Chapter 43 - To the Great Forest

On the day Renée’s journey began, she and the apostles were exchanging farewells outside Elia’s gates.

Standing before the carriage, Bargo was the first to speak.

“You must always put your health first. Avoid skipping meals if you can, and if you feel your health suffering during the journey, be sure to tell that fellow. Understood?”

“Oh, yes.”

His words were filled with concern. Renée answered with a small smile, then bowed her head to offer her final farewell.

“I’ll be going, then. Stay well, everyone.”

“Krek is healthy. You must be healthy too, Saintess.”

“Marek does healthy good.”

“Goodness, our Saintess has grown so much already...”

After the twins’ tearful words and Rohan’s wistful remark came Trebo’s soft voice.

“Have a safe journey. Be sure to take good care of your health...”

His voice faded toward the end. Puzzled, Bera turned his gaze toward Trebo and found him staring longingly at Renée’s upper arm, smacking his lips.

A thought came naturally to mind.

What sort of impious behavior was this, even at a time like this? Had all those beatings still failed to knock any sense into him?

Anger stirred in Bera, and he glared at Trebo with bloodshot eyes. Trebo, who had been smacking his lips, flinched at the glare and hid behind the twins.

What a sly little opportunist. Bera clicked his tongue at Trebo’s behavior, then bowed his head to Bargo.

“I will send a letter whenever we stop in a city.”

“Good. Take proper care of her.”

“Yes.”

Their brief exchange over, Bera climbed into the carriage holding Renée’s hand and instructed Norn to set off.

The carriage jolted, then began rolling forward with a rattle.

* * *

Three days into the journey, with two days left before they reached the Great Forest, Renée sat in the carriage and suddenly squeezed her eyes shut in despair.

‘I can’t think of anything!’

Naturally, it was because of her thoughts about Bera.

What if Bera fell head over heels for the elves? What if he declared that he would never leave the Great Forest? What if, even after she dragged him out, he ran away back to the Great Forest?

Over the past several days, her thoughts had spiraled without end until they finally entered the realm of delusion.

That was how delusions born of anxiety worked. Spend all day consumed by them, and before long, those thoughts began to feel real.

A week was more than enough time to etch into Renée’s mind a Bera utterly smitten with the elves, and elves laughing mockingly at her.

As a result, her hostility toward these elves she had never even met had soared sky-high.

‘H-homewreckers!’

She had loved him first! She had only ever held his hand! Who were they to turn up late and steal Bera away?

Renée’s tightly clenched fists trembled.

It was a truly pitiful sight, but there was no one beside her to point out her delusions. There was only Bera, watching her tremble all by herself with concern in his eyes.

“Saintess, is your seat uncomfortable? I will ask Sir Norn to stop so we can rest a while.”

“N-no!”

Renée jolted as she answered. Then, with trembling movements, she pulled up the corners of her mouth and made her expression as cheerful as she could.

“I-it’s been so long since I went anywhere that I’m nervous...”

“There is no need to be nervous. I am here to keep you as comfortable as possible. If anything troubles you, please tell me at any time.”

You’re the one making me uneasy.

... Those words rose to the tip of her tongue.

Renée forced down the words struggling to escape her mouth, then nodded.

* * *

That evening, they reached the last city on the road to the Great Forest.

Bera passed through the city gates, followed the main street, and stopped the carriage outside an inn before addressing Renée.

“Saintess, we have arrived in the city. I intend for us to stay here tonight and leave again tomorrow afternoon. Would that suit you?”

“Oh, that sounds good.”

“Very well. We shall do that.”

This was the first city they had stopped in over nearly three days, having taken the fastest possible route to the Great Forest.

For Renée, who had spent all this time within the Holy Empire, three days of camping must have been quite a strain.

Now that they were in a city, Bera felt he ought to give her the best opportunity possible to rest. Recalling the information he had gathered about the city before leaving the Holy Empire, he continued his explanation.

“This is said to be the largest inn in the city. Many reviews praised its food in particular. Is there anything you would like to eat?”

“Hmm... Anything is fine with me. What about you, Bera?”

“I am not particularly picky about food either... Shall we leave the ordering to Norn and go to our rooms first?”

“Yes, please.”

As he continued speaking, Renée kept agreeing, all the while thinking:

‘Why is he being so nice to me?’

Of course, her suspicion was absurd. Already swallowed up by her delusions, Renée found every kindness from Bera suspicious.

It was because she had recalled something the attendants in the Holy Empire had once said.

[“They say married men are nicer than usual to their wives when they’ve done something wrong!”]

[“Oh, that’s right! I hear they usually treat their wives better when they’re cheating because they feel guilty. Isn’t that ridiculous? They should just treat them well in the first place.”]

Applied to their current situation, those words made considerable sense.

... Or so Renée thought.

In her present anxiety, Renée had overlooked a few facts.

First, Bera was not her husband. Second, Bera always treated her with the utmost care. Third, Bera had not even met the elves yet.

Her misunderstanding was so baseless that it was difficult to know where to begin correcting it, but none of that mattered to Renée, who was already convinced that Bera’s heart had strayed elsewhere.

Renée continued keeping a close watch on Bera as they entered the inn, unpacked in their rooms, and headed down to the first-floor dining room after being told their meal was ready.

Without realizing it, she tightened her grip on his hand, holding it more firmly than usual.

“Food’s ready.”

It was Hella.

Renée, who had been focusing all her attention on Bera until then, jolted and answered.

“Yes!”

Her voice rang out loudly.

Several patrons at nearby tables turned to look at Renée. Bera drove their gazes away with a snarling expression, and only then did the meal begin.

As they were eating...

“Ah, Sir Bera?”

Norn broke the silence. Feeling that he ought to do something to ease the rather awkward atmosphere at the table, he continued.

“How about a drink? Just enough to enjoy ourselves a little.”

Normally, that was not something a guard should suggest, but naturally, that did not apply to Bera and Norn.

Those who possessed divine energy could dispel intoxication whenever they wished, and neither man’s training was so shallow that a little alcohol would dull his senses.

Of course, they could stagger about drunk if they wanted, but in the entire Holy Empire, Rohan was the only eccentric who did that.

Bera considered Norn’s suggestion briefly, then nodded, deciding that since they were in a city, he ought to give Norn and Hella some rest as well.

“Very well. You can stop now and eat, too. I will attend to the Saintess’s meal.”

“Yes, will do.”

At their exchange, Renée lifted her head and turned toward Bera.

Her already thoroughly worn-down mind had begun another strange flight of fancy.

‘Alcohol...!’

Debauchery! Juvenile delinquency!

There was nothing wrong with Bera drinking, since he was already an adult, but Renée, who had spent the past several days fretting, somehow disliked the idea. Clenching her fists, she asked:

“Bera, are you going to drink?”

“Yes. I thought a glass or two would do no harm... Is something wrong?”

Renée jolted. She had no answer to his question.

Her mind began spinning, searching for a suitable excuse, something she could say to stop Bera from drinking.

Naturally, however, she had no logical reason to stop him. After agonizing over it, Renée finally chose self-destruction.

“I-I’ll have some too...!”

“Pardon?”

“I want to drink too!”

She blurted it out without thinking, seized by sudden panic. Her reasoning was, ‘I’ll drink all the alcohol Bera was going to drink.’

... But Bera, unaware of her motives, shook his head, thinking, ‘Her adolescent phase is flaring up again.’

“Saintess, you are underage.”

“Urgh...!”

Faced with Bera’s perfectly reasonable objection, Renée felt her mouth clamp shut.

‘What do I do?’

Her thoughts were sharper than ever as she tried to devise an excuse that would keep Bera from drinking, that would prevent him from taking even a sip once his glass arrived.

Of course, no such excuse existed.

Groaning over a problem that yielded no answer no matter how hard she thought, Renée finally waved her hands about until she caught Bera’s arm and gripped it tightly.

“Th-that’s an order!”

She abused her authority.

Silence fell over the table.

Norn, holding the drinks that had just been served; Hella, accepting a glass from Norn; Bera, facing Renée.

Everyone froze.

At the sudden silence around her, Renée belatedly realized what she had done and jolted.

“Uh, um...”

Cold sweat trickled down her forehead. Her eyes squeezed shut again.

‘... Idiot!’

Now that her head had finally cooled, she could see what a disgraceful spectacle she had made of herself.

If her head had cooled, why did she feel so flushed? Surely she ought to feel cold now that she had cooled down, so why was she so hot?

While Renée occupied herself with these pointless questions...

“... As you wish.”

Bera spoke.

Looking at Renée with a touch of pity in his eyes, Bera reflected.

‘I must not be too restrictive.’

What if restricting her today left her resentful and led her to a life of alcoholism later? What if she ended up becoming Rohan’s drinking companion?

Besides, although she was still underage, few children her age would never have tried alcohol.

Concluding that he could deal with the aftermath if Renée made a mistake, Bera placed a glass in her hand.

Renée felt her embarrassment surge even higher.

Although her blindness made it impossible to check Bera’s expression, she could vaguely sense his feelings through his voice.

Shuddering at the shame coursing through her entire body, Renée thought:

‘N-now that it’s come to this!’

She decided to brazen it out.

“We will need to order another drink.”

“No!”

“... Pardon?”

“Since this is my first time drinking, please stay sober, Bera.”

There was no logic. Only an order.

In truth, she could simply have done that from the beginning, but Renée had no room to consider that now.

Renée’s stomach burned.

She was embarrassed.

If there had been a hole to crawl into, she would have hidden in it.

Self-loathing filled her entire body.

Feeling that self-loathing, Renée tipped her glass.

Now that things had come to this, she might as well find out what alcohol tasted like.

What followed... was obvious.

Renée had never been taught how to dispel intoxication.

In other words, drinking would simply make her drunk.

Like so many youngsters drinking for the first time, Renée kept downing alcohol without even knowing her own limits—and ended up creating an embarrassing episode she would regret for the rest of her life.