“...Why?”

You called me over just to say that? Who the hell doesn’t know that?

“I’ll handle it myself.”

“Oh. Really?”

Luman thought Temar was perfectly suited to being the kind of leader who made hard decisions and dragged the team forward without hesitation, but there was no question the man’s communication skills were lacking.

If you’re going to handle it yourself, then why are you making your little brother scream himself hoarse?

Luman caught himself about to sneer and covered it with a laugh instead.

“Sure, sure. Brothers ought to handle their own business. I wasn’t planning to butt in and make things tiring, so relax, Temar. Still, I’m a little hurt. I gladly granted your request and brought Ren along, didn’t I? You’d have been there by now otherwise.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not that Ren threw a fit and insisted on coming. You’re the one who brought him, Temar.”

Luman couldn’t find a neat way to finish that, and while wondering why he was even saying any of this, he somehow forced out the rest. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Handle it yourselves.”

Hm. For someone as smooth-tongued as Luman, it was a pretty lousy line, but Temar’s face turned serious.

Honestly. Being so taciturn might be more of a flaw than I thought.

Looking at Ren sleeping there, face flushed red and breathing hard, Luman thought, This really is a pain in the ass.

Then he turned away and immediately forgot it, busy calculating what kind of suitable compensation he could squeeze out of Lady Coco Gannion over there.

***

Luman, Temar, and Dell took turns keeping watch through the night, and dawn came quickly.

The cold air of early morning slapped at their cheeks.

Two more days like this and they would reach a village. If they got some medicine there and let Ren rest...

Doing the math in his head, Luman frowned.

Even then, the capital was still a long way off.

Heroes had such exceptional physical ability that they hardly needed rest at all, so if they simply switched out tired horses, they could reach the capital in a matter of days. Unless they were in a special combat situation or marching with troops, there was no real reason to travel like this, camping along the way. For a moment, Luman had forgotten how laborious and irritating it was to travel like ordinary people.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t all that bad.

But it was also true that there was nothing in it for him.

Should I just leave? Delivering the letter and bringing him back was the whole job anyway. If not for Temar’s stubbornness, we’d already be in the capital, which means my mission is basically done already. And I only have to file my retirement report within the month, so couldn’t I just head off and take care of my own business now?

Watching those two stifling brothers together was enough to make him feel stifled too.

In every way, wasn’t that the better option?

“Ugh...”

Ren made a sick little sound and curled tighter into himself.

Was the reason Luman couldn’t quite make himself leave... Ren?

That pale face flushed red stirred up all kinds of strange feelings. Beautiful people were everywhere, but Ren had a kind of beauty that felt unusually striking.

With that nasty expression of his and those shabby clothes, this was still only the half of it. If he’d been in some small backwater town where people rarely saw a pretty face, someone might have kidnapped him already. Good thing he was a Hero’s brother.

Children got into trouble the second you took your eyes off them.

Hadn’t that happened just yesterday? Thinking of Ren absentmindedly stretching his hand toward the fire like he didn’t even know to fear it made Luman sigh.

“Mm... ngh...”

“...”

“His fever’s worse.”

If this man had taken proper care of him, I would’ve left without even looking back.

Judging by Temar’s behavior, if the two of them were left alone, Ren would definitely run off. How the hell was he supposed to have a conversation with a brick wall like that?

Luman pressed a hand to Ren’s forehead. It was worse than yesterday.

“Can’t even tell whether that medicine’s doing anything.”

“Luman.”

“All right, all right. But I’m not wrong, am I? He’s groaning even more.”

“What am I supposed to do if this is just how ordinary people’s stamina is?”

“Hm.”

Ren did seem especially frail, but maybe he only looked that way because of how he was built. Luman rarely spent time around people who weren’t Heroes, and even then, it was usually military men. How would he know what ordinary people’s stamina was supposed to be like?

Luman flicked a glance at the young lady.

That young lady looks perfectly fine.

Coco, for one, was already fully put together. Apparently she had a change of clothes, because instead of yesterday’s outfit, she was now wearing a more practical dress. The skirt was wide and the fabric light, enough that she looked like she could run in it if she had to.

And she’d taken off those jewel-studded shoes too.

On her feet now, instead of glittering jeweled slippers, were sturdy leather shoes.

Was that because of what Ren said?

Coco was glaring at Ren with open displeasure, but the moment her eyes met Luman’s, she whipped her head away. Her purple hair seemed to flare.

Watching her, Dell smiled.

“Milady, please bear with it a little longer. In just a few more days, we should reach the capital.”

“I said forget it. You don’t need to soothe me. Do you think I don’t know how far it is from this backwoods dump to the capital? If we still had the artifact, we could at least make it somewhere nearby. How exactly were you guarding it?”

“I’m sorry. I should have paid more attention. That was my fault.”

“Obviously!! I seriously don’t get it. It’s a road that should only take a few days... and it’s [N O V E L I G H T] strange that they chased us all the way out here. Where did Hugh go? He’s not dead, is he...”

The young lady stamped her foot as if her nerves were fraying.

Hugh? Another knight?

Because she wasn’t even trying to lower her voice, all of it carried clearly.

“Hugh will be fine. Please calm down, my lady.”

“Can’t we at least stop by the villa? It won’t be as good as the capital, but still...”

“We don’t know how much staff is left there. We might only end up stranded. The best option is still to keep heading for the capital like this... the roads are rough, so... you understand, don’t you?”

“At least let me borrow a crystal orb—”

“Heroes don’t share communication devices with others...”

The rest was too quiet to make out.

“Wake him.”

Apparently Temar’s earlier “He’s my brother” had had some effect, because instead of waking Ren himself, Luman called Temar over.

“Ren. Ren. You need to wake up.”

With reluctant hands, Temar shook Ren.

“Mmnn...”

Ren smacked his lips and curled tighter into a ball. He buried his face in Temar’s cloak and rubbed against it, huffing in its scent.

“...”

Temar’s hand, which had been trying to wake him, stopped.

“Let’s let him sleep a little longer.”

“...It’d be better to give him the medicine. Even if Ren’s sick, we still have to leave.”

“Maybe I should’ve brought a physician after all.”

Temar thought of the old apothecary who had exchanged such heartfelt goodbyes with Ren.

“Hm.”

He had unusual eyes. Not the kind of man you’d expect to find working as an apothecary in some tiny village. So why was he there? And why did that old apothecary feel unfamiliar to Temar? He knew of him, but he hadn’t realized he and Ren were that close. Temar looked down at Ren’s sleeping face.

Looking at him quietly now, something came back to him.

Before they left, hadn’t the old apothecary given Ren a bundle?

“Ah.”

“What?”

“There might be medicine in the baggage.”

“Then we should look for it right away.”

“Not in mine. In Ren’s.”

“Hmm? Ah...”

Luman must have remembered the old apothecary too, because he nodded.

“That’s possible. I’ll look for it. Stay with Ren.”

Luman rose without hesitation.

“Do errands earn compensation too?”

At Temar’s deadly serious question, Luman laughed in disbelief.

Like, what kind of joyless joke is that?

“Of course they do.”

Temar flicked a finger, and something came spinning through the air. Luman caught it lightly and frowned.

“How old is this bronze-gold coin?”

“About right, isn’t it?”

“Giving me a farewell gift early?”

“You could say that.”

Temar paused for a moment, then spoke again.

“You worked hard.”

“Well.”

A word spoken from such a heavy mouth could never be light. For a moment, the sincerity in Temar’s voice struck Luman speechless.

Luman tossed the coin pointlessly into the air, caught it, then tipped his head.

Comrades who had lived and faced death together. Because no one ever knew who would die first, there had been times they’d deliberately kept each other at arm’s length, cool and impersonal. But as those days piled up, some kind of affection had taken root anyway. Even without knowing everything about one another, there was a solid bond underfoot now, something like comradeship packed down hard.

The only shame was that he’d realized it only now, when it was time to part.

Still, better this than the alternative. When he died, hadn’t they all twisted in agony under the weight of that loss? Maybe that was around the time Temar had started to break too. No profit in thinking about it now. Luman shook the thought away.

Let’s just find the medicine.

“Looks like you really are retiring.”

Coco cut in out of nowhere.

“That’s Royal Coin No. 1 of the kingdom, isn’t it? Sell it and you could probably buy a small country, and supposedly it carries some trace of a dragon’s aura? They say it’s a symbol of good luck. Where did a Hero get something that valuable? Did the king give it to you?”

“You know your stuff, Lady Coco.”

“If there’s a noble who doesn’t know that, then they probably bought their title.”

“Hmph.” Coco sneered.

“Even His Majesty probably wouldn’t hand that out lightly.”

Her purple eyes turned to Temar. She looked so curious it seemed like she might seize him and demand an answer on the spot. Temar ignored the stare and shook Ren again.

“Ren. Wake up. You have to take your medicine.”

With evasive skills that bad... honestly. Tch.

Luman slipped the coin into his inner pocket with exaggerated care.

“My lady, prying into secrets can be dangerous, you know?”

“Like I care. It’s not as if I was curious!”

Coco spun on her heel and stomped toward her carriage, then abruptly turned back again.

“More importantly, why is he so damn sickly?”

“It’s his first time traveling... that’s probably why.”

Even to the young lady, he looks that frail?

“Then why is he still like that after taking medicine?”

“...Hm.”

Luman couldn’t answer that one either.

Because I’d like to know too.

“He’s sitting there half-dead and doing nothing but delaying our departure. He’s baggage, plain and simple! I was right.”

“Lady Coco.”

Coco scrunched up her face and let out a derisive snort.

Even so, she was pretty. The aristocratic line of her nose and those large, striking eyes looked like proof that she had never bowed herself before anyone in her life.

Luman was just about to tell her to stop talking about Ren like he was luggage when he noticed the faint concern mixed into her gaze and kept his mouth shut.

Bad at being honest. Just like Ren.

“If you called me, you could at least say what you want.”

“Forget it.”

The young lady walked off briskly and climbed into the carriage.

“Sir Luman.”

Dell, his face scrubbed clean of yesterday’s traces, greeted Luman with a pleasant smile.

“You’re leaving?”

“Yes. I really ought to be on my way. Thank you again for last night.”

“It was nothing.”

Luman modestly brushed off the thanks, while not at all refusing the compensation Dell had promised. Judging by the weight of the pouch, he’d stuffed quite a bit into it.

Luman opened it without hesitation and found it full of glittering gold coins.

“About that... I’m sorry to ask, but might I trouble you just once more?”

“Let’s hear it.”

With compensation this generous, he could at least listen. Luman nodded with a newly open mind—thanks entirely to the gold. Seeing his smile, Dell looked relieved and grabbed Luman’s hand.

“I’m not especially fond of men’s hands.”

“...Would you be willing to travel with us for just one or two more days?”

Even when Luman tried to pull away because it was uncomfortable, Dell’s grip was so strong it didn’t budge. Of course, if Luman used force, he could free himself instantly, but Dell’s wrist would probably go flying.

Was he trying to show just how desperate he was?

Tch.

“Let go of my hand first.”

“Ah! My apologies.”

Dell released him and smiled with his eyes creased apologetically.

Clear finger marks had been left on Luman’s hand.

Luman’s eyes sharpened, but Dell’s gentle smile swallowed up the look.

“I’ll be honest with you. Our situation is dangerous.”

“Dangerous? What exactly do you mean by that? Did you deceive us?”

Luman let anger into his voice.

In truth, he had already guessed who they were and the fact that assassins were involved, but he reacted as though he were hearing it for the first time.

“I’m sorry. I truly am sorry... I have no excuse.”

Dell bowed his head deeply.

“To protect my lady... I was afraid that if you knew we were in danger, you would cast us off....”

“So for your own sake, you knowingly put others in danger. How petty.”

“I’m sorry. Please, just one or two more days.”

“No.”

“Temar?”

The one who cut off Dell, who was practically begging now, was Temar.

He had given up trying to shake Ren awake from his half-asleep haze and had come all the way over until he stood right beside Dell and Luman.

He was big enough that, at this distance, his presence was deeply intimidating.

Even while staring Dell down with a gaze that felt like it could crush him, Temar’s voice was strangely gentle.

“I have a young brother with me. I can’t afford to take that risk.”

Temar was the immortal Hero, the beast of the battlefield, but there was all the difference in the world between carving through others to protect yourself and protecting someone else.

If Ren could protect himself, that would be one thing... but there was no way Ren, who had only ever lived in a little village, could defend himself against anyone.

And he was in this condition besides....

There was also no telling how long Luman would stay with them. Comradeship and goodwill were not the same thing. When the time came, Luman would surely leave this little traveling party without hesitation, unless Temar offered some major profit in return.

And with retirement right around the corner, there was no way Luman would be giving out that kind of kindness for free.

It was unfortunate, truly, but this time they would have to refuse.

“Also, a Hero cannot interfere in private matters while on assignment.”

That should have been the first thing I said. What am I doing? Am I being swayed by emotion? That’s unacceptable.

He was a Hero. He thought of his orders.

Return to the royal capital at once.

Temar pressed his lips into a hard line.

“Hero....”

The word jabbed straight into his chest.

Luman watched Temar with open interest, and surprisingly enough, Dell skillfully chose exactly the words that made Temar weakest.

“Hero... please help us. Is there no way?””

“...”