Quest (2)
The word quest is familiar to anyone who enjoys games. It usually refers to a task or mission the player must complete. In truth, this is a modern twist. In the past, the word carried a far grander meaning—missions to rescue a princess, missions to defeat the demon king, all those heroic undertakings. Epic journeys worthy of being recorded in history itself were called quests. The most famous example was the Holy Grail Quest from the legend of King Arthur.
“In other words, Sir Leon, you’re working hard to etch your name into the annals of history.”
“I never harbored such a grandiose wish.”
“What exactly did you think I was saying? The moment you set out to find the Holy Grail, the deed itself becomes history.”
It was late morning. I sat in the inn’s common room, shaking my head. Leon was wonderful in many ways, but the man truly needed everything explained twice.
“The Holy Grail was crafted from the bones of the Avatar of Desire who accompanied the first emperor, correct?”
“It was.”
“And you genuinely believed that finding something like that wouldn’t leave your name in history?”
“…I know it will leave a name. That simply wasn’t the point I was trying to make.”
“What? You’re telling me you didn’t become a paladin to repay all the humiliation you’ve suffered until now?”
“No. I am not so worldly—”
“I’m kidding.”
Just by looking at him, anyone could tell this naive apprentice paladin—in every sense of the word—had no such goal. I’d realized it roughly around the time he got stabbed in the back by a random mercenary.
“Ever since that moment a mercenary nearly ran you through from behind, to be precise.”
“I was not run through. You saved me before that, did you not?”
“Actually, I learned a unique time-series magic. The memories from before I rewound time got a little jumbled, so I was briefly confused. My apologies.”
“Haha. Well, that’s… You are joking, right?”
I offered a meaningful smile.
“Who knows?”
“Why do you never clarify when something is a joke?”
“Because that’s what completes the joke.”
“Two glasses of mead and two servings of smoked meat, as ordered.”
While we laughed and chatted, the food arrived. The server set the mead and smoked meat on the table, then added bowls of meat stew and glasses of milk.
“And here are the meat stew and milk as well.”
“Thank you.”
Leon accepted the stew and milk, eating with careful, almost reverent movements. The sight was genuinely pleasant.
“You’ve stopped coveting other people’s food and now order your own portion. How you’ve grown.”
“I’m sorry, but no matter how I think about it, the strange one here is not me—it is you, Lady Ruina.”
“The person who eats someone else’s food isn’t the strange one?”
“Who on earth would guess that four servings of bread and cheese were ordered for one person? Naturally, I assumed you had included my share.”
When we first arrived at the inn yesterday, I had ordered four servings each of white bread and cheese. That was the minimum I needed to feel full. Yet this ungrateful paladin had devoured my order in seconds. I ended up having to order more.
“Can you imagine how my heart wept when I had no snacks to accompany my mead as it grew lukewarm?”
“Didn’t the additional food arrive before you even finished the first order?”
“Which is why I ate it warm. From now on, I’ll order in two separate rounds.”
I tilted the glass and drank. A pleasant shiver ran through me. That crisp, perfectly balanced sweetness. It was hard to believe this was a beverage from Happy Mid-land.
“Other alcohols don’t taste like this. Why is mead the only one that’s so delicious? Is it magic?”
“I’m not certain. I don’t know much about the outside world myself.”
“Hmm.”
I emptied the glass cleanly and popped a piece of smoked meat into my mouth. I could live like this. I raised my hand and called out.
“Two more glasses of mead and two servings of smoked meat, please!”
“Four glasses of alcohol in broad daylight…”
Leon muttered under his breath. It seemed he wanted to serve a lord who drank four glasses of mead before noon. Oh dear. This was exactly why talented people were so troublesome.
Clack. Leon set his spoon down. He had finished eating.
As he sipped his milk, I spoke slowly.
“Shall we talk about the mission now?”
“Yes, let’s.”
Leon wanted to find the Holy Grail. It was necessary for him to become a paladin. In exchange for helping him, I planned to receive full-body healing either for free or at a steep discount. Of course I had enough money right now to pay for the treatment outright, but this was the fortune Kelton had left me. I didn’t want to spend it all so frivolously. Kelton had grumbled that it was his earned money and he should be allowed to spend it as he pleased, but unfortunately, the moment I inherited it, the gold became mine. I had every right to use it however I wished. I wanted to save it for something more meaningful. Besides, the church of Happy Mid-land was rotten to the core. If even half the rumors were true, handing them money could result in losing everything. Normally I would have said, ‘You want me to give money to a swindler? No thank you. What healing? Shall we test whether my fourth-circle flames can pierce their defenses with a nice, refreshing flame shower?’ But I had made a promise. I couldn’t do that.
I stroked the back of my left hand and put a pipe to my lips. With a soft hiss, I lit the tobacco. Acrid smoke curled upward. When I raised my head, I saw a youthful face framed by white hair. I wondered how old he was. Probably older than my current body, yet younger if you counted my previous life. I was deeply curious whether the apprentice paladin I had chosen to keep my promise would actually prove useful.
Leon spoke in a calm voice.
“Where should I begin?”
“Start by sharing the information you’ve gathered, Sir Leon.”
No matter the task, sharing information came first. At my words, Leon leaned forward.
“Are you familiar with the target’s characteristics?”
“Immortality, healing, abundance, purification, wisdom—roughly those, yes?”
“Among them, I focused on the power of abundance.”
“Why? Most people would fixate on immortality, wouldn’t they?”
“If the target is buried somewhere, the power most likely to manifest would be abundance. That was my reasoning.”
In short, Leon was betting that no one currently possessed the Holy Grail.
“Hmm.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Not at all.”
I could guess his line of thinking, but I let it pass without comment. Focusing the search on the power of abundance was a perfectly logical approach.
“So which village are you planning to visit first?”
“There are quite a few candidates, but for now, this one.”
Leon wrote on the table. The man was strangely meticulous in the oddest places. I read the words he had written.
West Shade Grapeton
It meant a grape village located west of Shade County. I knew the place. The grape festival would be held there soon.
“It certainly is a region that never suffers poor harvests. Suspicious indeed.”
“Exactly.”
“If it’s a grape festival, there should be plenty of wine. I’m suddenly looking forward to this.”
“Lady Ruina. If you speak so openly, the effort I put into concealing the location becomes meaningless. Please be careful. If someone nearby overhears and develops strange ideas, it could become dangerous.”
“It would have been wonderful if you had displayed that same caution before I turned back time.”
Clink. I placed the lantern on the table. Inside it, a flame burned—a flame with a mouth. The mouth was greedily devouring something.
“This is—”
“It’s eating any sound that might leak out. Speak freely.”
“…Why didn’t you mention something so useful earlier?”
“I forgot.”
In truth, he had suddenly begun acting like we were in a spy thriller, talking about targets and secrecy, so I had stayed quiet simply because it was amusing.
Shade County, huh. I calculated the distance from here. It was quite far.
“You scheduled it to coincide with the festival, correct?”
“People grow careless during festivals. It will make the investigation easier.”
“Considering travel time, we’ll barely arrive in time. Why did you make the schedule so tight?”
When I asked because I genuinely didn’t understand, Leon scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“I originally planned to arrive much earlier, but I ran out of travel funds midway. The delay came from having to work to replenish them.”
“You don’t seem the type to miscalculate funds, so you must have lost the money. Pickpocketed, perhaps?”
“……”
“Are you perhaps a noble’s illegitimate child?”
“I am not.”
“Then why have you experienced every single cliché that happens to a young noble who leaves his family alone, from number one to number ten?”
“I… don’t know much about the outside world.”
If he didn’t know, he didn’t know. Couldn’t be helped.
“You must have only trained inside the order.”
“I swung a sword for ten years.”
“For someone who only did that, you were taken down far too easily by mercenaries. Do you perhaps lack talent? For reference, I have none.”
“My swordsmanship is excellent. As for divine arts… I have not yet received the call.”
Not received the call. In other words, he possessed no holy power. That explained why the paralyzing poison had worked on him. If he had received the call, the holy power dwelling within him would have purified all harmful substances. As far as I knew, simply possessing holy power was enough to qualify someone as a full paladin or priest. It was a rather difficult power to obtain. While it was a shame he lacked it, his excellent sword skills would still prove helpful in most situations.
With this, our destination was decided and I had roughly gauged my companion’s abilities. Only one thing remained.
“Looking at the schedule, we’ll need to move quickly.”
“Pardon? While I did set a tight schedule, we don’t need to leave immediately. We could rest a few days and still—”
“What are you talking about? We’ll be late if we do that.”
“…What exactly do you mean?”
A giant question mark seemed to hover over Leon’s head. He genuinely didn’t understand. I kindly explained.
“If we’re going to earn money along the way, we need to move quickly.”
“Wait. Are you saying you intend to make money while traveling to Shade County?”
“Yes.”
Did he think I would simply stare blankly at the scenery for such a long journey?
Leon hesitated for a moment.
“But then the time…”
“If time really becomes an issue, we can simply sleep less.”
My primary goal at the moment was money. That had not changed.
“If you dislike the idea, we’ll have to part ways here.”
“…Understood.”
“As expected of Sir Leon. You catch on quickly.”
I had misjudged him. He was someone who understood after being told only once. I picked up my mead.
“Let’s leave as soon as I finish this.”