Wolf lowered the gaze.
The chill where Silver’s fingertips had brushed refused to fade. The sharp, almost painful cold spread rapidly through the whole body. Like being lightly tapped by the wand of an ice fairy. From the top of the head to the tips of the toes, the cold seeped into every corner of the body… huh?
Before Wolf noticed, Silver had already stretched out on the straw. Both Black Weasel and Silver looked ready to fall asleep immediately.
Wolf hurriedly reached a hand toward Silver.
“Um…!”
“No beds here. Drop there and sleep.”
Silver pulled the blanket up to the chest and closed the eyes.
A duet followed.
Snore. Rrrr.
Wolf and Red Eagle stood frozen, hugging their blankets.
No food… and just sleep like this?
Aren’t you two unbelievably heartless?
They were guards with excellent skill—and almost no other redeeming qualities.
Wolf gave up and spread the blanket over the straw.
“Your Highness, we should sleep too.”
“Wolf… if I wake them and politely ask for a meal…”
“They’re barbarians. If you wake them, they’ll just explode with anger at you.”
Wolf lay down and pulled the blanket over the body. Red Eagle reluctantly did the same.
But sleep wouldn’t come.
The stomach was empty, and Wolf kept being distracted by Silver lying right beside.
Silver must have had a hard day too. Was Silver sleeping well? What did Silver look like while asleep?
……
……
It should be fine if I just take a quick look, right?
Wolf quietly rolled onto one side.
Silver’s sleeping face appeared right in front of Wolf.
Up close, Silver looked even prettier.
Wow… how can someone’s skin look like this? The hair’s a complete mess, but the skin looks like some noble lady who bathes every day in a tub filled with rose petals. And someone like that is a hired killer’s slave—wait, what?!
Wolf’s heart nearly stopped.
Silver suddenly opened the eyes and looked straight at Wolf.
Alice-blue eyes stared back.
Like the faint sting when a fingertip brushes a blade, goosebumps spread across Wolf’s arm.
Caught.
Wolf had been secretly staring and Silver caught it.
I should’ve squinted while looking… No. This isn’t the time for regret. Damage control!
Wolf’s thoughts raced wildly.
What do I do? What do I do? What do I—
Shut my mouth and slap my cheek? No, that’s stupid. I have to fix this somehow. This is too embarrassing! I need to do something—
Then, like a savior, a memory popped into mind.
The boarding house cat called “Eyeshut.”
It had earned that name because it slept with its eyes open.
Fine. I’ll try that!
Pretending to be deeply asleep, Wolf began snoring while focusing every ounce of strength on the eyelids. To prevent any suspicious movement, Wolf even pinched the thigh painfully.
If the eyes move, it’s over.
If I blink, it’s completely, absolutely over.
It would look more natural if I stuck my tongue out like Eyeshut too…
But that’s impossible.
I want to close my eyes! I shouldn’t do that but I want to!
Silver, can you just punch me already? No need to hesitate—
Oh no!
Wolf’s left eyelid suddenly dropped shut with a soft thud.
Like a door falling off broken hinges.
A moment later the right eyelid collapsed too, like a temple whose pillars had shattered.
Wolf gave up on everything and waited for Silver’s fist.
Silence.
No matter how long Wolf waited, nothing happened.
Slowly, Wolf cracked one eye open.
Silver’s face was completely expressionless. The eyes were open, but the look was strangely distant, like someone wandering through a dream.
Silver was even snoring softly.
If the tongue were sticking out a little, it would be identical to Eyeshut sleeping soundly.
Silver… did Silver have the habit of sleeping with eyes open?
Eventually Silver’s eyelids slid down.
The Alice-blue color vanished like a lamp going out.
Even after a long time, Silver didn’t open the eyes again.
Only then did Wolf finally exhale.
The whole body was soaked in cold sweat.
Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, Wolf squeezed the eyes shut and began counting sheep.
One sheep, two sheep… forty-eight sheep…
Though… when this whole thing ends, that’ll be the end with Silver too, won’t it?
Wolf would return to Atania.
Silver would continue bloody adventures with Black Weasel.
Black Weasel didn’t seem like someone who would easily let Silver go.
When Black Weasel had said Silver worked as an assistant, Wolf had wondered what kind of assistant that meant.
After traveling together for just one day, the meaning was perfectly clear.
Without Silver, Black Weasel never would have made it this far today.
Silver kept watch.
Silver rowed the ferry together.
Because of that, they were now trying to sleep in front of a warm fireplace.
Being a hired killer wasn’t just about killing people skillfully.
Wolf’s consciousness began to fade.
Had this hideout also been built by the two of them?
Silver must have had it hard…
Does Silver ever think about running away…?
What am I doing… I’m thinking about Silver again…
Why do I keep…
Wolf found it suspicious, even while half asleep, how obsessively the mind kept returning to Silver.
The question surfaced again.
What do I want to do with Silver?
The image that appeared…
A field full of wildflowers.
Wolf and Silver lying side by side, looking up at the blue sky.
About a hand’s width apart.
The feeling was light and excited, the chest tingling.
The scent of irises swept through the wind.
Silver looked at Wolf and smiled brightly.
Wolf smiled brightly back.
Beautiful.
If only it could stay like this forever…
Wolf’s consciousness faded completely.
* * *
「3! 3! 3!」
「Damn it, I lost again!」
「I won, so I drink again.」
What the… my ears hurt…
Strange voices buzzing like a swarm of bees chased sleep away.
Wolf buried the face deeper into the straw and grimaced.
I hate foreign languages…
What’s that clattering sound…
And this smell of roasted meat…
Meat?
Meat!
Wolf’s eyes flew open.
The upper body shot upright as Wolf looked wildly around.
Right beside, Red Eagle sat stiffly, staring at something.
Following the prince’s gaze, there was a plate of steaming meat.
Food!
“Uwooo—!”
Wolf lunged toward the meat instinctively with both arms flailing.
A fist like a hammer slammed straight into the top of Wolf’s head.
「You bastard! Where do you think you’re putting that mouth on someone else’s drinking snacks! Do you know how much work it took to get that loot!」
Black Weasel barked in Stol while shaking a massive fist in front of Wolf’s face.
Red Eagle hurriedly grabbed Wolf’s shoulders.
“Wolf, is your head okay?”
“I’d love it if it were. What time is it?”
“I don’t know. My pocket watch broke. I woke up because of their voices. You just kept sleeping even though they were shouting.”
“What?”
Wolf stared blankly at Black Weasel and Silver.
Then gasped.
W-what the hell…?
Both guards’ faces were red as if painted with blood.
If the smell of alcohol weren’t pouring from their mouths, it would’ve looked like they had just slaughtered a bunch of pursuers.
On top of that, Black Weasel and Silver were gambling with dice.
Drinking and gambling in a situation like this?
Are you two insane?!
「6! 6! Silver, you’re bankrupt!」
「I only let you win once. I’ve got seven straight victories.」
「Don’t give me that crap—!」
Wait, uncle! Lower your voice!
Looking again, drinking and gambling weren’t even the biggest problem.
Black Weasel’s voice was so loud Wolf feared it might echo outside the cave.
Cold sweat gathered at Wolf’s temples.
If you shout like that, what was the point of setting traps outside the cave, you lunatic?!
More importantly—where did the alcohol even come from?
The answer became clear soon enough.
Wolf looked again carefully.
The wooden barrels stacked along the wall…
Every single one of them was alcohol.
How could anyone stockpile only liquor without even storing drinking water?
It had seemed suspicious already when Black Weasel couldn’t even remember Red Eagle’s name…
These idiots!
The most optimistic conclusion Wolf could possibly reach was only one thing.
These guards must be top-tier assassins of the Stol underworld—people recognized for casually taking the heads of fifty men even while dead drunk.
That must be why they were gambling loudly without fear.
…Right?
「2! 2! See? I won again!」
「Damn it!」
Black Weasel kept losing round after round.
Silver gulped down more liquor.
「5! 5! I win!」
「Why am I the only one losing?!」
Wolf squeezed the eyes shut, then opened them again.
Looked again.
And again.
Nothing changed.
Black Weasel’s hand was clearly trembling so badly the dice barely rolled.
In that condition, swinging an axe would be impossible. The man probably couldn’t even walk a few steps without collapsing.
Can I really trust those stupid drunks and just stay here like this?