As proof that a festival was being held in the village, the streets were loud and bustling.

Long strips of red cloth, yellow cloth, and green cloth were strung up between the shops around the square, announcing the festival. Lanterns were hanging in rows from every store, too.

By the time the carriage reached the entrance to the village, a fairly long line had already formed to get in. There wasn’t really any inspection, though, so as long as people waited their turn, they could enter the village. Ren’s eyes sparkled.

So much for saying he wasn’t interested!

Jepeto wanted to tease Ren, but he couldn’t predict how Ren would react if he did, so he decided to hold back.

“Well then, before we get down, should we change the bandages in the carriage?”

“Can’t we do it later?”

Ren, completely distracted by sightseeing, made no effort to hide how annoyed he was. When Jepeto firmly said no, he obediently held out his arm. His face was still turned toward the window.

“Ren. We have to take your shirt off to change the band—eek! Lord Temar, why are you l-looking at me like that?!”

Jepeto, who had been rummaging through his bag for medicine and fresh bandages, startled violently and shrank in on himself at the sight of Temar silently staring into the carriage through the window.

“Brother?”

But when Ren turned around toward the window on the opposite side where Temar stood, Temar had already straightened up. Ren looked at Temar, only his upper body visible, then turned back to Jepeto and asked in confusion,

“What’s wrong?”

“I have no idea either.......”

Answering in a near-whimper, Jepeto thought that at this rate he was going to die before his time. What the hell had he even done wrong to get glared at like that?! Ahh, Mother! he lamented inwardly, yet he still turned to Ren with a neat smile.

“Alright! Let’s hurry and treat that shoulder.”

“It doesn’t really hurt. Do I have to?”

Ren was starting to get seriously tired of treatment. As he slowly took off his upper clothes, a dissatisfied look crept onto his face without him realizing it. Once he stripped off his shirt, goosebumps prickled across the skin exposed to the cold air.

“No can do, Ren. If you leave it alone just because it doesn’t hurt, it’ll get worse.”

“Tch. Your hearing’s too good.”

When Luman butted in from the driver’s seat, Ren stuck out his lower lip.

Once the bandage came off, the bruise beneath it was revealed, blue-black and dark. It looked painful just to see, but Ren himself seemed to feel absolutely nothing about it. That only made Jepeto feel worse for no reason. The memory of the day Ren got that injury was still too vivid. The wound didn’t look like it had improved much, but remembering what Luman had said, Jepeto carefully applied the medicine and wrapped it back up with painstaking care—then suddenly unwound it again.

“Oops. Let me take a quick look at your chest too.”

“Fine... go ahead.”

“Ahem.”

At Luman’s pointed cough, Jepeto lifted his head for a moment.

“Lord Luman! What is it now?”

“If you’re going to rush, what’s the point? He’ll catch cold.”

“Ah! Right.”

Jepeto’s hands started moving twice as fast. The wound near Ren’s heart was healing well. The area around it was swollen and red, but perhaps because a high-ranking priest had treated it, it was definitely mending smoothly.

“It doesn’t hurt?”

“Other than stinging a little once in a while, I’m fine.”

“And no fever?”

“No.”

After examining the wound closely, Jepeto nodded and wrapped the bandages around him again. Then he placed a hand against Ren’s forehead and tilted his head.

“We’ll take the medicine after we eat in the village later!”

“Ugh.”

“Ren.”

“That was me saying, ‘Mm-hm!’ I said, ‘Mm-hm!’ Right, Jepeto?”

“Huh? Ah! /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Yes, he said, ‘Mm-hm.’ Ahaha!”

Ren and Jepeto laughed awkwardly and looked at Temar.

“Temar, stop hovering over your little brother and come pull this horse over here.”

“.......”

“We’re here, so you two get ready to get down. Jepeto, make sure Ren’s hood is on properly.”

“Yes, sir!”

“I can do it myself. What am I, a little kid?”

Muttering in embarrassment, Ren put back on the robe he had taken off earlier and pulled the hood low over his head.

The carriage began to slow little by little. People’s voices and figures drew closer. Unlike Tommy’s village, the people here all looked different from one another. You could definitely feel that this village was much bigger. Watching Ren practically glue himself to the window like he was going to fall out, Jepeto suddenly made a startled face.

“The bruise is coming back on your cheek.”

“......?”

“Ren. Let me see your face for a second.”

“Why?”

Ren pressed his lips together, clearly not in the mood. Even so, he didn’t reject Jepeto’s hand. In that moment, Jepeto felt an almost sharp little throb in his chest from emotion. This time, the comparison was actually fitting. The cat that usually did nothing but glare at him had finally let him pet it once. Jepeto felt like he now finally understood how his friend Menin back home must feel, taking care of that rude cat.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Ren asked sullenly.

“Ah. It’s nothing. Ahem. Let me just take a look at your face. Hm.......”

“Why? Is there something wrong with my face?”

“......The bruise is showing up again.”

“A bruise?”

“Yes. Hmm, does it hurt?”

“Well... it stings a little. Is it bad?”

“I should’ve kept applying the ointment. Let me put some on right now.”

He’d thought it was completely healed thanks to Luman’s power, but apparently not. Jepeto frowned without meaning to. It was the kind of injury that hurt just to look at. No, seriously, he’s so strong—couldn’t he have woken the kid a little more gently instead of messing up his face like that...? Shivering to himself, he carefully dabbed the ointment on.

Outside the carriage, people were murmuring.

“Ren. Do you want to stay in the carriage and look around? There’s a lot to see at the festival. Or if you want to get down and walk arou—”

Luman, who had temporarily stopped the carriage at the entrance to the village, turned around through the driver’s seat to look inside—and briefly lost his words. His eyes narrowed.

“I’m sure that’s not what’s happening, but you two aren’t kissing in there or anything, are you?”

Even as he said I’m sure not twice, Luman felt his grip tightening without meaning to. Damn it, it was an awkward angle from the driver’s seat. Ren’s round little head from behind and Jepeto’s face leaning diagonally toward him had just happened to line up perfectly. How much force would be appropriate if you wanted to hit an ordinary person?

Cold sweat ran down Jepeto’s back. He could feel the sharp stare burning into the back of his head and another gaze drilling into his forehead!

“N-no, absolutely not!”

Jepeto shouted at once. First of all, it felt like denying it was the only way to survive! If he got hit with that kind of strength, Jepeto was sure he wouldn’t even have bones left to pick up. I mean, surely a Hero wouldn’t hit someone—let alone a traveling companion, let alone the doctor—but still!

“Why?”

At Jepeto’s urgent shout, Ren whipped his head around. It seemed he hadn’t heard Luman’s low comment because he’d been too busy sneaking glances outside. The moment Luman’s eyes met his, Luman flinched.

“Your cheek.”

“Oh. He said the bruise came back. Jepeto, I want to see a mirror too.”

Holding out his hand with an irritated grumble, Ren spoke as though it were a hassle. Relieved that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, Jepeto quickly dug a mirror out of the luggage bag and handed it over.

Ren looked at his reflection in the mirror and let out a long, heavy sigh.

The bluish bruise blooming across his pale face had stained both cheeks like a flush! At this point, bruises like this weren’t even surprising anymore. Still, it was much better than before. Back then, it had been swollen so red and blue it was hard to look at with your eyes open, but now it was at least somewhat bearable.

“Luman!”

“What?”

Ren lifted his head sharply.

“What did you do that time?”

By that time, Ren must’ve meant the day after the snowy night. He was asking about the time Luman had grabbed his cheeks and, using a Hero’s authority, done something vaguely like “healing” for a little while.

“Well now. That’s a trade secret, so I can’t exactly tell you.”

“.......”

Ren narrowed his eyes, then whipped his head away again.

If he didn’t want to say, why not just say so? Why put it like that?

The one left feeling awkward after seeing the sulky look on Ren’s face was Jepeto. When Jepeto gave Luman an awkward little smile, Luman clicked his tongue.

“We’ll head to the inn first. We can put our things down and get off then.”

“Yes!”

At Luman’s words, Jepeto answered right away. Temar’s stare only lifted once the carriage started moving again.

“Um, are you mad because Lord Luman wouldn’t tell you?”

“.......”

Ren had been staring blankly out the window, but now his eyes alone slid toward Jepeto. After a moment of thought, Ren shook his head.

“It’s not that....”

“You’re not mad?”

Jepeto’s eyes widened, as if that answer had never even occurred to him. The corners of Ren’s eyes pulled up sharply, then eased back down again. Jepeto could see it clearly—the way Ren had almost exploded in irritation and held it back. Internally, he was astonished. He felt like he shouldn’t show it, so he barely held in the reaction. But he couldn’t help the brightness in his eyes. Had Ren... actually grown a little during this short trip?

After hesitating, Ren finally blurted it out.

“It’s just... the mood was kind of heavy back then, so.... I only wanted to say thank you.”

Even the trailing end of the sentence, shrinking away like an excuse, Jepeto somehow managed to catch.

“Oh! Well... honestly, I don’t like remembering that mood either. I was shocked when I saw it too, but I had no choice except to pretend I hadn’t. If that’s all it is, I can tell him right aw—”

“No! Don’t you dare!”

Ren shouted all at once. Jepeto, who had been rambling thoughtlessly, immediately shrank back. Only after he repeatedly said he understood did Ren calm down, and by then Ren’s cheeks had turned bright red.

“C-can I ask why you don’t want me to?”

“No. Don’t ask.”

“Understood....”

Pretending to look somewhere else, Jepeto kept sneaking glances at Ren. Ren hadn’t said so, but Jepeto guessed it was probably because he was embarrassed.

“Alright. Let’s get down.”

By now, Ren took Jepeto’s hand without hesitation as he got out. He still didn’t exactly like it, but he didn’t hate it enough to recoil from it either, so Ren was at least able to hide his expression well enough. For some reason, Luman watched Ren getting down from the carriage with a deeply satisfied look on his face.

The inn where they were staying had a sign hanging outside that read Black Flame Inn.

“‘Black Flame Inn.’”

Ren read the inn’s name out loud. Temar, Luman, and Jepeto all looked at him with some surprise.

“Come to think of it, Ren, you know how to read?”

“Are you making fun of me?”

Ren’s face darkened at once. Startled, Luman waved both hands exaggeratedly. Jepeto, who had been just about to clap along and heartily back him up with a “Exactly!” in response, hurriedly clapped that same hand over his own mouth instead.

“No, not like that. It’s just that if you grow up out in the country, you usually learn later. I didn’t learn until pretty late myself, so I was asking because I thought it was impressive.”

Luman blurted the words out in a rush, then gradually moderated his tone. By the time he added an easy smile at the end, Ren’s expression softened a little. Was that a topic he wasn’t supposed to ask about?

“Temar. When did Ren....”

Watching the mood, Luman swallowed the rest of the question. Somehow, it felt like this wasn’t the right time to ask. His instincts were telling him so.

“Let’s go inside.”

An employee led the carriage and horses away, and at Temar’s request, Luman and Jepeto stepped aside. Ren and Temar were left alone together for the first time in a while. Ren felt oddly happy about it, but awkwardness came over him first. After paying the innkeeper for the room and meals, Temar went up to the third floor of the inn and pulled out a chair with a backrest, then sat down on it. Ren sat on the bed and alternated glances between the noisy window and Temar sitting in the chair.

“Hot water delivery!”

“Thanks.”

Opening the room door, Temar accepted two containers of hot water and gave the boy a tip. The boy’s face lit up immediately.

“If you need anything, just call for me anytime! Thank you!”

The boy pattered cheerfully back downstairs.

“Ren.”

“What?”

Ren answered with his lower lip pushed out. Greedy Ren, who didn’t want to share even a single thing connected to his brother, unconsciously tried to glare after the boy’s retreating figure—then hurried to make his eyes look nice instead.

“Come sit over here.”

Temar pointed to the chair he had been sitting in.

“There?”

Though he looked puzzled, Ren obediently went over and sat in the chair, and Temar picked up the hot water container and basin and sat down on the floor beneath it.