Things Acquired In Others Territories (3)
***
- - Miri's POV - -
"Miri, are you okay?" <Old Lady>
Miri's hands were covered with scars.
Even though she was working in the fields, the wounds on her hands never healed.
However, she was confident in her sewing skills and moved the needle skillfully.
"Yes, I'm fine." <Miri >
"I don't think you should work so much." <Old Lady>
Malfi, a middle-aged woman living in the same town, said with concern.
"I have to make some money. When Zeff returns from the battlefield, he can go to....He's been through a lot and I want him to have a full meal." <Miri >
"Oh, my God, he's..." <Malfi >
Malfi felt sorry for Miri.
She knew that there was little chance that Zeff would come back.
People with no power were expendable; her own brother had been drafted like that when he was young and had died.
She was very worried about how Miri, who seemed to live only for Zeff, would take this fact.
"Don't devote your life to Zeff. He may not even be alive anymore..." <Malfi >
However, her answer to such words was always the same.
Even though Miri was so tired that she had dark circles under her eyes, her eyes lit up when she talked about Zeff.
"Zeff is strong. I'm sure he'll come back alive. he always comes back to me..." <Miri >
At that moment, she heard a voice.
"Is Miri here?" <Julius >
Malfi and Miri looked at each other as they heard the man's voice for the first time.
The townspeople who were with them also looked at them suspiciously.
"Who are you?" <Malfi >
Malfi opened the door.
Julius was there and Zeff was next to him.
At that moment, Zeff and Miri's eyes met.
***
Out of nowhere, they ran up to each other and hugged.
"Zeff, are you hurt?" <Miri >
Miri asked, checking every inch of Zeff's body.
"I'm fine." <Zeff >
Miri finally nuzzled her face into Zeff's chest as she was relieved.
"I believed that you would come back alive. The ladies in town kept telling me that you might be dead already...Thank God, I'm so glad!" <Miri >
Tears fell from Miri's eyes.
"Because I was going to follow you if you died." <Miri >
"That goes for me, too." <Zeff >
In such a situation, I became the one who lacked consideration and interrupted their reunion.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you but it's time to go." <Julius >
I don't know when the soldiers will catch up with us so the faster we leave the better.
"Miri, I have a situation. Let's get out of here first." <Zeff >
Zeff, understanding the meaning of my words, picked up Miri and put her on the horse.
"Zeff!" <Miri >
Miri was confused by Zeff's actions.
"Are we going on horseback? Zeff! You stole it again!" <Miri >
"I'm sorry. No, no, no, no. I didn't steal it. It's his horse." <Zeff >
Zeff pointed at me, seemingly unable to resist Miri.
"Speaking of which, who is he?" <Miri >
I looked at Zeff at that question.
I was a little curious as to how he would answer.
"Benefactor." <Zeff >
"What's a benefactor?" <Miri >
Zeff said something a little unexpected.
"I'm sorry; Zeff is a man of few words, so he can't explain it well...." <Miri >
"I'm well aware of that but that's not the point right now. We'll talk about it later." <Julius >
I immediately got my horse running and Zeff followed me.
"Wait, Zeff!" <Miri >
"I'm sorry. I'll explain everything later!" <Julius >
"You're going the wrong way! Isn't that the way back to the town?" <Miri >
We started to head back the way we came and there, as expected, the border patrol was waiting for us.
"How dare you come across the closed border you Lunan scoundrel?" <Enemy Soldier>
Originally, the border between Visigoth and Lunan could be passed through the barrier but that was before Visigoth started the war.
Now that the situation has changed, any trespassers will be treated like spies.
______________________________________
[Visigoth Border Patrol]
[100 men]
[Morale: 76]
[Training level: 85]
______________________________________
The patrol was quite a strong force, befitting Visigoth military strength.
Furthermore, there are patrols like this all over the border which means that even if there are 100 men now, there could be 1000 soon.
The remaining enemy forces that fled from Castle Luon after Hero Elheat's ambush were annihilated in a sneak attack by me and Zeff.
I earned a few points there so my power level improved to 64 and I got one more skill.
"Zeff, let me handle this." <Julius >
"That's not going to happen! I'll help you." <Zeff >
"Just protect Miri; I can do it on my own. There was no point in coming here if anything happened to her!" <Julius >
"Damn it....Okay, okay." <Zeff >
Zeff couldn't argue with me, so he picked up Miri and set her down from the horse.
"Zeff? Hey, hey!" <Miri >
In those circumstances, I decided to act.
[Do you want to use the earth resonance?]
In a battle against a large number of enemies, what you need is a skill with a wide range.
The existing skills had a limited range, so I stuck my sword into the ground to use my newly purchased skill.
A crack in the ground started from the tip of my sword and extended towards the soldiers.
Red light shone out from the ground and more than half of the 100 enemies in front of me began to fall.
Due to the power of my skill, there were only about 30 people left.
[Use perks?]
I swung Heavenly Demon Rain and took care of the remaining soldiers.
Miri only blinked her eyes at how quickly it happened and Zeff looked envious of my skills.
"Zeff, let's go up the mountain and cross the border now." <Julius >
We hurried down the road as the patrol was chasing us from behind.
Fortunately, we managed to leave them behind.
"Spies, get them!" <Enemy Soldiers>
There was no major problem in escaping because I wiped out the first patrol and we were able to keep our distance.
Our horses eventually gave out however from exhaustion so as sad as the cost of the lose a warhorse or two makes we continued on on foot.
In addition, Zeff had picked up Miri when she was having a hard time and ran with her on his back, so we were able to cross the border on the top of the mountain without problems.
Once down the mountain, we wouldn't have to worry about Visigoth's patrols.
Soon, the plains of Aquitania spread out in front of us.
This meant that we had succeeded in taking out Miri.
* * *
A few days later I had the chamberlain arrange a house for Miri and Zeff.
It was a nice two-story house near the lord's castle.
Miri couldn't believe the situation and checked with Zeff over and over again.
"Are you sure we should be living here? Isn't this a dream?" <Miri >
Miri had never seen a house like this at least not one she had free reign of, the house she had been living in was an abandoned hut that could collapse at any time.
"Zeff, look! There's a bed! Fluffy!" <Miri >
She lay down on the bed and screamed in surprise when she saw the kitchen.
"This kitchen...I've never seen anything like it. Now I can make lots of delicious food for you." <Miri >
As Zeff approached, Miri laid her forehead against his chest.
"Zeff...I'm so happy. Can I really believe all this?" <Miri >
"Yeah. He's not the kind of guy who talks nonsense like the other nobles." <Zeff >
"Wait, Zeff. He's....You don't mean the lord?" <Miri >
"Yes, but?" <Zeff >
"Idiot! You can't call the lord a he!" <Miri >
"But....That's what I've always called him." <Zeff >
Miri pinched Zeff cheeks.
"You're a vassal, aren't you? You have to have some class!" <Miri >
"I got it, I got it..." <Zeff >
Zeff nodded.
"Anyway, you're saying that you and your lord saved the country?" <Miri >
"Yes but this is not Visigoth, though...." <Zeff?< p>
"You idiot, I don't care about Visigoth. From now on, this is our country, the one that took us in!" <Miri >
Miri was beaming the biggest smile of her life.
"It's unnatural that they would accept lowly...fugitives like us. But you said the lord understood your talent...He's a really nice person! Zint, how can I repay him? How many sewing projects do I have to do?...I'll do my best! Oh, yes! I collected this much by sewing." <Miri >
Miri carefully took out a silver coin from her pocket, which she had carefully stored away.
"I'll buy you something delicious with this...So...We can be together forever, right?" <Miri >
Clutching the silver coin, Miri began to cry.
The tears she had been holding back since the moment she met him began to flow.