Episode 3-a. The Flower That Smells of Rotting Corpses. (2)
As I mentioned before, people could only live in places stabilized by ancient magic. The empire, kingdoms, holy nations, duchies, even the beastkin countries—all of them. No matter the race, any territory of intelligent beings capable of speech was defined that way.
Between stabilized cities, the forests, valleys, and seas still teeming with monsters in uncharted lands posed a massive threat to ordinary folk. That's why cities rose and nations formed atop vast stabilized zones to make human life possible.
“There's a small village up ahead.”
“Hm? Good. In that case, we can stay there a few days and head east again.”
So, yeah. Even with that explanation, there were parts that didn't quite click for me.
“Horn.”
“What?”
“But why's there a small village in the first place?”
“What kinda question is that outta nowhere…? I can't figure out why you'd even ask why people live somewhere.”
To those living in this world, it might've been obvious, but it still made me tilt my head in confusion.
“Sure, people live where they live, but I'm just curious why they'd bother stabilizing such a tiny spot to make a village.”
“Hm? You think stabilization needs a reason? Hey, quack, you got any idea?”
“Uh…, well, who knows what ancient mages were thinking. Maybe they made it just to kill time…, haha.”
I wondered why anyone would go through the hassle of stabilizing land with magic for a puny village that couldn't even hold many people. It was a thought that hit me as our rattling carriage rolled down the forest path and spotted the lone little village.
Our carriage entered the village, ignoring my questions entirely. No walls—just a simple wooden fence around the outskirts. A middle-aged man stood guard with farming tools and approached us.
“Hm, what brings you to our tiny village? Travelers, are ya?”
He scratched his head with a rustic drawl, looking every bit the countryside farmer. His “guard duty” seemed so lax it was pointless. I spoke to the uncle peeking curiously into the carriage—whether inspecting or just staring, I couldn't tell.
“Not exactly tourists, but we're worn out and just want to rest a few days.”
“Heh, we ain't got no proper inn here.”
A village too small for an inn—why did it even exist? I glanced at the four sprawled in the back of the carriage, then asked him again.
“Uh…, any place where five of us could rest a bit?”
“Well, there is one…, but it's already got some travelers like you. That okay?”
“Yeah, that's fine. We'd appreciate the consideration.”
“Heh, polite young fella, ain't ya? Follow me, then.”
He shuffled ahead, gesturing for us to follow. The rickety wooden fence by the carriage's rear corner snapped with a crack at the slightest bump, collapsing to the ground.
“Ah, sorry about that.”
“No biggie. I'll grab a stick later and prop it back up.”
The uncle just chuckled it off and kept walking.
The place he led us to was a barn. It smelled musty and stuffy, but it was stuffed with straw—better than the hard ground or the carriage for sleeping.
And.
“Heh, you all get along nice.”
As the uncle said, three other travelers had already unpacked and settled in. A blond, tanned guy stripping off his shirt, and two similarly tanned women in skimpy clothes.
This wasn't some sticky harem travelogue with a golden sun hero—what the hell?
“…”
As I stared, thinking that, they greeted us first.
“Hey, nice to meet ya! We're adventurers traveling from the southern nations! Our outfits might look a bit off, but our hometown's hot, so we're used to this. Haha!”
“Ah…, yeah.”
One had been lying in the straw but jumped up with a bright smile as we entered. The two women beside him grinned and waved. I covered the twins' eyes as they peeked out with a “whoa.”
Sorry, kids, but that's rated 15+ viewer discretion advised.
“Oops, our clothes might not be kid-friendly here! Give us a sec—we'll throw on some robes. Ollie, Charlotte, grab your robes quick.”
Since I was covering the kids' eyes, the three travelers noticed and hurriedly draped on robes.
Seeing that, I wondered if my prejudice had led me to misjudge these good folks.
“Thanks. Since we're here together, let's introduce ourselves. I'm Ain.”
“Ooh, introductions are great! I'm Arum Solis. In our language, it means golden sun—named that 'cause my hair's like the sun!”
“…”
I'd tried to introduce myself first, but… yeah. The name was weird too.
“We got here yesterday and'll stay another three days or so. Take care till then!”
“Uh…, yeah. You too.”
Even thinking that, I could only give an awkward smile to the beaming guy showing off his teeth.
Prejudice is bad, no matter what. Prejudice is…
“Woo-hoo~ Ollie, Charlotte! Party tonight!”
“Ehh~ Wasn't it a party last night too~?”
Ah. Fuck. Give me a break so I don't form prejudices.
Anyway. No matter what I thought, the three already in the barn turned out to be kind and good people. They acted like we were a delightful new connection, and come dinnertime, they dragged out a huge barbecue grill from their carriage and lit it up.
They hauled over a massive wild boar they'd recently butchered, plopped it on the grill, and grinned.
I couldn't resist their friendliness and ended up roped in by the golden sun guy, grilling meat and chatting by the fire.
They'd started their journey from a warm southern nation, touring the world, and unlike us, they were headed to Tebris soon.
“Hm, Tebris might be tricky for sightseeing right now.”
“What?! Is there a problem?”
“Black mages underground got discovered, so there's probably a subjugation going on. Won't take forever, but if you go now, tourism might be iffy…”
“Oh no, Ollie and Charlotte were so excited. Good thing they were playing with the kids and didn't hear…”
He scratched his head in dismay, turning the meat over the hot flames as sparks popped with a crackle.
And so.
As we grilled in silence for a bit, I asked what I'd been dying to know.
“If it's not rude, what exactly is your relationship…?”
In my prejudiced eyes, it looked like golden sun and his gal pals—I couldn't leave without clearing that up.
He laughed heartily at my question.
“Oh, we're married! We three were childhood friends, and luckily our homeland allows polygamy, unlike here, so we tied the knot and travel together. Haha! Those two were my first loves, actually.”
Phew. Thank goodness. I didn't quite get calling two people “first loves,” but at least my prejudice was wrong.
“I see. You all look great together.”
“Haha, thanks! They love kids. Might stop traveling soon, settle down back home or somewhere new, start a family. We've been friends forever, so we'll stick together.”
“…, Sounds nice.”
Just wholesome, romantic travelers as they seemed. I sighed in relief and nodded.
The firewood roared upward.
The meat sizzled golden-brown, kids' laughter rang out nonstop.
And I thought: Childhood friends, huh. I had one person I could call that.
The bracelet still stubbornly clinging to my wrist, the bead in my pocket that sometimes clinked with a tap.
Gazing at those two items brought one woman to mind.
Asha. Even amid my busy rush forward, she popped into my head now and then. Graceful and refined now, always bowing her head demurely as an adult.
But when she looked at me, her smile was as innocently bright as in our childhood.
That memory woman wandered my mind a moment before fading away with the sparks.
In other words.
Yeah, I kinda missed her a little.
I thought that and let my lips curve up.