Chapter 248

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“Explain yourself.”

The atmosphere in the bustling tavern was loud, but there was a chilling breeze in one corner—where Ulan and his friends were seated.

Delia squinted her eyes, her voice low and heavy, demanding an explanation.

“Why are you here?”

The strange pressure from her glare made Noa gulp. In contrast, Laurea responded with a calm face.

“As you can see, we’re just gathering to sort out some matters.”

“That could be done in a hotel!”

“Exactly! Why come all the way outside?”

“Well, the weather’s nice, and it’s a waste to stay cooped up inside. Besides, I needed to moisten my throat.”

Laurea smiled at Ivella and Fertisha, who were questioning her, and waved her hand dismissively.

“Anyway, we haven’t finished our discussion yet, so you should hurry back. We promised to give it a day.”

“But that was just to sort things out…”

She hadn’t meant for them to enjoy a cozy time outside.

In response to Ivella’s strong protest, Laurea retorted again.

“See, I told you? The place may have changed, but the purpose is the same.”

Her boldness was astonishing.

Delia and Ivella exchanged incredulous looks, letting out exasperated laughs with piercing gazes directed at Laurea.

Of course, that gave her no concern at all.

“What are you doing? Are you not leaving?”

As Laurea persistently tried to send them off, the three girls exchanged glances and, a moment later, moved to a table a bit farther from Ulan’s group.

Laurea narrowed her eyes at their actions.

“What are you doing now…?”

“We’re just going to have a drink or two.”

“Since we got this far!”

“I guess it’s a bit dry after running over here.”

They had merely exchanged looks, yet their responses flowed as if pre-agreed.

Then the trio focused their watchful eyes on their table.

Was this bothering Laurea?

She frowned.

After a moment of pondering, she seemed to come up with a clever plan, grinning.

“Noa.”

“Yes?”

“Last time, you promised to help me during this hunt, right?”

“Well, I did say that… Why?”

Feeling an uneasy sensation, Noa asked back as Laurea smiled sweetly.

“Then cooperate with me.”

“Cooperate? How?”

“Close your eyes, count from one to ten, then create a thick Mist.”

Noa had a sorcery that summoned thick Mist. Once Laurea finished speaking, Noa discerned her intentions.

With a sigh, he replied, “Sigh, I get what you’re trying to do, but it’s pointless. As you know, Delia can observe the flow of Magic Power.”

So before he could complete the spell, she’d predict and prepare for it, as Delia was currently watching them. Yet Laurea remained unfazed.

“It’s fine. I’ll stop her.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that…?”

“Just stop asking and get ready.”

Laurea wore a confident smile.

Seeing this, Noa, unsure but also feeling obligated due to past promises, slowly retrieved a Talisman.

“Ulan, close your eyes too.”

Until I tell you to open them.

At her request, Ulan shut his eyes. Laurea then whispered to Noa to start, and both closed their eyes, clasping their hands together.

As if offering a prayer.

Once prepared, Noa began to focus, slowly counting. As he reached nine, a sudden anomaly struck the tavern.

Flash! Bam!

A brilliant white light burst forth—Laurea’s prayer had activated the Divine Light.

“Aaaah!”

“Ah! M-my eyes…”

“What happened? What’s going on?!”

Guests who hadn’t closed their eyes screamed in panic from the instantaneous explosion of light.

Delia and her friends were no different.

In their moment of shock, Noa’s prepared sorcery activated.

Swishhh!

A thick Mist engulfed the room.

The sudden explosion of light had created enough Mist to obscure everyone’s vision, leading to continued chaos.

A while later, the all-encompassing Mist finally cleared. Thanks to Delia regaining her composure and swiftly dispelling the Mist.

“Ugh, my eyes hurt.”

“What on earth just happened?”

Fertisha and Ivella wore a bewildered expression.

In contrast to the two girls’ panic, Delia quickly grasped the situation.

‘I knew about Noa’s sorcery.’

By observing the flow of Magic Power and its arrangement, Delia realized Noa’s sorcery was meant to create Mist.

‘So I prepared a nullification spell…’

But she had not anticipated that Laurea would use a prayer to activate the Divine Light.

No matter how one favored by Mana they were, they couldn’t decipher the flow of Divine Power.

“Such trivial nonsense…”

Completely at the mercy of Laurea, Delia furrowed her brows in irritation. Yet she couldn’t finish her thoughts.

Instead, her eyes widened.

“…!”

Ulan and Laurea had vanished.

Their table, once occupied by three, was now left with Noa, still seated with eyes closed.

Realizing the situation a moment too late, Ivella and Fertisha froze in alarm.

They had been outsmarted! The three grimaced at once.

“Laurea!”

A voice filled with outrage resonated through the tavern.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Laurea had successfully snuck out of the tavern with Ulan. Thanks to the unexpected use of her prayer and the Divine Light along with Noa’s Mist.

But it wasn’t time to relax yet.

So Laurea pulled out Holy Water and poured it over both herself and Ulan.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m inscribing a Sacred Pattern.”

Then, she stretched out her snowy fingers to draw a Sacred Pattern, preventing any outside powers from interfering.

This meant reducing the risk of being detected by Delia’s tracking magic and Fertisha’s Spirits.

“Phew, I should have done this earlier.”

Thinking back, she realized she had been too careless.

But it wasn’t all in vain.

“Still, I should thank the three of them. Thanks to them, we’re finally alone.”

Now in a situation where it was just her and Ulan.

Laurea smiled widely.

It was a strangely satisfying grin. On the other hand, Ulan looked puzzled.

“But wouldn’t it be easier to organize things with Noa here?”

“It’s fine. Just the two of us is enough.”

Laurea tried to dodge the question.

In fact, this was exactly what she had desired. Hence, she firmly took Ulan’s hand and pulled him along.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“We can’t end it like this; we need more drinks!”

With no reason to decline, Ulan nodded happily. The sun was still high, so there was plenty of time left to organize their talk.

How much time passed after that?

After navigating various alleys, they purchased some fruit wine at another tavern and sat on the quiet stairway of the alley, tilting the bottle.

“Ah! This takes me back.”

“Back when you were a Saintess Candidate?”

“Yeah, right after I arrived at the Holy Nation. I often came to such quiet places.”

Whenever she grew tired of her monotonous routine of prayers, she’d escape to the alleys.

While reminiscing with a smile, Laurea suddenly seemed to realize something.

“Oh, Ulan, you probably already know this story, right?”

“I’ve heard it a few times.”

Ulan nodded casually. Laurea frowned.

“…It feels oddly deflating.”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to tell you about my past, but you already know it all. How boring.”

Laurea murmured in annoyance.

Then she shot Ulan a sideways glance.

“Honestly, every time we talk, you often bring up my past life. But the current me is different from the me in your memories!”

“Is that so?”

“Of course! I don’t look down on you as a Barbarian anymore. Our relationship is far better than it once was.”

That much was true.

Whereas in her past life it took a long time to grow close, this time they had bonded much quicker.

“So let’s forget about the past me.”

“No, I can’t do that.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because those are precious memories to me.”

Ulan shook his head firmly.

The moments he shared with allies from his past life were the foundation of the Ulan he was now.

Therefore, whether they were good or bad memories, they were all cherished recollections. Laurea pondered for a moment and then spoke up.

“Okay. Let’s do it this way.”

“How?”

“You start by telling me what you know about me. Then I’ll talk about what’s left.”

Not a bad suggestion.

Ulan nodded. He soon started recalling their past adventures together.

“Alright. Let’s see. First, there’s the part where you’re a Barbarian I’d consider unsuitable for drinking…”

“W-wait, leave that part out!”

Laurea, flustered, quickly covered Ulan’s mouth. A moment later, they both tilted their bottles and had a cozy conversation.

Stories she’d never heard in her past life.

Perhaps because of that? Ulan felt like he was getting to know Laurea better. He felt good about it and smiled quietly.

After a while, time passed quickly.

The streets darkened.

In all the drinking and gossiping, they had barely achieved their original goal.

“Looks like we didn’t manage to sort out your story after all.”

Ulan murmured softly.

Laurea then comfortingly patted his shoulder, as if to say not to worry.

“It’s okay. I actually have a plan for how I want to share everything.”

“What? Then why…”

“Well, I just wanted to have some fun. When else would we get a day like this?”

Laurea smiled widely.

With a flushed face from the drink, she answered. Then she frowned slightly, as if a little disappointed.

“I thought we had plenty of time to play around, but now I’m a bit let down thinking about parting soon.”

After revealing the truth to everyone tomorrow, Laurea would go back to the Holy Nation with the Knight Order.

That meant they wouldn’t see each other for a while.

Becoming aware of the reality she had tried hard to forget, she wore a gloomy expression, letting out a sigh without saying a word.

“Here.”

Suddenly, Ulan extended his hand toward her.

On his open palm lay a pair of earrings glinting under the moonlight. As Laurea stared at them in astonishment, she inquired.

“Huh? What’s this?”

“A gift.”

“A gift…?”

“Since I’ve received a lot of help from you.”

His straightforward response caused her eyes to go wide in realization. A moment later, she asked in a slightly trembling voice.

“C-can I really take this?”

“Of course.”

Thanks to Laurea’s previous support, Ulan had finally learned of Noa’s secret.

Moreover, without her, the hunt for Astevan would have been impossible. Thus, with a heartfelt gratitude, Ulan nodded.

“I bought this for you. Just accept it.”

Her round yellow eyes flickered once. Caught off guard, Laurea held the earrings in her hands, her fingers fidgeting with excitement.

“Well, to be honest, I’ve never received something like this, so I’m not sure how to react…”

As she babbled, she paused for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she looked at Ulan and beamed a bright smile.

“Thank you, Ulan! I’m really happy.”

“That’s a relief to hear.”

Ulan smiled back.

Afterward, Laurea promptly fastened the earrings to her earlobes. Then, she brushed her hair back and asked.

“How do I look? Do they suit me?”

“They look good, I think.”

“Hmph, it’s a boring answer, but I’ll let it slide.”

She felt fantastic.

Laurea grinned, holding a wine bottle in one hand while gripping Ulan’s arm with the other.

Then, as their conversation started winding down, the lights illuminating the streets slowly began to extinguish. The sparse pedestrians had long since disappeared.

Time had crept close to midnight.

Ulan parted his lips to speak.

“We should start heading back.”

They’d drunk all the wine.

And with tomorrow’s conversation ready, there was no longer any need to linger.

However, Laurea had other thoughts.

“Not yet.”

“What?”

“I haven’t had enough to drink.”

After her response, she shook the wine bottle.

The sound of sloshing liquid accompanied her words.

Though there seemed to be little left, Laurea didn’t care and continued.

“And I somehow feel a bit dizzy. So let’s just rest a little longer before we go, okay?”

“Umm, but there isn’t really a place to rest…”

“Oh look, there’s an empty spot over there.”

She pointed to a bench in a corner of the plaza, though it looked a bit small for the two of them. After all, Ulan was much larger than most.

At that moment, Laurea plopped down on the bench.

Looking up at Ulan, she asked.

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Tired?”

“Well, you just woke up this morning and have walked quite a lot. I thought you’d be worn out.”

He wasn’t tired at all.

Among all Heroes, Ulan’s stamina was the finest, thanks to the Hero’s Enchantment keeping him in peak condition.

“So just lie down and rest.”

“Lie down? Where?”

“Right here.”

Laurea answered sharply, patting her pale thigh.

Upon hearing her unexpected suggestion, Ulan shut his mouth.

While he hesitated on how to respond, Laurea softly murmured again.

“…Don’t you want to?”

Her coat had slipped halfway down.

In a more disheveled state than usual, she looked up at Ulan with slightly moist eyes.

Her expression was suffused with a pleading aura that was hard to turn down.

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