The Male S*ave of the Count Sianella Family

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“Looks like you two are pretty close, huh?”

The voice of Siabel suddenly broke through, and the most surprised of all was Shione, who had been nestled in my embrace.

She flinched slightly at her sister’s relaxed yet clear words and quickly pushed my arm away that had been wrapped around her waist.

Then she stood up with her legs rigidly stretched, fixing an excessively stiff posture as she stared at Siabel.

It didn’t even take five seconds.

…If only she could be this quick and nimble normally.

I observed Shione’s complexion as she stood by my side in a salute position.

Her cheeks were flushed bright red.

Was it from the cold, or was she embarrassed?

As I clearly noted her expression…

“Mmm…”

Seeing her visibly restless, her pupils trembling, it was as I thought.

My lady seemed to find this situation quite embarrassing.

“I knew you two had a great relationship, but I never imagined you’d be so cozy together in front of the carriage,” Siabel said, her gaze shifting from her sister to me.

She started to play with her red lips while squinting her eyes slightly.

With her finger resting on her lips, the corners of Siabel’s mouth subtly curled up.

But maybe due to the chilly weather, her smile oddly carried a hint of coldness.

“It’s a bit envy-inducing to be so close while I’m left out.”

“…I merely caught Lady Shione, who almost stumbled and fell.”

“Hmmm. For just that, our Shione’s eyes were all sparkling with sweetness?”

“…Sister!”

As Shione, flustered, raised her voice to call for her, Siabel’s eyes widened in surprise.

After all, when has Shione ever yelled at her?

Siabel seemed slightly taken aback by Shione’s more intense reaction than she expected.

But that was only for a moment.

After taking in the sight of her blushing sister, Siabel returned to her characteristic relaxed demeanor.

“Hmmm. What’s wrong, Shione?”

She asked nonchalantly.

Shione cautiously turned to her, but there was an awkward and stiff edge to her tone.

“I heard that you were off with Lady Diolia to subdue orcs in the west… so why are you here…?”

“Uh…”

Siabel stared blankly at Shione for a moment before continuing.

“Well, you see, there was a huge battle the other day. The orcs ended up coming quite far north.”

Siabel simply explained the situation.

Recently, there had been a significant skirmish with a large number of orcs to the west of the territory, and after being defeated by the knights’ combined effort, some of the orcs led a group north.

That’s why Diolia stayed behind to command the knights and continued fighting, while Siabel and some knights were tracking down the fleeing orcs to help with the situation in the northern part of the territory.

“And… soon, guests from the Alenarr Marquis family will be arriving, and we can’t let the territory look overrun with monsters.”

Especially since my dear friend Aria Alenarr was coming to the territory.

It wouldn’t be good for the distinguished guests coming from Alenarr to be troubled by orcs and kobolds along the northern road.

After casually detailing the story, Siabel turned to Shione and me.

“I think it’d be best if you two stayed with me.”

I barely managed to suppress the urge to pull a face at Siabel’s sudden proposal.

‘There’s no way… she’s serious about that.’

Shione and I had only come to catch kobolds and wolves to help Shione gain some real combat experience.

We weren’t here for some extreme hunting of those massive green brutes.

Shione pointed that out directly.

“Sister, you said you were off to subdue orcs with the knights, right? I would just be a hindrance if I tagged along.”

“The orc subjugation is about to wrap up. I plan to leave the remaining ones to the other knights and maintain control of the road connecting north with the soldiers.”

“The road, you say?”

“Yeah, I heard quite a number of kobolds were spotted near the road this morning. We need to clear things up promptly for the merchants and Aria.”

Even while paying careful attention to her sister’s words, Shione nodded.

“Well, it doesn’t sound like a bad suggestion.”

As Shione hesitated to give a definitive answer to Siabel’s words, Siabel turned to me for my opinion.

I gently nodded in response to her question.

“I also think so.”

Certainly, her suggestion wasn’t bad.

We would be hunting kobolds, not orcs, and since it appeared that we would mainly be clearing enemies near the road, as opposed to trudging through uneven, rugged forests, it sounded much more manageable.

It would indeed be better to follow along comfortably behind Siabel rather than rolling around in the treacherous woods for no reason.

Agreeing to Siabel’s proposal, Shione soon fell into the same rhythm.

“Hmm… then I will accompany you, sister.”

In that moment of consensus, there was not a bit of hesitation left in our movements.

Siabel introduced Shione and me to those with whom we’d be moving forward for a while.

Four swordsmen exuding a sense of experience in each of their movements.

And a lone archer awkwardly occupying a spot nearby.

Plus, a priest tasked with healing us in case anything happened.

Once we finished a quick head count, we moved on immediately.

Today’s goal was clear.

We would simply patrol the merchant road and practice coordinating with each other.

With the reliable expert knight around, having set our objective, all we had left was action.

*

A short while had passed since we began our ascent along the merchant road.

Since we weren’t far from the outpost, not a single kobold had appeared so far.

We could only confirm their presence through occasional tracks spotted at the roadside.

Whoosh—

A cold and strong wind blew through the tall trees beside us.

“Ugh…”

The biting chill made my nose sting.

If Shione hadn’t given me her fur hat, I would have felt it on my ears too, besides just my nose.

Given that I was someone who didn’t particularly favor the cold, her small kindness was greatly appreciated.

The armor on the outside had long since cooled down in the surrounding temperature.

I could only trust the layered clothes I wore underneath to keep me warm without the heat generated from fierce battle and the enemy’s blood.

Whoooooosh!!

This time, a stronger gust whirled past us.

Ugh, darn it…

My clothing betrayed me.

An icy chill gnawed deep into my bones, sending shivers down my spine.

My lady was trembling just like me.

“Urgh… just last year, this weather felt refreshing…”

“Excuse me? This weather?”

“Yeah, back then, my size was substantially larger. Just moving around a bit would warm me, so I hardly felt the cold even in winter…”

“Ah…”

“More than anything, that’s what I miss.”

What a strange thing to feel regret about.

Couldn’t help but smile and throw a quip.

“Well, I like the way I look now much better.”

The chubby me from a year ago resembled a beast rather than a human.

I much preferred this winning lottery of a situation with Shione.

As my words made Shione’s eyes widen,

Whoooosh!!

An even stronger wind came rushing through.

This time, though, only I scrunched my face in displeasure, as I was the only one wearing a heavy frown.

Shione quietly continued walking ahead.

After that, we pressed on along the merchant road without a break for a while.

Rustle, rustle.

Amidst the wind brushing my ears, the sound of rustling foliage reached them.

It’s only natural that the underbrush would shake if the wind was blowing, but my instincts told me there was something unnatural about this sound.

I removed my fur hat.

Without the obstruction covering my ears, more vivid sounds began flooding in.

I focused my hearing. Enhancing my senses with a sprinkle of mana was a bonus.

Information received through my ears became clearer.

Rustle, rustle.

‘Just as I thought.’

It wasn’t a false alarm.

The sound I had identified wasn’t just the music of leaf blades dancing in the breeze.

I sharpened my senses and scanned the surroundings.

With my heightened awareness, I caught a hint of movement in the right bushes.

What strange coincidence could this be?

The location where I’d sensed something unusual aligned perfectly with where I was hearing it.

Considering only small critters and kobolds could be hiding in the underbrush around here…

There was nothing truly threatening lurking underneath.

‘It’s probably fine to shoot without hesitation.’

I took an arrow from the quiver strapped to my back.

With a Mediterranean style grip, I seamlessly nocked the arrow to the string.

After a quick, fluid motion, I drew the bowstring back.

Whoosh!!

A sigh of wind brushed past me, the serene silence stretching into this moment.

As the tension built up in my bow without the use of mana, I settled into a close stance, lining up my shot at the brush.

Just as I was about to release and send forth a sharp attack, my eyes crossed with Shione’s.

How commendable, she was calmly watching my new stance while tracking the tip of the arrow aimed at the foliage.

Bang!

With incredible elasticity, the bent bow returned to its original position.

Swish!!

My formidable will pierced through the hidden unknown in the brush.