It’s been two days since we left Alryne. We are mounting Mark, galloping along the dirt road.

Left and right, there are big open fields separated from each other with small walls made of rock. Many farmers are sowing those fields.

In the distance, to our right side, there's a small river. It's the same one from Alryne.

Hullbeck is roughly 110 kilometers away from Alryne. That means at least three days of travel. Tomorrow we’ll finally reach our destination.

We just had lunch a little while ago. No, scratch that. The girl and the horse had lunch since I gave most of my share to him.

With each day, it becomes more and more clear that I’m no longer a normal human. In the last two days, I just ate enough to fool my appetite.

I also refrained from drinking, even though we have all the water we need. Today, in normal conditions, I should have dehydration symptoms, but… That’s not what’s happening. I just feel a mild thirst, nothing more.

I know, I know. Useless test. If nothing else, the tournament’s events should have made that fact clear. But…

I’m a Servant. There’s no denying that.

If I’m a Servant, then what the hell happened? Am I just a legend? Every battle I fought, all the effort I spent, everything I did, was all for naught!? Every friend, every---

… Stop. Just stop.

I sigh as I rub my face with my hand.

This is why I hate long travels or doing nothing in general. It gives me too much time to think.

“So tired~~~” Nora says with a tired voice.

“Just wait until when we have to turn South. That’s when it’s going to be fun.”

“Ugh…”

Bellmare is even more far away. If I’m not mistaken, it’s somewhere around 200 kilometers away from Hullbeck. We travel more or less 40 kilometers per day. That means Bellmare is almost a week away.

Nora’s leaning on me, resting herself on my body. At first, she kept her distance and avoided physical contact. But as the hours passed on, she slowly let herself lay back. Yesterday, she didn’t take that long. Today, she did it almost instantly as soon we got on the horse.

“Hmm.”

“What’s on your mind sis?”

“You don’t need to treat me as your sister. Always I mean.”

“Eh, it helps to stay in character.” I shrug.

“Hmm… Look, I want to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Where did you learn Inner Magic?”

“Interesting question… Why do you ask?”

“Because in my last dream, you took a magic test and refused to take part in the Inner Magic subject.”

“...”

“So… I was wondering…”

“Hmm… You’re still dreaming about my early life. That event must be from when they started to train me harder.”

“...”

“*sigh* They wanted to make me a superhuman. I was to be the one, you see? The king who would be remembered for generations, who would conquer an entire continent... What a bunch of dumbasses.” I take a moment to process what I should say next. “It took them years to notice that I was becoming a lazy king, not what they wanted. After my 15th birthday, they forced me to train my magic harder, to study harder, to do everything harder.”

“Hmm, I remember Christine helping you to study.”

“Christine… She did more for me than my family ever did. I wonder how she managed to put up with me and smile all the time… But back on topic, they failed. I was really stubborn. If something didn’t interest me, then I wouldn’t spend much effort with it. The king wanted me to know Inner Magic, but my father refused right in front of him and all the nobles *chuckles*. The king’s face when my father defied him was priceless.”

“And your father didn’t have problems afterward?”

“Nah, touching my father was almost the same as touching the king. My father was the second most powerful person in our country.”

“Eh? That explains your mansion.”

“What explains my mansion is me and the army behind it. If the king wanted soldiers deployed, he would have to talk with my father. Rather, I remember hearing some nobles saying that he needed my father’s permission to do anything.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, maybe I was a little interested in Inner Magic, but I also knew about the risks. One single mistake and bam, you're screwed. I decided to avoid it in the end.”

“Then, when did you learn it?”

“Later, when I was 16.”

“What changed your mind?”

“Remember that guy you dreamt about? The one who I promised he would wish I had killed him?”

“... Yes…”

“That fucker did. Pardon my vulgar language.”

“...”

Nora looks down. After a moment, she asks: “What did he do?”

“You already know my answer.” I reply, with an annoyed tone.

“S-sorry. It’s just that…”

“*sigh* Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like that. It’s just a very sore topic. You’ll probably dream about it anyway. When that happens... I promise I’ll answer every question you may have.”

“Ok.”

She stops leaning on me and straightens herself.

A carriage pulled by two oxen comes from the opposite direction. A man with a straw hat is riding it.

“Good afternoon.” He greets as he takes off his hat and puts it back on immediately.

“Good afternoon.”

We pass by each other.

...

It passed a few minutes since we talked. The mood between us has gotten weird. I should lighten things up.

“HEYA!” I kick the horse and shake the reins.

Mark whines and speeds up. I continue kicking him to make him go full speed.

“Whoaaaaa!!!” Nora, startled, grabs Mark’s mane and ducks forward.

“Hahaha!” I lean forward as well.

The wind hitting my face, the horse’s snorting, the sound of Mark's steps. This is great!

“What are you doing!?”

“Testing you!” I pass the reins to her. “Guide us oh fair maiden!”

“Hii!!!” She spasms the moment I put my arms around her waist.

“Yeaah!” She holds the reins skillfully and keeps the horse running on a straight line. “Atta girl, you do know how to ride! Haha!”

“...”

C’mon princess, get the hint. I’m trying to cheer this up a little.

“Let's see if he can run faster! Shake the reins!” I start kicking Mark again.

“…”

Nora ignores my suggestion and keeps the reins steady.

... She's not enjoying this, is she?

“*sigh* Stop the horse.”

She pulls the reins. Mark slows down and after a few steps, he stops.

We straighten ourselves up and I let go of her waist.

“Well, uhm---” She doesn’t wait for me to finish what I was going to say and immediately gets off the horse. “Are you alright?”

Nora walks to the wall on the right side of the road with fast steps. “Hmm-hmm” She nervously mumbles something and waves her hand at me. She’s also avoiding looking at me.

“Are you nauseated? What’s wrong?”

“Don’t look at me, please.”

“Uh?”

She turns her gaze and yells: “Don’t look at me!”

The Magic I am bound to did it’s work and forced me to look elsewhere. However, I caught a glimpse of her face.

It was red.

“Don’t tell me you are embarrassed?” I said that with a joking tone.

“You are a jerk, you know that!?”

“Pff--” I hold myself from laughing.

But then, I a thought crosses my mind.

She’s not developing feelings for me, right?

The smile on my face disappears and my expression turns serious.

Oh no. I’m begging you, do not do that. Don’t complicate things for us. It’s hard enough as it is.

No, wait... Maybe I’m reading too much into it. Yeah, I grabbed her waist. I put my arms around her. It’s not something a guy normally does to a girl. She was just too conscious of it and now is embarrassed.

Yeah… That makes more sense. Considering her age too.

I chuckle as I realize my idiocy.

Stop making drama, you stupid brain.

I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand.

Well… Since princess made me unable to look at her, in other words, I can’t turn my head in her direction, I’m going to assume she’s still by the wall.

“C’mon princess, we still have more to travel.”

“Oh for fuck sake! Can’t a woman have some time alone!?”

… Did she just swear?

“*gasp* Princess, bite thy tongue. Who teached you such foul language?”

“Hmph! Well, excuse me, ‘prince’!”

“Oh, don’t worry, I do excuse you! Phuahaha!”

As I was laughing, Mark, out of nowhere, rears and neighs.

I wasn’t grabbing anything, so I fall as a result.

“Whoaaa!”

My back hits the ground and pain runs through my body.

“Argh!”

My right leg, strangely, is still in the air. No… My foot is stuck on the pedal.

“Hahaha!” I hear Nora laughing.

“Oh, you find this funny?”

“Very much so! *chuckles*”

“*sigh*”

“Hehe, wait just a little, I'm coming.”

I hear running footsteps.

Then, they get close. “Whoa there, shhh. What spooked you boy?”

“Don't forget to grab his reins. Or else he might run away... Aaallleyup.” I put strength into my abs and raise myself. Then use my left leg to get up.

I shake my right foot and manage to get it off the pedal.

Good thing Mark didn't run afterward. It wouldn't have been pretty if he stomped me.

“Stupid thing. Any idea of what spooked him?”

“No. There's nothing here that could've.”

“*sigh*”

I shake my pants to clean the dirt

“C'mon, let's go.”

“Yeah, let's.” I hear her getting on the horse. “Aren't you forgetting anything?”

“Nope.”

“You sure? A certain person here can't look at you for some strange reason.”

“I know. *giggle*, I didn't forget.”

Oh, wow. Thanks.

********

Rant:

Spoiler :

Welp, time for a small rant, skip this if you couldn't care less lol.

So... Why did I took so long?

- I won't lie. I was planning to write this on Friday and PR on Saturday, but I got lazy. Blame GTA V lol

- I wrote a little on Saturday and continued on Sunday. But I got a writer block and wasn't able to finish it.

- Yesterday, idk why, but I was in a very weird mood. I was very cynical and was very "aggressive" with other people on the webs. By aggressive I mean calling them dumb or being really, *really* sarcastic.

- To make matters worse, yesterday I was second guessing everything I wrote. I was having doubts about my story. For some reason, even my MC was pissing me the hell off. It was really weird '-'

- But somehow I managed to finish it yesterday, but decided to not publish. I recognized that I wasn't "right" yesterday so I should hold until today and PR it then. Which was the right choice, there were things I wrote that just didn't make any sense (I made Mark run off with Al still stuck and stomping him in the leg. THAT'S a not pretty scenario because horse's stomps can do a LOT of damage. And for some stupid reason, I made Nora laugh and make fun of him.)

Why is the chapter short?

- I want to go back to the palace and tell what's happening in the political scenario. That means I'm going to work on another chapter to release in the next few days.

Also, expect more inconsistent releases (unfortunately).

May has come. May is my worst nightmare. Because May is the last month before the finals. In other words, I will have a lot in my mind and won't be able to focus on the story. The timing couldn't be worse because the next part of the story is probably the hardest one to write. You shall find out why eventually.

TL;DR: If I don't upload a chapter for more than a week, don't be surprised.

Thank you all for your support and thanks for putting up with my slowness.