"Ailiruila—who is she?"
Looking at the name carved into the gravestone behind the young woman, Xia Nan asked outright.
Sarah went still.
Her expression stiffened, and she pressed her lips together.
She had deliberately shifted to block the gravestone with her body, then tried to change the subject and leave the cemetery with Xia Nan. All along, she had hoped he wouldn't notice it.
Now that he had asked, her heart tightened. She lowered her head, unable to speak.
Silence stretched between them.
Xia Nan began to wonder if he had been too direct, and whether he should approach the subject another way.
But Sarah's voice emerged from beneath the felt hat she had pulled firmly over her head.
"Half a month ago, when those adventurers came, I was drawing water at the well. There was a huge commotion. I heard Aunt Chris, who lives on the south side of the village, got whipped just because she was walking too slowly and blocked their way. She still walks with a limp."
"They said they'd help us deal with the monsters in the nearby woods. They told the village chief to bring out the best things we had for them."
"The chief did as they asked. He even served the food we'd saved for the Midwinter Festival. But they complained it tasted bad and demanded wine—"
Sarah suddenly raised her head and looked at Xia Nan.
"I don't mean to burden you with my troubles."
"I just want to say, Mr. Xia Nan, you're different from them. Different from the other adventurers who've passed through our village."
Those two sentences seemed to use up all the courage she had gathered. Sarah lowered her head again.
"Our village is in the Rime Forest. Adventurers do pass through from time to time."
"We're