The Lazy Swordmaster Chapter 92:
They couldn’t have Andal teleport them on the way back .
So, that meant that they had to experience the long distance travel from Rainfield all the way back to Solia .
“So, back then, that happened . ”
Riley thought it would be a bother to have extra people tagging along . However, fortunately, it wasn’t all bad .
“Really?”
One of the good things was that he won’t be bored on the way back .
“Why didn’t he just smack him or something?”
“Because our commander was the youngest there . In terms of skill, he was second to none . It was ridiculous . ”
Someone said that reality was more like a fiction than a fiction .
The stories from the mercenaries were more interesting than fictions . Riley, who usually took a nap during the afternoon, opened his ears wide and tuned in to their stories .
“I really thought he was insane . He was telling us we should charge in to something we couldn’t even tell if it was really there or not . We just gave up trying to convince him otherwise . ”
It felt like he was lying here and there . However, even when Nara was boasting about slaying an ogre, he wasn’t lying . Nara’s stories felt real .
“Tell me more . So what happened?”
“What do you think happened? Our commander couldn’t hold it anymore . He exploded in anger . ”
While the carriages were on the move during the morning and afternoon, they spent their time chatting on top of the carriages .
“Shall we rest here for a while?”
“Okay . The horses are exhausted too… and the place looks good too . ”
Whenever they had to give the horses some rest or had to stop because it was the nightfall, there was one more thing Riley got to see . It was another good thing about having them tag along .
“Well then, Ms . Nainiae, shall we go stretch ourselves?”
“If you are fine with me, okay . ”
While they were resting, while the campfire was going on, to make use of the free time, Nainiae and Nara decided to do sword practices together . It was Nara’s idea .
“You can’t use magic, okay?”
“I know . ”
Tadak . Tadak . [Sound of the campfire wood cracking . ]
With the campfire going on, Nainiae and Nara stood in front of the fire . They aimed their weapons, which were carved from woods, at each other .
“The time limit is three minutes . I’ll be the judge . The side that scores most hits or disables the opponent is the winner . Do you understand?”
Rorona, who was an archer with good eyes, took on the role of being the judge . After the countdown, Nara and Nainiae’s duel began .
‘As expected of Young Master Riley’s servant . ’
Nara was exchanging blows with Nainiae . He spun his spear in circle and mumbled .
‘She’s not like the first time . Her skill improved substantially . It’s surprising . ’
She was not using magic . However, Nainiae’s skill was significantly improved in comparison to their first duel . He was surprised .
‘I’m still better when it comes to techniques . Still, she is no pushover… She might surpass me eventually . ’
Although it was a practice, a duel was a duel .
Nara decided he won’t go easy on her anymore . He sharpened his eyes in the middle of the duel and charged in to strike her in the gap in her defense .
“Kuk?!”
Nainiae cringed in light of Nara’s calculated attack . She lost her balance and tilted back .
“It seems like you are conscious about your right hand . In a real fight, if you mind things like that, you won’t last long, Ms . Nainiae . ”
The duel was decided . Nara pulled away the tip of the wooden spear, which was aimed at Nainiae’s neck . He tapped the spear at his shoulder and then tilted his head side to side .
“Ms . Nainiae?”
“…”
This was her third practice duel .
Up to her second duel, she responded promptly to Nara’s advices . However, this time, for some reason unknown, she was just sitting there with a blank look in silence, frozen .
‘Is she upset about losing?’
Nara got closer to Nainiae . He furrowed his brows .
“Ms . Nainiae . ”
“… Yes?”
Nara saw that Nainiae’s face was full of sweats . Nara was going to tap her shoulders, but he retrieved his hand and called Rorona .
“Rorona, could you bring some towels here!”
“Ah, yes!”
It seemed she noticed that something was not right . Rorona rushed to the carriage and brought a towel .
“Oh my… You are sweating a lot… Here . Please wipe it off with this . ”
“Ah, Yes… thank y…”
Thump .
Nainiae held the towel that Rorona handed to her . However, because of her shaking hand, Nainiae ended up dropping it to the floor .
“Ah, I’m sorry . ”
Embarrassed, Nainiae blushed . She carefully picked up the towel and used the part that didn’t get dirt on to wipe off her neck .
“Excuse me, Ms . Nainiae . ”
“Yes?”
She responded promptly this time .
“By any chance… Is it because of what you told us before? Is that why your body’s condition is…”
Nara only knew that Nainiae’s lifespan was very limited . He didn’t know exactly how long it would last . He asked carefully .
“No, it is not really… . ”
Nainiae avoided Nara’s eyes . She had her right hand hidden behind her back . Fiddling with the right hand, she blurred the end of her sentence .
“Not really? What’s not really?”
As a woman, Rorona could tell Nainiae was hiding something . Rorona brought out her bow and looked at Nainiae .
“Try holding it . ”
“Pardon?”
“Your sword . ”
“Ah, okay…”
Rorona was asking in a serious tone . Not able to say no, Nainiae held the wooden sword in front of her .
“You are holding it firmly, right?”
“…”
Nainiae was not able to give a response .
Rorona tried pushing Nainiae’s wooden sword with the side of her bow .
“… Ah . ”
Her hands, which were shaking, were not able to hold the sword until the end . The sword was dropped to the ground .
“…”
Nainiae’s condition was more serious than it appeared to be . Nara cringed big time and looked at Nainiae .
“You fought a duel with me in that condition?”
Nara thought that Nainiae’s response was slower and her strikes were weaker . Nara had extremely infuriated look on his face .
“Ms . Nainiae, if you are ill, you should just say so… Why did you fight in this condition?”
Nara crossed his arms and scolded Nainiae .
Rorona turned her body toward the carriage .
“Please wait… I’ll report this to Young Master Riley . ”
Perhaps because he didn’t nap during the day, he was already asleep in the carriage for the night .
“… Wait!!”
Nainiae quickly raised her hand to grab Rorona’s arm . Nainiae bit her lips .
“Please wait, Ms . Rorona . ”
Nainiae’s hand was shaking so much that Rorona could hardly feel any strength in her grip .
Feeling desperation in Nainiae’s hand, with a saddened face, Rorona stopped and turned to look at Nainiae .
“To Young Master… Please don’t tell him . ”
“Ah, why?!”
“…”
Frustrated, Rorona raised her voice . In response, Nainiae lowered her head with a downed face .
“Don’t… Please don’t tell him . ”
* * *
The two carriages took two short breaks around noon and one long break during the dinner time .
As always, today, they found a suitable place for the evening and were resting .
“Are you guys not going to duel today?”
Riley didn’t see the duel last night because he went to sleep early . Sitting on the carriage’s steps, Riley asked .
“Ah, about that…”
Nainiae, who was preparing lunch with Rorona, broke cold sweat and blurred the end of the sentence .
“My condition isn’t so good today . Nothing good will come of having a duel at this time, not to me nor Ms . Nainiae, so… I told her that I’ll be taking a break today . ”
Nara stepped in and answered for Nainiae .
Nainiae secretly sighed in relief . She casually turned his head, but her eye met with Riley’s .
‘… Ah . ’
Nainiae flinched and quickly turned her head away to hide her face .
“…”
Although she quickly turned her head away, Riley was still steadily staring at the back of Nainiae’s head .
Nobody could tell what Riley was thinking . As if he was examining something, he was glaring at Nainiae as if he was going to burn a hole through her with his gaze . Eventually, Riley turned his head, looking uninterested .
“Excuse me, Ms . Nainiae . Does the Young Master really know about it?”
Glancing over at Riley, Rorona asked Nainiae .
“…”
Nainiae responded with silence .
“Just tell him . Your health is getting worse, so you will need to rest . ”
Nainiae shook her head left and right as the response .
“Young Master would understand that much! Driving the carriage is not very hard . Also, even if he doesn’t, our commander can drive it for you, so for now, you should rest and…”
Clank .
Nainiae avoided the question by bringing out the dishes for the lunch . Avoiding Rorona, Nainiae walked away .
“…”
Looking at the back of Nainiae, frustrated, Rorona sighed big enough to make the ground sink .
“Ha…”
“It’s frustrating to watch Ms . Nainiae . ”
“… No . ”
Before she realized, Isen was next to Rorona . He picked up a sandwich and mumbled as he ate . Rorona, with her arms crossed, disagreed .
“I understand her a little . ”
Isen tiled his head side to side .
“…?”
“There is a thing like that . ”
Rorona decided to postpone explaining it . Just like Nainiae, Rorona picked up some dishes and sandwiches and started to walk .
“Um?”
Holding a dish with both of her hands, Rorona was about to give Nara his sandwich . She suddenly stopped walking and raised her ears .
‘Something is coming?’
Riley noticed it before Rorona . With his ears wide open, he had his head turned to the direction of the sound .
“Carriage?”
“It is a carriage . ”
Rorona mumbled . Having heard that, Riley, now sure of it, picked up a sandwich that Nainiae prepared and said it .
“I think there are many of them . Should I go check it out?”
The rumbling sound on the ground was pretty loud . It seemed like there were many carriages heading this way .
“Do as you wish . ”
Riley was certain that the carriages were going to pass through where they were . He chewed on the sandwich with an annoyed face .
“I’ll go check it out then . ”
Rorona gave the dish to Nara . She jumped up to a tree nearby .
“… Nainiae . ”
With Rorona gone to identify the carriages, Riley, who was taking care of a sandwich, quietly called Nainiae .
“Yes, Young Master . ”
“Isn’t there something you should be telling me?”
“…”
Having heard his question, Nainiae fell to silence for a moment . She smiled awkwardly and asked,
“Is the sandwich to your taste?”
Having heard the question, Riley gave a blank stare at Nainiae . He peeked a smile and raised his hand .
“… Yes . It’s not bad . ”
He patted her on the head . Nainiae could not be happier . She was smiling, satisfied . She even forgot the pain .
“I’m back . ”
About three minutes had gone by .
There were sounds of fallen leafs cracking . Rorona, who went to investigate, came back .
“Who was it?”
Nara, who was chewing on the sandwich, asked . Rorona, who landed on the ground gracefully, swung her ankles around and responded .
“They were all mercenaries . ”
“Mercenaries?”
“But why do you have that look on your face?”
Rorona looked displeased somehow . Nara tilted his head side to side and asked .
“It was Kabal Mercenary group . ”
“Kabal? In that case, that **** Kabal is there too?”
“Yes, he was . ”
“Ugh . That muscle head **** is there?”
Riley was listening to the conversation . It was right around when Riley started to tilt his head side to side because of the stories about some mercenary he didn’t know .
“… Wow, look who is here?!”
Swarming…
There were sounds of a few dozen carriages swarming to the place . Kicking up the dust, they stopped in the open space where Riley’s group was resting .
“The commander of the Lightning Boulder group is here?”
Of the few dozen carriages, from the one in the front, there was a muscular man that jumped down from the driver’s seat . He made ‘boom!’ sound upon landing .
“…”
Concerned that dust might get on Riley’s sandwich, Nainiae used magic and hid her hand . She fiddled with her hand, opening and closing it .
“Small world, really! I didn’t think I’ll run in to you again in just half a year . Are you coming from Rainfield?”
The man was wielding a mace that was becoming of his size . Kabal came right up to Nara and asked .
“What about you, Kabal? Are you going to Rainfield?”
Kabal was a giant . Nara had no choice but to tilt his head up and look at Kabal . In uninterested tone, Nara replied .
“You are just a 15 year old kid, but you sure know how to run your mouth? That’s right . I’ve heard that an old friend of mine is going to be in Rainfield . I just finished a job, and I’m headed over there . ”
Kabal shrugged his shoulder and explained . Nara wiggled his brows and said,
“Is that so? In that case, won’t it be best for you to get lost, fast? The summer is almost over . What are you going to do if you get there by fall and catch cold?”
The boy was picking a fight with the man . Kabal tapped his thigh loudly and laughed over it .
“Haha . Bullcrap! A cold? That’s something a little pip-squeak like you should be worried about . ”
“This works out well . There is an archbishop with similar aura as you walking around in Rainfield . ”
Nara was glaring at Kabal with deadly eyes . When Nara mentioned the archbishop, Kabal furrowed his brows .