NOVEL NEXT “Hey, Yona. Where’s your husband today?”
“He told me to shut it, Kaiyak.”
Yona, sitting in the Adventurer’s Guild, bared her teeth and growled.
“Still as prickly as ever.”
Kaiyak ruffled Yona’s hair with his large hand.
“Don’t do that, you brat.”
Just the fact that Alex was running late was annoying enough, and with Kaiyak acting all cheeky, it was setting her off even more.
‘I’ve been hanging out with that guy for too long.’
Yona had registered at the Adventurer’s Guild on the same day and at the same time as Alex.
That created a bond, and since Yona was a Healer and Alex was a Vanguard, they were popular roles in parties.
Thanks to that, whenever they were together, it was pretty easy to find a party, so they effectively ended up adventuring together almost all the time.
‘I think I need to keep some distance now.’
With that thought, Yona finally jumped to her feet.
Might as well strike while the iron’s hot!
‘Hmph.’
Taking a big breath, Yona stormed over to Mary with gusto.
“So, is there anywhere good to go?”
“Oh my, aren’t you going with Alex?”
“Trying to keep some distance.”
Mary chuckled at Yona’s grumpy face.
Still, considering Alex was bald and had a shiny head, he wasn’t half bad looking, and among the rowdy adventurers, he was relatively decent and not overly brash.
If he was able to handle Yona’s rough demeanor, he seemed like a good match for her—
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Well, you look good together, so I was just wondering.”
“Mary.”
Before Mary could finish her sentence, Yona scrunched her face in a frightful way.
But Mary still had her sweet smile plastered on her face.
No matter how mad Yona got, she was especially weak against Mary.
And Mary knew that all too well.
“I’m just kidding! Anyway, if there’s anywhere you could go right now… um…”
A Copper-grade Healer.
There aren’t many healers of that grade in the Adventurer’s Guild right now.
While divine power is something you’re born with, a lot of it accumulates later on.
As a Healer gets more accustomed to using divine power efficiently, the value of the role increases with time.
However, the reason for the low numbers is that the death rate is way too high due to the nature of the job, which requires sticking close to Vanguards and other warriors in parties.
“I think that one over there might be good. It’s Carlson’s party.”
“Carlson?”
Yona turned to look where Mary pointed.
A man, carrying a wooden shield and sporting a longsword at his waist, was waving at her.
If it’s Carlson, he’s more of an Attacker and a Vanguard.
Yona quickly started to think.
Yona quickly started thinking.
She was definitely more mobile than Alex, but that was fine.
She also tended to get more minor injuries than Alex, but that was okay too.
However, being more of an attacker meant there might be bigger hits in store for her… That worried her a bit, but it probably wouldn’t be too much of an issue.
If anything was disappointing, it was definitely the stability.
Compared to Alex, her stability was clearly lower.
Yona shook her head to clear her thoughts.
But somehow—
“Hey, Yona. Are you joining our party today?”
That jerk is the problem.
Misquot, leaning his two-handed axe against the table, was grinning at Yona.
“What are you laughing at, you punk?”
“Come on, what’s wrong with laughing? It makes you look a bit narrow-minded, oh great man!”
“Ha, damn…”
Yona pushed her bangs back and grimaced.
That guy has a real talent for getting under people’s skin.
“What kind of party is this?”
Yona could ask Mary, but she approached the table where Carlson and Misquot were sitting and took a seat.
As she pulled out the chair, a cloud of dust puffed up.
“Clean yourselves up and wipe your gear, you guys. What’s with all this dust?”
As the sunlight poured in, the dust that floated up became painfully visible.
Yona waved her hand near her face, sending the dust flying.
“Oh, Irene is here too.”
“Hey, Yona.”
“I’m here too.”
“Hello, Viola.”
Fire mage Irene. She’s a bit better than Freaky, but her area control isn’t great, that human.
Fairy Archer Viola. At least she’s way better than Emerson.
“So, it’s just the four of us?”
“Yep. If you join, we’ll be a total of five. We’re heading northwest. There’s a forest above the catacomb, you know?”
The northwest forest was well known to her.
It was a place she frequented.
“What are we going to do there?”
“We need to reattach the protective vines of the Sacred Tree in the center. It’ll take about two nights and three days. What do you think?”
“Hmm.”
At Carlson’s words, Yona paused to think for a moment.
Since she had gotten the Sacred Barrier back, she needed some time to get used to it, and that wasn’t bad.
It wasn’t really difficult getting to the center of the northwest forest; it was just a long way.
“What’s the reward?”
“Overall, it’s 20 silver coins. Since there are five of us, we’ll start with three each, and distribute based on contributions.”
Yona nodded at Carlson’s distribution.
It was a reasonable proposal, and there was really no reason to refuse it.
“Alright, let’s go with that.”
Not bad at all.
*
Preparing for a two-night, three-day expedition didn’t involve much.
After packing her things, she agreed to meet at the western gate and headed back to the Dawn Star Inn.
I returned to the Starry Inn.
“Sleeping bag, comb, nun’s habit… and…”
I didn’t pack any toiletries.
In a venture like this, expecting to wash my face is just wishful thinking.
Even if I had them, I’d just roughly wipe my face and put them away, so toiletries would just be extra baggage.
“I’ll buy food on the way out.”
Nine fairy tales.
I stuffed them into the pocket of my nun’s habit and slung the backpack over my shoulder—this was my rough preparation.
– Ding…
“Hey, I’m back.”
Yona waved at Henson, the shopkeeper, as she walked into the general store.
When Henson asked what she came to buy, Yona slam-dropped the nine fairy tales onto the table.
“It’s a two-night, three-day trip.”
“Got it, I’ll pack medium supplies for you.”
“Okay.”
Henson silently turned around to rummage through the shelves.
He pulled out six small pouches, and finally, one large pouch into which he packed the small pouches.
And then he grabbed three water flasks.
This would be enough food and water for two nights and three days.
“Where are you headed?”
“To the northwest forest. I’m going to the Sacred Tree.”
“With Alex?”
I was utterly annoyed.
Why did everyone and their grandma keep asking if Yona was with Alex? I mean, it’s not like I didn’t get it, but it still irritated me.
“No. I’m going with Carlson.”
“Really? I thought for sure you were going with Alex.”
“No! Why am I always paired up with that guy?”
“They say the birth of the Adventurer Couple is quite the rumor.”
“Not true!”
Yona shouted back and stuffed the pouches into her backpack.
Just before stepping out of the general store, she turned back to Henson and raised her eyebrows.
“Don’t ever say that again. I’m really getting mad.”
Henson didn’t answer.
He just shrugged.
“Showed up fast.”
“What takes forever to pack? It’s not like it’s my first time.”
Only Carlson was at the west gate where we were supposed to meet.
It seemed like Misquot, Irene, and Viola hadn’t arrived yet.
“The others are taking their sweet time.”
“You’re just quicker.”
Carlson was sitting on a bench, polishing his sword.
He kept rubbing the sword’s surface with an oil-soaked cloth until it shined, then sanded it down, and repeated the process with an oiled cloth again.
Then he’d raise the sword to the sunlight, staring at it intently, and repeat the same thing.
“…Does that actually work?”
“What do you mean?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Sharpening it and greasing it up.”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Carlson chuckled.
Between his laughter, his yellowed teeth showed.
“You have to prepare it like this so it cuts smoothly when you swing it. Otherwise, if it gets caught on a bone while cutting…”
Swish.
Carlson raised his hand and pretended to slice his throat.
“Just get it sharpened at the weapons shop.”
“It’s expensive, you idiot. You only use the Sacred Barrier, so you don’t know how costly repairing gear can be.”
“Are you kidding me?”
Yona shut her mouth.
What’s the point of blabbering on about things she doesn’t know about? It’d just make her jaw ache.
In the meantime, Misquot, Irene, and Viola all gathered around.
“Okay, then let’s head out. We’ll be going on foot.”
Since walking is the basic mode of transportation.
As they headed towards the city gate, Carlson wrote his name in the entry log while Yona looked around Evian Square.
Amidst the laughter, black-haired, blonde-haired, blue-haired, and pink-haired kids were running around, each joyfully laughing—such a heartwarming sight in Evian.
They’d be back in two nights and three days, but Yona engraved the scene in her heart and turned away.
“Have you been to the Sacred Tree?”
“I’ve been there often. As you can see, my job requires it.”
“I suppose that makes sense.”
In their walking formation, Carlson led the way, followed by Yona and then Misquot. Those three were fixed in their positions.
Irene and Viola switched places back and forth, but due to the rear guard, Viola often found herself at the back.
It took quite a while to enter the forest.
The path was vague for carriages, and besides, carriages are expensive.
Even if there were carriages, it’s likely everyone would be walking due to the high cost.
“Did they say the protection around the Sacred Tree has been lifted again?”
“It seems so. Haven’t you heard anything?”
At Carlson’s words, Yona shrugged her shoulders.
As if she’d heard anything.
She wasn’t close enough to the priests at the cathedral to exchange such information.
Speaking of the cathedral made her think of that wretched little brat, Priest Vigrind.
Yona gritted her teeth.
“Do you think they’d actually tell us the reason for the request? They probably just paid for it and said, ‘Figure it out yourselves and come back.’”
“Wow, is that something a priest should say?”
“Misquot, you little brat. Are you trying to rub me the wrong way again?”
Yona glared at Misquot, who suddenly interjected, raising her fist.
Misquot flinched, pretending to be scared.
“Misquot, leave Yona alone. I’m sure he’s feeling lonely since he got separated from Alex.”
“Irene—!”
Yona’s shout rang out loudly.