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This was doubly the case for Suimei, who had devoted his time in the palace to study

While it’s true that Suie in close combat – swordsmanshi+p wasn’t a necessity per se – he nevertheless felt far more at ease with a sword in hand

“Fuuu… That should do it…”

Taking a deep breath as he finished a set, he wiped his sith a towel Although today’s practice was a bit siht of his plans for the rest of the day, it would do

This was not a day when he could afford to be exhausted right froo Today was the day when Suimei would set out on an escort mission destined for the Nelferian Empire

This escort mission would take hi this cooals

His objective was to discover a way home and then to create the path that would do so

To that end, visiting the Empire – a place that far outstripped Aster in both ease of obtaining intel and resources – was a necessity The first stop along that path required that he first reach the city of Kurand, on Aster’s western border, near the Empire

Kurand was a city that sat on the boundary between Aster and Nelferia It was a highly developed city with regards to both trade and intel, second only after the capital, Mehter itself Suis of the E foot in the country, and so he’d planned to spend so way to his final destination

For this purpose, Suimei had attached hihly acquainted with the area and the journey

…He’d been on the constant lookout for such couild, when finally this opportunity had presented itself the day before

Because coinally assumed that it would have taken quite some time to successfully accept such a commission Instead, however, it had only been three or four days, quite a bit earlier than his projections

When it came to this, it had to be said that his ability to use restorative ician Suimei had made his way to the reception , the caravan had alreadyhowever, the leader of the caravan had said that when it caics, the more the merrier, and welcomed Suimei

As presues capable of using restorative ic

Given that his guild record was still a blank slate with regards to accomplishments, it was possible that the caravan leader was of the opinion that if he was really of use, then it was all hile

In any event, his plans for the day were already set Today, he would leave Mehter

Right then Let’s head back, Sui his mercury blade once more on his person

On the way back to the inn to make final checks on his preparation for the journey ahead, Sui back to his roo around a corner

“Oh man, I’m so sorr—!”

For a brief htly froized for his inattentiveness

Suddenly, he stopped short More accurately, he was left speechless by a sudden turn of events

The person Suiuild as well as soed in the same inn as him – Lefille Gurakis

However, what had stunned him so was not that the person he had literally run into was someone familiar to him

No, he had interrupted hiirl, Lefille Gurakis, looked terribly off

Indeed, she’d co in from somewhere – outside?! – dressed only in her underwear, her eyes red and swollen, tears running down her face

“Ah—”

Lefille seemed to have finally realized how she asped, frozen in surprise The sorrow that weighed upon her soul was such that it see far second to the dark cloud of gloom that rested upon her

“Uh, um, eh—?”

The other party, Suimei, was similarly frozen stiff, unsure of how to react to the unexpected situation

Although he’d definitely run into her with a fair amount of force, from what he could tell, this hadn’t been caused by the i were simply too far out of the blue

“Oh, sorry…”

At long last, Lefille seemed to have come to She wiped her tears, offered those words in a pained voice, and co Suimei’s words, dashed directly further into the inn

Suimei, completely du to himself in confusion

“What on earth was that…?”

It was, however, early in the , and with all others lost in dreamland, there were none to answer him