Chapter 69
“What’s this?”
Ellen asked, pinching her nose with her fingers. Roil, returning to his seat, answered,
“A repellent for bugs and wild animals. Hm, it should keep weak monsters away too. The smell disappears quickly.”
“Bugs and wild animals?”
Hearing that the smell would fade soon, Ellen cautiously lowered her hand from her nose. As Roil said, the odor was already dissipating quickly. She briefly wondered if maybe her nose had just gone numb instead of the smell actually going away—but either way, it didn’t matter much.
“Then what about that yellow ball earlier?”
“That one’s just for repelling bugs. We don’t need to hunt since we have packed meals, but most travelers might need to catch food for their next meal, right?”
If you burst a red ball, even potential game would run away, so in such cases, travelers would use the yellow one.
“How long does it last?”
“It’ll wear off by tomorrow morning.”
They really have everything, huh. The red smoke from the campfire had already vanished.
“Tired?”
“No. Why?”
“Let’s train—get used to the sword.”
Ellen gave him a frosty look.
“You’re sometimes needlessly, excessively diligent.”
Still, she brushed herself off, stood up, and drew her dagger. There was plenty of time before bed and nothing else to do anyway.
The sun, once it began setting, fell quickly, plunging the area into dim twilight. Relying on the flicker of the campfire, the two sparred until, as usual, Ellen’s final strike ended their match.
“Come to think of it, we’re all sweaty now but can’t wash up.”
“There’s a stream a little further back.”
“At night? And I hate cold water.”
“Then, maybe a sp—”
“Don’t say it! They’re around here.”
Ellen quickly cut him off, horrified. Summon a spirit? She’d rather stay dirty than endure their chatter!
But one of the gnomes playing near the fire seemed to have overheard and reacted.
The gnome suddenly stuck its face right in front of Roil. Naturally, since Roil couldn’t see it, he didn’t flinch. So the gnome swiveled toward Ellen.
It darted up to her face like it was about to lunge. Ellen nearly jumped but managed to suppress the reaction. All that practice at the mansion—pretending not to see spirits when they teased her—was finally paying off.
“Nesh, come here.”
Ellen hugged Nesh and rubbed her face against him. The gnome, now looking doubtful, as if thinking Did I imagine it?, turned back to the fire. Watching its retreating back, Ellen let out a silent sigh of relief.
“I’ll go wash.”
“In the stream? It’s pitch dark now.”
“I feel like I have to.”
Roil scratched his cheek.
“…I’m not going. If you do, I’ll look like the dirty one.”
“It’s fine. It’s not like it’s just for a day or two. And since we burned the repellent, mosquitoes won’t bite us.”
Ellen glared at his teasing tone as she stood up.
“Come with me then. I’ll at least wash my hands and face.”
Roil lit a lamp and led the way. The sound of water soon guided them to the stream.
“This is scary…”
As soon as she saw the pitch-black water, Ellen clung to Roil’s sleeve, fear creeping in. He took her hand and seated her on a rock by the bank.
“Just sit here and splash your hands. Keep the lamp next to you.”
Roil turned to leave but paused.
“If you’re really scared, I’ll just wash here too.”
“No, it’s fine. Go on. I’ll be more comfortable that way.”
“Alright. Just don’t drop the lamp.”
Placing it in her hand, Roil moved a little further away, undressing as he went. Ellen turned back to wash her face.
She cleaned as much as she could while keeping her clothes on, then stood barefoot in the stream. The icy water instantly cooled her down—too much, in fact.
Then came splashing sounds: Roil, probably finishing up and heading back.
Just as Ellen looked down to put on her shoes, something stirred beneath the surface.
“Huh?”
She lowered the lamp to shine into the water. Not her imagination.
“Ahh!”
She shrieked, flailing her feet and grabbing daggers from her belt, hurling them one after another into the stream.
“Elli!”
The splashing grew louder as Roil rushed over. With one arm, he scooped her up; with the other, he drew his sword and slashed at the moving shadow.
The disturbance subsided. Roil glanced up at her.
“You okay? Did it bite you?”
“U-uh, no. It didn’t. Something snake-like moved under the water and scared me.”
“Good. As long as you’re not bitten.”
Still holding her, Roil scooped up her lamp and shoes with one hand and strode out of the stream. Only once they were safely back did he set her down and check her feet carefully.
“No bite marks.”
“What was that? A water snake?”
“Looked like a snake-like water monster, but it was too dark to tell. Hold on—I’ll fetch your daggers.”
“You can just leave them—”
“No way, not on the first day of travel.”
“Then take this. How’ll you find them in that black water otherwise?”
Ellen handed him the lamp.
“…I’ll be quick.”
Roil hesitated, then took it and went back. Soon he returned, carrying four daggers and the limp, snake-like creature.
“Only found four. How many did you throw?”
Ellen counted the remaining ones on her belt.
“Four. That’s all.”
“Really? Well, all four hit dead-on. Every one was stuck in this thing.”
Even in her panic, her aim had been precise. Roil chuckled, and seeing the monster dangling lifelessly in his hand, Ellen relaxed enough to laugh too.
They returned to camp and tossed the corpse by the fire. Only then did they realize Roil was in nothing but trousers.
“I’ll change. You put your clothes back on too.”
Ellen picked up the lamp and slipped behind a rock to change. Roil’s voice called out when he finished,
“All dressed. You can come back.”
Now clothed again, he sat by the fire, drying his hair. Ellen joined him and prodded the snake-like body with her dagger.
“Yep, it’s a monster.”
Yellow blood oozed out.
“And it was still moving with four daggers stuck in it?”
“Things like this—you have to cut them fully to kill them.”
“So it really was a monster. Would’ve been better if it was just a water snake.”
“Nope. At least this one’s not venomous.”
Ellen immediately retracted her words.
Exhaustion washed over her. She pulled two sleeping bags from her pouch, spread them near the fire head-to-head, and crawled into hers.
“You’ll be sore all over tomorrow.”
Roil tossed more wood onto the flames.
From inside her sleeping bag, listening to the crackle, Ellen murmured,
“Should I take first watch? With just the two of us, standing guard for long is a pain.”
“Oh, you even know about keeping watch? But I don’t think we need to. I tossed the repellent in the fire earlier, and it’s not like anyone’s chasing us. Let’s just sleep.”
She hesitated, but the thought of a full night’s sleep without interruption won her over.
“Really? Then I’m sleeping. Nesh, come here.”
Nesh, who’d been scratching beside Roil, scampered over and wriggled into her sleeping bag. Feeling his warmth, Ellen closed her eyes.
✿ ✿ ✿
Though she’d worried she might oversleep, Ellen awoke at dawn, surprisingly refreshed. Judging by the sun’s position, it was still early.
She hugged Nesh and tried to doze off again, but couldn’t. After fidgeting in her bag, she finally gave up and sat up.
“Why’re you up so early?”
Roil’s voice came from beside her.
“What, you too?”
“Dunno. Just did.”
The truth was, Roil had barely slept. Restless from the night before, he couldn’t fall deeply asleep, only drifting in and out.
“Guess you’re not used to the ground after so long.”
Roil, who had spent plenty of nights on the ground during the war, didn’t argue. He just got out of his bag and stretched. Ellen followed suit.
“Since we’re awake, let’s eat and get moving. If we start now, we can reach Eston territory before nightfall.”
Her suggestion reminded Roil of something.
“Yeah, that’s best. Gates close in the evening—probably around 7, same as our domain, since it’s summer.”
“Oh! You’re right. Then it’s lucky I woke up early. We should hurry.”
Roil pulled out their meals while Ellen grabbed her water flask. Nesh had already scampered off somewhere.
“Come to think of it, we never packed food for Nesh. Guess he’s off to fend for himself again.”
Ellen said between bites of bread.
“Yeah. Judging by that rabbit hunt before, he’s probably good at it. Still, I feel bad. We should pack for him next time.”
Roil, sipping soup straight from the container, felt warmth settle in his stomach—the preservation magic had kept it piping hot.
While he rolled up the sleeping bags and stowed them in the blue box, Ellen extinguished the last embers of the fire and tidied the area. Nesh still hadn’t returned.
“Shall we go?”
“Yeah.”
After unfolding their map to double-check the altered route, the two set off—without waiting. Of course, Ellen still called out, “Nesh, we’re leaving!”
✿ ✿ ✿
Aside from a brief lunch stop, Ellen and Roil pushed their horses hard. Thanks to that, they arrived just before the gates of Eston territory closed at dusk.
As they halted at the checkpoint, guards blocked their way.
“Identification tags.”
Ellen and Roil froze, glancing at each other. Without thinking, they had stowed their tags in the “pouches.” But commoners didn’t know about the Quintar family’s enchanted pouches and storerooms. Pulling long tags out of tiny bags would definitely look suspicious.
“Just a moment.”
Turning their backs briefly, they pretended to search through saddlebags while secretly retrieving their tags from the pouches.
While they faked rummaging, they overheard the guards muttering behind them.
“What kind of woman rides like that?”
