"Graves, you idiot. Stop getting Nino in trouble! Because of you, she ends up getting punished too!"

In front of me, kneeling on the floor, was a girl with green hair and eyes and a boy with black hair and orange eyes, ponytailed and wearing a brown scarf wrapped around his neck, covering his entire mouth. His indifferent gaze as I scolded him further increased my anger.

"Come on, Master Yato. You know I didn't mean to. Not this time..."

Graves looks away, knowing the other times he's gotten into trouble. This kid... His night outs always end with him getting punished with some work. I wouldn't mind too much if it was just this smug idiot, but precious and kind Nino also gets into trouble for helping him out.

Nino raises her hand, as if she's in a class and wants to ask the teacher's permission to speak. His enthusiasm and innocence in doing so made me smile inside, but I don't let that emotion get away. We are in a moment of rebuke of attitudes.

"You can speak, Nino"

"Uncle Yato, this time Graves didn't do it for bad. He did it for me."

I doubt... This boy does something for anyone? Just seeing to believe. Just see his attitude now. The asshole was turning his attention everywhere but me. Sincerely...

"SERIOUS!"

Graves jumps in fright at my sudden scream. He looks at me, scratches his head and lets out a silly laugh. I sigh heavily and place my hand on my forehead, massaging it. This boy has no future.

"Hehehe... I was just enjoying the scenery." Graves speaks in a comical tone.

"Let's just let it go. Can you just tell me why you stole the books and magic tomes from the bookstore?"

I cross my arms and tap my foot on the floor. That should intimidate him a little. I wait...

Graves chuckles nervously and scratches the back of his neck. "Well... You know how it is, right? I just wanted to teach Nino how to read"

What? For this I did not expect. Is he serious? I look at Nino and she nods like she knows what I was thinking. Well, if that's true, then...

"I see... If so, next time I'll just ask you to ask for my help. If it's to help Nino, I'm willing." Notice to both of you.

I turn to leave, but one small thing pops into my mind. I turn my gaze to Graves and my eye glows brightly.

"Don't do any more nonsense. This is an exclusive warning for you Graves." I speak with a menacing tone.

Graves gets up, makes a military salute and says:

"Yes sir!". But soon he lets out a laugh at his ridiculous act.

I can't keep up the intimidating streak and I let out a quick laugh. I admit that even though he's a dead-end idiot, he still has a good heart.


"Hmmm..."

No... My sleep was so good. Couldn't wait a few more seconds to wake me up, brain?

I get up upset with myself. The sun hits my face and I cover it with my hand. I stretch my legs and arms to stretch. Ah... That feels good. As I stretch my arms a little to the side, I feel something soft.

"Huh? But what?"

I look to the side and see a very pleasant sight. Lyn, sleeping peacefully, lying beside me. She was close enough for me to feel her breath on me. I find myself in awe of the serenity in which she was asleep. A lovely sight.

Lyn moves her mouth and slowly opens her eyes. She looks at me confused. Having just woken up, her reasoning was slow. She gets up a little and yawns. Stretch a little and look at me again. When she finally understood the situation, her eyes widen, her face blushes.

"Yato, th-that's... Well...". Lyn stutters.

I smirk. I couldn't help but think her acting embarrassed was kind of cute. It's a pretty jarring side of how I saw her yesterday. Even as a warrior, Lyn was still a girl like any other.

"Good afternoon. Did you have any sweet dreams?" I speak provocatively.

"Y-yes. Had a nice sleep." Lyn responds stumbling over the words.

Teasing Lyn like that is fun. With these reactions, it's hard to stop.

"I noticed". I speak holding back laughter.

"Yato! S-stop teasing me." Lyn begs blushing.

"Sorry. I couldn't help it"

I get out of bed and stretch my limbs a little more. The feeling of stretching after a good sleep is always so good.

I look at the parts where I was injured after the fall of the mountain. As I expected, the wounds were already healed.

"Well... My body is already better. It's time to say goodbye"

The time I spent with Lyn was fun. Too bad I have to leave.

"Oh... about that"

Lyn looks at me, turns her gaze down and takes a deep breath. As if she was getting ready to say something.

"Today's battle has shown me that I'm still not strong enough. Alone, I won't be able to get stronger. So... Yato, let me travel with you." Lyn asks with a straight face.

A silence fills the place. Does Lyn want to travel with me? This was unexpected. The idea is interesting, but...

"Lyn, I don't know if this would be good. The trip I'm going to take has a lot of risks. Risks you couldn't handle."

Lyn isn't strong enough for that. The enemies I'm going to face are on a much higher level. It's better not to risk it.

"If I can't handle it, then train me! With the experience I'll get traveling with you, I'll handle it all. Please, Yato." Lyn insists.

But what a boring situation. The way she asks me to, it's hard to refuse. What do I do? There's no way I can guarantee her safety, but her determination is admirable. Shit... Whatever.

"Alright... You can travel with me, Lyn"

Lyn's face lights up. She smiles happily and throws herself at me, giving me a warm hug.

"Really? This is wonderful. Thank you, Yato. I promise I will be your incomparable warrior."

"Of course, partner. You can pack your things, but you know... There's no way you or I can do anything with you like that"

She realizes what she was doing and walks away, blushing more than before.

"S-sorry! I got carried away"

"Okay. Go get your things ready, I want to leave as soon as possible"

"Yes!". Lyn responds excited about the idea of traveling.

Lyn goes around picking up items from inside chests. I just watch the smiling way she walks around the house enthusiastically picking up the items.

Continuing to watch Lyn set things up would be nice, but I better wait outside.

"It ends fast. I'll wait outside"

I hear a small yes before leaving the house. Outside the residence, I thought about my choice.

"This will further complicate my trip... Screw it. I couldn't have said no to her anyway."

I laugh at my own inability to say a simple no to Lyn.

"Me and my weakness at not being able to deny requests from beautiful women. It's still going to kill me one day." I point out in a sarcastic and comical way. Although it is something possible to happen.

Minutes later, Lyn emerges from the house with two swords at her hip and a bag that appears to be full.

"Huh? Just got a bag and two swords?"

"In the bag are coins. We'll stop by Bulgar to buy travel supplies." Lyn explains.

"Bulgar? I've never been there. All I know is that it's a big shopping center between Etruria, Ilia and Bern."

"My dad took me to Bulgar a lot when I was younger. It's the first time I've been there after... all this happened."

Her expression is sad when mentioning her father. What a strong woman. Going through it all and continuing to move forward is worthy of my respect.

"Then you will serve as my guide in the city. I'm counting on you, Lyn."

This one's face perks up a little. The most I can do to heal her wounds is try to cheer her up a little.

"Of course. I'll take Khurdan. By horse, we'll arrive an hour before sunset."

Lyn leaves and goes to her house's stable. I hadn't paid that much attention before, but... Lyn's clothes are really... revealing. The side openings show a lot of her thighs. It's a great luck, or bad luck, that the wind doesn't reveal more than that when it beats hard.

"Yato, this is Khurdan. My precious horse." She speaks and points to the animal beside her.

The big brown horse neighs. I approach him and stroke her fur. The horse neighs again as I'm petted. Does that mean he liked it? I will assume so.

"Nice horse. It's gentle and its coat is well groomed. You did a great job taking care of it, Lyn."

"I had to. He was the only company I had for a long time. Come on, I'll help you ride."

Lyn jumps and mounts the horse. She straightens up a bit and reaches out to me. I take Lyn's hand and climb onto the back of the horse, holding her waist so I don't fall. Khurdan didn't seem to like this and whinnied loudly. I take my hand away quickly. Got the warning, jealous horse.

"I haven't been on a horse for a long time. It feels nostalgic."

"Now you're talking like an old man, Yato"

Sometimes I have this mania. Lloyd and Linus kept telling me that. It was also one of Nino's reasons for calling me uncle.

"People say that, but I'm only... 20 years old"

Lyn is surprised to hear my age.

"20? I swore I was 17 or 18. So I must be treated with respect, as you are older than me"

"Am I? How old are you, Lyn?"

"17. This year I turn 18". She responds bluntly.

Almost an adult. It surprised me to see that she didn't mind my asking her age. Most of the women I asked this about were always annoyed, for some reason I don't know.

"Good. So on your birthday we can have a party, and especially with drinks"

"Sorry... I don't like alcoholic beverages"

Seriously? Man, I was already happy that I would have a partner to drink all night long.

"It's too bad, but then let's just take the drinks and have a nice party. What do you think?"

The idea seems to have pleased her, as a crooked smile appeared on her face.

"That sounds... good. I'll be looking forward to it."

Well, even though I found out I won't have someone to drink with me anytime soon, I'm glad I cheered her up a bit.

We continued riding silently. I look at the landscape around me. The flat, grassy terrain and mountains in the distance made the view pleasant to see. The blue sky, the singing of birds and the fresh wind blowing on the skin left the environment satisfactory in which to live.

"It feels good... Living here must be awesome"

Upon commenting this, the breeze hits my face. It was so good! It almost made me want to stop, lie down on the grass and just enjoy life.

"Sacae's winds are the best. I never get tired of waking up and feeling them on my skin." Lyn comments happily.

"It really is a wonderful place. Unfortunately, my job has made me stay away from it."

"Hm? Why?" Lyn asks.

"Strategists are mostly hired by nobles or groups of more professional mercenaries. These two types of people don't usually go through Sacae. Especially nobles..."

This was all true. Most of the nobles I've had the displeasure to meet hate people from Sacae. They see them as animals. Although... I admit that I had a similar thought for a while in my life, but meeting Lyn showed me that my expectations were wrong.

"I see. We at Sacae are not used to using strategies. Our instincts and survival skills are enough."

When she says that, the battle she had with the bad guys came to my mind.

"Tell me about it. You almost died yesterday"

"That was just an oversight! I promise it won't happen again"

Her talking like that worries me a little. Their skills are good but not impressive compared to the people I've faced and will face again. Hopefully, I'll be able to train her to that level.

"I hope so. I'm under the impression that our journey is not going to be anything fun."

Not just impression, I'm sure. Hopefully Lyn is the kind that evolves fast. The amount of stuff she's going to face traveling with me isn't for everyone.


The journey continues. The position of the sun showed that it was about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. In the distance, it was already possible to see a walled city, with several trees and a river with a bridge to pass.

"We're coming. That's Bulgar. It's considered the capital of Sacae, even though it doesn't have a governor." Lyn explains, slowly lowering the horse's speed.

Passing over the bridge, we soon arrived at the entrance to Bulgar. Upon entering, the first thing to be noticed is the large amount of diverse stores. From clothing, food and gun stores, to things I've never seen in my life.

"Sir, ma'am. Don't you want to buy that stamina drink? It's great to cure all your tiredness." A salesman, probably from Jugdral, asks.

"No, sir. We just came to buy things to go." Lyn politely declines.

"Oh? I have some leg rings made straight from Miletos. They are magic rings that when placed on your finger, make you faster." The seller explains pointing to the ring in her hand.

"Thank you sir, but we don't need that. We don't even have the money to buy it." Lyn refuses him yet again.

The man just gives up and leaves us alone. Makes me wonder if all the merchants around here are so... eccentric like that.

"Follow me, Yato. I know where we can buy supplies"

I'm going after Lyn. She goes ahead taking the horse with her. Everything would be easier with a cart or something.

Passing by I can see exotic clothing stores. A few I recognized: The coziest ones were Ilia-style, because of the cold weather there; the looser, darker garments made of wool and with robes are probably made in the Nabata desert; the most tribal clothes are definitely Sacae's. There are so many different styles. Not to mention the other styles of continents I'm not aware of.

"Oh my heart! What a most perfect and dazzling sight!" A man in green armor speaks as he walks towards Lyn.

Lyn steps away from the man and frowns. I feel this is not going to end well...

"O beautiful lady! Could you present me with your beautiful name? Or rather, with your company?" The man speaks gallantly and with exaggerated hand gestures.

The man was a decent height, probably between 1.75 to 1.80. He wore gleaming green armor covering his loose black shirt and with a gray forehead bandana that reached behind his green hair.

"Who are you, sir knight who speaks so freely to strangers?" Lyn asks, holding back her irritation.

"I'm from the beautiful Caelin. Home to men who burn with passion." The man speaks exuberantly and with passion.

The man wants to court Lyn like that? Poor thing... I feel sorry for what's going to happen after that.

Lyn crosses her arms and her frown intensifies. Her clenched fists showed she was already going to her limit. If this continues, this guy doesn't wake up today.

"Shouldn't the right be 'home to idiots, morons and loose-tongued assholes'?" Lyn retorts ironically.

The man makes a gesture as if he's been shot through the heart by an arrow. I must say it was done well. This guy would make a good actor, not ironically.

"Ooooh... Even being cruel is adorable and beautiful"

Lyn uncrosses her arms and turns around. Something that surprised me. I swore she was going to end up with this guy.

"Come on, Yato. We don't have to call this asshole." Lyn speaks irritably.

I just nodded and followed her without looking back. The guy acted like an idiot, but I admire his courage and for getting out of it alive.

"My beautiful lady, wait-." The man tries to follow us, but another man in red armor appears and grabs his shoulder.

"Sain! Don't say anything else!" The man orders angrily.

Sain turns to the man in the red armor and smiles.

"Kent! My good friend. Why are you so angry and stern?" Sain asks innocently. As if he didn't know about the things he's done.

Kent was about the same height as Sain, being a little bigger. His armor was identical to Sain's, except that Kent's was red and covered a long orange shirt instead of a black one like Sain's. Kent wore no bandana and his hair was red.

"You know very well, Sain! We have a mission to fulfill! This is no time for your antics." Kent says grimly.

Sain shrugs.

"I know that very well, but it would be very impolite not to say anything in the presence of such a dazzled beauty"

"You don't know anything about courtesy, idiot!" Kent yells.

I decide to ignore their discussion. Even though they were far away, I still listened to them if you focused on that. Better turn my attention to Lyn, who was visibly upset.

"A tent, a fruit bag, a bow for hunting and another spare sword. That will make you survive for now." I speak to Lyn, still annoyed.

"Unfortunately we didn't have the money to buy anything else. Like this... We'll have to get some mercenary work to get more." Lyn reflects.

"I wouldn't have a problem with that. It would be better than me working as a strategist. It's honestly pretty tiring. Even more so when it comes to dealing with arrogant nobles." I speak bitterly.

Nobles are terrible people to work with. The overwhelming majority are shits who only care about themselves and how to maintain their noble status. A bunch of assholes with inflated ego.

"Really? What's it like working with this, Yato?" Lyn asks with genuine curiosity.

"I kind of... I've been in a war. It's a big one." I say scratching my cheek.

"A big war? I've never heard of a war like that. Not in these years." Lyn questions confused.

"I... I can't go into too much detail. It was a war full of forgotten information. And it was also a war where I lost a lot of precious things." I speak sadly.

I shouldn't tell Lyn this. I want to keep as much of my personal information a secret as possible, but... I feel like unburdening herself with her is a good idea.

"I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have asked"

"No problem. I've already made you remember a lot more about your past."

We both laugh at my joke, it's nice when two people share similar problems. Increases friendship between the two. Unfortunately, our time for laughing ends when we spot a horse blocking our way.

Lyn sees Sain and is already back with his frown. The horse of one of the two knights was on the way out of Bulgar.

"Excuse me... Your horses are at the pass. Could you move them?" Lyn asks Kent. She doesn't even look at Sain.

Kent sees that his horses were right in the way and takes them away. Unlike Sain, this guy seems like someone more suitable to talk to.

"Sorry about that". Kent apologizes with shame.

"Thanks. Unlike that one over there, you seem like someone decent." Lyn undoes her frown.

"No problem, ma'am-"

Kent looks intently at Lyn. She doesn't understand and feels uncomfortable having him staring at her so intently. What is it now? Another guy trying to woo Lyn? What a coveted woman.

"Forgive me, but you remind me of someone." Kent reports.

"Huh?" Lyn is confused.

Sain makes an annoyed face and grabs Kent's shoulder.

"Kent, I saw her first!"

Upon hearing this, Lyn's anger instantly rises and she turns and walks away. I follow her without saying anything, but I can't help but think the situation was slightly comical, obviously I'm not going to say that. It's not today that I want to lose the second life I gained, much less at the hands of the person who gave it to me.

I look back and spy on the two men, only to see Kent yelling at Sain.

"This is what I call a first impression of a city." I speak in a comical way.

"Sorry... That wasn't the impression I wanted to give you of Bulgar." Lyn speaks depressed.

"Come on, Lyn? You don't need that. Two weird guys didn't spoil my experience. The rest made up for everything." I speak trying to cheer her up.

"If you say-"

In an instant, my instincts snap. I hear footsteps approaching and smell rusty steel.

"Lyn, I feel like we're being chased"

I grab the sword Lyn strapped to the horse's saddle and go into defensive mode. Lyn quickly comes to my side and takes care of my rear.

"Is it the two knights from before? No... I feel bloodlust." Lyn concludes.

An ugly man with the typical outlaw appearance introduces himself to us. Muscular and carrying an axe, in a torn shirt and shorts with holes in it. Typical shit bandit appearance.

"Hehehe... How hot you are! Your name is Lyndis, right?

Now I got annoyed. Men like him are the type I hate the most. Even the guy named Sain from before is someone I like better than people like this shitty thug.

"How do you… Who are you?"

Lyn's face is completely taken aback at the mention of the name "Lyndis".

"Waste of having to kill a beauty like you. The things I have to do for gold... Guys, let's get this over with!" The ordinary man screams and five thieves appear from the trees.

"Are many...". Lyn speaks nervously.

They really are. I can handle everyone on my own, but protecting Lyn while I do can be a problem.

"Here is she". A voice speaks in the distance.

I hear the sounds of hooves approaching. Two knights mounted on horses come towards us. The bandit notices them and runs away. The knights are old, or rather new acquaintances of ours.

"We managed to catch her... Finally... Hang on! The guy ran away! Come back, you coward! All this people against one lady, you're a disgrace." Sain yells indignantly.

"You're-

"Save the conversation for later. Now the important thing is to kill these thugs. Leave them to me." Kent speaks determinedly.

"Easy there, Kent. Let me take care of them." Sain speaks taking the lead.

"You two stay out of this! This fight is mine and Yato's." Lyn speaks irritably. Her anger at both of them hasn't gone away.

"Beautiful lady, I can't let you fight while I'm doing nothing." Sain insists.

"I know. You there, it's a strategy, isn't it?" Kent looks at me.

I don't want to get involved in this intrigue between the three of them. The less I get involved, the less scolding I will get. That's what my parents always told me.

"Me? Yes, how did you know?" I ask puzzled.

"Your clothes are standard strategy. I want you to command me. I'm Kent, a Caelin knight. The idiot here is Sain. If you're going to guide us, lady Lyn won't be dissatisfied, will she?" Kent asks Lyn.

"What makes you think that, knight of Caelin?". Lyn asks with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised.

"From what I gather, this strategist is the one in charge here. If he commands you, lady Lyn will have to listen to him, am I right?"

This Kent guy is good at analyzing things. Even though I didn't say anything, he managed to realize that I am the leader.

"I hate to admit it, but you're right... But you'll have to obey all of Yato's orders. No kidding." Lyn commands in a cooler voice.

"Y-yes ma'am!" The two respond in fear.

Boy... Lyn really put pressure on these two. I don't blame them. Lyn's cold gaze is really quite intimidating.

With the leader, has a total of 6 thugs. Each of us would have to deal with two at once. Judging at a glance, Sain doesn't prove to me to be such a strong individual, not to the point of defeating two bad guys alone. As for Kent, he does seem like someone capable of such a job. To Lyn I don't even need to say anything. That said, my best plan is this.

"Kent and Lyn, you guys take the left bridge. Me and Sain will go to the right bridge. Whoever finds the leader first can kill him at will."

I watched the route the leader went. In front of us, there were small clusters of trees forming mini forests. Ahead, the two roadways, which were left going straight up and the right going straight, both led to a bridge that crossed a river. The leader took the right path. Since I myself want to get the feeling of killing that shitty man, I'll choose to go the right way.

"What?! Why do I have to go with this knight? I don't understand, Yato."

Lyn clearly didn't like the idea. I knew she wouldn't like it, but since I have no idea of Sain's abilities, I'd rather stay with him to help him in case he got in danger. And for another reason too.

"Do you prefer this idiot or the more decent knight that is Kent?" I ask a simple question that I already know the answer to. Sain says "hey", but I ignore him.

With nothing to do, Lyn sighs in defeat. "Got it. I'll trust your decision, Yato. Be fine."

Lyn whistles and Khurdan moves towards her. Without stopping him, Lyn jumps and mounts him without him even stopping running. This is what I call a beautiful display of skill. Kent follows her on his horse without saying anything.

"Right. Sain, can I trust you to be a good knight?"

Sain smiles confidently, puts his fist to his chest and raises his spear... Wait, a spear?!

"Trust me, sir Yato. I, Sain, Caelin's honorable knight, will live up to your expectations!"

"Sain... You only have one spear?" I ask incredulously.

"Huh? Yes, spears are more heroic and more suited to me"

It's as I expected, Sain is a complete idiot. I made the right choice to go with him.

"How do you plan on fighting ax guys using only one SPEAR? Have you forgotten spears have weakness against axes?!"

Weapons rules are the first thing any idiot knows before picking up their first weapon. Sword has advantage against axe, ax has advantage against spears, and spears have advantage against swords. The logic is simple: Swords are more nimble and easier to master many of the raw ax fighting styles; Axes have a tougher fighting style that is difficult to fight back against spear-using knights; Spear has a longer range and attacks that are difficult to defend with swords.

"Sain, please tell me you have a spare sword with you"

Sain breaks eye contact with me and looks away. By his face I could understand everything.

"Well...I didn't have time to buy one in Bulgar." He speaks scratching the back of his neck.

I slap my forehead. This guy is going to give me a lot of headaches. Poor Kent for putting up with him, he's a real warrior.

"Sain, you big idiot, even a bandit can fight an IDIOT spear knight. I hope you understand that. And worst of all, if you end up facing one of them in the trees, how do you plan on fighting with a spear?"

As the spear is long, fighting through a pile of trees makes it difficult to handle. Swords or axes are better indoors. Of course, as long as they are the shortest swords or axes, not the biggest and heaviest ones. In this type of scenario, the daggers make the party, Jeff is good proof of that...

"Don't worry, Sir Yato. My skill with the spear is worthy of a knight of Caelin."

Blah blah blah! Caelin this, Caelin that. I can't even tell if Caelin's knights are all that or it's just this idiot overestimating his people.

"I hope this means something good. I really hope."

I jump on the back of his horse without warning. The horse didn't seem to care. Of course not, having Sain as the owner makes him a much more tolerable horse for attitudes like that.

"Sir Yato, please don't do something so sudden. Lancelot might get annoyed." Sain warns in a cold sweat.

The way he said it, it looks like this has happened a few times. A few falls from the horse's rage, perhaps? I think so. Good work, Lancelot.

"Go ahead. That way Lyn and Kent will get to the boss first"

"Right, Sir Yato"

Besides being an idiot it's slow. I am increasingly certain that my decision was the right one.

"Be careful. Some of the bandits might try to attack through the trees-"

In front of my eyes, I see a hatchet pass me. If it weren't for my reflexes, I wouldn't have deviated from it.

"Sain, enemy attack!"

Another hatchet is thrown at me. With me focused, throwing these things at me is useless. I just hit him with my sword and throw an ax to the ground.

"Sir Yato, shall we fight them among the trees? With them hiding like this, we can't defeat them-"

Sain narrowly dodges an ax thrown straight into his stomach. He was even grazed by, cutting a bit of the side of his black shirt.

"Sain, there's only one thing I want you to do: Be a really good fighter"

"Yes sir! I'll show you how a knight of-"

"Okay, okay! Knight of Caelin. Shut up and let's go"

Sain nods and we both enter the stand of trees. Me with my iron sword and Sain, of course, without the horse and with his steel spear.

"Pay attention to every move and sound the enemy makes. It's very easy to get caught by surprise among these trees."

Sain seemed to understand my advice, as soon after a bandit tries to catch him from behind and he dodges. Wasting no time, he pierced the bandit's right leg, who only had time to retreat behind the trees.

"Follow the blood! Don't let it get away"

Sain obeyed my order and I go after the wounded bandit. He's a lot more obedient than expected. I misjudged him.

"You could at least be less noisy if you really want to make a surprise attack"

A thug comes out from behind the trees in amazement. Did this guy really think I wasn't listening to him? Fucking asshole.

"Where's your leader? I'll let you live a little if you show me where he is"

I point the sword at him and look at him menacingly. People I've fought with often say I'm scary when I fight. I usually use this to remove the will to fight from weaker opponents. And it worked. The bandit moves away from me with a trembling body.

"Won't you talk? Wow, I really planned to spare you... For a few minutes, of course."

The bandit didn't even have time to open his mouth. My speed is such that before he blinks, his head is already flying from his body.

"I feel slower. My wounds haven't healed yet?"

Before I think any further, I smell the smell of steel approaching my head. I duck and then jump back. As I lift my head, I see that it's their leader, but I don't have time to think, because then he rushes at me and throws a side ax. I didn't take the hit, but its how dangerous it was because it did a lot of damage to the ground.

"Oops! Good thing. I didn't even have to go after the leader. It's good when the hunt comes towards the hunter." I mock him.

This annoys him quite a bit. His face turns red like a tomato. On Lyn it's cute, but on him it's too crude. A horrible sight for anyone.

"Why are there more people with the girl? The man said it was just the girl we were supposed to kill."

I shrug. Why is he telling me this? I don't know what the plans of the guy who hired him are. One good thing came out of this, there's someone who wants Lyn dead. This changes my travel plans a lot.

"Shut up soon and come upstairs. I don't have all day and I need to see how Sain is doing." I speak and make a provocative gesture for him to come upstairs using my hands.

"Too arrogant for such a skinny boy"

Generic bandit phrase. I've met so many like this, however, it's always good to kill more rubbish like him.

"Ok... I ran out of patience, thug"

I advance against him myself. He tries to retaliate with a side cut, but my speed is such that when he tries to cut me in half, it just makes him think he cut me, when it was actually a trail image of myself. When he looks down, he just sees my sword going right under his chin.

To my surprise, he dodges at the last second, but genetic crook glee is short-lived. So I don't give him time to react, I drop the sword from my right hand. When she falls, I catch her with my left and I already shove her in his left foot.

"GAH!"

Oh? He took the pain well. His scream was much smaller than other generic thugs I've faced. I give a 2 for that. Too bad it's still rubbish compared to real warriors.

I take the sword from his foot and drive it into his stomach, going through him. He drops to the ground on his knees. A satisfying sight. To top it off, kick him in the face, making him fall to the ground with a huge thud. He dies with his hands trying to hold his tribes inside his stomach. A nasty, trash-worthy death.

"Fuck! I forgot about Sain"

I turn in the direction Sain went and follow the thug's bloody path. The path of blood ends and I refrain from following them using the footprints left by Sain. As I follow the footprints, I hear metal clattering noises. I follow the sound and find myself outside the set of trees.

Sain luckily was fine. Her armor was cracked on her left chest, but her body was just sweating. On the other hand, the other bandit had holes in his right leg, on the side of his belly and on his left forearm.

"Sain forced him out of the forest? A smart move. Without the support of the trees and with his injured leg, it's now impossible for the bad guy to dodge. Sain is...good."

The bandit was sweating, but unlike Sain's sweat of fatigue, the bandit's sweat was of fear. Sain made him feel a fear he had never felt before. In his entire life, no man or woman who claimed to be a knight made him so afraid for life as the green knight in front of him.

"I'm sorry! I promise-"

Sain ignored the Bandit's desperate words and hit him with an ugly blow. One pierced right into the thug's mouth, making him stop talking and die instantly.

"Whoa...Sain, you're better than I thought"

"I told you, Sir Yato! I promised I would show you the strength of Caelin's knights." He speaks proudly as he wipes the blood off his face with the back of his hand.

Knights of Caelin... I had never heard anything more from them. Is everyone that strong or is it just Sain and maybe Kent is that level? Whatever the answers, Sain will be a monster if he trains harder.

"Sain, you did well. I trust you now. I killed a bandit and their leader in the forest, it just remains to be seen if Lyn and Kent broke up."

Sain looks at me in surprise and wonder. I didn't quite understand his reaction.

"Sir Yato, did you kill the leader and another thug alone?"

"Yes, why?"

What's with this whole surprise? Did he think I was weak? Do I look so fragile? When looking at the drop-jawed Sain dd, the answer was yes.

"How surprising, Sir. Yato. I had difficulties with just one. Fighting two and with one of them being the leader seems to me to be dangerous."

Difficulty is my bag! Is he willing to pay humble? The most he suffered was a crack in his chest and come to tell me he had difficulty? To be honest, Sain had a good chance of having defeated their leader.

"Forget it and let's go."

Sain nods. I get behind his horse again and we head off to where we hope Lyn is.


No blade sound. If I can't hear, then they're both done. This is confirmed by the sound of approaching horses.

"Yato! Are you alright?" Lyn's familiar voice asks.

I look at their situation. Lyn had only a few, unfortunately small, cuts to her clothes. No blood. Kent, like Sain, only had a crack in his armor. In this case, on your left shoulder.

I get off the horse and crack my neck. Moving so fast causes some complications with me not being in my best shape.

"I'm fine, Lyn‐"

Lyn runs to me and starts checking my body for hurt. I feel disappointed. I expected a warm hug.

"Glad you weren't hurt… Did Sain take good care of you?"

That's right, Lyn doesn't know I'm strong. Until now she saw me as just a strategist, but she never saw me on the battlefield.

"I would say yes. Sain is more capable than I expected."

Lyn turns to Sain and look him in the eye. She turns her gaze to me with a disbelieving face. For Lyn, a guy like Sain couldn't be strong, and he shouldn't be.

"Yato, are you sure?"

"Lyn, I know you have your hardships with him, but trust me at least. He's strong."

Lyn looks at him again, this time trying to force a smile. Sain returned the smile with a flirtatious smile, only to take a punch from Lyn and fall off the horse.

"I'll believe that just because Yato is talking...".

Again, she turns to me. "I also have to say that Kent isn't too bad. He took good care of my rear."

I expected this. If Sain, who is Sain, is strong, then someone as imposing as Kent would also be strong.

"I just did my duty, Lady Lyn. As a knight of Caelin, I must protect the helpless ladies and people." Kent speaks cordially bowing a little.

"Are you saying I'm helpless?"

Kent crashes. I can see he didn't expect this question from Lyn.

"N-no, Lady Lyn! II meant-"

Lyn laughs at Kent's overreaction trying to explain himself. I also laugh quietly.

"No need to explain yourself, Kent. I'm just kidding."

Kent relieves himself a little, but is embarrassed and blushes with embarrassment at having fallen for Lyn's prank. For a knight, this game must have been pretty heavy... Ah, nobody cares about that.

"The situation is fine and all, but now, why are you two coming to help us. I'm not complaining, but I feel like you didn't come after us because we were being attacked." I ask both knights.

This question of mine had been in my head for a long time. In fact, from the moment Kent talked some weird stuff in Bulgar.

Sain gets up with a hand on his head and goes to Kent's side. The two look at each other and nod at each other. Kent clears his throat and says:

"We came from Caelin, in Lycia, looking for a person"

Lycia... A country beyond the mountains of the southwest of Sacae. I've visited Lycia several times, but I was never interested in going to Caelin.

"We came as messengers for Lady Madelyn. Our lady who ran away with a nomad 19 years ago"

"...Madelyn?"

From Lyn's reaction, this name is not unfamiliar to her. Not even that much for me. The Lyn in this person's name makes me wonder where this conversation will end up.

Sain takes the lead in the story and tells:

"She was the only child of the Marquis of Caelin. Our Lord was heartbroken because his own daughter abandoned him for a love. In the end, the Marquis declared that he never had a daughter."

A very tense situation. For a nobleman, losing his daughter because she ran away with a man from Sacae must have hurt both his ego and his heart as a father very much.

"But then, this year, the Marquis received a face from Lady Madelyn. In the letter he said that she lived happily on the plains and Sacae together with her husband and daughter, who was 17. The Marquis was ecstatic to discover that he had turned grandfather. What made him happiest was knowing that his granddaughter's name was Lyndis, the same name as his wife who died very young."

"...Lyndis?" Lyn whispers to you.

I've already figured out the direction of this story. Who would have thought... I have quite a travel partner with me.

"The Marquis's only wish was to meet his daughter's family at least once. That's why we came, but... We didn't know that Lady Madelyn died a few days before sending the letter. We only found that out by talking to some residents here from Bulgaria"

Sain's face saddens. Kent taps him on the shoulder and continues:

"But we found that we didn't come here in vain. The daughter was still alive. We heard she lived alone on the plains. When I saw you, Lady Lyn, I knew right away that you were Lady Lyndis..."

"But why? We've never seen each other before"

Kent points to Lyn's face. "You face is remarkably similar to your mother's, Lady Lyndis"

Lyn's face lights up. "Did you know my mother, Kent?"

Kent shakes his head. "Unfortunately I've never met her in person, but I've seen portraits of her all over Caelin Castle"

When Kent finishes his story, Lyn stares down, absorbing the vast amount of information she has received. For a moment I thought she was going to throw herself on the floor as she was so messed up in her head, but she held up her hand as if to say she was fine.

"To people in my tribe, I was always called Lyn. When I was with my parents... Just the three of us, I was Lyndis. It's all so...sudden. Until recently, I was alone in the world. Without no one to comfort me, but just in the last two days I meet Yato, and now I find out that I have a grandfather. Lyndis... A name I never thought I'd hear again."

The three of us listened in silence. Lyn needed that moment of release. For a girl so young, she's already lost too much at once. Having gained something like a grandfather, a family, out of nowhere, really confuses the mind.

Lyn widens her eyes and looks up at us. "Wait! The bad guy knew my name! He called me Lyndis!"

Kent and Sain are shocked. Kent is the first to speak. "This shouldn't be possible! It's not like simple bandits-"

"A henchman of Lundgren...". Sain declares.

"Lundgren? Who is it?" Lyn asks.

Lundgren is a name I remember very well. I've worked for him escorting him at times. A dirty fellow, like many nobles.

"Your great-uncle, Lady Lyndis. Brother of the Marquis of Caelin. To be honest, as everyone must have thought that Lady Madelyn and her family were dead, Lundgren would be heir to the title of Marquis, but with you alive, that changes completely ". Kent explains.

"Conflict by the trinity". I nod and the three look at me.

"Taking you out of the picture is the only way Lundgren has full right to be the heir like the Marquis. Since they can't know he's responsible for your murder, it's best to hire mercenaries dressed as bandits to say your death was an accident "

"But I'm not interested in any title-"

"Lyn, this is much more complex than thinking. He won't believe a word of someone who might steal his fame, glory and power. You will continue to be hunted forever, or until he dies."

Lyn looks at the three of us and then looks up at the sky, lost. "So... what am I supposed to do, Yato?"

I do not know! I don't know anything about this politics business. I never liked that in my life.

"Lady Lyn, can you-." Kent tries to suggest something, but...

"I said Yato!" Lyn exclaims, making Kent quickly shut up.

"The offer Kent was going to make is a good one. We should accompany them to Caelin. The only way the attempts on your life will stop, Lyn, is to kill this bastard." I explain to Lyn.

Kent looks at me confused. "How did you know this was my proposal, Sir Yato?"

"That was easy to deduce after hearing your beautiful story"

"I...". Lyn tries to respond, but the flurry of emotions prevents her from saying anything.

I ruffle my hair and sigh. It's a sticky situation for Lyn to decide anything. Would it be better to leave that for later? No... It's a matter that must be resolved quickly. If my theory is right, the longer it takes, the more something bad can happen.

I go slowly to Khurdan. I grab a bottle of water from my bag and head over to Lyn. She looks at me, her confusion was visible just in her gaze.

"Take it. Have a drink"

Not understanding why, Lyn receives the bottle and drinks. She must have been thirsty. All the water in the bottle just disappeared.

"Better?"

Lyn takes a deep breath and lifts her head, looking me in the eyes. Her confused face was gone and gave way to her classic happy face.

"Yes. Thank you, Yato"

Drinking water has always helped me to stay calm. For some people it doesn't work, but for me it works like a charm.

"So…Lady Lyndis, do you accept our proposal?" Kent asks, with a bit of hesitation.

"I…I accept. I feel I don't have a lot of choices"

Sain and Kent look at each other and smile. "Very well, Sain and I are going to buy the necessary supplies for the trip."

Kent and Sain mount their horses and set off for Bulgar. Lyn and I were alone. Kent must do this as he knew we would need to talk about this turn of events.

"Yato... I'm sorry, but it looks like I'm not traveling with you anymore. This change was so unexpected... Even though I wanted to travel with you, I can't anymore..."

Lyn avoided looking at my face as she spoke. She held her arm with her other hand. A way to try to maintain composure in this situation. It's really sad. If I was just any traveling partner, I would have left right now. No goodbyes, no ceremony, but... With Lyn, it's different. I ended up bonding with her more than I should have. Leave now... It's something I couldn't do.

"It really is an unexpected change. Well, it's going to be a longer trip than I thought. Let's get ready with the others." I speak and turn around.

"What? Yato... Do you really plan to come with me? I-I wouldn't deny it, but... You have your own things to do. I don't want to make you feel stuck with me..."

"Look here!". Let's go high. Loud enough for Lyn to stop looking at me.

"I'm doing this because I want to. You're not holding me in with you. I'm the one who stuck to you, and no matter what you do, I'm not going to get off that easily. Do you hear me?"

Lyn is embarrassed by my statement. Yato didn't know, but for Lyn, that statement was more symbolic than he thought.

"I-i see...Thanks again, Yato. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even be here. You...changed my life. Saved me. So...once again, let me ask for your help , for your friendship, and maybe for your-"

"... N-never mind!"

While giving her speech, Lyn covers her face. She tried to hide her pink face anyway.

And again, Yato didn't realize how symbolic Lyn's speech was. At least not yet.