* * *
Dragging my feet, I left the temple. What now?
Even though this is a rural town, it still has proper city gates.
Maybe I should ask the guards if they’ve seen a tall man with striking purple hair.
That might actually work.
Bati’s purple hair is rare.
And he’s ridiculously handsome.
One look at him, and no one would forget his face.
Not to mention his presence.
Ugh, I just want to see him already.
Even if he glares at me coldly, I just want to look into those gray eyes again.
Sure, I want to make amends, but honestly, I just… I just miss him.
I want to be with him.
We’ve been together constantly, and now that he’s gone, the emptiness is unbearable.
I miss him…
I haven’t been sleeping well, and my eyes are sunken.
If Naike saw me, he’d probably be worried about how awful I look.
How many days has it been already?
And yet, I’m probably the only one feeling this way.
Bati was furious when he left.
For all I know, he’s relieved to be away from me.
Ugh, this is torture.
Just thinking about it hurts.
No! I want to stay with him!
At least until we form the hero’s party!
“Raul? Long time no see. You’re not cooking these days?”
Someone called out to me as I made my way through the market toward the guard post.
Snapped out of my miserable thoughts, I looked up.
It was the owner of a shop I used to frequent for cooking ingredients.
It’s no wonder he’d be curious—someone who boosted his sales daily suddenly stopped coming.
Normally, I’d greet him cheerfully, but I just didn’t have the energy.
“Ah… well, you see. I had a fight with the person I used to cook for. And now, they’re gone.”
I kept my answer vague.
That was enough to explain why I hadn’t been visiting his shop.
I turned to leave.
“Aha! I thought so!”
…What?
Thought so?
Did he guess I was heartbroken just from looking at me?
That’s probably it, but still… a flicker of hope caught me off guard.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well…”
The shopkeeper scratched his head awkwardly.
“That tall guy who always came here with you. Lately, he’s been coming alone. And he keeps looking around, like he’s searching for someone.”
…What?
“He’s handsome, sure, but with that vibe of his, he’s downright terrifying when he’s alone. He scared off all my customers, you know? I mean, I suffered—uh, I mean, it was rough.”
Batista is still in town?
He didn’t go back to Swindlin?
He wasn’t summoned by the local lord either?
He’s still here?
Why…?
‘Like he’s searching for someone.’
I repeated those words in my head.
The answer to “why” was right there.
He was looking for someone.
‘No way.’
Was he looking for me?
Because I used to buy ingredients here every day?
Because this was the place I visited the most aside from the temple?
Did he really… come here searching for me?
‘Batista Zerbin?’
‘The Hero?’
Just the thought made my rationality crumble.
I wanted to believe it so badly.
But… but those weren’t Bati’s own words.
It was just the shopkeeper’s assumption.
Calm down.
Don’t jump to conclusions.
Don’t assume anything.
I took a deep breath, trying to settle my pounding heart.
There’s no guarantee he was looking for me.
Think logically.
He could’ve been looking for Gaspar.
Even though he blasted my master away, maybe he was still worried about him and went searching for him instead—
‘Argh!’
That thought pisses me off!
My head felt like it was going to explode, so I decided to stop thinking.
Regardless, finding out that Batista was still in this town was a huge breakthrough.
“When you say recently, how recent? You’re not talking about just a few days ago, right?”
Even if Batista had been here a short while ago, I had spent a lot of time outside the village—going to Hiskers and other places. He could have left during that time.
“A few days ago? No, even just yesterday.”
“Yesterday?”
Batista was here yesterday?
Just yesterday! He had been here the whole time?
I tried to stay calm, but my heart started pounding again.
Rationality was slipping away, and emotions were taking over.
I couldn’t help but get my hopes up.
Maybe… he’s waiting for me.
That thought creeps in.
Maybe, just like always, he’s expecting me to come back and apologize.
Maybe if I bring Gaspar as a peace offering, he’ll forgive me.
Maybe he’ll even say, “You’re an idiot, so I have no choice but to put up with you.”
What do I do?
I’m so happy.
If I was going to be like this, why did I even say, ‘Take care’ and walk away from him?
Just knowing I might see him again makes me this happy.
Maybe it’s because I didn’t realize back then that I liked him.
It’s always harder to control emotions when you don’t know what they are.
Now that I know I might see Batista soon, my heart is racing again.
I take another deep breath to calm myself.
I want to see him.
‘He left the temple, so he’s probably staying at an inn in town, right?’
That’s good news.
This small village only has two inns—one with decent facilities and one that’s a cheap dump.
I’m staying at the better one.
But I’ve never seen Batista around here.
If he was staying here and I hadn’t even caught a glimpse of him, then fate must be messing with me.
And knowing Batista, who’s always been frugal, he’d probably pick the cheaper inn.
That settled it.
I decided to check out the cheap inn first.
When I got there, I slipped the innkeeper some money.
“Hey, is there a tall, good-looking guy with purple hair staying here?”
“Uh… well, about that…”
The innkeeper, a bearded man, stared at the silver coin in his hand, struggling to decide.
I could see the greed in his eyes, but he still hesitated.
‘He’s here.’
Even without a word, I could tell from his reaction.
A commoner running a rundown inn wouldn’t turn down easy money unless he had a reason.
And if he were an honest man who never sold out his customers, he would have just refused the bribe outright.
This meant he wanted the money but was too scared to give up Batista’s information.
So, he had already seen Batista’s intimidating presence firsthand.
That was why he was torn between the silver coin in his hand and the fear of the consequences.
“If you don’t know, then never mind.”
I snatched the silver coin back.
“Ah! Wait…”
The innkeeper looked crushed.
But after clicking his tongue, he gave up, realizing he wasn’t getting anything.
Years of running an inn must have taught him how to handle situations like this.
I wouldn’t get anything out of him.
Would I run into Batista if I just waited outside?
But if a random adventurer lurked around the entrance, customers might get uneasy.
That would be bad for business.
Then should I hide?
No, waiting in the shadows like some stalker was just creepy.
As I was leaving the inn, I spotted one of the staff sweeping out front.
He wasn’t really working—just moving the broom lazily, probably trying to avoid the innkeeper.
‘Not a very diligent worker.’
Perfect.
* * *
