Evian was a place that felt like home to Yona. This world, where she had fallen, was Evian, and it was here that she was taken in by Sister Aege, leading to the Yona we see today.
However, even as she gazed at Evian, Yona couldn’t bring herself to enter.
The city gate of Evian was visible from afar.
The guards standing at that gate were still there, and the vague outline of Evian behind them looked unchanged, yet Yona could not step into Evian now.
At this hour, with the sun high in the sky, it made no sense to sneak over the city gate, and passing through the gate itself felt equally absurd.
“Doesn’t it seem like the guards are more on edge than before?”
As Alex pointed out, there seemed to be more soldiers guarding the city gate.
When Yona and her party left the village, there had only been two individuals on duty at the gate.
Sometimes during shift changes, there would be a total of four—two on duty and two substitute guards—but usually, it was just two.
But now, there were eight.
It didn’t even seem like it was shift change time; eight soldiers were thoroughly checking anyone entering Evian.
“…Did they know we were coming?”
Yona pondered suddenly.
She had escaped with Alex, which had led to a wanted notice being issued.
If the notice had spread nationwide, it was only natural that they would be pursued, and surely, Ludvik and Priest Vigrind would be included.
And—
It wouldn’t be hard for Vigrind to guess that Yona might head to Evian.
‘Is Vigrind in Evian?’
But maybe not.
It’s hard to say they wouldn’t know she was from Evian, so it might just be that they ramped up security for that reason alone.
For Yona, it was better if Ludvik and Vigrind weren’t around.
If they were, she would have to give up on sneaking into Evian.
She had come all this way with the single-minded determination to meet Sister Aege, and giving up now felt like too big a loss.
“For now, I’ll go take a look. Among us, I’m the one whose face isn’t known, right?”
James said, thumping his chest confidently.
With no one knowing his name or face, James was actually the best candidate to scout out the situation in Evian.
*
“What will you do if the hero’s party is here?”
While waiting for James, the sun had already set, and thinking he wouldn’t return until tomorrow, they hastily made camp.
Fearing they might be discovered while hunting, they settled for preserved food, and instead of building a proper campfire, they just rolled up in their sleeping bags, huddled together.
Yona, without answering Alex’s question, was gently stroking Rubina’s hair, who had fallen asleep.
Alex gently brushed aside the sleeping Rubina’s hair without answering her question.
—
The Hero’s Party—
Even if they were here, it wasn’t particularly frightening.
Alex couldn’t remember, but Yona had already fought both Ludvik and Priest Vigrind before.
Certainly, if Vigrind and Vervaria were summoned, even the Hero could easily be overpowered.
However, if that happened, sneaking into Evian would be forever out of reach.
In a situation where they couldn’t even drop by Evian—or meet Sister Aege—they would have to set off in search of the next Demon.
What frightened them was that situation, not Ludvik or Priest Vigrind.
“…Well. I need to find a way to sneak in unnoticed. Fighting would be the worst option.”
Ideally, they should quietly sneak into Evian without causing a stir and just meet Aege.
Then, they would connect with Ceres and head to the Katus Empire.
“Ludvik… huh.”
As Alex murmured quietly, Yona’s playful side suddenly crept up.
Since Alex’s restrictions were lifted, he knew that he was quite a strong Cathedral Knight.
If he engaged seriously, he might just manage to handle Vervaria’s avatar.
So, similarly, if Ludvik had fought quite fiercely against Vervaria’s avatar—
“Baldy.”
“I have a brain.”
“…Baldy.”
He didn’t bother changing the nickname.
It was silly, but somehow Alex felt like he had to be a bald guy.
“If you and Ludvik fought, who would win?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Alex answered Yona’s question.
“Of course I would win. Overwhelmingly. That Hero wouldn’t stand a chance unless he had the power of the Heavenly God. Even if he’s gold-ranked, he’s no match for a Cathedral Knight.”
“Really? Still, with that glaive, wouldn’t Ludvik be a bit stronger?”
Alex frowned and stared at Yona.
He could guess what she was getting at, but if he laughed it off, it felt like losing.
If anything, the Hero was stronger because he was with Saint Vigrind, but isn’t Yona a Saint too?
Sure, their compatibility was the worst, and just being close would give a tingling, prickly feeling—being together would actually be a drawback.
“Hey, do you fight with just weapons? If Mr. Ludvik is the glaive Hero, then I’m the Cathedral Knight of shield techniques. I have two weapons, you know? A hammer and a shield.”
“Hey, a shield isn’t a weapon.”
“Huh? Yona, you just don’t know. Shields can be deadlier than you think. It’s a blunt weapon in its own right! I’ve taught Sekti over and over—”
Ah.
At that moment, Alex abruptly stopped talking.
“…That foolish idiot.”
With Kaiyak’s long sigh, the air around them felt so cold it was as if frost had descended.
Yona, radiating coldness, was glaring fiercely at Alex with eyes like daggers.
Yona was glaring at Alex with her eyes wide open.
The fiery glow in her orange eyes was flickering as if flames were igniting, making it seem like she was ready to burn Alex to a crisp at any moment.
“Say that again.”
“Uh, I mean—”
“I said say it again. Sekti is a girl’s name. Think carefully before you speak.”
Alex felt an urge to smack his own mouth with his fist.
Thanks to the conversation dragging on, they ended up here.
But then again, did Yona really have to react this way?
“Well, Sekti was actually Scarlet, you see. Scarlet was my subordinate. Before I got cursed and kicked out of the Cathedral, she was one of my Knights. I taught her battle techniques too.”
“…So you knew Scarlet was a girl?”
“Ah, no! No way! That’s not it. I really didn’t know.”
That was the truth.
Scarlet wasn’t that big in the first place, and he never imagined she’d use an armor that complemented her divine-like presence.
He had never seen Scarlet without her helmet, and had he known, he would have avoided getting mixed up with her in the first place.
“Alex.”
“…What?”
Alex couldn’t bear to meet Yona’s gaze and lowered his eyes gradually.
Before he knew it, Yona had carefully wrapped Rubina in her sleeping bag and was now sitting across from Alex, glaring at him.
“Look at me.”
“…Why?”
“Look at me.”
Yona’s long, white fingers approached, lifting Alex’s chin.
His gaze was supposed to meet hers, but Alex couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eye and kept his eyes cast down.
“Be honest. What was your relationship?”
“I told you, there was no relationship at all! You saw that tiny little thing. What could there possibly be?”
“…I didn’t say anything about a romantic relationship. Are you feeling guilty?”
Yona’s voice began to get colder.
The chill in her tone was making Alex feel a shiver, but at the same time, he kind of liked it.
“No, I said it was a subordinate relationship! If you keep asking, what do you think people will assume? That it’s romantic?”
“Is it really nothing?”
“I told you it’s not!”
Yona’s gaze ran up and down Alex, scrutinizing him.
That bald guy— not right now, but this guy might be lying or maybe not, but it didn’t seem like there was anything going on.
“…But why didn’t she recognize you?”
“That’s because I was under a curse. Didn’t I mention? When cursed, everyone who had a relationship with me can’t recognize me. Plus, I’m bald.”
“Sounds like a lack of affection. If it were me, even if you were cursed, I would have recognized you.”
“…Huh?”
At that moment, Alex made a peculiar expression.
There seemed to be something in Yona’s words that couldn’t be easily overlooked.
I think I caught something in Yona’s words that I shouldn’t have ignored.
“If it’s because you lack affection that you didn’t recognize me, and you said no matter what, you’d recognize me, then that means you have feelings for me too!”
“…Uh, uh-oh?”
Alex gazed at Yona with bright eyes.
The spark that had been blazing in Yona’s eyes suddenly dimmed, and her face turned so red that it could not be hidden even in the dark of night.
“No, that’s not true. Yona, according to your words, that means you have feelings for me too.”
“…Nope.”
“That’s definitely not true. What you said is exactly that! You said Scarlett didn’t recognize me because of a lack of affection. Then you said you would’ve recognized me even if you were bound by some golden rule!”
Alex leaned forward while sitting, nearly invading Yona’s personal space, causing her to yelp and scoot back.
“I-I didn’t mean it that way!”
“No way. That’s the only way to interpret it!”
“Ah, no! I really didn’t mean it like that!”
Yona’s face was so red it looked like it might explode.
It was as if steam was about to rise from her glowing cheeks. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to meet Alex’s eyes and was instead avoiding his gaze.
“Enough with the nonsense. Just go to sleep.”
Perhaps it was Kaiyak’s words that served as a signal, as Yona quickly dove into her sleeping bag next to Rubina, turning her back on Alex to lie down.
“I-I’m going to sleep, so don’t bother me.”
Kaiyak shook his head in disbelief, chuckling softly to himself.
Alex couldn’t hide his snickering laughter.
The night deepened, and only the sound of crickets filled the woods.
*
“So, I hear this lady knows you all well. The fact that she even knows you’ve grown some hair on your head means I can’t not believe her.”
Even while listening to James’s words, Yona frowned at the carriage.
Specifically, she was staring at the golden-haired fairy standing in front of it.
“If you want to enter Evian, this is the most reliable way. Is there a better option, pretty one? If so, I’ll step aside.”
There was no such better option.
According to Vervaria, she was either a watcher or a leader, obviously an Alebians.
Even though Alebians and Ceres were thorns in her side, if she didn’t accept their help right now, things would get hard for her too.
“…Alright, I got it.”
Yona nodded, glancing between Alex and Kaiyak.
Having been used plenty, it wouldn’t be bad to use them a bit this time as well.
With that thought, Yona climbed onto the carriage brought by the Alebians.
Finally being able to step into Evian, which she had only seen from afar, made her heart race despite herself.
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