GDTEA Chapter 131

As Lovers

The moment they left the county, Sharti was able to meet up with Vireta’s group.

As they sat down to discuss their upcoming travel plans over a meal, Vireta spoke first.

“—I’ll be taking Tein back with me.”

It was a sudden announcement.

Though several days had passed since they’d left home, the only proper sightseeing they’d managed was a brief look around the area near the Academy.

It felt like too much of a shame to end Tein’s first journey like this.

“Could it be that I failed to look after Tein properly……”

Of course, Vireta’s decision was the right one.

Just like Sharti, Tein lived in hiding—and now he’d become entangled with none other than the leader of the neutral faction, making further travel impossible.

“Nothing of the sort. After stopping by home, I’m thinking of taking Virena along to Sedipia Village.”

“Ah……”

“I’ve heard it’s a village filled with mana. I’m curious about it.”

Tein, who had been twirling noodles around his fork beside Vireta, answered brightly.

“Above all, since there’s still no resident doctor in the village, it would be a wonderful experience for Tein to go.”

“I came in second place at the competition. I am smart.”

“Yes, yes, you are.”

Vireta laughed warmly and ruffled his little head.

The Krofl Mercenary Group members nearby also looked at Tein with proud, fond eyes.

“And as I mentioned before, the Magic Tower wishes to examine the antidote you created, Sha—so it’s been decided that Tein will go and explain it to them.”

“But Grandmother, isn’t that too dangerous? The origin of that poison is also a concern……”

Sharti whispered cautiously.

Vireta looked at Sharti for a moment, then slid a plate of thin-sliced ham toward her.

“Sha, having grown old as I have, there are a few things one comes to understand on their own.”

“……?”

“Every encounter in this world is not coincidence but fate, and the ties of ill fate are sturdier than one might think—impossible to sever in any form.”

Vireta’s gaze quietly turned toward Ren.

“It is said to be Heaven’s will that those who carry the weight of sin upon their backs will, one way or another, face their reckoning—and is this not also a burden each person must bear for themselves?”

“A burden……”

As Ren raised an eyebrow at the cryptic words, Sharti’s heart felt heavy.

Whatever Heaven’s will might be, Tein was far too young to be spoken of in terms of burdens one must carry.

“Don’t worry about Tein, Sha. I’m here, and so is Virena.”

“That’s right. Teacher, you may rest easy.”

Tein, having inserted himself into the puzzling adult conversation, grinned.

Sharti pushed aside her complicated thoughts and wiped Tein’s mouth with a napkin.

“Tein, I’m sorry. You came on this trip and we barely got to sightsee properly.”

“No. On the trip I met the baby angel, and I came in second at the competition. It was fun!”

“Really?”

Tein’s reassurance brought Sharti a small sense of relief.

Meeting Eryl, sitting an exam alongside children his own age, and making it to the finals of the competition—for seven-year-old Tein, that alone was a precious experience.

And above all, Tein was perceptive beyond his years. Having caused Sharti and Ren to worry by getting caught up with the House of Chelonar, he had decided to follow Vireta out of consideration for them.

“Tein, let’s do this before you go.”

After finishing the meal and just before parting ways, Sharti came back with a pair of adorable new fur earmuffs and gloves, and bundled them onto the freezing child’s ears and hands.

“These are your New Year’s present—a little early.”

The new year was still far off, of course, but since they had set out with a long journey in mind from the beginning, by the time she next saw Tein, many seasons would likely have changed.

‘Once we say goodbye today, it’ll be a while before I see him again.’

Tein, who had been stomping his feet with delight at the unexpected gift, stole a glance at Ren. Then he flung his arms around Sharti’s neck, who had bent down to his eye level.

As she moved to hold the dangling Tein tightly, the child planted a peck on her cheek.

“Tein……”

Sharti’s eyes curved into a smile at the sweet kiss, and Tein giggled.

“When you really like someone, you kiss them. Ren kissed Teacher too.”

“……!”

The memory surfaced—of the embarrassing scene Tein had witnessed when they climbed into the carriage arranged by the Mondia gang.

Sharti’s cheeks flushed red at the child’s innocent and perfectly accurate observation.

And from somewhere came the loud sound of a flick to someone’s forehead.

“But Ren does it in secret a lot.”

“Hm? In secret—what do you mean by……”

“—Tein, let’s be on our way now.”

“Yes!”

Having left behind only the burning curiosity of a shocking secret, Tein departed like that, off with Vireta.

After the exchange with Vireta, Ren came over with a lump forming on his forehead.

“It does feel a bit empty with the little doctor gone.”

“……”

Sharti turned her head and stared intently at his face, which was a mixture of relief and longing.

Perhaps sensing the unusual look, Ren turned to face her.

“Sha?”

“Ren, did you secretly kiss me while I was sleeping?”

Ren flinched at the unexpected question, and at that, Sharti’s face, which had been thinking surely not, blazed up in an instant.

As Sharti snapped her head away, Ren opened his mouth in a hurry to explain himself.

“Wait, Sha! So what I did was wrong, or rather it’s wrong enough, but that, I mean……”

But what could he say?

‘I didn’t have the courage to do it normally, so I did it in secret? I was too embarrassed, so I did it in secret? I wanted to, so I did it in secret?’

No matter what excuse he gave, it amounted to nothing more—and nothing less—than a shameless pervert who had done a shameless thing.

“……I was wrong.”

A quick apology was the only answer.

Just as Ren was politely pressing his hands together and bowing his head—

“Why in secret?”

“……?”

Sharti, still with her head turned away from Ren, murmured in a trailing voice.

“Then I—I won’t remember it.”

“……!”

His simple heart pounded at her single word.

“It’s not fair that only I don’t get to remember.”

[The moment you confessed to me, the moment you kissed me—it’s not fair that only I remember those moments.]

The instant their eyes met, Ren thought:

It was as though a red flower bloomed in winter had dyed her cheeks.

“So from now on, I want to remember every single moment.”

Even with the face-recognition-disrupting magic tool equipped, in this moment alone he could read every expression on Sharti’s face.

The cold winter wind blew, and Sharti’s hair scattered in the breeze.

“As lovers. Let’s remember it together, Ren.”

Spring.

A season he had no memory of.

The warmth and tenderness of a season turning soft—all of it was melted into her expression.

As though wanting to catch the spring that scattered like a mirage, Ren reached out his hand.

“I will remember it forever.”

This season, too. The season he first recalled. That feeling. This moment. All of it…….

Whose breath it was that surged up with sudden emotion, whose trembling was felt in the hands that touched—to the two who had become lovers, it didn’t matter at all.

Their minds simply floated away at the warmth of breath touching their lips.

The spring he had no memory of had, before he knew it, become Sharti herself.

****

Having made up their minds to leave the east, Sharti and Ren stopped by a quest office near the county.

They intended to take on a suitable quest, earn some commission money, and reduce their travel expenses in the process.

The quest office was a place for adventurers and mercenaries, offering all manner of commissions—from errands to labor hire—not limited to the Great Empire of Neweiton.

As it happened, Vireta had also given Ren a temporary mercenary badge, which made it possible for them to use the quest office.

However, the two of them had differing opinions on choosing a destination.

“Since I’m a doctor without a license, I have to choose quests that focus on dangerous areas.”

“That would make for a life-risking journey.”

Dangerous areas like mines or slums offered generous deadlines and advance payment, but they promised a grueling journey.

“I don’t have much experience, so the quests I can apply for are limited.”

“Then it looks like I’ll have to apply only as a porter. But these quests don’t need a doctor.”

Porter work for merchant guilds or ships paid low commissions and required only simple labor—but the problem was they refused to take along companions unrelated to the quest.

“Are these all the quests currently available?”

“Yes. I’m showing you what matches the beginner mercenary viewing tier.”

Despite being a mercenary badge earned by enduring all of Vireta’s endless nagging—

Ren clicked his tongue as he looked at the unexpectedly useless mercenary badge.

“What should we do?”

Sharti, too, couldn’t think of any particular solution.

In truth, thanks to Vireta, they had accumulated a week’s worth of travel expenses, so there was no immediate obstacle to traveling without taking on a quest.

That said, they couldn’t afford to be endlessly optimistic about being able to earn money a week from now, either.

Like becoming entangled with the House of Chelonar, they now had to account for unexpected variables.

“If the quest areas are nearby, is it permitted to take on multiple quests at once?”

“Ren?”

“Yes. However, should the overlapping quests not be fulfilled satisfactorily, the penalty fee is assessed at double.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Wait a moment, Ren. Overlapping quests?”

Sharti grabbed Ren’s arm at his unilateral move to take on quests.

“It’s just hauling luggage, and with my stamina I can easily manage at least three or four quests.”

“There’s a reason people commission mercenaries as porters. It’s bound to be dangerous cargo.”

“Even if it’s dangerous, Sha, it’s better than having you out wandering in dangerous places.”

Ren crossed his arms, displaying a firm stance.

Just as Sharti was narrowing her eyes at Ren for trying to overwork himself alone again—

“This—”

A sheet of paper was suddenly thrust between the two of them.

It was a quest form. And not just any quest form—one stamped with the seal of a senior-rank mercenary.

“You are……”

Ren squinted at the swordsman in the large hat who had appeared out of nowhere.

Only then did Sharti recognize the swordsman before her.

It was the swordsman Ren had faced in the third round of the competition.

“What business do you have?”

Ren asked, using his back to shield Sharti.

The swordsman in the large hat studied Ren—who had his face concealed beneath a hood—for a moment, then waved the quest form in front of him.

“They say they need a lot of people.”

“……”

Ren snatched the quest form away and read it.

After reviewing the contents, Ren narrowed his eyes further, looking even more suspicious.

“Why are you telling me about this? I have absolutely no reason to join up with you.”

“……”

At Ren’s sharply guarded reaction, the other swordsman hesitated for a moment.

“Back then—I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“……”

“I didn’t know your skills were that lacking. Sorry.”

“……Are you picking a fight?”

Ren frowned, feeling that the swordsman’s stiff tone sounded like mockery.

But Ren couldn’t bring himself to turn down the quest he had proposed.

It was a commission to escort merchant guild carriages from bandits and assassins—and they were also looking for a doctor and a porter, with the destination being the south, exactly where they were headed.

And above all, the commission fee was substantial.

In the end, Ren accepted the suspicious swordsman’s proposal and headed straight to the client.

The client—short in stature and sporting a full, fluffy beard—was the merchant guild’s transport manager, and gave off a deeply warm and amiable impression.

“Ah, the doctor is to look after my wife in this carriage here. And that one there has a good build, so you can take on porter duties. Ha ha, and the competition champion just needs to provide escort.”

“Champion?”

Having gone straight back to the count’s mansion after being eliminated in the third round, this was the first he was hearing of the competition’s results.

“……”

Whether he had heard Ren’s quiet note of surprise or not, the swordsman removed his large hat.

Light blue hair was revealed, and the swordsman’s eyes turned directly and precisely toward Ren.

But Ren, as though unbothered, silently continued loading luggage onto the carriage.

Ben—the light-blue-haired swordsman who had been staring intently at Ren—quietly pulled his large hat back down over his face.

Ben cast his gaze downward with a sullen expression.

“Is it really not the Commander……?”

His gaze drifted toward Ren’s hood.

All he needed was to confirm the face.

Ben silently approached from behind Ren and reached out his hand.