There were still two more gifts to be obtained before they could return to the capital of the empire.
Heading west, they arrived at the church located at the corner of the Duchy of Lestra, but that was not yet their final destination. The gifts were the quickest path, but it wasn't necessarily easy to use them, as only the church held them and sent them to a specific place, being connected to another gift inside another church.
However, unlike the border barony of Jim, the citizens of the duchy were rather indifferent to the soldiers who arrived and left the church. Everyone felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing those people passing through the cobblestone streets. Unlike in Felis, they were not greeted with celebrations.
"We better go soon, the people here have never been fond of soldiers," Jonathan said atop his dappled horse, which walked at a slow pace.
Hiraeth was beside him and looked around, seeing the people with gazes filled with both fear and hatred toward the procession of soldiers.
"Most of us are just commoners, but receiving these looks from people of the same class..."
"Humans fear the power the less fortunate gain," Illia said as she walked alongside them, without a horse.
Hiraeth just sighed; she couldn't help but agree with her old paladin friend.
That duchy was known for being quite wealthy, and even a commoner there lived better than anyone else in the empire. Not even someone from there had been taken to battle—they didn't know war or hunger, but it was still a significant place in the empire, something the young emperor could not deny.
In silence, they continued the next leg of the journey on foot, as the next gift was at the border with a small county of the empire.
Walking through one of the forests, they seemed to recall what they had done many times over the last five years of the holy war against the blue demons. Their nearly improvised camps made them seem like beginners again, but the general just laughed and sat by one of the campfires set by the soldiers, and everything seemed as it always had.
Hiraeth didn't join them this time; she just observed from a distance, leaning against a tree, watching everyone there that night. The hero was somewhat distracted, as if she was still in shock from what she had seen earlier.
Someone touched her shoulder. When she turned, she saw the tall figure of a red-haired man with a scar on his face and a gentle smile, wearing the same paladin insignia as Hiraeth and Illia.
"Sonnata, where have you been? We're in the same platoon, but it feels like I haven't seen you," Hiraeth said, surprised to see him.
Sonnata seemed embarrassed and laughed before replying to her.
"Wow, it's almost like I'm some kind of ghost—that hurts my feelings, Hira."
Hiraeth laughed, as if remembering an old memory.
"It really reminds me of when we were in the orphanage and the priests used to call you sneaky," she recalled.
Sonnata laughed, embarrassed once again. "Oh, don't bring up things from the past."
Their conversation flowed smoothly, like two childhood friends and orphanage siblings, until he noticed Sasha not far off. The three of them had grown up in the same orphanage, so they knew each other well. He found it odd.
"Hey, Hira, look over there," Sonnata said, pointing to where he saw Sasha.
Hiraeth immediately looked in that direction and tried to see what he was pointing at.
What was happening was something they had witnessed many times before due to Sasha's appearance—yet another declaration from a soldier to Sasha. Were they placing bets on it? Well, that wasn't the case for Hiraeth, especially not lately.
Sonnata noticed it, and well, anyone who had known her for a long time had picked up on it, even if they hadn't said anything about it.
Hiraeth clenched her fist—something she didn't quite understand was stirring inside her. Even though such declarations were common, she hadn't gotten used to it and probably never would.
Sasha's nervous rejection of the soldier made Hiraeth's irritated expression relax, as the soldier walked away looking quite dejected.
Sonnata was about to say something to Hiraeth, but she moved and headed towards Sasha without hesitation. The redhead just sighed, somewhat relieved since there had been some confusion about it before.
Those two had a certain title to uphold, didn't they?