Chapter 60
Three days later.
Around noon, the carriage stopped, and Tarmin climbed down briskly without delay.
He climbed out of the luggage compartment, stretched his stiff back, and set their bags on the ground.
Then he hurried his friend along, her face tired and worn from the journey.
“What are you doing? If you like the carriage so much, stay in it. I’m going home.”
Enya pursed her lips and got up.
She was about to jump down, but took Tarmin’s offered hand and stepped down lightly.
Having spent most of the eight days in the carriage, the two of them stood quietly for a moment, savoring the feel of their hometown beneath their feet without anyone having to tell them to.
Breathing in the clear winter air, they took in the tall buildings with roofs of every shape and color.
At last, the two of them had returned to their hometown, Quaalid.
Enya exhaled several times.
“Haa… It feels like it’s been months since I came back.”
“A lot’s happened.”
Tarmin adjusted the black bow slung over his shoulder and gave a wry smile.
“Yeah. Phew… Huh?”
Enya exhaled a long breath into the cold air, then suddenly felt dizzy and staggered.
Tarmin’s hand quickly caught her back.
“Ah, yeah. Thanks.”
Grateful for his concern, Enya tried to lean against him.
But Tarmin’s firm hand only supported her lower back; it didn’t pull her close.
When she looked at him quizzically, Tarmin was grinning.
Her heart gave a sudden thump.
Tarmin leaned in a little and whispered in her ear.
“Enya, did you want a hug? You can’t even stand on your own anymore.”
“…W-what are you talking about? Gross, get away!”
Enya’s face flushed bright red as she hurriedly spat out an insult.
She was burning with resentment toward her friend for shamelessly saying such things, and with embarrassment at realizing she’d leaned into his arms as if it were natural.
She slapped away Tarmin’s hand as it gently stroked her lower back and put some distance between them.
Riese and Ivar, carrying their luggage, came toward them.
“Enya, Tarmin. You both went through a lot. Are you heading home now?”
“No, not yet. We’ve been away for nearly ten days, so we should stop by a few places before heading home. Thank you both for all your help, too.”
Tarmin answered casually, and Riese smiled warmly in return.
Tarmin asked,
“Are you going back to Lanchain now?”
“I’m not sure. Things did happen, but… I suppose I should report it one way or another. We’ll come see you again soon. May Chaik’s blessing be with you.”
Riese and Ivar gave them a brief nod of farewell, then walked off down the streets of Quaalid.
Enya paid no attention to the knights leaving after making such an enigmatic remark.
Rubbing her ear, tickled by his breath, she glared resentfully at Tarmin’s back.
Enya had plenty she wanted to say in response to Tarmin’s ridiculous teasing.
Asking if she wanted a hug was completely unfair.
The reason she had unconsciously leaned against him out of habit was that she’d been conditioned by his repeated behavior over the past few days.
On the carriage ride back to Quaalid, Enya had been tormented by Tarmin the whole way.
**
He must have picked up some bad habits from the prince.
A few days earlier, at the prince’s hideout, Tarmin had stolen a kiss from her and left, then returned in the pale dawn light before sunrise.
His quiver was completely empty, and there was even a small cut on his face.
Enya asked in surprise,
“Tarmin, what happened? You’re hurt—mmph.”
But Tarmin didn’t even answer. With a satisfied smile, he grabbed her shoulders, pushed her down, and kissed her.
The moment their lips met, her strength drained away. He laid her down on the sofa and relentlessly took her tongue.
“Mmm, mm, chuup, p-haa… No, why, why?”
As Enya panted in confusion, Tarmin grinned, a string of saliva stretching from his lips, and said,
“Let’s go home, Enya.”
The prince hadn’t returned to the hideout even after sunrise, and that very day Tarmin found a caravan bound for Quaalid.
“Write me when you have a grandchild.”
“What? Father!?”
“He was joking.”
“I wasn’t joking. You unfilial brat. Write me before I come looking for you with a knife between my teeth.”
After a brief farewell to his father, they climbed into the carriage.
Under the knights’ somewhat more lax watch, they made their way back in a much smaller, cramped carriage than the one they’d taken there, jostling with strangers.
Objectively speaking, it was quite peaceful.
Apart from being a little cramped because they’d packed in too many passengers, unlike the trip there, there were no centaur attacks, nor did they have to hurry to avoid the monsters’ paths.
Realizing anew just how great a danger they’d faced, they rode in the carriage, gazing at the endless winter stretch of barren grassland.
But for Enya personally, the days had been very eventful.
On the first day of the return trip, Enya was sitting with her back against the wall of the narrow luggage compartment, which had no seats, when she felt an arm curl around her waist.
She narrowed her eyes and glared alternately at the offending hand and its owner.
She shouted in a low voice,
‘Get your filthy hand off me! People can see!’
Tarmin smiled quietly at her.
‘So what? We rode like this on the way here, too.’
He whispered that, then gave her a sly, knowing smile.
Before Enya could glare and whisper something back, Tarmin’s fingers clamped firmly around her waist.
“Hng!”
The sudden squeeze made her let out a strange little cry.
Enya hurriedly covered her mouth.
Feeling the sharp stares of several passengers, her face turned red in an instant.
Enya scrambled to bow and apologize to the passengers.
“Heh heh heh… Ow!”
Tarmin, who’d been quietly snickering, released the hand she’d bitten, but still didn’t let Enya go.
The more she looked at Tarmin, the more shameless he seemed.
After that, Enya wriggled this way and that, trying to escape, until she finally got tired and gave up, letting herself be held in his arms.
For nearly three days, Enya had no choice but to ride in the carriage while being persistently held like that.
So it was only natural that she would instinctively go limp when an arm wrapped around her waist, wasn’t it?
**
There were other brazen things Tarmin did that she was afraid to even talk about.
She could only pinch his wandering hands here and there and desperately defend herself.
But there was nothing she could do about him sneaking kisses while everyone was asleep.
Worried they’d end up making a scene in front of people, Enya eventually lifted Tarmin’s blanket again. And then.
She sighed.
Enya was flustered, unable to deal with Tarmin, who kept relentlessly pushing forward whenever he pleased.
It wasn’t as if Enya hadn’t done anything to tempt him into acting that way, either.
Was it all right for things to be like this?
It was a question Tarmin had once asked her.
Back then, she’d answered, Do whatever you want.
She’d subtly teased Tarmin, telling him to do as he pleased.
The feel of Tarmin.
Warm, reassuring, and pleasant,
“Enya.”
“Huh!? Yeah!?”
Pulled abruptly back to reality, Enya jumped and answered.
She put a hand over her pounding heart.
Tarmin looked at her with concern.
“What are you doing? Are you feeling sick?”
“N-no? I’m fine.”
Tarmin had been about to hand Enya the jar of tea leaves, but stopped and shook his head.
It was something the two of them had bought in Tarik as a travel gift for Sigona.
“I was going to ask you to take this over, but never mind. Come here. Let’s go together.”
Then he reached his other hand toward Enya.
Enya stepped sharply back, avoiding the hand that naturally reached for her waist.
She felt like she shouldn’t let him touch her right now.
It felt as if he were red-hot iron, as though she’d burn herself if she touched him.
Or perhaps she felt as if she’d fall into water too deep to stand in.
In any case, she needed to get away from Tarmin right now.
Waving her hand, she said,
“N-no! Taal, you said you were busy, right? I’ll say hello for you!”
“Hmm, can you manage?”
“What, do I not have hands or feet?”
“Really? You haven’t forgotten the way? Or how to walk?”
Instead of getting angry, Enya quickly snatched the jar of tea leaves from Tarmin’s hand.
“How many years do you think I’ve lived in this neighborhood?”
Tarmin chuckled and lifted his backpack.
“Right, you’ve lived here about as long as I have. Do me a favor. Let’s see, I have to meet the administrator today, too…”
Tarmin seemed to think it over, then raised his sleeve and sniffed it.
“Hmm, I guess I can go like this?”
Tarmin seemed concerned about the smell, then looked at Enya.
“Hey, Enya. Can I come over to your place tonight?”
Enya was so startled she nearly stopped breathing.
She froze, then took another step back.
She shook her head urgently.
“What? Why? Absolutely not!”
“I wanted to use your bathhouse… Huh? Why?”
“T-the bathhouse? N-no means no!”
“Then let me borrow that firestone for a bit, hey!”
Enya backed away several steps, then turned and ran off.
Tarmin scratched his chin and stared blankly after her, then muttered,
“Why’s she being so mean?”
**
Just off the main street running through the center of Quaalid, there was a tavern owned by a lycanthrope.
Enya opened the door and went in, where she was met by a waitress.
“Hello. Is Sigona inside?”
The short-haired waitress didn’t answer. She studied Enya for a moment, then disappeared farther into the hall.
While waiting for her to return, Enya greeted the man by the window.
“Renzo.”
“Oh, well, look who it is. Miss. Long time no see.”
The old mercenary answered casually. He looked a little tired, but was seated just as he had been eight days ago.
Smoke from the pipe he was smoking lay faintly over the room, mingling with the shimmer of heat from the brazier burning in the middle of the hall to create a rather cozy atmosphere.
In the tranquil air of everyday life, Enya let out a brief sigh of relief, then moved to sit across from him.
Right now, she desperately needed to relax somewhere without Tarmin.
Renzo tapped the ashes from his pipe onto the table and said,
“How was your honeymoon?”
Enya slid out of her chair before she could sit down properly.
*****