Chapter 92: How Unexpected (Patreon)

Hearing this, Pandora leapt down from the Trekbear with Louliana in her arms, and the two of them turned to look at the flask on the Trekbear's right flank. The beast itself lay sprawled on the snow without the slightest sign of feeling the cold.

When she opened the lid, the rations stacked inside made Pandora blink.

It's actually packed in a flask...

So her earlier guess had been completely wrong.

And then, at the sound of liquid sloshing below, she understood. It was a double-layered flask, one compartment for food and the other for water.

"I made what's inside myself. It's a specialty from my hometown. I hope... I hope you won't mind, Miss," Luluo explained just then.

He hadn't noticed Pandora's astonishment at the flask. First impressions counted for a lot, and the one she'd made on him was of an "enlightened lord" and a "friendly master." Even if he had noticed, in a situation like this he'd have glossed over anything unusual anyway.

Pandora nodded and moved to take some of the rations, but Luluo called out to stop her: "Please wait!"

The moment the words left him, her hand halted.

"Please eat under the protection of your robes. Otherwise it'll..."

He didn't finish, but Pandora understood what he meant.

"Master..."

But just as she was about to move, Louliana, nestled in her arms, suddenly reached out a hand.

Thinking Louliana wanted to eat first, Pandora passed her the flask.

Instead, Louliana took it and held a piece of the rations up to Pandora's lips. "Master... please eat."

Pandora's eyebrows twitched.

Is it really okay to "hand-feed" your own master this brazenly...?

She might not be embarrassed, but the person beside them... well. Noticing that Luluo had already politely looked away, Pandora shook her head in resignation.

Hm... feels like a big flatbread made of coarse grain.

It was hardly a delicacy, but it was very filling.

After an hour or so of rest, the three climbed back onto the "fully revived" Trekbears and set off again.

After yet another day spent traveling with only the snowy mountains for company, the wind and snow finally cleared. A town glowing faintly in the night came into view. Unlike the place where they stood, no snow fell above it...

"Just ahead is the center of Vestra Domain," Luluo said with a smile at the sight.

Pandora already knew that, of course, but as far as he was concerned, whether to say so or not was a matter of courtesy.

Pandora nodded. "Mm."

By now the rations and water were running low. Pandora and Louliana didn't need to eat, but Luluo did (she hadn't applied her Authority to him), and over the past two days the two of them had "helped" whittle the supplies down a bit as well.

"Miss Hertz, I'm sorry you and your maid have had to put up with so much these past few days," Luluo said, suddenly scratching his head.

Pandora shook her head. "Why would you say that? Nothing of the sort."

Apart from the scenery getting a little monotonous, the whole journey had been rather nice.

Watching Pandora and Louliana, who clearly didn't mind at all, Luluo wore a complicated look.

"All right, don't overthink it. Let's go," Pandora said.

Judging by its appearance, Vestra Domain was little different from Kenash Domain, but even from a distance you could feel how desolate and empty it was. More striking still, there wasn't even a guard at the town's main gate.

While Pandora and Louliana looked around, Luluo paid it no mind. Or rather, he'd long since grown used to it. The three of them simply rode the Trekbears straight into town.

Whether because it was night or for some other reason, every house had its doors and windows shut tight. If the streetlamps hadn't still been burning, the place might have been taken for a ruin abandoned long ago.

Come to think of it, Kenash Domain's nights were like this at first, too...

Just as Pandora's thoughts began to drift—

"Who are those two."

Along with the cold voice, a figure in black appeared at a corner not far from the three of them. Between the hood and the dim light overhead, neither side could see the other clearly.

Luluo halted the Trekbear. "They're my monitoring targets for this assignment."

At that, the figure in black made some gesture with one hand, then nodded to Luluo.

"They're the Vestra lord's men, posted to towns all across the domain on his orders," Luluo quickly explained to Pandora.

That made Pandora blink.

"Men," plural... so it isn't just this one.

With that thought, she answered Luluo with a murmur and instinctively glanced back. Sure enough, not far away a woman leaned against a house wall, toying with a short knife. Unlike the man ahead, she wore no black clothes and no hood, and she made no effort to hide her looks. Going by appearance alone, you could pin the label "beautiful" on her.

Seeing Pandora look back, the woman licked her lips.

"Little sis, staring at big sis so hard... do you have some kind of idea about me?"

So forward, huh...

Pandora had no idea how to respond, so she simply turned back around without answering.

That made the woman blink. "Hey, little sis, don't be shy. Let big sis..."

But before she could go on, she felt the black-clad man's gaze, muttered something under her breath, and shut her mouth.

"Then please, come this way. Our lord has been waiting a long time."

Our lord...

So he means the lord of this domain?

With that, the man in black said nothing more and led the way ahead.

Only when he turned around did Pandora notice a slender curved blade strapped to his back.

As the Trekbears started moving, the woman behind them fell in after them at an unhurried pace.

Under the circumstances, was it better to call this an "escort," or "surveillance"...?