The next morning.
Before the dewdrops on the leaves fell to the ground and the air was still a little cold, the whole caravan woke up one after another. They packed up the tools for setting up camp, stuffed their luggage back into the carriages, and fed the horses dried grass in preparation for today's journey.
Not long after the caravan started moving, Romuona, who was in the cabin, also woke up.
Yesterday, she and Lulunaka chatted for a long time until the sky was full of stars.
After being urged by Olga, she let Lulunaka leave.
Lulunaka was an interesting girl, lively and cheerful, and occasionally said something interesting or thought-provoking. She herself said, "This is the wisdom left by my grandmother."
In just one night, the two girls became friends and got along quite well.
Romuona did some simple washing with the help of the maids. When she left the cabin, she saw Lulunaka walking towards her. It seemed that she had just returned from outside.
At Lulunaka's feet was the shedding dog, Ward.
Romuona felt that the dog was as interesting as its owner, Lulunaka. She had never seen the dog bark at strangers, as if everyone was an acquaintance of its little master. Didn't it know that it couldn't protect its owner?
But the dog's eyes were bright and lively. Obviously, it wasn't a stupid dog — its lazy look was as if it didn't care about anything.
"Miss Romuona, are you ready to leave?"
Lulunaka saw the big movement of the caravan, and then saw the two maids and Olga all carrying big and small bags. She immediately understood what was going on.
Padding came over from the caravan and shouted, "We should go. If we don't go now, we may have to rest at the edge of the forest tonight and can't make it to the next town."
"Miss, we should go now."
Olga said to Romuona. Seeing Romuona's reluctant expression, he certainly knew what these ladies were thinking — she didn't want to say goodbye to the new friends she just made.
And he knew that it wasn't just that — this poor girl actually just wanted to stop and didn't want to go further away from her hometown. This feeling would be strengthened with time and distance.
Even if the place where she was born and raised was not a happy place for her.
What Olga wanted to do was to let his lady continue to stay away from the King's Castle, across the mountains, to the other side of the sea, to the place that was so far away that she couldn't miss her hometown.
Romuona nodded. She understood what Olga meant.
No matter how unwilling she was, she had to leave in the end.
.................. and.................... Lululunaka.....................................................................
"Alchemy girl, thank you for your help.
Also, thank you for making my lady's mood better. "
Olga bowed to Lululunaka and brought the maids to the carriages.
He didn't want his lady to have any resentment towards him. She still had the time to say goodbye.
Romuona walked in front of Lululunaka. "I should go."
Her words were very concise, as if saying one more word would make her mood worse. At the same time, she was afraid that she would say something unnecessary and make this farewell even more difficult.
Lululunaka took out something from her waist pocket and put it in Romuona's hand.
"Lady Romuona, please accept this."
Lululunaka gave Romuona a small cloth bag. It was rough and not exquisite, but it was clean and sturdy. It was sewn very tightly, as tight as a kneaded dough.
There seemed to be something in the thin cloth, and Romuona could smell a fresh fragrance.
"Some dried flowers and grass seeds, as well as wild spices in the forest."
Lululunaka said, "I know, this is not something that Lady Romuona would like, but it can effectively drive away insects. I think it should be something useful for your journey.
If there is no fragrance left, just throw it away. "
"No, I will cherish it." Romuona held the gift from Lululunaka tightly. "Thank you, Lululunaka."
At this time, Olga's voice came, "The carriage is ready. Lady, it's time to leave."
Lululunaka also heard Olga's call. "It's time to say goodbye, Lady Romuona."
She patted her hands, probably wanting to pat the dust off her hands, but her hands were very clean. In fact, there was no need to do so.
"Can I shake hands with you?" She was very cautious, as if she wanted to formally say goodbye to Romuona.
"Of course." Romuona stretched out her hand and shook hands with Lululunaka.
She felt the touch of Romuona's hand. It was a little rough, but very warm.
It was completely different from her delicate and white hands that had never done heavy work.
The two of them shook hands, and for a moment, they were silent.
Then Romuona said, "Goodbye, Lululunaka."
"Goodbye, Lady Romuona."
Lululunaka smiled and said goodbye to Romuona. "I'm very happy to meet a friend like you. I always thought that nobles were high and mighty. I didn't expect to meet such a kind person like you, Lady Romuona.
I hope that one day, we can meet again. "
Romuona also smiled and shook Lululunaka's hand. "Me too.
It would be great if we could meet again. "
"I wish you a safe journey, Lady Romuona."
"I wish you a safe and stable life, Lululunaka."
The two of them let go of each other's hands.
Romuona walked in the direction of the convoy, and Lululunaka stayed where she was.
When she walked to Olga's side, she turned around and could still see Lululunaka looking at her.
Noticing Romuona's gaze, Lululunaka waved her hand and used this gesture to say goodbye to Romuona.
"Let's go, Lady," said Olga.
Romuona also waved at Lululunaka and turned around, no longer looking at Lulunaka's figure.
"Let's go."
Olga saw Romuona's disappointed expression.
Having served Romuona for several years, Olga understood Romuona's mood.
She had no friends of the same age, and the only maids around her were more than ten years older than her and could not talk to her. Now that she met Lululunaka, a kind, simple-minded girl with a flower-like smile, it was not surprising that Romuona would quickly treat her as a friend.
However, one was a civilian alchemist living in the forest, and the other was a noble girl who was going to marry into the West. This friendship came and went quickly.
As for meeting again, it was probably just an unfulfilled wish.
Olga helped Romuona into the carriage and let her sit safely inside. "Lady, I am a few decades older than you and have been to many places.
I have traveled all over the Yilan Continent, to the north of the Sea of Darkness, to the Plains of Giant Beasts in the north, and to the Sea of Deserts in the east of the Yilan Continent … I have met many people and said goodbye to many people, most of whom I have never had the chance to meet again. "
Romuona did not speak, quietly listening to Olga speak.
Olga continued, "Meeting may only be a matter of a moment, and many times it cannot continue forever.
But the friendship and memories brought by meeting can be preserved for a lifetime. "
After listening to Olga's words, Romuona's face had a little more smile and looked a lot brighter. "Thank you, Olga."
"It's my pleasure, Lady," said Olga.
There were some things that he did not say together.
When he was traveling all over the world, the people he met the most were not friends, but people with bad intentions.
Friendship could last forever, but hatred was also engraved in the bones.
Olga brought his own horse and mounted it, following beside Romuona's carriage. "You will meet more friends in the future, Lady Romuona. You will find more friendship and even love in that rich and free country."
"With a person I have never met before, and I don't know if he is old or young, beautiful or ugly?"
Romuona's words made Olga feel a little awkward, and he did not know how to respond. He could only cough a few times to cover it up. "I think at least he must be a good person."
"I hope so too," said Romuona.
Then she had the maid put down the curtain and returned to being the reserved and unmarried noble girl who could not show her face in public.
The carriage moved forward slowly, and there was the sound of hooves, wheels rolling, and the loud voices of the mercenaries.
These voices mixed together with the flying dust and swept towards the front of the road.
Lulunaka watched the carriage leave until she could only see the dust.
"Good luck, Lady Romuona."
Ward, who looked listless all this time, raised his head and looked in the direction of the road.
His black eyes did not fall on the road, but on the bushes on the side of the road.
"A small tail," Lulunaka suddenly said, but she did not know who she was talking to.
She went back to the nursery in front of the wooden house to check whether the flowers and plants she had carefully cultivated had worms.
Ward's eyes did not move, and his head did not move. He continued to stare at the bush as if he had become a statue.
The shrub shook as if it had come alive. Probably because it could not stand being stared at by the motionless eyes of a hairless dog, the tiny branches and leaves fell to the ground, and a person crawled out from the shrub.
It was the young man from the village, Julius.
Obviously, Padding's warning only scared him for a while, and did not really affect the young man's courage, enthusiasm, and recklessness.
If Padding was still here and saw Julius climbing out of the bushes on the side of the road, he would be very surprised, and then angry. Whether it was the knight, the mercenaries, or himself, they did not seem to notice that the young man was so close.
If he was an assassin, then they were seriously derelict and incompetent.
Ward's head went back to the ground, and he did not look at Julius anymore.
Lulunaka squatted by the flowers and greeted Julius, who was kneeling on the ground and at the same height as her. "Hello."
Julius did not return the same greeting. He stood up and patted the dust off his body. "It's strange. I've never seen you in the forest.
I've been to this road many times. Although it's very remote, and very few people would choose this road. More people or caravans would choose the road close to the sea in the east … But I've never seen or heard from the people passing by the village that there is a wooden house nearby. "
He looked at Lulunaka with a little suspicion. "The village chief said that there are witches in the forest who eat children and use witchcraft to hide their residence … Could it be you?"
"I'm an alchemist."
Lulunaka said, "If I were a witch, I would have thrown you into a pot to cook and eat you."
She looked at Julius and said, "But I don't think even a witch would like someone as skinny as you.
Let's get some wolf ribs and roast them. I think it's better than eating you. "
Julius touched his stomach and then touched his head. "There is no meat. It's not worth it." After saying this, his stomach made a strange sound.
"Wait a minute." Lulunaka said to Julius. Then she went back to the wooden house and came out soon.
When she came out, she was holding some dried meat and bread wrapped in large leaves. "I can't finish these things. They're going bad, so I'll give them to you."
Lulunaka's kindness made Julius unable to react for a while. Although he had doubts in his heart, he still took them.
He followed them in the middle of the night and secretly followed behind the caravan for half the night. He didn't eat anything and was really hungry.
Moreover, this girl, who was suspected to be a witch, had said that she wouldn't eat meat without children.
Maybe she wanted to feed him until he was fat and then kill him?
Thinking of this possibility, Julius's body trembled.
But the food was already in his hand, so he didn't intend to return it.
Moreover, he didn't intend to stay here. He wanted to continue to follow the caravan and think if there was any way to please the Knight and teach him a trick or two.
If he followed the caravan, even if this very suspicious "witch" wanted to eat him, she wouldn't have a chance.
Besides, he had forgotten how long it had been since he last ate meat. He had already smelled the salty and fragrant taste of the dried meat, which made the worms in his stomach continue to cry.
With such a small calculation in mind, Julius took the food that Lulunaka handed to him.
"Thank you."
He had some manners and knew how to thank others – and he was indeed quite brave, daring to take food from someone he suspected to be a witch.
"You're from the village on the edge of the forest, right?
Why are you following the caravan? "Lulunaka asked.
Before Julius could answer, Lulunaka continued, "I know, you came with that young lady.
This is not a story worthy of being told. A beautiful girl should be matched with a brave knight, not a commoner child from a village. "
Julius blushed, not because he was shy, but because he was angry, "I followed because I wanted to learn martial arts!" He shouted.
"Learn martial arts?" Lulunaka heard a strange thing, but she was very interested.
"Why?
Is it to defend against wild beasts, or to eliminate bandits?
Or to become a soldier under the New Moon, to fight for the wealth of the conquerors? "
Julius shook his head, "These goals are too small, too narrow."
When he said this, he appeared to be serious, with his head raised and chest out, as if this would make him great.
"I want to hunt wild beasts, let the dragons in the valley tremble because of me; I want to annihilate bandits, let all the bards sing about my deeds; I want to be a general who commands thousands of troops, let the enemy tremble, let the people admire me … I want to be a hero!"
A child who was underage, malnourished, and thin to the point that he was only skin and bones, in front of another child, bragged about a dream that was so far away that it could not be touched … or it could be said that he was talking in his sleep.
Julius often said such things in the village, and then he was ridiculed and ridiculed by the children of the same age, or by the villagers.
Now, in front of him, Lulunaka did not show any ridicule, nor did she make fun of him for not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth.
She just looked interested, looking at Julius who was holding his head high and chest out.
After saying this, Julius remembered that it was not the time for him to chat, "I should go, otherwise it will be difficult to catch up with the team."
He turned around and went into the forest again, before leaving, he turned back to thank Lulunaka, and then completely disappeared.
"What an impolite person." Lurunaka still maintained a smile on her face, looking unperturbed.
Ward was lying on the side, snorting through his nose, as if to agree with his master's words.
Lulunaka squatted on the side of the nursery again, with a small shovel in her hand, turning the soil and fertilizing the plants.
She had been busy in front of the wooden house, and from time to time, she would go back to the wooden house to look for something, working until noon.
Romuona left, Julius left, and then four people came.
Four mercenaries wearing inferior leather armor, with short axes, long swords, and spiked hammers.
They had a malicious look on their faces, and their dirty eyes wandered around Lulunaka's body.
"Little girl, do you have anything good here?" The leading mercenary had an ugly smile on his face, grinding his teeth and making an unpleasant sound.
Lulunaka stood up, with a pulled up plant in her hand.
Her smile was still as bright as a flower.
"Masters, how may I be of service to you?
Do you want medicinal herbs for treatment, or do you want to eat and drink to fill your stomach … … Or, are you kind enough to give me fertilizer? "
Lulunaka's words made the mercenaries stunned, they did not understand why Lulunaka would mention fertilizer.
And Lulunaka's reaction was not at all panicked, as if she did not know what was going to happen next.
They were stunned for a moment, and then they laughed.
"Sorry, when we came, we just left the things that can be used as fertilizer on the road." The mercenaries slowly approached Lulunaka, as if they were hunting a small rabbit.
"It's okay, you have a lot of things that can be used as fertilizer, you just don't know."
Lulunaka smiled.