A Wish to Grab Happiness

Volume 10, Chapter 237: A Peculiar Shadow

My left shoulder cut by the old man was exposed, and I carefully touched it with my fingers.

The moment I touched the wound, I felt a slight numbness and heat throughout my body. That was all I could feel with my fingertips. I didn’t feel pain and my senses were wobbly.

A breath of cold air echoed in the tent. However, I was the only one who felt it.

Richard Permilis, my former teacher, tried to tear the flesh of my shoulder apart by cutting off my bones. My body must have been shocked to the point of almost losing my soul.

So, what about this situation? What was on my left shoulder was not a deep laceration, but only a scar where meat was buried and blood was solidified. Only black blood told me that the wound was brand new.

In the tent, I gritted my teeth while sitting on a chair. My fingertips were desperately looking for a tobacco that should have been stuck in inside my chest pockets.

What was this?

I didn’t see such a thing even during my past journey, which was full of peculiarities, magic and irregularities. It was different from the healing with magical power, and it was also different from the blessing of the spirits. Meat and flesh were biting together, as if the body itself had begun to join and heal on its own.

It was no longer a mere story where my body was strong and my wounds healed quickly. It was not something that simple. It was like watching that monster made from a lump of meat and its regeneration, as seen in the mercenary city of Belfein. A scary emotion ran through my lungs.

I put the chewing tobacco in my lips and turned my face up. Only the dingy cloth of the tent came into my sight.

What was happening to me? Random thoughts drew a circle in my brain for several times.

「I’m coming in, or do you refuse to see me? 」

I just kept thinking endlessly, and when my brain was about to become feverish, a voice pierced through the tent. It was easy to know whom that voice belonged to, without looked at the person directly. After all, there were not many people who spoke in such a magnificent tone. In particular, there was only one person that I knew of.

I immediately hid the wound on my shoulder with my clothes and shook my lips without looking at her face.

「Hey, hey, how can you say such a scary thing? The tip of your sword will stick to my neck if I refused your presence right now.」

With a dry smile on my cheeks, I said those words to make fun of her. When I turned my face back to her, the beautiful silver threads of hair that swayed in the air was reflected in my view.

The longsword did not match the height of her waist, and I was sure that her sharp silver eyes scared all the people who faced her directly. As I imagined, the person who stood at the entrance of the tent was Caria Burdnick.

Caria sharpened her lips to say that she was dissatisfied. I didn’t remember saying anything wrong. It seemed that my response was unacceptable for Caria.

「I never thought that you’d see me as a kind of beast or something.」

Was she really that different? Oh no, I wondered if I hurt her pride by comparing her to a fierce beast. And here I thought I was praising her, somehow. It felt annoying.

Such words came from the bottom of my heart, since there was some truth to it. If my words crossed the line, then the tip of her longsword would really point at my neck.

I silently shook my head, grabbed the bottle on the table and said.

「I’m sorry but I only have this bottle of ale. If you want to drink new ale, you can tell Ann and she will give you a different bottle.」

As a result, I threw the bottle of ale almost empty to Caria.

I didn’t think Caria had come to my tent for a drink, but it would be rude if someone visited me and didn’t serve any ale. Of course, it was common sense among people from lower classes like me.

Caria blinked her eyelids for a moment, but still took her well-shaped lips into the bottle and snorted. As usual, her relationship with ale was strangely good. That said, it wasn’t until this timeline that I started getting Caria to drink.

I fixed my eyes on Caria, who sat on the chair without permission with her small lips wet, as if she had the urge to say something. Caria spoke then, as if it were not a big deal.

「It’s about the city of Philos. Ann says that a letter of reply will arrive soon.」

At the same time as she spoke, the transparent silver eyes were looking straight at me.

Caria was probably talking about the threatening letter that was sent from the Heraldic Order to the autonomous city of Philos.

I didn’t remember all of the details in the letter, but I remembered that its contents said for the other party to choose a path, such as opening the gate obediently and hanging its head, or burning the city and make it its own coffin.

I thought it was awful, but in the interpersonal negotiations, Ann, who was proud of her natural abilities, chose those words and wrote the letter. The contents were far beyond the extent of my shallow wisdom. If I had to choose the words in the back alley negotiations, I would be somewhat confident to profess them.

When I nodded to reply, Caria leaked the words as if she bit one word by one word.

「I believe in Ann’s judgment, but the future is something unpredictable. Only God knows where the dice will roll, and that’s it.」

The autonomous city of Philos could refuse to accept the offer of the Heraldic religion. Caria continued her words, implying that outcome.

「If that happens, Lugis…How do you intend to use me? I want to hear it from your mouth.」

How to use her? Those words made my eyes round and my lips distort for a moment.

To be honest, the feeling that I used Caria for my own benefit, which was even the subject of my admiration, made me feel uncomfortable. It felt like I was forced to put on gloves that didn’t fit my hands.

In the first place, Caria was someone who wouldn’t serve anyone else because of her nature. I honestly didn’t remember hearing that she served someone quietly before.

But was Caria saying something like this because of the duel at Belfein and trying to comply with the consequences? But the Caria I knew always tried to keep her pride intact.

For a few moments, I was stuck in words and held my lips down. I carefully chose the following words to say, keeping the tobacco in my hand.

「I don’t know, but I’m not going to use my swordswoman cheaply. That’s for sure.」

I spoke from the bottom of my heart. Caria was not the kind of person to accept instructions under someone else. Especially in the battlefield, as she was someone suitable for the position of a Lord.

Everyone was fascinated by her appearance and skills. The soldiers often put their hopes on her back. She was the ruler of the battlefield.

Even in this campaign, I heard words from some soldiers who worshiped Caria. She was a war maiden or a beautiful princess on the battlefield. Most soldiers wanted to follow her closely and profess words of worship, but didn’t dare to do so in front of Caria.

Caria was an unmistakable hero. That fact remained unchanged since the previous timeline. Caria was biased towards her gender, but her talent was real. I could understand why the soldiers felt the same admiration as I felt. So, with that in mind, I said to her.

「Whatever it is, just move away from my hands. You’re not the kind of person that fits in my hands, Caria.」

The moment I said those words,

*loud shattering sound*

The sound of the ale bottle crushing in an instant echoed throughout the tent.