episode_0031

In the early hours of the morning, at the exact moment when Hesset had his servant wash Christie’s outerwear, which he had taken from the clothesline and sniffed shyly, Ray was leaning on Mila’s shoulder, and Mila was leaning on Ray’s head, both sleeping soundly without a care in the world.

“Are those two the people Memer-nim was talking about? Why, you said you got a reply at dawn? ”

“I guess so, since you’re a noble, you shouldn’t know it well?”

“But which one of you is the noble one? A boy? Or a girl? Who is it?”

“Isn’t he a boy? He’s handsome. Look at him. He sleeps like an angel. Isn’t he from a noble family? Or the son of a high-ranking official?”

“Then is the woman next to you a porter? A butler? An escort?”

“I don’t know, but it seems like that? Shouldn’t you wake up soon?”

“Can’t you just wake me up when dinner is ready? Why don’t you just let me sleep a little longer?”

Southerners are happily whispering and showing off their ability to carry on a conversation using only interrogative sentences to the point where you might suspect that their grammar system is different even though they speak the same language. Huermi, who has been sleeping soundly, puts a pot on the half-extinguished campfire, and soon Mila opens her eyes first to the sound of people gathering to eat.

“There’s none⋯⋯. There’s none⋯! The food I was saving to eat in the morning⋯.”

As soon as he opened his eyes, Ray, who was suddenly awakened by the sound of Mila screaming while rubbing her sleepy eyes and checking the rustling cart, looked back at her and blinked.

“Why on earth are you doing this⋯.”

Mila, overcome with an indescribable sense of betrayal, was about to lose strength in her legs and hesitate when she turned her head at the delicious smell wafting from somewhere. A southern woman smiled brightly and brought in a pot of food, placing it down in front of the two of them.

“Are you hungry? Come on, eat up! I wonder if this will suit your taste?”

Steam rises from the stew dish with the broth inside. The woman also hands Ray a wooden spoon the size of a spatula, then smiles at him once before walking away with steps like the wind. Ray and Mila, left alone with their food, look at each other with bewildered faces.

“Kind people usually do things like this⋯?”

This time, Ray, who had difficulty easily answering Mila’s question, tilted his head.

“They must be really kind people⋯.”

“All my ingredients were here. I appreciate you cooking for me, but if you touch my luggage without permission, people will be surprised. Huh? This wasn’t there. You put such expensive things in it?”

Mila mutters as she examines the ingredients, stirring them with a spatula.

While enjoying the soup dish, which had a different taste from its visual, which resembled a jjaptang stew, Ray was a little bothered by the people passing by, all of whom were looking at him and smiling brightly.

“Even the way you eat is so amazing. When I look at it, I feel like I’m being captivated and my heart feels so excited⋯⋯Oh my!”

A married southern woman who had been standing still and watching Ray eat is pinched hard on the thigh by her husband.

“I told you not to stand there and make things burdensome for no reason. You are a noble person. Come back later after cleaning up nicely!”

The sullen woman approached them a while later, still caressing her cold thigh with her hand.

“How, is our food to your taste? Is it not lacking?”

“Oh, no⋯. Rather, the⋯. The food is really delicious! But the two of us can’t possibly eat it all⋯.”

As Mila speaks cautiously, the woman intervenes, waving her hand in her signature gesture.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. We’re glad you enjoyed the meal. Then I’ll clean up the rest!”

This time too, the two of them just watched her walk away with the pot in their hands, stroking their swollen bellies, with their steps like the wind.

“Wasn’t the bed a little uncomfortable?”

“Why don’t you put this down and go? Soft and fluffy?”

“You’ll stop by Mybaon, right? Over there, do you want to go to the front of our line? We’ll match your pace and follow you from behind.”

Even after finishing the meal and preparing to leave, their kindness never ends, and in the end, they end up standing in the front row and pulling the cart as they considerately do. Even though Mila looks back with an apologetic face every now and then, the southern merchants just hold on to the reins of the cart tightly, adjust the speed slowly, and smile brightly as if there is no problem. Ray is lying on the splendid cushions spread on the cart in a Cleopatra-like pose, and has a similar expression to Mila.

“This⋯ Is this something you can usually do?”

“I don’t know anymore either. Don’t ask me⋯.”

***

In the southern lakeside area, where the previous night had been the third largest thieves’ hideout, fires were still burning here and there, and vigilantes were busy taking out the items the thieves had looted from the warehouse, organizing them, and counting the number of items.

“It seems the surprise attack was effective, Remili. We found a warehouse full of items left behind by the fleeing remnants.

“Really? Okay, okay! This time, you absolutely have to find more than your sister! Go quickly and look carefully to see if there are any more!”

“Yep!”

Remili Kindle, the second of the Kindle sisters, lies in the makeshift barracks in the exact same position as Ray, eating fruit and mumbling.

“Okay. This time I can definitely appeal to you. Now that Ailee won’t have to carry my love around all day, and I’ll have all of her body and mind to myself⋯!”

At the same time that Remili was giggling and boasting about her grand ambitions, Ailee Kindle and Memer were there, just as Remili had expected. They were capturing members of the bandits who had expressed their intention to surrender and investigating whether they were willing to become members of the vigilante group.

“How much longer is left?”

Memer looked up at Ailee and said.

“For now, we should consider it to be about a third of the way through. The problem is that there are people joining the bandits even at this very moment.”

“It’s amazing that you’ve managed to come this far.”

As Memer links arms affectionately, Ailee smiles and takes his hand.

“Report!”

The two of them turn around in surprise at the loud noise coming from behind.

“Uh⋯ Ahem.”

“What’s going on?”

“The nobles have safely arrived at Mybaon! What’s special! Uh⋯ ”

The attendant, who had been standing at attention, hesitated and glanced at the paper.

“Nothing special!”

Memer, whose ears are numb, twitches one ear.

“Good things happen one after another, they say. For now, we’ll go back there too. I want to surprise you a little, so I’ll make up an excuse and have you both stay at Mybaon.”

“Yes!!”

Ailee and Memer flinch in surprise again at the loud answer. The body movements of the messenger who immediately turns around and runs away are vivid.

“⋯⋯Is that the Arshul guy who came to see you this time? Even if it’s you, I didn’t think you’d be close to royalty.”

Memer shrugs his shoulders at Ailee’s words.

“Even though they’re now a group of bandits, they’re still citizens under the same sky. If the name of the royal family is added to our vigilante group, things will get easier in the future.”

“But if you drag in the royal family since it’s not even a regular army, things could get a little bigger. Well, I guess that was something they expected and decided to do.”

“That’s right. When I said I wanted to form a vigilante group, I wasn’t just trying to catch some thieves. This is where the real plan starts. Why don’t you at least prepare yourself mentally?”

Ailee nods with a smile at those words.

“I’ll be happy to hang out with you.”

***

“Sniff… sniff. ”

“⋯⋯.”

“Hmph⋯⋯. Sob, sob.”

“⋯⋯⋯In the end, wasn’t it you who hung out with me yourself? Madam. I just lay there.”

Christie, who was putting her disheveled clothes back on, speaks to Hesset, who is sitting quietly on the edge of the bed and crying.

“Don’t say that! I don’t know how things ended up like this.”

Christie looks back at him with a rare, genuine smile. It was one of the only situations in her life where she enjoyed herself, so she smiled naturally without having to force her expression.

“Of course, I swear on my life that I will take this to the grave. My wife is equal to my lord. Just have fun with me, and when you get tired of me, please be gentle with me.”

Christie, who enjoyed it a hundred times more, deliberately tried to appease Hesset by being more polite.

“You’re sick of it⋯ I’m like that⋯⋯.”

Even if it’s a hundredfold, it doesn’t make sense to multiply 0 by a hundred, so he, who was at least not 0 in terms of numbers, is embarrassed and doesn’t know what to do.

“I will accept the tea as a token of my gratitude. You must help me so that I am not punished for being late.”

“Huh? Oh… Okay… ”

Hesset answers absentmindedly.

Christie heads to work around lunchtime with a light step. Is this what a fulfilling dream job looks like?