The two days of traveling in Ilbrun felt like a dream. Of course, there wasn’t any romance where I’d giggle “catch me if you can~” while eating gelato with Cesare in the square of an exotic city, but it was dreamlike in its own way.
After receiving the sword decoration, Jayden stopped hovering around me, and there were no more conflicts with Cedric either.
We had wandered around the city buying all sorts of gifts and souvenirs, and now we had gone deeper into the principality’s countryside and were camping inside a gorge.
“Hmm. This is strange.”
“Still can’t reach the Duke?”
Cesare and I, who had set up camp at the mouth of a lake beneath a magnificent waterfall, kept waiting for contact from Lampel Yanox. Yellow lumps of mana flowed from Cesare’s fingertips and scattered in all directions, but none returned.
“He clearly wrote in his letter that he was coming near Nirhil, but there’s no reply.”
“Could he be busy? Don’t you have any other way to contact him? Like a relative or a friend?”
“Does it seem like there would be?”
Cesare cut me off coldly. Feeling a bit embarrassed by his overly chilly attitude, I patted the horse tied up beside us. Then Cesare quickly replied as if making an excuse.
“When I use a lot of mana, my nerves get a bit sharp.”
“Oh, oh. Of course that can happen, yeah. I totally understand!”
When I quickly waved my hands, Cesare chuckled and gathered his mana again.
“What do you even like about me when I’m like this?”
Kheuk. That’s exactly it! Even when you’re being a total brat, I love that smile you show me with just a glance!
“Byeo!”
Mitche, who had appeared on my shoulder with a poof, shouted excitedly as if agreeing with my opinion. While Cesare sent another messenger, I lifted the little cutie onto my hand and fed him one of the local specialty Fieldsberries.
Mitche was so engrossed in eating, chomping away at how delicious it was, then held out his hand asking for more.
‘The little thing sure eats a lot. I don’t have much left myself.’
Mitche didn’t seem like a life form that actually needed to eat, but maybe because he resembled me, he particularly loved sweets. As I picked up Mitche, who was putting his hands on his hips and pouting his lips as if demanding more Fieldsberries, I asked Cesare.
“Cesare, are you really busy right now? I’m going to go pick some more Fieldsberries.”
“Alone?”
Cesare frowned slightly. He seemed conflicted because he needed to stay attached to me, but also wanted to keep sending messengers to the Duke.
“No. You keep trying to contact your father here. It’ll be quick if I go on horseback.”
“Then take this.”
Cesare took out the pocket watch I had bought him recently, whispered a small incantation, and handed it to me. A magic inscription was engraved on the watch.
“If you channel your mana into it, it’ll send a signal of where you are. Use it if you get lost.”
“Am I some 5-year-old kid!”
“Are you absolutely confident you won’t get lost? That’s strange. Why don’t I feel certain?”
Cesare asked, taking the watch back. Since I wasn’t absolutely confident I wouldn’t get lost, I awkwardly smiled and snatched the watch back.
“…Don’t give it and then take it back. Hehe. See you at base camp at dinner time.”
After mounting the horse, I carefully tucked Mitche into my front pocket and spurred forward.
“I’ll be back!”
Without a word, Cesare just nodded while gathering mana again.
First, I stopped by the base camp to find a map showing where the Fieldsberry colonies were. This place was famous for Fieldsberry picking, so they said many people went into the mountains carrying just baskets. Right now, there were no outside tourists because of our tour group, though.
“Oh, Lionel. What are you doing there?”
A senior came up to me with a friendly greeting. He was also on the student council, but we had a light acquaintance. Moreover, his hand was holding a bulging bag of Fieldsberries. Seeing it, saliva dripped from Mitche’s mouth, and I asked him cheerfully.
“Jared sunbae! I’m going to pick Fieldsberries too! Looks like you picked a lot—do you happen to know a place where there are lots?”
“Ah, this? The season’s a bit past now, so you have to go deep to find a lot. Give me the map. I’ll mark where we went.”
While Jared was about to mark the map, another hand appeared from the side and snatched the map away. It was Jayden.
“There weren’t many there, you have to go this way to find lots. This area is still cool.”
“Jayden. That’s a marshland….”
“Jared sunbae. That’s where we just came back from, isn’t it? Don’t you remember?”
When Jayden cut off Jared’s words, he hesitated and replied.
“Oh. Oh. Right. There were lots there…. Go that way, Lionel.”
“……”
Feeling something was off, I looked at Jayden, and he smiled broadly while returning the map to me.
“We agreed to make peace, didn’t we? Like you said, what would we gain from fighting, Mellans?”
“Mm, that’s right.”
Jayden patted my shoulder with an irritating tone and passed by. So I brazenly linked arms with him and acted cheeky.
“Then come with me~.”
“Ugh, urk. Why should I…?”
“Like you said, we made peace. If we spend good time together, it’s nice for both of us~.”
“Byobyo~.”
Both Mitche and I giggled as we watched Jayden’s face crumble stupidly.
* * *
I was a bit suspicious since it was a place Jayden recommended, but my mood quickly improved at the sight of the lush Fieldsberry bushes we saw the whole way.
“Hey. You’re really amazing. This place is totally a Fieldsberry field.”
I was concerned that it was a bit cooler and more humid than the surroundings, but there really were lots of Fieldsberries.
“Haa. Let’s pick quickly and go. Crown Prince Cedric sunbae-nim might be looking for me. It seems like we picked a lot, so why is only that much in the bag?”
“I’m a bit slow with my hands. Euhheung.”
Jayden was irritated as if annoyed, but I deliberately dragged out the time more to torment him. On top of that, because of Mitche, who kept popping the berries I picked straight into his mouth, we drove our horses deeper to pick the fruit.
“Ppyobyo~.”
‘Aigoo. Cute thing. Eat slowly.’
Mitche’s lips were stained red from gulping down the Fieldsberries so well. As I wiped his lips with my finger and grabbed the reins to find the next bush, Jayden spoke.
“Mellans.”
“Call me Lionel.”
“What?”
“We’re both juniors anyway. Everyone who’s close to me calls me by name.”
“……”
“And I’m really sorry about your sister’s letter. I’m originally a bit clumsy in front of women. I have someone I like, so I tried to reject her firmly, but I guess misunderstandings piled up.”
“You have someone you like?”
As expected, even though Jayden had accumulated bad feelings toward me, being a male student, he seemed tempted by romance talk.
“Yeah. She’s also an academy student. I rejected her harshly on purpose because I was afraid rumors would spread with your sister. But then sexual harassment rumors with Crown Prince Cedric sunbae—does that make sense?”
“Then why didn’t you say that back then?”
“You looked like a Mad Crow going crazy at the time? You didn’t give me a chance to speak and then hit me with a penalty.”
“Ha. And that’s why you tore up the letter?”
Jayden seemed at a loss for words too, so he just grumbled, making pointless complaints.
“Is Jaina doing okay now?”
“She, well. She kept crying…. Then hit it off with a freshman who was comforting her.”
“Pfft. If your sister was going to get stolen anyway, why’d you get annoyed at me?”
“…Still, that freshman is way better than you. He’s from the same count family. His personality and reputation are good. His grades are pretty decent too.”
Jayden, who had been about to mount his horse, stayed silent for a moment then spat out a sentence.
“Let’s not go further ahead.”
When I looked at him with a ‘why?’ expression, Jayden said with a subtle expression.
“If we go further, it’s marshland. I was going to abandon you here and run away to make you suffer a bit, but I can’t do it after all.”
What? This bastard, he did have an ulterior motive after all! I quickly looked around, and it really was a rather gloomy place with lush reed thickets and air full of humidity.
When I glared at Jayden, Mitche also stomped his feet with an angry expression. Despite being tiny, he was clenching his little fern-like hands and making gestures as if throwing something. They say you can’t even drink cold water freely in front of a child, and it seemed he was learning all my behaviors.
“Don’t look at me like that, Lionel. It’s not that deep of a marsh anyway. I was just going to make you suffer a little….”
—Keeeeek!
At that moment, a sharp cry cut off Jayden’s words and came from beyond the reed thicket. It was a terrifying sound that sent chills down my spine.
“…Jayden. By any chance, is that the sound from your stomach?”
I really hoped it was. Because it’s incredibly ominous.
“…Would it be?”
We froze for a moment, facing each other. And then a large wing shadow covered us and made another frightening cry.
—Keeeeeek!
“Hyagyaak!”
“Grab the horse, Lionel! Uuuk!”
We screamed, and the tied-up horses were startled and ran away with all their might. I grabbed the arm of the dazed Jayden and ran blindly in the opposite direction.
“It’s too late to catch the horses, Jayden! Just run!”
“It’s a Mad Crow magical beast! Why is this here…!”
“You talk so damn much! Run!”
We ran with all our might without caring about the splashing mud, fleeing from the one Mad Crow chasing us.
* * *
“Ah…!”
Cesare, who had been sitting in the gorge sending messengers to Lampel Yanox, sprang up when he saw a red lump flying from over there.
When he caught it, Lampel’s message who had sent the messenger flowed into Cesare’s head. Cesare’s pupils dilated greatly as he listened to it.
“…A group of Mad Crows from the Balkan Mountains fled here and are being secretly searched for?”
