Chapter 182 It's Night
"You just mentioned the [Knights of Dawn], I... I must have heard you right?"
Like a child clutching the last piece of candy, Annie's gaze, a mixture of anticipation and unease, constantly observed our expressions. Finally, her expression darkened, and she lowered her head. "No, that's true. So much time has passed. Everyone doesn't even remember Restalis anymore, so how could they possibly remember the name of such a small knightly order? Perhaps I'm overthinking things and misheard..."
As she spoke, she gathered the firewood scattered on the ground and piled it up in one place.
The other two and I exchanged glances. Hikari, who was closest to the silent Annie, nodded slightly and took the initiative to start a conversation with her: "Annie, have you heard that name somewhere before?"
After hugging her knees and remaining silent for a while, watching the flames burn quietly after being lit, Annie quietly spoke.
"...The Knights of Dawn...that's a name every child in Restali knows clearly, the kingdom's proudest first knightly order. They are brave and skilled in battle, invincible, loyal and humble, noble knights who shine like the morning sun on every inch of the kingdom's land."
“Every swordsman who practices swordsmanship considers it an honor to be selected to join the Dawnlight Reserve Knights.”
"It sounds like everyone who can join is a top-notch individual," Miyuki calmly commented.
"Of course!"
Annie raised her voice slightly, drawing a questioning look from Aian, who was carefully making her way back from the shallow woods.
"Has something happened?"
Ai An looked us over, but didn't bother to answer. She simply put down the woodpile, put the pot back on, and poured some of the prepared ingredients into the swaying water: "I just picked some wild fruits and mushrooms nearby. I don't know which ones are edible. I'll have to check again later."
"Thank you for your hard work." I nodded gently.
Ai An glanced at me, then patiently stirred the wooden spoon again: "It doesn't matter, I wanted to try cooking anyway."
"Huh, is little Aian curious about cooking too?" Hikari immediately shifted her attention, then suddenly realized, "Ah, yes, I heard little Aian is staying with relatives, right? That means she doesn't really have many opportunities to cook for herself."
Okay, this was an excuse I made up to Hikari to make things easier, but I didn't expect it to fall apart here.
Ai An clearly noticed this as well, and his stirring motion paused noticeably. He first turned slightly toward me, as if he wanted to say something, but his open mouth quickly closed again, and he returned to his original position, nodding expressionlessly, showing absolutely no intention of offering any further explanation.
A simple dinner passed quietly in silence as everyone pondered their own thoughts.
Despite it being her first time, Ai An's cooking skills were quite trustworthy. Although it seemed that she forgot to add salt, making the broth taste a bit bland overall, and the simmering time was a little short, making it a bit tough to chew, it was still pretty good overall.
Anne, on the other hand, was clearly not in good spirits today, and even while grilling the meat skewers, she would occasionally lose focus. Several times, it was Hikari, who was closest to her, who noticed the smell of burning meat and realized that Anne hadn't been paying attention and had relaxed her grip, causing the sizzling, oily pieces of meat to come into direct contact with the leaping flames, almost burning her fingers.
Undoubtedly, only the charred parts of those meat skewers were left uneaten. However, perhaps because they hadn't been grilled for very long, the insides weren't completely burned away by the scorching flames, leaving a few edible parts with an extraordinary fresh and fragrant flavor.
"This smells like something burnt."
Annie looked at me and Shenxue with a puzzled expression as we ate all the pieces of meat with the charred outer shell removed. The gloom on her face lightened a little because of her reluctance.
"The true essence of barbecue is its caramelized aroma!"
She then grilled a few more skewers, which brought her back to a normal level.
As night fell, Shenxue, who had mostly recovered, followed Annie and strolled toward the nearby stream, saying she wanted to have a more in-depth conversation and specifically told us not to approach and eavesdrop.
Judging from her appearance, Ai-an was in the middle of puberty. She rubbed her eyes, which were almost closed, and greeted us briefly before going into the tent that had been set up by herself, leaving me and Hikari alone.
Indeed, for the young boy, today was the most perilous day he had experienced since entering the mountains. No matter how calm he appeared just now, he was undoubtedly quite shaken inside. After the quiet dinner just now, their anxious hearts had finally settled down, and it was natural to feel tired and sleepy after relaxing.
Two small creatures appeared again at my feet, one on each side, sandwiching Hikari and me between them. The black [cat] silently jumped up and stepped on my knee, its stretched-out body looking like an unreal shadow.
The gray wolf, having run back and forth many times, lay prone on the ground with its forelegs crossed. One of its eyes, which gleamed with an eerie light, was slightly open. Although it appeared to be resting, its two triangular ears were still standing upright, searching left and right for any unusual sounds.
The Pegasus that had followed the stream in a flock had long since disappeared, with only the occasional neighing of Hilulu and the sound of flapping wings echoing from the depths of the forest, or a few surprised screams from young girls.
Even without seeing it with one's own eyes, one can imagine those intelligent spirit beasts rubbing against each other intimately, or splashing water with their wings to give each other a simple cleaning, accidentally spilling water on Annie who happens to be nearby.
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