Episode 94
"A two-year difference is nothing!"
At Flora's confident statent, Benio couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
At her age, even a one-year difference should feel like a significant gap, so why did she take age differences so lightly?
'Is it because of ? Or because of His Highness the Crown Prince?'
As he montarily drifted into other thoughts, Flora, with an almost supernatural sense, noticed and her eyes turned fierce.
"What are you thinking about with a person right in front of you?"
"I was naturally thinking about you."
Benio skillfully made an excuse while stroking the ends of Flora's pink hair.
"Look at this. It's clearly the color of the Lucifer ducal daughter. Do you think people won't notice?"
Pink hair wasn't a common color, but it wasn't unheard of either.
However, this was a place packed with knights and rcenaries.
Because of that, Flora's hair color was bound to stand out no matter what.
No matter how he thought about it, staying as a rcenary was still too dangerous.
Just as Benio was about to think of another solution...
"Ta-da!"
Just as she had proudly shown the rcenary pass earlier, Flora pulled sothing out of the small bag she had brought from the castle and showed it to him.
"Candy?"
Benio expressed doubt at the appearance of a dark brown candy emitting a sweet scent, as if made by coating it in caral syrup.
Flora, proudly showing the candy, then popped it into her mouth.
Soon, the sound of the candy crunching was heard.
"……What is this?"
Her lovely, flower-like pink hair began to change from the crown of her head, smoothly turning into a deep brown, and when she blinked, her brilliant golden eyes transford into a light brown.
Seeing Benio with his mouth agape, unable to hide his surprise, Flora covered her mouth and laughed.
'Why do you think I stayed up all night insisting on coming along?'
She was late because she was preparing for this. To be precise, because she had pestered and rushed the alchemist Xenophia to create a disguise item.
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"Sotis when I look at you, I get excited to see just how brazen a person can beco."
Watching Flora diligently drinking apple juice while nestled among the Red Serpent rcenaries, Basilian clicked his tongue.
Last night, she had boldly asked for his leftover wooden rcenary pass, saying he'd been promoted to the bronze pass and it was a nto, but who would have known she'd use it like this?
'What noble would think of disguising their identity as a rcenary?'
Wondering if he was the only one shaking his head, thinking it was a crazy idea, Prek and Jad, the leader and vice-leader of the Red Serpent rcenary Band sitting beside her, were busy fawning over her, saying she was cute.
"Just like when we first t, our little lady is so spunky."
"She wasn't scared of us, didn't cry, and was confident. Look at her now, eating well with us too."
The two, chatting among themselves while watching Flora eat heartily, seed to have a thought and looked at Flora, who was sitting between them.
"Little lady, what should you do if a stranger offers you sothing tasty and asks you to co with them?"
"Hand it over right now, you punk."
At her bold answer, Prek burst out laughing. Then, following his lead, Jad posed a new question.
"Then what if an adult you don't know asks for your help?"
"An adult can't even do that and asks a child for help? Where did all their years go?"
"Wow, she speaks well."
Satisfied with the answers, the two n burst out laughing.
Flora, who had just finished her apple juice, spoke up again.
"I told you to call Ria, not 'little lady'."
Even though her questioning gaze was utterly fierce, as if asking if they were going to keep making mistakes, the two rcenaries were busy laughing, seemingly finding it amusing.
"Right, right. Our Ria."
"Our Ria, siblings with Basil!"
Watching the two laugh uproariously, Basilian irritably furrowed his brow.
Flora had suddenly shown up with her hair and eyes changed to ordinary colors, boldly used his wooden rcenary pass, and on top of that, demanded a part of his na. The mory surfaced.
〈I don't like it. Why are you trying to take my na? Make a new alias.〉
The nickna 'Basi' was sothing unique he had allowed only Flora to use.
This was sothing he could never concede, no matter how much Flora demanded, so Basilian stood firm.
But as always, Basilian ended up losing to Flora.
〈Basilian is mine, so his na is mine too.〉
At her confident statent, Basilian was too flustered to say anything. Then, saying "Let's do that," Flora left to report to Benio.
Or, she was about to leave when Basilian grabbed her and asked.
〈Wh-why am I yours?〉
〈Because I decided so?〉
〈……No matter what, I'm mine!〉
He didn't want to have a childish argunt, but no other words ca to mind at that mont.
In response, Flora grinned like a blooming flower and said,
〈What are you talking about? Basil is mine.〉
Faced with her possessive, confident declaration, Basilian ultimately had to let go of her hand and add,
〈Then let's go with Ria, not Rian. Rian sounds too much like a boy's na.〉
It didn't feel that way at all, but he pleaded with such an earnest face that she couldn't refuse.
Flora nodded as if doing him a favor and went to inform Benio of the backstory she had decided on.
The erging story: Ria, the younger sister of Basil, a rcenary affiliated with the Red Serpent rcenary Band.
The situation was that her older brother Basil had gone off to the subjugation, leaving no one to look after her, so she had no choice but to rely on the rcenary band. For this subjugation, the rcenary band mbers, worried about Ria being alone, brought her along as an assistant errand girl.
"Oh, our Ria. She eats so well too."
The hand stroking her fluffy, warm-looking brown hair was surprisingly rough.
Nevertheless, Flora let herself be petted as if accustod to it and diligently sipped her soup.
"Unlike her brother Basil, she eats well, you see. Eat a lot and grow big and strong."
At the indirect comnt about him not focusing on his al, Basilian turned his head away with a sulky expression.
'Who are you calling siblings?'
He wanted to shout right then that they were no such thing, but for Flora's safety, he had to go along with it, so he couldn't ruin the story she had set up.
'What if she ends up disliking for no reason?'
It would have been fine to just say she was with the rcenary band, but she had ticulously worried that it might create rumors of the Red Serpent rcenary Band exploiting children, so it was even more right to cooperate.
"The epito of brazenness......"
The only rebellion he could muster was muttering complaints like this, timidly.
"That's my charm."
Of course, such rebellion was quickly buried by her utterly brazen nature.
People who had finished their als began to get up from their seats one by one.
Seeing the pile of empty plates, Flora got up to clear them, and Basil followed, bending down to help with the cleanup in her place.
"I should be doing that."
"What does it matter who does it? As long as it gets done."
"Oh, that sounds quite brotherly."
"What kind of 'brotherly' treatnt is this when you don't even treat like an oppa?"
The two giggled and, though temporarily, perford their roles as assistant errand girls quite admirably.
In the middle of this, they made eye contact with so people from the Executor Bureau who were passing by, perhaps out for a stroll.
'Wow, they're really the worst.'
Whether they were aware this was the Demon Forest or not, their stubbornly worn white uniforms stood out even more for being out of place.
'Are they confident their clothes won't get dirty? Or do they intend not to step into any situation where their clothes would get dirty?'
Whatever the reason, beyond being the symbol of the Executor Bureau, they looked utterly arrogant.
The two n, upon spotting Flora and Basilian, deliberately furrowed their brows.
"I heard there are rumors lately about rcenaries using children for labor."
"To think it's true. Well, they are rcenaries, after all. Utterly barbaric."
Insulting the rcenaries, they naturally began to insult the two as well.
"By the way, don't they look pitiful? Fated to live like that their whole lives, it's utterly tragic."
"Well, they both have pretty faces, so who knows what might happen."
"What good is being pretty? They're just parasites on a lowly rcenary band. Anyway, it's pitiful. I wish we could help them."
The two threw sympathetic glances towards Flora and Basil, chatting among themselves, but as more rcenaries began to appear, they hurriedly left the spot, not wanting to get involved.
'Anyway, they're so wretched.'
Isaac had cursed that the people from the Executor Bureau were all nobles, spoiled by everyone, and most of them were wretched, and he was right.
'I hope they trip and fall and get their clothes dirty on the way. Ah, but then wouldn't the people doing the laundry just suffer?'
Grumbling inwardly as she continued picking up trash, she heard an unusual voice from beside her.
"Aren't you angry, getting treated like this when you're a noble?"
Seeing Basilian seething with anger, Flora blinked and then patted his back.
"Did it upset you? It's okay......"
"I'm not talking about , I an you!"
Basilian shouted, his face full of anger as he asked,
"They were clearly looking down on you! Aren't you angry?!"
"I am a commoner right now, aren't I?"
It seed the earlier remarks had truly struck a nerve with Basilian.
"Not revealing my status was my choice, so there's nothing to be done. Of course, even if I were truly a commoner, that doesn't an I should have to listen to such insults."
"......"
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