To the Tower of Light (2)
Vivian nodded.
"That's true. They say the war was waged mainly around the major cities, so the deep mountain regions hardly suffered any damage at all. Quite a few villages never even learned there was a war. In a world with no way to spread news across the realm quickly—magic aside—it's only natural such things happened. All the more so for people living in places cut off from the outside world, like islands. There are islanders out there who don't even know who the current king is."
She went on with her explanation.
"The Ten Years' War was the war in which our Rotia Kingdom fought back against another kingdom's invasion. At the time, the hero Ophelia was stationed near these parts with her army, and against the masses of zombies and ghouls unleashed by the enemy's black magicians, she once summoned a pillar of light down from the heavens. A single unnamed tower, used as the conduit for that summoning, received the pillar of light and swept every last zombie and ghoul from this land."
"Wow. Way to go, Ophelia."
"Traces of that moment remain in the tower to this day—it glows day and night without pause, so people call it the Tower of Light. It's become quite the rare sight to behold."
"Could it be... they're there?"
"Yes. Frost Ice Flowers grow around the Tower of Light."
Having said that, Vivian's face clouded over with worry.
"The problem is that a cult of heretics who worship the hero Ophelia's power settled there at some point. They've claimed the Frost Ice Flowers and block anyone from harvesting them. There are even stories that they've killed people."
"Heretics aren't necessarily bad, though. They're people too—we can just explain the situation and win them over."
Cloud spoke as if it would be no trouble at all. Vivian frowned in frustration.
"Heretics who hold life cheap aren't people you can reason with through words alone. And lately, with word spreading far and wide that Sir Carlos, son of Lord Valentino, means to purge the heretics, there are even rumors that the heretics have grown violently hostile toward outsiders."
"Sir Carlos, huh. Stirring up trouble for no good reason."
"Mind your tongue. He is a noble."
"Ah. Yes, yes."
He gave a half-hearted nod toward Vivian, who was lecturing him like a schoolteacher.
"How about you describe the herb for me instead? What does it look like?"
"The Frost Ice Flower looks like..."
Vivian explained it in as much detail as she knew. By the time she finished, Sophia, who had been tending to customers out in the hall, came into the kitchen.
The lively expression she'd worn out front darkened in an instant.
"Sophia, is Thor at the inn?"
"Mm... no."
Sophia shook her head, sniffling.
"Thor says he can't come to the inn today—he's at a company dinner with the mercenary band he just joined."
"So he's sleeping outside?"
"I suppose so."
"Tch. Some brother—vanishes the one moment you actually need him."
"Why? What about Thor?"
"I've got somewhere to go, but dragging a drunk along would only make things more dangerous, so forget it."
"Where?"
"This lady here will explain."
After hearing the whole story from Vivian, Sophia fixed Cloud with a determined look.
"I'm coming too. I can't just send you off alone, Cloud."
"No."
"I'm going."
She dug in her heels.
"It'll be brutal."
"Cecil is my daughter. To save my daughter, I have to go too."
"Sophia, you need to stay here and look after Cecil. If we both take off, who's going to take care of her?"
Cloud gave a meaningful smile.
"Besides, I've got a good idea."
A certain someone surfaced in his mind.
Among his acquaintances there was one more person who, like Thor, was handy in a fight and possessed of absurd, brutish strength.
"Then I'll head out and be back as soon as I can. Take good care of Cecil while I'm gone."
Just as Cloud turned to hurry on his way, Sophia rushed over and threw her arms around him tight.
"Thank you, Cloud. Thank you so much."
Her eyes shimmered with tears.
"Oh, stop it. We don't even know how it'll turn out yet."
"No. Just your braving this danger for me and Cecil is more than enough. That alone means our family owes you a great debt, Cloud—no matter how it ends."
With a gentle smile, Cloud clasped both her hands firmly in his.
"Sophia."
"Yes."
"No matter what happens, I will save Cecil. Just trust me. I'll come back. Until then, stay strong."
"Yes, yes. And please, don't you dare die. I'll be praying for Cecil, for me, and for you—that we'll all come through this safe and sound."
From this man called Cloud, Sophia felt something beyond mere gratitude—something hot stirring deep in her heart.
Sniffling, she spoke her final words.
"Come back safe..."
And so, when he stepped out of the inn alone, the sun was already setting.
Cloud drew the night air deep into his lungs and let it out again.
Then he bellowed in every direction at once.
"Today I met a knight, met a priest, met a witch, met an elf, played shepherd, got turned into a slave, even drank mother's milk, and just when I thought I could finally rest, now I'm off on another adventure—my life has been lurching through one wild development after another all day long! And yet, despite it all, this body's current mood is perfectly ordinary! The S.S. Cloud is running right on schedule today as well! No fatigue in the body, no great confusion in the head! Right then—let's get moving!"
Being relied on by someone, Cloud decided, really was a wonderful feeling.
Even better than sex.
And so he resolved to do his utmost not to let Sophia down.
The full moon had risen, and midnight had come.
True to his promise to Sylvia, Cloud had arrived first at the spot where they'd met that afternoon and was waiting.
He was looking forward to meeting her.
The reason was nothing special.
He needed a dependable bodyguard to protect him in case a fight with the heretics broke out. That was the whole reason.
In a city he'd lived in for all of five days, there was no way he had the connections to find a capable, combat-trained companion. Thor, the only person he could even call a friend, was nowhere to be found, and even if he tracked him down, there was no dragging a dead-drunk man along. At the very least, if he'd had coin in hand, he could have gone to the Mercenary Guild and hired help—but he had no money to speak of.
Thus, left with no alternative, Cloud had chosen the option with the highest chance of actually working among all the means available to him. That option was Sylvia. As a knight, he figured she was ideally suited to be his companion on the road to the Tower of Light.
If not for that, he wouldn't have shown up here at all tonight.
The odds of a noblewoman pairing up with the likes of him were close to zero percent, and above all, she wanted him dead—she was someone he'd rather avoid at almost any cost.
But the biggest hurdle was how on earth he'd talk her around, horns and all. No—even without the anger, he'd expected she would never agree to come. They were hardly close, and a noblewoman of her standing had no reason to involve herself in something dangerous.
Knowing all this, Cloud had still resolved to give the persuasion his all, and there he stood in the deserted alleyway, waiting for her and her alone.
"Very well. I shall accompany you."
Honestly, he was dumbfounded.
The moment Sylvia showed herself, he'd scurried over and laid out the whole situation, and she'd answered without a single second's deliberation that she would come along.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"Is that any way to speak to one who offers you her aid!"
"What possible reason do you have for coming with me? Did something I said actually get through to you?"
"Not in the least. I simply wish to put your abilities to the test."
"Test my abilities?"
"I know not myself. I merely wish to observe at close hand what manner of man you are."
Sylvia said something inscrutable.
Observe at close hand—did she mean to keep watch on him?
Sylvia was draped in a deep navy robe, her body and face hidden as much as possible to conceal her identity. Even so, her radiant beauty could not be disguised.
"In return for my aid, there is one condition, Cloud."
"A condition...?"
Cloud smiled.
"All right. You're going out of your way to help with something grueling—it's not as if I can't grant you a little something in return. Go on, name it."
"When this affair is concluded, you shall grant my request. Unconditionally."
"Unconditionally? You mean do whatever you want, no questions asked?"
Sylvia's brow furrowed.
"Does that displease you?"
"It's not that I'm unwilling—it's that I don't know what you'll ask, and that's what scares me. What is this request of yours? Tell me that first."
Sylvia paused for a moment.
"There is something I have in mind... though it is by no means settled, and I cannot yet speak of it. I wish to ponder it further over the course of this journey. I shall tell you when the journey ends."
"Don't tell me you're planning to size up my worth as a human being over the trip and decide then?"
"Does that displease you?"
"Of course it does. How would you like being judged by someone?"
"You may be as displeased as you please! Considering what you did to me, you shall do everything I command from this day forth! If I order you to eat cat food, then cat food you shall eat!"
As Sylvia flared up and raised her voice, Cloud smiled and made a calming gesture with his hands.
"All right, all right. But I do humbly beg that the request be something easy to grant, Lady Sylvia."
He raised one arm with the elegance and refinement of a true noble and bowed at the waist.
Sylvia regarded his theatrics with a sour look. After a moment, she spoke.
"Hearing your circumstances, we've no time to stand about dawdling like this, have we? Let us make haste and depart."
At the sight of Sylvia urging him on and taking the lead, Cloud wore a thoroughly satisfied expression. It was simply gratifying that she treated the matter as if it were her own.
'She's surprisingly decent, isn't she?'