A Kiss in the Moonlight
I could hardly believe a single drink had hit me this hard…
A pleasant warmth settled over me, and sleep finally felt within reach. Leaving the Young Master behind still nagged at me a little, but—
I really ought to sleep now, right?
I cracked the window open just a touch. Soft moonlight spilled in, lending the room a quiet charm, and my mood lifted.
Still… was it dangerous? My sister could be a bit dense, but she wouldn’t sleep through someone climbing in, would she?
…On second thought, maybe it was dangerous. Sister Mary was in no state to notice if someone hauled her off over their shoulder.
“Mm. Better be careful.”
Regretfully, I decided I’d have to close the window before sleeping. I rose and started toward it—only for a shadow to appear without warning.
“Were you about to retire?”
“Y-Y-Y-Young Master?!”
The man who was supposed to be drinking up on the roof—why was he standing right in front of me?
“Miss Julian.”
“Yes?”
Is he drunk? The dim moonlight made it hard to read his face.
“Sleep well.”
He suddenly leaned in and pressed his lips to my forehead.
“Wh-what?!”
Heat flooded my face. A shiver ran through me, prickling my skin. I opened my mouth to demand what he thought he was doing—but he was already gone.
“You—!”
I nearly shouted a curse, then remembered it was the middle of the night and bit it back. Raising my voice would only bother everyone else.
“Ugh…”
I shut the window and retreated inside.
“I-i-i-is he insane?!”
I dropped to the floor, overwhelmed by feelings I couldn’t contain.
Why would he suddenly do something like that? I couldn’t make sense of it. He had always been… kind of gentle, sure. But the Young Master was warm and considerate with my sister and Sister Mary too.
He was just polite to women in general!
So what was that just now?! If—if I had actually been a woman, that was the kind of gesture that could easily be misread!
Honestly, even as a man, it had made my heart skip for a second. Why would he do that out of nowhere?
It was too much. Too confusing. And yet… hadn’t the Young Master done something similar before?
It—it came back to me…
I’d grown so comfortable around him lately that I’d almost forgotten. I knew he was a noble, but I’d started treating him like a comrade, gotten close—and let it slip my mind.
“Th-that rude bastard…”
I remembered the time he’d threatened me. It didn’t scare me now, but back then it had. The terror of knowing he could dispose of me whenever he pleased, simply because of the gap between our stations…
I didn’t have to think that way anymore. My own status was hardly ordinary these days.
“Haa…”
What on earth did that man want from me? I stamped my feet in frustration at his incomprehensible behavior. Even if I’d once been a man myself, I couldn’t begin to understand his feelings—or his actions.
“Why? Just why?”
Why, damn it?!
“Yuli, quiet…”
My sister stirred at the noise I was making.
“S-sorry…”
Whether it was sleep-talk or not, she settled again almost at once.
Thinking about it wasn’t going to give me any answers…
“Just go to sleep…”
He had clearly been drunk and acting like a fool. That had to be it. If he’d been capable of sound judgment, he never would have done something like that.
“Yeah. Exactly.”
It was no different from getting nipped by some stray animal. A drunk man making a scene—same as a dog. Right. I’d just pretend nothing happened…
I lay down and closed my eyes.
So why couldn’t I sleep?
Why did that moment keep flickering behind my eyelids?
Why did the image of him standing in the moonlight, looking so quietly melancholy, refuse to leave me alone?
Why did I keep seeing him at the window, smiling as he did that ridiculous thing to me?!
“Argh!”
In the end, I barely slept at all.
I tossed and turned through the small hours, lost in thought until dawn began to break. Only when the sun started to rise did exhaustion finally drag me under for a brief stretch.
The problem was that even then I didn’t sleep properly—and my sister was the one who woke me.
“Yuli, time for breakfast.”
“Nnngh…”
I was drowsy, miserable, my head ached… and I was irritated on top of it all…
But I couldn’t take it out on my sister.
I dragged myself up and decided to aim my anger at the Young Master instead.
He’d been the one at fault from the start, hadn’t he? Holding him accountable was only fair.
Except…
“Why isn’t he here?”
I waited in the first-floor dining room, but he never showed.
Don’t tell me he drank himself into a stupor and can’t get up?
“Ugh, whatever! I’m eating.”
I had breakfast with my sister. Once again I ordered a mountain of meat. It was a bit old—tough, with a faint off smell—but the sheer fullness it delivered was outstanding.
“What now?”
“Dunno. I think I’ll go buy a few things.”
I’d made up my mind yesterday: I needed to prepare a few Frams. I’d have to calculate the ratios for the recipe and decide how much of each material to buy…
Making too many would be a problem, so maybe three…?
My sister offered to play pack mule and tagged along.
“Sulfur first.”
It was the most important ingredient, so it had to come first.
I went back to the place where I’d bought sulfur before and asked for more of the same.
“Is this all you have?”
“That’s it.”
It was only enough for two Frams. I’d been hoping to make three…
“I’ll take it for now.”
Disappointing, but if they didn’t have the stock, there was nothing I could do. After buying the sulfur, I headed to the blacksmith’s for coal. Coal was easy enough to come by. Smithies kept plenty on hand to stoke their forges, so I could get it relatively cheap.
“You wouldn’t happen to have any sulfur, would you?”
“Sulfur? We’ve got some, yeah.”
Oh? So the forge stocked it too?
I’d cut back on the coal because the sulfur had been short—but if I could get more sulfur, that changed everything.
“Then I’ll take more sulfur and more coal.”
I paid the extra and bought the sulfur.
“This one’s on the house.”
The blacksmith tossed something my way. My reactions were too slow; I didn’t even think to catch it.
My sister, standing beside me, was another matter.
“Danger.”
In a flash she reached out and snagged the flying object midair.
“This is…”
What rested in her hand was a well-shaped stone. Not an ordinary rock.
“A whetstone.”
The blacksmith said nothing, only looked at the spear on my back and the sword at my sister’s hip.
“A weapon’s like a child. You’ve got to take proper care of it.”
That was his reason? A whetstone didn’t cost much, but it was a kind gesture all the same.
“Yes.”
I gave a polite answer and moved on.
“Next is wood…”
Even random branches off the ground would work fine for the recipe. Better wood would probably improve the quality, though…
“Wood?”
“Yeah. I’m debating whether to just grab whatever or get proper firewood.”
“Just use whatever.”
My sister looked thoroughly done with the errands.
Fair enough—she’d been trailing after me all over town playing shopping companion. It had been hard on her…
“Got it.”
I scavenged wood inside the city. Scrap lumber, fallen branches from roadside trees—there turned out to be more places to find it than I’d expected.
“Materials ready.”
With everything gathered, we returned to the room.
“Shall I try a few combinations first?”
Working alone meant it would take a while. For gunpowder, you just matched the ratios, dumped everything in at once, and combined.
I spread my tools across the inn floor, set up the magic-tool brazier, and set a large pot on top.
It was the same pot I usually cooked with, but it served just as well for alchemy.
The moment I went to start, though, I realized I’d forgotten something.
“Ah—I never got ash powder.”
Both gunpowder and Fram required an Attunement Agent. And the most important ingredient for that agent was ash powder—which I hadn’t bought!
“Ash? I’ll ask downstairs.”
“Huh?”
“They cook here. They’ll have ash.”
Unless they were using a magic-tool brazier, cooking meant fire, and fire meant burning wood—which meant ash. Ash powder had its uses, but for the most part it was just trash.
With any luck, I could get some.
“Th-thanks. I’d appreciate it.”
I left it to my sister.
She was back before long, a pouch of ash powder in hand.
“Had to pay for it.”
They wouldn’t just give it away, so she’d spent one silver.
“Might still be a bargain…”
Better than going outside, casting magic, and making a production of it…
Once everything was ready, I started combining again. First I made a large batch of Attunement Agent—ash powder and water, mixed and refined.
“Attunement Agent’s done, for now…”
I ladled some into a separate pot.
“Lunch.”
Apparently the time spent on the agent had brought us to midday.
“I’ll skip lunch.”
I’d spent a lot of money today; I needed to economize a little.
Not that skipping one meal would save much—but I wanted to stay focused on the work.
“At least eat some bread.”
“I’m fine.”
I ignored my sister and dove back into combining. Next came the gunpowder: sulfur and wood into the pot that already held the Attunement Agent.
Once the gunpowder was finished, I decided to sit and rest for a bit.
“Ugh, my back…”
I hadn’t even been able to shift my posture properly, just stirring the pot and channeling Holy Power the whole time. It looked easy, but it was surprisingly exhausting…
“I really need to keep up with physical training too.”
I stretched out the stiffness in my lower back.
“More to the point—why hasn’t the Young Master shown his face?”
Normally he’d be here by now, grinning and asking what I was up to.
Today he hadn’t appeared even once.
“Don’t tell me…”
He remembered what he’d done last night? And was too embarrassed to show up?
“Then he shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”
Just thinking about it sent a faint heat into my cheeks again.
“Ugh!”
I thoroughly badmouthed the Young Master under my breath, then set to work on the Frams.
My sister stayed at my side through it all—handing me water, wiping the sweat from my face.
“Thanks.”
“Mm.”
With Sister Mary out of commission, my sister was the one looking after me.
I really was blessed.
By the time I’d finished combining three Frams, the sun had fully set. Dinner hour had long since passed, and my stomach was growling.
“Here. Bread.”
I’d told my sister to eat on her own.
“You saved some bread?”
“Yeah. You’ve got to eat.”
“Thanks.”
I ate the bread she’d brought me.
It was hard black bread, but hunger made the best seasoning—the saying fit perfectly.
Once my stomach was full, drowsiness hit hard.
“I should sleep well tonight.”
I’d already lost most of last night’s rest, and the combining had drained a lot of mental energy. I was exhausted.
“Going to sleep?”
“Yeah… after I wash up?”
The money felt wasteful, but I suddenly wanted a proper wash.
“Mm. Let’s.”
I paid to use the bathing facilities and scrubbed myself clean. Back in the room, I checked on Sister Mary first—looking her over for anything wrong and casting a simple healing spell with Holy Magic. Then I climbed into bed.
“Good night, Sis.”
“Night, Yuli.”
All in all, it had been a full day…
I fell into such deep, honey-sweet sleep that I never even noticed when I drifted off. When I woke, the fatigue had melted away and my mind felt sharp and clear.
I didn’t linger in bed. I sat up at once and ran through a simple stretch routine.
“Hah…”
I finished stretching, drank some cool ice water, and was resting when something astonishing happened.
“Huh?”
Sister Mary was…
Opening her eyes. Sitting up.
“M-Mary?”
“Sain…tess…?”