ALL NOVEL Waking up, I started to feel a cozy warmth around me, unlike the usual sensations I was used to.
‘Ah, I must have fallen asleep at the inn.’
Having spent a long time wrapped in a ragged blanket, this cozy feeling was quite unfamiliar.
“Ugh.”
I pushed the blanket off and slowly raised my upper body.
Turning my head toward the window, I noticed it was still dawn as the sun hadn’t fully risen yet.
Brushing my messy hair aside with one hand, I fumbled around for the bandages that would hold my chest in place.
Objectively, I couldn’t say my chest was big, but since it existed, it was more comfortable to secure it when moving.
‘It would have been better if it wasn’t there at all.’
Tying the bandage every morning was a hassle; I couldn’t very well wear it while sleeping, could I?
Sighing, I loosened my front and slowly wrapped the bandage.
‘Hmm, come to think of it…’
If Nameless were to come by, it might be better to fall asleep with the bandage on.
I didn’t pay much attention to it, but in the past, when we used to sleep together, Nameless had once looked horrified when I took off the bandage.
He got so mad that he turned red in the face, and I felt really sorry.
“Pfft—”
A chuckle escaped me.
‘When I was little, I was quite cute after all.’
These days, I lacked the respect for my Master that I should have.
My lips poked out.
This won’t do; a disciple should always respect their Master.
As I tilted my head, contemplating how to make Nameless look up to me again like in childhood, my hair on the crown of my head swayed back and forth.
Seeing that scene in the mirror hanging in the corner of the room struck me as oddly amusing.
Crawling slowly to the mirror, I shook my head quickly, watching my hair go from swaying gently to flipping around wildly.
Somehow, it was so entertaining to watch that a big grin spread across my face.
‘Oh no.’
If I did something childish like this in front of Nameless, he would surely look at me with disdain.
‘No, no.’
Remembering such an important fact, I crawled toward my bag and pulled out the wooden swords.
They didn’t have any blades, so there wasn’t much need for maintenance, but just sitting around blankly made my conscience ache, so I decided to do something.
Sitting on the floor and pulling out a cloth to wipe the wooden sword, I discovered a bright red rag had ended up in my hands.
“I didn’t put anything like this in…”
A surge of anxiety rose, and I quickly got up to look inside the bag.
“Oh.”
Apparently, the clumsy guard must have dropped the bag when I handed it to him, for most of the strawberries I had packed were smashed.
“Ugh….”
My face scrunched up, and tears began welling in my eyes.
‘How careful I was to ensure the bag wouldn’t bounce around!’
I wanted to leap up and go berate the guard who had murdered my strawberries, but all I could do was shake my fist and tremble in frustration.
There was also blame on my part for carelessly tossing the bag when I knew the guard was weak.
“Ugh…”
Seeing most of the strawberries turned into juice in this dire situation made me want to do absolutely nothing.
Granted, I could just buy more strawberries, but I had no idea where to get them, and I worried about being ripped off by vendors.
I knew it was excessive worry, but I can’t help being cowardly; giving up seems easier.
Letting out a quiet sigh, I pulled out my strawberries and coin pouch and emptied the bag.
I didn’t forget to take one out and eat it along the way.
Holding the completely emptied bag, I pondered.
“How do I wash this?”
Given the time, there wasn’t a sink or bathtub in the room; instead, there was a large basin filled with water, but using that to wash my bag would require me to leave the room and find the owner.
I couldn’t very well skip washing myself just to wash the bag.
It was quite a dilemma.
Some might say, why not just ask the owner for more water, but requesting that from the innkeeper was no simple task.
The innkeeper had likely moved around gathering water; me asking for it twice would be imposing in itself.
After a thoughtful deliberation on how to resolve this, I put the bag aside and decided to wash my body instead.
I hadn’t sweated or anything, but after walking on dirt paths, I needed to wash.
Plus, since the chores were supposed to be done by my disciple Nameless anyway, even if I didn’t do it now, later Nameless would take care of it.
A smirk formed on my lips.
Feeling satisfied with my resolution, I promptly tossed off my clothes and stepped into the makeshift tub.
“Ah, this feels refreshing.”
I had been waiting for Nameless for three days now.
During this time, I hadn’t ventured outside of the inn.
I had just lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, and when I did get out of bed, it was just to grab strawberries from my bag, but now they were all gone, and I hadn’t gotten out of bed at all.
‘Hmm, is this alright?’
Slightly worried about my state, the absence of Nameless made me utterly unmotivated.
‘But still.’
Even if I went outside, I’d only meet strangers,
And unlike the mountains, it wasn’t an appropriate place to wield swords or practice martial arts.
So becoming a recluse was simply an inevitable fate.
‘I’m not in the wrong.’
Rationalizing for myself, I nodded.
Having spent a while in a daze, a sudden uneasy thought crossed my mind.
Nameless doesn’t know where I am.
That’s because we hadn’t agreed where to wait beforehand, so there was no way for Nameless to know.
Cold sweat trickled down my neck.
‘What should I do?’
There weren’t any feasible solutions coming to mind.
If I waited at the entrance of the village, I’d have to face the guard again, and I feared that searching for Nameless might lead to a missed encounter.
Truly between a rock and a hard place.
In that hopeless situation, I buried my face in the pillow.
“Ugh, this is so soft and comfy.”
It was nothing like the pillow I used to have in the hut.
I immediately grabbed a blanket that was randomly lying around and covered myself.
Heaven was completed.
Whenever there’s a worry, a good nap usually brings solutions to mind.
And surely, if it’s Nameless, he’ll sniff me out with that distinguished nose of his, right?
So, turning away from the bleak reality, I closed my eyes.
– Nameless
A man with a basket full of strawberries was desperately searching for a woman in the street.
“Have you seen a black-haired woman about this height?”
Unfortunately, that man was me.
‘Master, where are you?’
Aside from encountering a party in the Demon Realm, nothing else happened on my way to the village.
However, my Master said she’d come to the village first and dashed off without a way to find her.
“Haah, Master.”
I thought perhaps she had something in mind when she took off first, but what if she really did it thoughtlessly?
‘No way.’
My Master isn’t that frivolous.
Shaking off that irreverent thought, I pushed it aside.
‘Finding myself is part of understanding my Master’s teachings.’
Surely, that must be it.
But embarrassingly, I hadn’t reached the level my Master expected of me yet.
‘Damn.’
Guilt simmered within me.
Having trained for years under my Master, failing at something like this was heartbreaking, imagining the disappointment on her face nearly tore at my heart.
‘No, it’s too early to give up.’
Lamenting my low level would be a waste of time; my Master would be even more disappointed seeing me like this.
I took a deep breath.
Calming my racing heart, I tried to recall thoughts my Master would likely consider.
‘My Master has an abundance of altruism.’
Despite being fixated on her training, if I fell behind due to my slow learning, she would go so far as to neglect her own training just to ensure I understood completely.
Perhaps she had thought of me this time too, taking some sort of action.
‘For instance, she might have booked a room to save me the hassle of running around.’
Previously, my mind had been occupied with thoughts of her dedication to training, so I was imagining her practicing swordplay somewhere in the mountains instead of reserving an inn, but it seemed that had caught me off guard.
My Master is fundamentally selfless.
She must be spending time at the inn this time too, taking a break from training for my sake.
After concluding that, I wandered from inn to inn around the village, and eventually found one with my Master’s name listed in the ledger.
Our names were so unusual that the chance of having the same name was nil.
“Haah….”
A sigh of relief escaped me.
I thought perhaps I was seeing things out of desperate longing for my Master, but I carefully read the ledger again and confirmed her room’s location, then quickly headed there.
‘Finally arrived.’
The long game of hide and seek with my Master was finally over.
Just thinking of seeing her made me smile involuntarily, and with a joyful heart, I opened the door to the room where my Master was.
Upon entering, I immediately saw the wooden swords scattered all over the floor that my Master cherished, and then there she was, lying on the bed.
While scanning the room, I noticed something odd, but I brushed it off lightly.
First and foremost, it’s my Master.
It was still daylight, but there was a chance she was taking a nap, so I called her softly.
“Master.”
Perhaps she wasn’t napping, as soon as she heard my voice, she sprang to her feet and rushed over to me.
“Nameless! You finally made it! I thought I’d die of boredom!”
I lowered my head toward my Master, who was greeting me with a bright smile.
“Yes, Master, I apologize for being late.”
In hindsight, it was an unnecessary worry, but
to prepare for the possibility that my Master might be disappointed, I presented her with the basket of strawberries I had bought.
“I thought by now you might have eaten them all, so I brought some.”
My Master lowered her gaze from my face to the basket of strawberries in my hand, staring at it for a good while.
‘Hmm.’
My Master seemed happier about the strawberries than she was about seeing me, given the even brighter smile that spread across her face, and she received the basket while drooling a bit.
“Oh! Strawberries! Thank you!”
“…Yes.”
A little jealousy bubbled up inside me, feeling odd that she seemed more delighted about the strawberries, but
realizing how pathetic it was to be jealous of a food made me wear a resigned grin.
Okay then.
‘If my Master is that happy, what does it matter?’
With sparkling eyes, she lifted the basket of strawberries with both hands.
“Nameless! Thank you!”