Polymath Redux

Chapter 22: To the place that I belong

Waking up to the darkened skies, as night fall came Rena opened her eyes for the second time. She wasn't exactly sure how long she had been sleeping but for some reason she thought that it was probably more than the normal amount. Still, she couldn't deny that she was feeling a lot better now.

"Feeling better already?"

Next to the crackling of a small campfire sat two individuals. One was a strong-willed, red haired woman, Irina, who sat in silence, polishing her sword. The other was a slender man in a white overcoat, Mordred. He stared back at her with a tender gaze as the light of the fire reflected off his smooth and pale face. Perhaps it was due to the proximity of the campfire but Rena could feel her face heating up rapidly, prompting her to turn her gaze in panic.

"Ah, y- yes... I'm feeling much better now. Thank you... for saving me."

Mordred returned a gentle smirk and nodded.

"It was the least I could do, for a friend."

'Friend', that word reverberated throughout her mind. She had wished for it many times before but to think that this man really thought of her as such, she couldn't be happier. Not knowing how to exactly express her happiness, all Mordred could see was her subtly fidgeting and grinning to herself.

A small growl came from Rena's stomach as she had not eaten for the duration of her sleep. Quietly laughing it off at the cute sound of her stomach's growl, Mordred took out a piece of bred coated in jam out of his [inventory] and handed it over to her along with a warm cup of tea.

Though Rena was curious as to where he was keeping these things she didn't really ask and just accepted his hospitality. It may simply have been due to the effects of long sleep but as she dug her teeth into the bread she thought it was the most delicious thing she had eaten. This was evident by the large smile and satisfied expression she was making as she ate.

"This is delicious!"

She exclaimed with an almost exhilarated glee from just a single piece of bread.

"Is that so? Then I'll leave more here if you need any."

Mordred replied as he stood up, looking as though he was about to go somewhere which troubled Rena. She wanted to spend a bit more time with him; she wasn't able to talk to him all that much since he always seemed so busy but at the very least right now she wanted him to stay.

As if to reassure her Mordred placed his hands on her shoulder in a gentle manner and spoke.

"I'll be back soon so don't worry. I just want to find a suitable place for us to stay since we can't be staying in this tent forever."

Accepting his excuse Rena nodded with a smile.

"Okay, please be back soon."

Like a weak plea for help, she asked him in a manner that suggested that she would be lonely without him. Mordred let out a small laugh, indeed Irina didn't really speak all that much so that could certainly be the case.

"Irina, keep her safe for me okay?"

"Yes master, I'll stake my name on it."

When the Crimson Dragon Lord stakes her name on it then it was reassuring for Mordred. With her powers there really shouldn't be anything in the vicinity that could even come close to be called a threat. With his heart reassured with her safety Mordred instantly vanished as though he had been engulfed by the shadows.

...

Real estate in this world was extremely simple; it had to be without any sort of computerized system in place to check all of the lands. Any abandoned or newly discovered land belonged to the nation that the land was based in and to buy that land one just needed to pay in gold, upfront to the nation's 'land management bureau'. Of course that place wasn't anything as fancy as the name implied.