Research (6)
The rumble from my stomach brought our march to a halt.
"Haha. Looks like it's already that time."
It was still early for lunch. I'd just eaten a meager breakfast and done a lot of walking, that was all.
"Um…"
"Since it's come to this, why don't we prepare lunch a little early?"
Sister Mary smiled as if she were trying to spare my feelings.
"I-I'm fine, really."
"Not at all. Truth be told, I'm a bit peckish myself."
If even Young Master was hungry, maybe we ought to rest.
We discussed what to do next. First we found a suitable spot and designated it as our rallying point. Stacking firewood and preparing a place to light a campfire roughly finished marking our territory.
"Next…"
How to move from here.
That part was easy. Our party split cleanly into two vanguard and two rear guard. For balance, we just needed to pair one from each role together.
When I suggested we split into two groups, Young Master and Sister Mary exchanged glances. I had no idea what they were being so cagey about…
"Then I'll go with my sister."
I picked the most comfortable partner I had—my sister. Young Master's expression turned faintly forlorn.
If he wanted to say something, he should have spoken up first. That was on him for staying quiet.
Next we discussed signals with Sister Mary. Communication magic would have been ideal, but we had nothing of the sort. Still, the fact that Sister Mary could use Holy Magic gave us options.
"If anything goes wrong, fire a loud, flashy Holy Magic spell into the sky."
"Understood."
If we heard a sound and looked up, we'd know something had happened.
"Whichever side gets the signal, we all gather there right away. That should work."
"Yes. Don't worry."
With Sister Mary around, there was little chance of us crossing paths and losing each other.
Once the signal problem was settled, it was time to split up. We agreed to head in opposite directions so our routes wouldn't overlap.
"I'll bring back a fine catch."
Young Master thumped his chest as he declared it. A fine catch, huh… A wild boar would be best, wouldn't it? Just thinking of pork made my mouth water.
"I'll be looking forward to it."
At that single word of expectation, Young Master broke into a bright smile. He and I set off in opposite directions.
Since Young Master was hunting, we could look for edible mushrooms and fruit, right?
I moved slowly, scanning the surroundings. Nothing particularly edible turned up. More importantly, now that it was just the two of us, there was something I needed to say to my sister.
"Noona."
"Juli?"
"So, uh… what do you think about how I address you?"
She tilted her head, not quite following.
"I'm a girl now, right? Everyone else thinks of me as a girl too. But me—a girl—calling you Noona instead of Unnie feels weird. It doesn't matter between us, but other people might find it strange…"
"Mm."
"So I think I should start calling you Unnie. What do you think?"
"Hmm…"
A completely flat reaction…
"Doesn't matter."
Her words seemed to say that a change of address wouldn't change anything between us.
She was right. We were family, weren't we? There was no way a mere title could alter what we were to each other.
Her answer put me at ease. Yeah—what could possibly change just from switching one form of address?
"Th-then… Unnie?"
"Mm…"
The corner of her mouth twitched, as if the word felt awkward. I felt strange saying it too. After calling someone Noona for more than ten years, suddenly trying to say Unnie was… complicated.
"It's weird…"
"Th-that goes for me too, you know?!"
Still, if I didn't want to slip up in front of other people, I had to get used to it.
"We'll get used to it eventually. R-right, Unnie?"
"Mm…"
Ugh, this is so uncomfortable……
I pushed the discomfort aside and went back to searching for food. My sister—no, Unnie—had done this often enough that she was already gathering edible mushrooms without any help from me.
"Not much out here…"
We'd picked a few mushrooms, but that was about it. Nothing else worth eating turned up. I would have settled for even a single rabbit…
"Unnie?"
Noona—Unnie—didn't seem to hear me. She was wandering off on her own in a way that looked dangerous.
I covered her back, carefully trailing after her so we wouldn't lose the path…
"Found it."
She raised a hand and stopped me. Ahead of us was an animal… and a large one at that.
"A-a deer?"
Not one of those small, dainty deer. A massive body, enormous antlers—a deer that bordered on a monster.
And it was alone?
"Meat… there'll be a lot of it, right?"
"Dunno."
It was huge, but the edible portions might still be small. Even so, it looked like a delicious catch.
"I'll lock down its movement first."
"Mm."
That alone seemed to convey my intent. I quietly focused and prepared a Holy Magic spell. The chains Sister Mary had used last time had looked incredibly useful, so I'd asked her to teach me.
She'd said it wouldn't be easy. Then she'd been shocked when I succeeded on the first try…
Being praised as the Saintess over it had been embarrassing, but still…
I hadn't managed to learn the Binding Formation we'd used together. That one was harder—I'd need to sit down and study it properly.
I concentrated and activated the Holy Magic: Sacred Chains. With a metallic rattle, chains forged of Holy Power moved at my will and bound the deer's legs and body.
Sister Mary had said these chains only grew strong when you poured a lot of Holy Power into them… So I flooded them with Holy Power, raising their strength.
"Now!"
Seeing the deer bound, Unnie dropped her pack and drew her sword. Then she charged at a terrifying speed.
The chained deer couldn't move… and she didn't waste the opening. Closing the distance in a single breath, she swung her blade straight at the deer's neck.
The head came off, and blood fountained from the wound. Unnie twisted clear just in time to avoid the spray.
Given the size of the body, the volume of blood was enormous. She and I watched from a short distance away.
"Draining the blood's going to be a pain."
"Mm."
I had no idea how much meat we'd actually get… but with that much, we ought to eat our fill, right?
Once the blood had mostly run out, we approached and roughly dressed the carcass. First we slit the belly, removed the less useful organs, and left the rest to drain.
"We'll take the hide and skin it later."
Given the deer's size, leaving the hide on would make it easier to carry.
"Mm."
I left the torso to Unnie and checked the head.
"Think these antlers are useful for anything?"
I tapped them. The hardness seemed ordinary. Deer antlers usually made me think of velvet antler, and velvet antler was famous as a fine medicinal ingredient.
But was this actually velvet antler? Might as well take them. I raised my spear and tried to cut them free.
"They won't cut easily…"
Should I use magic? Plenty of options—might as well try. I applied a Wind Blade to the base, then infused Holy Power into my spear and struck. They were chipping away little by little, but it was going to take time.
"What are you doing?"
"Huh? I was trying to take these."
The moment I held out an antler, Unnie casually drew her sword and swung. The antler came clean off.
"Oh…"
"Done."
"Th-thanks."
I was grateful, but… had she not considered that I was holding the antler? Swinging her sword out of nowhere had nearly given me a heart attack.
I carefully stowed both antlers. Once the carcass had drained enough, we would pack it up and move out.
"This should be plenty for four people. Let's head straight to the rally point."
"Mm."
Unnie carried the deer; I took her pack in exchange.
"If it gets heavy, say so. I'll use a blessing."
"Not heavy at all."
How could that be true? At a rough estimate, the body weighed well over a hundred kilos. Even if someone with mana could exert superhuman strength, I was still worried.
"Fine, whatever! Blessing of Might!"
She said she was fine, but I wasn't convinced. So I used the blessing on the spot—a Holy Magic spell that boosted muscular strength and endurance.
"Got lighter."
"Better now?"
"Mm."
We headed for the place we'd marked.
"Is this even the right way, though?"
That was the problem with forests and mountains… No signposts, and if you didn't leave markers as you went, it was hard to tell whether you were on the path you'd come by or a new one entirely.
After maybe ten minutes of walking, we reached the rally point.
Looking at it this way, we'd found that deer ridiculously fast. How had Unnie even spotted it?
"Looks like we got here first."
"Found the deer quick."
True—we hadn't gone far at all before finding it.
"Whether that was luck or Unnie being amazing…"
Since we'd arrived, I immediately cast fire magic on the stacked firewood. The wood caught at once, and a campfire was born. With smoke rising, the others would find us on their own.
"All right, let's dress the meat."
We set down our loads and set to work on the deer. We skinned it, separated the meat from the bone, and portioned it out. Looking at that fresh meat really did make my mouth water. I wanted to eat right away—but we had to wait for Young Master and Sister Mary.
"Ugh, I'm starving."
"Want to eat first?"
"We should wait. How could we eat ahead of them?"
They were our companions. We ought to wait and eat together.
"Then wait."
There was a slight edge in Unnie's voice. Apparently my whining about hunger had gotten on her nerves.
"Sorry…"
I'd just get everything ready so we could eat the moment the other two arrived.
I set out hunting to secure food for lunch. Not being able to go with her left me a little disappointed, but this was no time for idle complaints…
She had said she would be looking forward to it. Living up to that expectation was a man's duty!
"Maximilian? Let's move a little more slowly."
"Are you tired?"
"No. Charging ahead blindly is dangerous, that's all."
Sister Mary—a nun I'd met in Wizheim who had somehow ended up in our party. And Sister Mary was an entirely different type of woman from the one I liked.
Tall, with a distinctly feminine figure.
Even though she was the opposite of the person I cared for, she was the sort of woman who inevitably drew the eye.
"We need to leave markers as we go so we don't get lost."
True to her place as a nun of the Metis Church, her every action carried a quiet shrewdness and wisdom.
"You're right. I let my eagerness get ahead of me."
I settled my heart and moved carefully, watching our surroundings. Sister Mary left thorough markers even as we walked.
Honestly, being alone with her was awkward. We'd only known each other a few days, and without Miss Julian as a point of contact, we'd never even tried to hold a conversation. On top of that, her figure was so feminine I didn't know where to put my eyes.
Awkward as it was, at least we had a purpose right now, so we could push forward somehow.
We wandered for a long while, but the harvest was nothing. Whether to call it bad luck… or simply that there were no animals nearby, I couldn't say.
"No luck, it seems."
The best we'd managed was a small gathering of wild raspberries along the way.
"Just a little—let's look a little longer."
Reluctant to give up, I pressed Sister Mary.
"No. Let's rest a bit."
Whether from fatigue or the empty-handed result, she suggested we take a break. I needed to find game quickly… My nerves were fraying.
"Maximilian. What is your relationship with the Saintess?"
Sister Mary suddenly asked a strange question.
"W-what do you mean, relationship? If I had to say, we're companions, aren't we?"
Even if I liked her, at this point our relationship was that of companions. It was truly regrettable, but I hadn't managed to take it any further.
Originally, I'd planned to grow closer at a leisurely pace during our travels, then slowly confess my feelings.
And now?
After learning she was the Saintess of the Church, everything had grown ambiguous. I still liked her and had no intention of giving up—but I could no longer approach her so freely. I wouldn't abandon the thought, but I had to be more careful.
"Is that so? From where I stand, it looked like affection."
The bluntness of it left me flustered. Had she seen through me?
"When you look at another woman—myself or Emma—you're completely unmoved. But whenever you look at the Saintess, the corners of your eyes soften and you smile more often. It shows in your actions as well."
I had nothing to say. I never imagined she'd pick up on it in so short a time. I covered my face with one hand and let out a long sigh.
"So you noticed."
"Yes. After a few days together, it was plain enough—how considerate and kind you are toward the Saintess."
I'd let my guard down because her older sister hadn't noticed. I should have been more careful…
"So are you going to stop me?"
"No? Why would I? If two people care for each other, there's no reason to stand in the way."
I could interpret that statement like this: if Miss Julian disliked it, she would absolutely put a stop to it.
She was a nun of the Church. A terrifying person who would do anything for the Saintess.
"Shall we move on? If you want to impress the Saintess, you'll need to catch something."
"Haa…"
She'd seen through me, so why was she so calm? Why wasn't she saying anything more?
Sister Mary's behavior was starting to get under my skin.