Ch. 116 Let's Travel Together with Lily! (Part 1)

If there is anything in the human world that can be called happiness, it is probably waking up naturally after sleeping in a warm bed, hugging a beautiful girl.

The sleeping Mia opened her eyes.

“…”

She didn’t know when, but she had already stuck to Melina like a sloth.

The side profile of the girl in front of her presented a tranquil beauty in her sleep.

Mia felt her hand going numb.

Just as she was trying to gently change her posture to pull out the hand pinned beneath her, Melina opened her eyes.

Mia stopped moving and tilted her head to look at her: “Morning.”

“Morning,” Melina replied.

When they first fell asleep last night, there was still some distance between them.

However, in the second half of the night, Mia kept inching towards her.

She wanted to remind her but didn’t dare to use too much force to wake Mia up.

In the end, it turned into this appearance.

The two of them were pressed tightly together.

Melina’s face was slightly flushed.

As for Mia, she had absolutely no self-awareness.

It was as if the intimate actions of last night were a matter of course; even upon waking, she showed no reaction.

She just sat up, yawned, and adjusted her blindfold.

She smacked her lips, still feeling unsatisfied.

It had been a long time since she had such a peaceful sleep.

Lying on a comfortable big bed, with no wind blowing, no noise, and a person who could bring a sense of security.

Then she looked at the tightly closed window.

Sunlight filtered in through the cracks of the window, just a sliver that could barely illuminate the room.

In other words, the room was very dim.

Mia lifted the blanket off her body and left the bed.

Barefoot, she stepped on the floor covered with dry straw and went to open the sealed window shutters.

The sky was already bright, and the sunlight slanted across the entire village.

Through the inn’s outer fence, she could see the village road, and farmers leading oxen walking past not far away.

The air was very quiet, probably because most people were working in the fields.

Turning her head, the open-air wine tables outside the inn were empty.

“Mm—”

The girl breathed in the fresh air.

Melina came to Mia’s side.

Behind the small window, the two girls gazed at this tranquil world.

“It really… is not like The Lands Between at all.”

Melina’s murmuring voice was heard by Mia.

“Do you want to go out for a walk?” Mia asked.

“Okay.” Melina nodded.

After Mia returned to the bedside to get dressed, there was a knock on the door.

“Guest, are you awake? Do you need to freshen up?”

It was the innkeeper.

He probably discovered that the window of the cabin had been opened, so he came to ask.

“Come in directly,” Mia responded.

The innkeeper personally walked in carrying a towel on a wooden basin.

“What time is it now?” Mia asked.

The innkeeper replied: “The fifth hour after sunrise; it will be noon in another hour.”

Eleven o’clock?

She had slept for quite a long time.

“Can you help me find a tailor?”

“No problem, guest!”

After washing up, the innkeeper took the basin away exactly as it was.

She didn’t feel hungry just after waking up.

In this era, even kings only ate two meals a day.

Walking out of the wooden house and stretching her body in the sunlight, Mia heard a muffled ‘clang—thud—clang—thud’ sound coming from not far away.

Following the sound with her gaze, she saw Artoria, holding a wooden sword, sparring with Kay on the open space in front of the stable.

The muffled sound she heard originated from the collision between the wooden weapons.

Artoria held the longsword with both hands, launching a swift offensive against Kay, who held a sword and shield.

With a ‘bang,’ the two-handed sword struck the shield, and the white knight maiden used the force of the sword’s rebound to swing it again.

‘Bang—bang—’

Kay’s counterattack was parried by Artoria.

Next, she launched an offensive that was like falling rain, leaving no blind spots and losing none of its elegance, which was difficult for an ordinary person’s eyes to even distinguish, forcing Kay to retreat repeatedly.

Wilden stood by the door of the inn’s main building, arms crossed and leaning against the wall, observing the two.

Mia waved at him, and Wilden also raised a hand, nodding at Mia.

“Yo! Keep it up, little sister!”

A shout came from under the wine shed not far away.

Apparently, there were more than three people in the audience.

Judging by their attire, those were likely militiamen from the village who spent their days idling in the tavern; because the village was so peaceful, they didn’t even bother wearing armor.

Only the metal helmets hanging from their shoulders and the weapons set aside indicated their status.

Encouraged by the cheers of others, Artoria’s attacks became even sharper.

“No way! Can’t the young knight even beat a girl?”

Another militiaman, his cheeks flushed red as he drank, shouted exaggeratedly upon seeing Kai being suppressed.

“Hey!” Kai, while parrying Artoria’s attacks, spared a moment to glare at him.

“Careful, or I’ll cut your mouth off!”

“Hiccup.”

The militiaman who had shouted at Kai let out a drunken hiccup.

However, the fact that Kai could still find time to bicker with the audience while under Artoria’s assault suggested that his condition wasn’t as dire as it appeared.

Artoria followed up with three heavy downward strikes, forcing Kai to leave deep footprints in the sandy ground.

Just as everyone thought Artoria would keep slashing until Kai was forced to his knees, she suddenly shifted the direction of her attack!

‘Multiple heavy, powerful attacks to wear the opponent out, followed by a sudden, unexpected quick strike to take the initiative.’

Her longsword reached the end of its downward arc, then suddenly transformed into an upward thrust!

If the enemy remained in a posture of holding their shield high to block the overhead strikes, the thrust would easily pierce their abdomen, which was left undefended by the shield.

However, before Artoria could land the thrust, Kai suddenly lowered his body, and his wooden sword tapped her forearm from the side.

“Ugh—”

The Knight Princess’s longsword fell to the ground.

The outcome was clear.

“Your strength and speed are excellent, but you still need to study the timing of your transitions more.”

Watching Artoria retreat several steps while clutching her wrist, Kai, acting as her instructor, offered his earnest commentary.

“I thought I could beat Brother Kai this time…”

“Having a competitive spirit is a good thing, of course, but you must be careful not to be controlled by it…”

Artoria sighed, rubbed her slightly swollen forearm, and picked up the wooden sword that had fallen to the ground.

Kai noticed Artoria’s discomfort and walked over quickly.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. These things are bound to happen during training, Brother Kai, please don’t take it to heart.”

Kai frowned: “Where is your protective gear?”