Episode 22

‘Ha……. Wrong place.’

Hestia clutched her forehead and leaned her head back. She felt like she had a headache.

“Captain, what are you talking about!”

“One hundred and fifty gold coins is nobody’s child’s pocket money!”

It was no wonder they were surprised, as the average commoner’s monthly expenses were around eight to ten gold coins.

But Hestia felt her head hurt even more when she heard the shouts of those two and three masked men,

“Quiet.”

She snapped her head up and glared at them.

“…….”

“…….”

Now that the commotion has died down, I have a moment to think.

“Hmm.”

I can’t tell him where I live, of course, and I don’t know what I’d get myself into if I did.

“…… Just drop it off at Artis’ place. If I don’t get it to you by the end of the week, you can relax and forget about roaming the streets.”

I was going to give Reynold the gold coins I’d gotten anyway, so it seemed like the cleanest, most uncomplicated way to do it.

“……I will.”

At his reply, Hestia threw up her hands in a dismissive gesture and picked up the basket she’d left behind.

He’d promised to get Starlight for me this time!

My irritation was already bubbling up at the thought of Reynold’s personality scratching me again.

Then Hestia squatted down, seemingly oblivious to the masked men in front of her, and began searching for the holy herbs.

“If they’re going to give us information, isn’t it only fair that you give us your name?”

When they still hadn’t, I heard Masked One’s voice from behind me.

“Hestia.”

It was an ordinary, common name. It was impossible to tell if she was just a commoner, or if she hadn’t given her last name to hide her identity.

The information given to the emerald-eyed man about Hestia was that she was an unusual young woman with black hair named Hestia.

That was about as common as it got.

“We’re not the only ones wandering around, so you’d better get back to town.”

There were many questions I wanted to ask, but I held my tongue. There were still other eyes fuming behind him.

“I’m not going because of anyone, and I hope you’ll pay me soon.”

Hestia didn’t look back at him, busy gathering the petals carefully into her basket.

“I will. The next time we meet, I hope we can fight again…….”

A dark glint settled in the man’s eyes, but Hestia, her back to him, didn’t notice.

“I don’t want to.”

The reply was quick and terse.

“No, Captain!”

“Captain, are you out of your mind?”

“Quiet. Bye.”

Sana dismissed the two shouting behind him.

“Lest we forget what our priorities are.”

And with that, he muttered something he wasn’t sure if he was saying to himself or the others, and disappeared down a different path.

The other two men gave Hestia a hard look, then followed suit.

“What a day. Well, it’ll be dinner when we get home. Theo will be waiting.”

By the time I’d gathered what I could into the basket, the sun was already setting.

As much as she wanted to call Lou back here and ride home with her, Hestia set off at a brisk pace back to where they had parted ways, just in case.

She walked nonstop, and when she reached the spot where Lu was, she was breathing heavily.

“Hmph, I’m so tired. Lu!”

She summoned all her strength and called out to Roo, and a huge ball of silvery fur popped out of nowhere.

Pow! Pow!

It bounced around Hestia, sniffing this way and that.

“Blood! Wounds! What do you want me to do, eat those humans!

Roo growled, her hazel eyes glowing.

“Don’t get eaten, I’m more afraid of you getting eaten!”

Snapping.

To anyone else, she might have looked like a fierce beast, but to Hestia, she was just a tiny, cute baby wolf.

“There’s a lot of blood, sis, I think it hurt!

Roo quickly jumped to her paws, draped her legs over Hestia’s shoulders, and licked the marks on her neck, which had already healed, leaving only red marks.

“You know that’s okay, so stop licking it, it’s ticklish!”

Hestia giggled at the tickle, and Street burst out laughing, then pulled Lu away.

“You’re going to let them stay after they hurt your sister?

Roo’s bushy tail flicked up, poised to run off at a moment’s notice.

“The wound marks are already gone. Look. Is everything okay?”

Hestia stretched out her arms and whirled around.

If it weren’t for the vivid red marks on her collar and the torn hem of her dress that exposed her calves with every movement, she’d look perfectly fine.

“Now, come on, let’s go. Theo will be waiting for you.”

“You’re too good a sister, Tal!

Instead of running off, Lu obediently crouched down to scratch the ground with her bared claws.

“Who says you’re too good?”

If I were really good, I wouldn’t be getting punished like this.

Hestia swallowed her self-help words and climbed onto Roo’s back.

At Hestia’s gentle stroking, Roo let out a happy meow and began to pound the ground.

* * *

Theo finished the tasks he had planned after Hestia left.

The house was small, but the chores were never small. By the time he was finished, it was well past noon and well into the afternoon.

“You’ll be back later.”

He’d said he’d be back a little after noon at the latest, and judging by his lack of activity so far, it would be later.

“Then I guess I’ll have to apologize for lunch today.”

This was Theo’s usual way of eating when Hestia wasn’t around.

At first, he’d skip it, but with Hestia’s persistence, he’d eventually agree to eat something simple, like an apple, milk, or a boiled egg.

In truth, she could have just said she ate it, but…….

“I don’t want to lie.”

He might be silent, but he didn’t want to lie.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. Sitting back in his chair, Theo took a moment to finish the apple.

“I wonder if you’re okay with …… this life.”

In the little over two months he’d been with Hestia, every day had been the same, and in a way, boring.

But it was also a life that was much more comfortable than I had ever known.

Often, I would wonder if it would be okay to stay like this. I’ve often wondered if it’s okay to stay like this.

But then.

“It’s my turn to protect it.”

Theo squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

It was his turn to take what had been taken from him. Those who had risked their lives to protect him because he lacked the strength, because he lacked the determination, and now it was his turn to protect them.

There was no threat here, so in the meantime, he practiced his swordsmanship and trained hard in physical fitness. I also read a lot of books. Honestly, there was nothing else to do but read.

I told Hestia what books I wanted and she brought them to me the next day.

“She said it was from a friend of hers…….”

I was suspicious. How could she get books so quickly when it took her half a day just to get to and from the village, and there was nothing she couldn’t find, even out-of-print and limited editions?

“It’s not a four-legged beast, and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t fly.”

Theo tossed the bony, ugly apple out the window and slowly rose from his seat.

“……Linus.”

The name Hestia had muttered in her sleep the other day.

Even though she hadn’t said it out loud, the sound of it in her ears made her brow crease in disgust.

He didn’t know why he felt bad, just that he was worried about her, worried about his friendship with her. That’s all it was, a friendship.

I’d never known what it was to be a ‘friend’, but there was no other way to describe it, no other way to explain the feelings I had, without realizing that my heart was poking out of the mold of ‘friendship’.

“Let’s get to work.”

Theo scrambled out of his chair and grabbed all the blankets from the room.

He barely made it to the door with the blanket in both hands.

“…….”

Ding.

Theo slammed the door back shut.

I stood there, dumbfounded, blinking.

“Am I seeing things?”

Theo put the quilt on the table and reached for the doorknob to open the door again.

“If what I saw was right…….”

Nervously, Theo yanked the door open.

Bam!

“…….”

There it was, a sturdy rabbit with an unusually cute sound.

It was a fairly large hare with a light brown back and white fur on its belly.

Yep. It was a hare.

It stood up on its hind legs, firm and steady, and glared at Theo with a vicious glare.

“Why do I still look so foolish?”

Theo rubbed his eyes with his hand as he stared at the rabbit.

He looked down again, hoping that the rabbit had disappeared.

Beep!

The rabbit screamed as it pounded its hind feet on the floor, showing off its well-developed muscles.

It waved its short arms menacingly as if to say, “Hurry home.

Theo didn’t know how to speak to the rabbit, so he mouthed the words in an awkward two-way.

“……Hello, do you want to come in?”

The rabbit shook its head as if it understood Theo’s words.

“Are you hungry, then?”

Beep-it!

Finn pointed his short front paws into the deep woods and stomped his hind feet louder, but Theo still couldn’t understand what the rabbit was trying to say.

“Well, will you give me a minute, I still have some work to do.”

So he decided to ignore it.

Strangely, he didn’t think the rabbit would attack him, and he even thought about scaring it off with his wooden sword if it did.

Besides, he had to get this done before Hestia got home.

Theo picked up the quilt he’d left on the table and tried to push past the rabbit.

Beep-beep-beep!

But the rabbit laid down in front of the entrance as if he had to step over himself to get out.

“Are you sleepy, or did you come here looking for a place to sleep? If so, I won’t disturb you, so make yourself comfortable.”

Theo cleared his throat and hopped over the rabbit. Holding the blanket in both hands, he effortlessly and steadily toppled over the fairly large rabbit.

“Looks like all that training paid off.”

The corner of Theo’s mouth lifted gently.

He was suddenly taller. Though Hestia didn’t seem to notice.

The bunny’s interruptions continued until he hung the quilt on the clothesline. Now she had the whole thing in her mouth, tugging at the hem.