Emily
After walking a long while through the biting wind, I finally reached the neighboring village. It wasn’t far, and the well-kept road led straight there, so there was no chance of getting lost.
“Oh...”
I stood at the village entrance, staring blankly around. A short stone wall, and in front of it a single gatekeeper standing as if on guard. Inside, children about my age were helping their parents with work.
“What’re you? Where’d you come from?”
The gatekeeper spotted me standing outside and called out. I walked up to him and spoke.
“From the village next door.”
“Next door? Ah, Chief Hans’s place? Errand?”
“Yes.”
His wariness was so faint it might as well have been nonexistent. Even when he noticed the sword on my back, he didn’t make an issue of it. I bowed my head to the gatekeeper as he opened the gate, then stepped into the village.
It must have been lunchtime; the smell of food drifted from every direction. I hadn’t eaten breakfast and had walked a long way, so hunger was already gnawing at me. I popped a piece of hard jerky from my bag into my mouth and asked the gatekeeper,
“Mister.”
“What?”
“I heard there’s a man here with a carriage. Where can I find him?”
“Carriage? Head over to the stables in that corner.”
The gatekeeper kindly pointed the way. The place he indicated was a large building tucked into a corner of the village. I thanked him once more and hurried toward it.
Finding the carriage was easy. It was parked neatly beside what looked like a stable, with a mountain of cargo piled in front of it. Even now, three men were hauling the loads.
I had heard the rumor from the adults: someone in this village owned a carriage and, for a fee, would take goods and passengers all the way to the capital. I had worried I might be too late, but it seemed I had arrived at just the right time.
I approached the men moving the heavy crates.
“Excuse me.”
“Hm?”
Despite their rough looks, their temperaments weren’t bad. One of them set down a heavy load and turned his gaze on me, wiping the sweat from his brow.
“What is it?”
“Do you take passengers to the capital?”
“Hmm...?”
He tilted his head at my question, then lifted his gaze and looked around. He seemed to be searching for my parents, but the odds were high they still hadn’t noticed I had left home.
“I came alone. It’s an errand.”
“An errand...? You don’t look like you’re from our village...”
“I’m from Chief Hans’s village.”
“Ah, that old man?”
“Yes.”
“All right, what’s your business? Got money?”
I dug into my pocket and held up a single silver coin. The man shook his head. Apparently it wasn’t enough. I quickly pulled out another.
“Is this enough?”
He hesitated for a moment while looking at the two silver coins, then finally nodded. The deal was sealed.
“Pay me when we leave. We head out as soon as lunch is over, so you’d better wait nearby.”
I nodded and went to sit on a small wooden chair beside the stable. The cold weather had frozen the seat; my backside was freezing. The wait turned out longer than expected, but in my position I couldn’t complain.
When the man finished his work and his meal, he returned with two people I hadn’t seen before: a woman carrying a large bag, and a man with a long scar carved across his face. They seemed to be fellow passengers for the carriage.
After that there was little conversation. He had asked my purpose for going to the capital, but when I didn’t answer he didn’t press—apparently it had only been a perfunctory question.
Just as I was about to hand over the fare, the man spoke.
“What’s your name?”
Was he suggesting we introduce ourselves? Knowing each other’s names would certainly be better than not.
“Emily. And you, mister?”
“Ned.”
Ned took the money, then brought two large horses out of the stable and began hitching them to the carriage. It didn’t take long after that for us to be ready to leave.
Once he had checked that the harnesses were secure, Ned called out to the waiting passengers.
“All aboard!”
Confirming everyone was inside, he climbed onto the driver’s seat and set the carriage in motion.
In this freezing weather, sitting up on the driver’s seat—wasn’t he cold? I leaned out a little to look outside, and Ned shouted,
“Pull your head in! You’ll fall!”
Startled by the warning, I yanked my head back inside. The sight must have looked funny; the woman riding with us covered her mouth and chuckled softly. When I sat back down and stared at her, she turned her head with an embarrassed little cough, then offered me a sheepish smile and spoke.
“Hello. What’s your name?”
“Emily. And you?”
“I’m Sinel. You can just call me Sister Sinel.”
“All right.”
I answered that I understood, but I had no intention of ever calling her Sister Sinel. I turned my gaze toward the man sitting in the corner. We would only be together a short while, but I figured I might as well learn his name. Sinel seemed to share the thought; she looked at the man in the corner as well.
“Philip.”
The answer came only after a long stare. Then Philip closed his eyes as if refusing any further conversation.
After that I talked with Sinel. The conversation was nothing substantial, yet I learned quite a bit about her. She was a scholar researching something out in the countryside, and she was heading to the capital to buy expensive materials.
While we talked I had to keep my expression under control. The ride was absolutely terrible. Every time the carriage jolted and my backside bounced, I nearly bit my tongue. Didn’t Philip and Sinel find this uncomfortable at all? I let out a long sigh and burrowed into the corner. The large cargo bags were soft enough that I thought I might lean against them and catch a little sleep.
The carriage finally stopped in the dead of night after the sun had set. A fierce wind howled from every direction, and faint snowflakes drifted through the air. Philip and Ned skillfully prepared a campfire. They pulled firewood from inside the carriage, wrapped it in oil-soaked paper, and struck flint to light it. I squatted a short distance away and watched the whole process.
“What’re you staring at?”
“It’s fascinating.”
“What is? Lighting a fire?”
“Yes.”
I knew how it worked in theory, but seeing it with my own eyes was something else entirely. To the adult man I had once been in the modern world, everything in this place was simply wondrous—even the two big horses hitched to the carriage.
“You bring anything to eat?”
“I’ve got jerky in my bag.”
Ned sighed at my answer. He pulled a large pot from the carriage, poured in dried vegetables and water, then shook in some yellowish powder. Before long the water began to boil, and a savory aroma spread through the air.
“Come sit.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah.”
I scrambled over and sat beside him. He took out a small bowl and ladled a portion for me. I had no idea what the dish was, but the thick consistency looked like soup. There were no spoons. Ned and Philip didn’t have any either; both men used a large ladle to scoop the soup into their bowls and simply drank it.
“Hoo... hoo...”
I followed their example and drank the soup. It was nothing but salty; no other flavor stood out. Disappointing, but I couldn’t complain. While I was gulping it down in a hurry, I felt a strange gaze and lifted my head. The owner of the stare was Philip, and he was looking at the sword strapped to my back.
“You learn the sword?”
The sudden question from Philip. I nodded.
“Just a little, for self-defense.”
“Self-defense?”
“Yes. There was a retired knight in my village.”
Philip’s interest was clearly piqued. He stood and spoke to Ned.
“Ned, any wooden swords left inside?”
“Uh... I’ve still got the one I used to use... What’re you planning?”
Philip nodded at that and headed into the carriage. I tilted my head and asked Ned,
“Are you two friends?”
“Something like that.”
I tilted my head again. Friends were friends—what did “something like that” even mean?
“Looks like he wants to see a knight’s swordsmanship.”
“A knight’s swordsmanship?”
“Yeah. You said you learned from a knight, right? Becoming a knight’s always been his dream.”
“Ah...”
I nodded blankly at Ned’s words. Philip emerged from the carriage carrying two wooden swords and casually held one out to me.
“Take it.”
I accepted the wooden sword and glanced at Ned for his reaction. He sighed and gave a small nod. I hesitated for a moment. It was true I had learned swordsmanship from a self-proclaimed retired knight, but I myself was no knight. I might not live up to Philip’s expectations. Yet he must have known that already. What exactly did he want to see?
“I won’t attack. Just show me.”
Seeing me hesitate for so long, Philip spoke urgently. I sighed and nodded. He had fed me dinner, after all; I could grant a small request like this without complaint.
Philip leveled his sword and watched me. He was ready. I set aside the iron sword on my back and my thick leather coat, then took my stance: feet shoulder-width apart, blade angled to shield my upper body. With each low breath my posture sank a little lower.
The moment everything was set, I kicked off the ground and launched my attack. The first technique the gatekeeper had taught me was the downward slash he used when chopping firewood. Picturing moonlight falling from the sky, I swung.
A sharp crack rang out as my sword was blocked. An adult sparring with a child—exactly the reaction I had expected, so I wasn’t flustered. Keeping our blades locked, I twisted my wrist; his sword immediately slid free. Losing a pure contest of strength was only natural.
I gritted my teeth and slipped into Philip’s guard. My small stature let me move in ways he had to react to. The path of the sword protecting his body shifted, already covering the line my next attack would take. I knew any strike would be blocked, yet I couldn’t simply stop. Right now I had neither the strength to alter my blade’s trajectory nor the speed to slip past his eyes.
I drove power through my legs and added rotational force from my hips.
Thwack!
The wooden sword I thrust out was stopped with almost insulting ease by Philip’s blade. I staggered back, breathing hard.
“Again?”
“Mm...”
Philip let out a vague hum at my question. Had he been satisfied? He shook his head and held out his hand to me.
“Thanks.”
A handshake? But I had no desire to clasp that large, rough hand. I hid both of mine behind my back, dodging Philip’s massive palm.