“Thank you . ”

I placed the broom down . I looked to Ying and smiled: “It’s all right . I woke you up last night, causing you to wake up relatively late, didn’t I? That’s why I swept the courtyard in your place . ”

Ying walked up to me and shook her head: “It wasn’t because of you . I also had a nightmare last night . It appears that the wyrm has become more active . That means there’s somebody approaching this region of the ocean . I think they’re here to rescue you, so I must go out to protect them . ”

Tone serious, I said: “I’ll go with you . ”

Ying shook her head in response: “No . You haven’t recuperated; you want be able to handle the sea and fight . Moreover, you can’t fight, can you? You’re just an ordinary man . Don’t put yourself in danger . If I need to protect you on top of performing my duty, how am I going to fight with the wyrm?”

Ying’s comment hurt . She completely neglected my feelings . Most upsetting was that she was right . I would just be dead weight to her if I went with her . I couldn’t fight or use magic . I could only provide her with a useless buff .

I hopelessly turned around with the intention of continuing to sweeping the courtyard . However, she extended her hand forth to stop me: “Go and have breakfast, and then head into the village to buy some food . Also, inform the harbour I will be heading out, so have them prepare a boat . ”

“Didn’t you say you couldn’t leave the shrine?”

“Am I going to fight the wyrm from within the shrine?”

Ying took the broom from me . It didn’t look as though she would accept a rebuff . She wouldn’t change her mind once she settled on something . I had nothing else I could say . She was the professional at combatting the wyrm . I, consequently, didn’t need to worry about her . If my conjecture was correct, neither she nor the wyrm could kill each other .

I went into the building and slowly sat down . Breakfast was porridge and a small dried fish . The shrine certainly needed replenish its food supplies . I slowly ate breakfast while watching Ying slowly sweep the ground . Her long hair swayed with the branches . The gentle morning breeze brought with it some of the warmth of the morning sun . It was a particularly warm scene . It was as warm and harmonious as a husband and wife .

“Wait, wait . What sort of weird feeling is this…?” I asked myself .

After finis.h.i.+ng breakfast, I stood up and mobilised my neck . I felt much better . My chest wasn’t in pain anymore . It just felt a little heavy . As for my back, it was fine, other than the cracking sounds it made when I moved . Ying placed the basket for shopping next to the tray already . I placed my plate onto the tray; then, picked up the small basket .

I bid Ying goodbye, and then left the courtyard for the first time . I learnt the shrine was actually built on a small hill . It wasn’t a tall hill . I, in fact, wouldn’t even consider it a hill . I’d just consider it a tall slope . At the door were small stone steps . Underneath the small hill were fires . A small village beyond the small trees and shrubs was visible below . There weren’t many buildings . The village probably number around just over a dozen people . I went down the steps and headed to the village .

I saw a fair few farmers dressed in short clothing, carrying farming equipment . There were lush fields on the side of the road . Green seedlings grew inside them . The people I pa.s.sed by were startled to see me . I could understand how they felt, since I was the only one dressed drastically differently to them, and they were sensitive about foreigners . I didn’t intend to say anything . I just headed into the village .

There were a few tables by the entrance . Children and adults crowded around the tables to eat breakfast . I never saw such a scene before . They all froze when they sluggishly watched me enter the village . The kids stopped laughing and running around . They were afraid I’d draw a weapon to attack them, inducing an awkward feeling .

I revealed a friendly smile . The adults dawdled before responding with their own awkward smiles . Then, they turned back to continue eating their food . The kids seemed to want to approach me, but a few women ran over and carried them off, vigilantly watching me . It was sort of upsetting, but there was nothing I could do; I was a stranger to them .

I had a question I wanted to ask: “You saved me; aren’t you going to ask me anything or even ask about how I’m feeling?”

I shook my head and entered the village . I looked up at the simply constructed buildings made with hay and wood . I finally saw the store with the lantern with the word “rice” on it . I knocked on the tattered door then entered .

The interior wasn’t large by any means . A few cloth bags with their mouths open were placed inside . Inside of the bags was a bowl . The owner was lying down on the counter to the side . He had yet to completely wake up . He completely froze when he saw me enter . He slowly moved his lips the same way a student, who was sleeping, would look at his teacher when they woke him up .

I said, “Ah, h.e.l.lo . I was sent by Ying from the shrine . I came to pick up rice for the shrine . ”

“Ah . ” He finally got a grasp of the situation . He stood up and picked up a bowl by the side, “So you’re from the shrine . Our village enjoys peace thanks to Ying’s protection . Here . Here is her rice . Send her my thank you when you return . I was planning to send rice to her today, but you happened to come . ”

The bag contained only two bowls of rice . I hesitated for a moment before asking, “How long is this to last?”

“One month . ”

The boss seemed to be very confused . In truth, I was even more confused .  Two bowls . Three meals a day . That wasn’t even enough for one person, let alone a month .

“How could this possibly be enough?! You people want her to protect you, so the least you could do is let her eat enough,” I thought . I thundered, “Is this enough?!”

The owner s.p.a.ced out . He then sighed: “That’s the same amount as always . We don’t have spare food for her . We wouldn’t be sending food to the shrine if she wasn’t protecting us . That’s enough . This is food we’re setting aside . It’s a blessing we can provide her with food . It’s not as if she can leave… She can only stay here… We don’t have enough food to feed you, too…”

*Bang!*

I slammed the table: “You sell food, correct? All right, then . I have gold coins on me . It’s not the currency you use here, but this is authentic gold . I’ll exchange my gold for your food! You don’t need to deliver it . You just sell food to me!”

I tossed down three gold coins . He looked at the rolling gold coins with a dumbstruck look . He fearfully looked up at me . I leaned onto the counter and placed the basket on top: “Please give me three gold coins worth of rice . Ying isn’t protecting you because she can’t leave . She can leave whenever she pleases! The reason she hasn’t left is because she just happens to worry for your safety . Do you people not understand that?!”

“She can’t leave… We aren’t feeding her, alone…”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing… Here . Here is your rice . You can go now, right? You can go now, right…?”He pushed the basket to me . Although he was slightly afraid of me, he quickly swept the three gold coins into this drawer .

I coldly snorted, and then turned to leave . I suddenly realised, “What sort of life did Ying lead, before I came? Wait… If there’s only this much food, she definitely would’ve calculated her daily consumption… I’ve been here for the last few days . If she had to split the food between two people every day, the food wouldn’t last for a month . We ran out of food two days ago . I couldn’t move at the time; meanwhile, she couldn’t leave, since she had to wait for food to be delivered… That means… She gave me all of her food for the last few days…

.  .

“Thank you . ”.

I placed the broom down . I looked to Ying and smiled: “It’s all right . I woke you up last night, causing you to wake up relatively late, didn’t I? That’s why I swept the courtyard in your place . ”.

Ying walked up to me and shook her head: “It wasn’t because of you . I also had a nightmare last night . It appears that the wyrm has become more active . That means there’s somebody approaching this region of the ocean . I think they’re here to rescue you, so I must go out to protect them . ”.

Tone serious, I said: “I’ll go with you . ”.

Ying shook her head in response: “No . You haven’t recuperated; you want be able to handle the sea and fight . Moreover, you can’t fight, can you? You’re just an ordinary man . Don’t put yourself in danger . If I need to protect you on top of performing my duty, how am I going to fight with the wyrm?”.

Ying’s comment hurt . She completely neglected my feelings . Most upsetting was that she was right . I would just be dead weight to her if I went with her . I couldn’t fight or use magic . I could only provide her with a useless buff

I hopelessly turned around with the intention of continuing to sweeping the courtyard . However, she extended her hand forth to stop me: “Go and have breakfast, and then head into the village to buy some food . Also, inform the harbour I will be heading out, so have them prepare a boat . ”.

“Didn’t you say you couldn’t leave the shrine?”.

“Am I going to fight the wyrm from within the shrine?”.

Ying took the broom from me . It didn’t look as though she would accept a rebuff . She wouldn’t change her mind once she settled on something . I had nothing else I could say . She was the professional at combatting the wyrm . I, consequently, didn’t need to worry about her . If my conjecture was correct, neither she nor the wyrm could kill each other

I went into the building and slowly sat down . Breakfast was porridge and a small dried fish . The shrine certainly needed replenish its food supplies . I slowly ate breakfast while watching Ying slowly sweep the ground . Her long hair swayed with the branches . The gentle morning breeze brought with it some of the warmth of the morning sun . It was a particularly warm scene . It was as warm and harmonious as a husband and wife

“Wait, wait . What sort of weird feeling is this…?” I asked myself

After finis.h.i.+ng breakfast, I stood up and mobilised my neck . I felt much better . My chest wasn’t in pain anymore . It just felt a little heavy . As for my back, it was fine, other than the cracking sounds it made when I moved . Ying placed the basket for shopping next to the tray already . I placed my plate onto the tray; then, picked up the small basket

I bid Ying goodbye, and then left the courtyard for the first time . I learnt the shrine was actually built on a small hill . It wasn’t a tall hill . I, in fact, wouldn’t even consider it a hill . I’d just consider it a tall slope . At the door were small stone steps . Underneath the small hill were fires . A small village beyond the small trees and shrubs was visible below . There weren’t many buildings . The village probably number around just over a dozen people . I went down the steps and headed to the village

I saw a fair few farmers dressed in short clothing, carrying farming equipment . There were lush fields on the side of the road . Green seedlings grew inside them . The people I pa.s.sed by were startled to see me . I could understand how they felt, since I was the only one dressed drastically differently to them, and they were sensitive about foreigners . I didn’t intend to say anything . I just headed into the village

There were a few tables by the entrance . Children and adults crowded around the tables to eat breakfast . I never saw such a scene before . They all froze when they sluggishly watched me enter the village . The kids stopped laughing and running around . They were afraid I’d draw a weapon to attack them, inducing an awkward feeling

I revealed a friendly smile . The adults dawdled before responding with their own awkward smiles . Then, they turned back to continue eating their food . The kids seemed to want to approach me, but a few women ran over and carried them off, vigilantly watching me . It was sort of upsetting, but there was nothing I could do; I was a stranger to them

I had a question I wanted to ask: “You saved me; aren’t you going to ask me anything or even ask about how I’m feeling?”.

I shook my head and entered the village . I looked up at the simply constructed buildings made with hay and wood . I finally saw the store with the lantern with the word “rice” on it . I knocked on the tattered door then entered

The interior wasn’t large by any means . A few cloth bags with their mouths open were placed inside . Inside of the bags was a bowl . The owner was lying down on the counter to the side . He had yet to completely wake up . He completely froze when he saw me enter . He slowly moved his lips the same way a student, who was sleeping, would look at his teacher when they woke him up

I said, “Ah, h.e.l.lo . I was sent by Ying from the shrine . I came to pick up rice for the shrine . ”.

“Ah . ” He finally got a grasp of the situation . He stood up and picked up a bowl by the side, “So you’re from the shrine . Our village enjoys peace thanks to Ying’s protection . Here . Here is her rice . Send her my thank you when you return . I was planning to send rice to her today, but you happened to come . ”.

The bag contained only two bowls of rice . I hesitated for a moment before asking, “How long is this to last?”.

“One month . ”.

The boss seemed to be very confused . In truth, I was even more confused .  Two bowls . Three meals a day . That wasn’t even enough for one person, let alone a month

“How could this possibly be enough?! You people want her to protect you, so the least you could do is let her eat enough,” I thought . I thundered, “Is this enough?!”.

The owner s.p.a.ced out . He then sighed: “That’s the same amount as always . We don’t have spare food for her . We wouldn’t be sending food to the shrine if she wasn’t protecting us . That’s enough . This is food we’re setting aside . It’s a blessing we can provide her with food . It’s not as if she can leave… She can only stay here… We don’t have enough food to feed you, too…”.

*Bang!*.

I slammed the table: “You sell food, correct? All right, then . I have gold coins on me . It’s not the currency you use here, but this is authentic gold . I’ll exchange my gold for your food! You don’t need to deliver it . You just sell food to me!”.

I tossed down three gold coins . He looked at the rolling gold coins with a dumbstruck look . He fearfully looked up at me . I leaned onto the counter and placed the basket on top: “Please give me three gold coins worth of rice . Ying isn’t protecting you because she can’t leave . She can leave whenever she pleases! The reason she hasn’t left is because she just happens to worry for your safety . Do you people not understand that?!”.

“She can’t leave… We aren’t feeding her, alone…”.

“What did you say?”.

“Nothing… Here . Here is your rice . You can go now, right? You can go now, right…?”He pushed the basket to me . Although he was slightly afraid of me, he quickly swept the three gold coins into this drawer

I coldly snorted, and then turned to leave . I suddenly realised, “What sort of life did Ying lead, before I came? Wait… If there’s only this much food, she definitely would’ve calculated her daily consumption… I’ve been here for the last few days . If she had to split the food between two people every day, the food wouldn’t last for a month . We ran out of food two days ago . I couldn’t move at the time; meanwhile, she couldn’t leave, since she had to wait for food to be delivered… That means… She gave me all of her food for the last few days….