Chapter 16 …
The entrance to the village came into view in the distance. I lightly tapped Lissian on the shoulder and made a request.
“Put me down here. I’ll walk from here on.”
“If you get tired, let me know. I can carry you again.”
“No, I’m really fine. I can’t go around being carried inside the village.”
Lissian let out a soft chuckle and carefully bent his knees.
I slowly slid down from his back, then turned to Ninabel.
“Nini, stop pulling the cart and hide in my pocket.”
“Okaaay, Mastaaaar….”
Ninabel drooped limply like a scrap of tissue, then shrank down to a tiny size and slipped right into my pocket.
She must have been exhausted from pulling the cart all this way.
I slipped a hand into my pocket and gently patted her.
“Good job, Nini. …And Lissian, there’s one thing I need to ask you.”
“Yes, Master.”
Ahem. I gave a small, awkward cough before continuing.
“Don’t call me ‘Master’ in the village. People might look at us strangely.”
At my words, Lissian raised an eyebrow slightly.
“You’re not really my slave anyway, right? So… how about calling me by my name while we’re in town?”
He stared straight at me. His eyes, impossible to read, shimmered transparently as they caught the sunlight.
After a long moment, Lissian replied,
“All right, Muriel.”
“…!”
My heart dropped with a thud. I froze stiff, eyes wide, then hurriedly flailed in a panic.
“L-Let’s go already! I’m hungry…!”
“Take it slow, Muriel. You’ll tire yourself out.”
Having bolted ahead like an arrow, I glanced back at his words. Lissian was strolling leisurely behind me, pulling the cart with a relaxed smile on his face.
I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes and quickly turned my head forward again. My heart was still pounding wildly.
‘What’s wrong with me? Every time he calls me Muriel, my heart feels like it’s going to burst.’
It had to be his voice. Who says someone’s name like that, as if it’s melting? Honestly, even his voice was anything but ordinary.
I walked three steps ahead of him. Maybe because I was so stupidly tense, my legs tingled as if they might cramp at any moment.
Lissian followed at an unhurried pace, as though deliberately matching my speed. The wheels of the cart rattled softly in the quiet.
“Ah, Master! Look over there! There’s something going on at the village entrance!”
Ninabel whispered, peeking her face out of my pocket.
Just as the spirit said, people wearing flower wreaths were standing at the village entrance, handing something out to passersby.
Looking more closely, they were small bouquets made of woven violets.
As we drew nearer, the voices of people greeting one another became clear.
“May your spring be filled with the god’s blessings!”
“Come enjoy the festival!”
“They’re putting on a play in the square! If you’re interested, please stop by!”
It seemed the village was in the middle of a spring festival. Such festivals usually lasted anywhere from three days to a full week.
“This is great, Master! Since we’re here, we can enjoy the festival too!”
“Mm… yeah, I guess so.”
Ninabel bounced excitedly, but I couldn’t smile without reservation.
‘Enjoying the festival would be nice, but…’
The problem was that the chances of running into Raul increased here.
Whenever there was an event in a city or village, the lord usually came out to inspect it—unless he was an exceptionally lazy one.
And Raul was the very image of a meticulous and admirable lord who deeply cherished his territory.
If it were the Raul I knew… he would definitely stop by this village to see how his people were doing.
“Muriel? What’s wrong?”
When I stopped short without moving forward, Lissian came up beside me and asked.
I forced an awkward smile and brushed it off vaguely.
“It’s nothing. It’s just… I think this might be my first time at a festival like this.”
“Your first time? Spring festivals are held everywhere, aren’t they?”
…That was true. Every country held festivals each season, big or small, to pray for a bountiful year.
But “Muriel” had never once enjoyed such a festival.
Walking hand in hand with friends or family through lively streets was nothing more than an illusion shown by a struck match to Muriel.
“Welcome! Are you merchants?”
A village girl who had spotted us smiled brightly and asked kindly.
After firmly pressing down the squirming rice-cake-in-a-drop-of-water—who kept trying to peek outside—I returned the girl’s smile and answered.
“Yes, we’ve come to sell vegetables and strawberries we grew ourselves.”
“Oh my! I see! Come here and take some flowers!”
But the moment I stepped closer, the girl paused when she saw my face, her expression stiffening.
I smiled calmly and asked,
“Is something wrong?”
“Uh… well, your hair color….”
“I know. It’s a bit unusual, right?”
“Y-Yes, it is….”
“But there are actually quite a lot of people in the world with hair like mine.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. You run into them now and then when you travel.”
“I see….”
The reason the girl froze was Muriel’s distinctive hair color.
More precisely, that emerald-tinged silver hair was a well-known trait of Muriel Terni.
This village belonged to the Winterberg territory, so its residents would at least have heard rumors about the appearance of the infamous “Wicked Woman of Terni.”
I’d been mindful of that and covered my hair with a hood, but… it seemed I couldn’t hide it completely after all.
“You must have seen someone with a similar hair color somewhere before?”
“Ah… well, um.”
Not just this girl—others nearby were sneaking glances at me too. Being treated like a spectacle wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
“Actually… our lord has a very cruel lady, and I’ve heard her hair is a pale mint color like yours. I’ve never seen her in person, though.”
“Oh, I see. We’re not from this territory, so we didn’t know.”
“Is that so! May I ask where you’re from?”
“We came from the northeast. Near the border of the Grastea Empire.”
“My goodness! That’s a long way!”
In truth, we’d come from a polluted zone much closer than that. Still, I put on a perfectly natural smile, as if I had nothing to hide.
“Since you’ve come all this way, please enjoy the festival before you go! Our village festival is really fun. The people are kind, too.”
The girl chatted energetically, then hesitated when she tried to give a bouquet to Lissian as he stepped forward.
A moment later, her eyes widened in surprise—undoubtedly because of Lissian’s unreal, striking looks.
“H-Here… a bouquet….”
“Thank you.”
As she fumbled with her words, the girl hastily added,
“If you keep it until midnight, it’s said to help you find true love!”
It had that kind of effect? Then why didn’t she tell me that?
“That sounds nice.”
Lissian replied with a gentle smile and carefully tucked the small bouquet into his shirt pocket. He looked every bit like someone sincerely hoping for that “effect.”
Ignoring the girl’s lingering, wistful gaze, he slowly approached me, a soft smile resting on his lips.
“Let’s go, Muriel.”
“…Okay.”
For some reason, I felt strange.
The bouquet… he probably accepted it without thinking much of it, right?
Once we entered the central street of the village, the festive atmosphere became even more vivid.
Unlike a typical rural village, this place was fairly large.
The buildings were quite old, but it wouldn’t be wrong to call it a small city.
Various stalls lined the streets, and there were people performing acrobatics to collect coins, as well as musicians playing instruments.
“Wow. That’s amazing.”
I gasped in awe while watching a man breathe fire.
Nearby, someone else was performing dazzling juggling tricks.
Seeing things like this in person for the first time was fascinating, but we couldn’t linger. Our goal was the marketplace.
‘We need to sell all these strawberries and vegetables quickly, then go shopping!’
I didn’t have a single coin to my name. Lissian? Same story. We were broke. We needed money to buy good food, new clothes, and shoes.
And maybe we’d even need to rent a room and stay the night. That would be less exhausting.
“Let’s go! Time to make a killing!”
At my bold declaration, Lissian let out a quiet laugh. He pulled the cart smoothly, like drifting clouds, and walked on at ease.
“How do you plan to make a fortune?”
“I’ve got a plan.”
Before becoming a terminal patient, I’d worked every part-time job imaginable. Street vending was child’s play to me.
For the record, I planned to sell the vegetables at a discount—and the strawberries at a premium.
