Chapter 1 - Part 1
But it didn’t come off easily.
If she fakely says that she likes him because of the medicinal effect… Oscar will surely be hurt.
She didn’t want to hurt Oscar, who was still weak at heart.
“If you are ready, come with me.”
Oscar informed Lelia.
Lelia was forced to keep her mouth closed and follow him.
The wagon, which was waiting in front of the building, started as soon as the two got on.
“Where are we going?”
“…I said we are going to the Holy Neutral Zone.”
“…”
Lelia glanced out her window then at Oscar who was sitting opposite her.
Perhaps… It would better to wait until Oscar was ready to talk to her.
After a few days, his mind may relax a bit.
And she thought she needed to get a detox drug and drink it as soon as possible. At this rate, it seemed that the misunderstanding would only further deepen since it felt like she couldn’t ever have a proper conversation with Oscar.
[Once I get to the neutral zone, I’ll have to write a letter to my uncle or to the Superion family.]
[At least, even if I can’t go back right away, I need to tell them not to worry because I’m safe.]
***
Whether intentional or not, there was beautiful scenery outside the window.
Looking at the surroundings, she was in awe.
It looked so beautiful that she could forget all the troublesome situations and worries for a moment.
Just as Lelia was about to say, ‘Oscar, look over there,’ without realizing it, she looked at him and suddenly stopped.
“…”
Oscar had his gaze fixed on her, blinking his eyes slowly.
While Lelia looked out the window, Oscar had been staring at her the whole time.
Lelia was stunned for a moment.
In a situation like this, as she looked like she was mesmerized by the beautiful scenery outside… she thought Oscar would think of her as an idiot. A complete idiot.
After that, Lelia just glanced at the window and kept her mouth shut.
There was a strange tension in the carriage. Lelia felt heavy, and her breath was suffocating her.
But she soon relaxed, shook her head and began to fall asleep.
***
When she opened her eyes, she was still in the carriage.
The seat, where Oscar had been sitting, was empty.
Startled, she lifted her head and realized that someone was sitting next to her.
It was Oscar.
Lelia only then realized that she must have been resting her head on Oscar’s shoulder the whole time she was asleep.
It seemed that Oscar had moved to the seat next to her.
“…”
Lelia looked at Oscar, holding her breath.
Oscar had his arms crossed, and eyes closed as if asleep.
Thump thump
She began to hear her throbbing heart.
For a moment she felt the urge to touch Oscar’s sleeping face, but she held back and turned her head away.
The scenery outside the window had suddenly turned into the city.
If her memory was correct, this was…
[Have we already arrived in the Holy Neutral Zone?]
As she thought about it more, it made her more confused.
It was an incredible speed that would not make sense unless the wagon had moved through a rift or crack in space.
The style and atmosphere of the buildings outside the window, and the attire of the people on streets were different.
She felt a strange feeling as images of the landscape overlapped with the buildings she had seen as a child.
If it was her last trip, as Oscar said, she could understand why he had chosen this place.
Forgotten memories of her childhood came to mind, one by one.
While she was looking out the window, the carriage suddenly stopped.
When she turned her head, Oscar was staring at her as he had woken up.
Lelia was startled and avoided his gaze, but Oscar was the first to get out of the carriage as if nothing had happened.
“Get off.”
“…”
Lelia followed him out of the carriage and looked at the building in front of her.
Naturally, she couldn’t get inside of the temple in the Holy Neutral Zone.
This street was once a small downtown area where they used to go out and enjoy a break.
Upon entering the small inn located there, there was an old woman and a young woman in what appeared to be the counter.
“…”
The black-dressed attendant skillfully checked in and got the key, and Oscar instructed him to do something.
In the process, Lelia stared ahead at his side.
The young woman at the counter was looking at Oscar with shining eyes.
However, Lelia was concerned because her gaze was strangely tenacious, and at a glance, it was full of rational curiosity.
But… In this city full of priests who wear only white robes, a woman with that kind of appearance and that kind of look…
Everyone deserved attention.
“Follow me.”
Oscar said in a low voice.
Lelia glanced at the young woman and followed Oscar.
In the process, the woman and her eyes met. When she received her gaze, it revealed hostility and vigilance, and she felt strange.
The room was not big but everything was clean as if new.
Lelia had a lot to do here.
The first thing she had to do was get ingredients for the antidote and cure her addiction, then she had to write a letter to the capital.
But, strangely, she lost her strength.
Even after Oscar took Lelia inside her room, he left without saying a word.
She tried to follow him.
Clack Clack
Of course, the door was locked from outside.
“…”
She opened the window wide in frustration. She was on the 3rd floor anyway, so she couldn’t jump down, but she was thinking of relieving her frustration.
But the carriage still standing in front of the building and Oscar next to it caught her eye.
The one who had driven the carriage so far was a man in black clothes, who seemed to be a servant of Oscar from the Hraesvelg Empire.
Oscar was saying something to him.
“…”
Looking at Oscar from afar, it felt a bit strange. He looked cold and blunt as ice. He had no expression on his face and looked like a doll.
It was time to open the game screen in order to gather some materials because she continued to feel strange.
She saw the young woman from the counter coming out of the building then approach Oscar.
As Lelia watched the woman, she said something to Oscar with a tempting smile.
[What are they talking about?]
Without a moment to blink her eyes in curiosity, she continued to watch them.
Oscar seemed to respond coldly, but soon he smiled.
Lelia was perplexed.
He had such a wonderful smile that made her feel strangely mistaken.
The woman seemed to smile when he smiled, but he turned back with a cold expression on his face…
[…Why was he smiling?]
She felt a little absurd.
[He locked me in this room and didn’t say a word…]
She felt resentful when she saw him smiling at a woman he had never met.
In the meantime, she couldn’t take her eyes off the two of them and looked at them.
The young woman was beautiful and attractive with blond hair reaching her waist.
Her attire was shabby, but standing next to Oscar, she seemed to be tall and looked like a fairy.
Her stomach suddenly became hot.
The young woman was actively engaged in the conversation. Then, she pointed somewhere with her finger, and Oscar said, “Ah!”
When Oscar responded to her, Lelia shrugged her shoulders in disappointment. The young woman looked lovely and cute.
That was the end.
Oscar went straight somewhere, and the woman entered the building.
“…!!”
It was then.
In an instant, the man in black, who appeared to be Oscar’s servant, lifted his head.
When he met Lelia’s eyes, Lelia was startled and closed her window.
She felt like she was caught spying. She was just looking out the window…
“…”
Lelia sat on the bed with a sense of uneasiness.
“Is that person watching me?”
She was speechless.
Not only did he lock her up in this small room and walk around, he even put surveillance on her.
“Are you really going to take me to the Hraesvelg Empire like this?”
Oscar’s mind was suspicious.
[Is it because Oscar really likes me?]
It was a precious relationship that comforted him as a child. Isn’t that all? Like a stabilizer that reassures him when she is around. Far from love.
She thought it might be something like that. Oscar might be mistaking that in his mind…
As she was thinking, she suddenly felt like she had a hole in her chest. Blood felt like it was pouring horribly from the small hole.
“It’s because of the medicinal effects.”
Lelia shook her head. It must be because of the medicinal effect that she felt upset, upset, and dejected.
After being absent-minded for so long, it had become dark outside.
‘It’s night, but where is Oscar? Is he even coming back?’
She kept imagining strange things in her head.
Lelia decided to think of something different.
It wasn’t the time to do this in the first place.
Lelia immediately opened the window, turned on the game screen, and pressed “Material Search.”
However, it was impossible to explore.
- Press the “Material Search” button again in front of the carriage’s path.
While looking at the information message, Lelia called the Alchemy inwardly.
[Alchemy]
- ╭∩╮（︶_︶）╭∩╮
*(Σ(·Д·)!?‼???)*
“…….”
- Mistake! Did you call me, master?(▽▽`))***
*(=͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇))*
This is really…
Lelia was already frustrated, but even Alchemy seemed to be teasing her, so she bit her lips hard.
[…I need to collect ingredients.]
- Yes, collect them. (•ᴗ••é)و
*(What do you want me to do?)*
[…I have to go outside to collect ingredients, but the door is locked. I can’t go out through the window. And… I think someone is watching me outside the window.]
[Danger Loopin’s item!] (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧₊˚
- I recommend “Medicine that makes you mistake me as a passerby”!
- Also, when you open a locked door, it’s a thief’s item!
<There’s no safe I haven’t stolen. [Use the universal key!>
Oh, that would work.
Lelia immediately made the medicine, took it, and made the key items, as Alchemy suggested.
Fortunately, she had all the ingredients.
Then she approached the door and roughly put it in the keyhole under the handle, and the door opened.
“Let’s hurry up and collect the ingredients.”
She couldn’t figure out where Oscar was anyway, and she didn’t know if he was coming back soon since she wasn’t going to run away.
Lelia hurried out of the building.
She passed by a man in black who was watching her. Even though she passed by openly, he did not recognize Lelia.