n

n

n

n✿

nI quickly got up from my seat.

nAs a result, the hood I wore came off, but I had no time to care about it.

nIt clearly said, “It’s a way to distinguish.”

nI didn’t expect it at all, but it was the most important information for me.

nJust in case, I picked up several other books together and hurried to the entrance.

nThe old man sitting in the chair was still dozing off.

n“Grandpa.”

n“Huh…?”

nFortunately, he opened his eyes after I called him several times. I held out five or six books in my hand.

n“I’m going to buy these books.”

n“Give me only 30 pennies.”

nThe old man opened his eyes lazily, looked at the books I bought, and opened three fingers.

n“Thirty pennies?”

nAt my question, the old man nodded his head as if annoyed.

nThirty pennies was cheaper than the two skewers and juice I ate earlier.

nBut to ask further questions, he had a face that looked like he was about to fall asleep again.

nMy heart was not so relaxed to waste time with lame stories.

n“Here you go.”

n“It’s 30 pennies. Hurry up and go now. I have to sleep again.”

n“…Goodbye.”

nHaving paid the price to the old man, I quickly left the bookstore.

nPerhaps it had been a long time delayed inside, so I was a little late.

n“I need to go home soon.”

nI strode toward the deserted alleyway. I was planning to go to a place where there were no people and use magic.

nMy plan was to go home right away and read this book to the end.

nAs I entered an alley, there were five or six men that had gathered.

nNo matter who looked at them, it looked like they’re bullies, so I turned around immediately.

n“It’s annoying to make a fuss for no reason.”

nIt was when I turned around and walked a little further.

n“Hey, miss.”

nTapㅡ I heard footsteps and someone tapped my shoulder.

n“Hey. If you ignore me when I call you, I’ll be disappointed.”

nWhen I turned my head, I saw a man smiling greasily.

nWhat’s wrong with this oily-looking guy?

n“Hey, Bitter! Don’t be harsh.”

n“Bring her nicely! Pretty girls get scared.”

nBehind him, men who looked like a gang giggled and whistled.

nNo, but your name is Bitter…?

nIt goes well with his greasy expression.

nI felt like I was going to burst into laughter out of line with the situation.

nNaturally, I wasn’t scared or anything. I ruffled my hand on my shoulder and shook him off.

n“I’m in a bit of a hurry right now. Can you get out of the way?”

n“Oh, my! What should I do? We’re in a hurry, too. You’d better go with me when I’m being nice, miss.”

nThe bully showed his teeth and giggled. When I saw that, I suddenly felt ominous.

nI frowned and sighed. There’s a direct solution to this.

nJust as I twitched my fingers, a fireball appeared in the air.

n“Argh!”

nA bully named Bitter, who I saw right in front of my eyes, fell behind.

n“Hey, a wizard!”

nWhen I glanced behind him, the gang were also looking at me with their frozen faces.

n“Do you want to get out of the way now?”

n“Right, I’ll get out of the way. I’ll go right away! I didn’t know you were a wizard!”

nWhen I asked about Bitter who had fallen, he nodded his head like crazy and raised himself.

nIf you did that because you didn’t know I was a wizard, does that mean you would have done it to people who weren’t wizards?

n“Wait a minute.”

nI lifted the bodies of the bullies who were about to run away and put them next to Bitter using magic.

nNow they were unable to move even a single fingertip as they wanted.

n“From now on, don’t even touch other people. It’s going to be really fun when you get caught.”

n“…”

n“If you understand, nod your head.”

nWhen I smiled and shook the ball of fire, five men nodded at the same time.

n“You’ll have to keep my words in mind.”

nAs I released the magic that held them together with those words, they ran away without looking back.

nWhen I couldn’t even see their back that was running away, I collected the fireball.

n“Sigh… I felt good for the first time in a while.”

nThe feeling that had improved with clues I hadn’t thought of calmly subsided.

nIt was then.

n“You have excellent magic skills.”

n“…!”

nMy body jumped in shock at the sudden sound of an unfamiliar voice from behind.

nAs I turned around squeaking, a man wearing a black robe covering his whole body stood against the wall.

nThe form of covering his face with a hood was unusual.

n‘…He seems to be as tall as my brother.’

nMy heart was pounding in surprise.

nAfter a moment’s pause at my reaction, a man took off his hood and raised his hands.

nI doubted my eyes for a moment.

nIt’s not a face that could be seen in these back alleys.

nHis exposed face was worse than I expected, and contained a sense of regret.

n“I’m sorry if I surprised you. I didn’t mean to…”

nThe low-pitched sound settled clearly in my ears. I dropped my tense shoulders and shook my head slightly.

n“It’s okay. More than that, who are you?”

nThe man seemed to hesitate for a moment at my words, and he replied that he was a knight.

nA sword hung around his waist.

n“A knight?”

n“Yes. I thought you were having trouble passing by, so I tried to help…”

n“Oh!”

n“There was no room for me to interrupt.” The man smiled awkwardly as he spoke.

n‘If you didn’t have the means to protect yourself, I would have helped.’ Was what he meant to say.

nWhen I found out that he was a good person, I gently loosened my clenched fist.

n“I see…”

nThere was silence between us, smiling awkwardly.

nIt’s a difficult situation to even get out of this place, but first.

nI think we should go our separate ways now.

nAs I rolled my eyes awkwardly, I naturally saw the face of a perfectly balanced man.

nEven I, who grew up watching my father and Aaron and was immune to handsome men, had a beauty that made me nod my head.

n“But why does it feel familiar?”

nWithout realizing it, I opened my eyes and looked at the man again.

nI think I’ve seen blue eyes somewhere in contrast to ordinary brown hair.

nBut, if I knew a face like that, I wouldn’t be able to forget it, would I?

nI forgot that I had met the man in front of me and stared at his face.

nThat was the moment. Our eyes met.

n“Do you like my face?”

nWhen our eyes met, the man tried to look elsewhere.

nMy body, which was stiff as it was, trembled every time I squealed.

nNo matter who looked at me now, it looked like I was looking at a man’s face intentionally.

n“I must be crazy.”

nI hurriedly avoided the gaze, but a smiling voice was clearly embedded in my ears.

n“You can watch more closely.”

nThe mid- to low- pitched voice, which was good to hear, was still soft.

n“No, I’m sorry…”

nMy face must have heated up like a tomato now. The embarrassment rushing in made my eyelash tremble.

n“I’m used to it. If you forget such a face, you have a problem with memory.”

nI sighed deeply inside. I want to disappear from this place right away. Really!!

n“I shouldn’t have come to this alley.”

nAs always, regrets are one step late.

nFortunately, the hiccups subsided, but my embarrassment was still there.

nRather, I casually opened my mouth in the awkwardness of the silence that was better than before.

n“Hey, I think you said you’re a knight earlier…”

nThe man who was about five steps away from me smiled and nodded his head.

n“I’m a free knight, so I’m wandering around. It’s been a little over a month since I came to the capital.”

n“Really? It hasn’t been long since I came to the capital city either!” Rejoicing, I replied with a smile.

n“Where were you before coming to the capital?”

n“It was mainly in the border area. Monsters have been in full swing for years.”

nTo my question, the man smiled enthusiastically and answered kindly.

nIt’s a border… Two years ago, even in the North, I suffered a lot because of monsters.

n“How did a wizard come to the capital?”

nAs I was thinking about something else, I paused for a moment at the man’s words.

nThis is why it’s hard to hide something. I have to be careful every time I say something.

n‘Well, anyway, this person doesn’t know who I am, so it doesn’t matter.’

nBesides, I met him for the first time today, and I definitely won’t see him in the future.

nIn the first place, no one knew my identity directly in the capital.

nAfter hesitating for a while, I soon answered at ease.

n“I was from the north. I’m here because I have a family here.”

n“…The northern winters are bitter.”

nThe man nodded in response to my answer.

nFrom the way he spoke, it seemed that he had been to the north.

n“I guess you’ve been to the North, too.”

n“…Yes, I went there once four years ago. I remember having a hard time.”

nThe man answered with a soft smile with an unknown expression.

nWhere did the first awkward atmosphere go? After talking a few words, there was a corner that worked better than I thought.

nThe fact that he was kind enough to help others also helped relieve my fears.

nMary’s advice to beware of strangers had been away for a while.

n“Oh, the time’s already.. Excuse me, knight, I think I have to leave now.” I said vaguely in the sky, which had already begun to turn orange.

nMary said that I need to be there until dinner. If I’m late, I could get caught by father and Aaron.

nSomehow I felt regretful, but now it was time to go back to my daily life.

n“I see. I was happy to talk to you today.”

nAt my words, the man smiled purely and replied that way.

nThe scarlet-colored sunset reflected over that smile was beautiful.

n“I had fun too, knight.”

nIt was the first time I saw him today, but the conversation I had with him was more enjoyable than I expected, so I laughed without realizing.

n“Will you call me Lian next time?”

n“…Next time?”

nI was surprised by the sudden name, but I felt strange when I heard the word ‘next time.’

n“If you meet someone, won’t you ever meet them again?”

nI eventually nodded to the man who responded softly to my ambiguous words.

n“If we meet you again next time, I’ll tell you my name too.”

nDo you really want to see me next time? The capital’s too big for that.

nWith that kind of heart, the man who had paused for a moment responded with a playful response, and then burst into laughter.

n“It’s such a good thing for me.”

nI felt strange when I saw him blinking his eyes softly saying that.

nYou seem to know in advance that we will meet again…?

nI threw away the sudden thoughts that came to mind.

nThat can’t be true. We don’t even know who each other was.

n“Then I’ll go first. Thank you for coming to help.”

n“I haven’t done anything.”

n“But still. Thank you for trying to help.”

nIt was just to say thank you, but somehow I felt embarrassed.

n“…Then I’ll really get going. Knight, have a safe trip home!”

n“I look forward to meeting you again next time, wizard.”

nWhen I turned my head to his voice heard from behind, I saw a man smiling and waving his hand.

nSomehow my cheeks turned red at the sight, and I waved a couple of times timidly.

nThe red cheeks subsided only after walking a little longer.

n✿

n“…I have to go quickly. I’ll be really late!”

nThis time, I memorized the magic as I entered the alley.

nIt wasn’t that far from the square to the mansion, but I had to use magic to get in without being caught.

nA familiar magic surrounded my body, and when I opened my eyes again, what I saw was my room as usual.

n“Phew…”

nHaving put the books I had brought on the desk, I turned around abruptly and tried to call Mary.

nIf it weren’t for the person I saw in front of me when I turned my head.

nMy eyes, facing a pair of red rubies, trembled helplessly.

n‘…It’s ruined.’

n