A Traveler Seeking Clues (1)
The shoulder shook gently.
"Who is it. I'm sleepy. And cold. I have to huddle like this to stay warm. Don't touch me."
I pulled the torn cloth cap from the street and curled up even tighter.
Through the torn cloth I felt a faint warmth, and realized morning had come from the way the light was filtering in, but my body was still freezing.
"Just a little longer... it's cold now..."
I shivered and curled up even more while keeping my eyes closed.
But the hand that touched me refused to let me be.
It grabbed my shoulder again and yanked me up.
"...What. What."
With eyelids barely open under the weight of an enormous burden, I lifted my head.
In front of me stood a familiar face.
The bakery uncle.
That's right... I'd been sleeping right beside the bakery building.
"Miss, are you okay? You slept out on the streets all night? Tsk tsk..."
What else was I supposed to do? I had no money, and of course there was nowhere to stay.
There was, but I didn't want to show this appearance to that senior guy.
'I wonder if he'll even believe I've become like this. Even if he does, how am I going to deal with the aftermath?'
It was hopeless. I knew I had no choice but to stick to senior Rondo...
"I'm fine. Thanks to you, I slept well and ate my fill."
It was cold. Even though the weather wasn't particularly harsh, my body was trembling because I was in such a bad state.
Several people walking past behind the bakery uncle who was looking at me worriedly glanced my way.
As an outsider with a shabby appearance, they were probably staring in surprise.
If I stayed like this, I'd be interrupting the bakery's business. With a stray dog wandering around, no one would want to pass that way.
So I stood up on my shaking legs.
Still... better to go to someone I know rather than refuse. There was no other way now.
"Excuse me, uncle. There's one last favor I need to ask. Do you... happen to know someone named Rondo?"
The uncle thought it over for a moment, then nodded as if remembering.
"Rondo? I know him. Are you a friend of that rascal, miss?"
"A rascal?"
Why was he called that? What kind of trouble was he causing around here?
No, he was a little crazy, but not enough to earn the title of rascal...
"You don't know, huh, miss. Walk out of the alley and keep going in that direction. You'll see a small house on the far side of the bridge. That's where that rascal lives. Be careful."
"...Why rascal?"
"He drinks nonstop. Said he was a knight but never did a single proper job, so rascal. Didn't even seem to come here to make money?"
He came here with the name of a knight? But the man had retired. Yet he came to this village claiming to be a knight?
No... if you consider it broadly, maybe he still could call himself a knight...
"I see. Thank you."
I hesitated on what to say when I saw the face.
It was a complicated thought.
Far in the distance at first glance, but it took nearly an hour to reach the house.
Actually, it wasn't the distance, but the wretched clothes made walking difficult. Thirty minutes should have been enough, yet it took an hour.
'But is it really here that I live?'
A small house. Around it, weeds grew densely and untidily.
In every corner of the brick walls that formed the structure, moss had taken root. In one corner of the wall, a bucket sat piled with white dust.
For a moment I wondered if this wasn't the right place, but even after scanning the surroundings, there was no other spot that matched the bakery uncle's description.
It looked like a ruined house, but luckily a few traces of people still visible erased that worry.
"Haah..."
I exhaled heavily and smoothed out my clothes as much as possible.
Then I knocked.
A few seconds passed.
No sound of the door opening or even breathing came from inside, so I knocked again.
Thud. The sound of a heavy body rolling onto the floor echoed.
For a moment everything fell silent, but soon heavy footsteps approached accompanied by a low male groan.
Creak.
'What... what kind of disgusting smell is this...'
The moment the door opened, the first thing that greeted me was a revolting smell of old maid and alcohol mixed together.
And a man twice as tall as me, with long unkempt black hair and eyes filled with gloom and exhaustion, stepped out.
This guy could be summed up in one word. "Waste."
I wondered where the former knight-like senior who had come out of the knight order had gone.
I should be grateful that at least I could recognize him, right?
With a frown, I slowly opened my mouth.
"Senior... you were here?"
"Can't stand the sight of daylight from noon... ugh, my head..."
Frowning at his face, senior Rondo grabbed my shoulder.
The moment he did, it felt like my head was being struck hard from behind.
What the hell... why from midday?
The knight's dignity had suddenly collapsed. This guy was the one I had once called my future junior alongside me.
I shook off his hand and laughed in disbelief while glaring at him.
"Senior, really don't you recognize who I am?"
"...Who are you? No one calls me senior."
Even though I had become a woman, the core of my appearance was still mostly male.
And there were still people in the knight order who had called him senior.
No one calling him that?
"Rigel. It's Rigel!"
"That doesn't make any sense..."
Yeah, damn it.
Even in my senior situation, I couldn't blame him for not believing.
Someone who was sleeping off a hangover from two days ago suddenly shows up as a shabby woman, and who would believe I'm the reliable, great former junior?
I wasn't angry that he didn't believe.
But no knight would be able to stay calm after hearing such a fallen statement about the knight's dignity from this current appearance.
"This sword... you know it, right?"
I handed him the sword at my waist. It was the sword he had given me as a gift, and I treasured it.
Rondo looked at the sword, then at my face. But suspicion still filled his expression.
"This is the sword I gave to Rigel. Who are you holding it?!"
"Tsk, really..."
If only my temper had been the same, I would have snapped his neck. But I didn't have the strength.
How could I make this hopeless life of Rondo believe I was Rigel?
"Senior, the secret only the two of us know is that when I was sixteen, my grandfather's favorite wine..."
"...What. How do you know that."
"Is that all? After that, even after getting drunk on alcohol, burning the warehouse and leaving, who else would know?"
Thinking back, it wasn't something I should have said since I was the younger one, but the signs were yellow...
Thinking about it now, I had been crazy since I was little.
Only after revealing such a deeply hidden secret did his eyes change.
"Really... you, Rigel?"
"What else. Back when senior was twenty-two, at night in the knight order dormitory you secretly called a female friend..."
"Stop! Stop! It's Rigel! I get it!!"
When I listed it out one by one, it was obvious this guy had ended up living like this.
Now I wondered how he had lasted ten years in the knight order.
"What is this appearance? Did you pick up a hobby for cross-dressing?"
"This mouth of yours... no, at least if it had, my clothes wouldn't be this ragged, would they?"
The humiliating and embarrassing outfit made me chew my lower lip.
Thinking back to my current appearance, I started to regret coming here without reason.
Gurgle.
Until my stomach started growling demanding more food.
In front of senior, I expressed my hunger with my body in this wretched state.
"Days without eating? Why is my outfit like this? Did you dance the knight's sword dance and run out?"
Haah. There were many things I wanted to say...
My gaze fell on the bread crust nearby, so I reached for it first.
"What kind of life have you lived?"
"Senior, what do you have to say? Haup, ugh... what kind of mischief? The first thing you say when you see me is 'can't stand daylight'?"
It was impossible to fill my two or three days of hunger with just one bread crust.
The moment I saw the bread crust on the table in Rondo's house, I couldn't hold back my hunger and started eating it noisily.
"Crh, crhm! My noble knight commander lord probably wouldn't understand. That's why. Besides, the capital has plenty of fun things, doesn't it?"
"No, senior. Thinking back, you were yellow from a young age. You had this in mind since quitting the knight order?"
"I had planned to go home comfortably. You absolutely must not go home. There's nothing there at all."
I didn't even have plans to go home. Anyway, after eating enough bread, strength returned to my body.
"So, Rigel. You lost all your money. How do you plan to return to the capital? From what I know, the coachmen traveling between here and the capital are really rare."
"That's... of course."
I held out my hand to him.
"A beloved junior in trouble. Surely you won't turn your eyes away. Senior Rondo?"
I smiled clearly at him and stared steadily.
"You've always been the kind of guy who eats his conscience..."
"Ah, once I return to the capital I'll pay it back! I have money in my name, so I'll pay it several times over."
I lost only my money pouch, and when I returned to the capital there would be plenty left in my account.
When I protested, he looked at me pityingly, then opened the drawer and took out the money pouch.
After that, he casually pressed a few silver coins into my hand.
I bowed my head slightly to senior and smiled.
Senior stared at me, then spoke.
"Rigel, are you going to keep living like this?"
I glared at Rondo, who made such an absurd statement.
I will be generous and not accuse you of stealing my money pouch. You can pay me back with interest whenever you like. Just don't disappear again. I can't handle another wasted life after the war.
Rondo's eyes widened slightly. He seemed to understand.
...
"..."
The pain of the past war still lingered in my chest, but I kept my face composed.
I had come all this way to find a clue.