A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

“Hmm…” Tiggia simply walked silently to Eors’ side, then leaned against the railing, looking up at the blue sky with the bright sun shining.

“Tygia, I can cry now, I can finally cry,” Eors said softly.

The birds flapped their wings and flew away in all directions, but the sunlight still shone on Aeolus.

Eorz's face was beautiful in the sunlight.

Eors' beautiful face was different from before; it was no longer the same unchanging expression, but a tearful face mixed with joy.

This is tears of joy.

Tiggia took Eorz's pale hand and listened quietly to him speak.

The girl was crying, but even though she was crying, you could feel the happiness radiating from her heart.

Tears unlike those of ordinary people slid down the girl's face.

The tears of Eors were even bluer, radiating a light that was almost crystalline.

She awkwardly wiped her tears with the back of her hand, but no matter how she wiped, more tears flowed out.

“That’s why I’ve always said that your efforts are worthwhile.” Tiggia knew that Eors’s feelings were more delicate than anyone else’s, but he just couldn’t express them.

Although Tiggia didn't understand why Eors was suddenly able to express his emotions.

But most importantly, Eorz is happy now, isn't he?

"Eorth, I want to see you smile." Tigia tightened her grip on Eorth's hand.

However, this force did not cause Eors pain; it only made her feel the warmth emanating from the other person.

“Yes.” Eors, still with tears streaming down his face, gave Tiggia a smile.

Tiggia was stunned for a very long time after seeing Eors's smile.

The wind blew her hair, the ends brushing against her cheek and tickling her.

She simply didn't want to pay any attention to those mischievous hair ends.

Tiggia instinctively raised her hand and cupped Eors's face.

So beautiful! So this is what Aeolus looks like when he smiles. This is the first time I've ever seen Tiggia like this.

Eors was slightly surprised, but he didn't object.

“Tygia, I’m so happy,” Eors murmured, as the wind blew across the three sheet music pieces on the table.

---

PS: I have a dinner party tonight, so there won't be any extra chapters (justifiably). Levy picked up a soup spoon and stuck out her pink little tongue.

Her tiny tongue carefully approached the soup spoon.

"Ugh, it's so hot." But Rebecca underestimated the warmth of the soup and got burned. >A<

As a proud lion, it's only natural that Levy has a cat's tongue.

"Whew—" Naruko blew on the soup for Levy.

"We need to blow it beforehand."

"Oh!" Levy nodded quickly, then started blowing on the spoon.

Xiao You stared blankly at Lei Bi, without eating anything.

To be honest, He didn't even know what He was supposed to do.

Why go shopping? What's the point of shopping? Xiao You was full of questions.

Bray chewed his kebabs expressionlessly, his dead fish eyes devoid of any life.

"Are you going to perform there as a bodyguard recently?" Father Thun asked while spitting out the condiments in front of him.

Today, Father Thun, taking advantage of the low turnout at church, went out and did something else.

This time, Father Thun temporarily rented a stall to sell food, including kebabs and various snacks.

For example, the thick soup that Lebby drank earlier.

For example, ice cream.

As for Bray, when he passed by, he saw Father Thun grilling skewers and, for some reason, sat down without thinking.

With food available, Levy and Naruko were naturally happy to sit down.

“Yes, the one in the venue,” Bray said, holding up two fingers to the priest.

After the priest understood, he handed Bray two lamb skewers.

"Security at the venue? I know about that job."

"You know?" Bray was taken aback. Wasn't that a commission from the Adventurers' Guild? Why would the priest know?

"Focus on things that can make money."

“…” Bray hesitated for a moment.

"You've really had a tough time," Bray finally sighed.

I always felt that it wasn't easy for priests to raise orphans in the church.

It's not just about daily expenses, but also about other things.

He's supporting two lazy bums, and they're both exhausted. They have no idea how the priest manages to raise so many children.

"It's alright, I think life's good." The priest smiled and casually handed Bree a few beef skewers.

This wasn't a gift from the priest; he charges for it.

However, unaware of the priest's intentions, Bray instinctively picked it up and ate it.

"Father, do you sell ice cream here?" another voice asked from the seat next to Bray.

Eric raised his hand and called out to Father Thun.

“Of course.” Father Thun smiled and took an ice cream out of the freezer.

"But how did you know I'm a priest?" Father Thun asked Eric curiously.

He's wearing an apron over his clothes now, so his priest's robes are covered and it's hard to tell he's a priest.

“You treated me before, and I went to church with you,” Eric said casually, taking the ice cream.

It's a real shame; it seems he recognized the priest, but the priest didn't remember him.

It's probably because the priest has helped so many people that it's really difficult for him to remember everyone.

"I want meat," Alice said to the priest, pulling her ponytail in front of her.

"What kind of meat?"

"I want them all," Alice said calmly, having already taken her own plate.

Father Thun hesitated for a moment, then placed some meat skewers in front of Alice.

Actually, the priest's stall didn't have many kinds of snacks, since he didn't have a proper shop.

Because it's just a small stall, there aren't many items.

“Blind man.” Eric licked his ice cream and glanced at Bray.

"What is it?" Bray replied to Eric in a dejected voice.

"Did you go and become Aeolus's bodyguard?" Eric asked.

"No, they're just security guards at the venue."

"You're actually willing to stay outside the venue?"

“What’s there to be resentful about? Besides, I might not even go,” Bray said casually.

He might skip the request and go to the venue to listen to the performance.

After all, Princess Virginia has the votes, so why not take them?

“Fine, you’ll end up somewhere around there anyway,” Eric said irritably.

"probably."

“I have a bad feeling about this performance,” Eric said casually, holding up one finger.

"Um, I also have a fishing rod like this!" Naruko mumbled while eating, and deliberately raised her hand to show her presence.

Bray glanced at Naruko first, then at Eric.

Naruko's intuition is pretty accurate, which is why Bray is feeling inexplicably uneasy right now.

He was looking for a safe job, so why did this happen?

“You should have said so earlier if you had this feeling,” Bray muttered.

"Hey, it's okay to have a bad feeling, right?" Naruko swallowed what was in her mouth and turned her head to talk to Bray.

"Anyway, with you here, everything will be fine."

“Oh! Right! With Bray around, nothing will be a problem!” Levy chimed in promptly.

Levy may agree with others or disagree with them, but she'll sing the praises of Bray.

"..." Bray felt a lot of pressure for no apparent reason.

"So why are you telling me all this?" Bray turned his gaze back to Eric.

"I just want you to be more careful. If you can fight, then go for it," Eric said.

"The colonel thinks that Bud Bush is unreliable and wants you to step in if anything happens to you." Alice, who had finished all the food in front of her at some point, said in a relaxed tone while wiping her mouth elegantly.

"Who is Bud Bush?" Bray asked, his face full of questions.

“Eors’ father.”

“And also the publisher of this commission you made.” Eric frowned.

"Don't you know who you've commissioned to publish this?"

"Ah, I forgot to check." Bray looked enlightened; indeed, you can check the client's information when accepting a case.

However, Bray rarely looks at the person who issues such official commissions.

"What's wrong with him?" Although it might seem a bit gossipy, Bray was still curious as to why Eric would suddenly ask him to pay attention to this guy.

“The main problem is that this guy isn’t a good person.” After finishing his ice cream, Eric gestured to Father Thun with his eyes.

The priest silently took out a new ice cream and gave it to Colonel Eric.

The colonel continued to enjoy his ice cream with satisfaction, squinting his eyes and revealing a contented expression.

"Even if he's not a good person, he wouldn't suddenly do something like that, would he?"

"That's what I usually think too."

“It’s just that there have been quite a few things related to him lately, and the coincidences are a bit too much,” Eric said, his eyes half-closed.

He was actually referring to Latis, who was still imprisoned.

Another thing that gave Eric a bad feeling was the rumor that Eorth's singing voice was even more beautiful than before.

Normally, one would just think of this as trivial news.

But—

Wow, what a coincidence!

"If something is too coincidental, then we should consider other possibilities."

"Emmmm," Bray thought, still not understanding what Eric was saying.

All he understood was that Eric wanted him to pay a little attention to the guy named Bud Bush.

"I'll take a look then..." Eric suddenly stood up from his seat, preparing to leave. "I'll talk about other things after my lunch break."

When Alice saw Eric stand up, she also stood up slowly.

"Even if you have time, we might not even meet," Bray retorted without holding back.

“It’s just polite talk, you know?” Eric looked at Bray with disdain.

He can't even understand polite words; sometimes this guy's emotional intelligence is really too low.