“So, tomorrow I’m off duty and won’t be here. However, you don’t need to worry about meals because warden Blackberry will be in charge of bringing them.”
While mopping the hallway outside of Fuyu Sagara’s cell, Barton spoke incessantly in celestial language.
Despite Fuyu’s lack of response, Barton continued to chatter away without any concern.
Upon hearing that the hero hadn’t spoken to anyone in years, Barton felt uneasy.
He hoped that by speaking in celestial language, he could get a reaction from Fuyu, but so far, his attempts had been fruitless.
Nevertheless, Barton persisted in his chatter, feeling that it might provide some comfort to Fuyu, rather than remaining silent.
Although Barton was unsure why Fuyu was locked up, he knew that the demon king had been defeated thanks to Fuyu, and the world was in a better place than it was four years ago, as far as he was concerned.
Although many people still suffered from hunger, the number of deaths was undoubtedly decreasing.
As a resident of this country, Barton held feelings of gratitude and respect for the hero.
“By the way, looks can be deceiving. That man, Labos, is definitely not handsome, but it’s surprising that he has a mistress. I don’t understand women’s feelings at all, maybe because I lack experience in love. I wonder what he does to make himself so popular.”
Barton kept talking non-stop, despite thinking that the topic might be too common.
“Phew, I’m finished cleaning the hallway. I wish I could clean the cell too, but even as a guard, I don’t have access to open it. I’m sorry,” he said.
The key to Fuyu’s cell was only held by the warden, Blackberry, and Barton didn’t even know where it was.
“By the way, if you need anything while I’m out in town, let me know. Apparently, the hero has saved up 380,000 gil, so you can eat whatever you like and even buy bedding for winter,” he added.
All Fuyu had was a thin blanket, but she continued to stare straight ahead without even glancing at Barton.
“Alright. Let me know if there’s anything you need. I’ll take my leave now. Goodbye.”
The sound of the door closing made Fuyu relax her shoulders.
The prison guard named Wolf had been talking non-stop since his second day on duty. Fuyu was amazed at how someone could keep talking like that but couldn’t bring herself to tell him to be quiet.
After being away from conversations for a while, even Barton’s pointless chatter was interesting to Fuyu.
She was especially curious about whether the mistress mentioned in today’s conversation would come to visit the prisoner named Labos.
Fuyu had no experience with love affairs, so she couldn’t imagine the ins and outs of a man and woman’s relationship.
Trying to stretch her tired legs from sitting in seiza, Fuyu stood up and noticed something yellow in the corner of the hallway. It was the spot where Barton had been doing something earlier.
“Oh…”
In the corner of the corridor, there was a porcelain vase with yellow flowers arranged in it. They were small wildflowers called goldenrod in the Asuka country.
They were not special flowers,
just something that could be found in any meadow.
But for Fuyu, it had been four long years since she had seen any flowers. The sight of the tiny wildflowers stirred up her memories and emotions so strongly that tears streamed down her cheeks involuntarily.
The feeling that had been sleeping deep in her heart was now surging up in waves.
“Uu…uuu…”
Fuyu sobbed, her voice breaking as she cried for the first time in a long while.
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