Not a Comrade, But
Thud.
Thoom!
Just as I’d expected, the Empire didn’t send any more troops.
Even for an empire with a huge population, they wouldn’t want their hard-trained knights getting minced to pieces. It made sense. You didn’t plant seeds in a field and water them only to have knights sprout up in their place, after all; of course they’d be reluctant to throw them away.
On the other hand, if killing me only got them… what, a morale boost, maybe? No matter how I looked at it, the payoff was laughably small compared to the risk.
Whoosh!
Thud!
Or maybe, like I’d thought before, the ones who had come earlier had simply been caught in the Serpent’s cunning scheme.
Maybe they’d finished the purge through my hands and no longer had any reason to waste precious manpower on the wrong target.
Whatever the case, the Serpent and the Empire’s mainstream opinion seemed to be that they didn’t want friction with me.
Well, even if I was a Master swordsman, what would they really gain by poking someone with no faction and no backing?
Looked at that way, the Serpent’s judgment—that he should set aside old grudges for now and try to pull me into the Empire—was reasonable.
Reasonable, yes. Not that it was actually going to happen.
Thoooom!
“….”
“….”
“….”
I reached for the sword I’d set down beside me for the moment.
It was the junior of the legendary blade I’d bought in the village last time, Flyswatter.
When the Empire had invaded, I’d forgotten to bring it, so I hadn’t been able to use it then, and after that there hadn’t really been any occasion to draw it.
Looks like I finally had a reason.
Ahh. This cool, weighty feeling….
Thud!
As if it weren’t tired at all, the sound of something heavy striking again rang out.
What did they call this again?
Was it noise between floors? No, that didn’t fit when there weren’t even separate floors.
I’d just call it noise.
“K-Kana….”
Just as I was about to go and eliminate the source of the nuisance, a hand grabbed hold of me and clung on.
“…Let go.”
The owner of that hand was Journey, who now practically lived on this mountain.
Every morning, she climbed up to find me.
After a light breakfast with the food she brought, she’d practice swordsmanship or study Granic until noon.
After lunch together, we’d spend the rest of the day the same way, and before the sun fully set she’d head back down the mountain.
Then the next day, she’d do it all over again.
Somehow she’d gotten hold of a book written in Granic and was painstakingly reading it while she held my hand tight.
It seemed that all the reading she’d done, combined with asking me whenever she didn’t understand something, had really paid off; Journey’s Granic had improved to the point that it was impossible to compare with how she’d spoken a few weeks ago.
She still sounded awkward, but unlike before, when she could only talk in single words, she could now actually form sentences.
Her pronunciation had softened a lot, too.
“…”
But that wasn’t the end of the changes in my daily life or in Journey herself.
Even though she came every day, she had been too afraid of me to get close; then, starting from the day the Empire invaded, she’d abruptly closed the distance.
She’d suddenly start patting my head, or come closer and chat with me in a friendly way.
Holding my hand like this now would have been unthinkable before.
At first I’d been too flustered and missed the timing, and now it was awkward to refuse, and I felt guilty being cold to someone who brought me food every day….
She didn’t seem malicious, so I’d half given up and just let her do it.
She wasn’t treating me like an actual child, was she?
…If you go by this world’s age, I’m not an adult, but still.
“There, there. Good girl.”
“….”
Guided by Journey’s gentle pull, I sat back down.
After seating me, Journey got up from her spot and trudged over to the barrier.
“Lady Yuki… our Kana is really angry. …No, that’s not it.”
Journey glanced at me, then went on.
“If you keep doing that, won’t you get tired?”
“Training is supposed to be hard.”
“How is banging on a barrier all day training? Besides, I barely managed to stop Kana from grabbing her sword, so please stop for today. …And don’t look happy about it!”
“…Tch.”
The silver-haired girl named Yuki—apparently a greatsword idiot, if the way she and Journey were chatting in Arkish was any indication—obediently put her sword away.
Just how did she plan to break a barrier cast by a Master Mage when she couldn’t even properly handle mana?
Of course, Yuki had no way of knowing that, but wasn’t she supposed to at least try a little and then give up if it didn’t work?
I wasn’t worried that she’d actually break it—she could pound on it all she wanted and never get through—though the intermittent noise did grate on my nerves.
It had been a little over a week since I’d first met Yuki, so she’d probably been thumping away at the barrier for about a week.
She hadn’t been like that at first.
Well, back then I’d let her inside the barrier, so there had been no reason for her to bang on it.
But once I let her in, she started shoving that greatsword at me and bothering me nonstop.
I could put up with it once or twice, but she kept charging at me even after I knocked her down again and again, so in the end I killed her and kicked her out.
After that, when I still wouldn’t open the barrier, she started swinging her greatsword at it as if she meant to smash it open.
…What kind of thought process was that?
Could someone who proudly declared, in front of the homeowner, that they were going to break the door be called sane?
“Why don’t you try changing your approach too, Lady Yuki?”
“...Approach?”
“Like bringing food, the way I do…. …A kidnapper?! I’m just trying to build goodwill, okay?!”
“If you brought me food, would I fight you?”
“I mean, if Kana kidnapped me, maybe, but would Kana even get kidnapped by someone as pathetic as me?! …Huh? What did you say? Ah… well, I can’t say for sure since Kana’s so blunt, but wouldn’t it still be better than now?”
“Hmm….”
As I watched them talking, Yuki turned her head toward me and our eyes met.
We stared at each other in silence, and then, as if by mutual agreement, both looked away.
“…What do little kids like?”
“It depends on the kid, but they usually like toys, dolls, and snacks, right?”
“Toys, dolls, snacks….”
“Oh, and since it looks like she likes gardening, bringing her some gardening tools or flowers might not be a bad idea.”
“Gardening tools, flowers…. Thanks.”
“If you’re grateful, then please stop banging on the barrier. Honestly, it’s noisy for me too….”
It felt like the conversation was just about wrapped up.
But why did I get the sense that the fundamental problem still hadn’t been solved?
I tilted my head.
＊ ＊ ＊
Another morning like any other.
I opened the barrier to let Journey in, then was just about to stop Yuki, who had trailed after her all the way here, when—
Suddenly.
“Here, a bribe.”
Yuki thrust out her hand and offered me something.
“…?”
A black… box?
What she was holding was a small box tied with a little red ribbon.
When I looked at it suspiciously, Yuki shook her hand again as if asking what I was waiting for.
“…It’s a gift,” Journey explained for me, watching us.
“A present for apologizing. She says she’s sorry for bothering you.”
“No way.”
Even after hearing the explanation, I still couldn’t believe it.
The Yuki I knew was a crazy little bird who’d swing a greatsword even if someone shoved a knife to her throat, not some meek chick who would apologize so docilely.
When I narrowed my eyes and glared at her, Journey quietly averted her gaze.
Suspicious….
I didn’t sense any hostility, so I might as well see what it was.
Click.
“…!”
The moment I opened the lid, a sharp sweetness stabbed into my nose.
The scent was so intense it felt like it should have leaked out through the cracks, yet somehow the lid had held it in. The smell was so tempting that before I knew it, I’d swallowed.
“Chocolate. Want to try some?”
“N-no….”
The glossy black sheen clung to my eyes and wouldn’t let go.
It would definitely be delicious.
There was no way something that smelled like this could taste bad.
But if I ate this….
I shot Yuki a glance.
“Why? It’s good.”
Yeah.
I know that….
Snatch.
Ignoring Journey’s words while I stared at the chocolate, Yuki picked one up.
My eyes followed her hand.
“Ahh.”
“….”
Honestly, she really does think I’m a child.
Just as I was about to flare up in outrage, a sweet fragrance suddenly spread across my tongue.
“…!”
“That’s right.”
Ah— I’d accepted it on reflex…!
But it was too sweet to regret.
…It’s so good.
It was incredibly sweet, yet not sticky at all, wrapping around my tongue in a way that truly deserved to be called a delicacy.
As I closed my eyes and savored the gentle sweetness, the chocolate in my mouth melted away in an instant.
“Ah….”
I let out a wistful sigh at the lingering aftertaste, and Journey chuckled softly.
“There’s another one.”
At her words, Yuki pulled out another box from somewhere.
Exactly the same as the last one.
I nodded.
“…Come in.”
I hated being bothered, but a guest was different.
She’d shown some sincerity, so I’d let it slide.
…I absolutely wasn’t being swayed by the chocolate.
＊ ＊ ＊
“This is easy.”
“It is easy.”
Journey couldn’t help smiling as she watched Kana pad inside carrying the box of chocolates in both arms.
At the same time, though, she couldn’t quite shake a faint sense of emptiness.
“If I’d known, I should have brought this from the start.”
Would they have gotten close faster if she had?
She couldn’t help wondering about it.
The things I brought were delicious too… weren’t they just not to Kana’s taste? Well, that seems strange too, considering how she reacted to spicy food.
Journey shook her head, thinking she couldn’t make sense of it no matter how hard she tried.
Still, she had seen Kana happy.
She hadn’t smiled, but just seeing Kana’s stiff, hardened expression soften was a huge gain.
The chocolates had been expensive, since they were high-end, but since Journey wasn’t the one who’d paid for them, she could enjoy the happiness without any burden.
It would be unfair to say Yuki had done all the work while Journey reaped the reward, though Yuki had still gotten what she wanted in the end, hadn’t she?
“This is what they call a win-win.”
“…Win-win?”
Yuki shot Journey a sidelong glance at the odd expression, then shrugged and walked into the barrier, which was now wide open.
“Ah, Kana, wait a second…! I haven’t gone in yet!”
Journey, left behind and grinning to herself, dashed after the two of them. Then the barrier, which had been wavering unsteadily, finally closed completely.
It was a little different from usual, but all in all, it was a peaceful morning.