Praise and Rest
Beneath moonlight that had settled over the night, the first-floor dining hall of the inn hummed with lively energy.
Among the miners pleasantly drunk on night air and alcohol, Hwian took a large bite of bread soaked in soup.
Across from him, Serena nibbled at the bread clutched in both hands and tilted her head.
“Those people… why here of all places?”
“Any guesses?”
“Mm, that’s the problem—I don’t have any. I’ve heard that heretics have increased sharply in recent years because of the prophecy, but I thought most of their activity was concentrated in the Empire or the Holy Kingdom…”
Serena sank into thought. Watching her, Hwian lightly furrowed his brow.
As she said, the number of Demon King worshippers had been growing lately, yet they still weren’t prominent enough to draw real attention.
From what Hwian remembered, the worshippers only began operating in earnest one year before the Demon King’s revival—at least two years from now.
Until then, they were simply a group of fanatics. They caused headaches by proselytizing indiscriminately, regardless of time or place… but in the end, that was all they were. Nothing more than annoying pests.
“But these ones were different. They were clearly conducting the ritual with purpose. The moment I approached, they scattered in perfect unison like a swarm of ants.”
“The Kelib Silver Mine does produce high-quality ore, but it doesn’t have any especially unique properties. Did you determine what kind of ritual it was?”
“No idea. The caster vanished, so the ritual dispersed almost immediately. Besides, I’m no expert in large-scale spell formulas.”
Hwian spoke while tearing off more bread. Serena tilted her head again at his answer.
To her, the situation made no sense at all.
The people she had vaguely dismissed as a ‘troublesome bunch of fanatics’ had not only secretly infiltrated the silver mine but were performing some kind of ritual?
She couldn’t grasp the meaning. Their purpose, their reason for acting—none of it clicked.
“Hmm… I really don’t know.”
“No?”
“No. If I could at least see the traces of the ritual myself, maybe I’d have some idea. But a ceremony held in a place like that probably wouldn’t carry much power anyway…”
After a light mental calculation, Serena answered in a somewhat uncertain tone.
Whether it was magic, ritual, or sorcery, the effect grew stronger when performed in a stable location rich in mana. From that perspective, however, the silver mine was a terrible environment for a large-scale ritual.
Silver absorbed mana, after all. It was like trying to run a grand electrical experiment on a copper tabletop.
Success was difficult, and even if achieved, the results would be meager.
To Serena, who was still puzzling over their intentions—
“Oh, there was mithril.”
“Pfft!”
Hwian added the detail in a perfectly casual voice.
Serena coughed up the water she had been about to drink and looked up in alarm. She glanced around nervously to make sure no one had overheard, then continued in a hushed whisper.
“You should have led with that…!”
“Does it change things that much?”
“It changes everything… Natural mithril is like a lightning rod driven upside-down into the earth. It’s the easiest gateway for drawing out ley-line mana. The risk level is on an entirely different scale.”
It was like performing an electrical experiment with the plug of a massive power plant. The difficulty might be high, but the guaranteed output matched it.
Having understood, Hwian nodded.
Serena had forgotten her meal entirely and now wore a grave expression. Hwian offered her a few more pieces of information.
“On top of that, the mine shafts themselves felt off. There are plenty of mentises, but no nests. It might be connected to the ritual they’re performing.”
“Wha—wait, what did you just say?”
“That’s probably why there’s been no progress on the request even though quite some time has passed since it was posted. And there’s a good chance Ernest is involved as well.”
“The Second Prince?! …Ah.”
The surrounding gazes snapped toward Serena as she cried out in shock.
She shrank into herself with an embarrassed look. Once the stares drifted away one by one, she continued in a whisper.
“The Second Prince…? If that’s true, it’s incredibly serious. A member of the imperial family working with heretics…”
“It’s not confirmed. Don’t jump to conclusions. We need to observe the situation first. We still don’t have enough information.”
“Then we have to gather it! There’s no time to waste. I’ll go. The city archives or anywhere else—I should be able to get access, so—”
Scrape. Serena pushed her chair back and stood.
“…Whoa?!”
But despite her determination, strength refused to enter her legs. She collapsed onto the floor with an undignified thud and looked up in bewilderment.
“Huh…? My legs…?”
“Mana exhaustion. I figured it might happen.”
Mana exhaustion. Exactly as the name suggested—a temporary loss of bodily strength caused by overusing magic power.
It was a common occurrence among novice mages experiencing real combat for the first time.
Hwian shrugged, picked up the bread Serena had been eating, and rose from his seat.
“Open your mouth for a second.”
“…? Ah~…”
“Here. Chew it properly.”
“Mmm…?”
He tore the hard bread into small pieces and gently placed one in her mouth.
Beneath her flowing snow-white hair, Serena’s golden eyes flashed with momentary confusion. Meeting her gaze, Hwian gave a small, amused smile.
“Calm down first. Where do you think you’re going in that state in the middle of the night?”
“…Mmm.”
“You worked hard all day. So rest. There’s always tomorrow to work hard again.”
He didn’t want her pushing herself. More precisely, he hoped the girl who had already performed brilliantly today wouldn’t think of herself as inadequate.
How surprising it had been to watch the girl he had assumed was frail rise to the occasion. How admirable. How praiseworthy. And, somehow, how sorry it made him feel.
Hwian regretted having underestimated her at first.
He regretted throwing her into a blood-soaked situation as though testing her, and he was grateful that she had exceeded every expectation in that harsh environment.
“You did well. Don’t overdo it—rest.”
That small body had cared for the injured until she was truly exhausted. The sight of the pure-white girl stirred something close to reverence in Hwian.
He slipped the last piece of torn bread between her small lips.
She chewed quietly. Watching her avert her gaze in slight embarrassment, he placed a hand on her soft hair.
“…Aren’t you being suddenly too kind, Hero?”
“When someone works hard, they deserve praise. Business, requests, relationships—returns are important in all of them.”
“You’re treating me like a puppy…”
Serena grumbled, clearly displeased at being treated like a child.
Yet there was no real aversion in her eyes. Far from it—the sensation of the large hand gently stroking her head brought a subtle flush to her cheeks.
She had thought the hero was a cold person.
Someone deeply wounded by being forcibly taken from his homeland, living only for his goal with cool-headed resolve.
A lone wolf walking in solitude. When that person gently stroked her head, she couldn’t collect her thoughts.
“…Ugh, that’s enough!”
“It felt nice because it’s so soft. Shame.”
When Serena finally shouted, unable to bear the embarrassment any longer, Hwian stepped back with a playful expression. She stared up at him, cheeks puffed out.
Rude man!
This was already the third time he had patted her head.
The first time in the palace basement could be excused by the atmosphere, but… every time Hwian stroked her hair, Serena felt an emotion she couldn’t quite put into words.
I’m a lady too…!
She was sixteen. She didn’t know what that meant by Hwian’s standards, but in Adonia it was the age of a proper adult.
It was also the age when she desperately wanted to stop being treated like a child.
I heard that in his world, adulthood begins at nineteen. Is that why the hero keeps patting me? Because I seem like a kid…?
“…All right. I was wrong, so stop glaring at me, Serena.”
“…”
Under Serena’s steady gaze, Hwian raised both hands in surrender.
She hesitated for a moment, then reached out with a complicated expression.
“…Support me.”
“Hm?”
“I can’t walk… Please take me to the room.”
It was a rather embarrassing request for an adult woman to make.
“Yes, yes.”
But when Hwian took her hand without the slightest hesitation, Serena once again felt an indescribable emotion swirl inside her chest.
It was embarrassing to be treated so much like a child. If she were just a little older—say, eight or nine years more—could she have stood beside him as an equal?
Leaning on his arm as they moved, she pouted, burying the nameless feeling in a nameless place.
…She alone remained unaware that the age gap between them was only three years.