman he thought he would never find in a restaurant he just happened to stop by to change his mood. And that, in a small village with a population of only about a hundred households.

-Slurp.

Kastuf slowly scooped up the soup, took a sip, and glanced at the women across the table. In principle, he should have taken them into custody immediately, but Kastuf was not so naive as to think that a woman who had been on the run for months would be easily caught just because she was accompanied by a few soldiers. Besides, he was alone now. The soldiers and knights who accompanied him were scattered in the homes of the villagers under the guidance of the village chief, but Kastuf, who was from the west, felt uncomfortable mixing with them, so he chose to pay separately and stay at the inn. Therefore, instead of politely asking the knights to arrest those women because they were criminals, he chose to quietly watch them. “Ugh, the bread here is not very good.” “Really? I don’t know.” “Yeah, El is right. I don’t know how they made it, but it’s too dry. My mom’s baked bread is better than this.” The three women were chatting and complaining about the inn’s food. Kastuf looked around the counter, wondering if the owner of the store would be hurt by the words, but fortunately, the owner was not visible. Kastuf turned his gaze back to the table and continued to think in his head. ‘Three people….’ According to the testimony of the Mesatria guard, there were a total of three people who killed the griffon and the griffon rider. And two of the three women sitting at the table were wearing swords. The only reason the men in the bar didn’t approach them was probably because of the swords they were wearing. Although they looked shabby from traveling, their appearance stood out even in the small bar. In fact, Kastuf wasn’t the only one glancing at them. Being able to eat so calmly in those gazes was a skill in itself. It was doubtful how those women, who only looked frail, could kill a griffon rider and murder Sir Etechap, who had a magic sword, but Kastuf decided not to question it. If he did, the fact that Natalia Remlzin had fled all the way here was unbelievable in itself. Kastuf looked at the woman sitting in the middle of the table once again. Her black hair and clear red eyes were very different from the image he had seen in his dreams, but they felt even more attractive. But he shouldn’t be fooled by her appearance. She had messed up the second son of Count Gardisha and had evaded the count’s pursuit and fled from the west to the east. She was an opponent he shouldn’t be careless about because of her fragile appearance. Especially when he was alone like now. Kastuf quietly turned his gaze away from them and took another spoonful of soup. Even as he scooped up the soup and brought it to his mouth, he was thinking in his head. How he could catch them more easily. And how he could keep her alive and take her to Count Gardisha. // The journey was smooth while leaving Karaldin. And in traveling, smooth means little different from boring. The journey was so smooth that I and Emily were able to hear everything from her past to the man named Luthion that El fell in love with, their first night together, and her occasional worries about her identity. And that, in just one day. Of course, her past was quite eventful, so I had to admit that the story was quite interesting. Unlike me, El tended to express her feelings quite honestly, and her story was lively. “It was okay in Karaldin, but this place is really bad. Is it because the village is small? There’s only one inn. There’s no competition, so there’s no sense of crisis, and as a result, they become lazy and even the sincerity in cooking drops.” …Still, I don’t think it’s good to keep complaining about the meal. I don’t know if the owner of the store has really become lazy, but if they hear it, it could hurt their feelings. I left El, who was still complaining about the bread, and turned my gaze to Emily. “So, how’s ‘Wind’ going?” Since entering Larkard, we had been avoiding talking about magic swords or Mesatria as much as possible. Was it similar to a thief being pricked by their own conscience? Rather, it would be more accurate to say that we naturally didn’t mention any facts that could be information because there were quite a few eyes on us. I know that most of those gazes are from men who want to lay us down on the bed and climb on top of us, but it’s never a bad idea to be careful. “…Sorry, I still can’t use it.” “You don’t have to be sorry.” When I said it like it was nothing, Emily nodded with a bitter smile. As expected, handling a magic sword was not an easy task. Emily had succeeded in creating a simple breeze, but she couldn’t do anything more than that. “It’s okay. I heard when I was in my hometown that those kinds of ‘tools’ require a lot of practice. It doesn’t make sense to get used to it overnight.” El, who was breaking a baguette into small pieces, winked and comforted Emily. “Yeah, we have plenty of time. You can take your time.” I told Emily as if giving advice and turned my gaze to the outside of the store’s door.

-Thump, thump.

Several footsteps were heard outside the store. Soon after, a few men with light weapons entered the bar. Wearing boiled leather armor and swords at their waists, the men looked a little different from ordinary travelers. Was it because of that? Not only us, but everyone in the bar turned their gaze to them. “….” The moment they came in, El and Emily turned their gazes to me at the same time. El had a calm expression as if she was used to it, but Emily looked a little nervous. I answered their eyes by shaking my head lightly. There were a total of eight people. And unlike the other men, one of them was wearing black-painted armor and carrying a longsword that was a little longer than an arming sword. Based on common sense in Lakers, it’s easy to guess that they are soldiers, not ordinary travelers, and that the man in black armor is a knight commanding them. “Is the owner here?”

-Squeak.

When he said that as he headed to the empty counter, the door to the closed kitchen opened immediately. Soon after, the store owner, who appeared, politely greeted the knight and guided him to a table. Seeing that, El smiled bitterly and looked down at the table, muttering softly. “We’ll have to leave soon.” Her gaze was directed at the bread and soup left on the table. Even if she said that, she must have liked the meal. No matter how bad it tastes, she would miss a warm meal with fresh eggs rather than dried food and water. I nodded at El’s sullen expression. “….Let’s finish our meal.” If we leave early for no reason, we might be suspected. I can’t guarantee that we’ll be suspected just because we leave by chance, but since we’ve done something wrong, a thief can’t help but be pricked by their own conscience. But I soon regretted my decision. “Hoo….?” One of the group of men who looked like soldiers saw us and exclaimed softly. The soldier stared at us and approached the knight standing next to him, whispering in his ear.

-Darzen-nim. Aren’t those travelers over there pretty good?

He whispered so that he wouldn’t be heard, but unfortunately, his words were really clear to me, who had raised my inner strength. When I turned my head, El also had a sour expression, as if she had heard the soldier’s words. Or maybe she guessed. “….?” On the other hand, Emily tilted her head as if she didn’t know why El was making a sour expression. But when the knight approached us, she quickly understood the situation and smiled subtly. “I have always worshiped the God of War, but today I must thank the goddess of luck for her blessing. She has given me such luck. I am pleased to meet such beautiful women.” At his words, I nodded, suppressing the laughter that was coming out from inside. “Thank you for the compliment.” It’s a bit old-fashioned for a pick-up line, but it’s not bad. And he looked pretty good too. It’s a shame that the mustache he seemed to have grown to look cool wasn’t my taste. “How about, with me-” “I’m sorry, but we have to leave soon. We have an urgent request.” I showed the plate hanging around my neck with a regretful smile. The copper plate and the guild’s seal stamped on it are enough to prove that we are adventurers. The knight carefully examined the plate and seal I held out and looked impressed. “It’s amazing that such beautiful people are adventurers.” Everyone in this inn knows that it’s a compliment just for show. In any way, a knight is a better status than an adventurer. But the knight didn’t seem to care about that fact and continued to speak naturally. “Are you perhaps a magician?” “…Yes, that’s right.” I was wearing a sword, but I nodded at the knight’s question. It was because I had confirmed that his gaze had momentarily brushed my hand. Just because you’re a magician doesn’t mean you have to carry a staff. Especially if you’re an adventurer. “I see. That longsword is not a very good weapon for someone who is not familiar with it. If I may offer a small piece of advice, I would like you to use a smaller sword if possible.”

It was completely useless advice, but I feigned surprise and replied to him. “Oh my, thank you for the advice. I was having trouble handling it… But how did you realize I was a mage?” “It’s simple. People who wield swords for a long time develop calluses on their hands. But your hands, Lady, are as smooth as silk, so I simply assumed you weren’t familiar with swords.” Of course, it was just a compliment to sound good. I knew more than he said. Not only the basics he mentioned, but also that those who use the kingdom’s formal swordsmanship only develop calluses on the three segments of their left hand, excluding the index finger and thumb. “For example, those who have trained in the Kilkard Kingdom’s knightly formal swordsmanship have calluses on their left index finger and thumb…” I know, I know. I sighed inwardly and glanced sideways. El was listlessly picking at her bread with a blank expression, but Emily looked very interested. I wondered if this knight kept talking because of Emily’s expression, but it didn’t seem to be the case. “Ah, the story got long. I’m embarrassed that I’ve been spouting shallow knowledge in front of busy people.” The knight talked about the kingdom’s formal swordsmanship for a while, then naturally brought the story to an end. He seemed to know we were busy and didn’t want to hold us back any longer. Perhaps the reason he didn’t leave immediately was because of the soldiers watching from behind. “No, it was interesting. I’d like to hear the rest of the story when we meet again.” “If fate allows, the Goddess will guide us again.” I smiled and replied to him, and the knight retreated with a satisfied expression. We were relieved to see the knight retreat so easily and turned our attention back to the table. We were planning to leave Larcard immediately after finishing our meal, relieved that our worries had been nothing more than unfounded fears. But that thought was slightly changed by the knight’s shout from behind. “Ah, Lord Kastuf!” More precisely, it was because of the conversation that followed his shout. “L-Lord Darzen. I didn’t expect to see you here.” “Yes, as a knight of Mesatria, I cannot be too rude to the commoners of another territory.” The moment we heard those words, we looked at each other without a word. ———= Author’s Notes ———= I apologize for the unauthorized break. I suddenly had a slump, and I couldn’t write for a while. It was like I had forgotten how to write, and I didn’t know what I wanted to write or how to write it. Maybe it was because I was feeling depressed from spending all day without saying a word. But I think I’ve adjusted now. I might have another slump without warning, but I’m fine for now. I apologize for the silent delay. And I have no intention of discontinuing this story, so I will continue to update it.