68 – Patience-8

I felt like I was going to go crazy at the regular sound of horses hooves.

The horses given by the emperor seemed to be of a fairly famous breed. It was because I was able to go on a road that could not be called clean, without disturbing the tempo even with five people in a heavy carriage.

The plains near the capital gradually came to an end, and little by little hills and mountains began to appear.

At least the road continued along the valley, but it was too greedy to expect the road to be smooth in this era. Apart from the regularity of the horses’ hooves, the carriage rocked up and down.

The silence, the rumbling of the carriages, and the piercing sound of hooves were enough to drive a man mad.

Nerwen climbed onto the carriage to scout the surroundings. Eleanor’s body was not yet fully healed, so Celia continued to cast healing spells while holding her.

Eleanor was always depressed, but Farseer and Celia sometimes laughed or joked. All, only where I am not.

It wasn’t bullying me. Rather, I was making them laugh.

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Just by making a gloomy expression, their expressions darkened together.

“How much is left?”

Still, it was a chore to sit around doing nothing and wait for the time to pass.

It seemed pointless to ask too many questions, but I wanted to ask at least once a day.

“There isn’t much left. Tomorrow at the earliest, or at least the day after tomorrow.”

Nerwen’s voice mingled with the sound of the wind.

“after…”

You have to get used to it.

The World Tree is just a place to listen to for clues.

There was no certainty that the information I wanted was there, and even if there was clear information, I had to go find the Phoenix again.

If the phoenix were on the other side of the continent, I would have to do this life by year.

You have to get used to it. I have to accept the daily life of not getting off this wagon.

I had no choice but to go back.

/////

Nerwen felt the scent approaching. I can feel the nostalgic forest and world tree.

However, for the first time in her life, she felt sorry for the scent.

It was because the smell of him wafting up from inside the carriage was slowly covering it up.

“Quit…”

Should I go back now? Although he felt regret, he did not seem to be able to fully control himself in the carriage.

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Just being right next to him and inhaling his scent gives me an incomprehensible sensation. An irresistible urge to continue seeing her overtakes her.

It wasn’t because of the cold atmosphere that I got on top of the carriage. If I kept smelling it, I thought I would approach him, so I forced myself to distance myself.

After asking a brief question, ‘How long?’, he fell silent again. Unknowingly, Nerwen was expecting him to talk to her again.

can not understand. It shouldn’t be like this.

She, a champion of the World Tree and noble since birth, should not have such feelings towards humans.

I didn’t neglect reconnaissance. There were only a handful of arrows imbued with spirit that allowed her to unleash her real power, but she had enough miscellaneous human arrows that money could buy.

For hunting wolves and wild dogs wandering around, this was enough.

“why…”

It was regrettable. It was she, and no one else, who despised him.

In my own way, I endured enough.

It was inevitable that even the strongest warriors could not avoid the battle eating away their spirit. There were people who enjoyed the battle itself, like berserkers, but it was difficult for them to become strong beyond a certain level.

It was the same with Eleanor, Farseer and Celia, as well as her.

The battlefield was painful every day. If he had been delayed by a second or even half that time, he imagined that he might have died.

It was an extreme situation in which her colleague might die if her arrow was delayed even a little, or if her hand trembled even slightly and the arrow went to the wrong place.

Naturally, power goes into your hands, and you hate things that are not controlled.

The reason why the warrior party members were able to endure it was not because it was not difficult, but because they had the mental strength to endure it.

Or, because there is a scapegoat to vent out that anger and lamentation.

The fact that there is a comrade who does not fight alone behind a life-and-death fight and only runs away is a very reasonable basis for venting anger.

Why couldn’t he avoid the monster’s attack at that time, why did he fall too far back and cause the warrior party members to pay attention, or lean forward too much and become an obstacle to their arrows and magic?

Nerwen has always lived a respectable life. They were a little less noble than the elven elders, but that was because of their wisdom and experience.

She was chosen to be raised as a warrior by raising the World Tree with a purpose.

Now that the Elf Queen is alive and well, there are no elves of a nobler lineage than her, at least among younger elves.

Naturally and deservedly, there were always those who supported her.

Inside the World Tree, there were people who envied her and respected her nobility. The humans outside the World Tree were so ignorant and lowly that they didn’t even want to be respected.

However, it was different at the warrior party.

No matter how much they despised the lowliness of humans, they were not the ones who could be looked down upon one by one.

Eleanor, who was born with royal blood and was even a warrior, as well as the saintess chosen by God and Farseer, who realized a life on the verge of eternal life with her skills and tenacity.

It is difficult to say that they are lowly, even with empty words. It is difficult to say with confidence that Nerwen is superior to her.

In her life, where it was natural to be admired and respected and treated for her bloodline, and to despise others equally when not treated, Ennelel received her suppressed contempt and loathing alone.

that’s like this

If he had been kind to him a little more, if he had treated him as if nothing had happened while Eleanor and Farseer were harassing him.

Perhaps, he would allow me to sit next to him without showing any displeasure.

“…It’s pointless.”

It was true that his smell stirred her, only that the meaning had changed greatly now. It’s just that I was blinded by contempt for him at the time, so I didn’t think to find out the cause.

The journey of the warrior party was breathtaking. Eleanor’s demands were extreme, and Farseer devised an extreme plan to match.

If he hadn’t silently accepted that contempt and hatred, if there had been a bit of regret and frustration mixed in her hands, she might have been buried under the ground instead of on top of the carriage.

“Still, I could have been a little more patient…”

The more she thought about the past, the more meaningless assumptions ran through her head. What cut it off was a line of wagons stopped in front of the road in the distance.

She watched them silently, holding her bow.

/////

“I think it’s better to stop for a moment.”

A woman’s voice was heard outside the carriage.

I could think of nothing but robbers to stop the wagons passing by in broad daylight, but in that case Nerwen or Ceres would have sent a warning long ago.

When I got dressed and went outside, a young woman was waiting for me.

To be considered a merchant, he was too imbued with the dignity of an aristocrat, and for a noble, his clothes looked frugal and easy-going.

“What’s up?”

“It’s dangerous to go into that valley.”

“Are there bandits?”

It was a narrow valley. Still, it was big enough for a few wagons to pass together, but if they were determined and held back, an ordinary merchant would not be able to resist when a bandit swooped in from above.

“Recently, a noble who was managing this place got caught up in a political strife… I’m not sure, but it’s not being managed.”

Behind her was not just a wagon, but several soldiers on horseback.

“That’s sad.”

“I hate to say this, but most of the nobles in the capital are swindlers and robbers without swords.”

He looked young, but there was a sense of composure in his voice.

“When we start working on something, we see the damage elsewhere. How much did we lose because of this…”

This information, too, is information that you do not need to tell me. Whether seen as an aristocrat or a merchant, he seemed to value human life rather than arrogance or greed.

“Anyway, I have no intention of forcibly stopping it. Still, it’s better to go safely if possible, right?”

“Thanks for the warning. We’ll set off right away.”

“Did you hear me? A wagon-sized soldier would be a big problem!”

“I heard. But we will be able to break through.”

Looking around, my thoughts were focused on the merchant.

It was common for nobles to travel with armies, but the wagon trains seemed to have more well-wrapped boxes than people, troops, and luxuries.

It didn’t mean much to me, but I was grateful for the kindness itself.

Merchants had a more efficient option.

“There were also rumors that bandits were gathering around here. If that’s true, at least until the regular army has taken over there…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Her pride hurt by my refusal, she turned her head away and went back into her carriage.

The carriage we rode left behind the procession and set off with the sound of horses’ hooves.