Sword of Salvation-Chapter 116: - Farewell; Norwea (2)

—oO[ Norwea, Kingdom of Denland ]Oo—

Norwea, the largest of the six major cities in the Kingdom of Denland. Located near the center of the kingdom, this city had been chosen as the capital city since Denland’s founding. Unlike Vallhamoza, which had no walls, Norwea possessed the classic city walls typical of most cities.

Sean’s teleportation transported Mariel onto the rooftop of an inn in Norwea.

It was the same inn where Sean had stayed before becoming Julia’s bodyguard. The mage had intentionally brought Mariel there so he wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of finding a place to stay. Mariel thanked her and left a message for Stewart, saying he would come to the palace the next afternoon.

Sean nodded and disappeared within the teleportation magic circle; Mariel immediately entered the inn and booked one of the best rooms for the next week.

Mariel lay down on the bed, eyes fixed on the brown ceiling of the inn. Though his gaze was directed there, his mind replayed Athenia’s words from earlier. He didn’t know what had prompted her to say such things, but one thing was certain—it reminded him of his mother’s words.

Mariel clicked his tongue and closed his eyes.

Of course, he wasn’t angry. There was no reason to be angry at something good. However, when Mariel recalled his mother’s words, he couldn’t stop himself from reflecting on his life. It made him question whether he had made the right choices.

No matter what he became, his mother had said she would always be proud of him. But Mariel knew that wasn’t true. Even if some miracle allowed him to meet her again and she told him she was proud, it would most likely just be sweet words to mask her disappointment. That was the truth.

Mariel decided to stop thinking and let himself drift into sleep. Sleeping was the easiest way to rid oneself of burdensome thoughts. When we sleep, we think of nothing. And when we wake up, if we’re lucky, we might forget our troubles—if only for a moment.

The next morning, Mariel planned to return to Vallhamoza to fetch Anzu. The demon’s presence was quite useful to him. However, the moment he opened his door, Sean’s face appeared before him. She wasn’t alone—Julia, dressed in a blue hooded robe, stood beside her.

"What are you doing here so early in the morning?" Mariel asked—deliberately directing his gaze at the princess, knowing that Sean had no reason to be here at this hour. "Don’t tell me you missed me already, Julia? C will be mad at me, you know."

"You know C would be mad, yet you still try to flirt with me and even Athenia." Julia shook her head, exasperated. "But don’t get a big head—I don’t miss you or anything. Like I said, I’ll be accompanying you to the Nine Gods Tower. Since it’s far away, we should leave as soon as possible."

"But I was planning to meet your brother this afternoon. He has a job for me, and I figured it was important. You told him, right, Sean?"

Sean nodded but said nothing.

"You don’t need to worry about that," Julia said, handing Mariel an envelope. "Your job details are written inside. You’re also responsible for keeping me and Sean safe during our trip."

Mariel took the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper from within.

As Julia had said, Stewart’s job request was written there. It involved demons. The small island where the tower was located was surrounded by large coral reefs. Rumors suggested that a hidden cave among the reefs served as the hideout of demons that had been terrorizing the island for the past two months.

Stewart had actually entrusted the matter to Sterminatore. They had promised to deal with the demon threat. However, there had been no word from them. Worse still, Stewart had heard that all Sterminatore members ranked Level 3 and above had left Denland a month ago. So, the case remained unresolved.

Stewart stated that he had considered going himself or sending General Rutherdof to handle the problem. However, the brewing war with Moskvallha had changed his mind. And if Mariel hadn’t planned on coming to Denland, Stewart would have gone there himself.

"Six million escal, huh?" Mariel was slightly surprised by the payment. "I figured the reward would be lower for something like this."

"Try flipping the paper, Mariel."

Hearing Julia’s words, Mariel immediately turned over Stewart’s letter. There, it was written:

⟨ Six million escal was the combined reward for the demon extermination mission and escorting Julia and Sean. You have to ensure their safety until they returned to the palace. If either of them got hurt, I would report to Ultores that your mission had failed. And most importantly: do not try anything inappropriate with Julia. If you so much as laid a finger on my sister, I would kill you. ⟩

"Your brother was quite protective, huh?" Mariel handed the envelope and its contents back to Julia. "But if he was that protective, he wouldn’t have let you come along. I’m starting to doubt that this was Stewart’s handwriting. Sean... was this your writing?"

"No, that was Prince Stewart’s handwriting. This morning, Lady Julia told him she would take you around the city until nightfall, so he entrusted the letter to her because you wouldn’t be going to the palace anymore. I saw Prince Stewart write the letter himself."

Mariel saw no trace of deception in Sean’s words. However, what he said and what Julia had said earlier were two different things. Julia had invited him to leave immediately for the Nine Gods Tower, but Sean claimed that Julia had told Stewart she would take Mariel around the city. So...

"You wrote the text on the back of the letter, didn’t you, Sean?" Mariel asked again, but he didn’t wait for an answer. "I don’t think Julia is the type to leave without leaving some kind of notice, so I’ll pretend I didn’t realize that this wasn’t Stewart’s handwriting. Now, let’s go."

Mariel’s words brought a smile to Julia’s lips. Sean held herself back from sighing in relief, not wanting to inadvertently confirm Mariel’s assumption. Mariel himself didn’t care about their reactions; he simply took the lead and started walking. As soon as they left the inn, he headed west.

"So, how far is the island from here?" Mariel asked once they were inside the horse-drawn carriage—which had been rented to take the three of them to a village near the coast. At the same time, the carriage’s owner immediately spurred his horses forward.

"At this pace, we should reach the village in five or six days," Julia answered. "Actually, Sean and I had been there before, so we could get there through teleportation. But it’s better if we take the carriage. That way, we can enjoy the scenery and immerse ourselves in the journey."

Something about this felt off to Mariel. His instincts told him something was wrong. However, he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Was it related to the demon terrorizing the island, or did it have something to do with Julia’s real reason for being here? Mariel didn’t know. What he did know was that the unease he felt was as strong as the scent of pungent cheese.

But in the end, Mariel simply nodded at Julia and dismissed the feeling. He didn’t think it had anything to do with the World Order or Great Human Council. Most likely, Julia had just left to avoid another arranged marriage. Or perhaps the demon terrorizing the island was stronger and more dangerous than expected.

Mariel shrugged and closed his eyes, enjoying the ride. He was sure that whatever made him feel uncomfortable, it wouldn’t be troublesome enough to be bothered with. And even if it were, it did not matter at all.