Artificial Rain and Charcoal-Grilled Meat

Considering the element of “rain,” the protagonist of this scene had to be Ensi.

It was inevitable. Lily and Agniele wouldn’t have much of a problem getting wet, but Ensi was different. He was someone who reacted sensitively to even minor changes in the weather that others usually ignored—there was no way rain would be a trivial matter to him.

In that sense, this whole setup was undoubtedly for Ensi’s sake. And if so, the other protagonist naturally had to be Agniele. Since there was zero romantic tension between Lily herself and Ensi, this was a no-brainer.

Lily’s dilemma was simple: in this situation where everything was clearly pushing Agniele and Ensi together, was it really okay for her to go where they were?

But if she didn’t, she’d be in a bind. Without an umbrella, she’d get soaked to the bone. No matter how healthy she was, she couldn’t guarantee her condition for tomorrow’s subjugation if she got caught in the rain on a chilly night like this. Moreover, depending on the tent’s waterproofing, they might need to set up a new camp. If she was isolated while that happened, she’d only be a burden to the other two.

So, she had to go, but…

Unlike her rational mind, her sentimental heart held her back. It was only when the raindrops began to fall faster that she finally made up her mind. She would scope things out near the camp before joining them.

She was a bit worried since Agniele and Ensi were knight candidates sensitive to the presence of others, but she was one too. She could hide her presence well enough. Probably.

Deliberately ignoring the fact that Agniele was a cut above her, Lily immediately set off. She hurried back the way she had come, then slowed down near the camp, moving as stealthily as a stray cat. It had been a while since she’d had to suppress her presence, and the tension made her heart race. Pressing a hand to her chest to calm her thumping heart, she leaned gently against a tree.

‘Why is it so quiet?’

She tried to gather information by listening, but she couldn’t hear a thing. Well, there was the sound of breathing, but no other sounds of activity. At this rate, she wouldn’t learn anything. Maybe they had gone inside the tent as soon as it started raining. If so, it would be better to just walk in naturally.

Lily took a deep breath before checking the situation. What were those two doing right now? If this rain was indeed an “event” to push them together, there should be at least a little bit of a romantic atmosphere. Like their eyes meeting while they hurried to pitch the tent, or one catching the other after a slip.

If this were a romance manga, they might have been running together under the hero’s coat. Since they had a tent, that wouldn’t happen, but the thought popped into her head nonetheless.

Her wandering imagination was snapped back to reality by the rain, which was now drumming heavily on her head. If she kept standing there like an idiot, she really would get soaked. Lily carefully peeked around the tree to observe.

What she saw was Ensi, draped in a cloak that was unmistakably Agniele’s, standing face-to-face with Agniele.

“Wow, damn…”

The exclamation escaped her lips involuntarily. She was struck by the fact that the romance manga vibe she had just imagined was actually manifesting before her eyes.

‘Maybe I haven’t been getting enough romance in my life!’

Lily’s unintended exclamation broke the silence between Agniele and Ensi.

As Ensi reflexively turned toward the sound, Agniele, reacting half a beat faster, reached out and pulled Ensi behind him. Blocking Ensi in the blink of an eye, Agniele glared in the direction of the noise. Ensi stared at Agniele’s back and dark red hair, which filled his vision. He gripped the cloak slightly tighter before looking in the same direction and speaking.

“Lily, I know it’s you. Just come out.”

“Ha, ha… did I interrupt something…?”

Lily sheepishly revealed herself at Ensi’s certain voice. Agniele, however, didn’t immediately lower his guard.

“Is it really Florence?”

“Who else would it be, a ghost?”

“There’s a possibility it’s a doppelganger. Those monsters are skilled at disguise.”

Lily scoffed in disbelief as Agniele mentioned a monster known to appear only on rainy nights in deserted, deep mountains.

“This mountain isn’t deserted enough for a doppelganger to show up! And it’s not even a downpour yet!”

When Agniele remained unmoved despite Lily’s protest, Ensi reached out toward her.

“Just hand over the artifact Luke gave you for now.”

The cloak Agniele had provided helped block the rain to some extent, but it wasn’t perfect. Exposed to the chilly air, Ensi’s hands were starting to lose sensation. Eager to resolve the situation and get inside the tent, Ensi spoke up, and a relieved Lily tossed the artifact to him.

Agniele caught it mid-air and handed it to Ensi. Ensi turned it over, confirming its familiar shape and the familiar flow of mana.

“Yeah, it’s Lily.”

“Is it?”

“Yes, so you can stop being on guard now.”

At Ensi’s calm request, Agniele neatly stepped back. Lily let out a series of hollow laughs at the way Agniele followed Ensi’s words perfectly after ignoring hers completely.

“This is so unfair, I can’t even…”

“Let’s just get inside. The rain is getting heavier.”

Except for Ensi, the other two had hair that was already starting to clump together from the wetness. Since the raindrops running down their foreheads were interfering with their vision, everyone followed Ensi’s suggestion without complaint.

“But Ensi, is this tent waterproofed?”

“I think so? It’s still fine, isn’t it?”

Outdoor tents had gone through countless trials and errors in development, so Ensi himself wasn’t sure which version this one was. He had just brought the one Donovan said would be useful for the practical. So, it was probably waterproofed, right?

Lily let out another hollow laugh at Ensi’s somewhat indifferent reply, then inspected the tent closely before entering. After confirming that the raindrops beaded up and rolled off the fabric rather than soaking in—as coated fabric should—Lily finally went inside.

“Ugh, my hair is a mess.”

She grumbled, combing through her tangled, wet hair with her fingers. Since they hadn’t started a fire yet and the air was humid, her irritation level was rising.

“Can we start a fire?”

“Should we burn some Sun Grass?”

“Sun Grass? You should save that for your medicine! Why would you waste Sun Grass on a fire?”

After scolding Ensi for his ridiculous suggestion, Lily looked around for kindling to throw into the fire pit she’d made with stones. And, as a natural consequence, she realized there was nothing around.

“…?”

Unlike conventional tents, the one Ensi had brought was simple to pitch. Moving the luggage would have only taken a few trips. So, picking up some dry branches before it started raining should have been easy. Why weren’t there any?

“My dear classmates. Am I the only one who can’t see the firewood?”

‘You guys did pick up dry branches, right? Right?’

The tent was small, leaving no place to hide firewood. Knowing this but still hoping against hope, Lily looked at Agniele and Ensi. They both just awkwardly avoided her gaze. Even Agniele looked down, tight-lipped and embarrassed. In the midst of everything, they had forgotten to gather kindling.

Seeing their guilty behavior, Lily finally faced reality.

“…What about my charcoal-grilled meat?!”

“Is that really what you’re worried about right now?”

“You said you’d burn Sun Grass! We can deal with the cold somehow!”

Lily, who was always vocal about the correlation between diet and physical condition, was more worried about dinner than the cold. But her temper didn’t change the fact that they had no wood. She ran her hands through her hair in lamentation.

Why did the “author” have to create a rain event and make it impossible to find a single dry branch?!

“Luke gave me an artifact to start a fire, so we’ll manage somehow. Should we try burning some fabric?”

“Burning fabric inside the tent would be difficult. The smoke is different from wood smoke and might make it harder to breathe.”

Despite it being Ensi’s suggestion, Agniele shook his head in concern.

“What if we go out now and cut some branches that are less wet?”

“Once they’ve absorbed moisture, it’s hard to start a fire even with an artifact—”

“Ugh, if you’re just going to object to everything, you should have picked up some firewood earlier!”

Agniele fell silent at Lily’s thunderous shout.

“And we have to start a fire regardless. The risk of burning Sun Grass is too high. Who knows what will happen to Ensi’s condition? We have to save that as medicine.”

Hoo-hah, hoo-hah. Lily calmed herself with deep breaths and assessed the situation. Convinced by her logical argument, Agniele nodded and immediately headed for the tent entrance.

“Then I’ll go. You two stay here and rest.”

“It’s dark and raining—how are you going to go alone? I’m coming too. And don’t just go like that, put on a raincoat! Oh, Ensi. You stay here, obviously.”

Ensi nodded obediently as Lily added a request for him to prepare things so they could eat dinner as soon as the fire was started.