PDHTFV 21

~Chapter 21~

Winter nearly burst out laughing as he watched those purple eyes dart around, looking for something to say.

But he held it in. Yushen looked so nervous, it was too entertaining to interrupt.

“…Winter, about what I said earlier, just—”

“You should hurry.”

“…Huh?”

“I mean, I can fill in for the Captain for two or three days.”

It took Yushen exactly five seconds to react.

His already big eyes grew even wider with disbelief.

‘If someone saw, they’d think I always say no to him.’

But in truth, Winter had never once actually stopped Yushen from doing what he wanted. He always gave in, in the end.

Of course, most of the time he resisted until the very end, but always gave in when Yushen made that pleading face.

Actually, this was the fastest Winter had ever given permission for something. This time, he didn’t even want to resist.

‘This is special, isn’t it? Since it’s the first time the Captain has feelings for a woman, I should help him all I can. Who else would help if not me?’

Yushen’s surprised look lasted only a moment. Then, afraid Winter would change his mind, Yushen anxiously watched his face.

Winter couldn’t help but laugh a little.

‘Captain, since when did you ever watch my mood like this?’

Shaking his head, Winter said,

“Don’t worry. I mean it.”

Yushen’s face instantly brightened, as if he’d never been gloomy at all.

“Okay, I’ll be back soon! If I go, the mission will finish even faster!”

“But then the others won’t get any experience, will they?”

“…”

Just as he thought. From Yushen’s frozen expression, it was obvious he hadn’t thought of that.

‘He must really like that new recruit if all he can think about is running over there. The recruit doesn’t even seem interested in him…’

Winter felt sorry for his boss, who didn’t even realize this himself.

Anyway, Winter decided to help the timid Yushen as much as he could. Maybe then he’d finally get his clingy little sister off the Captain’s back.

“I mean, just pretend to help and let the team handle it on their own.”

In other words, don’t stand out—just act like you’re not even there.

Yushen nodded reluctantly. He wasn’t sure he could really keep a low profile.

“…Okay.”

“Then you’d better hurry before I change my mind.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Yushen grabbed the bare minimum of his things and hurried out of the office.

Winter sighed as he cleaned up the messy papers on the desk.

He let him go, but he was worried if Yushen understood the real message.

The mission could be finished easily without Yushen’s help. Winter wanted Yushen to use that time to actually talk to the recruit, even just once more.

It had been just over a week since I joined the Luche knights, and today was my first mission as an official member.

I didn’t know if it was because of me, but our first mission was just replacing purification stones at some ancient ruins. They said it was simple and not hard at all.

Even so, the medical team came along, just in case something happened.

I guess the risk really was low, because there were barely ten of us in the medical team, including me.

The person in charge, Hebranne, told us to set up camp near our destination at sunset.

Before I could help, the camp was already set up, and we were given free time.

“Ah, finally, I can relax!”

My back and thigh muscles were aching so much, they felt like they were begging for help.

So, I changed into comfortable clothes and immediately lay down on the bed. It looked like the one at home, but it was nowhere near as soft.

Of course I was sore—I’d never ridden a horse before, and I had to share one with my mentor, Tayla.

Because my body was more tense than usual, my muscle pain was worse than normal.

But maybe because I’d escaped Yushen’s watchful eyes, even the pain felt good.

“Still, I feel kind of bad.”

Even though I was told not to worry, I still did.

I felt awkward being the only girl and having a big tent all to myself.

There didn’t seem to be enough tents for everyone.

After thinking for a while, I decided I shouldn’t take up such a big tent alone. I got up, stretching my sore back, and went outside.

I saw Tayla talking to someone nearby.

I waited until their conversation was over, then caught her as they were about to part.

“Mentor Tayla!”

She glanced up from her paperwork and frowned when she saw me.

What’s with that? Why did she frown as soon as she saw me?

I frowned back, annoyed. Tayla quickly came over to me.

Am I in trouble?

“Don’t call me like that.”

“Huh?”

“Use my last name, not my first.”

Thankfully, I wasn’t in trouble for frowning.

“…Did I say your name wrong?”

“Not exactly…”

Oh, I guess I got the way to address people wrong.

Just like everyone called me ‘Miss Montrose’ instead of my name, I should use last names too.

Still, Tayla looked more troubled than just by a mistake in titles.

She seemed almost worried someone might overhear.

I looked at her, confused, as Tayla covered her mouth and coughed lightly, speaking softly.

“We’ll look too close if you call me like that.”

…Huh? Is it bad to look close?

I didn’t get it. Aren’t you supposed to be close with your immediate boss at work?

You’re my direct supervisor, after all.

“Of course we should look close. You’re my mentor!”

“No, I’d rather not.”

“Why not? Being close is good!”

“What do you want?”

Tayla ignored my words and made it clear she didn’t want to get close to me.

It was a pretty obvious hint to get to the point and leave.

Well, I have my pride too. I don’t even want to get close to a workaholic like her.

“It looks like there aren’t enough tents. Want to share mine?”

She said nothing.

“I feel awkward taking up such a big tent all alone.”

But the more I spoke, the darker Tayla’s face got.

Her brown eyes were full of shock.

Why…?

“…Are you crazy?”

“Huh?”

Being asked if I was crazy didn’t feel great.

Why is she so sensitive? Would it kill her to explain?

“It’s not that weird of a suggestion. It’s not like we’ll be sharing a blanket or anything.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

But Tayla didn’t explain. She just looked like she wanted to leave.

I blocked her path.

“If it’s because I’m a girl—”

“No one here sees you as a girl, Miss Montrose.”

“Then why do you hate the idea so much?”

Tayla looked around, clearly worried someone might hear us.

Who was she afraid of?

Then, with a frightened look, she whispered,

“I don’t want to risk my life.”

“Huh?”

“The others will say the same, so it’s better if you use the tent alone.”

I didn’t get it at all. They don’t even see me as a girl, so what’s the problem?

And how does sharing a tent risk your life?

Tayla saw my confused face and sighed.

“Just know that you having your own tent is what keeps us safe, Miss Montrose.”

With that, she hurried away.

I hoped it was just my imagination that she looked like she was running away.

Back in my tent, I thought about what Tayla said. But I still couldn’t understand.

Fine. If I don’t get it, I don’t get it. It’s not like we’ll see each other for long, anyway.

I’d tried to be thoughtful, but her reaction made me feel bad, and I didn’t need the stress.

I decided to stop thinking about it and lay down on the bed. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by tiredness.

‘Whatever, I’ll just sleep.’

I stared at the ceiling, then closed my eyes. I was about to fall asleep when noise outside woke me up.

I tried to ignore it, but the anxious voices made me curious.

‘Are they having fun without me?’

Since joining Luche, I’d barely talked to anyone besides my mentor.

So of course I wasn’t close to anyone, and no one would invite me to anything fun.

I made up my mind to try making friends with others this time and left the tent.

A group of people were huddled together, staring at something.

I got closer and realized everyone was so tall, I had to stand on tiptoe just to see anything.

Then I had an idea.

‘Since I’m short, maybe I can sneak through below.’

Luckily, it worked.

I made it to the front with no problem.

And finally, I saw what everyone was looking at. All my excitement instantly vanished.

Standing in the middle, where he shouldn’t have been except at the Central Temple, was Yushen.