The Wheel of Teaching
"Are you all right?"
Having finished the butchering, Enede checked on Ninala.
"I—I'm fi— blegh!!"
Ninala had meant to say she was fine, that there was nothing to worry about — but she couldn't hold it back a second time, and retched again.
It was an undignified sight, yet Enede only looked on with sympathy, rubbing Ninala's back.
"Would you like some water?"
"Th-th-thank you."
"Let's rest a little before we go. You look exhausted."
Ninala drank from the leather waterskin Enede held out and sat down on a nearby rock. The soft murmur of running water gradually settled her nerves. Having emptied her stomach, she even felt a strange sort of relief.
"Feeling better?"
When enough time had passed, Enede asked.
"Yes. Thank you. For looking after me."
"Don't mention it. I was the one who brought you out here in the first place."
While Ninala rested, Enede gathered dry twigs and had a fire going without much trouble. Then she took the raw liver they'd taken from the antelope and roasted it over the flames.
"Want some?"
"No, I'm fi—"
Growl.
She had been about to decline — but her body chose that exact moment to betray her. The loud, insistent demand for food left Ninala's face burning red.
"It's all right. This was probably your first time, so of course you're more worn out than usual. Hmm… the way I put that sounds a little strange, though…"
"Pardon?"
"…Never mind. Forget I said anything."
Faced with those innocent eyes, Enede lost her words. She felt oddly as though she'd committed some small sin.
"Anyway, at least try a bite. You caught it yourself, after all."
"I caught it myself…"
That much was true. Enede had handled all the dressing, of course — but Ninala's own contribution had been substantial, and the thought of it filled her chest with a quiet swell of pride.
"Well then…"
She carefully put a piece of the roasted liver in her mouth. Even after throwing up only moments before, the grilled antelope liver tasted better than any feast she had ever known.
I've eaten something like this before… somewhere…
By the time she came back to herself, she had polished off the entire liver on her own.
"Ah — this is… I'm so sorry!"
"Heh. It's fine. You must have been starving."
Enede laughed, and Ninala's face went red all over again.
"E-Enede, aren't you hungry?"
"I'm all right. More importantly, it's gotten dark. We'll have to camp here for the night."
"Spend the night… here?"
"It might be a bit uncomfortable, but I'll take the watch, so don't worry too much."
Complaining that she couldn't sleep because the ground was hard would have been childish. She had been the one to follow Enede out on the hunt in the first place, so she had no grounds to object. But there was another, larger problem.
"Um… but if we sleep out here, won't lions or wolves come? And it's just the two of us…"
"I can handle that much on my own, so rest easy. Bandits would be more of a problem — but we're not that far from Ku'ar, so they won't be traveling in large groups."
There was still no fear or unease to be found on Enede's face. It wasn't baseless optimism, nor was it overconfidence. She was simply calm — as if she were stating the obvious.
She must have every contingency already covered.
It was a world apart from Ninala, who had come hunting on a whim of the moment. She felt a strange inferiority toward Enede.
"Princess, why did you come to Ku'ar?"
Lost in her thoughts, Ninala was caught off guard by the question.
"Hm?"
"You don't have to answer if you'd rather not."
After a brief hesitation, Ninala spoke honestly.
"I was just curious about the city. It wasn't that I particularly wanted to learn something — I simply wanted to experience something unfamiliar and different."
"Hmm."
"…It's a strange reason, isn't it?"
Anticipating Enede's reaction, Ninala got ahead of it. Coming to a city built and blessed by a god for a reason so trivial — she could already imagine what the other woman must be thinking.
"Not really. If you get right down to it, I came here because I was bored."
"Because you were… bored?"
"Yes, bored. The idea of learning something without any great pressure was interesting in its own way. As for why I specifically attend the Master's classes — I've known him for a long time, that's all."
"Ah…"
"Is there a particular reason you wanted to study the cultivation of the mind, Princess?"
"That's…"
In truth, there was no particular reason. She attended Sunya's classes out of simple curiosity. Lately she had even considered trying other lessons. That was all — and yet the words wouldn't leave her mouth. For Ninala, even voicing her own thoughts to someone she wasn't close to was difficult.
"…I've been thinking this for a while now."
Enede met Ninala's eyes.
"You seem to worry far too much about what other people think. Your station is higher than someone like me, after all."
"Pardon? That's…"
Ninala floundered, at a loss. Looking at her, Enede offered a gentle smile.
"You remind me of my little sister. If she were still alive, she'd be about your age."
"You had a… sister. Was she a lot like me?"
"Not at all. That girl was so wild — aside from having a chest, she was no different from a boy. Temperament, looks — she was the complete opposite of a delicate, graceful princess like you."
Longing surfaced on Enede's face, and with it a quiet wistfulness.
"But maybe that's exactly why you bring her to mind — because you're so completely different."
"…"
"So when I see a quiet person like you, Princess, I suppose I get a little impatient."
It was an odd thought, but watching Enede recall her sister, Ninala felt she was looking at someone thoroughly grown. Unlike herself, who had everything done for her from start to finish, here was an adult who had lived her own life.
"…I think you're truly remarkable, Enede."
"Me?"
"Yes. Unlike me, you can do everything on your own. Fighting, for one — and honestly, even without me, hunting that game wouldn't have been much trouble for you. I can't do anything…"
"It's not that impressive. Keep attending the Master's classes and you'll be swinging a weapon much the same way someday, Princess. As for hunting — our village was so small that self-sufficiency was just a way of life."
For the first time, Enede's face flushed. Even she found it embarrassing to be praised by someone younger than herself.
Talking of this and that, Ninala found her heart easing. She forgot the discomfort of the ground and drifted into sleep.
"Wake up, Princess."
Enede shook her roughly awake.
"Y-yes? What?"
Roused so abruptly from a deep sleep, Ninala couldn't gather her wits at once. She sat there dazed while Enede continued.
"Someone's coming this way."
"Coming? Who is?"
"I don't know. Stay right beside me for now."
People with ill intent were approaching. At those words, Ninala's mind snapped clear. Before either of them could say more, a woman came crashing through the nearby brush.
"Help me!"
Recognizing another woman, Ninala was about to breathe a sigh of relief — when Enede leveled her bow at the newcomer.
"Stop."
"What? Wh-why are you doing this?"
The woman who had been running skidded to a halt as Enede took aim.
"Th-this isn't the time! There are bandits—"
At the word bandits, Ninala's heart lurched with fear. Enede, for her part, remained coldly composed throughout.
"Speak clearly. Who are you?"
"Why are you doing this?! Something terrible is going to happen while we stand here!"
Just as the woman said, two burly men emerged from behind her.
"You ran all that way and this is as far as you got?"
"Yoo-hoo! Look at these tasty-looking women!"
Armed with swords and sickles, the men looked and carried themselves like nothing good. Exposed to ruffians with no escort, Ninala trembled with fear.
"Wh-what do we…"
"It's all right."
Enede was looking at Ninala with a soft smile.
"Trust me."
At those words, the anxiety in Ninala's chest eased a little.
"Trust you? Trust what?"
"Put the bow down, you bitch, if you don't want to die!!"
The men blustered threats, but Enede's drawn bow was enough of a deterrent that they didn't dare approach carelessly.
"Who are you? What is your connection to that woman?"
"What do you think? The kind of connection where we take and get taken."
"Is that so?"
Enede released the string. The arrow she loosed drove clean through one of the men's eyes.
"Gah! Gaaah?!"
"You crazy bitch — you actually shot him?!"
The man beside him snarled and started to charge — but Enede already had another arrow nocked and trained on him.
"One more step and you'll end up just like your friend. You don't want to be a matching pair of one-eyed fools, do you?"
"Kh…!"