BBYW Vol. 4 Chapter 22 (WN)
Chapter 22 – A Long Journey’s Reward
I navigated through the maze-like stone alleys of Thebes, finally climbing a slope and reaching a large building.
I approached the young soldier standing guard in front of the gate — though he seemed to not have much to do these days.
“Hey there, do you have a moment?”
“Hn? Who are you? This is the Margrave’s residence. Do not approach unless you have a good reason!”
“I’d like to pay a visit to the Margrave, actually.”
“Whaat? His Lordship is absent, but who in the world…”
The soldier glared at me suspiciously. He didn’t draw the sword hanging at his waist, so he did not seem to think of me as an enemy, but he was clearly wary of my presence.
I put a hand in my breast pocket and took out a sheathed dagger. Seeing me take out a bladed weapon, the soldier went for his sword, but before he could draw it I handed the dagger to him.
The hilt of the dagger was engraved with the Maxwell crest. Seeing the mark of a noble house, the soldier went wide-eyed.
“This should be proof enough of my identity. Take a good look.”
“That mark is…wait, you…no, Sir, you must be…”
After recognizing the emblem, the soldier switched to a more polite speech style; he asked me to “courteously wait” and rushed inside the residence.
“The Margrave is absent, huh…let’s see what happens…”
I watched the soldier go inside, then leaned against the wall, arms crossed, gazing at the sky while I waited.
After a brief observation of the floating clouds, the doors of the residence flung open.
“Lord Dyngir!!”
“Hm?”
I heard a familiar voice and looked in its direction, where I found a young girl, disheveled and wheezing.
Brown skin, golden hair, a height a bit taller than I remembered. A body that expressed more femininity and curves than before too.
The young girl was indeed my correspondence partner, Naam Sphinx.
“Oh, if it isn’t Naam—whoa!”
I felt like a distant relative, seeing the growth of their niece or cousin just for a brief moment: after realizing what Naam was wearing, I was flabbergasted.
“Hey, don’t come outside looking like that…!”
Naam was basically wearing nothing but underwear. Because of such a white attire, her budding chest and far too lean waist — which made me worry if she was eating properly — were hidden, albeit barely.
Her long, slender legs and charming belly button, however, were fully exposed, bathing her healthy tanned skin in the sunlight.
(What is this feeling…? It’s the first time I feel guilty just looking at a woman’s skin…)
I felt as if pins and needles prickled my heart: I couldn’t help but hold my chest.
Normally, I would leisurely enjoy such a sight, but I felt mysteriously empty of any desire at that moment. On the contrary, I was worried if there was anyone else around that could see.
It was perhaps because she was too young to stir any appetite in me, or maybe because I saw her as a little sister.
“Lord Dyngir!! Why did you!! Come all the way here!?”
Naam, not even wearing shoes, trotted in my direction.
Every time she moved a step, drops of water trickled from her hair. She was probably taking a bath when I arrived: her skin was still wet as well.
Taken aback by the half naked twelve year old maiden approaching me, I stepped back one, two, three times.
“Wha-Naam! You can’t go out like that!!”
An agitated voice was heard from the entrance of the residence, and a new character entered the scene.
The young woman, with skin and hair the same color as Naam, was Mist Cairo, who I had met some time before at the Thunderbird residence.
Mist chased down Naam with a white sheet and wrapped her in it.
“Waah! M-Mist!?”
“It’s indecent to show yourself like this to a gentleman! Oh dear, you aren’t even of age yet!”
“Aaah…Lord Dyngir…!”
Naam, wrapped in the sheet, was dragged inside. She was flailing her legs, desperately reaching out to me with her hands.
Incidentally, Mist too was wearing attire not too different from Naam.
The last time I met her, the mourning outfit she wore completely hid her proportions, but in her underwear her captivating curves could not be concealed.
The two underwear-clad ladies disappeared inside. I observed the scene till the end, then whispered, to no one in particular.
“That was one hell of a welcome…I came at just the right time…or wrong time…?”
I gazed at the sky again.
It was a clear, perfect blue color, in stark contrast with the tumults and battles brewing in the west.