“Tell me more. So what happened?”
“What do you think happened? Our commander couldn’t hold it anymore. He exploded in anger.”
While the carriages were on the move during the morning and afternoon, they spent their time chatting on top of the carriages.
“Shall we rest here for a while?”
“Okay. The horses are exhausted too… and the place looks good too.”
Whenever they had to give the horses some rest or had to stop because it was the nightfall, there was one more thing Riley got to see. It was another good thing about having them tag along.
“Well then, Ms. Nainiae, shall we go stretch ourselves?”
“If you are fine with me, okay.”
While they were resting, while the campfire was going on, to make use of the free time, Nainiae and Nara decided to do sword practices together. It was Nara’s idea.
“You can’t use magic, okay?”
“I know.”
Tadak. Tadak. [Sound of the campfire wood cracking.]
With the campfire going on, Nainiae and Nara stood in front of the fire. They aimed their weapons, which were carved from woods, at each other.
“The time limit is three minutes. I’ll be the judge. The side that scores most hits or disables the opponent is the winner. Do you understand?”
Rorona, who was an archer with good eyes, took on the role of being the judge. After the countdown, Nara and Nainiae’s duel began.
‘As expected of Young Master Riley’s servant.’
Nara was exchanging blows with Nainiae. He spun his spear in circle and mumbled.
‘She’s not like the first time. Her skill improved substantially. It’s surprising.’
She was not using magic. However, Nainiae’s skill was significantly improved in comparison to their first duel. He was surprised.
‘I’m still better when it comes to techniques. Still, she is no pushover… She might surpass me eventually.’
Although it was a practice, a duel was a duel.
Nara decided he won’t go easy on her anymore. He sharpened his eyes in the middle of the duel and charged in to strike her in the gap in her defense.
“Kuk?!”
Nainiae cringed in light of Nara’s calculated attack. She lost her balance and tilted back.
“It seems like you are conscious about your right hand. In a real fight, if you mind things like that, you won’t last long, Ms. Nainiae.”
The duel was decided. Nara pulled away the tip of the wooden spear, which was aimed at Nainiae’s neck. He tapped the spear at his shoulder and then tilted his head side to side.
“Ms. Nainiae?”
“…”
This was her third practice duel.
Up to her second duel, she responded promptly to Nara’s advices. However, this time, for some reason unknown, she was just sitting there with a blank look in silence, frozen.
‘Is she upset about losing?’
Nara got closer to Nainiae. He furrowed his brows.
“Ms. Nainiae.”
“… Yes?”
Nara saw that Nainiae’s face was full of sweats. Nara was going to tap her shoulders, but he retrieved his hand and called Rorona.
“Rorona, could you bring some towels here!”
“Ah, yes!”
It seemed she noticed that something was not right. Rorona rushed to the carriage and brought a towel.
“Oh my… You are sweating a lot… Here. Please wipe it off with this.”
“Ah, Yes… thank y…”
Thump.
Nainiae held the towel that Rorona handed to her. However, because of her shaking hand, Nainiae ended up dropping it to the floor.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Embarrassed, Nainiae blushed. She carefully picked up the towel and used the part that didn’t get dirt on to wipe off her neck.
“Excuse me, Ms. Nainiae.”
“Yes?”
She responded promptly this time.
“By any chance… Is it because of what you told us before? Is that why your body’s condition is…”
Nara only knew that Nainiae’s lifespan was very limited. He didn’t know exactly how long it would last. He asked carefully.
“No, it is not really…”