The village of Merte, home of Lars and Ilaria, was a farming village on the lower reaches of the Kale River.

　It was seven days' ride from the city of Ishka. It was a remote village near the border with the Holy Kingdom in the south.

　As I held the village of Melte in my sights, I remembered what Lars had said to me earlier.

　I was so fed up with the poor life that I ran away from my hometown - Lars said so, but as I look at it now, I see that the houses are few and far between, the fences and gates are poorly fronted, and the villagers' clothes are poorly made. The villagers' clothes were poorly clothed, and they were not rich and lively.

　They were not flattered by the poor quality of the fences and gates, and the clothes of the villagers were poorly dressed. It's a good thing that the youngsters are so energetic that they want to run away from the village.

　--It's not surprising that they are lacking in vitality, considering the fact that they are currently suffering from a plague. I'm sure the original Mertesian village is a bit more cheerful than this.




　With that thought in mind, I approached the village gate.

　Crow Solas had hidden in the woods quite far from here. It was a consideration so as not to startle the villagers.

　The two men who were guarding the gate looked at me as I arrived alone, without a horse, with a merchant's burden on my back and a black katana at my waist, with a look of alarm on their faces.

　A young man of pre-20 years old and a mature man who appeared to be about 40 years old. It was the young man who opened his mouth first.


''Stop right there!　You don't look familiar, but what are you doing here!

When I heard that this village was suffering from a plague, I brought you some berries with antidote properties.


　He responds to the stubborn question with an affable face.

　As mentioned earlier, it would take about seven days by carriage from Ishka to this village. Naturally, Ilia had not yet arrived.

　On the way to this village, I thought about picking up Iria, who should be somewhere on the road, but I said to Iria, "I got the antidote fruit for your hometown!　Come on, come with me and go help your mothers! It's clear from the fire that they won't give you a second thought when you reach out to them with Lars-like refreshment.

　I have no doubt that Ilaria will be wary of me and suspect me of having some kind of intention.

　If I was to enter the village with such an Ilaria, my suspicions would immediately spread to the rest of the villagers.

　That would have been awkward.



　So I decided to enter the village ahead of Ilaria in order to gain the trust of the other villagers.

　Once a favorable sentiment is instilled in them, they won't take whatever Ilaria says later on as is.

　Besides, there is Ilaria's mother in this village. If they wanted to shoot the general, they should have shot the horse first.



　The two gatekeepers, especially the young one, seemed to doubt me for a while, but then they changed their faces at my next words.


I was asked to do so by Lady Lunamaria of the Hayabusa Sword. I heard that the leader of the Hayabusa Sword, Lord Lars, and the warrior priest of the god of law, Ilaria, live in this village. They asked me to be of help to them if I could, and that's why I came here.

The Falcon Swords.... you know Lars and his friends?

Yes, sir. Thanks for all your help. I'm sorry. My name is Sora.


　After saying his name, he quickly searched the expressions of the two men in front of him.

　If these two gatekeepers knew the name of the "Parasite" or the recent duel with Lars, they would have reacted with a strong rejection.

　Or if they knew the name of the "Blood Smoke Sword" or the rumored dragon knight, they would not be able to remain unresponsive.



　However, there was no significant change in their expressions.

　Melte's village was far away from the royal capital and Ishka, and there was a distance from the main roads of the Canary Kingdom.

　Hence, the speed at which information is transmitted is slow, and the quality of the information that is transmitted is probably also poor.

　Perhaps Lars and Ilaria's family might have been informed of the details in a letter or something, but - no, I don't think they would bother to tell their own party's wrangling and shame to their families.

　Well, if they find out, I don't care if they find out. It will all be revealed when Ilaria comes anyway.

　In the meantime, I'm determined to sell my debt to the villagers as much as possible.




　After a few more exchanges, I was allowed to enter the village.

　It's a natural precaution to invite a newcomer to the village.

　The destination is the church located in the center of the village.

　I was told that this is where all the villagers suffering from the plague are kept together.


I wonder if those berries are really effective against diseases?


　The young man who has been leading me here asks me suspiciously. Incidentally, this is the fourth time I've been here.

　According to him, this young man is a friend of Lars' from his days in the village. He said to the old gatekeeper, "This man will show you to the church himself! It was obvious that he didn't trust me, even from the fact that he was loudly insisting that he didn't trust me.

　Whether this was due to personality or the closed-minded nature of the village is unclear, but in any case, there is no point in repeating "it's okay" to this kind of person. This is proven by the number of times I've been choked up, four times.

　If I'm honest, I'd rather ignore it, but that could get me in trouble. I pushed back my disgusted expression and repeated the same answer as before.


'That will become clearer when you actually try it. If you're worried about poisoning or decay, I'll poison you first.

'Of course it does. I'm asking if it helps with the disease!

'Let me assure you that it works. If it doesn't seem to be doing any good, punish it to the fullest extent.

All right, don't forget what I said. Also, Mr. Sailor is busy. If you interfere with Miss Sailor or do anything disrespectful to her, I'm going to beat you out of her in a heartbeat!

Yes, sir.


　He is slightly annoyed by the young man's persistence, but keeps a smile on his face.

　If he caused a disturbance here, he would not be able to gain the trust of the villagers.

　In addition, the young man's name is Sailor, which he has been mentioning a lot since a while ago.

　It is the name of the woman in charge of the church, who uses recovery magic to heal the villagers.

　I have heard that Ilaria's fighting and recovery magic was inherited from her mother. It's unlikely that there are many magic users in such a rural village, so it's highly likely that the person in charge, Sailor, is Ilaria's mother.

　I'll have to swallow some irritation to make a good first impression on her - I might inadvertently intimidate the young man later when I bring Klau Solas with me, but that would be a minor detail.



　With this plan in mind, he opens the door to the church.

　At that moment, a sweltering odor blows into my face from inside, and I can't help but raise an eyebrow.

　When I look, I see quite a few people lying on the floor.

　I could see old men and children, but I could also see working men. There were not five or ten of them, and I knew that far more villagers were affected by the plague than I had expected.



　To be honest, I didn't put much stock in the plague. The cause (Basilisk) and countermeasures (Jiraiya Ookus) are clear.

　In fact, the problem was almost resolved within Ishqa.

　However, it seems that once we leave Ishqa, the plague still rages on.

　The poor quality and quantity of information flowing to the frontier has just been confirmed by me myself the other day. Naturally, information about the plague is also stagnant, and the people of this village are probably still in fear and anxiety.



　Thinking about this, I look for the person named Sailor.

　It wasn't long before I found the person I was looking for.

　I hear a voice that sounds like a singing prayer. The clear tone of her voice is like a hymn to God, and it puts the listener's mind at ease.

　As soon as they were bathed in the soft light emanating from the woman's palm, the sick man's breathing, which had been groaning in agony, visibly calmed down.


　Perhaps it was a miracle of detoxification, or perhaps it was a recovery of strength. Either way, the exercise of a miracle usually takes more time to take effect.

　I could tell from a distance. That woman, she's a pretty good user, and at a very high level.

　Perhaps she's Sailor - as if to affirm my speculation, the young man who had led me here bounced his voice.


''Sailor-san!''


　In response to the voice, a woman in a priest's uniform turns around to me.

　-- At that moment, the woman and I's gaze met head-on.

　She was more than 30 years old in age. She has long black hair and kind eyes. The white skin and modest atmosphere.

　I wondered if she would look like this if she had her "sharpness" removed and her "composure" given to her.


　When I first met Ilaria, I thought she looked like Ayaka, who was an ex-married woman, but I think her mother looked more like my mother, who died.

　The color and length of her hair is similar, but somehow, the atmosphere is similar.

　The way she wore her long, black hair tied in a single bun behind her head, prioritizing ease of movement, also reminded me of my mother's appearance as she strolled through the garden.


　Upon closer inspection, the woman's face oozed fatigue, reminiscent of the hard work she had done to date, and her frayed hair stuck to her forehead. The dark circles in her eyes and the laxity of her cheeks could not be hidden either.

　But while they may enhance a woman's attractiveness, they will not detract from it. At least that's what it seemed to me.