The man poured another devouring kiss onto her. Maxi panted, sandwiched between the tree trunk and his body. When he gripped her buttocks tightly with both hands and pulled her close, rubbing his bulging hardness against her belly, their touching bodies heated up in an instant. Frightened by her own reaction, Maxi twisted her body strongly.
“N, no… n, not here…”
“…I’m going insane.”
He groaned and banged his head against the tree. Feeling his shoulders heave greatly, she tensed up completely. Worried that he might get angry at her rejection, the man slowly pulled his body away.
“…That’s why, when you’re next to me, it becomes like this, so sleep alone in the carriage. Got it?”
He patted her cheek lightly, speaking as if scolding a clumsy child. She barely managed to nod. The man took her hand again and walked back to the camp. Seeing them return, the burly knight who had been sitting on a rock warming himself by the fire let out a sly, smirking laugh.
“Captain, faster than I thought? Has that sword of yours rusted from not swinging it in too long?”
Riftan stopped in his tracks and shot a murderous glare at the man. But the knight laughed uproariously without showing any intimidation, teasing him further. Seeing that, the knight who had been silently sharpening his sword while leaning against a tree muttered with contempt.
“Vulgar bastard.”
“How noble is the young master of the Ricardo family, then?”
“At least more noble than the likes of you.”
“Hmph, there’s no decent human who boasts of their own cleanliness from their mouth. A guy like this will do all sorts of things behind the scenes… Ack! You bastard…!”
The man who had kicked the blonde knight’s leg jumped up and drew his sword. The blonde knight also raised the sword he had been tending to. Startled by the sudden situation, Maxi clung tightly to Riftan’s back. Riftan wrapped one arm around her shoulder and glared ferociously at them.
“Since you two seem full of energy, you’ll take turns standing watch tonight.”
“Captain!”
Ignoring their protests, Riftan walked toward the carriage. Maxi glanced worriedly over her shoulder at the men glaring at each other as if ready to kill. Riftan turned her head forward and said.
“Don’t mind those guys. They growl at each other like that every time.”
She nodded blankly. Apparently, not everyone in the same knight order got along well.
Riftan helped her into the carriage and finished setting up the tent. She sat at the carriage entrance, shining the lantern on him as he worked. After roughly stuffing a sleeping bag inside the tent, he sat on a protruding tree root nearby and began sharpening his sword.
A short while later, two knights who had gone out on reconnaissance returned holding three pitch-black birds about the size of geese. They gripped the birds’ wings and twisted them, tearing off the wingtips to peel off the skin all at once.
Maxi froze in shock. The torn wings were thrown carelessly to the ground. The knights sliced off the birds’ legs with daggers and tossed them onto the pile of feathers. Swallowing rising nausea, she hurriedly jumped back into the carriage. Even when Riftan brought roasted bird meat, she had no appetite at all.
She firmly refused his persistent urging to try just one bite and ate by sparingly adding cheese to the rock-hard bread. Riftan tore into the fatty meat dripping with hot oil and glared at her disapprovingly.
“It’ll take another day to get out of here. You need to stock up on stamina until then.”
“…I, I’m eating well.”
Since he nagged endlessly if she didn’t eat, she was forcing it into her mouth. The man raised one eyebrow as if wanting to say something, then sighed in resignation and focused on his meal. She consciously avoided looking at the pile of feathers stacked by the fire and finished eating before returning to the carriage.
As the night deepened, the air settled cooler and heavier. As the other knights entered their tents one by one and lay down, she also spread a thick sleeping bag on the carriage seat and lay down. Occasionally, beast howls and the rustling of leaves could be heard.
Feeling a chilling dread creep up her spine, she slightly opened the door and looked down at the tent where Riftan lay. Seeing his long legs sticking out from the tent eased her mind for some reason. She lay her head back on the sleeping bag and tried to sleep. But the gurgling bird cries sounded like they were mourning their savagely devoured comrades, making it hard for her to fall asleep. She pulled the blanket over her head and plugged her ears.
*** *** *** *** ***
As dawn broke, Maxi, who had finally fallen asleep, startled awake to the bustling noises. In the bluish light of early morning, the knights were one by one donning their armor. She hurriedly washed her face like a cat and combed her hair with her hands. The knights, who had roughly eaten bread and water for breakfast, soon announced departure. She too simply ate water and bread and sat on the seat.
Shortly after, the carriage began rolling vigorously. Maxi dozed off in the rattling carriage. Contrary to her fears, the journey proceeded smoothly. The knights, who were firmly prepared for monster appearances, grumbled that not even a single common forest goblin was seen, as if luck had run out. She inwardly retorted that she didn’t want to see any goblins.
After running non-stop for about half a day, they ate lunch at a small spring, then rode the carriage again. Holding the handle tightly all day in the shaking carriage to not fall over, her arms and shoulders ached, and her head throbbed.
But she couldn’t say to rest a bit. Enduring the headache tightly for another half day, when it got dark all around, she even felt relief. She half-heartedly ate the food Riftan handed her, and as soon as she spread a blanket on the carriage floor, she fell asleep.
Thanks to sleeping deeply, the next day was much easier. They moved from early dawn, and by the time the sun was high in the sky, they exited the Yudical Forest. Feeling the carriage’s shaking decrease markedly, Maxi sighed in relief.
Unlike the uneven and very rugged Yudical Forest, the Anatolium Plains had well-maintained roads. She opened the window and looked at the blue grass and white wildflowers covering the gentle hills. After seeing only trees boringly for a while, the open view felt so refreshing.
“That mountain over there, once we cross it, is Anatol.”
Riftan, leading the knights from the front, approached the carriage and spoke. She peeked her head out the window and looked ahead. At the end of the vast plain, pale mountain peaks stretched long like a fence.
“Hang in there a bit more. In two days… no, if fast, we can arrive by tomorrow evening.”
She almost let out a groan of relief. If she endures just today, tomorrow she can sleep in a bed. Imagining soaking in a bathtub full of hot water, then filling her belly with freshly baked soft bread, thick vegetable soup, pie loaded with jam, and fragrant fruit wine, and lying on a clean, cozy bed to sleep, she endured another half day.
The carriage finally stopped only when the sun began to slant. As soon as she got off the carriage, she looked for Riftan. Being left alone among the knights who ignored her, she felt dazed like a lost child.
She carefully pushed through the men busily preparing camp. She saw Riftan watering the horses by the river. Running there quickly, the man turned with a puzzled face.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
Unable to say she followed because she was anxious not seeing him, she bent down pretending to wash her hands. Riftan squatted beside her and washed his hands and sweat-dampened nape following her. His long, sturdy nape glistened like copper heated red by the sunset. Maxi secretly watched him comb back his hair messed up by the wind with wet hands and roughly tidy it. Suddenly, his beauty pierced her heart.
“Hey, your skirt is all wet.”
He suddenly stared at her feet and said. Maxi, who had been staring blankly at him, startled and stood up. The skirt, already stained with dust from not changing for days, was soaked and hanging limply.
With a flustered face, she grabbed the hem and shook off the black mud. Riftan, staring at that, knelt on one knee in front of her.
“I’ll do it.”
“I, It’s fine…!”
Startled, as she tried to back away, he glared slightly. Remembering him grumpily asking if ‘it’s fine’ was her habit, she hesitated, and he grabbed the skirt, soaked the muddy part in the river water, lightly rinsed it, and squeezed out the water.
Not knowing what to do, she bent down following him. Weren’t knights a race that valued honor more than life? Knights didn’t bow their heads casually except before their sworn lord. Yet he often bowed before her.
Was it because he was from commoner origins that he had no aversion to lowering himself? She worried that the other knights might find it ridiculous seeing him bow before a worthless woman like her.
“Your body has gotten cold. Go to the fire and warm up.”
Riftan said calmly while washing his dirty hands. She carefully climbed the hill so the skirt hem he cleaned wouldn’t get dirty again. The chill night wind roughly swept the field toward the west. She pulled the hood tightly to keep her hair from flying, and watched him water the horses while soaking his pant hems. Before she knew it, the sun had gone behind the mountain, and indigo darkness settled all around.
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