Restored Vitality
“This is…”
“The wind’s grown cool…”
My party members were right. The breeze sweeping across the barren plain felt utterly refreshing, nothing like before.
Once, the wind over this land had been thick and dusty, carrying no hint of freshness. Now vitality had returned to it.
No change stood out at a glance. Yet everyone could sense it—life would soon begin to take root in this soil once more.
“For now… let’s head back.”
The place we had emerged was a long way from the mine. All that frantic wandering through the dungeon must have carried us this far.
We dragged our exhausted bodies toward the great walls of the city.
The city gate was in an uproar. Armored soldiers rushed about in every direction, carefully inspecting the faces and belongings of everyone trying to enter.
Then one of them spotted us. His eyes went wide and he shouted.
“F-Found them! We’ve found them!”
That cry drew every gaze. Soldiers who had been scattered in search of something came sprinting toward us in a frenzy.
“This is…”
Alfonso looked thoroughly flustered at the sight of the soldiers. He hastily jammed the helmet under his arm onto his head. As if that could hide who he was. In moments the soldiers had completely surrounded our party—Alfonso included.
“Your Highness! It’s the Third Prince, no doubt about it!”
A young man shoved through the ranks of soldiers and came running. He was breathing hard, as though he had sprinted the entire way.
“Alfredo… is it really you…?”
“Brother Alex…”
The two brothers’ eyes met in the air. Alfredo—no longer Alfonso—endured the silent stare, then removed his helmet. His golden hair spilled free, matted and filthy with blood and sweat.
“Where have you been…?”
Alex’s gaze traveled slowly over Alfredo’s body, careful and thorough, as if looking at something precious.
Alfredo bore that look in silence before speaking quietly.
“I went on an adventure… a real adventure.”
Once back inside the castle, Alfredo had no time to rest. His reckless actions had cost a great many lives. He felt the full weight of responsibility for every party member who had died.
Alfredo understood at last.
The tales of adventurers in the storybooks he cherished were all fabrications.
During the dungeon expedition, their party had been cut in half. There had been no guarantee that death would not come for him next. He had been terrified, yet forced himself to keep up a calm front.
To Alfredo, death had been something foreign and unfamiliar. The other adventurers, though, brushed off a comrade’s death as if it were nothing—as if it were an everyday occurrence.
It felt as though his soft, untempered spirit were being hammered by countless blows.
“Haa…”
Alfredo drew a deep breath and stopped before the doors of the audience chamber. At his signal the soldiers on either side opened them without a word.
He walked in with his head high. Whenever he faced his father, the King of Raoum, he had always felt small and cowed. Today was different.
“Alfredo.”
“Father…”
“I’ve heard the full account from the party members who went with you. So you dealt with a dark mage inside the dungeon?”
It was a question meant to confirm the facts. If Alfredo denied it, the stay of the comrades who had fought beside him at the risk of their lives would surely be prolonged.
“It is true.”
“Traces of magic were found deep within the mine. That must have been what transported you… and by coincidence, an unidentified mage was part of your party.”
Alfredo’s brow furrowed at the words. In the course of escaping the dungeon, the dungeon itself had collapsed completely. The resulting ground failure had damaged the largest mine in the kingdom.
He could see his father’s intent clearly. King Santos of Raoum meant to lay the blame for the ruined mine—and for the entire incident—at the feet of the Magic Tower.
“It was pure coincidence.”
Alfredo’s slightly hunched back straightened along with his chest. He reminded himself that he stood here not as Third Prince Alfredo, but as the adventurer Alfonso.
“I know my own foolish actions created an artificial dungeon inside the mine. Father, rather than shift the blame onto the comrades who stood with me, it would be better to seize and question the one who chose that place…”
Santos, King of Raoum, looked down at his youngest son in silence. The boy who had always stood before him looking cowed and disappointing was now declaring his will with open pride.
In truth, every investigation into the incident had already been completed. Everything had been the result of chance; those who had accompanied his son bore no responsibility whatsoever. Santos also knew how the kingdom would change because of it. He had simply wanted to test Alfredo.
The soft blade had been tempered. The adventure there, the experience piled upon experience, had forged the edge that was Alfredo.
Santos smiled with satisfaction.
“Alfredo.”
“And so, that is… yes?”
“That mage—Ceris, was it?”
“Ah, yes. She used that name, I’m certain…”
“What is she to you?”
“…A precious comrade.”
Santos drummed his fingers on the armrest of the throne, calculating. Even if the once-frail Alfredo had changed, he was still the third prince. As long as his two elder brothers lived, the succession would not easily pass to him. Of course, if vitality returned to this land and it regained the glory of centuries past, that would be another matter entirely.
Alfredo needed a foundation—something that would let him stand as an equal against his brothers.
Things were about to get busy. Santos rose from his seat and summoned a servant to prepare pen and paper.
“Father…?”
“Go to your comrade.”
“Uuungh~”
I stretched as I stepped out of the great castle. My stiff body cracked and loosened with a satisfying pop. The entire party, myself included, had been hauled straight to the castle and subjected to two full days of questioning.
It had been a little awkward, but I could understand the Raoum royal family’s reaction. The sudden disappearance of the third prince would have made everything look suspicious.
Still, our stay had been comfortable enough. Soft beds and good food had been provided. If anything, it had given me time to focus on recovering my mana.
Once the full truth came out, the Raoum royal family paid us far more than the promised reward. I smiled faintly at the weight of my now-heavy bag.
“W-Wait a moment…!”
Just as the adventurers who had collected their pay began to drift away one by one, Alfredo—who had come out to see us off—called me back. He was dressed not in full plate but in splendid everyday clothes.
“Yes?”
“If… we should meet again someday…”
“Someday?”
“Would you form a party with me again? Go on another adventure together?”
I looked up at him with a slightly awkward expression. That sparkling gaze was a bit much.
“Hmm…”
How should I answer? A flood of thoughts raced through my mind in a short span.
“We’ll see when the time comes.”
A smile spread across Alfredo’s face. Come to think of it, he had been a pretty decent party member. He hadn’t dismissed a girl who looked young on the outside, had treated me without prejudice, and hadn’t even been shocked to learn I was a Gold Rank swordsman.
“Then I’ll see you next time.”
“T-Take care!”
I waved to Alfredo and left the castle. When I reached the bottom of the hill where the castle stood, I found a pink-haired girl waiting for me at the roadside.
“Terra?”
“Hey. Finished saying your goodbyes?”
“Ah, yes. Were you waiting for me?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Just because. You’re not planning to leave right away, are you? Got anything to do?”
“Well… sort of…”
I glanced at the bag on my back. It was stuffed full of gold coins and ridiculously heavy.
“I was thinking of having a full plate made.”
“One that fits you?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Perfect timing. Leave it to me.”
“Huh…?”
“I run a blacksmith shop, you know.”
A Gold Rank swordsman who was also a blacksmith? I stared at her in mild surprise, and Terra simply grabbed my hand and started dragging me along without another word.
It was a small girl’s hand, yet the calluses on it were hard and unmistakable.
“You’re sure about your skill…?”
“Just trust me!”
The place we arrived at was a larger forge than I had expected. The heat of the furnace and the thick scent of metal seemed oddly natural on Terra.
“Can you hold your arms up for a second?”
“Ah, sure.”
“Good. Stay just like that.”
Terra fetched a measuring tape from the corner and began taking my measurements. She approached the work with complete seriousness.
“Your body’s sturdier than I thought. It’ll handle the weight fine… Since you’re a mage, better go with minerals that have high magic resistance, right…?”
She muttered continuously under her breath as she started writing up the order form. Watching her, I quickly spoke up.
“Ah, please don’t make a helmet. Because of my horns…”
Clang—!
With every strike of the hammer the flames in the furnace seemed to leap in answer. Faint afterimages began to trail around Terra’s small frame.
Her forge never went cold for an entire week. She hammered day and night without rest. When the final blow finally fell, she looked at me with deep dark circles under her eyes.
“I-Is it finished?”
Terra nodded wordlessly. The completed silver armor gleamed with a clear, pure light. She began fitting the armor onto me herself, piece by piece.
Each time her small hands moved, she pulled the leather straps tight and firm.
“Done!”
When Terra finally stepped back, a solid weight settled over my body. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
Full plate was heavy, yet the weight was distributed so evenly across my frame that it barely restricted my movement.
I tapped the breastplate lightly and smiled in satisfaction. When my mana barrier failed, this armor would save my life at least once.
“How much do I owe you?”
But she couldn’t answer. Terra, who had been perched on a small table watching me, had already fallen into a deep sleep.
“Hmm…”
How much should I leave…?
After a brief moment of thought, I took out every last gold coin I had received as payment for the commission.
I had the full plate I wanted, and every bit of business here was finished. There was no reason left to stay.
I draped a blanket over the soundly sleeping Terra, then mounted Nightmare and rode out of Raoum Castle.
Saaaah—
As Nightmare plodded along, a green wind spread from beneath his hooves. Following that breeze with my eyes, I spotted a single small flower blooming on the barren earth.
“Oh…”
A flower blooming in a place so empty and desolate felt all the more special. I was staring at the little blossom swaying in the wind, lost in quiet wonder, when Nightmare strode right up and gulped it down in one bite.
“Ah…!”
Puihing—
Nightmare flicked his tail and continued calmly on his way.