Departure

The next morning, Yuri and I finished preparing for the journey.

It was nowhere near as cold as Ice Heatland at night, but the north wind was chilly today.

Yuri was wearing a fluffy, puffy coat with a cat-eared hood… Frankly, she looked unbelievably cute.

Can you believe this thing boasts enough defensive power to withstand even a dragon’s ice-and-snow attacks? Hard to believe, right?

I released the Black Wyvern from the Storage Ball.

It was a size larger than an ordinary wyvern, and merely spreading its wings made for an imposing sight. Its black body and vicious-looking face frightened most people, but Yuri was not scared in the slightest.

She even said, “Good morning,” while gently stroking its nose.

The Black Wyvern closed its eyes in apparent pleasure.

“Still, this one really is huge.”

“Yeah. It originally belonged to Wolk.”

“The Guild Master? …Come to think of it, he was SS-rank.”

“Wolk is about the only adventurer who can ride this thing. Nick or the Hero might be able to as well… but this guy is temperamental.”

“But you ride him too, Roy…”

“Well, just think of me as an exception.”

As I said that, I climbed onto the Black Wyvern’s back.

Then I took Yuri’s hand and pulled her up to sit in front of me.

When I tugged the reins, the Black Wyvern took flight.

“Wow, it’s beautiful.”

Above us stretched a sea of clouds dyed red by the morning glow.

It truly was a view beautiful enough to make me want to paint it.

I wanted to show her more scenery like this.

Seeing Yuri’s profile as her eyes sparkled, I could not help but think that.

“Yuri, aren’t you cold?”

“This coat is really warm, so I’m fine. Aren’t you cold, Roy?”

“I’m fine too. Though I do wish I’d put my gloves on.”

It was colder at this altitude than I had expected, and my hands quickly went numb.

I was thinking that I would put on the gloves in my bag when we landed at our next rest stop when Yuri placed her hand over mine as I held the reins.

“Warming Magic.”

With magic that warmed the body, Yuri’s palm became as warm as a hand warmer.

My numb hand immediately warmed up.

“I’ll keep doing this while we’re flying.”

Yuri smiled at me as she said that, and my heart skipped a beat.

Compared with when we had first met, she had become so much brighter.

And more beautiful, too.

Honestly, living with Yuri had made every single day enjoyable. Even now, just flying together like this had me feeling excited.

Even simply having our hands touching made me restless, yet at the same time, I was filled with happiness.

With each passing day, I was falling more and more in love with Yuri.

What a mess. To think I would fall in love at this point in my life.

Ever since I was born, I had never felt romantic affection toward anyone.

I did feel something like familial affection toward Wolk and the others I had grown up with like siblings at the orphanage, but aside from them, I had never become particularly attached to anyone.

Maybe what my previous life had been like had something to do with it.

But Yuri was different.

The first time I heard the name Yuri, it had felt as though something struck me in the chest.

She was earnest, dependable, hardworking, and considerate.

She tried so hard that she could be dangerously reckless at times, but that only made me want to protect her even more.

As we lived together, she had changed from someone I felt obligated to protect into someone precious to me.

But… no matter how I looked at it, Yuri and I were not a suitable match.

She was still so young, with a bright future ahead of her, while I was just a plain old man. And considering what I had been in my previous life… No, I knew my previous life should no longer matter. Even so, I could not stop asking myself the same question.

Was I really allowed to be happy?

Right now, Yuri said she wanted to stay with me.

But would those feelings last?

Even if her feelings changed someday and she decided to leave me, I would simply return to the solitary life I had before.

That was right. I would merely go back to how things used to be.

…This was bad. Just imagining that happening was enough to make me feel depressed.

“Roy, is something wrong?”

“Ah… No, I was just wondering whether the weather would hold.”

“Yeah. It’s nice out here right now, but there are dark clouds in the direction of Ice Heatland.”

Just as Yuri said, the sky above Ice Heatland beyond the mountain range was covered in gray clouds.

“It might start snowing by the time we arrive.”

“If there’s a blizzard, visibility will get bad.”

“Yeah. But we’re more likely to encounter Ice Deer when it’s snowing. We might finish the job sooner than expected.”

I lightly snapped the reins to increase our speed, and the Black Wyvern began beating its wings more rapidly.

I wanted to hurry up and finish the job so we could go back to taking it easy.

“Yuri, do you want to eat something at the next rest stop?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“What’s wrong? Did I say something strange?”

“No, I’m just happy. Getting to eat together with you while we’re traveling, Roy.”

Don’t make such a happy face over that. We eat together every day at home.

But I supposed eating together while traveling was what mattered to her.

Yuri probably had never eaten together with the Hero and the others.

That was why the simple act of sharing a meal with someone while traveling must have felt fresh and made her happy.

“I’m happy I get to eat with you too.”

When I answered that, Yuri blushed and smiled. Then, as naturally as could be, she leaned against me.

The sudden affectionate gesture caught me so completely off guard that I could not say a word, and Yuri turned around to look at me with an innocent smile.

“Your coat is open in front, Roy, so you looked cold. If I stay close like this, you won’t be cold, right?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Th-That surprised me.

R-Right. Of course Yuri would not suddenly start acting affectionate toward me for no reason.

Her fluffy, puffy coat was pressed against me now, and my chest really did feel warmer.

Still… I just hoped she could not tell how hard my heart was pounding.

It was not long after that when we arrived at Encris, the town closest to Ice Heatland.