Looking out the window, Anis was chopping firewood in the yard. With each powerful swing of the axe, the wood split with a loud crack.
A sigh of relief barely escaped his lips, followed by the thought, why is she doing that over there?
Lancelin observed Anis as she raised the inn’s axe high and brought it down. Her red hair was tied up again today, and she had pushed her tunic up to her shoulders, revealing her forearms.
It seemed like she was showing off her forearms…or was that just his imagination?
“How do you like my morning triceps!”
…It was not his imagination.
Lancelin slammed the shutter closed.
However, a faint smile lingered on his lips as he turned away.
* * *
That morning’s breakfast was even worse than what they had eaten the day before. Anis ate heartily, grateful for anything, and even had the leisure to compliment Madam’s cooking skills. In contrast, Lancelin left half of his meal uneaten.
Anis declined Ezio’s offer to accompany them. Baldwin seemed concerned but, seeing Anis’s skill and confidence in chopping wood, he believed she had something to rely on.
“Well then, kids. We’re loading up the cart with goods to exchange or sell in the nearby village. How about you hitch a ride?”
Since there was no reason to refuse, Anis nodded. Lancelin also thought it better to ride the wagon than to walk or ride a horse.
Baldwin instructed Ezio to hitch the wagon to the horses. Anis kindly offered to help load the goods onto the wagon.
“You get up too, Lin.”
“Why should I?”
“Then should I carry you? I found carrying you yesterday was a great workout for my quadriceps.”
Lancelin silently got up from his seat.
Ezio inwardly clicked his tongue as he watched Anis skillfully handle the prickly boy. Seeing her manage the not-so-easy Lancelin with such ease, he thought she must be quite formidable.
The cart wasn’t small, but it wasn’t particularly large either. It had four wheels and was covered with a round white canvas. The thick bottom was a bit unusual.
Ezio hitched one of the inn’s horses and Anis’s horse to the wagon. Just as they were about to move the goods, a member from the Sparrow Brotherhood hurriedly approached.
Ezio asked, “What’s the matter, Mr. Sean?”
“Two suspicious people are looking for a boy with black hair and violet eyes. Chief Baldwin is stalling them as much as he can, saying he hasn’t seen such a boy, but they’ll be coming up to search soon.”
Anis’s expression slightly darkened. Her mind raced. Considering they did not know about her, it was clear the two suspicious people were the searchers pursuing Lancelin. The death of the escort was almost certain.
However, since they came a day later, they did not seem to be the same individuals from yesterday. It was likely they were new pursuers.
Noticing Ezio and Sean’s gazes, Anis calmly said,
“We’re not criminals. We’re just being unjustly chased.”
If he was a boy that Valize was trying to protect, he could not be a criminal. He did not look like one either.
At Anis’s confident response, Sean widened his eyes and said urgently,
“Of course, that’s the case! Who’s doubting you? Quickly, hide in the cart!”
The wooden wagon was not an ideal hiding place… Before anyone could say anything more, Ezio tore off a part of the wagon’s floor. A hole about one meter wide and sixty centimeters long appeared.
It was a smuggling compartment meant to avoid customs or inspections, but the boy and girl, unfamiliar with the ways of the underworld, blinked in surprise.
The hole at the entrance was narrow, but the inside was wide enough for two people to lie down. However, the height was not sufficient to change positions.
“Hurry and get in!”
Anis hesitated briefly. They could fight here, but if Madam or her son got caught in the fight, they might not be able to sleep soundly in the future.
Anis looked sharply at Ezio and Mr. Sean.
At that moment, a commotion arose inside the inn, accompanied by sounds of objects breaking and shouting.
“Anis.”
At Ezio’s urging, Anis looked into his sincere green eyes. The soul she saw through Ezio’s gaze was clear and kind.
Having made up her mind, Anis grabbed the resisting Lancelin, who was reluctant to lie down in such a place, and pushed him into the hole, putting his lower body in first, then his head.
After Anis climbed in, Ezio covered the hole with a lid. The two of them could not move an inch from their straight-lying position.
As Lancelin was about to grumble, Anis firmly covered his mouth.
“Don’t breathe too loudly. It’s unpleasant.”
Look who’s talking! With his mouth covered, Lancelin cursed with his eyes.
“Let’s get going.”
Ezio, seated in the driver’s seat, spoke loudly enough for the two to hear.
The cart did not travel far. The pursuers looking for Lancelin had stopped Ezio.
Anis listened intently to the noises, tense.
“What’s the matter? I’m a foreigner, so I don’t understand if you speak quickly. What’s that? Who? I don’t know.”
Thanks to Ezio’s deliberately loud voice, Anis could roughly guess how the conversation was going.
“Oh, this? It’s a token from Duke Giz of Saint-Jean. I know what this token means. I don’t understand what you’re saying. My every move will be reported to Duke Giz. I’m carrying out orders to help the weak in the south. By the way, I’m a knight.”
The pursuer said something, and Ezio responded indifferently. Soon after, there was a creaking sound as the cart was opened. It was a shabby wagon not worth inspecting.
‘If only they don’t know about the smuggling compartment…’
Anis gripped her sword tightly, tense with anticipation.
Soon, the pursuer’s rough, metallic voice said, “Sorry to disturb you.”
“Sir Baldwin! I’ll be back before dinner!”
Ezio shouted cheerfully. With a loud yah sound, the horses started moving again.
“It feels like the wheels are loose, but it’s not enough to stop the carriage and check!”
Ezio spoke loudly to himself, suggesting it might be dangerous to stop for now.
Anis, who had already relaxed, shrugged her shoulders. The space was narrow, so her shoulder inevitably overlapped with the boy’s.
Feeling the awkward movement, Lancelin let out an irritated sigh and pushed Anis’s shoulder firmly. Anis whipped her head around in response.
Seeing the black hair stuck to his sweaty forehead, Anis did not know what she was thinking, but she wriggled her hand to grab Lancelin’s.
Holding his cold hand, she began to pat the back of it gently, as if to reassure him.
Anis thought Lancelin might be afraid of the cramped space and held his hand to comfort him.
Lancelin, bewildered, wanted to tell her to let go, but surprisingly, no words came out.
* * *
“You can come out now.”
After about 30 minutes, Ezio lifted the entrance on the floor. The two twisted their stiff bodies and climbed out.
Anis looked around. Though there were not many people, beyond the luggage cart standing in the middle of the dirt road, she could see the palisade surrounding the distant village.
Ezio, who had gotten off the driver’s seat, spoke.
“I thought you seemed unusual, but you’re being pursued, aren’t you?”
“To be precise, it’s not me, but him.”
Anis knew lying to Ezio would not work, so she told him the truth.
Ezio, who was listening carefully, nodded.
“You’re saying your aunt was assigned a secret escort mission and sent Lin ahead to handle things, but now her whereabouts are unknown?”
“Yes. But my aunt is very strong, so nothing unfortunate would have happened.”
Ezio seemed to take Anis’s confidence with a grain of salt.
“Are you sure Saltmaine is the destination? Is there someone there who can help?”
Anis looked at Lancelin and read the denial in his blank expression. She answered on his behalf.
“There will be.”
“And your final destination?”
“We’ll think about it when we get there.”
Anis said dismissively. Ezio furrowed his brow, seemingly skeptical of the two inexperienced travelers, then spoke to Lancelin.
“Let’s go to Saltmaine together. I can be of help.”
Ezio proposed again, skillfully jingling the food and money pouch in his pocket to entice them.
Anis liked Ezio. If he had been the youngest in a mercenary group, he must know how to do many things.
“If you come with us, what about the inn’s carriage?”
“I borrowed it from the village. I was bringing it back to return it.”
“You sound very organized.”
“That’s right. Sir Baldwin came up with a plan—to make me follow you.”
Ezio smiled brightly. Anis looked at the boy to ask for his opinion. His purple eyes were as dry and indifferent as always, but there was a hint of resignation.
No matter what he said, Anis would do what she wanted anyway. Besides, he was preoccupied with repeatedly clenching and unclenching the hand that had been holding Anis’s for the past hour.
“My name is Ezio Rimini. Nice to meet you.”
Anis exchanged a warm handshake with Ezio. Ezio wanted to shake hands with the pretty black-haired boy, but Lancelin refused.
As they moved toward the village, where the palisade was barely visible to return the carriage, Anis chatted about the story that nurtured her warm personality (surprisingly, she said this herself).
“Listen, I wasn’t always this warm-hearted knight of a girl. My second brother once told me a fairy tale. The wind and the sun made a bet to see who was better. They decided…to strip the traveler naked.”“
“…I think your second brother misunderstood the fairy tale.”
“The sun beat the wind by shining warm sunlight on the traveler. It managed to take off the traveler’s pants.”
“…I don’t think so. The sun probably didn’t take off the traveler’s pants.”
“From then on, I thought I’d be like that warm sun.”
“…”
Ezio seemed lost for words, and Lancelin shook his head and muttered.
“Now I can see how they raised this clear-eyed lunatic.”
