I Thought I Was Collecting Systems, Not Overpowered Wives

Chapter 74: Saga 74: The Verdant Pass

True to Baldric’s word, the journey to the Verdant Pass proved refreshingly straightforward, three days of easy travel through rolling countryside considerably less dangerous than anything Azure Blake had grown accustomed to over the past several months.

"This is nice," Claire said, riding alongside the merchant caravan’s lead cart, sunlight filtering pleasantly through the canopy of trees lining the road. "Genuinely, uncomplicatedly nice."

"Don’t jinx it," Yuki warned, though his tone carried none of his usual paranoid urgency, relaxed enough in the peaceful surroundings that even his instinctive caution had softened considerably.

The caravan’s lead merchant, a stout, cheerful woman named Rosalind who’d run this particular trade route for over two decades, seemed equally pleased with their hired protection. "I’ve heard stories about Azure Blake, you know. Didn’t expect such polite young people, if I’m honest. The rumors made you all sound considerably more intimidating."

"We can be intimidating when necessary," Sylvia said, though her tone carried more amusement than offense.

"I’m sure you can, dear. Just nice to see you’re not constantly scowling and brooding, the way the stories suggest." Rosalind chuckled, adjusting her grip on the cart’s reins. "This route’s usually quiet enough, truth be told. Bandits occasionally test the waters, but nothing your reputation shouldn’t handle easily."

They made camp that evening at a familiar waystation along the pass, the kind of modest, unremarkable stopover Kael found himself genuinely appreciating after the grandeur of Songrel’s cathedral and the tension of their mountain confrontation with Vane.

"Feels good, doesn’t it," Harriden observed, settling beside the campfire with his usual quiet composure. "Ordinary work. Ordinary stakes."

"Almost suspiciously good," Kael admitted, though he was smiling. "I keep waiting for something to go wrong."

"Maybe nothing will, this time."

"That would be a nice change of pace."

Adian, tending to the fire with practiced efficiency, glanced up with a knowing look. "Enjoy it while it lasts, both of you. I’ve learned over considerably more years than either of you have lived that peaceful moments rarely announce themselves as temporary. Best to appreciate them fully rather than spend the whole time anxiously anticipating their end."

"Wise words," Sylvia said, settling beside the fire with her own portion of the evening meal.

"I have my moments."

They spent the evening in easy conversation, trading stories with Rosalind’s caravan hands about previous journeys along the pass, Yuki entertaining the group with increasingly exaggerated retellings of their various battles that bore only passing resemblance to actual events, much to everyone’s amusement.

"Did you really fight a three-thousand-year-old monster with your bare hands?" one of the younger caravan hands asked, wide-eyed.

"Absolutely," Yuki said, entirely straight-faced. "Bare hands, no weapons, just pure conviction and devastatingly good looks."

"That’s not remotely how that fight went," Claire interjected.

"Details, Claire. The audience wants an exciting story, not pedantic accuracy."

"The audience deserves the truth."

"The audience deserves entertainment. There’s a difference."

Kael watched the familiar bickering unfold with genuine fondness, the campfire crackling warmly against the cool evening air, stars beginning to emerge overhead in a sky considerably clearer than anything the capital’s smoke-choked aftermath had allowed in recent weeks.

Later, once most of the caravan had settled in for the night, Kael found himself keeping first watch alongside Sylvia, the two of them sitting slightly apart from the sleeping camp, weapons close at hand out of habit rather than genuine concern.

"Feels strange," Sylvia said quietly, "having a mission where the biggest danger is probably just some opportunistic bandits."

"I could get used to it," Kael admitted.

"Don’t get too used to it. Baldric did say this was practically a vacation, and vacations for us have a habit of turning considerably more complicated than advertised."

"Fair point. Still, I’ll take the reprieve while it lasts."

They sat together in comfortable silence for a while, watching the stars wheel slowly overhead, the peaceful rhythm of the Verdant Pass settling into something genuinely restorative after the accumulated weight of Songrel’s revelations and the ongoing mystery of the Hollow Choir’s true intentions.

Somewhere in the distance, an owl called out, and the caravan’s horses shifted restlessly in their tethers, small, ordinary sounds that carried none of the dread Kael had grown accustomed to associating with unfamiliar noises in recent months.

"Ordinary," Sylvia murmured, almost to herself. "I’d nearly forgotten what that felt like."

"Enjoy it," Kael said, echoing Adian’s earlier advice. "For however long it lasts."

They sat together through the remainder of their watch, trading quiet conversation about smaller things for once—favorite meals, half-remembered childhood stories, the kind of ordinary intimacy that rarely found room to breathe amid the constant crises of the past several months. Sylvia told him, hesitantly at first, about the garden her mother once kept in the elven capital, rows of luminous night-blooming flowers that only opened under moonlight, tended personally despite her mother’s considerable political responsibilities.

"I used to help her, when I was small," Sylvia said. "Before everyone realized what my abilities actually were. Before the fear started."

"Do you still garden?"

"Not really. Never seemed to have the time, once Azure Blake became my whole life." She glanced sideways at him, something wistful in her expression. "Maybe I should start again, eventually. When things settle down enough to allow for hobbies again."

"I’d like that," Kael said. "Watching you tend flowers instead of summoning celestial swords. Might be a nice contrast."

"Don’t get used to the swords disappearing. I rather enjoy that part of myself too."

"Wouldn’t dream of asking you to give it up. Just think there’s room for both."

Sylvia considered that for a long moment, something settling warmly in her expression. "Room for both. I like that."

Eventually their watch ended, the next pair of caravan guards taking over as Kael and Sylvia retreated to their own bedrolls, the peaceful night stretching on undisturbed and quiet, carrying them gently toward whatever the remaining days of their journey through the Verdant Pass still held in store for both of them.

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End of Chapter—