Eve Story | Judgment Fable | Ella and Yoru | Episode 37: The Guest Put to the Test
Whistles of admiration rang out here and there in the tavern.
“Well now.”
Rose raised one eyebrow.
Ella and Yoru Episode 37
【The Guest Put to the Test】
Oto set his empty mug down quietly.
“Not bad at all.”
“You’ve got a mouth on you, don’t you?”
Rose also lifted her own cup and drained it in one breath.
Even the sound of her throat gulping was strangely imposing.
The surrounding patrons laughed as if they were entertained.
However, their eyes were not those of mere onlookers.
Everyone was watching Rose’s mood and the outcome of this contest.
A second drink, then a third, were brought over.
Oto did not falter.
With his usual soft smile, he accepted the cup and drank carefully.
In contrast, Rose seemed to get into a better mood with every drink.
She was bold, rough, and yet, completely without openings.
“Heh. You’re better than you look, bard.”
“A traveling performer’s throat is their livelihood, after all.”
“That’s a theory that sounds like it’ll burn your throat out.”
Laughter erupted.
I let out a small sigh while watching the exchange.
I had wondered how it would turn out at first, but perhaps it would really just end as a simple drinking contest.
It was just when I thought that.
Beside me, Ella suddenly lost all expression.
“Yoru.”
It was a small voice.
But the moment I heard it, my spine straightened.
“...What is it?”
“Outside.”
That was enough.
Silve at my waist rang out again with a high-pitched sound.
This time, more clearly than before.
I gasped.
Beyond the tavern’s commotion.
I heard a strange sound from the gap in the door.
Scrape, scrape.
The sound of something digging heavily into the sand.
And it wasn’t just one.
“...Something’s coming.”
The moment I said that, a scream rose from outside the shop.
“Monsters!”
The atmosphere in the tavern flipped in an instant.
Patrons stood up, chairs toppled over, and someone clicked their tongue.
The next moment, the half-open door was blown off its hinges with great force.
What leaped in along with the sandstorm was a giant four-legged beast.
Its body was low like a lizard’s.
But its back was covered in rock-like humps, and hot breath leaked from its mouth.
Its red eyes glowed fiercely, and its fangs, wet with sand, were bared.
“Sandfangs?!”
Someone shouted.
It wasn’t just one.
There were more outside.
Footsteps and the sound of claws scratching against the building overlapped many times over.
“Oto!”
When I turned around, Oto was in the middle of his fourth drink.
His complexion hadn’t faltered yet. But he wasn’t in a state to move immediately either.
“I’m fine, probably.”
“Probably?!”
Ella wasn’t smiling anymore.
Kuro and Shiro, which she had drawn, glowed almost simultaneously.
“Yoru, to the right!”
Before she even finished, I had already leaped out.
One of the beasts that had jumped into the tavern stretched its neck to bite a nearby man.
I drew Silve and stepped in.
Fast.
But it wasn’t night.
The resonance like that time didn’t come.
So, I had no choice but to rely on my eyes.
I thrust my blade toward the neck it was trying to bite.
Too shallow.
Hard scales deflected the blade, and the beast growled in irritation.
The next moment, Ella dove in from the side like a black slash.
“Too slow!”
Kuro tore through its front leg, and Shiro ran toward its throat.
Blood splattered, and the giant body tilted.
I slipped past its side as if falling and thrust again.
This time, deep into its mouth.
The blade entered a soft spot, and the beast flipped over.
—Good!
Just as I thought that, an even louder impact echoed from outside.
The tavern walls shook.
“There’s more!”
At someone’s shout, Ella clicked her tongue.
“Yoru, we’re going outside!”
“Yeah!”
The moment I stepped outside, a hot wind slammed into my face.
The street was already in a state of half-panic.
Carts were overturned, fences meant to keep beasts out were broken, and giant shadows were moving beyond the sandstorm.
Three. No, four.
They were heading toward the well.
“They’re aiming for the water source...!”
It was a place where travelers and beasts gathered.
This city existed precisely because there was water.
If that was destroyed, it would be the end.
“Ella!”
“I know!”
Ella kicked the sand.
She leaped to an impossible height just like that.
Even under the daylight, for a split second, she looked like she was truly floating.
Shiro, swung down from above, smashed into one beast’s back.
Ella didn’t even absorb the recoil as she landed on the ground, twisting her body to head toward the next one.
I ran toward the one closest to the well.
—I’m scared.
But my feet wouldn’t stop.
The beast turned toward me.
It growled low, kicked the sand, and charged.
Fast.
I couldn’t take it head-on.
I twisted my body to dodge to the side and watched its leg movements.
Front, front, heavy, but the right leg is a little slow.
—There.
I ran Silve low.
The base of its leg.
Too shallow.
But its posture collapsed.
At that moment, a white light burst from the edge of the well.
“I’ll reveal its outline!”
It was Oto.
I don’t know when he had come outside, but he was strumming his strings while swaying slightly.
White Minia made the beast’s outline stand out, and I could see its movements even through the sandstorm.
“Oto, don’t push yourself!”
“I am!”
He shouted, playing one more note.
In that opening, I stepped into the beast’s neck.
Silve tore through its throat.
Hot blood fell onto the sand, making a sizzling sound.
The last one was rampaging near the well.
It was biting into a cart loaded with a traveler’s goods and smashing wooden crates.
Beyond that, a woman holding a child was unable to move.
I won’t make it.
The moment I thought that, a heavy shadow collided from the side.
It was Rose.
She swung a long-handled axe-like weapon with one hand, striking the beast’s side and sending it flying.
With just that one blow, the giant body staggered heavily.
“What are you standing around for?!”
Her roar echoed throughout the street.
“I won’t let you destroy the water source of my city!”
Rose stepped in front of the beast and glared at it head-on.
The beast growled.
But it was the monster that flinched.
Amazing, I thought.
She wasn’t just strong.
That woman was truly the center of this place.
“Purple girl!”
Rose shouted.
“Finish it!”
“I don’t need you to tell me!”
Ella laughed.
The next moment, her purple hair sliced through the scorching air.
She dove into the bosom of the beast that had been forced to turn its head by Rose’s blow, snapped its jaw up with Kuro, and severed its neck with Shiro.
Blood drew an arc, and the last one collapsed.
It became quiet.
No, rather than becoming quiet, the sounds of the city finally returned.
Heavy breathing and crying voices mingled.
I could hear the sound of people fixing their toppled cargo.
Only the sound of beasts crying in the distance echoed.
I stood there, my shoulders heaving, and gripped Silve again.
My hands were shaking a little.
Ella wiped her sword with a face that looked like it was business as usual.
But sweat was beading on her forehead.
Oto sat down in the shade of a barrel, holding his head with one hand.
“...Isn’t it against the rules to fight in the middle of a contest?”
“You lost the moment you walked out while still drinking.”
Rose said.
“Ugh.”
“But.”
Rose cut her words off there and looked at the broken street, the fallen monsters, and then at us in turn.
Her eye without the eyepatch narrowed.
“I’m calling this a loss on my end too, with conditions.”
“Conditions?”
Ella tilted her head.
Rose laughed through her nose.
“I was testing the guest who came to the negotiating table. But if you’re people who can be used to protect the city, you’re worth a lot more than the price of some drinks.”
The men on the street looked at Rose with a bit of surprise.
Apparently, those words didn’t carry little weight.
“You wanted to go to Roubent, right?”
Rose said.
“I’ll take you. But it won’t be for free.”
—I knew it would come to that.
I braced myself, but Rose grinned.
“In exchange for the drink money. You’ll act as guards for the next caravan. A group heading to Roubent was just about to leave.”
“Fine.”
Ella answered immediately.
“An instant answer, huh?”
“Because that was the plan, right?”
Rose was silent for a moment, then laughed out loud.
“You’re really interesting!”
Oto raised his hand, his face still a little red.
“Just to confirm, that means we’ll get information about the city too, right?”
“Of course. Merchants keep their contracts.”
“Thank goodness...”
Oto, who said that, swayed a little on the spot.
I hurriedly supported him.
“Are you okay!?”
“Yes, probably... The world is spinning just a little bit right now.”
“That’s not okay at all!”
Ella laughed heartily.
Rose watched us like that and nodded with satisfaction.
“Come to my office tonight. I’ll give you the details.”
After saying that, she suddenly looked at Ella.
“Purple girl. I don’t dislike that way you’re a bit off.”
Ella blinked in surprise, then laughed in her usual way.
“I get told that a lot.”
“I’m complimenting you.”
“Then, thank you.”
Listening to that exchange, I let out a deep breath.
Everything was an unbelievable story.
The moving city of Roubent.
The Rose of the Desert.
And the woman in front of me named Rose.
But if we are going to a place not on the map, I think we have no choice but to go through people like this.
The desert heat hadn’t softened even a little.
Even so, I felt like I had moved forward just a little bit more than before.
Creative Awards 2026 Fantasy Novel Category Submission