Chapter 107……………………………………………
“I’ll go with the lady.”
“Then I’ll go with Master Ron.”
In front of the forked path, Kautz and Gruter said this.
But there was someone who objected.
“Wait a moment.”
Ron looked back and forth between the two.
“I don’t think we should split up like that.”
“Then?”
Maryanne asked, and Ron answered.
“Since we don’t know what dangers we might face, it’s better to stick together—sword and magic combined.”
Kautz clapped his hands and spoke as if he understood.
“Ah, I see. Then shall I go with Master Ron?”
Naturally, everyone assumed that was how the pairs would be made.
But then.
“No. I’ll go with Anne. What if something dangerous happens to the already fragile Anne?”
Ron’s words could be interpreted as not trusting his teacher, Gruter, but Gruter simply inhaled and remained silent.
Ron and Anne.
Though still young, Ron was a formidable talent capable of rivaling his teacher, and Anne was the empire’s only dark-attribute mage.
In fact, it was the perfect combination.
Eventually, Gruter agreed.
“Understood. I’ll go with this lady, then.”
Kautz glanced at the man paired with him.
When Kautz looked, Gruter furrowed one brow and met his gaze.
In that fleeting moment:
‘This man looks like he could swallow a monster whole.’
‘If he punches with all those rings on his hand, it’ll hurt. I need to be careful.’
Thinking about each other, the two quickly looked away.
Kautz spoke.
“Um… hello? Sir, my name is Kautz.”
“Oh, yes. I’m Gruter.”
Even though they had met long ago, this was their first proper introduction.
Well, considering they served different people, they had little reason to care about each other.
Anne and Ron waved, hoping the two would get along. They also agreed to inform each other via messenger bird if they discovered the guardian.
“See you later, then.”
The left path was narrow, allowing only one person to walk at a time.
“Ron chose me?”
“Yes, because I have to protect you, Anne.”
Ron, who was still about the same size as me, looked unusually solid today.
Suddenly, I imagined him as an adult.
He would probably look strange if he were taller and bigger than now.
To me, Ron had always been the small child in the cave.
Lost in thought, I accidentally bumped into his back.
“Ah!”
In an instant, Ron spun around and held me like he was hugging me.
“…!”
When I opened my startled eyes, his face was right in front of me.
So close.
His crimson eyes shimmered like jewels, gazing at me with concern.
That look made my heart flutter.
“Anne, are you okay?”
“Mm. Maybe I was walking a little fast.”
As I looked away, Ron’s hand slid gently off my shoulder.
After that near-fall, we decided to walk side by side. Even the narrow, branch-filled path seemed slightly wider now.
“Anne.”
“Hm?”
“When you first saw me…”
“In the cave?”
“No.”
If not the cave, then where?
I recalled my memories and a scene immediately came to mind.
“Oh, that lion…?”
“Yes. The day you first found and saved me.”
“I remember. But why did you—?”
“I heard there was an assassin at that time.”
I stopped dead in my tracks.
“From Shebert… no, Lord Shebert?”
“They said you were hurt, Anne. You had wounds.”
“I’m fully healed now. It’s nothing. See? I can even walk properly with you now.”
“Really, you’re okay?”
“Yes, truly. And if I went back to that day, even knowing there was an assassin, I would go there again. I’d want to find you no matter what.”
“…Still, don’t get hurt, Anne. Don’t feel pain.”
Ron frowned and pressed his lips together, lowering his eyelids.
Seeing him like that, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
I wanted to hug him tightly and soothe him.
“Ron! Look at this.”
To lighten the mood, I showed a fantasy magic spell I hadn’t used in a while.
It wasn’t a pitch-black night, so it wasn’t clear, but in the circle I drew, a baby lion was playing.
Just like before, when I used it to heal Ron’s heart.
“The baby lion got even smaller.”
This time, I specially made it look like Ron as a baby lion.
Hehe. It was intricate magic, but creating a cute baby lion that makes you want to bite it was easy for me.
“Ron, how is it?”
“Cute!”
Yes, your smile is even cuter.
I retracted the magic, seeing Ron’s happy face.
If he felt good, I felt good too.
“I’ll show you anytime you want.”
“Thanks, Anne.”
Ron smiled shyly in reply.
“By the way, Ron, how do you feel being in the forest?”
When Ron disappeared, he was very young.
Creemoo, the youngest, had just been born, so Ron was about eight years old.
But the trauma had been so severe that he remembered nothing.
“I still don’t remember… foolishly.”
I held his sulking hand and spoke.
“Ron, foolish? I think young you was very smart back then.”
“Me?”
“Yes! Young Ron erased everything to protect himself. That was the best way for him to survive.”
I admired young Ron. As I said this, I brushed his deep-blue hair aside.
His previously downcast face slowly brightened.
“Good. Young me was smart.”
“Ha! That’s why we can be together now. I’m really glad.”
And so we continued walking.
To find the guardian of Trencia Forest.
“Shouldn’t it be around here?”
But the forest, dense with trees, seemed to have hidden all traces.
Eventually, my legs ached, and I sat down. Ron came over.
“Anne, if you’re tired, let’s stop.”
“I have to see it.”
“Maybe the guardian doesn’t want to appear on purpose.”
“On purpose?”
“I’m not sure, but I think so. That day, the guardian met you because it wanted to tell you something.”
Ron’s words filled my head.
When I met the guardian in the past, I heard a prophecy about the seed of disaster.
And I had declared war on the guardian, promising to change Ron’s fate.
Maybe the guardian wasn’t showing itself because it was displeased.
“Anne, do you think you can walk any further?”
Ron gently extended his hand to help me up.
“I can walk.”
“Good.”
Seeing Ron’s brief, clipped response, I made a joke.
“Why? Were you going to carry me if I couldn’t walk?”
“….”
Ron’s ears turned red.
I blushed thinking about my weight.
‘Ron, that won’t do. If you carry me, you’ll be bedridden for three days.’
I’d been eating well at the duke’s mansion, and while not as chubby as little Creemoo, I had grown healthier than last year.
I noticed a messenger bird from Kautz descending from the sky.
Since the crow was calm, it seemed he hadn’t met the guardian either.
We gathered again at the forest entrance.
None of us had met the guardian, but everyone returned safely.
We decided to rest briefly before returning to the duke’s mansion. That’s when my intuition tingled.
‘…Hm?’
The dynamic between Kautz and Gruter—who had only just formally introduced themselves—was strangely off.
Then I realized.
“Kautz, what’s with your hand? Half of your ten rings are missing.”
Indeed.
Several rings he cherished like his life were gone.
But Kautz only shyly smiled, fiddling with his empty fingers.
“I think they fell off while wrestling with a wild flower deer.”
“Wild flower deer? Wait, but… Ron, why does your master’s neck look like that?”
I whispered, and Ron looked at Gruter’s flushed face before whispering to me.
“He got bruised by a black bear.”
“A black bear this time?”
Ron’s pure, clear eyes sparkled.
“Yes, a black bear. It seems Kautz and the master have faced many animals.”
Something felt suspicious.
I glanced alternately at Kautz and Gruter and narrowed my eyes.
Both simultaneously looked away, gazing at the distant scenery.
“…!”
Could it be…
We sent them into the forest to find the guardian, and…
The two of them… hit it off?
I dismissed it at first, but the strange atmosphere suggested otherwise.
‘A flower deer and a black bear…’
So the flower deer is Gruter, and the black bear is Kautz?
I never expected them to get along.
They actually suit each other in a strange way.
I entertained the thought for a while and let it go.
Anyway, Gruter may look grim, but he’s loyal to the duke over a long time, so…
‘Kautz found a good match!’
Somehow, my heart was pounding.
Feeling the pink atmosphere that only Ron was unaware of, we returned straight to the duke’s mansion.
Aside from what happened in Trencia Forest, I reported to the duke and grandfather about Shant Careys.
Both received the news of the elder’s death with calm acceptance.
