A New Beginning
Once Lacrima had stabilized, I caught a cart heading back early in the morning.
After nearly a month here, my whole body felt frozen solid. No more days of constantly dusting myself with Thermal Powder. Antico would be deep in winter by now too, but it had to be more comfortable than Lacrima.
Adelaide, knowing I was leaving today, came out early that morning to see us off. Pina greeted her with a bright smile.
"Ah, Your Highness. Good morning."
"Yes, Pina. Good morning. Are you both ready to head back?"
Pina answered with a sunny smile.
"We just need to load the luggage!"
"What a shame. I wish you'd stay in Lacrima a little longer..."
"Circumstances being what they are."
"Yes, I know it can't be helped."
Adelaide was only wishing aloud—she didn't truly expect us to stay.
I asked her,
"Adelaide, you're not going back?"
Adelaide nodded.
"That's right. I've decided to stay in the general's place. We'll need to rotate the soldiers and reorganize the formations, so I'll be busy for a while."
"It'll be rough staying here."
"It's harsh, yes. Freezing without Thermal Powder, inconvenient in every way... but I rather like it."
Smiling through hardship—Adelaide was first-class at that.
"What matters is that I don't have to deal with royal duties."
Adelaide was truly first-class. If her attendants heard that, they'd wail and flip somersaults and still not have enough of a reaction.
"You said you want to be king. You'll have plenty of that then."
"Father already dumps his work on us often enough, so it's fine."
Is that really fine?
Adelaide touched the corner of her mouth.
"Diego will have it a bit rough, though..."
"Diego?"
"Ah, that's my little brother's name. A clever, kind child. Well, Diego will manage just fine on his own."
I could feel the trust she had in her younger brother. Honestly, having dumped the work and fled outside, Adelaide owed him infinite gratitude. Or rather—wasn't the whole thing broken from the start, with the king dumping his work on them?
I let out a deflated laugh and hoisted up the luggage. And just as I was about to load them onto the cart one by one, Adelaide stopped me.
"Alice, wait a moment."
"...Huh?"
"Some soldiers are coming to help with your departure."
Huh?
I stared blankly at Adelaide and tilted my head.
"What are you talking about?"
"Ah, here they come now."
Where Adelaide pointed, there really were several royal soldiers. A knight with a colored cord on his helmet, and even a squad leader, were among the procession.
The squad leader greeted the princess and spoke.
"Your Highness, we've gathered the men. We'll begin at once."
"Good. I'll leave it to you."
I stood frozen in the middle of it all, just blinking. I felt like a division commander being seen off after inspecting the troops.
"...Adelaide, did you arrange this?"
Adelaide shook her head with a smile.
"Heh heh, as if. You think I forced them? I didn't say a word."
True—that wasn't Adelaide's style. Which meant these people had come of their own will to help me...
I just stood there watching the soldiers carry the luggage.
Pina spoke, looking awkward.
"You really don't have to go this far..."
The courteous squad leader shook his head.
"Please don't refuse. This is nowhere near enough to repay you."
"Is that so..."
Saying that, the squad leader turned his gaze to me.
"Compared to what you did for us, Hunter, this is less than a drop in the ocean."
"Ah... yeah."
"Please don't feel burdened. Every soldier who came here volunteered to help you. All of them... received your help. Hahaha!"
Enough with the flattery—I'm going to die of embarrassment.
The knight's distinctive helmet visor hid his face, but I imagined he was laughing heartily behind it. I felt embarrassed, and at the same time, something fluttered in my chest.
Fortunately there wasn't much luggage, so they finished organizing it quickly. Thanks to them, the work was done without me lifting a finger. There had been so much in Lacrima, but at least the ending was easy.
"Is this all the luggage?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Not at all. Then, Your Highness, we'll take our leave."
"Yes, go carefully. Sir Iswan."
"Yes, ma'am!"
With that, the knight led the soldiers away. They really just moved the luggage and left. It felt like a storm had swept through and vanished.
Pina looked at the neatly arranged luggage behind the cart and said,
"Everyone's so kind. They stacked everything so neatly."
Adelaide nodded.
"That's how grateful they all are to you. Myself included, of course. Because you came, it feels like the matter in Lacrima was resolved smoothly."
Adelaide spoke in a calm voice.
"But this isn't an end—it's a new beginning."
"It's fine. It's all my job anyway."
"That's truly a pity."
Saying that, Adelaide soon rubbed her own hands. And she made no effort to hide the sympathy she felt for me.
"You carry a great burden on those shoulders. Because of that weight, you're fated to keep running without a single moment's rest. But don't try to bear it all alone. Your enemies are Cartadia's enemies as well."
I nodded. As expected, Adelaide was firmly on the player's side.
"So when things get hard, come nestle into my arms. Come on—!"
Adelaide spread her arms wide and shot me a look.
The soldiers just helped me—I'm not having a hard time right now.
I stood there blankly staring at Adelaide.
"..."
"..."
Neither of us said a word. Only Pina, stuck between us, fidgeted restlessly.
Adelaide casually folded her arms as if nothing had happened.
"...Then go already!"
She's not sulking, is she?
Rattle-rattle. The wheels rolled on.
Pina clutched the rattling seat and let out a whimpering groan.
"No matter when I ride a cart, my butt always hurts. Maybe it's because it's been so long..."
"Yeah..."
Thud. The cart wheel must have hit a rock—it jerked for a moment. Pina and I both bounced up and landed back on the seats.
"Urgh."
A pain-filled sound escaped me before I could stop it.
My butt hurts...
I furrowed my brow and leaned my head against the side.
The road from Lacrima back to Antico had no direct route, so we had to pass through other places along the way. The journey was long, but riding a monster-drawn cart was still far better than walking the whole way. Everything was fine—except the sore butt was the one thing that needed improvement. At this rate I'd end up with a flat rear.
"We've got three left after this, right...?"
"Probably."
"Th-then that means we have to ride this cart at least six more times... Whyyy...!"
Pina covered her face with her hands and trembled.
Is it really that painful?
"If it's hard, you can just sleep."
"It's too bumpy to sleep..."
"Just close your eyes for now."
Pina fidgeted, then closed her eyes.
"Hweeeeh..."
Soon she was drooling with her mouth hanging open, head lolling to the side, fallen into sleep's embrace.
What the.
I pressed my lips together slightly, looked at Pina, then turned my gaze to the window. Before I knew it, the cold chill of the highland where snow never melted had faded away.
I cracked the window open, rested my elbow on the sill, and propped up my chin. I thought of Neveterde.
It wasn't that I felt nothing about killing her. During the fight I'd shut out all emotion, but when I had nothing to do, she kept coming back to mind. A wretched fate born of twisted time.
If everything in this world returns to how it should be, you'll open your eyes again in your own world too.
I closed my eyes just like that. I breathed in the cool, dry air against my skin. Winter would pass and spring would come. It had been nearly a year since I arrived in this place.
A lot had happened in that time. Truly a lot. But this was only the beginning. I imagined that many more things would happen in this world going forward. And in that imagination, I was still here.
The cart followed the road without a single signpost and arrived at Antico. Having reached its destination, the cart dropped Pina and me off with our luggage and left again. Watching the cart's retreating back, Pina turned around and stretched.
"We're back!"
"Yeah."
The forest city of Antico.
Roughly a month had passed since we'd left this place. A month ago, Antico had been buried in snow. Now only patches remained, melted by the sun, and unlike Lacrima the weather was a bit warmer—people were out and about.
"We'll be busy moving luggage again."
"Yeah..."
Just then, someone from the Association approached and spoke.
"Ah, you're Hunter Alice, correct?"
"Huh?"
"We received a letter saying you'd return to Antico today. We'll move your luggage for you."
Is this because I'm a Master Hunter? The treatment is really something.
Before I could say anything, hunters appeared and began moving the luggage in perfect coordination.
"How do you even know where to take the luggage..."
"We know you've always used the hunter lodgings in Antico, so we've prepared a spot there in advance. Were you planning to stay somewhere else?"
"No, not really..."
"Understood. We'll move them, then."
Wow, you people have everything planned out.
Speechless, I just nodded. Pina's eyes went round with surprise, and she looked up at me.
"Do people normally get treated like this?"
"I don't know either..."
Going around solving problems wherever I go—maybe the Association was treating me like a VVIP.