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A Letter to Zena 

Without so much as a knock, someone slammed the door to our room in the barracks wide open and burst through. 

Ugh, that must be Lou again. 

I whirled around, only to find Lou as confused as I was. Just behind her, Iona seemed equally perplexed. 

Finally, a little too late, I turned toward the person crouching in front of the door. 

“Huh? Zenacchi?” 

“Lilio!” 

Her hair slicked to her forehead with sweat, the magic soldier under our watch—Zena, or “Zenacchi”—was grinning broadly even as she gasped for breath. 

“Welcome back, Zenacchi. What’s got you in such a hurry?” 

Given Zenacchi’s usual politeness, this was surprisingly crude behavior. 

It was rather early for her to be back from the guard station near the labyrinth already. Did she run all the way here? 

“Zena, you’d better wipe off that sweat. You’ll catch a cold.” 

Lou tossed me a towel, and I plopped it on top of Zenacchi’s head. 

“Miss Zena, please drink this. You must be dehydrated,” Iona said, pouring some water from a jug into a cup and handing it to our ward. 

None of us could resist looking after our Zenacchi, after all. 

“Thank you, Lou, Ms. Iona. You too, Lilio.” 

“With pleasure, ma’am,” I replied jokingly, wiping down her hair. 

For some reason, Lou and Iona didn’t look impressed. 

“So, what’s going on?” 

“A letter! I got a letter from Sir Satou!” 

Wow, how conscientious. 

Zenacchi showed us the letter with a sparkling smile. 

That’s great, but I can’t read, you know. 

“As the lingering winter leaves us at last, I hope that you have been well, dear Zena…” 

I could understand only about half of the letter she read to us, at best, but piecing together the bits that did make sense, it sounded like he was attempting to express that he missed Zena despite the relatively short time since his departure. 

“Miss Zena, that’s just an expression people use in letters…,” Iona murmured, but it fell on deaf ears. 

Oh, so it’s just an expression? I don’t fully understand, but Zenacchi’s interpretation that this was an expression of love is likely only a misunderstanding, judging by Iona’s tone. 

Well, thank goodness for that. 

The three of us listened as Zenacchi happily read the letter aloud. 

“Um, so… ‘We had an exceptionally good time eating soup on a hill with a majestic megalith.’ Wow! But is there really a place like that so close to Seiryuu City?” 

“Geh, do you think he means those random rocks?” Lou said, contorting her face. 

Oh, that place! 

We went there on patrol sometimes, but it was dangerous, since sometimes monsters lurked in the shadows. 

Iona quickly covered for Lou’s improper remark. 

“Judging by the state of the letter, it seems that he did not encounter any monsters.” 

“It’s nothing to worry about. Sir Satou is very nimble, and those demi-human girls are strong, too.” 

Well, well. Here I was expecting Zenacchi to be all worried, but she had so much faith in this guy that I was a little jealous. 

I suppose when those monsters came in through the main gate before, he did protect the inn. 

While I recalled the incident, Zenacchi moved on with her recitation. 

“He says he drank sheep’s milk liquor for the first time in a town called Kainona. Isn’t that where you were born, Lou?” 

“Yeah, but there’s nothing there but sheep, drunkards, and shepherds.” 

Lou told us before that she’d gotten sick of that town and come to Seiryuu City to join the army as soon as she became an adult. 

With that derisive comment, our discussion of Kainona was apparently over. 

According to the rest of Zenacchi’s letter, this guy had been hunting deer in the mountains, eating delicious food at each destination, and generally enjoying a terribly pleasant journey. 

Is traveling really supposed to be this comfortable? 

“It sounds as though he is enjoying himself on his trip,” Iona commented, a little confused. 

“Right? I mean, I know a couple of peddlers myself, but traveling is so hard on them that they all dream of setting up shop somewhere and settling down,” I replied, and Lou nodded, too. 

“Even when we’re camping on patrol, it’s hard to sleep when you have to be on alert for wolves and monsters all the time.” 

“It’s cold sleeping on the ground, too, so your body just doesn’t get much rest.” 

I agreed. Even on a hard wood bed, the barracks was where I got the most restful sleep. 

“That’s true. But Sir Satou isn’t having all fun, either. He wrote that wolves attacked when he entered the neighboring Kuhanou County, and— What?!” 

“What is it, Zenacchi?” 

Zena’s face was suddenly full of worry. 

Iona peered at the letter over her shoulder. 

“…A hydra?” 

Oh-ho? A hydra is that multiheaded boss monster that shows up in stories about heroes and knights, right? 

He was just talking about wolves a second ago. Where’d this hydra come from? 

“Y-yes… When he got rid of the wolves, it seems he witnessed a hydra flying away into the mountains. Luckily, Sir Satou and his friends weren’t hurt, but he says we should be careful, since it was so close to the border.” 

Immediately, I tried to remember where we’d be patrolling next. 

It’s all right. We’re going north next time. I felt a bit guilty about whichever troops were going to the border territory in the south, but I still breathed a sigh of relief. 

“I’ll report to the captain later. I’ll let him know it’s still unconfirmed information first, of course.” Zenacchi’s face hardened from its relaxed, lovestruck expression into that of a squad leader. 

At that moment, someone else leaped into the room with the same momentum as Zenacchi earlier. 

“Aah, there you are, Ms. Zena!” 

The person bursting through the door this time was Gayana, an engineer. If I remembered right, she was on the labyrinth supervision team with Zenacchi. 

“The captain’s been looking for you, you know!” 

“Ah! I forgot to submit my daily report.” 

Zenacchi rushed out of the room in a panic. 

To think that our no-nonsense Zenacchi would forget her duties… I guess they say that love makes you do crazy things. 

Gayana watched Zenacchi hurry away, then came over to me. 

“Huh? Is something else up, Yanacchi?” 

“I just thought it was strange to see Ms. Zena like that. Besides, Lilio! I’ve just received a new supply of fresh gossip!” 

Grinning widely, Gayana rubbed her fingers together in the tacit request for money. 

Oh, all right. 

I took something out of the cupboard and placed it in the palm of her hand. 

“Hey! I wanted coppers, not snacks!” 

She frowned at me, but she must’ve been hungry after her shift at the labyrinth, because she popped the baked sweet potato pastry into her mouth and munched on it anyway. 

“Mmm, I’ll allow it, since that was so tasty. So, about that gossip—” 

What Gayana told me this time was actually a pretty juicy piece of information. 

So they’re going to choose some troops from the count’s army to send to the Labyrinth City Celivera, are they? 

Right, the very same city that guy Satou is heading toward… 

Zenacchi must have gotten an earful from the captain, since it was almost a full chime before she returned. 

“I’m back, Lilio.” 

“Welcome back, Zenacchi. So, listen…” 

I relayed the information I’d just received to Zenacchi. 

Though she didn’t fully understand at first, her face soon bloomed like a flower into a radiant smile. 

If I were a man, I’d definitely fall in love with that smile. 

I’m still a little jealous of that boy, but I’m doing my best to support Zenacchi’s love. 

Good luck surprising him at Labyrinth City, Zenacchi! 





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