Vera stared blankly at Aisha.
Why is she here? Why is the person who would one day wield the Demon Sword here as an apprentice of a blacksmith?
Doubts arose within his mind, but he quickly suppressed them.
'…Nothing is impossible.’
In Vera’s previous life, amongst all the heroes, she was one of the few who stood their ground when the Demon King emerged. Her past was shrouded in mystery, so it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for her to be apprenticed to a blacksmith before becoming a swordsman.
While this connection was being created in Vera’s head.
"Aisha."
Dovan gave a little push by looking at Aisha huffing with her head down.
Aisha trembled in response to her name being called. She lowered her head towards Vera and Renee with a face riddled with resentment.
"…Sorry."
Her tone indicated she was on the verge of tears.
Renee recognized the emotions in Aisha's voice at once, then smiled and waved her hand.
"It's all right, it was all a mistake.”
"Ugh..."
Aisha's hand clutched her apron. Hatred oozed out of her tearful eyes.
Aisha tried to suppress her growing anger by biting her lips. Eventually, she could no longer hold back her emotions and shouted as she ran out of the room.
"But it's their fault for looking so suspicious!”
"AISHA!"
Slam!
A loud noise resonated as Aisha left in a hurry and slammed the door shut.
Dovan stared at the door with his mouth agape and a blank face, then let out a deep sigh and apologized.
"I'm sorry. My apprentice is too stubborn."
"No, it’s really fine! But, don’t you have to go after her?
"I can't do that with my customers here. Aisha will be nearby, so don't worry. Now, let's get back to work."
Dovan definitely uttered these words to reassure them, but Renee could sense deep concern in his words.
"Then, may I go and see her? I don't have anything to do anyway."
"It's alright. I can't do such a disservice to a customer…”
"No, it's because I want to."
Dovan blinked upon hearing Renee's words, and only nodded after a brief period of contemplation.
"Then I'll have to trouble you with this. Aisha is probably on the tree in the backyard."
"Yes."
Renee nodded and grabbed Hela’s hand before slowly leaving the room, a ‘tak’ ‘tak’ sound following them.
Thud.When the door closed, Vera and Dovan, who were left alone, spoke with awkward expressions.
"What a kind lady. You serve her?”
"Yes."
"You serve a good person. It must be rewarding.”
Vera nodded. In his mind, his affinity with Dovan rose slightly.
"She is the one who will illuminate the whole world."
"You're quite loyal.”
Dovan clearly sensed dread upon hearing Vera’s sudden praise.
In the calm atmosphere, Vera was filled with doubts regarding Aisha. He asked a question.
"Your apprentice is rather young. She's a child who lives nearby?”
"I'm raising her. She's a war orphan."
"Ah..."
Vera nodded.
He must be referring to the conflict within the Federation of the Beastkin Kingdoms.
After Vargo crushed the skull of King Haman and the Beastkin Empire collapsed, the country was divided into five branches. Over the past 50 years, conflict has persisted without stopping for even a moment.
Aisha was a war orphan born as a result of that conflict.
'Indeed, is that why I couldn't discover anything about her past?'
Vera continued, nodding his head as he finally understood Aisha’s past.
"That's unfortunate."
"Unfortunate… Well, I think it's funny. The tyrant has stepped down, so they are now fighting among themselves to get a piece of the pie."
Dovan’s words contained an indescribable hatred.
"In the place where the tiger has departed from, the fox poses as a king. That's the current situation."
Vera, in response to Dovan’s word that emanated a deep sense of disgust, shut his mouth tightly and waited for him to regain control of his emotions.
A short silence passed and Dovan, who appeared to be more relaxed, continued with a bitter expression.
"I'm sorry for telling you a depressing story. Will you follow me for now? I'd like to show you some specifications to use as a sample."
"As much as you’d like."
Kirik-.Doban's wheelchair moved and produced a noise.
****
Behind a jar full of condiments in the backyard.
Norn crouched down and spoke to Renee, who likewise squatted beside him.
"You’re curled up on top of a tree. You seem to be in quite the bad mood.”
"Is that so…."
Renee nodded with a worried face, and immediately continued.
"How can I soothe her?”
Norn replied with a faint smile in response to the worried look on Renee's face.
"Can I go and try to comfort her?"
"Norn?"
“Am I not the father of Hela after all? Dealing with kids that have gone too far is easy.”
Norn was confident.
How many accidents has Hela had since the day she was born? She would go around giving plenty of beatings to the boy next door. Didn’t she once turn the house upside down searching for a door to another dimension?
He was the one who managed all those accidents, so he thought he could be of some help this time.
Norn rose to his feet, thinking of making up for his failure in the Great Woodlands.
"I'll be back."
Then, Norn went towards the tree.
With a tense expression, Renee concentrated on the words she heard shortly after.
- Dear, are you all right?
- What? Get lost. Uncle reeks of an old man.
Shook. Renee's body trembled.
"He-Hela? What's going on?”
"…My father is coming back."
“Yes?"
"I think he failed."
Sweat trickled down Renee's forehead.
Norn's voice, which could be heard shortly after, was filled with a sadness that could not be hidden.
"…Children these days are scary.”
"Um..."
"Cheer up. Dad is cool enough."
"…Thank you."
The mood had subsided. Renee felt embarrassment rising from within.
Renee, how do you heal a wounded man's heart? She didn't know how.
"Well..."
Renee, who couldn't find the right words to say, straightened her ponytail. She immediately shut her eyes and stood up.
"I-I'm going!"
The best choice was to run away. Renee’s only thought was that she had to escape this gloomy atmosphere, so she chose the option of heading towards the enemy camp.
****
With her head buried deep between her knees, Aisha listened to the sound of 'tak' and 'tak'.
Judging from the sound she was hearing, it must be the white haired blind woman she saw just moments prior.
A frown suddenly formed on Aisha’s face.
'Because of her…!'
She got in trouble with her Master.
She didn't like people who made trouble for her Master! She was trying her best to not make things hard for him! Master doesn’t know that and only scolds her!
Anger arose in Aisha's heart. The expression that can be seen as she lifted her head slightly was a grim frown. Her ears were folded back to reveal her vigilance.
"Who are you?"
A sharp-tongued question. Renee trembled in response, and soon greeted her with an innocent smile.
"Well, hello?"
"I asked, who are you?”
"Oh, my name is Renee. You're Aisha, aren't you?"
Renee spoke with the thought in mind that if she spoke in a friendly manner, Aisha would surely respond. But… the response that she heard was very disappointing.
"Why are you speaking informally? Don’t you even have manners?”
Renee swallowed her intended response of “What about you?” which had suddenly emerged, then spoke.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Have I been rude?"
Likewise, she spoke with a tone tinged with kindness.
It was possible to match Aisha’s negative attitude, but Renee was a person who believed that children should be handled with affection.
Did Renee's heart reach her?
Aisha flinched at Renee, who answered her words in a gentle tone.
Her eyes narrowed slightly and her ears, which had been folded back the entire time, slightly rose up. The tip of her tail began to sway back and forth.
It was a reaction that Renee could not see, but fortunately Aisha added another reaction that Renee could clearly perceive.
"…I apologized earlier."
A slightly subdued tone.
Renee sensed it and nodded with a rosy face.
"Oh, of course. I'm not here to ask for an apology."
Renee continued to speak with delight at Aisha's softened expression.
"Uhm, how old are you Aisha?”
Her question came from the idea of narrowing the distance between them by getting to know each other.
Aisha flinched in response and glared at Renee. It was because she thought that if she revealed her real age of 12, she would be belittled.
Aisha glanced at Renee, and soon responded in a powerful tone.
"Twenty-three."
If you look closely at the expression on her face, you could immediately tell that it was a lie. However, the blind Renee could only hear words exuding confidence and intensity. She could only express her embarrassment.
"Huh? Ye-Yes?"
She displayed such obvious bewilderment that even a person meeting Renee for the first time would be able to tell at a glance. The thoughts in Renee’s head became disorderly.
'T-They said she is a child?'
Obviously, Norn and Dovan spoke as if she were a child. And the voice she could hear sounded very young.
To put it bluntly, it happened because Vera didn't describe Aisha's appearance accurately, and it happened because Renee didn't know how to doubt what others said.
Aisha continued speaking in a more confident voice. She noticed that her lies were working by seeing Renee’s expression of helplessness.
"Because I look young, I'm often mistaken for a child.”
Smirk.One corner of Aisha's lips upturned.
Aisha realized at once.
'She’s stupid.'
That blind woman was a pushover.
A playful expression formed on Aisha's face. Her shoulders shrugged at the thought of her own words being heard.
"I-I'm sorry! Please excuse me…."
"Huh, I'll let it slide just this once.”
Aisha said that to Renee, who was apologizing, then jumped down from the tree.
Aisha, while sweeping her buttocks, raised her head in a smug manner before she questioned Renee with an arrogant tone.
"How old are you?”
"Ah, eighteen....”
Renee shrunk. The person she had initially assumed to be younger than herself was in fact older.
Aisha looked at Renee, then shrugged. She felt as if she had won for some reason, so she raised her chin high and spoke.
"I'm your older sister?"
"I-Is that so?"
Smirk.A smile formed on Aisha's lips.
"I'm Aisha Dragnov. You're Renee?"
"Yes. Ah! Are you a noble?"
A look of surprise settled over Renee's face.
That was because, as far as Renee knew, people who had surnames were nobles or knights.
It could be assumed that Aisha had been knighted and given a surname. However, it made little sense for a blacksmith’s apprentice to receive knighthood. Renee continued speaking with a smile as she thought that Aisha being a daughter of an aristocrat was a more accurate judgment.
"That's incredible. Young Ladies usually don't do rough jobs like blacksmithing, right?”
She was a woman full of passion.
Words of admiration came to mind as she said that.
As a result, Aisha's eyes shook as if there was an earthquake.
"Th-That's right!"
She stammered as she spoke. It was because she lied.
Aisha wasn't anything like an aristocrat. Her last name was only for her to show off. The reason why it was Dragnov was just because it sounded cool.
Aisha quickly changed the subject, swallowing the fear that her lies could be revealed if she continued like this.
"Ugh…. Where's the man you came with?"
"Oh, he must be talking about work with Dovan."
Aisha breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, thinking that the topic seemed to have changed safely. She followed up by clearing her throat with a 'cough' and a 'khum'.
"You two seemed to be on good terms with each other."
A tone similar to that of mercenaries who sometimes came to entrust their requests. For Aisha, she spoke in this manner to emulate that of an adult, but…
"Ri…. right?"
That action stimulated Renee's 'always incorrect’ intuition.
Doubts arose into Renee's mind.
'Why is she talking about Vera?'
The question of why she was interested in Vera.
After thinking about it for some time, Renee, who suddenly realized what she had been missing, shook her body.
'Come to think of it....’
She's not a child.
She's 23 years old.
'Older then Vera….'
She's older...
Renee felt her back stiffen.
A feeling of agitation surged through her mind.
'No way.…'
Is she interested in Vera? Is she trying to take Vera away?
Renee's expression turned serious.
"Huh? Did you imagine something nice?"
With a smirk, Aisha's sly words soon followed.
It was enough to be heard as a compliment, but Renee, who had already defined Aisha as an 'enemy', gave a sharp reply to those words.
"…Does it matter?"
"Eh, yes?"
Embarrassment began to ooze from Aisha's response.
Normally, she would have felt something strange here. However, Renee, who was in a state of anxiety, didn’t notice the awkwardness in Aisha’s words. She continued to speak.
"You're a stranger."
Tsk.She retorted sharply.
Renee stretched out her shoulders, which had been shrinking until just moments prior. She directed her head in the direction from which Aisha’s voice could be heard and stiffened her expression.
A battle stance of her own to deal with a rival.
'You Thieving Cat!'
Renee said so inwardly. She didn’t mean it metaphorically, she really thought of her as a thieving cat.
"You're very interested in other people's business, aren't you?”
"Wh-What!"
A strange atmosphere formed between the two.
Renee's expression was filled with hostility. Aisha, who stood opposite of her, made a fierce expression in response to Renee’s sudden outburst.
What followed was an argument that was difficult to watch.
This was the moment when the second page in Renee’s dark history was written.