I, Keith, am riding on a wagon towards a village. And somehow, Eulalia is sleeping defenselessly on my lap.

I was startled when she suddenly placed her head there, but because she looked really tired, I didn’t push her away.

(Eulalia’s hair looks so silky… I wonder how they feel?)

I suddenly had that thought when I saw her silky white hair.

Placing my hand on her hair, my palm was assaulted by a very pleasurable sensation.

(Uwaaah! It’s so soft!)

I combed her hair with utmost care so that she wouldn’t wake up.

“Are you siblings, boy?”

“Eh!? Ah! Yes.”

(Damn it! I’m such an idiot! Why’d I say yes!? We’re not siblings.)

Because I got startled by the old man’s question, I let out a positive answer.

“Is that so… that so… she’s quite a lovely younger sister. You better protect her.”

“Yes!”

He made a loud laugh as he continued to drive the wagon.

“Can I ask why the two of you are traveling? There’s gotta be a reason… the two of you are still so young.”

“…”

I was tempted to tell him why, but the words wouldn’t come out of my throat.

“No answer huh? Then I won’t pry anymore.”

“… thanks”

That was the only word I could tell him. Since then, we didn’t talk to each other until we had arrived at the village.

###

“Eulalia… wake up… we’re here.”

“Nn?”

I lightly shook Eulalia. She slowly opened her eyes and surveyed the surroundings. Though I said we had arrived, the place where we had stopped was actually the outskirts of the village.

“Where’s this?”

She now sat on the wagon while rubbing her left eye. I jumped on the wagon. The old man approached us.

“This place is the village of Augre.”

“Hee~”

Eulalia made a weird sound to express that she understood what he said. I then helped her off the wagon and started helping the old man unload his cargo.

“Ne~ mister, can I ask you a question?”

“Hm? Go ahead.”

“Why do you carry so much wheat? Isn’t this a bit too much for you?”

The man made a sad expression as he answered her as we continued to unload the sacks from the wagon and carrying it to a storage house.

“It’s to feed the villagers.”

“Why? Doesn’t this village have a farm?”

She tilted her head as she continued to question him. As for me, I continued carrying the sacks of the wagon.

“The harvest was poor because we angered the gods. Because of that, we have lost his blessings for a good harvest.”

Eulalia raised one of her eyebrows and decided to change the topic.

“I forgot to thank you for letting us ride your wagon.”

“There’s no need to thank me, little miss. I received the fee from that kid.”

He used his chin to point in my direction as I placed the last of the sack in the storage house. I then stood behind Eulalia and faced the old man.

“So where are you two gonna sleep? There isn’t an inn in this village.”

“There isn’t!?”

Eulalia made a very shocked face as she exclaimed at the man’s declaration. It took quite a while before she managed to regain her composure.

“Haaa~ it seems we’ll still spend our night in the wilderness, Keith.”

“Well, it’s not a problem for me though, but are you okay with it?”

“Nn.”

“Oioi, wait a minute you two!”

Just when we were about to leave the place, the old man suddenly raised his voice and stopped us.

“My conscience can’t take it if I leave two children alone in the wilderness. So I have a suggestion.”

““Suggestion?””

The two of us then faced his direction.

“Why don’t the two of you spend your night at my house?”

“But will that be alright?”

“Yep!”

“… but.”

“I won’t say it’s free, I’ll properly fine you… how about 3 copper coins for a night?”

Eulalia became quiet for a while. I suddenly felt her hand grab mine before she nodded to his suggestion.

“If that’s the case, then we’ll gladly accept your offer.”

“Is that so? That’s good… then hop on! I’ll also give you guys a ride to my house.”

When the old man turned his back to us, Eulalia suddenly placed her small mouth near my ear.

“I believe that you’ll protect me.”

“Eh?”

After she spoke those words to me, she let go of my hand and walked towards the wagon.

I was left puzzled by the words she just spoke.

“Oi! Keith! Hurry up and help get on the wagon!”

“Okay!”

I broke into a run and jumped on.

###

The moment the wagon moved and entered the village.

A lot of eyes were focused on Eulalia.

She tried to hide behind my back, but because the stares were coming from all angles, it was really ineffective.

“It’s okay… they’re only staring at you because you have silver hair. That’s really rare, you know.”

“Un…”

I tried to reassure and ease her anxiety, but failed to do a good job.

Her hands grabbed the clothes on my back and I could feel her grip tighten the longer they stared at her.

After an excruciatingly long time, we finally arrived at the old man’s home.

I quickly jumped off the wagon and helped Eulalia off.

By the way, she would jump off the wagon while closing her eyes.

It would have been really dangerous if I wasn’t strong enough, but I didn’t reprimand her for jumping off the wagon like that.

The expression she makes was really adorable and I couldn’t help but like it.

“Oh, it may be rude, but because we’re gonna stay at your home. Can we ask what your name is?”

Eulalia asked the old man a question that came out of nowhere the moment he was gonna open his door.

“I forgot that I still haven’t told you guys what my name was huh… hahaha.”

The old man started laughing before he folded his arms on his chest and introduced himself.

“My name is Max, I’m the assistant to the mayor that manages this village.”

“Heeh, is that so.”

“What about the two of you? I still haven’t heard your names.”

“Ahh, that’s right. My name is Eulalia as for the boy beside me he’s…”

“Keith. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Max.”

“The pleasure’s mine.”

The man widened his smile more and opened the door.

The two of us cautiously entered his home.

Max’s home had a very simple design and had a second floor.

His living room had lot’s of animal skins and weapons.

It felt like the person who lived here was a ‘Hunter’.

“Don’t be too cautious you two. There’s no one other than me who lives here.”

“Uhh…”

“It’s true!”

Max then walked up the stairs while we silently followed behind him.

He continued walking till he reached the third door.

Inserting a key through the keyhole, he unlocked the room and opened it.

“This’ll be your room for now. Don’t be so reserved and treat it like it's yours.”

“Thanks.”

Max gave me the key and went downstair.

Eulalia and I entered the room and found a bed.

On its side were a drawer and an oil lamp.

The windows also had a curtain.

Eulalia sat on the bed while I opened the window.

“Are you okay now, Eulalia?”

“N-nn, maybe it’s better to find a cloak before we leave this village.”

“That’s true, your hair attracts too much attention.”

Eulalia closed her eyes and rested on the bed.

She then placed her hand on her stomach.

“We still haven’t eaten dinner. Let’s go downstairs, I’ll ask Max if it’s okay for me to use the kitchen.”

“Sure.”

The two of us exited the room and headed down to the kitchen.

We quickly found Max preparing the vegetables on a table.

“Ah!”

“Umm, Max, would it be okay if I’d be the one who’ll cook dinner?”

“Can you cook?”

I gave Max a taunting smile as I said, “She’s really good you know!”

“Does she have the skills to back up your claims?”

“She’ll exceed it.”

I suddenly felt a painful stimulus from the back of my head.

“Stop it!”

Eulalia had a really red face as she rubbed the hand she used to strike me.

“If she’s so good, then I’ll give her the reigns of the kitchen.”

“Is that okay?”

“Yep!”

The man gave the knife to Eulalia as she took a stool and used it as a stand.

Without any delay, she started peeling the vegetables one by one.

Max walked out of the house and started preparing the firewood for the fire.

I didn’t have anything to do, so I only watched her from afar.

***

That night, Max was eating the food Eulalia had prepared with a frantic face.

“This is really delicious! What’s this food called?”

“Borscht.”

“What? Well, anyway, this borscht thing is really delicious!”

“Don’t refrain from asking seconds.”

“Give me more!”

I held out my bowl to Eulalia and with a smile I asked her to refill my bowl.

“Yes, yes…”

She made a wry smile as she stood up and used a ladle to fill up the bowl.

Giving me back my bow, I quickly started eating again.

I was already sick of eating fruits every night, so eating one of Eulalia’s peculiar dishes tasted more delicious and satisfying.

Spoiler :

Boy, this chapter was hard to make.... I was tempted for a few time to shift the pov in the middle...

Anyways, this is my longest chapter yet!(Not Including chapters 1-5 cause they're different) (^o^)/