NOVEL NEXT The shell of Zakeloko had a visual stimulus that could easily induce a sense of repulsion at first glance.
Though its appearance resembled that of a scorpion, Zakeloko looked just like those thick brown six-legged insects that were common before Yona flew into this world, at least when it came to the shell.
The shell’s dark brown color, almost black, shone slickly, and upon touch, it felt smooth as if—
“Hey, it feels just like touching your head.”
Yona stroked Zakeloko’s shell, making a rustling sound, and teased Alex with a mischievous expression.
Alex, quietly observing Yona, suddenly yanked down the veil she was wearing on her head.
“Nope, not happening, really.”
“Hey, hey!”
In an instant, the veil covered her eyes.
Yona flailed around as Zakeloko moved at a pretty decent speed, causing her to lose her balance.
“Uh, uh— careful, careful now.”
Flailing around, Yona finally lost her balance and was about to fall over.
Alex unconsciously reached out his hand.
And where his hand landed—
Alex felt a heavy weight that was more than enough to fill his grasp, along with an incredibly soft squishiness.
“Oh my….”
With Amira’s soft gasp, it felt like time had stopped.
“…Uh, Yona…? A-are you okay…?”
Yona, stiffly straightened like a board, was now in a state of shock.
Alex pondered for a moment on how to react to Yona, but then tried to act as if nothing was wrong.
Yona still insisted she was a guy, so she probably wouldn’t react much.
After all, she hadn’t reacted at all after taking a shower or even when her back was showing, right?
In fact, even when he almost pounced on her while she was completely nude, she didn’t seem to care then either.
So, Alex thought, it should be fine—
But when Yona’s head awkwardly turned towards Alex, as if making a cracking sound, he felt like something had gone wrong.
His hand was still gripping Yona’s huge chest, and her face had turned a deep shade of red, glaring at him like a fire-breathing dragon.
“…Get your hand off.”
“W-wait a sec. You still need to sit properly…”
“I said get your hand off, you bald-headed idiot.”
Yona’s voice was cold.
Yet even in that moment, Alex’s hand didn’t leave Yona’s chest, and it wasn’t until Yona smacked his head that Alex finally pulled his hand away.
He pulled his hand away.
‘…Is he crazy, for real?’
Yona tried to ignore the lingering touch of Alex on her chest and grumbled internally.
No matter what, isn’t it too much to grab so tightly?
‘You didn’t want to touch it when I asked you to, you crazy idiot.’
It already felt like ages ago when Yona had boldly offered her chest to Alex right after they escaped that underground dungeon, but he had turned her down then.
‘What was he thinking…’
As she watched Alex rummaging through his backpack as if looking for something, Yona puffed out her cheeks.
She didn’t feel too good about it.
‘That guy, seriously…’
But considering he couldn’t take his hand off her chest, it seemed like he indeed had some desires.
And the way he was sneakily glancing at her chest now was really infuriating.
‘Is he even acting like a man or not…’
“Ah, got it.”
“What did you find, you idiot?”
Yona’s words were not very sweet.
Just seeing Alex’s foolish grin was enough to make her blood boil.
“Here, try this.”
What Alex was offering was a small container.
It was a cheap-looking wooden container, stained in a light brown typical of wood, and he cheerfully opened the lid.
“What is it?”
Inside the container was a dark brown fruit.
It looked like it had been dried, all wrinkled up, with a dent on top where the stem had been removed, about the size of a finger joint.
“It’s called a date palm. They say it’s delicious. I tried one, and it was tasty. You should try one too.”
“Date palm—”
While Yona was peering into the container, Amira popped up beside her.
Her pink hair swayed as she leaned in, and she licked her lips with sparkling eyes.
“Date palm— this is super famous— how did you get it—”
Her eyes were gleaming with greed.
She didn’t seem malicious, but her eagerness to eat the date palm was obvious.
“I bought it at that night market. Do you know about it, Princess Amira?”
Alex moved the container slightly away and asked.
If he didn’t, Amira would probably dive in and grab the container herself.
“Of course— it’s a fruit from the southern part of the Katus Empire— Oh my, I didn’t know they had this in Lukasia—”
As expected, Amira reached out her hand toward the container.
In contrast, Yona was completely preoccupied with gazing at the dried fruit, the date palm, rolling around inside.
“No way.”
Alex instinctively seized Amira’s wrist as it reached for the jar.
His hand overlapped with her healthy, brown-skinned wrist, and only then did Yona lift her head to glance back and forth at Alex and Amira.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. This can’t happen.”
Alex said firmly, shaking his head.
He pulled his hand away from the jar and, still holding Amira’s wrist, continued speaking.
“This was brought for our Saint. You can eat it after the Saint, and if she gives it to you afterward, that’s fine, but you cannot eat it first.”
“Oh myyy—”
Amira’s eyes widened, then curved like a crescent moon as she smiled.
As Alex released her wrist, Amira quickly pulled her hand back and looked back and forth at Yona and Alex.
“Oh my, oh my— to think there’s such a reliable knight like this— Saint, I envy you so much—”
Her red eyes sparkled as if stars had appeared in them.
With a small hissing sound and a flick of her forked tongue, Amira said in a voice dripping with honey.
“It’s really so enviable— Saint— how trustworthy must he be—”
“…Uh, yeah, um, right…?”
Yona lowered her gaze and accepted the jar that Alex offered.
She took out a date that rattled around in the container and popped it into her mouth.
It felt reminiscent of dried persimmon.
And a rush of heavenly sweetness followed.
It was delicious.
The sweetness that Yona sought after so often was in this date.
“Isn’t it tasty?”
“Uh, uh… it’s tasty…”
Unbeknownst to her, Yona’s eyes were wide in astonishment.
The overwhelming burst of sugary sweetness filled her mouth.
Her taste buds tingled with the storm of sweetness, and without realizing it, Yona finished one and reached for another.
Yona, who particularly loved sweet flavors.
Alex couldn’t possibly have missed that, so he had bought these sweet fruits while wandering through the night market with Kaiyak and James.
They were also ridiculously expensive; this small jar cost three silver coins.
Yet, it didn’t feel wasteful at all.
Seeing Yona enjoy the dates with such an ecstatic expression was worth more to Alex than three silver coins, or even three thousand gold coins—he wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Night.
The night of the plain wasn’t bad at all.
Sure, Yona could have slept right on the back of Zakeloko, but even Zakeloko needed a break.
They had covered quite a distance, moving much faster than a carriage.
“Doesn’t this remind you of the old days?”
Despite being winter, the night was warm like spring.
Yona lay in her sleeping bag, nodding at the whispers coming from Alex, who lay right next to her.
Since Rubina was taken away by the Alebians, lying here alone felt oddly empty.
The stars above were crystal clear, and the clouds floated by as if to block the moon.
“Thinking about the old days…”
Yona muttered.
Old days? It hadn’t even been a few months.
But why did it feel so distant?
When they lived as adventurers, this was just their daily life.
Plus, even returning to Evian, they often ended up staying in a shabby inn.
“Still miss that stew a bit. The stew they served at the inn, with hardly any veggies and loads of meat, was really the best.”
At Yona’s comment, Alex struggled to hold back a laugh.
What kind of innkeeper loads a stew with meat instead of veggies?
It was always Alex’s job to fish out the bell peppers and carrots from Yona’s stew.
And then he’d scoop the meat from his own bowl for Yona.
Apparently, Yona had no clue.
But that was fine.
She hadn’t asked to know, nor did Alex want to show off.
“When all this is over, are you going back to Evian to be an adventurer again?”
At Alex’s question, Yona fell silent.
“When all this is over—”
That resolve to burn down the Church of the Celestial God had faded quite a bit, and now she wasn’t even sure what the point was anymore.
Sure, she was still hunting the Duke.
And based on that strength, she had vowed to live peacefully without being threatened by anyone.
Once the Duke was taken care of, they’d probably go to some remote corner of the continent as Alex had said, just the two of them—
“Living together isn’t bad—”
“Wait a minute.”
Alex abruptly interrupted Yona, springing up from his sleeping bag.
His eyes were serious as he scanned the surroundings, searching for the hammer he had placed beside his head.
It wasn’t just Alex.
Kaiyak, James, and even Sekti from the other side jumped up, grasping their weapons with a fierce air about them.