Chapter 67: The Beginning of the Journey

Lunch ended peacefully, and we arrived at the first town. This town didn’t have a barrier like in Lentforce, so people didn’t go out at night. People who stay at inns, don’t leave them during the night. Therefore, they remain in the same place all night.

Alistair and I were at the best inn in this town, and I was being held by Alistair.

“No.”

“Lisburn, even if you’re small and play innocent, you are still a woman.”

I will say that I am small, and I am a woman. “Awishthair.”

I’m not playing innocent or anything. But the Prince ignored me, “You’ll be staying in the same room as Dory, so she can look after you. A noble man and woman can’t share the same room.”

“No. I’ve always taken care of Lei, and I’m not Lisburn. I’m just a hunter.”

The Prince looked at Bart while making a face that said he couldn’t stand this decision, but Bart and the others simply averted his gaze. I wanted to say that I can do everything by myself, but there are still a lot of things I can’t do yet like changing my clothes and buttoning it up or washing my hair.

“I go tho Awishthair tho change cwothhesh.”

This is probably a compromise.

“Leila,” the Prince looked at me as if to say, “You too?” but I’m still an infant. I can be selfish, so of course, I would say selfish things. Also, I even said that I can bathe and change clothes separately.

I said I’d go, but I’m not planning on saying anything that would give the Prince what he wants. He should first think about the feelings of the children who he had brought to an unfamiliar place.

But my voice doesn’t come out when I try to say this. Kyaro spoke while we were at a stalemate that didn’t even matter, “Prince, don’t be mistaken. Both Leila and Alistair came because you told them to. Don’t try to make us do what you want from the beginning.”

Clyde nodded. The Prince, who was caught off guard, couldn’t say anything, probably because commoners dared to calmly complain to him.

In the meantime, Mill casually walked towards us and took me from Alistair’s arms. He began talking without being told to by anyone, “Lei’s a noble, right? But then she got taken in by us, and we were camping together for the first month.”

“Poor thing,” Dory covered her mouth with her hands, and her voice shook.

“But you know, she has never complained about changing her clothes, or food, or about moving around.”

There’s no use in complaining. You guys did your best for me.

“And yet, she complains a lot ever since you guys came. I wonder why,” Mill said as he looked at me and I sandwiched his cheeks with my hands. His face became weird.

“Whath’re you doing?” I let go of Mill’s cheeks and laughed when he complained.

“Isn’t it because you guys are doing too many unnecessary things?” Mill’s is right. It is too constraining to do something because I’m a woman or to wear beautiful clothes and live comfortably because I’m a noble. I never felt that way when I was living alone.

Is this to break the stalemate?

“You shouldn’t separate them by gender, and you shouldn’t make them stay in the room by themselves, Prince,” Bart said seriously. “Can you not separate their rooms for their safety? I think you may have noticed, but there were people following us from a distance while we were travelling.”

The Prince’s side got noisy. Apparently, they didn’t notice. Then he should have said this sooner. I looked at Bart accusingly, and he seemed apologetic. However, he continued, “You might not have noticed them because you aren’t hunters, but that’s how it is. We can deal with Hollows, but you’re a better fit to deal with people.”

In the end, Alistair and I ended up in the same room, not because Alistair had been tenacious, but because it was easier for them to protect us if we were together.

After things were settled, Dory gave me a bath, and I changed into my pyjamas, then I sat on the bed with Alistair and played around with the magic tool box. There was a guard in the room and one in the corridor.

We practised our magic before going to bed, and the guard spoke to us in curiosity, “What’re you doing?”

Alistair abruptly turned away. Apparently, he was still annoyed because of the events that took place in the morning. So I showed the guard the magic tool box and showed him that it was glowing without the magic stone.

“Whoa, bright!”

I couldn’t help but laugh. It blinds everyone.

“Are you directly channelling your magic into that? That’s great!” The guard who had said that is also one of the rare people in Frontier who was clad in magic, even though it was thin.

“Chu wanna thwy?”

“Me? I don’t have magic.” The guard waved his hand from side to side in front of his face.

That’s strange. He does have magic. How do people determine if they have magic?

“Awishthair.”

Alistair looked at me, reluctantly.

“How do chu theww magwic?”

“Well…”

Alistair glanced at the guard. The guard tried not to take part in the conversation out of consideration for Alistair, but it seemed as if he was listening in.

“People basically have magic in Kingdom. Everyone wants to try their hand at channelling magic into magic stones when they are young. So if they play around and their magic gets pulled into the stones, then they have a lot of magic. They might make a living in that trade. Houses, where parents or relatives work with magic, might sometimes actively check their children’s magic like this.”

“How abouth in Weshther?” Wester is challenging to say. The guard puffed out a laugh. I can hear you.

“I haven’t heard of this in Wester. Lei?”

“Whath?”

“Why don’t you ask him?” Alistair abruptly turned away again. Jeez, he’s such a child.

“Onii-shan.”

“Guhee.”

What is guhee? The guard fainted in agony for a moment and said as if he had been listening, “We’re under the assumption that we don’t have magic, so we don’t check for it. Even so, sometimes we go in and out of the border between here and Kingdom, so if someone feels something at that time, then they have magic.”

Some people will be far from the border.

“There are a lot of children who have magic if their parents have it. Like Alistair-sama had said, those parents would try to see if their children have magic by testing them with magic stones.”

“How abouth Onii-shan?”

“Well, I never checked to see if I had magic or not, and I didn’t feel much when I passed the border when I grew up.”

They probably won’t feel much from the barrier if they don’t have much magic. I tilted my head and stared at the guard.

“Wooah, Leila-sama. Please don’t stare at me. Now then, Alistair-sama and Leila-sama, please get rest.”

“It’s not Alistair-sama. It’s just Alistair.” Alistair said as he covered his head with the thin blanket, and I shook my head. He really is helpless. I also got the guard to lay another bed down and cover it with blankets.

“Nighth.”

“Good night. Sweet dreams.”

We didn’t know that someone had appeared outside the window of our dark room, nor that the guard’s eyes had twinkled, nor that there was a pursuit going outside in the town.