The youth's voice was firm, his fists clenched, his face flushed red, and a faint, barely perceptible radiance emanated from his body in an unbroken shimmer.
"So resolute? You won't go back on your word, will you? Once you head to the Eastern Capital, I may not necessarily keep teaching you!"
Leilin wore a teasing expression.
"A Great Knight! That's nothing at all — you could find a dozen of them in the Jenny family! Setting aside the dangers on the road that could cost you your life, what are you planning to do after you escort Jenny back? Serve as a guard captain for the Augustus family? Or worse, become a mercenary?"
"Have you thought all of this through?"
Leilin pressed.
Willin's face turned a shade paler, but his voice remained firm: "I understand all of that! But... but if I don't get Jenny home safely, my conscience will never be at ease for the rest of my life. I can feel that clearly..."
"Very well! You may leave, but don't ever come back!"
Leilin regarded this toy of his brimming with righteous indignation, tossed out the line flatly, and then returned to his room.
Slam!
The door shut with a bang, leaving only Willin standing there quietly.
"Willin! Thank you!" At that moment, a small, cold hand settled over Willin's calloused one.
"Jen... Jenny, you just..." Willin began to stammer once more.
A finger equally cold, carrying a faint hint of fragrance, was pressed against Willin's lips.
"You don't need to say anything!"
Jenny murmured, resting her head on Willin's shoulder.
"When I was little, I loved resting my head against Father like this. Would you let me lean on you for a while now?"
"Of... of course, it's my greatest honor..." Willin stood there in a daze, the scent of Jenny's hair drifting toward his nose, not daring to move a muscle.
...
After a night had passed, Willin watched the beauty who had long since departed, and at the damp patch still lingering on his shoulder, he could only manage a bitter smile.
"Let's go!"
On a simple little freight cart, Willin wore rough burlap garments, dressed up like a carter, while Jenny and Jemos were hidden inside the cart bed.
At the four corners atop the cart, enormous torches burned, dispelling the surrounding darkness.
"Don't worry! They won't necessarily find you!" Willin called back reassuringly.
Inside the cart, Jenny and Jemos exchanged a bitter smile.
Since the Marquis's condition could brook no delay, Jenny and Jemos had chosen to press on after their injuries stabilized somewhat.
But the mercenaries and adventurers of Port Town had been all but wiped out in the earlier incidents, and it was now clear that someone was ambushing Jenny's convoy — who among the living would dare sign on?
Even the Baron himself, having lost his sole Knight and most of his elite soldiers, had come to regret his involvement profoundly. Now, whenever he looked at Jenny and her companions, he regarded them much the way one regards a walking plague.
In his eyes, Jenny was a jinx who couldn't leave soon enough. So long as nothing happened within his own domain, it was no longer his concern.
This attitude became even more pronounced after he received an anonymous letter from the Eastern Capital, to the point where he flatly refused Jenny's request for a meeting.
In this era, fiefdoms functioned much like independent little kingdoms. Once the townsfolk of Port Town saw the Baron's stance, none of them dared offer any further assistance to Jenny and her party.
This humble little freight cart was something Willin had only managed to acquire after paying three times its market price.
Even then, the seller had made it explicitly clear that he was selling only to Willin and wanted nothing whatsoever to do with Jenny.
They had absolutely no faith in Willin's makeshift arrangements!
But what else could be done?
Gazing at the still-shuttered doors of the Flame and Hammer shop, a flicker of disappointment crossed Jenny and Jemos's eyes, while Willin's expression grew even more somber.
But he gritted his teeth, glanced back at Jenny, and cracked the whip!
Crack!
The cart began to trundle slowly along the road, carrying the three of them farther and farther from the town.
"Wait — might I catch a ride?"
Just as Willin watched the town dwindle to a dark speck on the horizon, his heart heavy with uncertainty about the future, a voice rang out from the roadside, sweet as music from the heavens.
"The... the boss!"