Unexpected Summons

While half the boiling water vanished into steam, Agniele had remained dejected until the fluttering of the tent entrance roused him. Being sensitive to presence, he reflexively turned his head and locked eyes with Lily, who stood leaning against the flap, watching him.

“Are you still boiling that tea?”

“The water….”

“The water?”

Agniele bit back his words, realizing any explanation would sound like a poor excuse. Lily saw the evidence of the fierce fire turning the water into meaningless vapor, but she generously decided to feign ignorance.

“The tea is fine, so just come inside. Ensi fell asleep.”

“He fell asleep?”

Agniele had certainly heard the faint sound of their conversation earlier. Even while distracted, he hadn’t missed the voices drifting out, so he blinked in surprise at how quickly Ensi had drifted off.

“Ensi tends to sleep a lot when he’s not feeling well. Let’s let him rest for an hour or two before we head to the village.”

Lily simply shrugged at Agniele’s puzzled reaction. She couldn’t exactly tell him that Ensi had likely forced himself to stay awake because he felt uncomfortable sleeping in an unfamiliar place in front of someone he didn’t fully trust yet.

“If he’s that unwell, riding a horse will be difficult.”

“True, but the village is closer than you think.”

Above all, thanks to fighting the Harpy since early morning, the sun hadn’t even reached its zenith yet. The village near Mount Lakes could be reached in half a day. That meant they could arrive before sunset. More importantly, resting in a proper bed would be better than convalescing in this meager environment.

“If it gets too hard, you can just carry him while you ride.”

“Car—ry?!”

Lily tilted her head as Agniele’s words caught in his throat at her casual suggestion.

“Why? You held him just fine a moment ago.”

“That was… because it was an emergency.”

“Then this is an emergency too, so it’s fine. I just checked, and I don’t think Ensi has enough Sun Grass to last until we get back to the Academy.”

Lily narrowed her eyes as if recalculating the remaining amount, then nodded with feigned certainty. To be precise, she was putting on a bit of a performance to make it look that way.

“Can we obtain Sun Grass in the village?”

Ensi used it casually, but Sun Grass was originally a precious plant. It wasn’t an herb easily found in villages near Mount Lakes. If they were truly running low, it would be better to endure the hardship and hurry back to the Academy rather than stopping at a village.

A crease appeared between Agniele’s brows—a rare change in his usually stoic expression—but Lily didn’t care.

“It’s fine. I heard the merchant guild Ensi frequently trades with happens to be passing through this area, so I called them.”

“Was there a separate means of contact?”

“Ensi is a customer who spends a lot of money.”

Agniele accepted the explanation that they naturally provided him with a special way to reach them. Something felt slightly off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. The important thing was that they could obtain what Ensius needed.

“Then I shall prepare to depart in advance.”

“Without resting? You barely slept yesterday.”

“It is fine.”

Lily watched Agniele, who had returned to his usual blunt tone, and nodded as if telling him to do as he pleased. He must be eager to move as soon as possible. Leaving Agniele behind to extinguish the roaring fire, she slipped back into the tent to check on Ensi once more.

“What a waste, what a shame.”

I could have seen something really interesting. I’m dying of regret, seriously.

Thanks to Lily incessantly muttering the same thing beside him, Ensi covered his ears. It was a clear signal for her to stop, but Lily couldn’t let it go so easily. If Ensi had woken up just a little later, the scene of Agniele carrying him onto a horse would have unfolded. Since she missed it by a hair’s breadth, it was hard to shake the lingering regret.

Of course, she might have felt a bit nauseous actually seeing it. Still, she thought Ensi’s reaction would have been hilarious. In the midst of this ambivalent feeling—wanting to see it yet not wanting to—Lily simply sighed and pointedly pressed a hand to her forehead.

“It’s truly a tragedy!”

Ensi eventually decided to ignore Lily, who remained unchanged despite his hints. In truth, he didn’t quite understand what she found so “shameful.” He only knew, based on Agniele’s face the moment he woke up, that she had egged the man on to do something.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t curious about what had happened, but it felt like a Pandora’s box he’d rather leave buried.

“Lily, there’s a large market being held today, so why don’t you go have some fun?”

“First you drop Agniele off with the excuse of finding a place to stable the horses, and now you’re trying to get rid of me? Why? Planning to have a secret conversation?”

Lily grumbled, feigning hurt. She had even provided a decent excuse for Agniele so that Ensi could meet the merchant guild safely, yet here he was, tossing her aside. However, since she had no intention of interfering with his business, Lily turned toward the main road where the market was being held.

It wasn’t a very large village, so even a “large” market wouldn’t have much to see, but going out to play suited Lily’s personality better than staying cooped up in an inn.

Ensi watched Lily walk away with light steps before he finally left his spot. He felt sorry for her after all her help, but he couldn’t have her present at a meeting where he didn’t know what kind of information would be shared.

Ensi headed to the place where the person in charge of this trade expedition was staying. He had heard they had rented out the only inn in the village, so he had no hesitation. The usually quiet inn had a boisterous atmosphere today. Seeing the distinct scent of alcohol wafting through the thin windows, it seemed they planned to stay for a few days.

Feeling a sense of determination in the air—as if they wouldn’t leave until they met him—Ensi swallowed his annoyance and lightly pushed the weathered wooden door.

Creeeeak. As he stepped inside to a sound that scraped against his eardrums, the eyes of everyone in the inn instantly turned toward him. Those on the first floor, seemingly not briefed in advance, showed signs of wariness at the stranger’s visit, but it was only momentary.

“—So I heard Turan gave up.”

“What a waste. But if the interference was that heavy, giving up was the right call.”

The people who recognized Ensi’s face returned to their business as if nothing had happened. There was something eerie about how everyone suddenly ignored him, as if he were invisible. If someone’s gaze happened to meet his, they made a desperate effort to look away and talk to the person next to them.

Accustomed to this reaction, Ensi ignored them and climbed the stairs to the top floor. He headed for the third floor. Unlike the second floor, where people were occasionally seen, the third floor felt deserted. It seemed they had cleared it out in advance, so Ensi walked straight into the only room that showed signs of life.

“It has been a long time, Guild Leader. Ah, no. I should call you ‘Young Master’ now.”

As their eyes met, a man perched on a desk engraved with an elegant pattern—out of place in a shabby inn room—smiled broadly as if he had been waiting.

“I thought Katron was the one in charge of this expedition?”

Ensi tilted his head at the unexpected face. He expressed his doubt even as he took the seat the man pulled out for him.

“That is correct, but unfortunately, Katron had something else come up, so I took over as the person in charge.”

‘Do you have any idea how much my heart aches, having to take on work just when I thought I could rest comfortably in the capital?’

Ensi ignored the man’s unsolicited rambling with a wave of his hand and got straight to the point.

“Setting that aside, Katia, what is the reason for requesting this meeting?”

Katia, who was naturally filling a pipe with herbs to hand to Ensi, let out a short “Ah.” Seeing him act as if he had just remembered a forgotten fact, Ensi gave him an untrusting look.

“Hey now, I brought all the documents. Just a moment, I’m sure I put them here….”

Katia went over to a pile of documents he had tucked away in a corner and made a pained sound as he searched through them. Given the sheer volume of the stack, it looked like it would take some time. Ensi leaned deep into the backrest of his chair, the smoking pipe in his mouth.

Tap, tap. Ensi’s foot tapped against the floor in a steady rhythm. Feeling the subtle pressure of that sound, Katia’s movements became even more frantic.

“Found it!”

Since it had been fished out of a mess, the state of the document wasn’t exactly pristine. Katia peeked at Ensi’s reaction, holding the few sheets of paper that didn’t even seem to contain much detail. Ensi didn’t say a word as he reached out his arm. Katia hurried over and carefully placed the papers onto Ensi’s pale hand.

“Phew, you were rushing me so much I was breaking out in a cold sweat…. Ahem, so, shall I start with the conclusion?”

Ensi glanced at Katia, who was talking nonsense, even as he read the words written on the thin paper. Katia pointedly cleared his throat and shifted the topic.

“Go on.”

“Well, it’s simple. It seems Count Alemier might summon the Young Master to the capital.”

“—Cough!”

At the completely unexpected conclusion, Ensi ended up choking on the smoke.