Chapter 36
Northeast of the Empire, beyond Quaalid and farther east, stretches a vast grassland.
It takes days to cross even on horseback, yet no one has planted a flag here or claimed anything resembling ownership.
Because this was the land of monsters.
In the Akhraban language, it was called Aiyan; in the Imperial language, the Demon Grasslands.
**
Tarmin showed Lise due concern.
“Miss Lise, are you sure you'll be all right in just those clothes? It'll get cold at night.”
“I'm fine. My companions are in another carriage. We had too much luggage, so we split up.”
Would people really split up just because they had too much luggage?
He found it a little odd, but they would be parting ways in three days anyway, so there was no need to pry.
“I see. Still, you must be cold right now. Would you like a blanket or two?”
“Thank you, but I'm fine. I wouldn't want to disturb you two.”
“Well, all right then. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Yes.”
The carriage passed through the checkpoint and began to pick up speed again.
Soon the commotion died down, and apart from the rumble of the carriage, only quiet conversation filled the cargo bed.
Some people exchanged greetings and wished one another well on their journeys, while others settled into position and were already asleep.
Tarmin gazed out the window at the landscape, its horizon drifting by in a gentle sweep.
White clouds floated lazily overhead, letting him soak in the grassland's atmosphere.
He savored the warmth and softness of the blanket and Enya's body heat.
Enya had followed him just because he asked. To the Demon Grasslands.
To a place where walls and locked doors couldn't protect her.
From here on, Tarmin alone could protect Enya.
He held Enya tightly by the shoulder, as if someone might snatch her away, then leaned his head against the corner and slowly closed his eyes.
**
Enya couldn't move a muscle until Tarmin's arm went slack.
“Hah, hhaa.”
Only after he was fast asleep could she let out the breath she'd been holding and sit up, straightening her back.
His arm was still draped over her shoulder.
She looked at her friend, who'd fallen asleep exhausted after running around since dawn to arrange a caravan.
His hair, black as the sea at night, tickled her eyes.
She pulled the blanket back up over him so it wouldn't fall off.
Lise said with a gentle smile.
“Hehe, I'm jealous. I wish someone would hold me like that, too.”
“Then why don't you hug that man?”
Enya retorted without hesitation.
Her attitude was the exact opposite of how she'd acted around Tarmin.
Lise's eyes narrowed, but Enya looked back without a care.
After a moment, Lise spoke with a cool expression.
“You knew, didn't you, Sir Benoa?”
“Your movements are careless.”
“I've never felt my skills were lacking. Is that the Hero's eye for detail?”
“No, I was just testing you. So that man you rejected and sent flying is your ally, after all?”
Lise looked at the Hero for a moment, then sighed.
Her tense shoulders relaxed as she raised both hands, palms out.
It was a greeting, a gesture to show she was unarmed.
“I'm sorry I deceived you, Sir Benoa. I was planning to speak openly with you anyway.”
“You were planning to? After watching us with a smile?”
“Well, you two did stage an overnight escape worthy of lovers.”
“…W-What nonsense are you talking about?”
At the word lovers, her face turned bright red.
Lise had regained her easy smile at Enya's flustered reaction.
“Tarmin is, well, a friend. We're not at that point yet…”
“Is it fun?”
“What?”
“Being held by a man weaker than you.”
Enya's flushed face quickly cooled.
Narrowing her eyes, she glared at the vermilion-haired woman.
“Tarmin isn't weak.”
“Is he stronger than the Order of Knights?”
Enya had no choice but to fall silent.
She'd said it out of defiance, but she knew the truth all too well.
Enya herself was the one who hadn't told Tarmin.
Lise smiled triumphantly, placing a hand on her chest.
“Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Lise Brier, the First Knight of the Imperial Order and the one who breached the deepest part of the Trial of Lanchain. And you?”
“Enya.”
Despite Enya's curt reply, giving only her name, Lise smiled gently and continued.
“I'll respect your wishes and call you Enya rather than Benoa or Hero. I'll be direct. The Order of Knights will protect you.”
“Protect me?”
“Enya. You know how many dangers you're exposed to, don't you? The pilgrimage won't begin unless the Hero dies. There are many wicked people in the world who want you dead. Warlords, ambitious men, exiled nonhumans…”
“…”
“However, since you have rendered no small service to the Empire, the Order has come all the way to this distant northeastern land to protect you, a citizen of the Empire.”
Enya snorted.
She furrowed her brow and spoke sarcastically.
“Ha, that's hilarious. You dress it up nicely, but you're saying you want to decide when I die. I'm not interested.”
“Benoa—no, Enya. Even so, wouldn't it be better to put off death as long as possible? Come to Lanchain. More to the point, why are you heading for such a dangerous land in the first place? Akhraba is an enemy country.”
Enya gave a derisive snort and looked at Lise.
She intended to mock her as much as she could.
“This is comical. You know what? Because you showed up and made Tarmin anxious, we're actually getting farther away from Lanchain now, and—Eek!”
Her sentence ended in a shrill scream, and Lise looked at Enya in surprise.
Enya's eyes were wide.
Her face flushed and her lips pressed tight, she stared at Lise, then slowly lifted the blanket to peer underneath before hurriedly looking back up.
Lise seemed to think Enya had bitten her tongue when the carriage jolted.
She couldn't know, since Enya was covered from head to toe by the blanket.
“…Are you all right?”
“I-I'm fine.”
Enya answered in a trembling voice, then raised her head and shot Tarmin a glare.
Tarmin had his head buried in the corner of the carriage as if trying to sink into it, fast asleep.
She couldn't tell if he was really asleep or pretending.
Tarmin's hand had slipped off her shoulder and was gripping her breast.
**
Tarmin wandered through a dream when he felt something soft and squishy, and clamped down on it.
That softness filling his hand became a kind of buoy, lifting him up through his dream.
“Are you all right?”
“I-I'm fine.”
The sound of women's voices.
He felt the carriage shaking.
Slowly, he realized this wasn't the old bed in his cabin.
He was inside the sturdy caravan bound for Akhraba.
The hard thing supporting him was the wall of the carriage.
The warmth was the blanket pulled up to his chin.
Then what was the softness?
A chill ran down his spine.
Enya's shoulder, which he'd hugged before falling asleep.
Enya let out a small moan as he squeezed her breast.
“Ah…”
Oh no, he'd done it!
Tarmin screamed inwardly.
His body was frozen, as if he'd forgotten how to move his limbs.
He wanted to pull his arm away, but the distance from her breast to his shoulder seemed impossibly far.
Surely the movement would look incredibly awkward.
When he finally managed to move his hand, the soft, yielding breast moved with it.
Enya made a small sound.
“Hngh…”
The softness of her full breast nearly made him throw off the blanket.
He wanted nothing more than to keep his hand there forever, not pull it away.
Keeping his head fixed in the corner, he pretended to be asleep and watched Enya's reaction.
If she moved his arm away in annoyance, he could pretend the jostling had woken him.
Enya only moaned softly and showed no reaction at all to the hand groping her breast.
Lise's voice came.
“Enya, does that mean you left Quaalid because of us?”
He swallowed and moved his hand a little.
A soft, yielding sensation filled the space between his fingers, perceptible even through her clothes.
He felt his purpose shift a little.
“Ah, ngh… Yeah. For a while.”
“Then why not borrow a horse and return to Quaalid with us now? We're allies.”
Tarmin kept pretending to sleep, startled inwardly.
So Lise was the threat Enya had hidden from him—the one he couldn't stand against—and she was riding in the same carriage.
He shuddered at how doggedly she'd followed them despite their having set out that very morning.
“No. Tarmin has something he needs to do.”
“We'll accompany you until you've finished your business. How about you judge the Order's intentions after that?”
“You want to accompany us that badly?”
“Of course.”
"No matter what?"
"Yes."
Enya paused to catch her breath, then said,
“Fine. You won't back off even if I tell you to get lost. But I have a condition.”
Enya stated her condition, and Lise asked in bafflement,
“…What?”
His eyes were closed, so he couldn't see, but he was sure Enya was wearing a sly grin.
“I can't be the only one, ah, suffering like this.”
Could she mean his hand by suffering?
Tarmin's hand, which had been gently caressing her breast, twitched.
Unable to move even more now, he had to keep pretending to sleep without budging until they reached the caravaners' temporary lodgings.
*****