I slept in the hut, and when I woke up, the rain had stopped.
The ground was still slippery, but the sun was rising, and it was not impossible to move.
We hurried to get away from our pursuers.
I just walked for about half a day.
I almost fell because I stepped on the slippery moss, but Rodrick held me up.
He held my forearm with a firm hand and then studied my complexion.
Watching me sweat and panting, he said to the other mercenaries.
"Let's take a break at this point."
The mercenaries moved in unison and prepared to rest.
They replaced my meal with a few jerky pieces in the morning, so they seemed to be trying to prepare the food properly this time.
They got water from a nearby stream and started boiling the stew.
The meal was quickly prepared, and I soon accepted Rodrick's bowl of stew.
When I drank it, my empty stomach warmed up.
When the stew was halfway empty, Rodrick said.
"Come to think of it, I was so busy running that I couldn't introduce the kids properly. The brunette sitting on the left is Bram."
The young man with brown hair and a simple impression bowed his head.
"Man, it's an honor to meet you. I haven't met many nobles, so I don't know how to greet them."
I couldn't really look at his Impression when he was moving around in a hurry, but now he looks very gentle and young.
Still, if Rodrick brought him in himself, he's pretty good.
I nodded to Bram and replied.
"You don't have to think too hard, just feel comfortable. Thanks to your help, I got out safely, so I should be grateful."
"Thank you, lady."
Bram replied, and this time the red-haired woman sitting next to him spoke up.
"I'm Hertha. I've only been on spy missions, but it's my first time as an escort, so I'm very excited! Oh, don't be anxious for the first time! I worked as a hunter when I was young, so I'm used to this kind of mountainous area! I'll take you safely!"
Hertha also opened her mouth, and the atmosphere was different.
I thought she had sharp eyes like a cat, so she was reticent and like a knife.
"I ask you to take care of me. I'll do my best to make sure I don't have to make it hard."
After Hertha's introduction, the man with the dark golden hair introduced himself for the last time.
"My name is Dirk. I've been mostly assigned to escort the top. By the way, it is a great honor to meet the person I admired so closely."
"...admired?"
When I asked, Dirk bared his white teeth and said.
"When I visited Lennon Territory on a mission before, I saw Your Highness, the Grand Duchess, from afar. When you come to the ceremony."
"Ah, you're talking about the first time I came to Lennon. Did you see it then?"
"Yes, I saw it from a distance, but I could see it at a glance. She is as beautiful as the sky has fallen, so I could see her even if I closed my eyes."
It was not normal to see him casually saying that I was a "beautiful woman from heaven."
I smiled awkwardly, feeling a little overwhelmed, and a brighter smile spread across Dirk's lips.
"It was really hard to take my eyes off it. Your white and beautiful face sparkles with golden eyelashes every time the sun shines, like a mysterious fairy in a dream."
"Dirk, you seem to be full of energy when you see all the useless words, don't you? Then the stew will give way to me."
It was Rodrick who cut off the endless worship.
With a quick hand, he snatched the stew from Dirk and slurped it.
"Ahh! Captain! I haven't eaten it all yet!"
"You looked so energetic that I thought you had eaten it all. If you're hungry, you can chew jerky here."
With that, Rodrick threw the small jerky bag he was wearing around his waist to Dirk.
Dirk, who smelled the old beef jerky, gave him a wry look.
He began to eat the beef jerky he had received and the stew that was still in the pot.
Meanwhile, Hertha said to me with a somewhat excited face.
"Anyway, thank you very much for your continued support! You have to stay with us when we get back to the Mercenary Headquarters! Are you already excited to work with us?"
"Huh? ...We go back to headquarters?"
After escaping safely, I planned to get a fake identity and a small mansion and live a leisurely life.
But when I go back to the mercenary headquarters, I'll be with them all the time?
I had never heard of it, so when I looked at Rodrick, he replied with a smug face.
"If you run away as much as you can, but you stay alone and get caught again. It's a big deal. Our mercenary group doesn't handle things poorly enough to overlook it. We will protect you until the end. To do that, it would be best to live with the mercenaries."
"...?"
"Oh, you don't have to hesitate. I won't charge for anything. You can't be so mean to a good customer."
I didn't want to, but when he arbitrarily chose my own place to live, my head went blank.
I thought for a moment that I wouldn't have to do that, but I gave up.
'It's not wrong to hear it. There is a limit to how much you can hide by yourself. Until I am sure that the Kishian is not chasing me. It is safer to get help from the mercenaries.'
It was so sudden that I was confused, but it seemed better to follow Rodrick's words for now.
I tried my best to answer with embarrassment.
"Yes. Please take care of me until it's safe."
Hertha chuckled and rejoiced, and Bram shyly replied that he was also very pleased.
Dirk looked a little gloomy because he had chewed on the old beef jerky, but he also asked me to shake his hand with a happy face, as if he had always done so.
Although Rodrick intercepted the handshake in the middle.
I felt that the future, which had just felt dark, had become a little brighter.
***
After missing Elona, Kishian prepared to leave for the Barony de Leiden.
It was the first territory that the escaped mercenaries would arrive at if they crossed the mountain.
It was not enough to simply send a letter asking for cooperation.
He wanted to go and unleash the soldiers to find them.
But before he left for the Barony, there was someone who came to visit him earlier.
It was an emissary sent from the Imperial family out of nowhere.
He had been sitting in the reception room, waiting for the Grand Duke to appear, and as soon as he saw Kishian's face, he immediately announced his purpose.
"I see Your Highness. What have you been doing? I have come to visit Her Highness the Grand Duchess to the Imperial Palace at the order of His Majesty the Emperor."
He had to go find Elona right away, but his request was so absurd that he sat down to hear the story.
He wondered what kind of nonsense they were talking about.
Even though he was jokingly saying that he would take Elona away, there was no smile on his face.
Kishian looked into the serious mug and asked what he was most curious about
"Why do you want to take the Grand Duchess away? It's so sudden."
"Because His Majesty is very concerned."
The emissary continued.
"Hasn't it been a long time since Her Highness held a wedding ceremony and spent time in the Grand Duke's territory? However, she never came to the imperial palace, so His Majesty is also concerned. I want to ask her face-to-face and say hello to her..."
"Regards...Well, since when did you pay so much attention to it?"
The emissary shrugged his shoulders at Kishian's somewhat irreverent tone.
Kissian showed his fishy smile without hiding it.
"Wasn't he not interested? Strangely, you always give it to me like you're kind to me, and now you come and ask how you're doing."
Albrecht, the Emperor's protege, was willing to borrow Elona's hand to assassinate the Kishian.
If the Emperor really cared about Elona, he would not have done it.
The Emperor couldn't have thought that if things went wrong, even Elona, who intervened, would be harmed.
The man who was willing to put blood on his daughter's hand to kill his nemesis belatedly asked about her well-being, and all he could do was laugh.
The emissary looked a little embarrassed, but quickly calmed down and replied.
"What father is not interested in his daughter? His Majesty has never given up your worries for a single day."
"You're so shameless that you laugh at me all the time. I don't think I can communicate with you, so I'll try to guess His Majesty's true intentions myself."
A tense look loomed over the emissary's face.
In a laid-back tone, he said.
"His Majesty has just noticed. Who is the real savior? Isn't it?"
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