I looked at Luman with narrowed eyes.

"You’re supposed to respect your elders if you want to get along with them. You don’t even know that??"

"What?"

Luman let out a laugh like air leaking out of him.

"Like Ren would ever do that."

"Hah. Like you know me that well...."

"Exactly. I don’t, which is why I’m asking."

"...What do you even want to know for?"

"Who knows. But at least it’ll make a boring night watch pass faster, won’t it?"

"......"

Once he put it that way, I didn’t really have anything to say.

Was I just reacting too sharply for no reason? Maybe Luman wouldn’t even care that much about what I said.

Thinking that made me feel a little easier. And... it also made my mouth start itching to talk.

"What do you want to know?"

I had a mountain of things I could say!

But I couldn’t just tell boring stories. So go ahead, Luman! What do you want to know?

When I blinked at him with sleepy eyes, Luman rubbed his chin.

"Nothing specific. Who you were close to, what the village was like, stuff like that. I guess I’m curious about the life of someone who’s stayed in one place for a long time."

Ahh. Well, Heroes were always wandering around. So was that why he was curious?

I scratched my cheek. I didn’t really have any nice or moving stories worth telling. And the one story I did have about the old apothecary... I couldn’t tell him that.

"I don’t have any heartwarming stories."

That was why I ended up sounding sullen.

The only remotely interesting thing that ever happened in that village was sneaking a puppy away when it was about to get thrown into a stew pot.

"I’m just curious about an ordinary life. I’m not that into heartwarming stories. Life isn’t really like that."

Luman sounded a little cynical.

Not into heartwarming stories... well, then I didn’t have to feel bad about not telling him about the old apothecary! But why did that still make me feel weirdly disappointed? Life isn’t really like that, my ass.

For some reason, I found myself staring blankly into Luman’s gold eyes, which somehow looked empty.

"What?"

"I was just looking. Um.... I wasn’t that close with the people in the village. Back when Brother used to give me a decent allowance, there were a lot of things in our house, you know?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Ugh. I’m so sleepy.... If I fall asleep right now, I feel like I’ll get indigestion. I forced my eyes wide open.

I couldn’t tell if Luman was actually listening or not. Firelight flickered over his face. Maybe that was why his features were tinged red, but even then, his face still looked cold.

"But, like.... every month this merchant would come by, and we’d buy a bunch of stuff from him.... then one by one, people would say their house didn’t have tea, or medicine, or blankets, and they’d take it...."

"What?"

Luman asked back like he genuinely didn’t understand. Right?? You don’t get it either, do you?

"They took it!"

"They took it?"

"Yeah. Saying they didn’t have any, saying they were short on things.... Hngh."

Didn’t see that, did you? I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth and kept talking.

"At first I figured one or two things, fine, whatever.... but every single person in the village took one or two things each... and then there was nothing left!! I had to go without a blanket until the merchant came back again, and do you know how freezing that was?!"

My teeth ground together.

"Hoo. Ancient history, though."

Did I get too worked up? Feeling awkward, I scrubbed at the back of my head, and then—huh? Luman’s eyes looked kind of... vicious.

"And you just let that happen? Gave it all away? Just because they asked?"

I frowned.

"Then what was I supposed to do!! Do you think I wanted to give it to them?! Brother’s always saying a Hero has to help people who are in need, so it’s not like I could go smearing mud all over his name! Of course I had to give it to them!"

"Sounds like robbery, plain and simple. Is that why Temar stopped giving you spending money?"

"Brother said the kingdom wasn’t giving him money."

"What?"

Luman looked like he’d just heard the dumbest thing in the world.

"He said money’s something you earn through hard work, and I waste too much of it.... I did buy several of the same thing, but that was only because the villagers kept asking for them...."

Mmm. Though I guess there were a few times I went a little wild spending it too.

The look in Luman’s eyes kept getting scarier.

"There was this miller’s son who always acted like a prick, and the baker’s son too...."

Why does my voice keep getting quieter?

"The one with wandering hands?"

"Huh? Yeah, that one. Anyway... he was being such an asshole that I took a ton of the money Brother gave me and, ahem, made a bit of a scene...."

"And after that Temar stopped giving you spending money? Told you the kingdom wasn’t paying him?"

"Yeees. But isn’t that too much?! Look at everything Brother’s done, and they’re not paying him!! I don’t care if I don’t get an allowance, but shouldn’t they at least be generous with a Hero’s compensation?! Brother still has scars on his back from the Seven-Year War—!"

I’d been rattling on nonstop, then snapped my mouth shut.

"Uh... sorry. I didn’t mean to start talking about the war."

"No. I should have a talk with Temar."

"About what??"

"......"

"...?"

Luman stared at me.

Why??

"Keep talking. This is interesting."

There was a gleam in Luman’s eyes.

"Interesting??"

His eyes looked murderous, though? Or maybe not? Luman’s mouth was smiling, and his voice was calm.

"Does it help keep you awake?"

When I asked that cautiously, Luman grinned.

"Awake? Heh. My mind is so clear it’s gone past clear and turned freezing. I’m wide awake now."

"Really? Well, if that’s the case...."

I was only half-conscious with sleep. Every time I started drifting off, Luman would wake me up, coax me, and ask another question. Can a person get drunk on sweetness too?? I think I spent the whole night babbling on about things that happened in the village, all because Luman kept luring me on.

The problem was, I barely remembered what I said!

The only things I really remembered were Luman’s reactions in between:

"Should I kill him?"

"Want me to break something??"

"Should I chop his hand off?"

"Should I rip his ass apart?"

"Should I pluck out every last hair on his head?"

It was all stuff like that.

No, seriously, what the hell did I even tell him??

***

"You awake?"

"Yeees...?"

"Here."

"...?"

"Your face is swollen. Put this on it."

"Uh... thanks?"

"Hahaha!"

What the hell. What’s with him?

When I woke up in the pale light before dawn, I was wrapped up tight in a blanket.

The campfire was blazing so hard it wasn’t just warm—it felt like my face was getting roasted.

The good thing was, maybe because I’d slept warm, I actually felt a little better! Way better than cold medicine, honestly. I blinked a few times, then pressed the waterskin Luman handed me against my cheek.

"Hngh. Cold."

Where’d he even get this from??

More importantly, why was he acting like that?

Every time our eyes met, Luman would curve his eyes and smile sweetly at me.... He was being so nice it was actually creepy. Did I say something stupid last night or what? Every single time our eyes met, I hurriedly looked away.

"Put the medicine on."

What was Lady Coco acting weird for now?

From the moment morning started, she’d been on my ass about putting medicine on.

Do you not remember we fought like dogs yesterday? Why are you acting so weirdly considerate!!

Trying to get away from them, I ran off in a hurry—and thud! I slammed into somebody.

"Ow... Brother."

What rang my skull like a bell was Brother’s broad chest muscles, hard as a wall! It hurt like I’d just run full-speed into a rock!! I was rubbing my forehead when I realized Brother was holding my shoulders steady.

I-I should say thank you, but.... I was too embarrassed to lift my head.

Ah. Aaaah! I should’ve made up with him yesterday! I should’ve talked things out with Brother before going to sleep!!

Now that it was morning, instead of things getting better, it was even more awkward! I hate being awkward with Brother!

"Uh...."

I forced myself to start speaking, but then Luman called out to him.

"Temar. I need to talk to you."

His voice was cool and low.

Just like that first day, when he came carrying that vicious letter to take Brother away! Luman looked past Brother at me standing behind him and smiled in that maddening circling way of his.

Brother let go of my shoulders and walked over to Luman.

"What the hell.... You don’t even want to talk to me?"

Staring blankly at his back, I felt tears sting my eyes.

"This is so annoying, seriously...."

I rubbed at my eyes hard.

If you keep ignoring me, then I’m going to ignore you too!

I’d probably last less than a minute, but still. Hmph.

Luman had taken Brother aside and was saying something to him, and Lady Coco was sitting there with a ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) sulky expression.

She’d changed clothes again today. That huge ribbon was... tacky! But Lady Coco was pretty enough that it somehow still suited her okay. When our eyes met, she glared at me, then beckoned with her hand.

"Come eat."

Sir Dell was just ladling the finished soup into bowls.

I went over there naturally enough, and Dell handed me one.

"......"

"Eat your own."

Wasn’t Brother eating? I was staring at the two of them talking when Lady Coco held out a bowl too.

"......"

"At this rate your eyeballs are gonna fall out."

Why are you picking at me first thing in the morning?!

I shot Lady Coco a glare, then drank some of the soup.

Mmm. It tasted good, but... every time I ate this soup, it made me sleepy and twisted up my stomach.

Was that just me?

"Aren’t you eating?"

"I don’t eat breakfast. It makes you fat."

"You can’t get fat?"

"Tch! It’s not like you’d understand even if I explained it."

"You’re looking down on me...."

I didn’t even have enough energy to get mad.

Twisting her long hair around her finger, she watched me picking at my food, then jutted out her lip.

"You got indigestion again?"

"Mind your own business."

Right. My stomach was starting to twist up again.

I could feel the color drain right out of my face. The moment I set my spoon down, I felt an annoyed gaze stick to me.

It usually wasn’t this bad.... I guess camping just really doesn’t agree with me.

I looked around carefully. Good, nobody was paying attention to me, so—

"Bathroom!" I bolted toward the bushes. I was in such a hurry I didn’t even hear someone calling after me. More importantly, my stomach just kept coming up and up....

"Bleeeugh."

Bracing myself against a tree trunk, I threw up violently. The smell of the vomit was disgusting, like something rotten.

"Wow, that color is seriously getting old."

In the dim light, the vomit was still green. Were those herbs really that strong? I’d thrown up blood before, but I couldn’t really remember ever just plain throwing up, so I wasn’t sure. Mmm.

I wiped my mouth and stepped back out, and Dell was standing there looking at me.

"Hk—!"

His gaze landed on the tree trunk behind me.

"You startled me. My apologies. The Hero was worried about you, so I came after you."

By reflex, I shifted to block the spot where I’d thrown up with my body. Did he see it?! I hope he didn’t. He couldn’t have. Right?

"I was literally right in front of you, what do you mean—"

Anyway, all he did was scare the hell out of me. I didn’t like him from the start!

Still grumbling, I asked if the Hero he was talking about meant my brother. At my question, Dell gave me an easy smile.

"Looks like the two of you are close."

"...Isn’t that obvious? My brother’s the best."

That three seconds of silence—okay, I can explain that! It was only awkward because Brother scolded me yesterday. What if Dell pressed me and asked if we were actually on bad terms? No, why would he even ask that?!

At how boldly I said it, he laughed and said it was nice to see.

"I was close with my younger sibling too."

Ugh. He’s not about to start talking about the sibling who went to war, is he? I don’t want to hear a sad story.

I got a little nervous. Dell’s gaze swept over me in a slow, easy way.

"I’m jealous. It’s nice, seeing such deep affection between siblings."

Dell said that with a grin. Unlike before, the grin made the scar running across his face stand out sharply. I froze, staring at him—and then Luman called my name loudly. I hurried over to him right away. What was that? My heart was pounding. Was it just because he was handsome??

***

"Should we start packing up and get moving?"

The blue light just before sunrise spread over all of us.

Maybe they’d finished talking, because Luman came back first. A yellow light was gathered at the tips of his fingers, but the moment I tried to get a better look, it vanished.

When was Brother coming back? I kept peering around behind Luman, and he went, "Hm?" and looked over his own shoulder. A little while later, Brother came back too. Where the hell had he gone in that short amount of time? Water was dripping from Temar’s face, and little pieces of ice were already clinging to his hair. He was just over there a second ago, wasn’t he?! When did he even wash up? He was going to catch a cold at that rate.

I wanted to say something to him.

"Brother...."

Brother climbed onto his horse without even looking at me.

Was he still mad?? Because I hadn’t apologized?

I stood there looking only at him, all restless and helpless, when a slender hand caught my wrist and gave it a sharp tug.