Chapter 50 — In which things are cool

“Our Lady, Lady Mimosa. Are we going to stop in this area?”

“Yes, why?”

Apric took a closer look at the map, and then pointed at a small black dot.

“Then how about making a stop here?”

When Saffra and Mimosa gave her questioning looks, she blushed and said, while averting her eyes.

“That’s my and Tangeri’s hometown. And it’s a really pretty place. I thought that Our Lady and Lady Mimosa may enjoy it.”

“Hm…”

Saffra thought about it, while looking at the map.

The second week into her reincarnation, or whatever happened to her, she was on a ‘vacation trip’ with Mimosa.

In fact, both of them wanted to investigate a bit more thoroughly the death of ‘Golderodis’.

Two people, who appeared to be the same exact person.

Two people, who were secretly doing something in the General’s Manor.

And one of those people ended up killing the other.

While the killer's soul was destroyed.

Neither Saffra nor Mimosa would let this case rest easily, so they ended up on this trip.

But neither of them wanted to appear ‘too interested’ in this case, so they decided to just stay in the area.

‘Golderodi’s family is dead, but there must be people, who knew them.’

The sisters planned to look for those people.

And, as if fate was on their side, Apric and Tangeri’s hometown happened to be located not far away from Golderodi’s hometown.

It was an excellent location to make their camp.

Saffra glanced at Mimosa, and Mimosa also glanced at her.

Both of them nodded.

Their thoughts were the same.

“We will gladly visit your hometown.”

“I’ll order drivers.”

Because of the tense political situation, Mimosa never had a clear travel plan.

This way she could make changes on a whim, without breaking any promises or missing appointments.

But because of this, she gained a nickname ‘Lady of Sudden Visits’.

That was among her followers at least.

Those who were against her often called her ‘Midnight Jumpscare’.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“The umbrella…”

Mimosa hesitated.

She was about to stand up to go give drivers directions, but stopped and mumbled, unsure what to do.

Currently, she and Saffra were sitting under her sun umbrella, on the terrace of the open-view cafe.

As a vampire, Mimosa should take the umbrella with her to protect herself from the sun, but it seemed that she was concerned about her little sister.

“It’s okay. You can take it.”

Saffra reassured her, and picked up the umbrella to hand it over to Mimosa.

The corners of Mimosa’s mouth curled up slightly when she saw it, and then she turned around. Walking off with briskly steps.

Saffra observed her for a moment, until she disappeared from her view.

She then closed her eyes and enjoyed the rays of sunlight.

… But only for a moment.

“My Lady, are you okay?”

Apric asked in worried tone, while Saffra snapped her eyes open and massaged her temples.

“… I’m fine. It’s just quite hot today.”

The raising temperature of her body made her uncomfortable, and she could feel sweat flowing down her back, even though she made sure to wear very light clothes.

Apric looked at her with even more worried face and said:

“My Lady should go find some shade. I’ll bring you something cold to drink.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“It’s only my duty.”

Apric shook her head and then ran off.

Saffra chuckled at this show of diligence, while following her lady-in-waiting’s advice and moving to the seat hidden in the shadows of the cafe’s roof.

‘I wasn’t like this before… But I don’t think it’s a problem with the body…’

As Saffaron, she once crossed a desert with her siblings. She was sure she could handle heat.

And though Saffra had a weak, flower-like body, there were no physical problems that would make her so vulnerable to heat.

It seemed that the problem was psychological.

And she had an idea what the origin of the problem was.

“Sir, are you a knight?”

A childish voice drew Saffra’s attention.

She turned her head and saw Citrie being ambushed… no, approached by a curious child.

Citrie was supposed to be on a break now, but his ‘break’ meant just stepping a few meters away and still guarding Saffra.

That man didn’t seem to understand how to relax even for a moment.

‘… What are you trying to do?’

With curious eyes, Saffra observed the scene.

Citrie smiled and then crouched down to be at the same level as the child.

“Yeah. I’m a knight.”

The child frowned and put on a very suspicious expression.

“You don’t look like a knight.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t have a sword.”

“I do have a sword. Look.”

Citrie pointed at a thin, half meter long blade tied to his belt.

The child didn’t look convinced.

“It doesn’t look very sharp.”

“It’s not very sharp.”

“Then how are you going to protect your lords from dragons, if your sword isn’t sharp?”

“That…”

Citrie, who seemed to be laughing, put on a very serious expression.

“If I’m going to fight, I’m probably going to use this.”

This time he pointed at a blade short enough that it could be easily hidden behind a long shirt.

This blade looked very sharp.

Citrie then looked at the first, long blade again.

“This one is more of a decoration.”

“… But can you defeat a dragon with such a short blade?”

“I don’t know.” He smiled playfully again. “Maybe if I’m really good with it.”

The child didn’t seem to be convinced. If anything, they looked even more suspicious.

“Then what about your armor? You only have a funny hat.”

“Well. That funny hat has a special crystal here which prevents mind control and nullifies the mystical sorcery. And my shirt looks like a simple shirt, but it can actually deflect blades and protect me from deadly elements.”

“So you have magic clothes?”

For a second, Citrie’s face turned weird, then it returned to normal.

“No, its technology.”

“… How is technology different from magic?”

“… I’m not sure, but magic is magic and technology is technology… they’re different.”

The child crossed their arms.

“You aren’t an actual knight, are you?”

“No, I’m an actual knight.”

“But you can’t fight a dragon.”

“… Because I’m not supposed to fight a dragon?”

“Then what you’re doing if not fighting dragons?”

“I make my lords appear very rich and elegant.”

“… So you’re like a pretty cat?”

Saffra almost burst out laughing.

The child’s words weren’t wrong.

With time passing, the way people fought and solved their conflicts changed.

The wars of hundreds become the wars of thousands, and the small groups of trained soldiers, living out of the money given by their employer, were turning into dozens of barely trained villagers, who were dragged or coaxed from their homes to join the ‘glorious war’ and given some weapons that made them very easy to kill.

The knights were a thing of the past.

They only existed in Flavun in the name of tradition.

As a way to show off how much money and power the noble family had.

The work Citrie was doing was called ‘protecting’, but really, the most he was expected to do in the face of danger was to act as a meat shield.

Or maybe, if someone offended Saffra, he could cut them down in her name.

“… You’re not wrong.”

Citrie, who was momentarily stunned, nodded his head.

The child made a disgusted expression.

“I knew it! Knights are for babies. Only swordmasters are cool.”

And then stormed off.

Saffra heard Citrie mumble:

“I mean… You’re not wrong, but ouch?”

At that, Saffra thought:

‘Are they that cool? Swordmaster is just someone, who mastered the blade…’

*~*~*