It's been two years...
In two years of training together with Rayan, Jeanne was able to reach unbelievable heights for a girl.
Rayan was sincerely admired her persistence. His training, in spite of all the difficulties a simple village girl had undergone.
He was also glad that she had gotten stronger. After all, if she became stronger, wouldn't that make him feel better?
During these two years, Jeanne and Rayan's relationship had not changed much.... But Rayan was in no hurry. He was quite sure that he would save Jeanne.
But some gut inside him said that he shouldn't be too arrogant towards the Great History of mankind....
Rayan himself hadn't changed much in these two years, having only broken through the A rank limit and approaching the A+ rank.
He was quite satisfied with this statistic, as he felt that his strength was much more than numbers....
By now...
Rayan was returning from his morning warm-up. His body was slightly wet from the floor, but no more.
He believed that warming up in the morning awakened more the mind than the physical body, which was very beneficial to him.
As he walked down the path toward home he remembered to look around, appreciating the vivid landscape of nature before him. Indeed, a sight that would not tire the eyes.....
Upon reaching the house, he was greeted by Jeanne, who had recently started cooking instead of her mother.
"Hi Rayan, have a seat. I made us lunch." - She said softly with a smile as she placed the dishes on the table.
Rayan noticed that Jeanne was working much harder on herself lately.
Of course, he wasn't too stupid, but he couldn't jump to conclusions, because Jeanne's character was unique.
She could love someone so much without expressing her love for the opposite sex.
Rayan smiled. "Thank you, Jeanne. As always, you cook wonderfully." - As he began to eat his lunch of fresh rabbit meat and vegetables, he remarked.
Jeanne only blushed slightly at his words, not used to his constant compliments. "T-thank you. My mom just recently taught me how to cook. I asked her myself, as I wanted her to find her rest."
Seeing such concern, Rayan only sighed. She showed her innocent and sweet quality of showing kindness again.....
Does she really want to seduce him?
Although not emphasizing on it, Rayan definitely noticed how Jeanne's figure started to increase, catching up with her mother....
Rayan wasn't surprised by this, as he remembered the adult version of Jeanne very well.
Jeanne sat down at the table as well, starting to eat leisurely.
There was a slight silence at the table, accompanied by the sound of spoons against the plate.
"We're getting close to..." - Jeanne looked slightly tense when those words escaped his lips.
"Yes... I hope that God will give his blessing in this difficult journey." - Jeanne said firmly.
Rayan noticed that Jeanne started to pray more often, but he did not interfere.
He realized that faith was primarily meant to comfort a person spiritually. The realization that he was protected and sheltered from above.
Rayan was not a religious man. He knew that fate would be only in his hands and depending on his actions, it would be forged by him.
"Of course. I think we should go to the Dauphin first? We need troops to lay siege to Orleans and drive out the English." - Rayan said logically.
Jeanne was slightly surprised, but nodded. "Yes. I sent him a letter recently and he replied, writing his location."
"So... You need to be supplied with clothes... Preferably male." - Rayan realized that Jeanne would be treated with prejudice, because in this era, a woman serving in the army was unthinkable.
Jeanne nodded. "But where will we get her from?" - she asked curiously. To her recollection, no one from her humble village knows how to forge and sew men's armor and clothing.
"The captain of our town is Robert de Baudricourt. He must have a stash of various garments, including men's clothing." - Rayan said, finishing his own portion.
Jeanne knew that Rayan was very clever tactically, but to be so....
She was slightly speechless.
Grinning at her reaction, he said. "We will be moving out tomorrow. It's worth thinking about how we'll break the news to Isabella."
Turning around, he walked out of the house, leaving Jeanne alone with her thoughts.
Walking over to a tree he had known since his arrival in this world, he leaned against it.
Though Rayan looked calm on the outside, there was a small whirlwind of emotions inside of him.
In the past two years that he had found this sword..... Something inside him had changed.
He had begun to treat everything more.... Warm?
He didn't know how to explain the feeling. He didn't feel repulsed by it, but instead found some kind of satisfaction in it...
He started helping the villagers more often. He began to work more in the fields, wishing that most of the people would take a break from their hard days.
He remembered what Gray had said about the sword. "A sword carrying the concept of Hope..." - He muttered.
He made many assumptions about the sword's origin. It all started from another anime, however he couldn't remember any sword with such power.
Ending with thoughts that it was a gift from God. "But why would God do that?"
That assumption was unfounded and questionable, so he erased that option.
All that remained was the most frightening one. That this sword was representative of Gaia, the Will of the Planet.
If that were the case... "Doesn't that make me a slave to Gaia?" - he thought with mild horror. If there was one thing he hated most in life, it was slavery. It was worse than death.
Sighing, he tried to calm himself. "I will only think about the fact that this sword will not be my end..."
No matter how much he tried to insult or hate this sword, he couldn't succeed.
Just by pulling out the sword, the fields around him became livelier and more intense. The people around him felt an incredibly warm aura from the sword.
It was as if the sword was protecting the people and wanted them to live in tranquility and peace....
"Huh... As if something absurd could exist..." - he muttered with a sigh.
"Now I need to focus on what I'm going to do today... After all, it's time to leave tomorrow..." - he thought sadly. He had really grown to love this village. The villagers were simple and very simple-minded people.
Rayan liked simple people, because they did not expect betrayal and lies. You could trust them with your back.
Rayan always tried for their sake, for their happiness. People like them in the future era would be considered few. After all, the modern era is also called the 'Age of Lies and Mistrust'.
Mankind received knowledge about various manipulations in a very simple and understandable format, because of which many people learned to lie more often and very cleverly.
"Well, it's time..." - Standing up, he headed towards the field....