Winter

The moment I got home, I was greeted by two unexpected visitors—an unlikely combo of Sheryl and Seneran.

The warm welcome didn't last long. Seneran had hauled over what she claimed were restorative foods Demonfolk supposedly ate after overstraining their Magic Power systems, and Sheryl had come to check on me and deliver a message from Siegfried. And there I was, making the brilliant mistake of casually bringing up the quest in front of them, without a single thought in my head.

The result? Crumpled Eldmia, obviously.

Seneran thrashing around and whining beside me was one thing. I could've maybe managed Asilie, who was just puffing her cheeks and putting on a front, if I'd given it a hundred concessions. But Sheryl's cold, dead-eyed stare ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was so threatening it actually made me flinch against my will.

Thanks to that, I was now on my knees in front of the two of them, Seneran yapping beside me, rattling off excuses.

"Look, I'm telling you, it's really not dangerous. Besides, it's not like I said I'd take it without thinking. This is one of the first abnormal symptoms I've experienced since I created my Magic Organ, right? It's not like it interferes with my mobility. If anything, moving around a little in times like this, recording and organizing the specifics—what state I'm in, what the symptoms are, how much activity I can manage—isn't that exactly what I need to do so I'm ready when something seriously bad actually hits?"

Of course, I hadn't thought that far.

It wasn't that I took it with no thought, but it sure as hell wasn't some quest I accepted after that kind of constructive reasoning, either. But if I'd said that to their faces in this situation, I could see plain as day that getting permission just to step outside the house would become a pipe dream, let alone going on a quest.

Was it a pretty decent excuse for something I'd thrown together in a panic? Seneran wore a slightly tempted expression and stopped her thrashing, but Sheryl and Asilie's reactions were deadpan. In the split second when the thousand and one Eldmias in my head started raising hell, insisting I needed to scramble for my next excuse, Asilie spoke first.

"I really don't get you, you know that? What kind of person in this world fights an Archdemon and then tries to go out and move around two days later?"

"Well, uh, I keep telling you, the demons weren't anything special? This time the thing didn't even have a heart, and it pulled so much dumb shit that it was more of a pain in the ass than anything. Honestly, it was nothing. All it did was turn into a fake dragon and flail around a bit, that was basically it."

Even though it was an explanation based on facts, Asilie seemed to put more trust in Sheryl beside me than in my words. The feeling was very much, 'Oh, so that's how it was—but she's reacting like this?'

"Come on, Sheryl. You saw it too. Why are you making such a scary face?"

"I did see it. I saw you personally carry out a plan so utterly absurd I couldn't even find the words—getting hit directly by the tail of something that was still a dragon, fake or not, and then using the recoil to ride it up onto its back."

That fucking demon bastard... never does anything to help me in life.

"That... well... yeah... Look, it was still a demon, shitty as it was. I couldn't tell what other tricks it might pull, so I went with the least worst option too. I mean, it suddenly flew up into the sky the moment things turned against it, didn't it? If I hadn't climbed on then, it would've shot its breath right into the city and escaped."

"...Mm."

Fortunately, when I shoved the cowardly facts in her face as evidence, Sheryl's gaze wavered slightly. It was brief, but that reaction was enough evidence to present to Asilie.

"And you, big sis—don’t you trust me? There’s no way I’d deliberately choose something that would wreck my body when I’ve worked so hard just to stay alive. Look—Sheryl may worry because I acted recklessly, but even she can’t completely deny that my judgment at the time was the best option available, can she? This time is no different. That request is basically a quick errand, just a little trip out."

"...Ugh, honestly. You'd be less hateful if you were just bad at arguing."

Asilie had been driven more by worry than anger from the start, so she reluctantly shook her head with a long sigh at my rational rebuttal and headed to the kitchen to help Tié prepare the refreshments.

That was acceptance! Having cleared one of the biggest hurdles, I glanced sideways at Sheryl. She was glaring at me with eyes like axe blades, but after a moment she let out a short sigh of her own.

"When are you going?"

"It's a rush request from the Raviel side, so I won't be able to wait until the break. I'll have to move within the week at the latest."

"...The Empire's Hero ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠said he'd visit as soon as possible, told you to keep some time open."

"Pass this along: 'I said I'd answer your question, not when I'd answer it. I said I'd consider joining the party, not that I would join.'"

It was a confident joke I'd tossed out, but both Seneran and Sheryl shot me looks like they were staring at absolute trash, leaving me feeling mighty awkward. When the reaction to a tossed-off joke was like that, even I felt a little wronged.

"No, come on. I basically bared all my cards and kept the situation from blowing up anyway. Isn't it a bit harsh to react like that just because I pushed a promise back a little? It's a joke. A joke."

"...Sorry, Eldmia. Honestly, I really did think you'd put it off exactly like that."

"...Ahem, me too."

Watching the two of them apologize sheepishly and honestly, I stood up, brushing myself off with a dignified but slightly hurt air. And the fact that I hadn't been entirely free of such thoughts, I decided to bury deep in my chest.

"Anyway, once winter really kicks in, there'll be more things I can't do than things I can. Tell the Hero to wait until then, please. Say I'll personally visit the Empire after I've dealt with what I can. Ah, and while you're at it, please pass this along too."

I pulled out the thank-you letter I'd prepared to give Esmue, the one I'd written to hand over when Siegfried visited. Sheryl took it with a puzzled look, glanced at the addressee's name, and flinched like a cat that'd just seen a cucumber.

"Why are you writing to the 1st Princess..."

"Being able to block that demon's curse at the very end was entirely thanks to Her Highness the 1st Princess. The least I can do is express my gratitude."

"...Hm, really?"

It was blatantly obvious she was wondering how that was thanks to Esmue, but Sheryl just stowed the letter without much comment and dropped the axe-eyed glare. I even felt a swell of pride at having splendidly overcome an unforeseen crisis.

Filled with the satisfaction of having cleared the two biggest barriers, I looked over at Seneran. Her eyes were already sparkling as she stared at me.

"You're taking me along, right?"

"I'm going for work, so there's absolutely no way in hell. I'll record things dutifully on my own, so you just focus on your research."

"Ah!! Why!!"

Just Asilie alone draws plenty of eyes. Since I'm not going on a pleasure trip either, I didn't want to add pointless complications.

One male adventurer moving around with two women in tow wasn't exactly common. And even in those uncommon cases, they usually got stink-eyes of jealousy. So why the hell would I bring Seneran along?

In the end, Seneran, dissatisfied with my declaration, began to roll around on the floor of someone else's house in an undignified tantrum. But to me, it was nothing more than a futile little struggle with zero effect.

◈

"If it's news about Raviel, I did hear a little on the way back."

As I was staring dumbfounded at Seneran, who was now cleanly abandoning the fuss and sipping her tea as if she'd never thrown a tantrum in the first place, Tié ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sat down and joined the conversation, having skillfully finished preparing cookies she'd dug up from who knows where.

"Though it wasn't anything major. The situation was more or less, 'someone committed misconduct without much thought and happened to get tangled up with a traitor.' The lord of Raviel has reportedly given up quite a lot to prove he has nothing to do with the treason conspiracy."

"Hm, so as the Guild Master said, the support itself won't be an issue..."

"That's right. A lot of money is already moving—constructing the village, building infrastructure for economic activity, things like that. I remember there weren't any particular complaints about wages, either."

This unexpected cross-verification put my mind at ease. I'm not so shoddy that I'd work and then not get paid, but finding yourself in that kind of situation at all is an unpleasant thing, so being careful and looking into it is the right call.

"However..."

But Tié's information apparently didn't end there.

"There was also talk that casualties among the village guards are piling up faster than expected."

"The possibility that it's simply a lack of skill among the hired guards?"

"That's definitely possible. Early winter is when monsters, pressured by the cold they weren't prepared for, are at their most violent. Call it a combination of carelessness, variables, and insufficient skill—it tracks to some degree."

Not that we had any reason to worry for our own safety unless it was a hell of an unusual variable. But we weren't the only two people standing the village watch, and steady casualties would inevitably sour the overall mood. In that gap, a few shameless bastards might try the old 'you're skilled, so you should step up more' routine—the thief turning around and accusing the watchman. And then they might get their asses kicked by me.

Hoping such a thing wouldn't happen, I sipped my tea. Seneran rolled her eyes for a moment and then spoke up flatly.

"Still, if the casualties piling up is public knowledge being tracked in statistics, it seems like incidents that can be handled, at least."

"...You think so?"

"Yeah. It's not like disappearances ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are getting mixed in or strange phenomena are making it impossible to even get a grasp on things, right? Like the housekeeper said, I'd bet it's mostly the result of monsters getting more violent, finding undefended homes, and blindly charging in. If it were a bigger incident, wouldn't they be asking for purple-rank support instead of raising it to the red level?"

The hypothesis was so clear and cool-headed it was hard to believe it came from the same person who'd been whining moments ago.

"And if it's at that level, it also means there's no reason at all to worry about you. Meaning it won't be a situation so tight your record-keeping gets neglected. For anyone else, who knows, but since the standard is Eldmia, relatively speaking, nothing's happening. Seems right."

And unlike when I was desperately laying out excuses, Sheryl and Asilie seemed genuinely convinced when they heard her hypothesis.

Thanks to that, I had to agonize for a moment over whether I should feel trust from how the two of them were convinced—in that attitude of 'by Eldmia standards, nothing's happening'—or if I should feel a small sense of betrayal in how they took Seneran's words as more credible than mine.