52 – 52. A Special Woman (1)

Silverna, stood rooted, watching the departing Helmund carriage until it disappeared from sight.

Everyone else had already turned back, returning to their normal routines, but Silverna remained in that same spot.

Left like this, she’d likely stay there until the carriage was completely out of view, so Anna gently grasps her arm.

“Miss? You’ll poke your eyes out.”

“Mmm, it’s a strange feeling.”

“Why? You just said goodbye, are you already missing him?”

“Yeah.”

“Ooh, you’re being awfully honest.”

Anna was flustered by the answer, so much bolder than expected. Now that Isaac was gone, she didn’t seem to care about hiding it anymore. She felt the need to caution her.

“You’ll see him again at the Sword Ritual anyway.”

“……”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you just confess again?”

They’d been acting as close friends on purpose, hadn’t they?

This time was a stepping stone for after the Sword Ritual, a time carefully crafted.

Anna had meant it as a playful tease, but Silverna sighed, a bitter sound.

“If I did it now, I’d know the answer.”

“……I’m sorry.”

Anna apologized, realizing she had spoken too lightly, dealing with Silverna’s true feelings.

But Silverna waved it off, like it was nothing.

“It’s fine. And you’re right. We’ll see each other soon at the Sword Ritual.”

“Exactly! Let’s really grab his attention then! I even prepared a special outfit for you, Miss.”

“……An outfit?”

“Yeah! Looking at Isaac-nim, he seems to prefer the cute type of girl.”

“……”

Suddenly, Silverna placed her hands on her waist, subtly stuck out her rear and winked.

“Cu, cute?”

“You look like an old lady trying to act cute.”

“I’m still in my 20s!”

Silverna stomped inside, while Anna burst into laughter.

“But Miss, where did you even learn that?”

“Uhh? Shaeren did it sometimes, you know? “I’m cute!” like that.”

“Pfft! Really? Ah, why didn’t I see it.”

“But more importantly, why do you think Isaac likes the cute type?”

“Rihanna, she gives off that cute, pretty-girl vibe, don’t you think?”

“Her?”

Silberna, picturing Rihanna, found it hard to agree. Where was the cuteness in that always-expressionless, sharp-edged demeanor?

“Oh, Lady, you gotta think ‘cute’ is his thing. If he had other tastes, you wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“Like what other tastes?”

“For example, if he’s into the small-chested type, then you’re absolutely toast.”

“…….”

“So, it has to be cute. Try it, *bbikkyat*!”

Anna suddenly lifted one leg, formed a ‘V’ with her fingers by her eye.

Silberna, looking bewildered, hesitantly copied it.

“Bbi, *bbikkyat*?!”

Her face flushed bright red, her chest heaving.

Anna clicked her tongue at the sight.

“Tsk, if Lord Isaac saw that, it’d be a direct hit, no doubt.”

“I feel… deeply mortified right now.”

“The Sword Ceremony is where the battle lies. You gotta go there, and when Lord Isaac sees you, he’ll be thinking, ‘Huh? Was she always this cute?’ That’s the vibe. Got it?”

“Bbi-kyat?!”

“Indeed, Lady. You learn fast.”

Anna, who learned romance from books, and Silberna, who learned none at all, shared such conversations, preparing for the Sword Ceremony in their own way.

* * *

“What kind of woman is Lord Isaac into?”

“…….”

*Tap tap.*

Three days since they left the Malidian barrier.

The sky had darkened, forcing them to stop their carriage for the night.

Sitting by the campfire, Jonathan threw out that random question.

“I must have misheard you just now, right?”

He tried to brush it aside, but the clueless Jonathan directly repeated himself.

“No, I asked what his type of woman was like.”

“……You do realize I’m a married man, right, to be asking me that?”

“Isn’t a man’s taste in women largely irrelevant to his marriage?”

*Was it because he was a transcendent hybrid?*

He had a sharp, almost instinctual, awareness in places you wouldn’t expect.

“I didn’t think you were interested in women. Why? Need some advice or something?”

Isaac, ready to retort with how this guy, who joined the Helmuth Knights to overcome his own urges, would have no time for women.

But Jonathan just stared blankly and replied,

“I was just asking. When we were in the church, guys were always talking about things like that.”

“……”

“There isn’t much else to talk about now, is there?”

He wasn’t wrong.

Up until just then, the two men had been sitting by the fire in silence.

“Jonathan, wanna spar a bit?”

Isaac shot to his feet.

Jonathan quickly rose and grabbed his greatsword.

Isaac untied a bundle stowed in the wagon.

Inside were several swords.

All of them crafted by Antonio. Since there was no one to use them, he had taken them.

He stood in front of the fire, holding one. Upon seeing it, Jonathan frowned and stuck out his lip.

“Aren’t you using White Snow?”

The sword made from Frost Silver Ore, White Snow (白雪).

It was the name of the sword he had managed to acquire after much fawning over Sylverna during the remaining time.

He couldn’t keep calling it ‘Honorable and Beautiful Goddess Sylverin,’ no matter what.

“If I keep using that one, I’ll end up relying on the sword.”

Isaac answered with a smile, and Jonathan inhaled sharply, tensing his body.

“Kwoooaooo!”

“What a ruckus.”

Jonathan’s red chitin, riddled with holes, grew thicker and stickier like a bog.

The color was also darker, closer to black, because he was channeling the power of the transcendent.

“I’m going to win today!”

Jonathan, fangs sharpened, let out a bold cry, but Isaac only smiled, drawing his sword.

“Wielding Hellmuth’s blade as I do, you won’t find it so easy to best me.”

* * *

A few days later.

“……”

The Hellmuth estate, returned to once more, held a different air than when they’d left.

The scent of blooming roses hung heavy throughout the lands, and the murmur of voices never ceased.

Along the path leading to Hellmuth Manor, stalls spilled out on either side, already welcoming customers with a fervor as if a festival had begun.

“Wow, it’s my first Sword Festival, I never imagined the atmosphere would be like this!”

Jonathan, beaming, looked around. Isaac, though worried about pulling the reins too hard, also gaped with widened eyes.

“It’s my first time too.”

“Really?”

“Yes, when I married four years ago, the Sword Festival was already over.”

And at this time in my past life, my legs were broken, I’d been locked away in my room, refusing to meet anyone.

It was a time more than any other he wished to forget, a time when he loathed himself most.

“Shall we look around for a bit? If we go into the manor, we won’t get to see the outside.”

At Isaac’s suggestion, Jonathan, as if he’d been waiting, started looking for a place to park the carriage.

He borrowed a large canvas tent from a nearby merchant, one that hadn’t been unfolded yet, and used it to cover and hide the carriage.

“A festival. It’s my first.”

“Oh? They’re quite fun, really.”

He wondered if he should give him some pocket money, but Jonathan was a knight in his own right.

His salary wasn’t lacking, so he simply hummed as he looked around.

“Sir Isaac, did you frequent festivals often?”

“I did a bit before my marriage. Often there were guests who urged me, or friends who would invite me.”

“Oh…”

Jonathan, letting out a sigh of wonder, stopped walking and asked, perhaps with a hint of trepidation,

“Were those guests or friends women?”

“Why?”

“No, it just seems like it.”

He didn’t answer, just kept walking, and Jonathan followed, grinning as he came along.

“Truly, Sir Isaac. It ain’t just the handsome face, eh?”

“We’re getting too comfortable, I reckon. Just completely at ease with each other, aren’t we?”

“My apologies!”

Even with those words, the smile wouldn’t leave Jonathan’s lips. Chuckling softly, we kept exploring the festival together when—

“Ah, no. I didn’t do that on purpose.”

She was a peculiar woman.

Her striking appearance and flawless skin, like she’d never known a day of hardship, immediately caught the eye.

Her blonde hair was common enough, yet somehow, she possessed a hard-to-define difference that made everyone else around her seem almost artificial.

Her hair cascaded down to her waist.

The clothes and accessories, like belts and such, made her look like a seasoned adventurer, creating an odd contrast.

Looks like she was having a squabble with a vendor.

“Now, now, missy, a grown lady shouldn’t be doing this, now.”

“It’s not like I was trying to not pay.”

“Then?”

“It was just an unintended accident. It’s not that I don’t have money. I just don’t have it *now*.”

“…What in the world is she on about.”

“But I can’t just leave like this, can I? So, I’ll give you something more valuable than money.”

What could be more valuable than money to a stall owner?

“You’re selling these as crispy meat skewers, but the meat isn’t crispy at all. You used chicken, right? It doesn’t have a particularly special flavor. If anything, it’s a bit gamey.”

“And it tastes burnt, too. Because you pre-cooked them and the skewers cooled down, that makes it even worse. Plus, because you cooked the skewer sticks along with the meat, I ended up eating skewer splinters.”

“The seasoning isn’t evenly distributed among the skewers, and the quality of the meat isn’t great, and the price is way too high for all of that.”

“I could say more, but it feels like it’d be worth more than the skewer price, so—”

The woman winked and waved her hand with a cheeky grin at the stall owner.

“If you take my advice and improve things, your stall will be the most popular, I bet-!”

“Pay me, you brat!”

“Eep?! Ah, Mister?! I just paid you?! Eeek?! That hurts!”

The stall owner had grabbed her by the hair.

The woman panicked, struggling to break free.