A Ride to Pardin
After getting off the carriage in Windren, I walked steadily toward the fence. The moment my feet touched the ground, I started looking for a carriage heading to Pardin.
"What's the name of your village again?"
"Pardin."
At Reina's question, I repeated the name of our village. I hopped over the fence and checked the signs indicating which carriages went where. Caldera, Karsion, Selindale—signs for all sorts of cities. The carriages inside the fence were supposed to head to those destinations.
[Pardin]
Behind the carelessly written "Pardin" sign, there wasn't a single carriage. The same was true for the nearest city. Reina, who had followed me over the fence, glanced at the sign and then at the empty space inside the fence before adding a few words.
"Just how rural is your village?"
"You're telling me."
It wasn't an exaggeration. I let out a tired sigh. Walking that distance wasn't an option just because there were no carriages. I figured I'd have to wait and started to move away from the fence when—
"Where are you going?"
Reina suddenly placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. I paused at her short question and looked back and forth between the inside of the fence and her face. Anyone could see that walking wasn't feasible right now.
"There are no carriages."
I raised my limp arm slightly toward the fence and lowered it again, answering curtly. A pointless gesture telling her to look for herself. When she still didn't seem to understand the situation, I added an explanation, but Reina tilted her head at the empty space inside the fence.
"Huh?"
Along with the short exclamation came a face that seemed to ask, "Why can't we go?" What now? Was she suggesting we just walk? Thinking that waiting would be better than walking that distance, I swallowed dryly at the fact that she was an A-class mercenary. She was the type who could easily say "What's so hard about that?" and force the march.
Already dreading the long walk, I slowly backed away and muttered, "I can't walk that far. I'm not walking. I don't even know the way…"
"What are you talking about? Who said anything about walking?"
Reina rested a hand on her hip, her voice tinged with irritation. I'd expected her to insist on walking, but maybe I'd worried for nothing.
"Then what…?"
I stopped retreating after jumping to conclusions and took a few steps closer to her again. If there were no carriages and she wasn't suggesting we walk, then what exactly was she planning? When I just tilted my head, unable to figure out the answer, Reina replied matter-of-factly, as if it were common sense.
"If there isn't a carriage going there, we just make one."
"What?"
Reina's sudden claim that we could simply make a carriage if none existed left me blurting out a bewildered sound. She walked back inside the fence we'd crossed. What did she mean by that? Did she have a private carriage stashed somewhere? Unable to understand her actions, I reluctantly followed her over the fence again. If there were no carriages, we could just make one—what on earth did that mean?
Reina's confident steps led her toward the row of carriages. She headed straight for the rearmost one and spoke to the driver lounging there.
"Sir, do you have any runs today?"
"Hmm? I'm independent."
"Then how about twenty silver coins round trip to Pardin Village?"
"Well now, that works for me."
The conversation flowed like an auction or negotiation, reaching an agreement before I even realized it. After a few exchanges, one carriage's destination had suddenly changed to our village. Without needing to wait for the scheduled time, the carriage pulled out of the line and headed straight for the village.
Reina later explained that in a pinch, it was fine to hire carriages that weren't running official routes like this. She could've just said that from the beginning. Afterward, the carriage we'd rented entirely along with the driver slowly began leaving Windren behind.
Inside the carriage, the only passengers were Reina and me. In the quiet atmosphere, Reina spoke first.
"What kind of place is your village?"
Out of nowhere, she asked what Pardin was like. Maybe because we were getting closer to the destination, she'd become curious. At the question, I fell into thought for a moment. Thinking about it, our village didn't have any particularly distinctive features. Its location was so ambiguous that it made you wonder who had even founded a village there in the first place.
"It's just… like you said, a rural village with nothing special…"
No matter how hard I tried to think of good points, nothing came to mind, so I could only give a vague answer. Saying it was quiet or that the vegetables tasted good was something you could say about any village.
"What are your parents like?"
"Hmm…"
Reina's question naturally led to the next topic. After the village came my parents. I crossed my arms as I pictured their faces. A stern, rough-looking father and a mother who rarely got angry. Talking about my parents brought up memories from a few years ago… The story of how my father had beaten me half to death when I said I wanted to travel. The story of how my mother had hit me when I returned to the village without contacting them. Reina nodded along or responded with "Oh?" throughout, listening with genuine interest. After quietly hearing me out and letting the conversation lapse, she immediately moved to the next question.
"Didn't you have any friends to play with?"
"Two or three, maybe…? But none of them were the same age as me."
After my parents came the topic of friends from the village. At Reina's question about my relationships, I casually described the situation in the village. In a rural village with few young couples, it was only natural that there wouldn't be a bunch of kids the same age. I explained that we didn't care much about small age gaps and that unless there was a clear difference in appearance, we all just hung out as friends.
The carriage wheels, which had been rolling along, came to a stop inside the fence marking the village boundary. It was late at night, and my eyelids were growing heavy on their own. Only the faint sound of insects filled the quiet village. No one was there to greet us at this late hour, but it was still our village—a place that brought comfort to my heart. My feelings were lighter than they had been a year and a half ago when I'd last returned. Living away from home with my parents' permission meant I could return with this much peace of mind, apparently.
…That said, even if I went back to that time, I'd probably make the same decision again. In the city, Reina had walked ahead, but in the rural village, I took the lead. As we walked toward the house, Reina's voice came from behind.
"Where's the inn?"
Typical city person—looking for an inn first thing at this late hour. Unfortunately, there was no such thing in a rural village that didn't care about tourists.
"There isn't one. Everyone just stays in private homes."
"What…?"
Completely opposite to how things had been in the city, this time I was the one explaining. Reina's bewildered voice trailed off. This was why city people didn't understand anything.
"Why do you think there were no carriages? It's because there are no facilities or anything like that."
"Huh…"
Along with the explanation of why there were no carriages heading to our village, I picked up the pace toward home. A year and a half had passed, but our house remained unchanged. The only things that had changed were the vegetables and fruits planted in the fields. This scenery, which seemed like it would never change, brought me a sense of relief greater than I'd imagined.
Without hesitation, I reached out and knocked on the door, and a light tapping sound echoed.
"Who is it—?"
A familiar voice came from beyond the door. Without any answer from me, the door slowly opened… My mother's face, which had opened the door expecting a neighbor with some business, was filled with surprise.
"I'm home."
Unlike before, this time I gave her a bright smile. Returning home was good, but there were many things to explain and stories to tell. Had I eaten dinner? How long was I planning to stay this time? Who was the woman next to me? Had anything happened in the city? From ordinary parental worries to demands for an immediate explanation of the situation right in front of her… After weathering the storm of questions with equally rapid answers, I was finally given a moment to catch my breath.
My parents' reactions were surprisingly positive. They were especially pleased that I'd gotten into the academy they'd only heard rumors about. My mother was the happiest.
"Haa."
Just answering questions and eating had left me feeling completely drained. To shake off the fatigue from the journey, I flopped onto the bed… It had been a while, so the bed didn't feel like mine anymore. It felt somehow less soft than I remembered.
Reina, who had followed me into my room, sat on the edge of the bed and said briefly, "Your parents are nice."
"They're scary when they're angry."
At Reina's murmur, which only saw the good side of my parents, I answered while subtly hinting at their other side. Since there were no inns in our village, my parents had told me to handle my guest myself. Left with no choice, I let Reina stay in my room. Realizing belatedly that the bed wasn't mine, I got up and pulled out a winter blanket despite it being midsummer, spreading it on the floor. Watching Reina casually lie down on my bed, I let out a silent yawn and lay down on the blanket I'd prepared on the floor.
Honestly, there was no reason to feel any special emotions about it now. Even if she was staying over, we'd lived under the same roof for a full three years. Reina didn't seem particularly conscious of it either. When I'd first shown signs of being mindful about it, she'd casually brushed it off with "Why would you worry about something like that?"
Did having a woman in my room make my heart race? Well, I'd been close with Rein since we were kids, so I'd built up some immunity to that sort of thing. With both sets of parents' approval, we'd often gone to each other's rooms to sleep.
As I was about to fall asleep while reminiscing about the past, a thought I'd forgotten crossed my mind.
'Ah, right. I need to give them their gifts…'
The homecoming gifts I'd carefully wrapped and packed in my luggage back in the capital. Reina hadn't mentioned them either, so maybe she'd forgotten too. Well, it didn't matter. I could give them tomorrow. I'd also prepared a small gift for Rein, so I'd have to be diligent tomorrow.
'Come to think of it, their names are pretty similar.'
Thinking it was quite the coincidence, I surrendered myself completely to the darkness.