The Traveling Hero Won’t Let the Innkeeper’s Son Escape

The next day, Ruth's parents and I greeted Garcia, and then, as promised, Ruth rode out on horseback with Alec early in the morning. The Gorath family's horse lending is basically reserved, but even though Ruth said it would be an early time if he told them the circumstances, the midwife lent it to me in two replies. It seems the horse was just available and the timing must have been good.

The skin rode a golden-haired horse in water and black, and Ruth and Alec ran through the mountains. Alec still had no memories of a long ride, which took the form of guiding Ruth through the path he had taken many times.

When they come in the morning, they will tell them what happened when they visited before, walking on clear waters that shine green, rivers where good fish can be caught, meadows suitable for napping, and horses.

Alec, who didn't really look me in the eye at first, but by lunch such a suspicious appearance also faded, and the two of us had a relaxing post-meal break side by side in the shade of Oki, if we noticed. The lunch did not extend to Celine, but it seemed bad and I was relieved.

(Me, too, finally got to stop acting weird when I saw Alec)

Ruth's sickness appeared to have subsided a lot after a day and because Alec's reaction was more distracting, or just seeing his face made him bright red and unable to move. Perhaps I should say that I braced my stomach naturally because I couldn't move forward if I had turned my face against Ruth, even though Alec wasn't too busy.

"That… I was asleep………?

When I opened my eyes, I saw the blue sky after noon from the gap in the shade of the tree. He should have leaned against the tree and talked to Alec about not taking it away, but apparently he lay down and slept at some point. As I narrowed my eyes to the feeling of grass touching my cheeks, I looked around and I had green eyes and solid eyes. There was no way I slept like Ruth in those eyes, and it was straight as if I'd been looking at this one the whole time.

"Eh, hey, what!?

When Ruth is surprised to realize that he was being watched and only gets his upper body up, Alec, the owner of the green eyes, turns his gaze upwards, not even changing his complexion, especially while remaining in a lateral position.

"Nothing. I was just watching you sleep."

Alec tells me as if it's not a big deal. And with a sigh as if you'd given up something. But from Ruth's point of view, I want you to stop because I'm finally feeling calm and fluffy.

"I was watching... it's not funny to see me sleeping, is it?

"It was funny though. I was ordering dinner menus in my bedtime, saying the meat wasn't raw and delicious, letting the oculus escape and saying there wasn't enough dried meat, and I was just talking about the meat."

"……… Wow…… forget that."

"It's a lie."

"What, are you lying!?

When Ruth raised her voice of doubt, Alec woke up only her upper body in the same way, laughing joyfully. When I realized that I was completely flabbergasted by the expression, I eased my eyelids and deepened my grin.

(Ah, that's a bit of a forward laugh)

The look on Alec's face, who laughs, overlaps with the one before he forgot Ruth only for a moment. The back of my chest twitched and I got hot on that look.

"It's got leaves on it."

Alec stretches his right hand toward Ruth's cheek as he says so.

(Hi-no!

Ruth raised an odd scream inside.

Outdoors in sunny weather, in the shade of the trees, Alec's degree of sparkle came as he narrowed his green eyes and reached out, sweeping his golden hair with grass and petals in a soft breeze. So destructive that in an instant the heat spreads from the back of your chest to your whole body that you scratch sweat in your palms. My heart was so loud, I thought I was going to die.

Besides, I couldn't even move to pay for my own leaves because of the tension, and it was torture in a way because I had to wait while I wandered my gaze to let Alec's fingertips touch me.

However, such a sweet atmosphere stops on the brink.

"Huh..."

"Duh, what's wrong, Alec?

Just before touching Ruth, Alec suddenly started holding his head in opposite hands as he was stretching out his face. The hand he was stretching also fell straight onto Ruth's shoulder, trying to withstand something and grabbing his clothes.

Ruth, who looked so spicy, quickly returned to reality and quickly grabbed his hand.

"Alec, are you okay? Do you want to lie down?

"... hey, it's just..."

When Alec says so, he shakes his head as loudly as he tries to skip the pain. Releasing Ruth's hand as he was, he covered his face with both hands and took a big, deep breath.

"…… bad. I'm fine now."

With a still slightly dull look on his face, Alec takes off his hands and gives him a face. Peeping in with Ruth's worried face, he laughed bitterly.

"Are you sure you're okay?

"Oh, I'm fine. Sometimes I've had a headache since yesterday, but it's only temporary. But healing won't cure you."

"…… Today, shall we go home already?

"You idiot, it's only been half a day. And it's already healed, and don't worry about it."

Alec stood up and looked back at Ruth sitting.

"Here we go. Where are you going to show us next?

Ruth rose from the spot to Alec, who was worried about what had happened earlier but was happy to rush ahead.

Then explore the caves where you can take a little ore, the woods with lots of spirits, the giant trees where rare mushrooms can be picked, and the places you and Alec visited many times. Alec seems to be having fun all the time, but all of that was excitement about the first thing I've ever seen.

(Not this time either......)

Behavioral suspicions like yesterday have disappeared, and attitudes have been considerably softer than they have been for a few days, Alec, but I still don't even see the bare hands that remind me of Ruth.

This long ride also took me out with the idea that Alec might remember me, but I'm not doing well. He's enjoying it, but that's all.

While I'd like you to remember me in the first place, maybe that's true for granted because I'm not working out a plan or an operation. But as for Ruth, I felt stuck because all I could think about was telling her memories and taking her to an edge place.

(... how can Alec remind me of me)

Ruth felt a slight impatience as he looked at Alec's back moving on.

As the surroundings began to turn red, we reached near the scenic summit where the sky looked closer. It is an even higher cliff than the dungeon near the village of Hashi, where the trees below appear small. Besides, if Ruth and the others walk five steps from where they stand now, there is no ground ahead of them, so if you're not careful, you're upside down to the cliff. If it falls, there will be no life.

But it made sense to be here.

"Ooh, wow. Is that the ocean? You can see it from here?

Between the two mountains at the front from the high ground where Ruth and the others were, a glittering surface of water was seen. At first glance, it looks like the ocean.

"It looks like the sea, doesn't it? But the truth is, it's not the sea, it's the lake."

"Lake?"

"They say there's a big lake over those two mountains, and it looks like the ocean because of the angle and the sun going down."

Even Ruth, who knows the actual sea, can only see it so, but there is no place where the sea can be seen where it can be reached not so far from Hashi village. Because this is an inland part of the mountains that has nothing to do with the sea.

When he made such a seed, Alec looked surprised. But his face quickly became cloudy, holding down his brows.

"What's wrong? Too dazzled?

"Different, something... bad, nothing"

"Also, do you have a headache?

"No, I'm fine. So, how did you discover this place?

Even then, I was concerned about Alec, who held his head down, but decided to tell him about the time I discovered it while I was watching.

It is this place that I ascended and discovered that with the hard saved pennies, when I first came on a long ride with Alec, I would be lost, and if I went high, I would know my way home. And the two of us finally found our original way back with great excitement when we saw the ocean. It's also a good memory to be disappointed that Rossa, familiar with geography after returning to the inn, told me that that place was a lake.

Ever since then.

But even after I found out it was fake, I always stopped by when the two of us came on a long ride. Maybe it's because the two of us discovered it and have a strong impression of it.

"I saw the ocean to the point where I didn't like it, but you just look that way when you know it's fake. Has Ruth ever seen the real thing?

"No, I don't. I've never been out of a village before."

Staring at the lake that looks like the sea together as we stand next to Alec. The lake lit by the sunset looked like there were waves, so beautiful that even the fake ones didn't bother me.

"Well, then why did you think I was the ocean? I never saw the ocean until I left the village."

"Ah..."

Ruth realized she had said something extra. At the time, Alec was still not that big, and I didn't wonder Ruth's words because I was impressed with the first time I saw the ocean, but if I think about it well, it rarely became the idea of the ocean as soon as I saw that shape. Usually you would think of a fountain or something.

"And when I told my father about it, the topic of the ocean came up, but I looked closely and I found out that it was a lake."

"Oh, I see. Little dad. He's a former adventurer."

In Ruth's nasty explanation, Alec once again stared at the brilliant surface of the mountain in front of him when he was lightly convinced. Apparently, I didn't ask the question because I didn't care that much.

(It was dangerous... but hopefully someday I can tell Alec about my past life)

I don't mean to sound preposterous, but I'd like to talk about a little strange phenomenon that I have about Alec. With that in mind, Ruth looked up at Alec next door.