Who.
The carriage window wasn’t closed, and the evening sunset streamed through, illuminating the girl’s silver-white hair.
A gentle breeze brushed her hair tips as Yvette gazed at the magic sword, her eyes sincere.
“So… will Eleanor and I always be together?”
The wind outside the carriage was quite noisy.
Miss Sword Spirit, unusually, didn’t respond.
Yvette stood there dazed, watching the air grow heavy, suddenly feeling a bit regretful.
She seemed to have said something incredible (>.<) So embarrassing, how did she blurt it out like that?
The girl’s cute face flushed bright red.
Precocious, but not fully so—after all, she’d never been in love, still a shy maiden at heart.
Eleanor looked at the girl with some confusion, wondering if her little head had been muddled by the cow dung bread.
The smell was indeed strong, though Nelson later explained it was just a product of flour and some fermented herb.
Cheap, abundant, and with slight healing effects.
But it really did smell a bit nauseating.
[What nonsense are you saying, silly Yvette? Did the cow dung bread muddle your brain too? You’re my sword master; who else would I follow if not you?]
[Also, a sword never leaves its wielder, got it? That’s the basic rule of being a swordmaster. Without a sword, what kind of swordmaster are you?]
[…]
The adorable sword spirit chattered on, earnestly pointing out the girl’s mistaken thinking.
Then~~~
Oh.
[Sorry… I won’t do it again.] The girl promptly apologized.
Head lowered, eyes closed, letting Miss Sword Spirit criticize her.
Though she was being scolded, well~~
She was still very happy inside.
Why was that?
So strange, she couldn’t explain it.
So the girl looked up toward the window.
The sunset glowed like molten gold, radiant and warm, hanging softly on the horizon, bathing her silver-white hair in golden light.
Listening to Miss Sword Spirit’s request in her mind to see the sunset,
Yvette leaned the sword against the window.
[It’s beautiful! From this angle, it’s perfect! Good job, little one, I’ll forgive you for now.]
Miss Sword Spirit, who had been trapped for three whole years, saw the sunset for the first time in ages, her mood lifting with joy.
Hearing the constant exclamations of awe from the sword spirit, the girl’s lips curved upward unconsciously.
The carriage moved forward slowly, the soft clatter of wheels against the ground seeming to melt into the gentle sunset, becoming less noticeable.
The inside of the carriage grew unusually quiet, perhaps touched by the sunset’s tenderness, as the young people silently looked out the window.
“Hey~ useless captain, can you buy less of that awful bread in the future? It’s really weird, you know?”
Perhaps moved by the scene, the usually noisy Percy spoke softly for once.
“Tch, you think I want to? I snuck out from home with only so many gold coins. If I don’t save up, how am I supposed to get you a better magic wand? You’d just mess up team fights again.”
Though annoyed, Nelson quietly put away his green bread, planning to eat it secretly in the bathroom late at night.
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m perfectly fine with this wand; I don’t need you to spend money on a new one!”
Miss Percy retorted, unconvinced.
“And! I didn’t mess up! That was a mistake, a mistake!”
Seeing the girl seemingly about to lose her temper, Nelson immediately backed down.
Reasoning with a fool was pointless; better to just go along with her.
“Alright, alright, it’s fine, very comfortable. But today, we can skip the bread and treat our lifesaver to something nice.”
Nelson raised his still-decently full coin pouch, announcing loudly.
Feels.
“Hot damn, you’re finally willing to spend on something good? Every time I eat that green bread, I feel like I’m back at my hometown plantation.”
Jack passionately vented his suffering, even giving Nelson an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
“Um…”
Yvette spoke softly, wanting to say something, but Percy had already turned to her with pleading, watery eyes.
Though she didn’t speak,
Those expressive eyes told the whole story she wanted to convey.
Yvette didn’t save people for rewards; she just felt it was the right thing to do, so she did it.
But in the end, she agreed to the request.
…
Miss Percy really seemed to need this meal.
“Great.”
Miss Percy collapsed onto the seat’s backrest as if a weight had been lifted, letting the cool breeze mess up her hair, quietly anticipating a wonderful dinner.
Nelson, for once, didn’t continue bickering with Percy.
Seeing her emotional, teary eyes,
A strange pang of bitterness rose in his heart.
How odd—he actually felt sympathy for that foolish mage?
Better comfort her a bit.
“Hey, Percy, I just realized you’re actually pretty good-looking when you keep your mouth shut.”
Nelson suddenly blurted out nervously.
Jack, sitting nearby, widened his eyes in shock.
He seemed to have witnessed something incredible.
But Percy wasn’t pleased.
“I’ve always been good-looking, thank you. If you think I’m unfamiliar with my mouth shut, I don’t mind refreshing your memory with the marvelous ♂ story of the priest and the little boy.”
Percy snapped irritably.
“Hot damn, don’t bring up that cursed story again! That’s an exception! It’s prejudice! We priests don’t do that kind of thing. Nelson’s right—you’re better with your mouth shut.”
Jack, the priest, fumed, grabbing his holy book and reading aloud to Percy, trying to dispel the “evil spirit” clinging to her.
Only Yvette looked at Percy curiously.
“What’s the story of the priest and the little boy? I haven’t heard it.”
Seeing the girl’s eager, curious gaze, Miss Percy’s eyelids twitched, and she quickly shut down this hellish topic.
“It’s something weird; kids don’t need to know.”
She coldly rejected the girl’s request, though her heart was far less calm than her expression.
[Oh no! I forgot there’s a kid in the carriage! I’m doomed, doomed, doomed! Now I’m a sinner!]
“But I’m an adult!”
“Even adults can’t hear it. Trust me, you don’t want to know what happened between the priest and the little boy.”
“Oh~ alright.” The girl stopped pressing, looking down at the sword spirit.
[Does Teacher Eleanor know?]
[No, I don’t, and Yvette doesn’t need to know either.]
[Okay then~ I’ll listen to Teacher Eleanor.]
The girl nodded obediently, though her expression held a hint of regret.
Percy, watching her, wished she could slap herself twice.
She’d corrupted a child—she deserved to die.
And that damned priest, why didn’t he come out of the little boy’s body?
She’d scatter his ashes someday!
[So, has Yvette noticed the subtle relationship between them?]
To keep the girl from overthinking, Eleanor started a new topic.
[Maybe…?]
The girl dragged out her response.
[No lying.]
Miss Sword Spirit lowered her tone.
[No.]
The girl shook her head vigorously at the silver sword, her silly, dazed look utterly adorable.
Until she noticed everyone’s eyes on her, Yvette realized she might’ve been too engrossed in their exchange.
“My neck’s stiff, just shaking it out.”
A flimsy excuse, but thankfully, no one questioned it.
The group was too excited, eagerly anticipating the carriage reaching town.
“X7…”
“Miss Yvette, what do you like to eat?”
Nelson asked.
“We’re almost at the nearest town. We’ve passed through a few times, so we’re familiar with it. We can find a restaurant that suits Miss Yvette’s taste.”
Food didn’t matter much to the girl.
Only those who’d been slaves would know how sweet a simple bowl of plain rice could be.
But~~~
Miss Eleanor’s eyes sparkled:
[Meat! I want barbecue! The kind with seasoning!]
So Yvette looked at the boy seriously:
“Meat, barbecue, seasoned barbecue.”