GDTEA Chapter 135

All Verified

As the sun rose, Sharti went with Ren to find the transport manager’s wife first thing.

Fortunately, the wife’s health hadn’t deteriorated much in the meantime.

“It feels so much more refreshing to sleep in an inn instead of a carriage after such a long time.”

The wife, exchanging greetings, glanced toward the doorway where Ren stood outside and whispered quietly.

“Your sweetheart is truly remarkable, Miss. I never would have thought he’d throw himself into the flames to put them out.”

“Pardon?”

“Thanks to him, I heard all the cargo that needed to be transported was kept safe. They say there were quite a lot of attackers, but apparently they all fled before your sweetheart’s might?”

Sharti, thinking the wife was exaggerating, simply smiled awkwardly.

No matter what, there was no way the attackers had fled because of Ren alone.

‘There’s even a swordsman who won the swordsmanship tournament.’

But she couldn’t easily brush aside the claim that Ren had extinguished the blaze she had witnessed all by himself.

By what means had he managed to put out that fire alone?

‘I should have checked more thoroughly while Ren was sleeping.’

She had spent the whole night doing nothing but rubbing the hem of his clothes while he slept.

She hadn’t simply taken his word that he wasn’t injured, but she couldn’t very well undress a sleeping person to check every corner of his body.

“By the way, are you feeling alright?”

“Ah, yes. I’m fine. I’m sorry for giving you a fright.”

The carriage the wife had been traveling in throughout the journey was a long transport carriage with a sleeping area arranged inside.

Because of this, the wife, who had been watching the affectionate exchange between the young man and woman from inside the carriage until the attack, would have seen all of Sharti’s sudden seizure as well.

Belatedly realizing that the wife had now seen her in all sorts of states, Sharti felt a flush of embarrassment.

“And your neck? The doctor said you were unconscious for so long because someone struck your neck too hard.”

“Um……. So someone knocked me unconscious back then?”

“My goodness, you didn’t hear from your sweetheart? One of the escorts — that swordsman with the large hat — knocked you out, Miss.”

Sharti recalled the swordsman who, despite being considerably skilled, had maintained a faint presence throughout the journey.

‘Did he do it after hearing me scream from the seizure, worried the wife might be in danger?’

Not knowing the details of the situation at the time, Sharti set aside her questions.

“But about half a day later, it seems your sweetheart suddenly threw a punch at that swordsman while they were on the move.”

“Pardon?”

“The other party just took the hits without saying a word.”

When Sharti jolted in surprise, the wife made a troubled expression.

The wife carefully revealed that Ren’s fury had been so great that the merchants and escorts had to rush in to restrain him.

“Ren…….”

Sharti couldn’t close her mouth.

She wondered for a moment if she was the cause, but the Ren she knew wasn’t someone who would resort to violence against another person simply because they had knocked someone out once.

‘He wouldn’t do something like that without being able to wait even a day.’

Moreover, it was strange that a swordsman skilled enough to win the swordsmanship tournament had simply taken Ren’s punches without resisting.

When Sharti showed puzzlement, the wife lightly shook her head.

“From what I heard, it seems that swordsman said something about you first, Miss.”

Lost in thought, Sharti said farewell to the wife and stepped out of the room.

As if he had been waiting outside the door and listening to the conversation inside, Ren looked at Sharti with an impassive expression.

“Ren, don’t you have anything to say to me?”

“No.”

Ren answered firmly, as if he had nothing to feel awkward about.

“It’s something you don’t need to concern yourself with.”

The voice that came from beneath his hood didn’t seem to contain even a hint of regret, let alone any intention to reflect.

So Sharti found it difficult to press him further either.

‘Well, there are other people who’ll tell me.’

Sharti watched Ren’s outstretched hand quietly with a sidelong glance, then took it.

The corners of Ren’s eyes curved slightly.

“By now everyone will have woken up, so if you want to eat, the dining room on the first floor of the inn will do.”

“Not the dining room — I’m going to my room.”

“But…….”

Ren glanced at Sharti’s stomach.

She hadn’t eaten anything for two days since right after she lost consciousness, so her stomach’s internal clock would be going off soon.

At Ren’s wordless consideration, Sharti’s cheeks flushed red.

“……It’s not making any noise yet. I’m fine.”

Sharti steadfastly led Ren into her room.

“Then I’ll go fetch the meal.”

“You can’t go.”

Sharti, who had slammed the door shut in Ren’s place, lifted her chin toward him and approached.

Then, thud — she planted her hand against the door, pressing her body close to Ren and trapping him so he couldn’t move.

“……Sha?”

While Ren faltered at Sharti’s flustered action, Sharti rose slightly onto her tiptoes.

She stopped at a precarious distance where her lips were barely not quite grazing his chin.

She could feel Ren’s chest swelling.

Just as Ren held his breath, Sharti gripped his clothing firmly.

“Take it off, Ren.”

“……!”

****

Sharti left the inn and headed straight for the herb shop.

Since the Marquis Knocharff’s territory was small, she was able to reach the herb shop without much effort.

“Please prepare the herbs written here.”

An ordinary burn ointment would be pointless to apply.

Sharti thought of the burns Ren had sustained from his arms to his chest, and forced the corners of her mouth upward.

Thinking of Ren, who had borne it all without letting anything show, anger bubbled up inside her.

[You threw punches at someone in this state?]

[……It’s barely a scorch. There’s no problem moving.]

[Even so, how could you keep it from me all this time! What if it leaves a scar.]

[One more scorch mark on this body doesn’t even count as a scar.]

[It is a scar!]

She already disliked the scars left all over Ren’s body, and the thought that a burn scar matching her own might now be added was something she found unbearable.

She resented Ren for speaking of the grotesquely shriveled, flesh-melted scar as if it were nothing.

‘It’s a scar I want to erase but can’t.’

A scar I could have healed enough.

Throughout the time she spent buying the herbs, she kept feeling a surge of emotion threatening to overwhelm her.

“Where are you coming back from?”

Just short of the inn, Sharti looked at the swordsman who had stepped in to block her path.

Beneath the large hat, the cold gaze that met hers carried a familiar hostility that Sharti recognized.

It was an anger that went beyond displeasure.

“……I’m on my way back from the herb shop.”

“Herbs?”

“Ah, perhaps…….”

It was just then that Sharti, suddenly recalling that he had been unilaterally beaten by Ren, was about to take out some ointment for him.

“Ah……!”

Without warning, the swordsman snatched her bag as if to take it, grabbing and yanking it.

Sharti, thrown off balance by the sudden action, fell helplessly to the ground.

Bewildered by the swordsman’s outrageous behavior, Sharti tried to get up, but he flipped her bag over and shook everything out.

The contents of the bag spilled out before Sharti’s eyes.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Looking at her belongings scattered on the ground, Sharti bit her lip and glared at the swordsman.

“I’ve already figured it all out. To think there would be a dark mage skilled enough in mind control to make a perfectly fine person leap into the flames. The reason you’ve been hiding your face with a magic tool must be because you’re a dark mage wanted by the Magic Tower.”

“……Pardon?”

As Sharti stared in bewilderment, the swordsman clenched his fist tightly.

Watching his fist trembling, Sharti swallowed dryly.

“What’s so special about a woman who does nothing but have seizures over a single fire, that he’d leap into the flames like a madman. He turned his back on enemies rushing to kill him just to put out one fire.”

The swordsman gripped the scabbard at his waist.

He looked ready to draw his sword at any moment.

“While I’m still asking nicely…….”

Before the swordsman could even finish his words, Sharti hurled a small pouch she had been hiding in her hand.

Reacting to it, the swordsman slashed the pouch with his sword, causing the paralytic powder inside to burst out.

“……!”

Before he could even react, the powder scattered by a strong gust of wind poured entirely onto his face.

“Ugh……!”

The swordsman’s knees buckled on the spot.

As the paralytic poison spread, the swordsman’s muscles stiffened and locked up.

The effect was powerful because it wasn’t ordinary paralytic powder but something Sharti had personally refined.

The swordsman, who had barely managed to support his upper body by driving his sword into the ground, glared at Sharti with murderous eyes.

He had thought she only used dark magic, yet she was devious enough to use poison as well. Quite a formidable expert, after all.

His misunderstanding of Sharti grew.

“I won’t apologize. You were the one who misunderstood and threatened me first.”

“…….”

As the swordsman’s eyes darted about, his large hat was suddenly swept off. The light blue hair that had been hidden beneath the hat fluttered in the wind.

His gaze shot at her, filled with distrust — as if to ask whether she was looking at his face because she intended to kill him soon.

Sharti swallowed a sigh.

Having perceived the source of his misunderstanding, she decided to correct it first.

“First of all, I’m not a dark mage. And I had no choice but to hide my face with a magic tool.”

Sharti glanced around, then pulled back her left sleeve.

There, from her wrist to her arm, burn scars appeared — grotesquely adhered and puckered.

Noticing the swordsman’s gaze waver for an instant, Sharti even discreetly lifted the hem of her skirt.

“…….”

The same burn scars were revealed on her right leg as well.

“These are the burn scars left on my body from the day I came to fear fire. If you wish, you’re welcome to check for yourself once the paralysis wears off.”

When the swordsman’s eyes moved toward her face, Sharti pressed the back of her hand against her own cheek.

Understanding what that meant, the swordsman felt a sense of shock wash over him.

To think such scars remained on her face as well.

Not missing the swordsman’s moment of hesitation, Sharti continued.

“And as for Ren leaping into the flames — I heard about that too. I didn’t control him, but whatever the reason, the cause of Ren doing something so reckless would lie with me.”

Along with her candid admission, Sharti took something out of her bag.

Just as the swordsman’s gaze sharpened — wondering if it was poison again — the bitter scent of herbs drifted on the breeze.

“Since Ren ended up injured regardless, I’m going to take responsibility.”

Sharti squeezed out a generous amount of ointment and applied it to the bruise on the swordsman’s swollen face.

“First, I’ll apply medicine to you, who got beaten by Ren because of such a misunderstanding, and then I’m going to treat Ren while giving him a thorough scolding.”

“……!”

“Saying he likes me, yet keeping his injuries a secret. I’m going to be furious with him for carrying on in a romance all by himself. Ah, I already let him have it. Anyway, I’ll get a promise out of him too.”

The meticulous touch carefully applying ointment to his face, combined with her flat tone of voice, left the swordsman’s thoughts in turmoil.

“So that he never acts recklessly on my account again.”

“……You’re going to give an, order?”

“No. A promise……. Hm?”

Taken aback by his clear pronunciation, Sharti moved to step back, but the swordsman grabbed her arm.

It was her right arm, not the left where she had shown the scars.

Whether he had a resistance to paralytic poison or not, he was already moving his stiffened muscles and rising to his feet.

“If you’re not a dark mage, it doesn’t make sense.”

“No…….”

Faced with the repeating cycle of suspicion, Sharti looked the swordsman squarely in the eye.

“You might not be able to understand. I’m not asking for understanding either. But I would have done the same.”

“The same?”

“If Ren has a painful memory that’s causing him suffering, I would throw myself to erase the memory tormenting him too. Because Ren is someone I care for.”

In that instant, a silver ring gleamed, and Sharti’s dark red eyes came into clear view.

The swordsman faltered at her gentle and upright gaze.

After looking at her for a long moment, the swordsman moved his lips.

“……It still seems like you’re using mind-controlling dark magic.”

“Pardon?”

As Sharti frowned at the unending suspicion, the swordsman rubbed his own chest.

“I find myself thinking I should try to trust, just a little. ……Even though I’ve verified it all.”

The teal eyes that had kept erupting in fury, grabbing him by the collar and throwing punches — that too he had confirmed. The fact that he didn’t recognize him. The strange behavior of still disliking the House of Gwendhill — all of it, he had verified.

If it wasn’t mind control, then what could it be.

How was he supposed to bring that changed ‘Leodelt Gwendhill’ back to Gwendhill?

Drip. Drip, drip……

Raindrops began to fall from the sky, and in an instant the rain started pouring down heavily.

Sharti, who had been staring blankly up at the sky, caught her breath.

“……Ren!”

She urgently tried to pull her arm free, but the swordsman before her was already running toward the inn.