Free Web NovelThe clouds covered the moon, and the whole sky darkened.
Menesis stood blankly in place, holding a bundle of dry branches in her arms — the firewood Vieya had sent her to gather.
Until just a few minutes ago, she never would have imagined she’d actually follow Vieya’s orders, let alone for something so absurd.
But—
Menesis sighed lightly.
“Well, I’ve already gathered them, might as well bring them back...”
Besides, if Vieya hadn’t sensed that they were being watched, the three of them would still be wandering around clueless, completely unaware.
So she decided to treat this as a reward — that white-haired girl looked so pitiful, nearly fainting from hunger.
The real issue, though, was that their movements had been exposed.
Operating under an enemy’s gaze was hardly something to celebrate. They weren’t circus clowns standing under a spotlight, desperate for attention.
“We’re assassins. We don’t need an audience...”
Menesis coughed softly. She’d imagined countless contingency plans for what to do if they were discovered.
But she never expected the enemy would use a flock of birds to monitor their movements.
That meant the anti-tracking magic items she’d brought were practically useless now.
If they could use birds, what about other creatures? Maybe even insects could serve as living surveillance.
She couldn’t think of any way to move freely through this town while avoiding every creature’s eyes.
“Forget it... better head back and think with the others. Three brains are faster than one.”
The night breeze was cool.
Since they’d shot down those flying “cameras,” Rania had decided to halt their advance for the time being.
“How’s the taste?”
Vieya handed over a skewer of roasted sparrows, green eyes full of anticipation. “Try it?”
“...”
Rania took one bite and immediately reached her conclusion. “Awful. Absolutely awful.” She frowned, baffled at how anyone could make something taste this bad.
“The outside’s burned to charcoal — fine, I can accept that. But why’s the inside still raw? Vieya, you’re a genius!”
“Ah... isn’t that what they call ‘crispy outside, tender inside’?”
Vieya said, picking up another skewer and taking a bite herself. It wasn’t as if a slime girl like her couldn’t just swallow it whole.
“Om... crunch, crunch...”
Pleh!
Without hesitation, she spat it all out. Sometimes, she thought maybe being hungry wasn’t such a bad thing after all. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
“Wasting food...” Rania muttered under her breath. “Even worse than my teacher’s cooking. No wonder you’re still single and raising a kid alone...”
“Sigh... So, what should we do next?” Vieya changed the subject, looking up at the sky. “No road ahead, no way back, heaven’s eyes above us, a mob waiting below... Oh? Menesis is back. Maybe we should see if her cooking is any better?”
Rania quietly observed Vieya. There was something about the white-haired girl — something oddly similar to her teacher, an emotional undercurrent she couldn’t quite understand.
Suddenly, she felt an impulse to ask — Do you know my teacher? Have you met him... spent time with him?
But she hesitated.
For a Hero, she wasn’t nearly as brave as she imagined herself to be.
The half-burnt, half-raw sparrow in her mouth tasted like nothing now. Inwardly, she kept asking herself — What are you afraid of? Why are you afraid?
It wasn’t like this was life or death. Even if she asked and that annoying white-haired girl laughed at her or made fun of her — so what?
Was that really so terrifying?
Was it? Or wasn’t it? Who knew.
“Uh... Vieya.”
Rania set down the half-eaten skewer, her violet eyes fixed sharply on the girl across the fire. “I’ve had a question I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time.”
“Oh? A question for me? Go ahead,” Vieya said lazily, lying back on the grass.
Rania asked, “Do you know my teacher? Not from stories or newspapers — I mean, did you actually spend time with him?”
“...”
Vieya sat up abruptly. “Why would you suddenly ask that?”
“I’ve wanted to ask since before I came here. That’s partly why I sought you out — to thank you, and to ask this.” Rania paused, studying Vieya’s reaction, then continued, “And being with you these days has only made me more certain I needed to.”
“Oh, is that so...? Then yes, I did know your teacher.” Vieya leaned back again, her voice faint and distant.
It was like a knot in Rania’s heart had finally come undone. She exhaled softly. “Then how did you meet him? When?”
“You ask a lot of questions...” Vieya sounded a bit annoyed. # Nоvеlight # “Anyway, I knew him, that’s all that matters. Why so nosy? Your teacher’s dead — asking more won’t bring him back.” Her tone was blunt.
“...”
Rania paused, then pressed again. “Then your swordsmanship — did you learn that from him too? When we sparred last time...”
“Yes. We studied under the same master.” Vieya gave her a sidelong glance. “In fact, you should probably call me... hm, ‘senior.’” Her tone turned teasingly casual. “Come on, Little Violet, say it — call me ‘senior.’”
“...”
Rania didn’t answer. She stood up, face serious. “Vieya, how much of what you just said is a lie?!”
“Little Violet, I didn’t lie,” Vieya said calmly.
Rania shook her head, reasoning clearly, “My teacher told me I was his only student. He wouldn’t lie to me. So that means the liar here... is you.”
“...How exactly did I lie?”
“Are you implying my teacher lied to me? I’ve known him for years. I know what kind of person he was. He didn’t lie.”
“...What if your teacher was a liar?”
“Say that again?”
“You asked me a question, I answered honestly, and now you’re upset? Really?”
Vieya spread her small hands, exasperated. “I’m not even bothered calling you my weak little junior, but you’re already taking offense.”
“...”
The word “weak” hit Rania like a slap. Only now did she realize — she had to be her teacher’s first disciple, that much was certain.
But if Vieya also knew his sword style, and had even picked up some of his worst habits, then by timeline logic, Vieya would actually be her junior.
Then why was this “junior” so terrifyingly strong?
Rania counted on her fingers, then gave up in despair — even if she doubled herself, she wouldn’t be a match for Vieya as she’d fought during their spar.
Too terrifying.
Rania crouched back down by the fire.
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked her anything at all.
“Hey, what were you two talking about?” Menesis approached with the firewood bundle in her arms, glancing between them. “I could smell gunpowder from halfway across the clearing.”
“Nothing,” Vieya said. “Our dear Hero here’s just worried about slowing us down with her lack of strength.”
See? Lying again. Rania thought bitterly.
“I think Lady Hero’s plenty strong — much stronger than me, at least,” Menesis said, setting down the firewood with a sigh.
She began threading the plucked and cleaned sparrows onto sticks, turning them slowly over the flames.
“It’s getting late. Did you two come up with any plan to avoid the enemy’s surveillance while I was gone?”
Rania: ...
Sorry, we were too busy arguing.
“Oh, I already have an idea,” Vieya said, swinging her pale legs with a smug grin.
“Once we split up, I can make it so they won’t find me. That’ll throw them off — they’ll panic when they lose track of the Holy Sword’s ‘trusted master,’ and all their attention will turn to searching for me.”
“And you two—” She sat up straight, crossing her legs and smiling brightly at the pair. “—you just have to trust me completely. No need to worry about a thing.”
Then, with a playful tilt of her head, she added,
“Well? Tempted by my brilliant plan?”
