"Bring me back? What could you possibly mean, after all this time?"
Frying skimmer still in hand, I slowly turned around.
High Priest Baldo cleared his throat theatrically.
"The truth is, upon closer examination—your power as a Saint had not faded at all. It was, in fact, the rare 'Power of Blessing.' The Grand Cathedral has need of you. Come, let us return."
Beside him, Mireille put on a sugary voice.
"Sister, I was sooo lonely without you. You're wasted out here in the sticks. Let's go back to the capital together, okay?"
A murmur rippled through the villagers waiting in line.
"What are you staring at?"
Baldo glared at the villagers and raised his voice.
"Frontier peasants like you are fortunate enough to cling to a Saint's mercy, and you can't even show gratitude? Clear the way this instant, you lowborn rabble."
Nothing about him had changed since the day they exiled me.
Looking down on the weak and taking only what had value. Those same eyes.
Just a short while ago, these were the people who had thrown me away in a "cursed land."
I didn't need to ask the reason for their sudden about-face.
"You've realized the soy sauce from this land sells for a high price in the capital, haven't you?"
When I said it, Baldo's smile stiffened for an instant.
"So you want to take me back and monopolize the method. Am I wrong?"
"Ngh... Th-that is for the good of the people! Rather than letting someone like you monopolize it—"
That was when it happened.
A chill crept through the air.
The crowd in line parted swiftly to the left and right.
Footsteps of steel drew closer, pounding into the ground.
It was Wolf.
Behind him, the jet-black dragon. And on his shoulder, for some reason wearing an apron, the little dragon Coo was going "Kyururururu" in a threatening growl.
Wolf loomed in between Baldo and me.
His massive frame towered over the High Priest.
Genuine killing intent—the kind of glare that looked like it could shatter rock.
"—Got business with my fiancée?"
The square fell utterly silent.
"F... fi-fian...?"
Baldo's face went past blue and turned white.
Wolf gently drew me close by the shoulder and went on in a low voice.
"Fiene is Kreuz's benefactor. With her own hands, she brought this dying land back to life. You cast her aside—and now you dare come to drag her back?"
"M-my lord, this is a decision of the Holy Office—"
"What of the Holy Office?"
Wolf thrust out the proof of his rank as a dragon knight that hung at his waist—a crest bestowed by the royal family—without ceremony.
"The Margraviate of Kreuz answers directly to the royal family. It lies outside the Holy Office's jurisdiction. If you lay a hand on my fiancée in my domain... you'll answer to this dragon."
The jet-black dragon let out a growl like the rumbling of the earth.
Even Coo, with all its tiny body could muster, went "Shaaa!" and spat sparks.
Mireille let out an "Eek!" and hid behind Baldo.
I giggled and plucked up one piece of freshly fried karaage.
"High Priest. Before you go, do have just this one."
At the golden morsel held out to him, Baldo swallowed hard—and before he knew it, he had popped it into his mouth.
Crunch. Then a burst of juice.
"?!"
A single tear trickled from his eye.
"Wh... what is this... this deliciousness..."
"That is the taste of the land you threw away."
I smiled sweetly.
"This flavor isn't going to the capital. It can only be eaten here. Because this is—a flavor for the people who make me want to come home."
Baldo couldn't say a word in return.
Half dragging Mireille along, he staggered back to his carriage and fled.
The whole village's laughter saw them off.
Dusk.
As I put away the pots after closing up shop, Wolf stood beside me, as if unsure what to do with himself.
"...Earlier. About calling you my fiancée."
His ears were redder than the setting sun.
"I said it in the heat of the moment. But... if possible, I'd like it to be true."
My hands still sticky with oil, I took his big hand in mine.
"Then I'll fry karaage every day. In return—please eat it by my side for the rest of your life."
Wolf gave a soft laugh.
It was a clumsy, warm smile, the first I had ever seen on him.
At our feet, Coo let out a high "Kyuiii!" and ran circles around us.
With a final sizzle, the last piece fried up a perfect golden brown.
Getting exiled really was a stroke of luck.
—Because here, the most delicious days in the world had been waiting for me.