NOVEL NEXT Thanks to the early notice, as they returned to Evian, they were greeted by the somewhat amusing sight of Lord Carteyn and even Bishop Poby waiting at the city entrance all together.
The hero Ludvik was part of the scene, especially with the incredible news of a Saint being born after hundreds of years.
Moreover, the astonishing news that Priest Vigrind had become a Saint in the Evian Diocese!
Just like that, Evian has become a diocese that produced a Saint in the blink of an eye.
Of course, it was news that Lord Carteyn and Bishop Poby couldn’t just ignore.
But that’s their concern, and adventurers really couldn’t care less.
Whether the Demon King appeared or not, that’s a job for the Hero and the Saint; Yona and Alex truly had nothing to do with it.
“Hey, let’s go grab some food.”
“Don’t call me ‘Hey,’ I push this myself, seriously.”
“Oh come on, yeah yeah.”
Now that they had entered the village, Yona placed her hand on Alex’s head without a worry.
Stroking Alex’s sleek, smooth head always brought her a sense of calm.
That’s why it felt comfortable to hang out with Alex; it just felt right.
“Mary, could you please do me a favor and collect our pay?”
Mary, who was super busy tidying up, rolled her eyes as soon as she heard Yona’s request.
She was swamped with chores, and now Yona wanted her to collect payment too? Even though Mary was close to Yona, that seemed a bit too much to ask.
“Where are you off to this time?”
“We need to eat, don’t we? I’m not asking for it for free, you know?”
Yona pulled out a coin from her pocket and flicked it over to Mary.
As Mary caught the spinning coin with a snap, she looked ahead and noticed Yona and Alex had already vanished.
“They’re fast when it counts…”
Mary sighed and opened her hand.
There was a single silver coin in her grasp.
*
“I honestly thought you were done for.”
As Yona walked alongside Alex, she trembled a bit.
Seriously, she thought Alex was going to drop dead.
His face was pale as a ghost, no color in sight, and he could barely speak, shaking like a leaf—he looked just about ready to kick the bucket.
Adventurers were especially close to death.
No matter how strong or experienced you were, a stray arrow or a wild sword could end your life in an instant.
If you were a robust gold rank, you might get away with it, but silver or lower—one stab and it’s game over.
So she had seen plenty of adventurers bite the dust.
Moreover, most of her peers from the Cathedral education—
“What’s with that face again, you brat? I’m not dying. Who’s going to hang out with you if I kick the bucket?”
And there he goes again, digging his own grave.
He’s creeping in.
Alex reached out and tousled Yona’s hair.
The still stiff strands crackled every time he moved his hand.
“Hey, look at this guy? You think there’s not a ton of folks itching to hang out with me when you’re not around?”
“Sure, there are plenty. But where are you gonna find a guard who clicks with you as much as I do?”
“What—”
Well, that’s… but Yona didn’t dare say that part out loud.
He probably knows it without me saying.
Yet Yona couldn’t help but think of Ludvik.
“…I can’t believe that guy was actually a hero.”
“Lud? Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
As they walked, they soon arrived at the Moonlight Inn.
Pushing through the always-open wooden door of the inn, Yona glanced around.
The eternal stew still boasted its horrid smell.
Adventurers huddled over bowls, noses buried deep as they scarfed the slop.
In front of Yona and Alex, bowls of stew were quietly set down on the empty table.
Since there wasn’t anything else on the menu, they might as well eat this—but on a day like today, maybe they could ask for a little extra.
“Bring us two barley breads.”
“Looks like someone’s made some cash,” the innkeeper remarked.
“I did. And throw in a beer each.”
“Alright, got it.”
The innkeeper responded surprisingly loudly before retreating back to the kitchen.
Steam billowed from the stew.
Beans, chunks of pork, mysterious fish, and vegetable chunks were all mixed together, simmered into a gloppy stew.
It looked unappetizing and tasted pretty bland too.
But if you just kept eating, it turned out to be tolerable.
At least it was better than the expedition food outside.
Yona picked up a wooden spoon and slurped the stew broth.
“Ugh.”
This time, it was a bit on the salty side.
The stew must’ve come out just as the broth was thickening before adding more liquid.
Yeah, it’s not bad like this.
The warm sensation spreading through her belly felt surprisingly nice.
“Hey, this stew isn’t half bad.”
Alex seemed to think so too.
“Right? It’s totally edible. The broth is thick, and there’s definitely more meat in here than elsewhere.”
Yona giggled as she ladled the stew.
With each slurp of the gloppy red broth, surprisingly, it packed a flavor punch.
When she first came in, she thought it was some food waste—
Though, maybe Yona’s taste buds have just lowered their standards.
“So, what are we going to do now?”
Alex asked as he tore apart the rye bread in front of him and stuffed it into his mouth.
“Well…”
Yona replied nonchalantly, pushing a cup filled with water towards Alex. Without needing any further explanation, Yona knew exactly what Alex was asking.
“We should be leaving soon. We killed the demon, so it should be quiet for a while, right?”
“Isn’t there a decent party to loot over there?”
As soon as Alex grabbed his beer mug, Yona quickly raised her own and clinked it against his in a toast. It wasn’t glass, so it wasn’t really a ‘clink’, just a dull thud sound.
“Well, I have a feeling that looting there won’t yield anything good.”
“Really? In that case…”
Alex nodded readily, picking up a water bottle to refill Yona’s now-empty cup and his own.
“I want to leave tomorrow, but…”
Yona mumbled. However, they had guests to meet, so leaving hastily didn’t sit right with her.
“Why?”
When Alex asked, Yona answered him.
“Let’s just eat in my room.”
*
“What kind of girl are you, not hesitating to bring a guy into your room?”
At Alex’s remark, Yona scowled and kicked his shin. Though it made a loud noise, it didn’t hurt much since he was fully armored, and he just chuckled.
“Then get out, you brat.”
“I’m just joking. But seriously, why?”
As Alex set down the food bowls on the table in Yona’s room, he asked. The table was small, and there was only one chair, so Alex sat on it while Yona perched on the bed.
“I went to see the Alebians.”
“Ugh.”
Alex frowned. Just hearing the name of that peculiar fairy with her crazy eyes was off-putting. Seeing Yona’s sparkling eyes made him think he might want to add Alebians as a rival, but really, did he want to go that far? Regardless, she was a fairy he felt uneasy about.
“Why would you go to that strange fairy?”
Yona slurped a spoonful of stew broth. Since she had nearly finished, the wooden spoon scraped against the bottom of the bowl, prompting Alex to scoop some of his stew into her bowl without saying a word.
“Well, with my arm like this, I thought maybe she would know something.”
While casually eating the stew Alex served her, Yona subtly lifted her elbow.
“She said she doesn’t know anything. Apparently, she can find out, but she promised to come here if she does. So I guess I’ll just hang around for a few days, ask Alebians, and then we can head out.”
“He said he’d come here. So let’s just chill for a few days and when the Alebians show up, we’ll ask them and then we’ll be off.”
Yona put down her wooden spoon and took a sip of water.
“Speaking of which, now that I’m back in the room, should I take another look?”
Sliding the clip off her shoulder, Yona began to unravel the Sacred Barrier.
Every time she did, Alex struggled to keep his gaze from wandering toward Yona’s exposed underarms.
He picked up the end of the Sacred Barrier that had slid down onto the Table and started to roll it back up.
As the Sacred Barrier gradually unwound, black tattoos began to reveal themselves, starting from Yona’s shoulders.
Up her upper arm, past her elbow, down her forearm.
And then to her wrist.
“…Huh?”
Yona uttered in a dazed voice.
“Hey, what’s this…?”
Alex also spoke in a similarly dazed manner.
The dark letters that had previously only reached her wrist were now densely packed all the way to Yona’s hands.
“Why has it spread…?”
Yona raised her hand to show everyone.
The backs of her hands, her palms, her fingers.
The letters were so densely packed that not a trace of her white skin was visible.
“W-What is this…”
*
“What do you mean by that, Hero?”
Poby barely managed to keep a straight face.
He almost frowned, but somehow managed to pull it together. Truly, experience was impressive.
“Just as it sounds, Bishop.”
Ludvik—or Rude—chuckled while sitting in his chair.
“As if it barely makes sense, right? Why is this even happening?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m the center of our party, the Hero Ludvik. Isn’t that right?”
Since that was technically true, now that she was a Saint, Priest Vigrind nodded along.
But not understanding the situation was unavoidable.
“It was just a report that said we were chosen as the Hero and the Saint. And then discussions about the Hero’s departure followed. Why are you so surprised?”
Rude wore a look that said he couldn’t understand what was so shocking. He glanced around at the Saint Vigrind, Bishop Poby, and Sister Aege seated around him.
In the meantime, Aege didn’t really look surprised at all.
“Is it really such a surprise that we’d bring Yona, that healer, along as a member of the Hero’s party?”
“…It definitely is surprising. How could it not be?”
“Is it?”
Rude interlocked his fingers and reclined comfortably in his chair.
His face still wore that cheerful smile.
“Regardless, I’m planning on it. Yona, that healer, will definitely be a help.”