Inferior wheat juice slid down his throat, bringing a rough, scratchy sensation, as if he had swallowed a handful of sand.
Leo swallowed it with a hint of melancholy, the noisy buzz of the tavern filling his ears.
A bath cost one silver coin, and a moldy, broken room also cost one silver coin.
He squeezed the few pathetic coins in his pocket, his thoughts drifting away as he began to miss Earth’s twenty-four-hour hot water showers and soft Simmons mattresses.
"...Have you heard? The Sylvania Kingdom has just fallen, and now the Akhtar Duchy to the west is in turmoil again..."
"The world is restless... Tsk tsk..."
"If you ask me, the Sylvania royal family had it worst. I heard they were all executed by the church! Not a single sprout left!"
"Isn't that the truth? The church said they were descendants of some evil path. This holy war seems to have been led by the Holy Light Church..."
"Hey, hey, the Baron's illness seems to have gotten even worse, hasn't it?"
"Has the successor been decided?"
"Need you even ask? It's definitely the eldest son, Leon..."
The noisy discussions around him drifted into Leo's ears in fragments.
Led by the Holy Light Church, was it...
Leo raised his wooden cup, about to take another sip to calm his nerves.
Suddenly, the fingers he had resting on the edge of the table stiffened slightly.
Hum.
An extremely faint, almost imperceptible ripple of mana suddenly came from the third-floor room—the 【Mana Threads】 he had set up on the windowsill had been tripped!
Leo's pupils constricted abruptly!
Bang!
He slammed the wooden cup onto the table, splashing cheap wheat juice all over it.
Amidst the startled gazes of everyone in the tavern, he lunged like a pouncing cheetah, roughly pushing through the crowd. He took the stairs two at a time, racing toward the third floor as the wood creaked beneath him.
Did someone sneak in?!
Reaching the door, Leo didn't hesitate for a second.
Bang—!
The old, dilapidated wooden door was slammed open by the full force of his shoulder!
Amidst flying wood splinters, Leo lowered his center of gravity and rushed into the room like a gust of wind in a defensive stance, his fingertips already gripped around a fast-cast 【Wind Blade】.
However.
The sight before him caused his tensed nerves and movements to freeze instantly.
I’ve seen this scene in a light novel before...
There was no enemy.
There was no assassin.
There was only a room filled with misty, humid steam carrying the scent of cheap soapnut.
Beside the small wooden tub in the center of the room, Lucrezia was sprawled awkwardly on the floor. She was haphazardly wrapped in a soaked, coarse cloth towel that covered the vital areas, but the large patches of snow-white, delicate skin were still dazzling enough to make one's head spin.
She seemed to have tried to stand up after washing, but her foot had slipped, causing her to lose her balance and fall. Her hand had instinctively reached for the windowsill, just happening to touch the 【Mana Threads】 Leo had set up.
At this moment, her slender, fair leg was twisted unnaturally, and her white ankle was visibly swelling with a red flush.
Crystalline water droplets dripped from her radiant, wet silver hair, tracing over her cheeks flushed from shock and pain, finally vanishing into the gap of the towel that could barely cover anything, outlining the budding curves of the young girl—flat yet still possessing a delicate rise and fall.
Her crimson eyes were wide open like a startled fawn's. One hand still clutched a slippery piece of soapnut, while the other instinctively gripped the towel at her chest tightly.
She was completely stunned.
The air seemed to freeze.
Leo maintained his charging posture.
Lucrezia maintained her fallen posture.
The two stared at each other.
Three seconds later.
"You... you... you..."
Lucrezia's brain finally rebooted, and a heat even more scalding than the steam surged to the top of her head. The overwhelming shame even made her forget the sharp pain in her ankle.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!"
A high-decibel scream loud enough to flip the roof exploded within the small room.
"Small fry! Pervert! Thief! Scoundrel! Get out of here right now, AAAAAAH—!!!"
Whish—!
The soapnut she had been clutching turned into a lethal 'hidden weapon,' infused with the girl's lifelong shame and mana, as it accurately struck Leo right on the forehead.
Thwack.
A crisp sound rang out.
Leo didn't dodge or hide, taking the 'physical attack' head-on.
These lines, these actions, I've seen these in light novels too...
He expressionlessly wiped the foam from his face, the ready-to-fire 【Wind Blade】 at his fingertips quietly dissipating. He spoke in a flat, almost 'emotionally wasted' tone:
"I thought you were being attacked."
He glanced at her obviously sprained ankle, then at the rickety door panel he had just broken.
"Since you're fine, then I'm fine too."
With that, he turned around, straightened the poor door panel, and forced it back into the doorframe.
Bang!
...
Half an hour later.
Both of them had changed into clean, coarse cloth clothes and were sitting in the most remote corner of the tavern's first floor.
There was still a clear red mark on Leo's forehead—the soapnut's masterpiece.
Lucrezia kept her head buried low. Her silver twin-tails had been recombed; though they were still a bit frizzy, the refreshing aura of a 'beauty emerging from the bath' made her practically glow, drawing the gazes of many tavern patrons.
Her slightly chubby little face was red from her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears. She was gnashing her teeth, her gaze trying to poke holes in Leo; if looks could kill, Leo would already be riddled with wounds.
"Two servings of wheat bread and two servings of minced meat stew."
Leo slapped twenty-two copper coins onto the table, completely ignoring the murderous gaze from across him.
The food was served quickly.
A few pathetic bits of minced meat and some vegetable leaves floated in the stew, and the wheat bread was hard enough to be used as a brick for self-defense.
But for the two of them, this was already the most decent 'proper meal' they had had in nearly a week.
Just as the two were burying their heads in their food, the atmosphere awkward enough to be suffocating...
In the center of the tavern, a ragged bard with a lute slung over his back plucked the strings.
Ding-dong—
A melodious yet deliberately sorrowful melody rang out, drowning out the tavern's noise.
"Listen to me, travelers, to that tale from the west..."
The bard cleared his throat and sang in a slightly raspy voice:
"...The golden lion falls, the crown gathers dust... Sylvania's sinful blood has all withered away..."
Clang.
The wooden spoon in Lucrezia's hand dropped into her bowl, her chewing movements freezing abruptly.
"...The last princess, Lucrezia, a flower tainted by the Abyss... the Holy Light Church found her remains in the ashes..."
"...The royal family's sins were finally purified by fire... Ah, the pitiful kingdom, scattered in the wind..."
The song ended.
A few scattered rounds of applause and whistles rang out in the tavern, and someone even shouted loudly, "Good riddance! Anyone who colludes with the Abyss deserves to die!"
Rate on N.U.
