BSLFS 03

Chapter 3

Place a Bookmark

“Unbelievable… The road that usually takes three days—we’ve reached in just one!”

At the border wall, the soldier who had escorted me wiped the sweat from his brow, staring at me in astonishment.

“The power of the Saint is truly amazing! I don’t feel tired at all…”

All the soldiers bowed their heads to me in gratitude.

This time, I wasn’t sitting in the luggage compartment—I was properly inside the carriage.

Along the way, the soldiers started to look tired, so I offered a prayer for them. After that, they seemed refreshed and full of energy again. They thanked me, and even let me ride inside the carriage. From then on, they drove through the night without resting, and by morning, we had reached the border.

“It’s I who should be thanking you—for the delicious meal you shared with me on the way.”

I shook my head and expressed my gratitude.

During one of our breaks, they had given me bread topped with dried meat.

—I don’t even remember the last time I’d eaten meat. It melted in my mouth, a little salty, but incredibly delicious…

The last time I’d eaten meat was when I was much younger.

I’d followed a wonderful smell coming from the Archbishop’s room, and when I peeked in, I saw a large reddish chunk of something on a plate I’d never seen before. Without thinking, I took a bite.

It tasted completely different from the food I usually got—so rich and satisfying that I ended up eating it all.

Then I was scolded harshly—“A Saint eating meat?!”—and they didn’t give me any food for a while after that.

They even locked me inside the prayer chamber for some time, so I spent those days remembering that taste while I cried.

Maybe because of the tears, the memory of that flavor was a little salty…

The dried meat reminded me of that same saltiness, but the more I chewed, the richer it became—it was truly delicious.

“This is where we part ways, isn’t it?”

“—We’ll escort you to the neighboring country, my lady. There are monsters beyond the border… and Lord Aidan ordered us to take you at least that far.”

The soldier spoke with concern in his voice.

I shook my head.

“No, it’s all right. From here on, I need to learn to manage on my own. I’ll go from here by myself.”

“In that case—please take these.”

The soldier handed me some bread, dried meat, and a small round golden coin.

“What is this?”

When I held up the golden piece, the soldier’s eyes widened.

“—It’s a gold coin, my lady.”

“Oh, so this is money.”

I had never once left the temple before, so even though I’d heard about money, I’d never actually seen it.

How embarrassing…

My face grew hot, and I looked down.

“—All the same, we’ll escort you,” the soldier said.

The others nodded in agreement, and before I knew it, I was back in the carriage, the horses galloping once again toward the neighboring land.