The swordsman just stood there on the side of the road, his eyes staring straight at me.

My body tensed up, my tiny right fist repeatedly clenched and then relaxed, a thin layer of ice-blue mist vaguely emerging.

...... Damned bearded swordsman, if he dares to move one step, he will have to take the big ice spike I cast at full strength first!

"Sylve, what do you want to eat tonight?"

Mentally already on high alert, I suddenly heard Grandma Clare's question and I jerked.

No, Grandma and the guys are still off to the side. Once we fight here, they will be swept in.

A battle of this level, unlike the kind of slashing and stabbing you do with ordinary knights, is never a joke once ordinary people are involved. Whether it's my frost freezing qi or the swordsman's lightning power, even just a little bit of the aftermath can easily take away their lives.

It's too dangerous to battle right here, and it might destroy the whole village. If we really want to fight, I must lure him outside the village at the first time, and must not spread to grandmother and the guys.

In a short period of time, my thoughts changed rapidly and my heart was in my throat the whole time.

Then ...... brushed against the swordsman.

I saw the corner of his mouth lift up in a playful smile. It was like telling me, I finally found you.

But the swordsman didn't take any action until after we were a long way out.

"Sylve, what's wrong with you, you look terrible oh, are you sick?"

Aria took my little face in her hands and pressed her forehead up.

"I ...... It's okay."

There was something stuck in my throat, and I realized I had a very stiff expression on my face.

"Yeah? If there's something wrong, you need to say so, you can't pretend nothing when you're sick."

Aria's eyebrows knitted together in a worried look.

"Really, it's fine."

I tried to give her a relieved smile, but couldn't tug the corners of my mouth anyway.

"Sylve, lie down on the wheat and rest for a while, I can pull it."

"Thank you, Barry. I'm not, uncomfortable. You guys, no worries."

Peeking back, the bearded swordsman was no longer visible, my heartbeat slowly calming down.

Seeing that I really didn't seem to be doing anything, Aria's mind came back to life and she turned her head and started making small talk with me.

"Hey hey, Sylve, did you just see that, that tall, majestic swordsman, ah...! So - handsome!"

Aria's eyes lit up with little stars, her cheeks flushed with excitement, and she clenched her fist and said to me.

"Well, it's handsome."

"Then let's go talk to him together, okay?"

"No!"

I got anxious when I heard that, and hastily pulled Aria's hand, afraid that she would really rush back to find someone in her head.

"Aria, you're getting married."

Barney said expressionlessly.

"And so what! Getting married doesn't allow me to admire handsome men anymore?"

"Yes, but don't you teach your Sylve a bad lesson."

"How am I teaching her a bad lesson? I'm helping her! If Sylve wants to get married in the future, she should marry someone tall and powerful like that! That's why I want to take her to meet people ......" Aria's eyes flashed a sly look, "That kind of swordsman, which usually can be seen in our village! The armor on his body is very expensive ...... I don't know what he is coming over for, but he certainly won't stay for long, the opportunity is too good to miss ah Sylve!"

I shook my head hard and took Aria's hand and gripped it even tighter, a pleading look in my eyes.

"Ah, little Sylveis shy, shy! Heh heh."

Shy my ass! Which one of your eyes saw me even the slightest bit shy!

It's killing me.

"Aria, I think you just want to go yourself."

Barry continued with an expressionless face.

"Said it wasn't ......"

"Then you're not allowed to take Sylve there, or I'll tell Alan."

"Don't you dare!"

"See if I dare!"

"I'll tell Sylve your secret if you dare to go!"

"...... Don't."

Barry instantly conceded.

Aria grunted twice in triumph at the verbal bargain, but never mentioned what had just happened again.

I breathed a soft sigh of relief.

"Sylve, do you know that swordsman?" Grandma, who hadn't said anything since a moment ago, suddenly asked in a voice.

"...... I, don't know."

I don't know why, but I lied to my grandmother for the first time.

"...... Is that so." Grandma looked over at me with a genial smile.

She noticed.

The cloak on that swordsman, and the one hanging at home from the Sylve ...... The latter was a little tattered, but indeed it was the same design and there could be no mistake, and though she was old, her eyes were not faded.

But since Sylve did not want to say, she would not press the question, time would tell her everything.

"What do you want to eat when you get back?"

"...... Potato soup."

"Good."

I tried to gather up the apprehension in my heart and walked in the direction of home.

............

The appearance of the bearded swordsman put me on edge. I thought he would soon find me and had been under the great psychological pressure of 'about to start a deadly fight' all this time, but after a few days of being on tenterhooks, I never saw him again.

They've come a long way to find me here, but they just want to take a look at me and leave?

No way, is he stupid? He's not.

Maybe he wanted to stabilize me first and then tipped me off?

When we meet again next time, he will appear with countless church knights, plus a dozen old men in robes, in a spirited manner.

The thought of this possibility made me breathe a little hard.

Shouldn't I run away?

......

Why don't I wait until the evening, when my grandmother and the girls are asleep, and then I'll quietly slip away, not to cause them any trouble?

But will I ever see my grandmother again?

Will I be able to come back here?

I really want to spend more time with my grandmother. Tomorrow. I'll sneak away tomorrow.

I want to spend more time with her.

Well, it's settled.

So my plan to escape was delayed from day to day.

A few days later, the harvest festival came.

This is also the custom of the village to hold a festival and party every year after the wheat harvest.

On this night, everyone gathered in the small square in the middle of the village, brought out all the tables and chairs from their homes, lit a bonfire, and started invoking the gods.

The ceremony was held by Father Merrill, who came from the town. Under his guidance, everyone knelt down and prayed to Mother Goddess of Abundance that the village would still have a good harvest next year.

After that, it was time for the much-anticipated bonfire, where the villagers sang and danced around the bonfire, and everyone's face was filled with happy satisfaction.

Uncle Butcher squeezed his drum hammer, the muscles in his arms bulging with veins, and the dashing sound of the drums resonated through the night.

I saw Aria and the honest-looking hunter's son among the crowd, both dancing a simple but light dance, with unconcealed joy on their faces.

It didn't take long for the big barrels of beer to be brought over. This can be considered a luxury in the village, but tonight it can be drunk with open arms.

The atmosphere of the whole party was even more lively after the arrival of the beer.

The girls from the tailor's house in the village were singing the beautiful songs of this world beside them.

Three or two younger girls were clapping their hands to the beat and occasionally singing along.

The few boys who had the courage to come forward and invite me to dance ended up dropping their heads and walking resentfully back to their companions.

Grandma, who is old and no longer comfortable with such occasions, had already gone back early. I closed my eyes and indulged in the rich scene of the foreign haunts.

"Sylve girl! Aren't you going to have a dance?" Uncle Doyle asked me with a big smile and fine beads of sweat between his nose. Grandma always let me go to his place to cut meat, and every time he would cut more for me.

"No."

I laughed softly and shook my head.

In fact, it's not that I won't. In my previous life, I grew up learning national standard, Latin and street dance, and I met Xiao Xi at the same dance studio. My level dare not say domestic first-class, but also won the award, but at the moment there is no mood. The bearded swordsman is like a dark cloud in my heart, and nothing is interesting.

"Haha, that's a shame! The first time I saw it, I had to go to a place where I could see it. You don't know how many boys in the village are counting down the days on their fingers just to have a chance to ask you for marriage."

The uncle looked ambiguous and his smile was a bit derisive. A man in his late 30s winks at me. He's had a lot to drink

I didn't know how to answer him, so I could only show a helpless smile.

The man was about to say something else when a glass of beer was placed in front of my table with a sudden "thud".

I looked up, and there was Ryan, the boy king, with a rosy face and another beer in his hand, speaking to me.

"Sylve...... Sister, I've thought about what happened before and it was really my fault, I apologize to you ...... Sorry." This sorry was said reluctantly, Ryan tilted his head and finished the beer in his hand in one gulp, "I'm done with mine, you drink the one on the table too, and we'll be friends."

The cup placed on the table was almost as big as a root beer cup, being poured full of beer, the overflowing froth dripping along the glass on the table.

Huh, trying to get me drunk, huh? It's interesting. It shoul be his hot-tempered father, who thinks I'm one of those teetotaler little girls who takes two sips and falls into people's arms told him to get me drunk.

Sadly, it was a mistake.

I'm in a bad mood, so I'll show you what it means to not be able to fall down from a thousand glasses today!

"In the future, don't, ever, do that again, just."

I smiled sweetly at Ryan and picked up my cup and drank it down in one go to the sound of Uncle Doyle's uproar.

"Haha, Sylve, good job!"

Uncle Doyle let out a deafening laugh and applauded desperately.

"Ryan! What are you doing!"

Barry burst out of the crowd and shouted, pointing at Ryan.

"I'm apologizing to her, none of your business! Barry, don't you keep looking down on people!"

"Apologize? How old is she, why are you encouraging her to drink so much!"

"That's okay, Barry ......"

I looked at Barry in front of me and tried to say he couldn't drink me, but my body suddenly swayed and the cup in my hand fell to the ground with a click.

...... What?

I frowned and rubbed my eyes with both hands.

One Barry ...... Two Barry ...... Three Ryan ...... Four uncles ......

Why there are so many of you guys?