With the sound of hooves and the swaying of carriages in the morning light, the group was on their way to Roa.
But the number of carriages had been reduced from four to three since last night's departure.
Given that there weren't many people, losing one carriage shouldn't have been an issue. With four people per carriage, everything would fit perfectly. That was exactly what Philip had suggested.
Yet, it became the fuse that ignited an argument between Rudy and Eris.
After a night of extreme events, emotions tend to spiral.
Whether it was the surge of adrenaline from the sudden assassination attempt, or the flood of dopamine after Allen returned safely carrying two heads—everyone's emotional state had been thrown into disarray, fluctuating wildly without grounding.
With reason loosened, arguments were bound to spark.
Eris insisted on riding with the catgirl, Ghyslaine, Sylphy, and Allen, claiming she needed to learn the art of catching arrows with her bare hands from her new teacher.
Rudy, on the other hand, demanded to ride with Sylphy, Allen, and Ghyslaine. His lingering bloodlust and unsettled emotions from killing someone still lingered, and he was fed up with always being left behind. He began arguing seriously with Eris—who in his eyes was still a "kid."
Things like how he was already forced off a carriage once the previous night, or how Eris should ride with her dad in the same carriage, or how there was no way she could learn Allen's Ryū techniques during a short ride—he laid them all out.
Granted, the catgirl had initially pushed Rudy into another carriage on Philip's orders to make the staged "kidnapping" go smoothly.
But now that the chance to reshuffle was here, Rudy saw it as a potential third time of being excluded.
Come on—he, Allen, Roxy, and Sylphy were the original adventurer group.
Who even are you, ojou-sama?
Thus—
Allen's carriage ended up packed with six people.
And, strangely enough… it actually felt "reasonable."
On one side sat Allen, Sylphy, and Rudy. Allen and Sylphy squeezed together, while Rudy glared across the carriage like a character from a magic anime, bickering with Eris.
On the opposite side were the catgirl, Ghyslaine, and Eris. Eris sat in Ghyslaine's lap, glaring down at Rudy while animatedly arguing.
Originally, Allen had planned to intervene. But he quickly discovered—he absolutely could not mediate between them.
The more he tried, the faster they escalated into full-blown conflict!
One was tugging on Sylphy's sleeve, the other yanking on Ghyslaine's arm.
They shoved their way into the carriage first!
Then they turned around and both stared at Allen—who stood outside the carriage, frozen mid-step, half-way through turning to head for the rear wagon.
Allen's instincts screamed: if I move now, I might die.
So he simply opened his arms and let both factions pull him into the carriage.
What else could he do?
He could only "share the blessings."
Now the current situation: Allen sat with a resigned expression, watching Rudy and Eris spit fire at each other, while Ghyslaine held Eris calmly, allowing the "wild dog" to project her passionate words from her diaphragm with great enthusiasm, clearly experienced at it.
Sylphy kept her head down. She had already dried her hair with a wind spell, and now stared at her lap, counting how many times her knees bumped together.
Still seated beside Allen.
After a night of cold rain, spring mornings were brisk. Her elven heritage left her with little subcutaneous fat.
Which meant she could clearly feel the warmth from Allen's knee brushing hers.
Unintentionally, her upper body remained rigid, maintaining a fist-sized gap between her and Allen.
Just then, Eris's loud voice rang out:
"Shut up! I want to learn right now!!"
Sylphy blinked, stopping her counting.
Eris's perpetually rising tone reminded her—this ojou-sama knew exactly what she wanted and wasn't afraid to express it or act on it.
That… was something Sylphy lacked.
And it didn't seem like anyone disliked Eris for it.
Yet, just as if to disprove her thought, Rudy's sarcastic voice cut through:
"Oh~? Learn how? Just talk about it and you'll learn? Ojou-sama?"
Sylphy froze, sneaking a glance at Rudy, then looked up at Allen's face beside her.
He was shaking his head with helpless amusement—there wasn't a trace of annoyance. In fact, his eyes held a hint of joy (clearly enjoying the drama).
Sylphy lowered her gaze again.
She came to a conclusion.
Allen didn't dislike this kind of behavior.
That was enough.
After only a moment's hesitation, she relaxed her entire body.
Not just her knees.
She let her whole body sway with the carriage's motion.
That way, her shoulder, thigh, and knee would all brush against Allen.
It felt warm.
It felt like she was expressing her own wants.
Well… maybe not expressing, but at least acknowledging them.
Right?
She remembered when she told Allen how much she missed her teacher—
He said:
In this world, distance between people can't be shortened by other means. Carriages are slow. Letters take forever. Once people part, it's hard to see each other again.
So treasure each moment.
Seize every "now" that you want to seize.
Now.
The carriage rattled on. Wind blew through the window, lifting her hair. Through the strands, she glimpsed Allen's hand beside her knee.
So close it nearly touched hers.
Just a stretch away.
Sylphy blinked.
And realized—why the earlier "farewell" had hurt her so much.
Of course she was worried about Allen's safety.
But more than that…
She hadn't had time to grasp the "now" she wanted.
The carriage rocked on.
To what extent?
Her hand, seemingly of its own will, drifted toward Allen's.
At the same time—
Rudy and Eris's argument reached its climax!! Both were shouting at full speed!!
"You're so arrogant! Ghyslaine said I have talent with the sword too! She said Allen's talented, so why can't I learn his sword style? Who are you to act so superior? And Allen hasn't said anything—his face clearly agrees with me!!"
Allen: ?? That's NOT what I was thinking!!
"He agrees? With that? He's clearly laughing at you!"
Allen: ?? Hey! Don't put words in my mouth!!
Just as Allen opened his mouth to defend himself—
Rudy shouted his final argument.
"You think you can learn a sword style just riding a carriage? You think Allen mastered his Ryū in a blink? Talent? You don't even know what talent is! Let me show you!"
Rudy shot up, grabbed Allen's hand, and yanked it up for everyone to see.
"You see this? These calluses? Talent is just a moment of inspiration—but to hold onto that inspiration, you need to work day and night! Without effort, how do you turn talent into reality?!"
Eris raised her eyebrows, turned to Ghyslaine.
She glanced at Allen's hand and nodded in agreement.
"Indeed."
Eris hopped down from Ghyslaine's lap, walked over in two steps.
"Let me see! Hm… yeah, very thick. Almost like Ghyslaine's hands."
"Right?"
"Yeah. I guess you're not completely useless!"
"…Huh?"
"Huh what? I'm complimenting you. Are you ungrateful?"
"Who compliments like that?!"
Sylphy, stunned, turned to look at Allen's face.
His expression twitched, but he didn't seem truly bothered.
Sylphy blinked.
"…Can I… can I see too?"
To Allen's surprise, she picked up his other hand and placed it on her lap, examining it closely.
While everyone gathered around Allen's hands, Rudy suddenly noticed something.
Why am I standing next to Eris admiring Allen's hands like we're best friends?
Then he noticed someone staring at him.
He turned.
Ghyslaine.
He blinked, scanned her… imposing figure, swallowed nervously, then carefully addressed her.
"You must be Ghyslaine-san, right? This is our first meeting. Uh—I'm Rudeus Greyrat."
Eris turned to look. Ghyslaine nodded.
"I know. Paul's son. Just call me Ghyslaine."
"Alright, Ghyslaine."
At that moment, Eris realized—she'd never formally introduced herself to Allen.
So she turned, crossed her arms, and declared loudly:
"I'm Eris Boreas Greyrat. I also allow you to call me just Eris!"
Allen looked at her tsundere face.
"Alright, Eris."
Eris nodded, satisfied.
"What's your name?"
"Allen."
"I know it's Allen. Just Allen? No surname?"
Rudy was about to keep chatting with Ghyslaine, but turned sharply at that. So did Sylphy and Ghyslaine.
Allen simply smiled.
"No surname. Commoners in Asura don't have surnames. Just given names."
"Oh, I see…"
Rudy and Sylphy exchanged glances. He turned back to Ghyslaine.
"I heard you were part of my father and mother's old adventuring party?"
"Yes."
"We left in a hurry, and my father didn't see you. But he told me to pass a message."
Rudy coughed.
"He said, Allen is his disciple. Please don't get any funny ideas. He's only loaning him to you for a couple of days."
The carriage went silent.
Then came the sound of a sword leaving its sheath. Allen and Rudy both froze.
Allen quickly kicked Rudy.
Rudy shouted:
"That was a joke! There's more!"
The sword was sheathed.
"Speak."
"He said—just kidding, you're probably drawing your sword right now. Allen is someone both I and Zenith treasure like family. Please teach him well. He has talent—not just in Suijin-ryū. Rudy too, please take care of him for us."
Allen's face froze, visibly moved.
Ghyslaine looked at him for a long moment. Then spoke up—but changed topics entirely.
"Speaking of Suijin-ryū, I know a prodigy."
Allen raised an eyebrow.
Ghyslaine continued.
"The main Suijin-ryū dojo has a young swordsman who reached Seikyū (Saint-class) at a young age and was granted an official title."
Allen blinked.
'The main dojo? That girl, Isolte? So she's Saint-class already. Makes sense. She really had talent.'
He nodded and was about to say something—
But Eris turned to him.
"Allen, what's a title?"
"Uh—you can think of it as a sword style's recognition of a swordsman's traits. Usually passed around informally. Only a few get them officially from the dojo."
"What's your title?"
"Uh… I don't have one. Cough."
Eris's eyes widened. She turned to Ghyslaine.
"What?! Is that person stronger than Allen?!"
Ghyslaine paused.
"Maybe."
"Hah?! What's that person's title? Name? Have them duel Allen! If Allen wins, they should hand over the title!"
Allen's face twitched at her angry face. He didn't know what to say to this ojou-sama.
Then Ghyslaine said calmly:
"Main Suijin-ryū dojo."
"Allen Boreas Greyrat."
"Title: Rock."
The carriage went dead silent. Sylphy and Rudy turned to stare at Allen.
Eris was completely confused.
"Boreas… Allen?"
Ghyslaine looked at her.
"Capital city's Boreas house. James's fourth son. Your… distant cousin."
Eris looked puzzled.
"Then why is he just 'Allen'..."
She turned to him.
Allen had already turned toward the window, resting his chin in his hand, looking bored outside.
Outside, in the early light—
The gates of Roa City were right before them.
His voice drifted back inside, light and calm.
"What a coincidence… same name."
"Guess I got lucky."
(End of Chapter)
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