ALL NOVEL chapter 23
23 – Cold Blooded Irene
That night,
After me and Lucia’s barracks were prepared, a small party was held.
Originally, if we arrived as scheduled, we were going to have a banquet on time,
As it came earlier than expected, nothing was prepared, so only a few officials gathered and proceeded in the form of a dinner.
“hahahaha, now that the warrior has arrived, our territory has been relieved!”
“No. Lord. The situation hadn’t even started yet, and thanks to Commander Irene who came here in advance, I was relieved.”
Me, Lucia, and Irene were invited to a dinner attended by the lord of Baltabar and his family, and we were eating together.
The progress was no different from when you were invited to any noble family.
Invite them to dinner.
To attract attention with all sorts of flattery.
As a conclusion, bring up a marriage discussion with your child.
“Hero, I heard that you are still unmarried and that you are not dating anyone in particular…”
The lord, who had worked hard to support me from before dinner until the end of the meal and trembled with flattery, finally began to speak of his purpose.
“I have a daughter, but I’m in a very difficult situation because I can’t find a suitable husband even though I’m getting married… Well… If it’s okay with you, how about meeting the warrior?”
“Yes? hahahaha… I’m… Actually…”
It was the time when I was diligently rolling my head around the lord, not knowing how to deal with him.
“Lord, we have gathered to subdue the demon army that will soon appear here, not to have a wedding talk with your children. If it’s a private matter, please do it after the demon king’s army is subjugated.”
Irene, who had been sitting silently and eating, eventually threw a blow at the lord, and at Irene’s words, the lord looked at him a few times before closing his mouth firmly.
Instead of…
“Commander Irene is really… Isn’t it too sensitive to talk about this heavy atmosphere since it’s not yet in a wartime situation?”
The young lady, who was feeling sorry for the good opportunity, shot at Irene in a slightly annoyed voice.
Yeongju was trying to stop his wife by poking her arm, wondering if she would hate Irene.
“Why? Honey? Did I say something wrong? Isn’t that because the Commander has something on his mind, following his last words?”
“What are you doing? It’s crazy!?”
The lord’s wife, who seemed to ruin her own daughter’s marriage, argued with Irene,
Eventually, the lord couldn’t stand it and yelled at her wife, literally ruining the dining atmosphere.
“Sorry. I think I ruined the atmosphere of the meal, so I’ll get up first.”
“Commander! Ahh… That’s not it…”
In the end, Irene said a word and stood up, and the lord wanted to stop her from going out, wondering if she had offended her.
She had already quickly left the restaurant.
I must have finished my meal too.
Lucia, who was next to her, didn’t even touch her menu to see if she didn’t like her, so she got up without a second thought.
“Yo.. Hero! No, dessert hasn’t been served yet, so where are you going…”
“No. I already ate my fill.”
I greeted the lord and his wife, and as I was about to leave, the two people approached me and stopped me as if holding me…
It’s not that I don’t understand them.
The only way to succeed in a remote territory with no population is child farming,
Since I came to Yeongji with that good rice cake, I must have thought of getting married somehow and getting ahead…
“Today, I came to subdue the demon king army, so I will visit you separately next time about marriage talks.”
“No.. But…”
“Let’s go. Lucia.”
When I was told to leave, Lucia ran more than anyone else and stood next to me..
The lord wanted to hold on to me until the end, but as I just ignored him and went out of the restaurant with Lucia, only calls full of regret continued.
“Hero! Warrior!”
On the way out of the lord’s castle and back to the barracks…
I came with Irene and was able to find it at once without getting lost, but the way back to the barracks felt unfamiliar since only Lucia and I were going.
“Hey.. Lucia..?”
“Yes?”
“Will you take out that wind spirit and watch the way back?”
The moment I was about to ask Lucia to make sure I didn’t get lost on my first trip…
Irene, who I thought went first, was standing with her back against the wall, looking at us.
“You haven’t gone yet!”
“…..Yes.”
“hahahahaha, thank you. I was worried because the way back was different from when it came, but you were waiting for us, right?”
“……”
Irene, thinking that the lady of the lord’s rudeness in the castle might upset her, silently came to my side and she gave me directions to the barracks.
“Sorry. You’re only hurting me because of me…”
“….. No.”
“This happens often not only here, but also in other kingdoms, so don’t worry too much about it.”
“I don’t care.”
Since we’re still at the same party, I’ve been trying to talk to you to see if we can get closer, but
Every time Irene, she only answered in a short answer format, but she didn’t have a direct conversation.
“Lucia, I saw earlier that you hardly ever ate… Can I eat something?”
“Yes. Are you okay. Sorry.”
“What are you sorry about?”
“I tend to eat anything, whether it be meat or vegetables, but I just can’t eat anything that smells like juice.”
Well…
The chef didn’t have any skills, but even I, a human, had an unpleasant smell that I left after eating.
It was probably even more difficult for her half-elf.
“If you go to the executive cafeteria, you must have prepared a sandwich for tomorrow morning.. Can I bring you some?”
“Ah… No!! I… I’m really fine!”
Perhaps Irene was also worried about Lucia, she, who had only responded so far, spoke to Lucia first,
When Lucia heard Irene’s words like that, unlike when she talked to me, she freaked out and even waved both of her hands to express her intention to reject it.
But…
Contrary to her will, since her body was honest, a familiar sound leaked from Lucia’s stomach enough for Irene and I to hear clearly.
“Wait. I’ll bring you some.”
“Ah… No! I’ll just take it and eat it! Irene is here.”
Lucia, whose face turned red from the sound of her own belly, dried her Irene to the end and headed alone to her executive restaurant.
“Puff…”
Looking at Lucia, who was flustered with her face blushing like that, because her stomach made a little growl,
Her laughter flowed out without my knowledge, and I secretly laughed while watching Irene’s eyes.
“Hmmm…”
After laughing for a while, I sensed Irene’s gaze and hurriedly held back her laughter. Even so, Irene stared at me and didn’t say anything, so I quickly apologized.
“Sorry. It’s funny because I don’t know…”
“…..”
In spite of my apologies, she just stared at me…
“Is there anything on my face?”
“Ah… Ah… No.”
I was embarrassed and turned my head away with a slightly reddened face.
“Hey…”
“Yes?”
Irene wondered if she had something to say to me. She looked at me again and started to open her mouth…
“Oh, no.”
“If you have something to say, do it. It’s the same warrior party anyway, so we should ask questions.”
I wonder if she, like Lucia, is too shy to talk to her easily.
She reassured her first, then tried to talk to her again, but her face only slightly blushed, and she didn’t answer.
“Are you not feeling well or anything like that? You seem to have a fever…”
Suddenly, when I looked at her face in a well-lit place, I saw her pale face like a sick person.
What surprised Irene was, her surprised face did not disappear easily until she distanced herself from me.
“Maybe…”
“Yes?”
“Do you remember me…”
That charismatic Irene in front of the soldiers she saw during the day.
She wondered how low the voice was, so she asked again because she couldn’t hear it.
“You remember…?”
“I met you 10 years ago… once…”
“Ten years ago…well. I remember well…”
She doesn’t even remember the person she met 3 years ago, but she can’t remember the person she met 10 years ago…
Moreover, I couldn’t really remember anyone with silver hair, considering the people I fought with in the battlefield.
“Ah… Yes…”
“Have you ever met me 10 years ago? Where? I couldn’t remember the faces of the people I fought with since it was the time I started fighting the Demon King’s army for a long time.”
“…..That’s…”
Irene repeated she hesitated and then opened her mouth and then she finally tried to get something out of her…
“Hero!!”
Lucia, who had gone to her executive cafeteria to get sandwiches, was bringing her tray full of sandwiches and whimpering.
“Lucia!”
She approached Lucia, who was carrying it with difficulty as if it was about to collapse like a tower that had been worked hard, and she was handed her tray,
It was only then that Lucia let out a big sigh as if she had escaped from the crisis.
“Whew~ Hero. Thank you. Thanks to you, I live.”
“What is all this? Lucia?”
“Ah… Well… She went to the executive cafeteria and said she was hungry and came to get some sandwiches, and she gave me this full.”
I felt like I could understand why they took care of me so much.
She must have been very shy, blushing and trying to get her words out…
The cooks who saw it fell in love with Lucia’s cuteness and bet they took care of her.
“If you are hungry too, would you like to eat together?”
“Yeah.. I’m fine.. Eat all of Lucia…”
“It’s too much for me…”
Lucia looked at the mountains of sandwiches on her tray and wondered how she would eat them all.
Irene turned her body and was going somewhere…
“Commander, what were you trying to say earlier?”
“…..”
She stopped walking at my call, Irene.
“My name is…”
“Yes?”
“My name is Irene Alsmeyer. That’s my name she didn’t tell me that day.”
“That day?”
“Please call me Irene from now on.”
Irene introduces herself to me like a stranger,
Her appearance was not unfamiliar, but before she could ask why, Irene had already entered her barracks.