CH 45

“Nathan, you’re going to Centiar, right? How long are you going to stay here? Ah! I’m on my way to Vallona because I’m supposed to meet a few others. If you have time, why don’t you go with us? We talked about it in the letter. I’m sure Etton and Robert will be very happy.” 

‘I always wondered if it was nice and exciting to meet classmates in a place like this.’ 

When he saw Berry, who talked a lot, unlike his usual quiet appearance, Nathan looked embarrassed and smiled awkwardly.

“Well, I don’t know how long I’ll be here, so I can’t give you a definite answer…”

“Nathan, you can’t go! You should play with me and the others!” 

“Amani, it’s dangerous…”

‘Besides, that was something that shouldn’t be said now!’

Berry blinked. Her serene gaze turns to Amani, who clung to Nathan, and then turns back to Nathan.

“Others?”

Somehow, he was stabbed by a thorn and felt a cold sweat on Nathan’s back. The corner of his mouth twitched. There was no way to hide from those thorns. Nathan took Amani, who was attached to him, off and thought about what to answer Berry. 

I felt bad because it was as if I found out later that my best friend had made plans with another friend without saying anything even though I asked first. 

But Nathan didn’t have a chance to make excuses. Because suddenly the man intervened between the conversation.

“My Lady.”

“…yes?”

“Why don’t you send your friends on their way? They also seem to be busy, so I hurriedly cleared the road, but I think we shouldn’t hold on here. Besides, it looks like it’s going to rain soon, so I think we’d better leave.”  

Berry was stunned by the words.

“Oh, you’re right. Look at my mind! Are you ready? I guess you got a call from the manor.”

“Yes. First of all, they told me to leave the broken carriage and the unloadable luggage here and only those who can move should go first. They said to tell you that they would send a carriage and to come with the rest of the luggage.”

“That’s right. I have to go now. It’s a pity but it can’t be helped.”

Looking at Berry sighing with real regret, Nathan said goodbye quickly because he wanted to leave. They’ve already taken up too much time.

“Then I’ll go now. Berry, say hello to Etton and Robert for me.”

“Hey, Nathan!”  

Berry, who suddenly remembered something, hurriedly calls and stops Nathan. Once Berry reaches him, she holds out her hand. 

“If you need help in Centiar, you can ask the Grayson Manor. I’ve said it before, right? My family is in charge there. Show them this with the name of the Berry Caravan and it will help. Of course, I’m giving it to you because you’re not a person to ask for nonsense. Give it back to me when we meet next time.”

“Oh, yeah. Thank you.”

Nathan was stunned and accepted the item that Berry had put out. It was a brooch made of gold, with the Grayson Manor pattern on it. 

“Bye, Nathan. See you at the academy.”

Instead of bowing and focusing on Berry departing, Nathan grabbed the reins.  

“Let’s go, Amani.”

“Yeah, let’s go quickly and come back. It would be better if we don’t get caught by Hazard!”

Nathan goes ahead first and then Amani follows. It was quick to get off the narrow road. As they entered the open one-way street, Amani, who was following, murmured gloomily as he followed Nathan’s side.

“You know, I’m so worried. I think I’m going to be scolded by Azar… No, I’m sure I’ll be scolded!”

“Don’t worry too much.”

“Nathan! It’s because I don’t want to get scolded by Azar!”

Amani grumbled as he pouted. 

‘But isn’t there a bit of a misnomer saying that you’re getting scolded?’ 

They don’t know if Hazard would get angry. But in fact, Nathan thought that Hazard wouldn’t be too angry since there isn’t much to be angry about.

‘By the way, I’ve heard that Berry’s house runs the manor, but…’  

The situation of ‘Nathan’ was a little exaggerated, and there was no one in the academy who didn’t know. So his friends rarely brought up the story of his family, at least in front of him. So Nathan knew that Berry’s family runs the Grayson Manor, but he really only knew that much.

I didn’t think this is the manor that is run by Berry’s house. It was just ridiculous in an unexpected situation, and I forgot the current situation. 

Then suddenly, a family quickly passed through his head.

‘…Isn’t the daughter of the lord, Berry?’

The horse that was running fast gradually slows down.

‘Ah, no way. There’s no way such a ridiculous coincidence can happen like this.’

Nathan tried to think like that. But if you think about it, it won’t be such a strange story. I could tell by looking back at the current situation a little bit. Now this situation was a minor change that happened when a person named ‘Nathan’, who was originally not supposed to be here, suddenly intervened. 

Yes, it will be easier to understand if you exclude the character ‘Nathan’ from the original. Since it wasn’t even in the original in the first place, it wasn’t too difficult to think about the story that he interrupted and changed a little bit. But there was a slight change as Nathan intervened here. 

Nathan’s gaze glanced at Amani.

It’s because of Nathan’s situation that Amani is here, but originally, he should have been in town with Hazard by now. Because it was Amani who played a role in soothing the child while others were looking for the child’s brother. And then he wouldn’t have been able to meet Berry here.

There are more questions right now, but the reason I’m not sure is that I don’t remember the original in detail. 

Based on the memories that come to mind, there was no contact between the main character’s party and Berry, as he remembered. Even in the original, the name ‘Berry’ was not mentioned. The first appearance of the daughter of the boss was long after the main character’s party went on their adventure, and the figure depicted in the original was also quite different from Berry. 

‘No… was the color of the eyes the same?’

The daughter was described as having short cut white hair and gray eyes. 

But even when Nathan saw Berry, there was a good reason why he thought she was also an extra, just like ‘Nathan’. First of all, Berry’s magic skills were similar to the current Nathan. The calm and quiet temper made even the presence blurry from time to time. It’s inevitable that Nathan looks at Berry and thinks so much.

It wasn’t that he had exceptional talent like the main character’s group, nor did he have a dazzlingly beautiful appearance. The advantage of him was that he could buy a noble title because he had a lot of money in the house, but that wasn’t that important.

Berry was a student in the magic department, just like Nathan, but the main character’s party already had an outstanding magician, so they weren’t interested in the magic department at that point. It was only after the adventure that he had a wizard as a colleague by necessity, and even if it was true, it was enough if he didn’t have to stop. So Nathan never guessed that the daughter of the boss would have attended the same academy as them.

But once you start getting suspicious, you tend to care about everything starting from but not ending at the little things. The horse slowed its pace to a stop. When Nathan stopped, Amani also spoke belatedly.

“Nathan?”

The puzzled voice in front calls Nathan. But he hurriedly pulled his reins and changed direction and began to go back the way he had come. 

“Uh? Nathan, where are you going all of a sudden?!”

“I need to check something for a moment!”

“What? I’m going with you!”

There is a saying, ‘You can only see as much as you know’. It’s a perfect word for the situation right now. Nathan knew the original, because he was acquainted with a character named Berry, because he knew the inside story of the events that were to come, that’s why there was something that only became visible. It’s so trivial that all those parts that could have been passed off at this moment are beginning to be questioned.

Why was the mercenary reluctant to say the manor’s name? Why did Berry make such a face when asked that she knew me? Why get involved in the conversation and try to send me and Amani away quickly? 

‘Why?’

If you think about it, it’s full of strange things. Originally, the manor is a place where most of them are snobbish. Even if he pretended to be, he looked like a wizard, and no matter how bad his skills were, if he was at the manor, he wouldn’t have refused it if he was willing to do some work. Neither is it representing the manor, it’s just a mercenary hired for escort. It’s probably because that context is included that Berry opened the door and said her family’s name.

In addition, there were a few other places that I had doubts about. When the incident happened and the manor owner was falsely framed, where did his daughter go? How did the daughter know the real culprit after such a long time? If he had been there at the time of the incident, things might not have been twisted to that point.

How much can Berry leaving the village in time be dismissed as a simple coincidence?