esw c3 p1 2 3 concept art included (Patreon)

Chapter 3 The Innocent Girl Part 1

Lynn once again witnessed that heart-wrenching scene in her dream.

Nia suddenly woke up from her sleep somehow, probably vaguely heard the painful groan on her side.

With the dim light coming in through the window, she saw faint tears from the corners of Lynn's eyes, who was sleeping next to her.

Her slender body curled up alone, shaking from time to time with intermittent groans.

Nia moved away Lynn's scattered bangs, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingers.

Loulou was also awakened by the rustling sound around her. When she saw Lynn's face, she knew that Lynn had started having nightmares again.

She had noticed this situation when she slept with Lynn in a tent. Although she didn't know exactly what Lynn dreamed of, it was definitely an unforgettable and unpleasant past.

Aker once said in front of Lynn that she must still have a lot of things that she did not tell everyone, and Lynn did not deny it, but promised to say it all at the right time.

Therefore, Loulou could only trust Lynn's promise now, praying that what she has concealed would not easily change the current peaceful daily life.

She took Lynn's hand and said nothing.

Although she was still a little worried about Lynn's state, she knew that she could never force Lynn to tell them all the pain she hid in her heart. Only when she calmed down and decided to confide in the unspeakable secret to everyone, could she really touch the depths of her heart.

…………

The crisp wind bells rang in the early morning pub. Most of the guests who came at this time were not here to drink.

Nia returned to the bar counter. A girl with long chestnut hair was standing at the entrance of the pub. The round-frame glasses set on the bridge of her nose gave off an intellectual beauty. Next to her was a girl who seemed to be only about twelve or thirteen years old.

The girl was dressed in cute clothes that matched her age, but the broad straw hat on her head was a bit out of proportion to her small head, and the face covered by the straw hat was not visible from Nia's perspective.

She also carried a bulging paper bag in her hands.

"Excuse me, is there a boy with black hair, about the same height as me, wearing a black trench coat here?"

The girl with long chestnut hair gestured with her hands.

"I have no impression. There are so many guests here every day, how can I remember everyone? Why are you looking for that boy?"

Nia didn't know why the girl wanted to inquire about Aker, but it was the basic rule not to disclose other people's personal information casually. Besides, now that Aker was an employee of this pub, it was even more impossible to hand him over easily.

Therefore, Nia didn't tell her that Aker was in this pub now.

"Oh..." The girl was silent for a moment, "Then if you see that boy, can you ask him to take care of this kid? Because this kid has nowhere to go, she might die on the streets if she was left on the street."

The chestnut-haired girl pushed forward the girl who was cowering and standing behind. She timidly took off the broad-brimmed straw hat she wore on her head, and her beautiful, knee-length, snow-white hair poured down like a waterfall from the straw hat. What was covered by the straw hat was a childish face that would make all men and women want to protect her.

But Nia didn't care about the girl's appearance that would attract everyone's attention. The overly conspicuous feature made her immediately think of the rumor that had been circulating among the guests recently.

"It is said that the church is now looking for a girl with white hair. Could it be her..."

"Maybe," the chestnut-haired girl said in a relaxed tone. "Anyway, you just leave her to the boy. After he and the two girls next to him meet this, he won't refuse."

The chestnut-haired girl's attitude that seemed to have anticipated everything made Nia vigilant.

"Who are you exactly?"

From the words of the chestnut-haired girl, it seemed that she knew that Aker was here, and she also knew about Loulou and Lynn.

"The big sister who just met  for a few days? This kind of thing is not that important. By the way, the paper bag contained the clothes I prepared for her, so my job is done here. "

The chestnut-haired girl simply turned around and waved her hand, and walked out of the pub alone.

The crisp wind bells rang again, leaving behind the shocked Nia and the girl standing alone.

Part 2

Since the other party had already left, it was naturally impossible to catch up and return the person to her. Nia could only focus on the girl whose eyes were filled with anxiousness.

"Can you tell me your name first?"

Since the chestnut-haired girl knew Aker, then she would decide whether this girl would stay after hearing Aker's opinions later. As far as Nia and Gurley knew, Aker should have no interaction with the church.

It was time to learn more about this "dangerous" girl as much as possible. If she was really wanted by the church, then she would be a ticking time bomb.

The white-haired girl covered most of her face with the brim of the straw hat, which seemed to be able to make her feel less nervous.

"Venus...."

Although it was not as quiet as a mosquito, Nia could still barely hear her clearly.

Such a timid girl. It was not possible that she would do something bad and be wanted by the church. Perhaps it was because of some more special reasons, such as the hidden information that was difficult for outsiders to know, such as the secret identity and background.

After spending a long time in a pub, a place all kinds of folks hang out, Nia had heard a lot of things that should and should not be known.

"Venus... Why are you wanted by the church? If it is convenient, can you tell this elder sister?"

After being asked this question, the girl who called Venus seemed to recall a bad memory, she even whimpered sorrowfully like a little puppy.

And the intermittent sob immediately followed a continuous cry with the tears.

"I seemed to have asked a stupid question." Nia, who caused Venus to cry, panicked for a while, "Wait, wait, what should I do, I don't know how to stop a kid from crying!"

In order to calm Venus's cry, Nia even overdrew her energy that had been reserved for the work tomorrow. Until the end, Nia still didn't know the specific reason why Venus was wanted by the church. She only knew that she had escaped from the imprisonment of the church.

"Escaped... from the church?"

The church was located in the sanctuary in the center of the Bice Empire, from there to Pfalz, it was separated by dozens of cities and towns. The chestnut-haired girl said not long ago that she would die if she was left alone on the street. So how did she cross dozens of cities and towns to get here...

Thinking about that kind of problem now only gave her a headache, so Nia temporarily put all the irrelevant details aside.

"Who is that elder sister that brought you here?"

"I don't know... She let me live in her room and gave me new clothes..."

"That means you didn't know her before being taken in by her?"

"I know……"

"Wait, so you knew her beforehand?..."

Nia could at least be sure that the relationship between the two people was definitely not just a simple relationship between the helper and the person that was helped. As for why Venus was hesitant about disclosing the identity of the chestnut-haired girl, it was most likely that the chestnut-haired girl had told her not to say anything.

"That sister said that there are people who can take me in here, and that there are people I might know here... She also said that there is no need to hide anything from the people here..."

Venus quietly lifted her drooping head, her big watery eyes staring at Nia in front of her.

——Are you the one who can take me in... the clear eyes still with tears seemed to beg Nia.

Nia was immediately attracted by Venus's innocent eyes. She seemed to have forgotten all her previous worries and hugged Venus.

"Aww~ So cute! Why would people from the church want to arrest this kind of cute kid? What is wrong with them!"

Suddenly being hugged tightly by Nia, Venus struggled in her arms in a panic, but soon she realized that this had no effect, she became docile.

Nia enjoyed the marshmallow-like softness and comfortable touch in her arms for a while before letting go of Venus who had become a little confused.

"Follow me upstairs first. There are also two girls there. You will become good friends."

At this moment, Nia didn't care about the troublesome thing behind Venus, so she could only let her meet with Aker and the other two girls.

…………

After asking Loulou to take care of Venus, and Nia called Aker and Gurley, who had roughly heard about the situation. When they came to the second floor, they saw Loulou and Venus were talking in the corridor.

Seeing that Lynn was not with them, Aker asked Loulou,

"Hasn't Lynn woken up yet?"

Loulou made a "hush" gesture, then signaled to the room. Lynn was still asleep in the room, but her sleeping face was much calmer than before.

"There is one thing, I want you to know... I hope you can hear it to the end..."

Venus spoke quietly from the side, her expression seemed a bit sorrowful.

Aker had heard from Nia that Venus was the white-haired girl wanted by the church, and Lynn maybe the other person that was wanted. If this was the case, the relationship between the two of them might not be as simple as "knowing each other".

Venus must have seen Lynn sleeping soundly before Nia left, and what she wanted to tell everyone might be the hidden secret that Lynn hadn't said yet.

Part 3

"Do we need to talk downstairs?"

Aker didn't know what kind of relationship Venus and Lynn had, and it was unclear whether they could meet each other, so he simply asked Venus's thoughts.

"No, this is fine... She may wake up at any time, and she will definitely feel uneasy if no one is around..."

Venus shook her head. It seemed that it had something to do with Lynn, but after seeing Lynn, she didn't seem to show the kind of joy of reunion.

"A week ago, the church issued a mission called 'Investigating The Lost Item'. That lost item was a magic gear called 'Light Flame Sword' that disappeared a long time ago... There are very few records about the 'Light Flame Sword'. It is obviously a magic gear named after 'Mechanical Alchemy'... I only know that it does not have a fixed form. But other than the form of a long sword, I..."

Hearing Venus' description, Aker, who didn't know much about these weapons, immediately thought of the golden long sword Lynn had used.

"Could it be Lynn's..."

Aker remembered that when he was fighting with the fire wolves, the long sword Lynn used could be converted into two smaller swords and golden particles.

"Mhm. Miss Lynn is the last survivor of the 'Heinz' family and the current owner of the 'Light Flame Sword'. "

"The last survivor?" Gurley muttered in confusion, then glanced at Lynn, who was still lying in the room. "the church has found the 'Heinz' family? This family has disappeared almost a hundred years."

"Is 'Heinz' also a noble with a surname?" 

This familiar way of addressing. It made Aker remember what Gurley had told him two days ago.

"The 'Heinz' family was one of the most powerful families in the 'Cross-Border War' one hundred years ago. After the war, it was called the 'Bice Twin Towers' together with the 'Chise' family, which were the two toughest backbone of the Bice Empire. Didn't your parents tell you anything about them? When we were young, we often listened to our parents telling their stories, but we don’t know if those stories have been exaggerated. Because a few years after the end of the cross-border war, the two families disappeared at the same time. The "Heinz" family probably chose to live in seclusion, and the "Chise" family may also be the same. The historical records of the two families have also been erased. Sorry for interrupting you for so long, you can carry on."

Venus, who was waiting obediently for Gurley's explanation, nodded. Gurley probably couldn't stand Venus speaking slowly. If he let her tell Aker and Loulou this kind of common-sense background, who knows when she would be able to finish the story, so he helped her to finish the story in one breath.

"I'm an orphan, and it was the church that adopted me... After the magic evaluation, it seemed that my talent was a little bit higher than the standard, so I started to learn magic... I know a bit of all kinds of domain-type spells... so later I became a knight of the church, I was a little proud at that time..."

'At that time'... In other words, something happened later that changed her mind?

"'Investigating The Lost Item' was the first task I received after becoming a knight of the church. Dad... Pope Setis asked me to act as rear support and cooperate with other people... But then I learned on the surface, this task was to find the magic gear 'Light Flame Sword', but actually, it was not like that..."

"Could it be that the disappeared village... has something to do with that mission?"

Aker remembered the gossip that Gurley had told him a few days ago. The disappeared village he once mentioned, Aker once thought it was his hometown. But recalling what Lynn once told him, and the location described by Gurley...

I came from a place near the sea, a little farther away from here, and I have been to your village before.

The village that disappeared out of thin air is farther than your village, and it is close to the coastline.

"Mhm..." Venus nodded in the heavy atmosphere, her long white hair swaying lightly, "After the mission, Pope Sirtis destroyed the village... will never forget it... At that time..." As she spoke, she finally couldn't help but burst into tears, "It's all because I was there that it became like that...If it weren't for me..."

Nia gently hugged Venus and gently stroked her head, hoping that this would calm her heart.

This time Venus didn't think about escaping from Nia's kindness but suppressed her sadness in her arms.

Aker seemed to be vaguely aware of the relationship between Venus and Lynn now. The relationship between them may not be the kind that Nia thought, and it would probably be very hard for them to become friends.

Perhaps the two of them shouldn't meet here.

…………

After Venus calmed down a little bit, she resumed telling the tragedy that happened between her and Lynn that day.

"When I arrived there with the rest of the people from the church, the first friend I met was Miss Lynn... At that time, her hair was not the golden hair now, but pink... Now this golden color should be due to the magic gear "Light Flame Sword" being fused into her body... Pope Sirtis went to talk with the parents of the "Heinz" family, that was, Miss Lynn's father... Maybe the result of the discussion was not very good. The church had another plan that they didn’t tell me before departure... I was only supporting from the rear and I had to follow the instructions, although I knew that this did not erase the fact that I was involved... Miss Lynn watched me expand the domain with her own eyes... she definitely hates me..."

When Venus said Lynn for the first time, she regarded her as a "friend". At that time, neither Venus nor Lynn expected that this tragedy would happen.

"That's why Lynn was so angry at that time..."

Now Aker finally knew why she would be furious like that after he invited Lynn to embark on a journey together.

Perhaps it was because she trusted Venus without knowing it, but was betrayed by her "friend" and lost her important family. At that time, she saw the shadow of her past from Aker, so she was angry at Aker.

Venus Concept art

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