Bab 20: Do You Really Want to Know?
"It seems Captain Rhys has something to say. Why don't you spare us a few words on this subject?" Linette suddenly mentioned after glancing at the escort captain.
Vaan immediately wondered whether the True Witch was purposely trying to fan the flames with her words or not.
However, Captain Rhys' following words quickly surprised him.
"It is as this young man said. Our Steelguard Escort Group has been drunk on our success and settled with our current achievements, never thinking about improvements. I have been enlightened and recognize the Steelguard Escort Group's fault," Captain Rhys lowered his head to Vaan.
What did it take to make a Rank 2 Aura Master bow his head to a nobody?
Vaan was impressed that such a proud person could recognize his escort group's shortcoming to make amends instead of continuing to be stubborn.
"It's great if you understand and know where to improve. However, I wouldn't have said so much if not for Lady Lillias' insistence. You should offer your gratitude to her instead of me," Vaan passed the credit to Lillias.
The flaw he pointed out wasn't something difficult to figure out. The Steelguard Escort Group would have understood with a bit of thought. The problem was that they never tried to think about it.
"Nevertheless, I should owe you both our deepest gratitude on behalf of the Steelguard Escort Group. I will definitely bring the awareness back to core management," Captain Rhys firmly said, "Thank you, Lady Lillias. Thank you…"
"Vaan. You can call me Vaan," Vaan casually stated.
Captain Rhys nodded and said, "Thank you, Vaan."
With a bit of interaction, the escort group's impression of Vaan completely changed. Even though some of the young warriors remained stubborn, the rest recognized Vaan's value.
Captain Rhys humbled himself and sought Vaan's knowledge. The more they interacted on the road, the more the captain realized how vast Vaan's knowledge lies.
From the Dark Hellhound's habits to their favorite choice of prey, their inherent traits, and how to recognize their strengths and level at a glance, it was as if Vaan had memorized everything there is to know about them.
"Impressive." Linette suddenly praised Vaan and said, "It's rare to encounter a man of intelligence such as yourself. But as learned as you are, I fail to understand why you decide to travel alone with such little preparation."
"Could it be that you have been aiming for our group from the start? What is your intention?" Linette's gaze suddenly sharpened.
"You're overthinking things, my Lady. It was by pure coincidence that we met on the road," Vaan smiled.
Naturally, he was well prepared for the trip, having brought ten days' worth of food supplies and water.
However, most of it was stored inside the Heaven-Swallowing Space, and others could only see him carrying a pair of daggers, a bag holding three days' ration, and a few small pouches of unknown content.
He had no intention of mentioning the special subspace.
"I have completed ten thousand books. Thus, it was time to begin traveling ten thousand miles. My reason for traveling alone is to gain experience. It's rather depressing to suspect that my fated encounter with two beauties was an orchestrated scheme with veil intentions, don't you think?"
When Vaan said this, Lady Linette quickly burst into heavy laughter and diffused the lingering tension she created between them while Lillias blushed with embarrassment.
Perhaps due to living a sheltered life, Lillias was not accustomed to Vaan's flirting.
"You're right. That would be depressing. I apologize for thinking it was like that," Linette wiped her tears of laughter before she said, "It's the first time I heard someone say they had to read ten thousand books before walking ten thousand miles."
"I thought the phrase was supposed to be; reading ten thousand books is not as good as walking ten thousand miles?" Lillias softly mentioned with doubt.
"It is. However, the world is an unforgiving place, where danger lurks at every corner. That's why we need to read ten thousand books in order to walk ten thousand miles. It's questionable how far we can travel before getting ourselves killed if we were lacking in knowledge," Vaan stated.
"As I thought, you really are well-learned. You have such a profound yet realistic view of the world. However, I still have some doubts that need clarifying, if you won't mind me asking," Linette mentioned while staring at Vaan directly.
"Please ask away, my Lady." Vaan gestured straightforwardly.
"Since you are so familiar with the region, you should also understand how terrifyingly cold it becomes at night. But, despite knowing that, how can you forget to bring camping equipment?" Linette raised her doubt.
"Ah, this…" Vaan smiled without losing his composure and said, "My body might look frail and thin, but I'm still a descendant of witches. My physique is a little special, so I didn't see the need for a tent. I only need the earth as my bed and the heavens as my blanket."
Alas, Vaan was only being half truthful.
If he had to sleep in the open lands of the Blackmoon Region at night, he would definitely freeze his nuts off.
"I don't know whether that is true or not, but I can at least see that you are arrogant and bold enough to travel alone without them."
After chatting for a while, Linette noticed Lillias's pout and decided to end her conversation with Vaan.
"Haha, let's end our talk here. I won't take up any more of your time and leave you to my little sister. The poor vinegar jar seems like she's about to explode," Linette teased with a soft chuckle.
"Big Sister!"
Seeing Lillias' embarrassed reaction, Linette only laughed harder before shaking her head and focusing on the trip ahead.
It was a pity that she did not finish digging into Vaan's background.
Coincidently, Lillias didn't have Linette's reservation, but she did have the same curiosity about the source of Vaan's vast knowledge.
After Lillias stabilized her unsettled emotions, she quickly asked, "Hey Vaan, you must have learned everything from a library, right? But men don't usually have access to libraries…"
"I gained access after earning a Senior Witch's favor." Vaan casually smiled before becoming slightly absent-minded.
However, Lillias' following question brought him back as she asked with surprise, "A Senior Witch's favor? How did you do that?"
"Do you really want to know?" Vaan glanced back at her with a mischievous smile.
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