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Chapter 7
“Tell me.”
“I-I’ll bring you something proper. It might be a little unpleasant, but I happen to have a set of clothes made from wyvern leather. They fit rather tightly against the body, but they’re easy to move in and don’t tear easily. Would that be acceptable?”
“That’s exactly what I want!”
I answered with a bright smile. The owner glanced at me before heading inside.
I hummed to myself as I looked through the clothes on display. Leather clothes, huh? I should probably buy something like a shirt to wear underneath them, too.
Shopping really is all about clothes.
I happily rummaged through the clothes. I also found something that would be good for Vanessa, so I put that aside as well.
Next, shoes. It would be nice if they had something like combat boots.
That was a successful shopping trip.
The black market is the best.
And, as expected, Kael was watching all of this.
He had left the weapon shop behind and followed Rosana first. One of the aides who had come with him had remained at the weapon shop.
By now, that aide was probably haggling with the owner over the weapons Kael had chosen.
However, Kael certainly did not expect his aide to show haggling skills as impressive as Rosana’s.
Kael silently watched Rosana as she walked around the clothing stall, humming to herself.
Had Rosana eaten something strange?
She was going to wear clothes made from monster leather?
Of course, Kael and the other knights wore monster-leather clothing underneath their armor. Wyvern leather was considered one of the highest-quality materials among them, but it was not something that could normally be traded.
Kael had even submitted several proposals to the emperor about armor made from wyvern leather, but they had been rejected every time.
‘Such vulgar behavior! You want to wear the hides of those filthy creatures on your body and claim you’re going to save the empire? Crown Prince, have you truly gone mad? What will people think!’
The emperor cared deeply about appearances, so he had rejected the idea immediately.
To protect his own life and the lives of his knights, Kael had secretly obtained clothes made from wyvern leather through unofficial channels and distributed them to his closest subordinates.
And Kael could guarantee that, during that process, neither he nor his aide had displayed haggling skills nearly as impressive as Rosana’s.
Kael put a hand to his forehead.
‘Don’t even bring something that filthy in front of me.’
‘Are you telling me to wear such a low-class item? How dare you. What do you take the Ardeena Princess for?’
The Rosana he had known.
His memories of her were beginning to crumble.
Was this really happening?
Kael rubbed his face in confusion. Perhaps he was going crazy.
Either that, or Rosana had gone crazy.
Kael continued watching Rosana until she disappeared from sight. Just then, the two aides returned to his side.
One of them had been ordered to find Rosana.
“I apologize, Your Highness. I couldn’t find Lady Rosana…”
“There is no need.”
“Pardon?”
“I said there is no need to find her.”
Kael fell silent after saying that.
For some reason, he had a feeling Rosana would finish whatever she was doing and casually return to the campsite as though she had never left.
With that cheerful smile on her face.
Just as Kael expected.
Rosana returned calmly before breakfast and blended back into her place as if she had never left.
“Oh? You changed your clothes, Lady Rosana.”
“I couldn’t keep walking in that dress.”
“That is true, but…”
The young lady looked Rosana up and down as if she were seeing a stranger.
The woman who had always insisted on wearing flashy dresses and jewelry was now wearing plain clothes without a single decoration, with even her hair neatly tied back.
“I never thought you’d wear such simple clothes, Lady Rosana.”
“These are much more comfortable for marching. What do you think? Not bad, right?”
Rosana gave a sly smile in front of the young lady her age, who simply nodded blankly.
Vanessa, was it?
She had been adopted by a count’s family in exchange for money, serving as a substitute for one of their precious heirs.
There were more than a few people like her here, so it wasn’t particularly surprising.
Kael simply watched them quietly, calmly, making sure not to attract attention.
Rosana took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped Vanessa’s face.
“You cried in your sleep again? Vanessa, if you keep crying like that, you’ll get dehydrated. You might die from dehydration before you even get chewed up by a monster.”
“Y-You’re saying scary things again… Monster teeth… You said I wouldn’t have to see anything like that. The Count who adopted me said… I just had to follow everyone… and pretend to do my part… Achoo!”
“I told you to stop thinking so carelessly. Here, change your shoes to these, too.”
“Where did you get these?”
Rosana grinned as she took off Vanessa’s worn-out shoes.
They had been issued by the expedition, but the soles were thin and the leather was already cracked in several places. The supplies given to people whose families had not prepared proper equipment were mostly like this.
“I found them on the road. Pretty clever, right?”
Rosana put the new combat boots on Vanessa’s feet and tightened the laces firmly.
“There. Done. What do you think? They’re combat boots. They’re similar to the ones knights wear. Actually, they’re closer to the kind mercenaries use, but they’ll at least last longer than those worn-out shoes. And this is better than that huge sword, too.”
Rosana then took away the old longsword that Vanessa had been using like a walking stick.
The blade was chipped in several places, and even the handle was loose.
Instead, Rosana firmly fastened a belt and a dagger around Vanessa’s waist.
“W-What is this?”
“A dagger for self-defense.”
“Wouldn’t this sword still be better than that? A dagger…”
Vanessa looked down at the dagger around her waist doubtfully.
Instead of answering, Rosana simply smiled.
That dagger, which the weapons dealer had guaranteed could cut through monster hide, would surely be far more useful than that chipped longsword.
Rosana generously shared the equipment she had obtained with her companion.
This was another side of her that Kael had never seen before.
Rosana had always been too busy taking care of herself. She never gave away what she had, while greedily wanting what she couldn’t have.
Wasn’t that Rosana?
Kael quietly engraved this new image of Rosana into his memory.
As she truly was, as he saw and heard her under extreme circumstances.
I didn’t want someone I had spent several days with to die.
She was still my companion, after all, and losing a companion was a horrible experience.
Even if people dying was an everyday occurrence in this world.
The only people who wouldn’t die here were the female protagonist, the male protagonist, and a handful of other major characters.
Everyone else would be torn apart by monster claws, eaten, or trampled to death.
In fact, the fact that we had managed to march this far without encountering any monsters could only be called incredibly lucky.
Thinking back to the original novel, there had been a similar description there.
「Until they reached their destination, the northern region of Greystone, the only creatures they encountered were the Spider Clan. It was like the calm before the storm, the final moment of rest granted by God.
Because the moment they arrived at Greystone, the monsters began their attack.
The monsters crushed human bones with their sharp teeth and tore human flesh apart with their powerful claws. Among them, only Kael stood out with an especially striking presence. Like a brilliant light guiding people toward hope in the darkness.」
It had been written from the female protagonist’s point of view. It must have been the scene where she fell in love with Kael at first sight.
There were still about fourteen days left before we reached Greystone.
We had only been out of Rainford for a single day…
At least that meant we’d be safe for a while.
I turned my head and looked at Vanessa.
“Sniff. Mom… Huuuuugh… I want to go home.”
Watching her sniffle while her shoulders shook made me sigh automatically.
If she kept crying like that the entire time, she’d be the first person to become monster food.
And if that happened, the place she’d return to wouldn’t be home.
It would be the damp belly of a monster.
I had told her countless times, but she was still doing nothing but crying.
One week.
Could I make Vanessa useful in just one week?
At the very least, she needed to be able to run away when we encountered a monster.
I didn’t want to watch her die like this.
I was tired of hearing the breathing of companions slowly fade away before I could do anything to save them.
If possible, wouldn’t it be better if we all survived together?
But how?
At this point, it might be faster to hope that the monsters suddenly turned over a new leaf…
Sigh.
