Chapter 10: What the hell is he doing here??
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Most of the time, the solutions to our problems are never very far away.
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[Pasha's POV]
Yumi and Pasha were sitting across from each other at the dining table in Liu's house.
They were discussing everything that had happened to Liu over the past few days.
"Pasha. You like Liu, right?"
Suddenly, Yumi asked a somewhat out-of-context question.
"Uhh… of course."
'Why is she asking me that?'
Yumi took on a serious expression and continued.
"Would you be willing to quit your job and follow me if it meant finding Liu?"
Yumi straightened up in her chair. Her posture and expression made the atmosphere feel heavy despite her appearance.
"Huh?! I… don't understand what you mean."
Yumi was about to explain, but Pasha interrupted her.
"But I'm willing to quit my job and follow you if it helps find Liu."
'Without Liu and her grandparents, this village feels pretty dull.'
Yumi let out a sigh of relief and relaxed her posture and expression.
"You know, I'm a noble, and Liu is too."
Then she dropped a bomb on Pasha.
'Huh! Wait… what??'
"I see… that would explain a lot of strange things."
Pasha had swapped her words and her thoughts.
"Yeah, I guess there were a few things that might seem strange when you spend a lot of time with Liu and her grandparents."
Yumi didn't find it surprising that Pasha had noticed.
The number of books, the decorations, the money… and a few other things were a bit excessive for a normal countryside family.
"Uh… yeah."
Pasha found the situation a bit awkward.
She was facing a noble.
She had trouble believing it.
"Can you explain what you mean by: follow you?"
Yumi nodded and began explaining the situation to Pasha.
"Okay, but first, do we stay here until tomorrow? To see if Liu comes back? Because the longer we wait, the harder it'll be to find her quickly."
Pasha looked at Yumi and realized she had never really paid much attention to her before. She was seeing her in a new light now.
'That's true…'
"Well, explain everything first, and then we'll do what needs to be done right away."
Yumi's face relaxed a little, and she couldn't help but smile at Pasha's response.
'Looks like I answered well…'
Yumi thought for a few seconds, unsure where to start.
'She's cute when she's thinking…'
A smile also appeared on Pasha's face as Yumi began to speak.
"So, first… mmh… my parents are best friends with Liu's parents. And… let's say Liu and I are… uh… illegal children?"
Pasha tilted her head to the side.
'Huh… that's kind of random and weird, isn't it?'
"Your parents? Yaro and Mayu?"
Yumi stopped thinking for a moment to answer.
"They're not my parents, they're my servants. They work for my mother's family. But they are a couple."
She continued:
"My parents and Liu's are currently living in the citizen capital of the Lumiscen kingdom, Luren."
"And since Liu and I were born… unofficially, our parents hid us here, far from the capital."
Things still weren't very clear for Pasha.
"But then why does Liu think her parents abandoned her? And Liu's grandparents are servants too?"
Yumi wasn't very good at explaining things in detail. She didn't really take into account what others already knew or didn't know.
'Is that a noble way of explaining things? Or not? I don't know, I've never talked to a noble before.'
Yumi continued:
"Liu's family situation is more complicated than mine… I think her parents' families are enemies. But Grandpa Mo and Grandma Mi really are Liu's grandparents. According to Ya and Ma, they're here under the pretense of a countryside retirement."
'Ya and Ma? She dropped the "ro" and "yu"… that's cute.'
Pasha found Yumi more and more interesting, and cute as well.
"Okay, I see. Now can you explain what we need to do and how we're going to do it? I'll go resign afterward."
Yumi nodded eagerly. It was easier when someone told her what to do than when she had to figure it out herself.
"Okay so, first, nobles have… uh… super… powers. And… by following me, you'll learn how to use them and become a noble too, even if you'll be my secretary."
Pasha was stunned by what Yumi had just said.
'Haha… this is even more random and weird than before. Right? And I'll stay a secretary?'
Yumi continued before Pasha could respond.
"Also, you won't need to resign. We'll ask Yaya to do it for you, it'll be faster."
"Then we'll stop by your place to get your things, and after that we'll take a carriage straight to the nearest city. My mother's family has a residence in Lumout, a few days away by carriage."
Pasha was surprised again, though less than before.
'Carriage, Lumout, residence… wow, this feels like one of those books from Liu's library.'
Yumi kept going without stopping.
"We can't search for Liu on our own starting from nothing, that would be almost impossible. We'll ask my family's tracker team to find her. I already took the sweater she wore this morning so they can track her."
'Whoa, what does all of this even mean?'
"That's about it… I think."
Yumi was done.
"Well, I didn't understand everything, but I'm sure it's the right thing to do since you know more than me."
Yumi nodded several times quickly, making Pasha smile.
Yumi stood up to go straight to Pasha's house, but Pasha stopped her with a big smile.
"But before we go, let me ask you two questions."
Yumi tilted her head strangely at Pasha's smile.
"O-okay."
She answered awkwardly for some reason, which made Pasha close her eyes this time.
'Gah, what is this adorable thing, I've never seen anything like it.'
She opened her eyes again.
"First, if you're nobles, then you have a family name, right?"
Yumi looked at Pasha strangely, then sighed in relief at the question.
"Yes, we do… or rather, I have one and Liu has two… I think. My parents' families aren't enemies, and they managed to get married a few years ago, even though it was after having me. So now I can more or less go back home, according to Myu… And my family name is my mother's: Luchon. So you'll have to call me Yumi Luchon!"
Yumi struck a pose, standing straight with her hands behind her back. Pasha chuckled.
'Is that a noble pose? Hehe…'
"Why are you laughing?" Yumi asked seriously.
Pasha smiled.
"Nothing, nothing. Please continue your explanation, Lady Luchon."
Pasha's answer made Yumi blush, and she looked away, unable to maintain her noble attitude.
"Hrmhrm… and for Liu, her parents are from the Lumien and Lufescan families, but I don't know how she should be addressed. Also, it's a secret.. you can't tell anyone, or Liu and her parents will have serious problems."
Yumi stared at Pasha, waiting for her response.
"I see. Don't worry, I'm very good at keeping secrets. Besides, I don't really have anyone to tell them to."
At that, Yumi lowered her gaze.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Now tell me more about this secretary thing. I won't just be a servant? I'll be your secretary? Even though you're so young?"
Pasha asked her questions in a teasing tone, making Yumi blush again. She fled toward the chalet's front door.
"I just thought it sounded cool," she muttered.
Pasha followed her.
'Ah! Too cute. I'll tease her whenever I get the chance from now on.'
Yumi turned to Pasha before opening the door.
"Pasha… do you think Liu's grandparents are really dead?"
Pasha's thoughts shifted instantly, but she smiled gently outwardly.
Then she answered:
"I don't know…"
Yumi nodded and opened the door.
"Me neither…"
They stepped outside…
...
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[Liu's POV]
The next morning.
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01.12 / 10.00
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The first thing Liu did upon waking up was check if the Form was still there.
'Hhaa, I don't feel like it.'
She slipped out of her sleeping bag and stretched while still inside the tent.
'It's easier to get up when the ground is this hard…'
She checked her watch.
'It's fine… just right.'
She crawled out of the tent on all fours, leaned on her bag to stand up, then stretched her arms and back again.
'The sound of the river didn't even bother me.'
She fixed her gaze on the Form.
'And nothing went into it… I think.'
Then she went to rinse her face in the river.
Splash.
'Cold… this is a pain with only one hand…'
After that, she immediately packed up the tent, the mattress, and her sleeping bag.
"That's done."
She then nibbled on a few cereal bars with some water.
'Where am I?'
She spread the map in front of her and searched for her position while eating.
'Mmm… I should be here. Between the ruin and the merchant village road.'
She checked the time.
'One hour and twenty hundredths… it should take me half an hour to reach the road, and then?'
She needed to find a way to follow the road without the Form being noticed.
'If I walk along the edge of the road and the Form stays in the shadows of the trees ten steps away… that should work?'
She wasn't very sure.
'Mm… I'll see when I get there.'
She finished eating, put away the map, filled her flasks at the river, and finally put her bag back on her back.
"Alright… let's go!"
'Kind of depressing…'
she thought as she started walking.
She checked a few times to make sure the Form was still following her.
'Half an hour.'
Following the river past the ruin wasn't as difficult as before.
Even though it wasn't really flat, there were fewer trees—though still plenty—and fewer obstacles.
Liu continued without change until she spotted the road.
...
Half an hour later, Liu stopped about twenty steps from the road.
'There are already fewer trees… is that going to be a problem?'
She looked both ways, saw no one, and moved forward.
'Looks calm… well, it's always calm.'
She stopped at the edge of the road and turned her head.
'It's fine, it's not too visible.'
The number of trees meant the Form was hidden in the shadow of a tree that was itself behind another tree, almost two layers of cover.
'Looks like it continues like that all the way…'
Liu turned her head toward the merchant village to observe the rest of her route.
At that moment, the sound of hooves echoed in the distance.
Liu quickly turned her head to the left.
'Damn!'
She rushed into the forest in front of her.
Even though she didn't need to hide, she did it out of instinct.
She managed to hide deeper in the forest just as the hoof sounds stopped.
'Why did it stop??!!'
She was hiding behind a tree, holding her breath to stay silent.
'Did he see me? He definitely saw me!'
Her heart started racing when suddenly a man's voice spoke behind her:
"What are you doing?"
"Aaahh!!" Liu shouted, jumping back in shock.
She turned around to see who had spoken—and immediately recognized him.
'What the hell is he doing here??'
It was the man she had seen in her strange dream.
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Most of the time, the solutions to our problems are never very far away.
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