I, Viretta, Am Going to Hunt a Dragon

In the morning, as Saffron was tidying up around, he noticed something odd.

Ranken, who hadn’t drunk too much the previous night, hadn’t shown up at all.@@novelbin@@

He had been wandering around the village for a while, and even after breakfast, there was still no news of him. By lunchtime, still no sign of Ranken, and Saffron tilted his head, perplexed.

"I can’t see Ranken."

"Ah."

Viretta, who had been sitting at the same table, made an odd sound.

She calmly scooped up a spoonful of potato soup and put it in her mouth.

"I’m afraid I have some sad news. Ranken decided to return to his homeland. It couldn’t be helped. He fell seriously ill."

"...Seriously ill? Just like that?"

That was absurd. Ranken, who had been in good health, suddenly fell ill?

Saffron glared at Viretta, who was offering a half-hearted excuse, but that didn’t change her response.

"Yes, well. Illnesses do tend to strike suddenly. No matter how brave or loyal a knight is, they can’t always overcome illness on their own."

"What kind of illness did he have? Is he okay?"

Saffron looked at Iola, who was genuinely concerned, as if he were someone odd.

"There’s no specific diagnosis, but he said that if he stayed with us any longer, he would just keep feeling like he was dying. He must have been in great pain."