The Male Slave of House Sianella - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Hard Road (4)

Finally, the day arrived for us to leave the territory to meet Sione's fiancé.

I'd worried we'd need to pack and carry a mountain of luggage, but preserved foods and necessities could be stored in enchanted bags with storage magic.

The armor, bows, and other baggage had already been moved to the carriage at the mansion's entrance by the servants...

All I needed to do was shoulder my bag, strap the sword I'd chosen yesterday to my waist, and get in the carriage.

Originally, I'd planned to leave the sword with the bow in the carriage...

The reason I kept it at my waist instead of entrusting it to the person who'd offered to take it was entirely Sione's fault.

"Hmmmm."

She was intently studying the blade, half-drawn from its scabbard.

Though she'd used swords as a Sword User, she'd mainly handled long double-edged swords as primary weapons rather than backup weapons like this one.

So she'd asked me to help her get a feel for it.

She turned away from me and secretly swung the sword.

She seemed to be trying to get a feel for the blade's length.

Swish. Swish swish. Swish. Take this, you...!

Why was she even making those strange sound effects?

Though she'd whispered, probably thinking I wouldn't notice.

Unfortunately for her, I saw everything.

After swinging the sword, Sione giggled as if amused.

'She really knows how to entertain herself.'

Sione fully sheathed the sword.

Her gaze finally left her sword and turned to her surroundings.

Thanks to that, she made eye contact with me while I watched her playing alone, even making swish swish sounds with her mouth.

"Ah..."

"It's time, we should head to the carriage."

"Y-yes, let's hurry."

She jumped up from her seat and hurried away.

I matched my pace to Sione's as she moved quickly like a small animal.

Thanks to that, we arrived at the mansion's entrance relatively quickly, where two carriages awaited departure.

While the front carriage was ordinary, the one parked behind it had a more classic design.

In front of the carriages stood Diolia and a man wearing priest's robes.

"You've arrived."

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Lady Diolia. But who is this man?"

"A priest from the Order. I thought it would be better to have at least one priest with us, since we don't know what might happen during the journey."

"Hmm."

Sione regarded the priest with an expressionless gaze.

Unlike when she was with Diolia and me, her demeanor began showing signs of wariness.

Setting aside Sione's hedgehog-like bristling...

I found myself quite interested in this priest.

They'd said that while men couldn't use mana, they could handle holy power, right?

I'd seen female priests who came to heal ailing slaves before, but this was my first time seeing a male priest.

I wondered why men could handle holy power despite being unable to use mana, but well.

These people would obviously just brush it off as "divine grace" without giving a proper reason.

I accepted things as they were and moved on.

While I was lost in thought, the male priest bowed his head to Sione in greeting.

"I am Ian, a priest of the Order who will be accompanying you to House Feiosha. I look forward to traveling with you, Lady Sione."

"...Likewise."

As Sione returned the greeting awkwardly, Ian responded with a benevolent smile.

As soon as the brief greetings ended, Diolia stepped between them as if she'd been waiting.

"Since Lady Sione doesn't like being with unfamiliar people, please ride in the back carriage with your attendant. Ian and I will take the front carriage."

"Thank you for your consideration."

"It's nothing. All your and your attendant's luggage has been placed in one corner of the carriage, so you can check it once you're inside."

Sione nodded at Diolia's words and climbed into her carriage.

I followed right behind her.

The carriage we entered exceeded my expectations.

Both the interior size and the leather-padded seats...

It was worlds apart from the creaking carriage I'd ridden in the dungeon before.

Despite luggage taking up one corner at the very back, it was still plenty spacious for two people.

"All the luggage is over here. Set your bag down here too."

"Understood."

As she said, I carefully placed my bag where various items were neatly arranged—bows, quivers, clothes and other luggage.

As I was lightly unpacking...

"We'll be departing now, my lady."

With the driver's words, the carriage began moving forward.

I took out some snacks wrapped in small packaging from my bag and sat across from Sione.

"I brought some refreshments—would you like some?"

"That would be nice. Just a little."

I handed over the package of snacks.

Sione quickly took it and began munching on the snacks one by one while looking at the scenery outside.

Through the window passed the busy views of the territory, followed by an enormous wall.

As I watched the long, thick walls stretching around the territory with fascination, Sione spoke with a hint of pride:

"What do you think of the walls?"

"They're impressive. It seems they wouldn't fall easily even to a considerable enemy force."

"These walls were built during the war with demons hundreds of years ago. They stopped countless demons then, and now they keep the territory's people safe."

"...That's amazing."

"It's one of the Sianella County's points of pride."

Sione hummed happily as she enjoyed the view outside, pleased after praising her house.

Unlike her bright mood, I couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

'Demons...'

The future of this doomed world I'd tried to clear.

It was certainly a hell filled with demons.

I wondered when demons would begin corrupting and devouring this world, and whether I could return to Earth before then.

By the time I emerged from my contemplation,

I could tell from the scenery that the carriage had left the territory and entered a forest path.

While the roads within the territory were maintained well enough to make carriage travel comfortable,

Outside the territory there were only merchant routes.

Without territory-level road maintenance, the road conditions would clearly be uneven.

My backside probably wouldn't survive the jolting carriage from now on.

But contrary to my expectations, the carriage barely shook at all.

"...The carriage isn't shaking or jolting as much as I expected."

"Noble carriages are mostly enchanted to provide maximum comfort. There shouldn't be much discomfort while traveling."

"I see."

That was welcome news.

I could finally relax.

Now that we were actually sitting face to face in the carriage, there wasn't much to talk about.

After quietly watching outside for a while, I looked back at Sione.

She too was gazing out the window.

The difference was that she was already half-asleep.

Sensing my gaze, she shook her head to chase away sleep.

"Why are you staring at me? Ah, do I have crumbs on my face?"

Sione quickly wiped around her mouth with her hands.

There weren't even any crumbs this time, but.

Regardless, I kept staring at her.

"I was thinking that I don't believe I've ever seen you speak comfortably with me."

"What do you mean you've never seen me speak comfortably? Don't I always speak comfortably?"

"I mean you can lower your speech level with me if you'd like."

"Lower my speech level?"

Sione tilted her head curiously.

How interesting—she'd been so cold in front of that unfamiliar priest but showed such an innocent look in front of me.

Both amused and somewhat proud, I could speak with a more relaxed expression.

"May I be rude for a moment?"

"Yes, speak without worry."

"Gladly then."

Ssp, taking a small breath.

I spoke again in the most friendly tone I could manage:

"Like this, Sione. You can speak casually."

"Ah, oh, you meant that kind of speech."

"If you're more comfortable with your usual way, I don't mind either. Do whatever feels natural."

"Ah, alright."

Sione looked flustered, as if she hadn't expected me to speak so informally.

Well, even with her permission, a slave speaking casually to a noble isn't exactly proper.

I quickly composed myself and returned to my usual dutiful demeanor.

"What would you prefer?"

"Then from now on, I'll try speaking casually when I want to... ah..."

As if realizing something mid-sentence, Sione shook her head.

"I'll do that...?"

"Understood."

Sione clearly found the different speech pattern awkward and struggled to speak.

If it was that difficult, she could just use her usual way of speaking.

I'd only suggested it thinking her usual authoritative tone might be tiresome and cumbersome.

Seeing her become even more uncomfortable made me regret bringing it up.

Well, if it's too hard, she'll naturally return to her usual way of speaking.

"...Ray, by the way, could you explain a bit about how to use this sword...?"

"Of course."

I lifted the sword from my waist.

"Obviously, while bows are suitable for taking down distant enemies, they become difficult to use when enemies get close. So when an enemy approaches to a certain distance..."

I immediately gripped the handle with my right hand.

Then, drawing the blade, I slowly traced an upward line.

Sione quietly watched my sequence of movements.

"It's best to quickly slash to check the enemy, then thrust, then step back again to secure a safe distance."

Quick slashing followed by thrusting was my main method.

Using spirit power to quickly dodge attacks while following a drawing strike with a thrust.

Then creating distance again to continue combat with arrows—this had been routine.

Though I'd used different combat methods depending on the situation, this was the most commonly used approach.

"Also, since it's a single-edged sword that needs to be drawn and used as soon as close combat begins, like this..."

I sheathed the sword.

When drawing instantly, the sharp edge should face upward—I returned the sword to my waist this way.

"It's important to carry it with the blade facing up."

"...I think I understand what you mean. I should be able to get used to it after trying a few times."

Yeah, it sounds easy when you just hear about it.

But it's quite difficult when you actually try it.

Then—

Thud.

The smoothly moving carriage stopped.

Soon after, someone knocked on the carriage door, and Sione opened it.

The knocker was the carriage driver.

"What's the matter?"

"It seems a group of goblins has been spotted ahead. The knight said she'll handle it soon... it shouldn't take long before we can depart again."

A group of goblins—

We'd barely left the territory and monsters were already appearing?

Though it felt like a bad omen...

The timing couldn't be better.

Goblins were weak monsters that even I could handle easily in my current state, so since things turned out this way.

"Lady Sione probably hasn't closely observed how archers fight."

I firmly gripped my bow while shouldering the quiver full of arrows.

"They say seeing is believing, so let me demonstrate for you."

At my words, Sione's eyes began to sparkle.

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