Enter, Pursued by a Memory
Enter, Pursued by a Memory
'If this guy's some nobody, I'm gonna be fucked.'
Mekel, Abnam's close aide who knew how to play the clown and lighten the mood, felt his body hair stand on end for reasons other than the cold as he tilted his sword toward the ground, doing his utmost not to appear hostile. His instincts told him that if this person were an enemy, things would get ugly, and if not, there was no sense in planting unnecessary ill will.
The elf was unfazed, but the man had seen the weapons they'd drawn in that brief moment, and his eyes had instantly turned hostile. Sensing the need to step in before a pointless misunderstanding could ignite, Mekel held back his comrades and moved forward.
His top priority was protecting the boss. To do that, someone else needed to take actions that would be perceived as coming from the one in command.
"Pardon us! This is a pioneer village supported by the gate city of Raviel—might I ask what brings you here?"
His attempted conversation, made while desperately hoping no one would just charge in like a goddamn wild dog, was quite successful. Because the man's eyes changed right away.
"I am Eldmia Ega, a red-rank adventurer who accepted the support request issued by the Raviel Adventurer Guild. I wish to meet the person in charge."
But at the courteous reply that came back, this time it was the eyes of Mekel and the others that changed.
The bastard who cut off the boss's hand. The very man they'd been told to run from, no questions asked, never mind revenge—what was he doing here? Was it coincidence? They'd heard he'd shown up in Englem and come all the way here, but could running into him again like this truly be just chance?
All kinds of worries flickered through Mekel's mind in an instant, but what mattered right now was that despite their flinching, this man who had just announced himself as Eldmia Ega didn't seem to find them particularly suspicious.
Whatever the case, the fact that he didn't make a big deal out of people flinching at his name was a good sign. If the bastard had been tracking the boss, he would've opened with a glare sharp as an axe blade right from the start.
"Ah, I see. It's not exactly a checkpoint, but as a formality, would you mind showing me your adventurer's badge? Is the elf beside you also an adventurer?"
"Yes. Likewise red-rank."
"Let's see... confirmed. Thanks for your cooperation. The administrator dispatched from the guild will be in that building over there that looks like a temple."
And Mekel's speculation had been correct. After he'd opened the way without further comment, Eldmia had even bowed his head in a polite farewell—the initial reaction he'd shown nowhere to be found. It was only when his retreating figure grew faint far off beyond the blizzard that Mekel finally let out a relieved sigh and belatedly turned to look at Abnam.
"Boss. Breathe, breathe. He's gone, isn't he?"
"Hooou... son of a bitch..."
The sweat running down Abnam's forehead even as a blizzard raged showed just how tense he'd been. Hell, anyone watching might've thought it was summer just for him. Before seeing him in person, Mekel had wondered why just hearing the name made people turn pale, but now that he'd faced him himself, he understood.
Skill aside, that fucker was goddamn dangerous. The bastards who drew steel the moment the numbers didn't add up, no matter how many opponents there were, usually had eyes like that. And nine times out of ten, those lunatics were the real deal.
"Fucking hell, and that's a fifteen-year-old?"
"Just what the hell does that kid eat and what kind of training makes a body turn out like that? I'd like to know, dammit."
His underlings each chimed in as they watched Abnam, who sat beside the campfire feigning calm while his hand still trembled. No one was sneering at him for showing weakness. All of them had endured at least one brush with death, something that could shatter a man's nerve.
"Still, didn't he just walk on by without recognizing you, boss? That's good, isn't it?"
"I don't know, fuck..."
Was it that he genuinely didn't know and just passed by? Had he let it slide because they hadn't so much as set foot near the Ogwen border or the west? Or was it that Abnam hadn't gone looking for Eldmia, but Eldmia had come to where Abnam was, so he'd decided to turn a blind eye? It was impossible to tell.
Should he just boldly confess it, since he'd strictly kept the words he'd spoken the day his arm was severed anyway? But what if bringing it up unearthed the memory and that bastard went berserk and tried to cut my throat?
"For now... we'll probably end up having to exchange greetings in some official setting later. He said he came on a request, so the administrator will gather everyone for introductions at least once. I'll decide what to do after seeing his reaction then."
"Decide what?"
"What do you think—we either run, or keep going with the request. Gotta pick one."
Abnam hadn't spent the past few years idly either. He'd honed his skills and even earned red-rank, so he had his own sense of pride. But if anyone asked him right now if he could walk into a noble's mansion and butcher dozens of people, he was prepared to tell them to shut the fuck up and slap them across the face. He had no confidence he'd crawl back out alive, and even if by some miracle he did, he'd never be able to set foot in the kingdom again.
That was why the very idea of treating Eldmia—who'd flipped a noble's mansion upside down in the heart of the capital and was still calmly living in the kingdom—as an enemy had never once crossed his mind.
"If anything feels off, we bolt, understand?"
"Yeah."
Sitting by the campfire yet feeling his body heat draining away, Abnam desperately hoped that Eldmia had completely forgotten him.
◈
"Small world."
"Hm? Why? Someone Eldi knows?"
"Yeah, not well enough to say hi, though."
I couldn't remember his name. He'd been the guy I was about to kill back in Ogwen, but I'd let him live and just taken an arm instead.
From what I recalled, he'd looked like some potbellied middle-aged man, but now he was muscular and covered in way more rugged scars than before, so I'd hesitated for a second—though it was definitely the same person.
"They looked awfully jumpy. Someone else you tormented somewhere?"
"'Tormented?' I merely dispensed righteous retribution."
I had let a man who had been ranting about killing everyone keep his arm in a condition where it could be reattached, and I had even spared his life. How could that be called torment? At first I had considered acknowledging him, as I had with Zikmel, but... he was so terrified and was not trying to start anything with me, so I let it go.
Truth was, Abnam hadn't so much as shown his face near Ogwen, so I wasn't inclined to pick a fight over it. And right then I was worn out from the blizzard raging like a mad bastard and just wanted to rest fast.
The snowfall had been fairly ordinary until we'd left the capital and neared Raviel, but the closer we got to this village, the fiercer it became. Now it was howling at a level where I could barely make out our surroundings thanks to the fires lit here and there. No matter how sturdy my body had become and how well I'd prepared for the cold, pushing through a blizzard like this was draining in more ways than one.
If it were just because we'd ridden hard and gotten cold, I'd have begged the Fire Spirit Lord for some warmth, but doing that over a perfectly natural weather phenomenon might earn the displeasure of other spirits, so by then both Asilie's and my own hands and feet were stinging numb.
[Blizzard! Fun!]
"Yeah, good for you, having fun."
With only Laika, who felt no cold, in high spirits, I sifted through my memories as we headed toward the temple. Looking around as we went, the village had definitely changed a lot. Back then, my impression had been that they'd barely managed to throw up some buildings for people to live in, aside from the temple, but now I could dimly make out things like the village hall and even the palisade, still in the middle of being reinforced.
"Who goes there!"
Had I been driving the horses a bit too fast because the situation was unfavorable and I'd wanted to take my time sightseeing if not for the blizzard? Though there was still some distance between us, the ones standing guard in front of the temple raised their voices and called out.
"I am Eldmia Ega, a red-rank adventurer commissioned for the Raviel support request! I was told the administrator is here, and so I've come!"
"Ah! Welcome! Please, come inside immediately!"
That was a remarkably warm response, considering they were just hired mercenaries or adventurers. As I got closer, I saw the man who'd welcomed us was holding nothing but a club.
"Pleased to meet you, adventurer! My name is Ikop. Thank you for making the long journey for our village in such foul weather."
"Pleased to meet you, Ikop. You're a villager, I take it?"
"Yes. We've had more injured, so we're short on hands. I'll move these horses to the stable... whoa! You've got a dog, too?"
I'd known the village construction had progressed a fair bit, but hearing they were short on guards because of the injured didn't seem like a good sign. I handed Ikop the reins to Asilie's horse as well and asked,
"He's a dog who understands speech well, so don't worry. More importantly—are there a lot of injured?"
"Not a small number. I don't know if they were aware this blizzard was coming, but the monsters have been attacking a lot more in the last few days. Just yesterday, four adventurers were injured fighting orcs."
He didn't seem particularly frightened as he spoke, so it looked like the adventurers had at least been doing their jobs properly. After expressing my thanks, I stepped inside the temple as he'd directed and was greeted by a space littered with all manner of odds and ends and clerical supplies.
The thick warmth hitting me immediately was welcome, but the fact that the so-called administrator had moved all the necessary work items into the temple to work only confirmed my uneasy feeling.
It meant there were either a lot of wounded, or not enough space to put people up.
"Who..."
As I stood spacing out for a moment, looking around while mired in these unpleasant speculations, someone addressed me. Turning my head, I saw a woman wearing guild attire, holding a large stack of documents.
It was a face I knew.
Because she was the woman who had come to me with countless victims to speak of the right to vengeance.