Iris left the Virore Castle in Siere without knowing the result of the letter to her father, Peter Wick.
The horses that crossed the desert ate well and drank water at Virore Castle. Although they had not yet recovered completely, the Siere knights had informed them that they would be able to stop by a village on their way to the capital in the future and seek help.
Unlike Luwan, the size of the Royal Knights of Siere was not very large. However, there were exactly twelve knights whom the king absolutely trusted, and they each had a knighthood.
And since each family was controlled to some extent by the knights, there were virtually no ‘soldiers’ in Siere.
It was one of the twelve knights named Cyrus, and about one hundred soldiers who followed them to the capital for support and surveillance purposes.
Among the twelve, Cyrus seemed to be the knight that King Carl trusted the most, and seemed to be of the same age as Hayer and Iris. He had rather long red hair and was quite talkative.
Cyrus said, speaking to Iris.
“I also have red hair, so I’ve been teased a lot since I was young. There’s a prejudice in Siere that red hair is a symbol of womanizers, what about Luwan?”
“We think blondes are womanizers.”
Hayer paused and spoke quickly as she glanced at him.
“No… no.”
“Hm…”
“I’m not at all. I’m far from a womanizer.”
Iris, who usually couldn’t find a way to tease Hayer, did not readily answer no and made a strange expression.
In spite of such teasing and laughing, Iris soon returned to her expressionless face, out of fear of Kernin Lepos and treason.
Concerned about her, Hayer approached and asked quietly.
“Iris, are you okay?”
Right. Was she okay?
Iris looked back at herself for a moment.
In front was the capital of Siere, where it was impossible to determine how far the monsters had spread, and in the back was the eve of the treason.
She was afraid of the pressure that seemed to press down from the front and back.
Then, Annamaria opened her mouth lightly.
“Shall we talk about something fun?”
At her words, Camille, the youngest of the Knights of Tejas, said.
“I’ll do it. You might be surprised, but I actually still… haven’t even had my first kiss.”
“Wow!”
As soon as he finished, the Knights of Tejas and even the knights brought by Cyrus turned to look at Camille.
Camille was not afraid of being in the spotlight, so he went on with a smile.
“But there’s a girl I like. When I go back… I will confess. Please cheer for the girl to accept me, everyone!”
Camille stopped talking halfway through, then shouted loudly to make up for it.
Considering the current situation in the capital, it was impossible to know exactly who would be at risk.
Most of the Knights of Tejas, as well as Iris, had concerns about Luwan’s situation and their loved ones in their heart.
Camille shook his head and continued, perhaps because he had decided to tell a fun story to erase such concerns.
“The story in the conversation is a love story, isn’t it? Is there anyone who wants to continue the love story!”
“Me! Me!”
When Annamaria raised her hand, Hencke told her off.
“I’ve heard too much from you. Yes, you love Dirpone’s second son, you do.”
“If I go back, I will win this love somehow.”
“I know. I’ll help you with everything you need, so please take it.”
“Thanks.”
After saying that, the knights of Siere made eye contact with the Tejas Knights with puzzled expressions. It was because Annamaria and Hencke were such soulmates that they didn’t think they would not be lovers.
Since it was a phenomenon that everyone experienced when they first joined the Tejas Knights, the Tejas Knights nodded as if they understood everything they felt.
In the meantime, the party was passing through a narrow mountain path.
The party rested when they saw a place to set up their tents, and ran when they came across a plain. Unlike Luwan, where most of the territory was plains, Siere had countless mountains.
Iris said to Hayer as she walked through the narrow mountain path.
“Even though we’re on the same continent, it’s really different.”
“Isn’t it so… Ah, I’m going insane.”
Iris turned around and held back her laughter.
As he passed through the narrow mountain path, branches kept hitting his head and face.
Iris was small in size, and the horse she rode was a small fellow, so it rarely happened. Hayer, on the other hand, was almost sweeping the entire mountain of trees with his face.
When Iris laughed, Hayer rubbed his reddened face and said.
“You’re too mean to laugh. Isn’t it pitiful? How many times I’m getting hit?”
“You said you like to be hit?”
“Only from you. I don’t want it to fit me normally.”
“Was it like that?”
“More than that, did that just sound very strange?”
“……”
Iris, whose eyes were belatedly round at Hayer’s point, turned around. As Hayer said, everyone was avoiding their eyes.
Iris excused herself with an unfair feeling.
“That’s what Hayer said first.”
Then Ian, a Knight of Tejas, answered.
“Yes, our captain is someone who will remain like that…”
“…Did it sound strange to you?”
“No! I’m just not used to it. The weird thing is our captain. Yes, I think so.”
“I’m sorry. It caused a stir…”
She apologized from the bottom of her heart, but for some reason, the party was struggling to hold back their laughter.
Iris’s face turned red, and from there, she moved along the mountain path looking straight ahead.
Hayer followed and whispered out of earshot again.
“As expected, you are the one who makes me happy the most.”
“I didn’t mean to make you happy.”
“Oh, it’s amazing that you have the ability to please others without even intending to.”
“How can you make fun of people if you have a chance like that?”
“I know. I have to grow up.”
Hayer replied with an admission of that part.
Iris wanted to erase this topic from the minds of the party, so she asked Annamaria what she had been wanting to ask.
“But Ann, every time Ann tried to talk about Dirpone’s second son, everyone was tired of it, so I couldn’t hear it.”
“I finally have my side!”
“Please let us hear it.”
Camille nodded at her words and said.
“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I heard it.”
“Do you want to hear it again even though you’ve heard the same story about one hundred and twenty times before you last heard it?”
When Hencke rebuked, Ian responded.
“Yes, this is also a normal feeling, so it’s good. I haven’t had a chance to feel my daily life these days.”
At Ian’s words, the party nodded.
Annamaria, who finally had a chance to talk about the person she loved, opened her mouth.
“So, it was twelve years ago, when I was living in a very poor village.”
Annamaria gave a detailed description of the poverty in her village.
“The knights here won’t know what poverty is like. As a poor person, being a poor and good person? It can’t be. Being terribly poor means turning a blind eye to injustice. They break the law because they can’t make a living in a legitimate way, and the poor exploit each other. Parents want their children to grow up strong even if they eat less, and they don’t want their children to be their burden when their parents’ productivity goes down.”
Her voice grew louder as she got to the point.
“One day, a guest came to our village. Our village has nothing, but the water was good. There is even a story that the gods lived forever drinking that water… Of course, all the villagers would have been healthy if that was the case, but it wasn’t. However, our villagers knew that it could be different if we ate well and drank this water.”
Iris found it interesting that Annamaria talked about it so much that she explained it almost as if it were a folktale.
In addition, the people of the Tejas Knights heard this story so much that they snatched up what she was going to say and said it in advance.
Finally, Dirpone’s second son appeared in Annamaria’s story.
“I…”
“You thought it was a fairy.”
“That’s right.”
Annamaria was not angry when Hencke intercepted her words. Although he was bored with her love story, their friendship seemed felt in the sense that he listened to it all and memorized it.
Annamaria continued.
“His skin was fair and his nose was really a work of art. He had a nose as beautiful as an artist’s masterpiece. His eyes were shining emerald, so there was no way to confirm that he wasn’t a fairy.”
“And so, you confirmed it. That bulldozing.”
“That’s right.”
Annamaria nodded at Hencke’s words and continued.
“I pushed the fairy into the lake.”
Iris was startled by those words and asked back.
“…You dropped him in the water to see if he was a fairy?”
Iris left the Virore Castle in Siere without knowing the result of the letter to her father, Peter Wick.
The horses that crossed the desert ate well and drank water at Virore Castle. Although they had not yet recovered completely, the Siere knights had informed them that they would be able to stop by a village on their way to the capital in the future and seek help.
Unlike Luwan, the size of the Royal Knights of Siere was not very large. However, there were exactly twelve knights whom the king absolutely trusted, and they each had a knighthood.
And since each family was controlled to some extent by the knights, there were virtually no ‘soldiers’ in Siere.
It was one of the twelve knights named Cyrus, and about one hundred soldiers who followed them to the capital for support and surveillance purposes.
Among the twelve, Cyrus seemed to be the knight that King Carl trusted the most, and seemed to be of the same age as Hayer and Iris. He had rather long red hair and was quite talkative.
Cyrus said, speaking to Iris.
“I also have red hair, so I’ve been teased a lot since I was young. There’s a prejudice in Siere that red hair is a symbol of womanizers, what about Luwan?”
“We think blondes are womanizers.”
Hayer paused and spoke quickly as she glanced at him.
“No… no.”
“Hm…”
“I’m not at all. I’m far from a womanizer.”
Iris, who usually couldn’t find a way to tease Hayer, did not readily answer no and made a strange expression.
In spite of such teasing and laughing, Iris soon returned to her expressionless face, out of fear of Kernin Lepos and treason.
Concerned about her, Hayer approached and asked quietly.
“Iris, are you okay?”
Right. Was she okay?
Iris looked back at herself for a moment.
In front was the capital of Siere, where it was impossible to determine how far the monsters had spread, and in the back was the eve of the treason.
She was afraid of the pressure that seemed to press down from the front and back.
Then, Annamaria opened her mouth lightly.
“Shall we talk about something fun?”
At her words, Camille, the youngest of the Knights of Tejas, said.
“I’ll do it. You might be surprised, but I actually still… haven’t even had my first kiss.”
“Wow!”
As soon as he finished, the Knights of Tejas and even the knights brought by Cyrus turned to look at Camille.
Camille was not afraid of being in the spotlight, so he went on with a smile.
“But there’s a girl I like. When I go back… I will confess. Please cheer for the girl to accept me, everyone!”
Camille stopped talking halfway through, then shouted loudly to make up for it.
Considering the current situation in the capital, it was impossible to know exactly who would be at risk.
Most of the Knights of Tejas, as well as Iris, had concerns about Luwan’s situation and their loved ones in their heart.
Camille shook his head and continued, perhaps because he had decided to tell a fun story to erase such concerns.
“The story in the conversation is a love story, isn’t it? Is there anyone who wants to continue the love story!”
“Me! Me!”
When Annamaria raised her hand, Hencke told her off.
“I’ve heard too much from you. Yes, you love Dirpone’s second son, you do.”
“If I go back, I will win this love somehow.”
“I know. I’ll help you with everything you need, so please take it.”
“Thanks.”
After saying that, the knights of Siere made eye contact with the Tejas Knights with puzzled expressions. It was because Annamaria and Hencke were such soulmates that they didn’t think they would not be lovers.
Since it was a phenomenon that everyone experienced when they first joined the Tejas Knights, the Tejas Knights nodded as if they understood everything they felt.
In the meantime, the party was passing through a narrow mountain path.
The party rested when they saw a place to set up their tents, and ran when they came across a plain. Unlike Luwan, where most of the territory was plains, Siere had countless mountains.
Iris said to Hayer as she walked through the narrow mountain path.
“Even though we’re on the same continent, it’s really different.”
“Isn’t it so… Ah, I’m going insane.”
Iris turned around and held back her laughter.
As he passed through the narrow mountain path, branches kept hitting his head and face.
Iris was small in size, and the horse she rode was a small fellow, so it rarely happened. Hayer, on the other hand, was almost sweeping the entire mountain of trees with his face.
When Iris laughed, Hayer rubbed his reddened face and said.
“You’re too mean to laugh. Isn’t it pitiful? How many times I’m getting hit?”
“You said you like to be hit?”
“Only from you. I don’t want it to fit me normally.”
“Was it like that?”
“More than that, did that just sound very strange?”
“……”
Iris, whose eyes were belatedly round at Hayer’s point, turned around. As Hayer said, everyone was avoiding their eyes.
Iris excused herself with an unfair feeling.
“That’s what Hayer said first.”
Then Ian, a Knight of Tejas, answered.
“Yes, our captain is someone who will remain like that…”
“…Did it sound strange to you?”
“No! I’m just not used to it. The weird thing is our captain. Yes, I think so.”
“I’m sorry. It caused a stir…”
She apologized from the bottom of her heart, but for some reason, the party was struggling to hold back their laughter.
Iris’s face turned red, and from there, she moved along the mountain path looking straight ahead.
Hayer followed and whispered out of earshot again.
“As expected, you are the one who makes me happy the most.”
“I didn’t mean to make you happy.”
“Oh, it’s amazing that you have the ability to please others without even intending to.”
“How can you make fun of people if you have a chance like that?”
“I know. I have to grow up.”
Hayer replied with an admission of that part.
Iris wanted to erase this topic from the minds of the party, so she asked Annamaria what she had been wanting to ask.
“But Ann, every time Ann tried to talk about Dirpone’s second son, everyone was tired of it, so I couldn’t hear it.”
“I finally have my side!”
“Please let us hear it.”
Camille nodded at her words and said.
“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I heard it.”
“Do you want to hear it again even though you’ve heard the same story about one hundred and twenty times before you last heard it?”
When Hencke rebuked, Ian responded.
“Yes, this is also a normal feeling, so it’s good. I haven’t had a chance to feel my daily life these days.”
At Ian’s words, the party nodded.
Annamaria, who finally had a chance to talk about the person she loved, opened her mouth.
“So, it was twelve years ago, when I was living in a very poor village.”
Annamaria gave a detailed description of the poverty in her village.
“The knights here won’t know what poverty is like. As a poor person, being a poor and good person? It can’t be. Being terribly poor means turning a blind eye to injustice. They break the law because they can’t make a living in a legitimate way, and the poor exploit each other. Parents want their children to grow up strong even if they eat less, and they don’t want their children to be their burden when their parents’ productivity goes down.”
Her voice grew louder as she got to the point.
“One day, a guest came to our village. Our village has nothing, but the water was good. There is even a story that the gods lived forever drinking that water… Of course, all the villagers would have been healthy if that was the case, but it wasn’t. However, our villagers knew that it could be different if we ate well and drank this water.”
Iris found it interesting that Annamaria talked about it so much that she explained it almost as if it were a folktale.
In addition, the people of the Tejas Knights heard this story so much that they snatched up what she was going to say and said it in advance.
Finally, Dirpone’s second son appeared in Annamaria’s story.
“I…”
“You thought it was a fairy.”
“That’s right.”
Annamaria was not angry when Hencke intercepted her words. Although he was bored with her love story, their friendship seemed felt in the sense that he listened to it all and memorized it.
Annamaria continued.
“His skin was fair and his nose was really a work of art. He had a nose as beautiful as an artist’s masterpiece. His eyes were shining emerald, so there was no way to confirm that he wasn’t a fairy.”
“And so, you confirmed it. That bulldozing.”
“That’s right.”
Annamaria nodded at Hencke’s words and continued.
“I pushed the fairy into the lake.”
Iris was startled by those words and asked back.
“…You dropped him in the water to see if he was a fairy?”
