‘Tsk, what was the problem.’
Van had clearly seen Edner’s eyes, which had been nothing but cold, gradually change to favorable as they talked… Yet in the end, Van, who had left the room as if being chased out, replayed his conversation with Edner.
‘I don’t think I said anything particularly wrong….’
Since most of the conversation had been about sword training, Van couldn’t figure out what the problem was at all. It had been quite interesting to have a discussion with such a skilled swordsman after so long.
‘I was curious about the knight order’s swordsmanship too.’
Van’s swordsmanship was focused more on fighting powerful demons rather than person-to-person combat, so he was very interested in the swordsmanship of noble knight orders that primarily dealt with interpersonal combat.
‘It would have been nice to talk more about swords….’
Though Van felt regretful, he quickened his pace at the time that had been delayed more than expected. He had to feed Rowy dinner. Starting tomorrow, they would continue with a forced march, so it seemed he needed to feed him well and let him sleep soundly.
“Master?”
In the room he hurriedly arrived at, Rowy was still asleep. Van approached the bedside quietly and knelt down to look at Rowy’s sleeping face.
“……”
Was it just his imagination that Rowy seemed to have grown haggard in just one day? Rowy had been the one who kept saying from the beginning that he didn’t want to go to the Empire. But not only was he forced to go, even the journey there was this grueling…. With a pitiful heart, Van gently stroked Rowy’s hair. As he examined Rowy’s sleeping face for a while like that, Rowy, who had been tossing and turning briefly, soon opened his eyes.
“Mmm, Van?”
“Master.”
“Yawn, did I sleep for a long time?”
“No. But you should get up now and eat.”
“I don’t want to eat.”
“Still. They say we’ll depart again tomorrow, so you need to conserve your strength for today at least.”
“Ugh, how on earth did I travel here two years ago? I don’t think it was this hard back then… I must have already gotten old.”
Oh my. Finding it cute that he was making complaints unlike himself, Van pulled Rowy’s shoulders into an embrace.
“So, shall I bring the meal here? Or will you go out to eat?”
“Mmm, I’ll go out. It’s stuffy in here.”
“Yes.”
At Rowy’s words, Van nodded. Villas were usually built small to maximize the efficiency of barrier stones. This room where Rowy was staying was the largest room, but it seemed to feel stuffy to Rowy, who had suffered being confined in a carriage.
“Come, this way. I spotted the dining room on my way earlier.”
“Mmm, did you eat?”
“Would I leave you behind and eat alone, Master?”
At those words, Rowy smiled slightly. Fortunately, his mood seemed a little better than before. Van inwardly let out a sigh of relief. Like that, the two headed to the dining room almost in a hugging embrace. A mercenary company member who had been preparing the meal did run out of the dining room with wide eyes after seeing the two stuck closely together… But as expected, the two didn’t care at all.
“Here, please try it.”
“Mmm, you eat too.”
“Yes.”
Though he had worried when told there would be no accompanying attendant, fortunately the meal was excellent. The Red Sun Mercenary Company had taken on the attendant’s role for this journey, and they had brought along a skilled cook as well. Since they were a mercenary company that frequently worked with nobles, indeed, their handling of everything was very clean.
‘Most of the knights from noble houses are nobles themselves, right. So if they bring cooks along, their evaluations improve later!’
Those had been the words of Rona, the mercenary company captain, whom he had met and greeted in the hallway earlier. It was true. Especially since the Flame Knights belonged to the famous Irad Duchy, the knights were undoubtedly children of renowned noble houses as well. …After all, wouldn’t there be a world of difference between knights from a small temple and knights from an imperial ducal house?
‘Come to think of it, the atmosphere changed earlier too when I mentioned being a slave….’
Van’s expression clouded as he recalled Edner’s cold face. Whether it was Seraphila or Marzen, being small countries, there wasn’t much discrimination based on status. It wasn’t that there were no royalty or nobles, but… how many such people could there be in a small country?
At best, Seraphila, being a resort that many nobles from other countries frequented, might be different, but in Marzen, they didn’t give special treatment just because someone was royalty or nobility, nor did they look down on someone just because they were a commoner or slave. In the first place, slavery itself had come from the Empire and hadn’t been a system in Marzen or Seraphila… That’s why Van didn’t think much about status either. That was also why he had no hesitation in revealing that he was a slave. But….
“Haah….”
Van unconsciously let out a sigh. Rowy, who had been eating, heard the sound and tilted his head. Seeing that cute gesture, Van let out another big sigh.
“Aigh.”
“What, why?”
At Van’s sudden series of sighs, Rowy asked. However, Van didn’t answer and just stared intently at Rowy’s face.
“……?”
“……”
Beautiful silver hair flowing like ripples, jewel-like blue eyes, and every one of his features was so sculpted… This must be what it means to be different from birth.
“Huu….”
Another sigh burst out. Finally, Rowy’s eyebrows shot up with annoyance.
“Why are you looking at someone’s face and sighing repeatedly?”
“Haah, Master.”
“What is it now?”
“I want to marry you, Master….”
…Isn’t this guy completely insane? Rowy threw down the fork he was holding.
* * *
The next day, the party departed as scheduled after finishing breakfast. And… they encountered monsters immediately upon departure. It seemed certain that these were precursor symptoms to a monster rampage.
“Damn it, more and more keep coming, what should we do?”
As the party moved forward like that, more and more monsters began to swarm. Not to mention goblins, but ogres, gargoyles, wyverns… and even trolls. Seeing the endlessly swarming monsters, Edner finally made a decision.
“…We break through.”
“What? We might be fine, but Lord Rowy….”
“It’s a magically enchanted carriage, so nothing serious will happen.”
It will just shake a bit. With those final words, Edner explained the situation to Rowy as if notifying him, then proceeded with the breakthrough as is.
“Break straight through!”
With the elite Flame Knights plus Van joining them, no matter how many monsters there were, they were no match. The party that instantly passed through two villas already had only one gorge left before Velstra. They had broken through a two-day distance in one day. Though it had been arduous, they all were satisfied with this rapid pace, thinking it was better to quickly escape the mountain range than to be surrounded by monsters. Except for one person, that is.
“Urk!”
Behind the knight order racing at the speed of light, Rowy, who had literally been treated like baggage and dragged along, staggered and vomited right there.
“Urgh!”
Rowy kept dry heaving repeatedly. He had already thrown up everything he’d eaten for breakfast, and now only stomach acid kept coming up. Van fussed beside him, not knowing what to do, patting his back, massaging his hands. Even during all this, Rowy couldn’t quite come to his senses. At his condition being worse than expected, Edner finally approached and examined Rowy.
“Are you all right?”
“Uurk, does this look all right to you?”
Rowy shouted with bloodshot eyes.
“Does this look all right to you!”
“……”
At the voice full of irritation, Edner’s eyebrows rose sharply. Then he delivered a stiff apology.
“…I apologize. I didn’t know your motion sickness would be this severe.”
Getting even more angry at those dry words, Rowy shakily got up. Then he started pointing accusingly at Edner.
“You! If we go like this one more time, I’m just going to spatial teleport. I don’t care about political matters!”
“Lord Rowy, you know very well that won’t do.”
At Rowy’s threat, Edner shook his head with a firm expression. Really, as if he’s not even a child. The muttered words were a bonus. At those words, Rowy began venting irritation close to a scream.
“I don’t care! I’m going to die at this rate! I’m annoyed! I didn’t want to go in the first place, and I’m dying from it! At this point, I’m just going to run away with him!”
And at that moment, Rowy’s mana moved greatly. It hadn’t been a simple tantrum. Feeling this, a slight tension flowed through the knight order. Van, startled by the atmosphere becoming subtle, abruptly picked up Rowy, who was still shouting loudly.
“What, put me down!”
“Shh, let’s go inside and rest a bit first. If you move around like this now, your stomach will get queasy again.”
“I said put this down!”
Rowy, dangling in the air, flailed his arms and legs wildly. However, he couldn’t escape from Van’s hands. Van soothed Rowy repeatedly in a gentle voice.
“There, there, if you go inside and have a cup of hot cocoa, you’ll feel a bit better. I brought cocoa to give you, Master.”
“…Tsk.”
“Who made our master this annoyed. You’ll have cocoa, right?”
“…I want it cold. My stomach hurts.”
“Yes, of course. Naturally I should make it however you want.”
Pat pat, the way he soothed Rowy while patting his back was very skillful. Rowy, calmed down in an instant like that, obediently followed Van’s lead toward the room. And… Edner, who had been watching that scene from behind, thought.
‘…This isn’t a son-in-law but more like a nanny.’
That, precisely.
