Jepeto somehow looked angry, so Ren quietly entrusted his foot to him.
Jepeto found a strong liquor for disinfecting, poured it over the wound, picked out several herbs and crushed them, and finally wrapped Ren’s ankle round and round with bandages.
“Ren? Are you here?”
At the voice carrying a hint of laughter, Ren’s shoulders flinched.
The tent flap lifted, and Luman came in.
Luman had been smiling at Ren, but when he saw Jepeto kneeling below him, his face stiffened.
“What is this, Doctor? Surely you aren’t proposing to our Ren.”
Ordinarily, Jepeto would have jumped in horror, waving both hands and saying absolutely not, but instead he finished the treatment and rose.
“Ren injured his ankle, so I treated it.”
“It’s only a slight injury. It didn’t hurt, so I didn’t even know I was hurt.”
Ren added it like an excuse.
Seeing Jepeto’s expression, Luman nodded.
“Luman.”
“Yes.”
“Could you spare me a moment?”
“Of course. Please wait outside first.”
“Understood.”
Jepeto bowed and left the tent.
“Ren, let me see. This ankle, then.”
“It’s fine. Jepeto just worries too much.”
Luman strode over and bent down on one knee in front of Ren. Listening to Ren’s bewildered voice, Luman brought his fingers close as if to stroke his ankle, but only brushed uselessly through the empty air before withdrawing his hand.
“I worry too much too.”
“......?”
Looking at the white face full of questions, Luman smiled bitterly.
“Ren.......”
A careful hand came close and held Ren’s cheek. At the lukewarm warmth, Ren leaned his head into it without realizing. When Ren stared up at him, Luman smiled the way he usually did.
“Is there something to worry about?”
Ren asked, eyes wide and round.
Luman, who had been stroking his cheek with his thumb, paused.
“There’s plenty to worry about.”
“Really?”
“Why? Do I look like I have no worries? If you see me that way, I’ll be a little hurt.”
“Isn’t it good if you look like you don’t have worries?”
“Don’t I look like some fool living without a thought in his head?”
“No way. That’s not it. I meant it in a good way.”
“...Haha. All right. If you say so, Ren, then that must be what it is.”
“Luman.”
“Hm?”
“Ah, no. Never mind. You should hurry and go.”
Ren slipped his face out of his hand.
Luman opened and closed his hand in regret, then said he would be back soon, stroked Ren’s hair, and left.
The entrance to the tent swayed.
Uaaah.
“I’m stupid.”
Ren flopped back onto the bed.
“Of course he’ll go back to his fiancée. Why would I ask that?”
What he had been about to ask Luman just now was whether he was going back there again.
“Was I trying to keep him all to myself just because I was happy to see him after so long?”
Ren lifted the foot Jepeto had bandaged, then lowered it again.
The meticulously wrapped bandage seemed to speak for Jepeto’s worry.
“It really doesn’t hurt much.”
The lamp flickered.
Everyone worries too much.
Me too.
“There’s no need to ask. He’ll tell me when he leaves.......”
More importantly, shouldn’t I talk to my brother too?
They had met again after so long, but he had not actually talked with his brother.
What should he say if they met?
Since it would be awkward, maybe it would be better not to run into him for a while.
He was staring blankly up at the tent ceiling when the entrance swayed.
“Ren!”
“Cedric?”
Ren, who had been lying flat on his back, sat up.
“Did I wake you?”
Cedric looked embarrassed.
“No.”
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah. Come in.”
Ren waved loosely.
“How is sword training going?”
Cedric smiled shyly.
After the chaotic day had passed and things had settled down, Cedric had been learning swordsmanship from Seka.
Not far from the tents, he was training his basics all over again.
“It’s all stuff I already learned, so it felt kind of strange. Ahem.”
He wrinkled the bridge of his nose, looking bashful.
Scrape. Cedric pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Ah! Want one of these?”
Ren rummaged through his pocket and took out candy.
“Huh? Uh, I’m fine.......”
“I have a lot.”
“Why do you have so much candy?”
Cedric laughed quietly.
Ren’s other pocket really was packed full of candy, literally.
“I don’t know. Everyone gives me candy whenever they see me.”
“Hahaha.”
“Why?”
“Because I think I’d give you some too.”
“What does that mean?”
Ren put on a sullen face.
Cedric soothed him, saying he had not meant it badly, then asked if his body was all right.
“I’ve heard it so much my ears are about to scab over. Seriously....... I’m not bleeding from my ears, am I?”
Ren thrust his ear toward Cedric and asked him to check.
Cedric pretended to look and played along, saying it seemed to be bleeding a little.
After they chatted about nothing for a long while, Cedric opened his mouth.
“Ren. Once things here are settled, where are you going?”
For some reason, Cedric looked tense.
“......I’m not sure.”
He wanted to leave, if it were up to him, but would that be possible?
A shadow settled over Ren’s face.
“Why? Do you have to go wherever your brother says?”
Cedric called Temar “your brother” without any hesitation.
“Something like that.”
“If your brother tells you to go, I guess there’s nothing you can do.”
“But why?”
“Ahh. If possible... ahem. Hmm.”
Cedric dragged out his words with a fake cough.
“I wanted to ask because I wanted to go see the sea with you. Ahem. Together.”
“Ah!”
Only then did Ren remember talking with Cedric about the sea inside the wagon.
“It would be nice if we went together someday.”
“Then let’s go.”
Cedric answered easily. His face looked as if he could not see what the problem was.
“Why are you only smiling?”
“Where are you going, Cedric?”
“Changing the subject, huh. Me? Well. I should go back to the village.”
“The village?”
“Yeah. Tempesto Village.”
“Ah! That’s your hometown!”
“I left because I wanted to try working, but all I learned was that I’m still a greenhorn. I’m going to stay quietly in the village until I become an adult and save up some money. My brother wants that too.”
“Do you talk with your brother a lot?”
“Well. A little?”
Cedric unwrapped the candy Ren had given him and put it in his mouth. The sweet-and-sour taste made his mouth water. Rolling the candy over his tongue, he glanced at Ren, who looked somehow complicated.
Ren seemed a little different from when they had been locked up together.
Outside, a bell rang to announce mealtime.
“Ren, let’s go.”
Cedric held back his questions again today.
“Oh, I was just coming to get you.”
Luman, who had been walking a little distance away from the tent, greeted Ren warmly.
He laid a thick blanket over a simple chair and sat Ren down.
Then he swiftly warmed Ren’s ration for the day and placed it in his hands. It happened in the blink of an eye.
Ren, holding it in bewilderment, spoke in a slightly annoyed tone.
“Luman. I’ll do it.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Ren asked back, dumbfounded.
‘Do I not have hands? Do I not have feet?!’
“You hurt your ankle.”
“Huh. You really did. I had no idea. Did they just find it? Is it bad?”
Cedric lifted the hem of Ren’s pants a little and startled.
“I can walk with no problem! Everyone’s making a fuss over nothing.”
Luman plopped down beside Ren.
“Aren’t you eating?”
Ren noticed he was empty-handed and asked.
“I ate earlier.”
Ren chewed on the bread. His cheeks, puffed full like a hamster’s, looked as if they were begging to be poked. But even a dog was left alone when it was eating, so Luman barely managed to curl his fingers into his palm.
“Ren.”
“What?”
“.......”
“Why call me and then not say anything? Is it serious?”
Shaaa—
The wind blew long and low.
Dry branches struck against each other with a bare, brittle sound.
Luman waited briefly until the wind died, then opened his mouth again.
“It isn’t serious, but you might dislike it.”
“Just say it comfortably. I dislike more things than I like anyway, so it’s fine.”
Ren shrugged.
“Haha. Ren, really.”
“......?”
“To say something like that with a smile. That’s too much.”
‘What is too much?’
Ren looked at Luman with exactly that expression.
Luman did not answer that question.
Seeing Ren say so casually that he disliked more things than he liked, Luman could not easily bring himself to say that it hurt his own heart more.
“Ren. So you were here! You haven’t forgotten to come to my tent once your meal is over, have you?”
“Young master. You barely have time to eat yourself. Why are you ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) doing this?”
But that man was different.
Luman had thought the love confessions had become a little less frequent, but Peruan was still looking at Ren with a deep gaze.
Honey practically dripped from his eyes, and his behavior was so tender that watching it made goosebumps rise.
Luman found Peruan, who expressed his feelings as freely as he pleased, irritating. But that did not mean Luman could do anything about it.
Nor did he intend to.
After investigating a few things, Peruan had nothing especially rotten about him besides rumors about his womanizing.
Of course, if he intended to do anything foolish, Luman would immediately break his arms and legs.
“What are you doing over there?”
Luman asked casually, inwardly waiting for Ren’s sullen answer that he was not going.
“Drinking tea.”
“Tea? Ah, I see.”
But Luman’s expectations missed the mark.
Whether Ren knew Luman had grown dejected or not, once he finished his meal, he said he would be back and toddled off.
The schedule for returning to the capital was set.
The formal investigation of the underground bunker had ended. They had finished identifying the people who had been dragged there, and preparations to send them back to their hometowns were complete. Statements had been secured as well, except from a few who would have to go to the royal castle and give additional testimony.
The grueling report-writing Peruan and Tom had clung to was finished too. As he sent the reports and letters off with a rider, he let out one burdened breath.
“We’re going to leave only the search personnel here and go to the capital.”
The one explaining it to Ren was Luman.
