The weather in the second half of the Month of Passion (June) was already very hot. Beads of sweat kept rolling down Joanna’s and Betty’s faces while they were safeguarding each side of the coach. Not to mention Simon, whose shirt inside the armor was completely wet.
Nevertheless, no one ever made a single complaint. Simon, walking ahead of the coach, had already driven away several beasts rushing down from the mountains. This was obviously his responsibility as a guard, but the fact that he beat off the vicious beasts without startling the horses definitely impressed Lucien.
In contrast, Chris, who was bragging about being a "real man" all the time, was now dragging his feet on the ground with his body slouching from the heat.
Inside of the coach, since Lucien kept his eyes closed all the time, and Lena was not talkative at all, so Mr. Wise had no one to talk to. Finally, he took out a pile of music sheets from his suitcase to kill his time.
The only sounds were made by the baby, who cried from time to time, and then Lena would apologize and try to pacify the baby.
At around seven in the evening, it was getting darker. After talking to Lucien, Simon started to look for a camping site where they could spend the night. Experienced as Simon was, he soon settled on a spot on the lee side of a small hill.
Surrounding the coach, Lucien’s three guards quickly build up three tents. One for the three ladies, one for Simon and the coachman, and one for Mr. Wise. The coach, of course, was saved for Lucien.
Watching the busy guards walking around and carrying things, Lucien deeply felt the importance of money. If, in the future, he planned to travel on his own, Lucien had better become a middle-rank mage and learn the third circle spell Sorcerer’s Cabin first.
The campfire was lit up, and the smell of food was wafting in the air. While Joanna and Betty were heading for the nearby brook to take a bath, Simon and Mr. Wise sat down around the campfire and started to chat casually.
"It is said that, early in the Dark Era, the land here once belonged to a black sorcerer." After hearing the talk between Simon and Wise about the tale of vampire and black sorcerer in this country, Lucien joined them to listen, "And then he was killed by the Church."
Lucien still remembered what he read in Natasha’s study.
Simon, surprisingly, was actually pretty talkative, "People just love exchanging mysterious and scary things. You know, they’re always ear-catching and they can be used for frightening kids who’re not willing to go to bed at night."
Mr. Wise did not really believe the rumors, "Every town and village has a chapel, but people just like the feeling of thrilling."
While they were talking, Joanna and Betty were coming back. Their wet hair still dripped a little and was a bit messy. The two ladies, while walking back to the campsite, immediately caught the eyes of the two bards who were camping nearby, and Chris was with them as well.
The guys started to heckle Joanna and Betty with loud whistles, and one of them even took out his lap harp and started to play a romantic and flirting folk song, as they were eyeing the two ladies up and down.
It was definitely not the first time that something like that happened to Joanna, and she remained quite calm. However, in contrast, Betty was pissed off.
"Betty, just ignore them. Come here." Joanna sat down beside Simon and lightly stirred the soup in the pot hanging over the campfire.
"But they’re not stopping!" Betty’s face flushed, and she glared at the bards with anger, which led to another round of guffaw.
"I’ll go." Simon stood up and walked toward the other campsite.
When Simon came in front of the two bards, Chris said to him, "Simon, what’s wrong with my friends singing and playing music here?" Casting a side glance at Simon, Chris said to him, "They’re my friends. You’d better leave us alone."
As he was talking, Chris was wiping his great sword in a pretended casual way.
Simon was a good guard. Knowing that he was still with a commission, Simon knew he should avoid extra trouble at that moment.
"Chris, you’d better watch out next time," Simon said to him in his low voice.
On the other side, Joanna was trying to comfort her younger sister, "Betty, they’re just the same as the bastards we met in the tavern before."
Betty, however, rose her pitch high and shouted at the bards, "Awful music! They call themselves a bard, but I don’t know how they can make a living with this awful playing!" Betty’s voice was crispy.
Then she paused a bit, as if she was trying to figure out a way to make her point more persuasive, "Mr. Wise, the gentleman with us… He can play way better than them!"
When she realized that she was not supposed to involve her employer in it, Betty looked at Wise with an apologetic face.
Mr. Wise, however, did not really mind. He nodded gently to show his understanding.
"Oh, really? A random guy can play music better than me?" The two bards stood up and walked closer to them.
One of them said, "If what you said is true, I’ll apologize to you. But if it’s not, you have to give me some of your personal... goods... for example…" He looked straight at her body and laughed.
Betty’s face flushed again. She looked at Wise again for help. However, he was still sitting there, showing no intention to "fight" for her at all.
Betty felt rather regretful for her own words. Wise might have no idea how to actually play. After all, he mentioned that he was just heading for Korsor to study music.
Then, Betty almost burst into tears.
Lucien looked at Simon on the other side and nodded, giving him a hint with his eyes. Then, Simon’s right hand slowly reached to his sword at his hips.
At this time, Wise stood up and smiled, "Although I’m still learning music and learning how to play, I would like to do Miss Betty this favor."
"I’m not gonna lend you my musical instrument," one of the bards said to him coldly.
Wise walked directly back to his tent and took out his own lap-harp from this suitcase.
When he started to play, the beautiful melody instantly caught everyone’s ear and heart. Wise’s song was full of feelings and every single detail was handled very well.
When his playing ended, Betty was the first one who started to applause. As she was clapping her hands joyfully, her eyes first worshipped Mr. Wise and then shifted to the two bards.
The face of the bard who made the bet with Betty turned grim. He wished he had picked on the black-haired young man who remained silent over the other side, instead of the one known as Wise.
"I apologize, then." After a short while, the bard kept his words and returned to his own campsite with his companion, where Chris was still sitting, looking rather upset.
After seeing Mr. Wise’s talent, both Joanna and Simon became more enthusiastic about talking to the young man, not to mention Betty.
"Mr. Wise, can you play Mr. Evans’s Canon in D major with your harp?" Betty’s face was glowing with anticipation.
Wise gently nodded and started to play the music piece recomposed by Lucien, which reminded Lucien of his friends in Aalto. He decided to send them a letter through the Musicians’ Association when he arrived in Korsor.
In those two months, Lucien only sent them one letter.
When Wise’s playing ended, dinner was ready. Betty said to Wise directly, "Mr. Wise, if I had not fallen in love with Lucien Evans’ music, I would become your music follower!"
"I think you’re even better than some of the musicians in Korsor," Joanna agreed.
There was an even bigger smile on Wise’s face. After all, Wise regarded the comparison between him and that talented and famous musician as a great honor.
When Wise went past Lucien, he still showed a humble smile.
"You were being really modest, Mr. Wise," Lucien said to him, also with a smile, "You played very well."
...
Deep into the night, almost all of them were sound asleep, except for two people.
The campfire stretched the shadow of a short sneaky figure that approached, making the cast darkness tremble on the background, in the rhythm of the flickering flame in the middle of the camp. Suddenly, the shadow stopped, as if it was waiting for something.
The very moment Betty yawned, the shadowy figure immediately jumped to the back side of the coach. It secretly opened the window and swiftly sneaked into it.
It was Chris, who always bragged about being a real man.
He carefully closed the coach window and stood up. A complacent smile appeared on his face. Everyone thought he was a Greatsword Warrior, whereas in fact Chris was an experienced thief, and his short figure helped him a lot at that matter.
"…Simon, Joanna, and Betty, what will happen if your employer’s fancy sword is missing?" thought Chris silently in his mind. "I bet he’s gonna be really, really upset."
As he turned around and looked for Lucien’s sword, Chris was also excited. He knew that the fancy sword was definitely worth a lot. After selling it, he maybe would have enough money to buy a lord title.
That was what people called ‘kill two birds with one stone’.
However, within the next second, Chris found out that both Lucien and his sword were missing.
"What happened?!" He had no idea.
When Chris was about to leave the coach, the fancy sword that he was looking for was pressed against his throat.
Chris shuddered and immediately kneeled down.
"My lord! Please forgive me!" Chris realized that Lucien actually had the level of a real knight, or he would not be able to discover his plot.
"Right or left?" asked Lucien calmly.
"Wh… what?" Chris was sweating.
"Right hand or left hand? Which one do you want me to chop off?" Lucien repeated.
"My… my lord, please forgive me!" Chris burst out a cry, "I have information… information to tell you!!"
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