episode_0099

The night before, loggers from the southern part of Daegongryeong gathered in an unnamed forest and held a logging party(?).

Crunch!

Kwajik!

Ssss!

Kuung!

“Haa… . Haa… .”

A woman was walking through pitch-black darkness and pure moonlight.

And as the woman crossed, the dense forest became an open plain.

“Haa… . Haa… .”

The woman who had been swinging her sword to cut away her shame and despair soon gasped for breath and sat down at the base of the tree that had been cut down.

It was Rachel, a woman with messy purple hair that clung to her sweaty face.

“ha… .”

Rachel lowered her head, sighing deeply at night.

The intoxication has gone away, but the shame and despair are not easily forgotten.

I ended up having an embarrassing fight in front of the person I admired.

That fight would be the most vulgar display of indecency that an admirer could make, and the most egregious outburst that a teacher could make.

Why else would he have escaped by breaking the window?

That too, for the first time in my life.

For her, who had been fighting all her life, the current escape was unfamiliar and humiliating, but the current situation was so shocking that she didn’t care.

Because I broke the vow of order I had made as a knight and the vow of cleanliness I was supposed to keep as a woman.

“Ha. Damn it… .”

Rachel sighed again and stood up.

I would like to run away to the end of the Eastern Continent, but the oath I took as a knight constricts my steps.

It must be a truly cunning thing that the vow to never leave one’s employer’s side without his order feels so vexing today.

Of course, running away now would be like retreating from the battle and admitting defeat, so my pride would not allow it.

Because there is nothing more foolish than to give up what you want.

Taltaltal.

Rachel, turning her hips nervously, leaves the forest and heads to the inn.

Rachel’s steps were like those of livestock heading to the slaughterhouse, and her sighs seemed to contain all the pain in the world, but she continued on her way to her lodgings.

“… .”

What caught her eye was a sign that said [Bellad Tavern].

It was a place I had stopped by just a few hours ago.

To buy a strong drink with the enemy with whom he had formed a temporary alliance.

Rachel stopped in front of the sign and glanced several times in the direction of the accommodation.

“… .”

Even though I don’t enjoy drinking, I still feel like I haven’t finished drinking the soju I had.

I feel like I understand why people who have a hard day end up binge drinking and making the next day even harder.

It must be to temporarily relieve the hardships of the past and to temporarily forget the hardships to come.

And it must be to gain the courage to face adversity.

My mind, clear of intoxication, was staring at reality too clearly, and even if I went to the dorm, I wouldn’t have the courage to face Elden.

If I go back to my lodgings like this, I might break the remaining windows and run away.

If a second escape occurs, it will be even more difficult to return.

“Yeah.”

Like a broken window, her prestige as a teacher has collapsed, her virtue as a bodyguard has collapsed, and her integrity as a woman has been ruined. Nothing could be more ruined.

Rachel entered the tavern with a determined look on her face.

and.

“Here’s the most poisonous one.”

I drank the poison one after another, feeling like my throat was burning.

widely!

“One more drink.”

“… It would be better if you eat that side dish too.”

“One more drink.”

widely!

“One more.”

widely!

“Hyunjan Dye.”

widely!

“Refund.”

“… You drank too much. It would be better for tomorrow if you stopped eating.”

“D.”

widely!

In a daze.

Rachel, who had been drunk until just before that, stumbled out of the bar.

“What the heck, is it morning already?”

The sky, which had been pitch black when we entered the tavern, was now beginning to brighten.

Rachel, who has been drinking all night to relieve herself of her bitter past, heads back to her dormitory, thanks to which she is temporarily freed from her past.

Her eyes were slightly opened and her cheeks were slightly flushed.

“Huh… . Is this what it means to be drunk… ? Not bad… .”

Rachel chuckled helplessly as she looked out at the sky-blue streetscape.

This was also a first in my life.

After promising myself the life of a knight, I vowed not to be swayed by things like drunkenness.

From the first time I ran away to the first time I drank too much.

Maybe it was because I was so drunk, but I felt like I was drawing a crooked detour from my life, which had been straight.

Just seeing the common street scenes is fun and somehow makes me feel excited.

Rachel arrived at the inn in that mood, forgetting the shame and despair of the previous day.

Then we headed to the empty lot behind the accommodation.

Rachel, who didn’t know why she was going there, was slowly blurring the line between reality and dreams as she was consumed by intoxication, and she arrived at the empty lot behind the inn with her eyes wide open.

And there, I was able to meet Elden, who had been taking turns nursing with Lumiang.

“Hey… It’s Elden.”

A tongue that coils like a snake.

Words spoken without any filter.

Hidden femininity being brought out.

Elden, who was preparing for training, had to look at Rachel in confusion at her disheveled appearance for the first time.

“Rachel?”

“Hee… As expected, our disciple is diligent… .”

“Did you drink alcohol?”

“A little.”

Rachel makes a playful, embarrassed expression, slightly spreading her index finger and thumb.

Elden was simply perplexed by her human(?) appearance, which had always been stiff and cold.

furthermore.

“The disciple is working hard! I, the master, can’t just sit still. Let’s spar! Disciple!”

Elden’s confusion only deepened as he saw Rachel staggering and requesting a duel.

of course.

I had to struggle to swallow my laughter, though.

“I think it would be better to sleep first?”

“Are you ignoring this heavenly teacher right now? I should show our disciple an example!”

Shhh!

Pot!

“What? Hey, wait a minute…!”

I can’t help but hold back my laughter for a moment.

Rachel, who was slightly drunk, suddenly challenged him to a duel, and Elden, who had come out to the vacant lot to do some light strength training, had to engage in an unexpected duel with his master’s fist that blew in from the morning breeze.

Phew!

Although he clearly appears to be drunk, his outstretched fists are quite fast and destructive.

No, it seemed faster and more destructive than usual, perhaps because the speed control had collapsed.

Moreover, once I started sparring, my body’s balance, which had been shaky, found its center and became stable.

Movements that are instinctively engraved and imprinted like habits that have been cultivated throughout one’s life.

Elden was in a rush to defend himself, and, thinking that he wasn’t fighting a drunken opponent, he decided to take advantage of the opponent’s weakness and subdue him.

The more destructive a fist is, the bigger the movement, and the bigger the movement, the easier it is to exploit an opening.

Because I was drunk, the flow of the conversation was more unnatural than usual.

That’s why.

Phew!

Bam!

As soon as I saw an opening, I grabbed both wrists and pushed my body while crossing my outside legs.

It was a shallow tackle that would have been easily seen through under normal circumstances, but it was the perfect tackle to subdue a drunk, and Rachel fell backwards.

thud!

“Aya.”

Elden bent down to meet her and climbed on top of Rachel.

Holding both wrists tightly, so as not to let go.

Also known as the pounding pose.

Rachel had never subdued a main attacker before, but after competing with them for a long time, she felt like she had to do it.

Even if it is a slightly embarrassing position.

“Rachel. You’re too drunk. Stop it now.”

He held her wrists so they couldn’t squirm, pinned them to the floor, and spread his knees to keep her in place.

And then he looked down at Rachel and warned her with a rather serious face… .

“Heh… .”

Rachel let out a sigh of relief, laughing bashfully.

It was a hot, humid breath.

“…Rachel?”

Rachel’s face looked strangely excited and thrilled.

Elden had to ask with a slightly tense face, feeling as if he had touched something that should not be touched.

“Why are you laughing?”

“This is my first time.”

“What…?”

“I was subdued… .”

“What?”

Elden belatedly recalls the days gone by.

And then you realize it too late.

I’ve been subdued before, but this is the first time I’ve been subdued.

Of course, there has never been an instance of being overpowered before.

“But why is that?”

At the follow-up question, Rachel laughs bashfully again.

In his hazy, open eyes, filled with a vague passion.

“Phew… I decided to give everything I have to a man stronger than me… .”

“What…?”

And when that passion flowed out between the lips that had been forming a seductive smile, shock filled Elden’s eyes.

“Chest… Want… to… touch… it…?”

Rachel, speaking in a sleepy voice, soon closes her eyes and falls asleep.

Without knowing what he was saying.

“… … .”

And Elden had to look down at Rachel, who was asleep for a while, in shock, as if he had skipped dozens of steps he had to go through, as if what he had heard the day before had been nothing, as if he had heard something incredibly great.

**

Same time.

A narrow gap between buildings.

In the darkness, hiding between the cracks to avoid the rising sun, a figure was eavesdropping on something.

“That’s right. My friend said he saw Prince Elden on Route 26 yesterday?”

“Who?”

“Why, there’s that damn prince who was eliminated in the final round of the wedding competition.”

“Ah~ That prince who became a monster hunter due to the shock of being eliminated? Is that the bloodthirsty prince they call him?”

“Yeah, yeah. That guy.”

“You’ve been making a name for yourself lately, right? But what’s going on here? It’s a place full of painful memories.”

“I don’t know about that. I heard he walked with a woman wearing a hood.”

“Huh? Did you make a lover? Which family’s precious daughter was lured by that fearsome monster hunter?”

“That’s what you called her when you almost got hit by a carriage? Erincia? ”

“Erincia? Hmm. That’s a name you don’t hear often in the Northern Territory. Are you from the South?”

“I don’t know. Let’s go first. We’ll be late.”

After a while.

Inyoung seeps into the darkness.