The Sage that the Sword Saint is Obsessed With

25 – 8. Heart in a Cookie (2)

Leaning forward, Leven took a big bite of the freshly baked cookie.

The crunchiness was satisfying.

The cookie melted in his mouth, releasing a sweet powder.

“This is…!”

Leven’s mouth curled faintly upward as he put the remaining half into his mouth.

It wasn’t extraordinarily delicious.

It didn’t reach the standard of what you could sell in a shop.

However, it was the best cookie they had made so far.

Although he wanted to make the most delicious cookie as a gift, this was the best they could achieve with four beginners.

“Well, I won’t hear complaints about it being tasteless.”

Lea flicked off the cookie powder stuck to her lips with her fingers.

“…Lea, thank you.”

Leven expressed his gratitude to Lea.

Thanks to Lea, who knew the cookie recipe and guided them, they were able to produce something of this quality.

“You did something really great.”

“No, if it weren’t for Lea, we couldn’t have made it like this.”

Lea turned her head slightly, avoiding eye contact, and made a fist.

Even though she had heard words of thanks before, Leven’s sincere gratitude made Lea feel a bit embarrassed.

Despite being mature, she was still a 15-year-old girl.

At an age where immunity to compliments was weak, especially when they came from an older sister figure she admired and liked.

“Give Lana some praise too!”

Lana, with flour all over her clothes, bounced happily.

“Yeah, Lana, thank you too.”

Leven wiped the white powder off Lana’s face with a handkerchief, as if cleaning a masterpiece.

“Chef, should I leave?”

Karen, sneaking in, asked.

Although not family, she wanted to be part of this heartwarming atmosphere.

Leven chuckled.

“Thank you. I’ll buy you a drink next time.”

Karen grinned.

“Then let’s go for the most expensive one. Don’t say nonsense later.”

“Sure.”

Leven and his companions wrapped the cookies.

Except for the ones that were charred to the point of being inedible, piled up like a mountain of failures, Leven decided to eat the remaining ones little by little. If eaten as a side dish with alcohol, they would somehow manage.

“But when are you going to give it to me?”

Karen asked Leven, who was carefully finishing the wrapping with a ribbon.

“Well, that…”

He wanted to give it right away.

The impulsive decision to bake the cookies suddenly overwhelmed him.

But giving them to Evan right away would be a nuisance.

Should he ask the innkeeper to deliver them?

But then another thought blocked his way.

What if he finds receiving the cookies unpleasant?

That possibility seemed more likely.

He might toss them into the trash as soon as he sees the contents.

While pondering what to do with a sigh, Karen spoke.

“You should go give it to him now. Let’s go. I’ll accompany you.”

Karen grabbed Leven’s wrist.

Leven was pulled along by Karen, going, “Ugh,” reluctantly.

He could easily shake her off if he wanted to, but the honest feeling was leaning this way.

When they reached the front of the inn, Leven suddenly stopped.

“W-wait a moment…!”

He hesitated to go inside.

It seemed like a bad idea to enter.

He carefully weighed the options.

Fear of making the wrong choice arose, like a trauma.

“C-Can’t Karen deliver it instead?”

Just like when she delivered the lemon syrup last time.

“What will you do if things go well between me and the wizard?”

At the joking remark, Llewelyn momentarily paused.

“W-Well, then… it would be better, I suppose.”

Yes, that might be better for Evan.

Karen is a good woman.

Sociable and lively in personality.

Her face is beautiful, and her figure is attractive.

With Karen, she could undoubtedly make Evan happy.

No, not just someone like me, anyone could make Evan happier than I could.

Not now, though.

Someday, Evan will surely meet a new lover.

“What are you talking about?”

Karen pushed Llewelyn into the inn.

“Since I went through the trouble of making it for the wizard, the lord should give it directly.”

The sound of drums echoed when they hesitated in front of the inn.

-Boom! Boom! Boom!

Consecutive drumming.

It’s a signal for when the enemy is about to cross the front lines.

Normally, reconnaissance confirms the advancing enemy, and preparations for deployment are made. However, the urgent drumming indicates that the enemy has reached the vicinity of the gate, avoiding the eyes of the reconnaissance scouts.

“Let’s go.”

Llewelyn’s gaze changed.

The woman who was passive just a moment ago decisively turned and prepared to head to the front lines.

Well-trained soldiers, upon hearing the drumming, armed themselves and formed a formation at the village entrance.

Karen, who was just pushing Llewelyn’s back a moment ago, was now commanding the troops.

“Commander!”

Raven brought Llewelyn’s sword.

“Thank you.”

Llewelyn strapped the sword to his waist.

What about the cookies?

1.

Since there was nowhere else to put it, he tucked it into the pocket of his uniform.

It might get a bit crumpled, but he decided to give it to her on the way back from the battle. At that time, he could still naturally see her face.

2.

The gate leading to the demon realm.

Under the boundary of the black sky and the blue sky, the demon army had advanced to the vicinity.

There was no time for a standoff.

They had to intercept it before it completely crossed over.

“Let’s just kill them.”

Upon hearing Leven’s words, Karen shouted loudly.

“Charge!”

It was a critical situation, but they had experienced such situations several times before.

There were times when they were ambushed while sleeping.

If it was coming when the sun was up, one could almost joke that the demon army was considerate.

“Roar!”

Like the roar of a wild beast, two waves fiercely collided with the enthusiastic shouts of the soldiers.

Flame’s vines

Dozens of streams of fire erupted from the ground.

The fiery tendrils wriggled like tentacles, entwining and engulfing the enemies one by one.

“Kwaaah!”

Using the enemies as nutrients, the flames extended like vine plants, becoming even more intense.

Evan leisurely walked through the battlefield, using magic as if taking a stroll.

Boring.

It was a life-and-death struggle for the knights clashing swords, but for Evan, who had reached the 10th rank, it was no different from swatting flies.

“I still learned something, though.”

Even while swatting flies, there was something to be learned.

Using high-ranking magic indiscriminately in battle was inefficient. Instead of expending mana heavily with advanced magic to wipe out multiple enemies at once, it was more efficient and safer for a magician to use lower-cost magic that took longer but had less mana consumption.

If you run out of mana and can’t use magic, you’re no longer a magician but just an ordinary person.

And does one really need 9th and 10th rank magic to deal with small fry?

“Huh?”

As Evan walked through the enemy lines, waving his right hand as if conducting a symphony, Leowen caught his eye.

– Shyak! Ssok! Ssok!

Leowen, dressed in uniform with just a single sword in hand, was slaughtering the enemies alone like a ghost.

The atmosphere was brutal.

Her gaze towards the enemies was chilling.

She dodged the spears flying towards her, sliding on her knees to evade the attacks. Then she swiftly got up, sliced off the arms and legs of the enemies, and finished them off.

Even armor was useless.

They easily fell victim to the sharpness of Leowen’s sword.

Once again, Evan realized the true meaning of the term “swordsmanship”.

Just like Evan was using magic to wipe out the enemies, Leowen was also clearing them out with her sword. He already knew she was skilled with a sword, but he hadn’t expected her to grow to this level.

To think that she had once knelt down like a obedient puppy, baring her stomach to confess her faults.

He recalled the long stretch of her navel.

Evan chuckled.

He felt a small pleasure.

Because the woman he had cursed had shown such a beastly appearance.

Thinking about the years of suffering, it was just a handful of sand on the desert, but it still brought some satisfaction.

“Kraaah!”

Strike.

In the moment he was momentarily distracted, Evan struck the face of an approaching opponent with his fist.

“Where?”

Wiping off the blood on the back of his hand, Evan focused back on the battle.

3.

The battle ended quickly.

Once again, the two of them played a significant role.

Evan annihilated the enemies with magic, and Leowen slaughtered them with her sword.

It seemed they could handle a legion on their own.

After finishing the battle and taking a moment to catch their breaths, they gathered the spoils. Leowen wiped off the blood on her sword with a cloth and glanced around to find Evan.

Evan stood at the edge of the gate, gazing at the demon realm as if admiring the scenery.

…Ugh!

Because there were others present, Lewen forcibly suppressed her emotions, keeping a stoic expression, while inwardly screaming.

…Huh? Don’t go? Huh? Don’t go?

She took out a cookie bag from her uniform pocket and checked its contents.

Although a few had been broken during the battle, overall, they were in good condition. Today, to protect these cookies, she had avoided unnecessary movements and kept her actions as simple as possible.

…In the past, we used to defeat monsters and share delicious food during breaks.

She reminisced about the old days.

Conquering monsters.

When it was too far to return to the village, they would camp there and rest.

Every time, Evan would provide Lewen with a makeshift pillow and feed her sweet tree fruits or snacks bought from the store.

Now, those were just fleeting memories.

“…Let’s stop.”

Lewen returned the cookie bag to her pocket.

Evan apologized to Lewen and told her to do as she pleased, whether to live or not, but doing whatever she pleased would also be a selfish act.

She had already been called a selfish woman, but… should she continue being selfish?

That’s when it happened.

“Isn’t this the perfect opportunity?”

Karen whispered in Lewen’s ear.

“…No. I think it would be better not to give in.”

Lewen shook her head.

“Let’s share the cookies between us.”

“We can’t give up. The leader worked tirelessly through the night to make them. It’s ridiculous that someone who just recently ran rampant on the battlefield is now too afraid to give away a single cookie.”

If her heart had been confident, she would have approached without hesitation.

But because she couldn’t, she was agonizing like this.

“I’m sorry. I appreciate your support… Eek!”

Karen playfully smacked Lewen’s buttocks.

Startled by the tingling sensation on her cheeks, Lewen covered her buttocks with her hand and looked at Karen.

“At least remember that we helped you.”

“Just now… my buttocks…”

“I slapped you to wake you up. The leader I respect is always confident and decisive.”

“My buttocks…”

“Why? Do you want me to hit you again?”

Leven shook his head, reluctantly.

“Well then, muster up the courage and let’s go.”

Karen gave Leven a gentle push from behind.

This is not right.

This is really not right.

But the body and mind played separately.

Leven’s legs moved towards Evan step by step.

As he got closer to Evan, his heart raced as if it would go crazy.

He gasped for breath.

Breathing heavily, more than when he had just fought.

It was when he had taken a few steps.

-Kugugugugung!!!

The ground began to shake loudly, screaming.

The earth cracked and surged like waves.

“Ah…!!”

Unable to regain balance due to the intense tremor, Leven fell forward.

The wet ground pressed against his chest.

Leven felt the cookies squish under his left breast.

A giant figure rose from the ground.

The shadow fell upon the knights.

It was a giant.

A giant that looked like it was made up of tens of thousands of corpses intertwined.

“Ha… hahahaha….”

Leven, opening the cookie bag, burst into a bitter laugh.

The cookies had completely melted.

“…It’s actually for the better.”

Leven chuckled and put the cookie bag back into his pocket.

“…It’s better not to share.”

Leven raised his sword.

What is this feeling?

Even though I believe that not giving in is the right choice, a warm emotion surged in my chest.

“…You’re dead.”

In the shadows, two golden glows blossomed.