A Favor (1)
The walk escorting Eline back to her dormitory felt long.
"...You don't have to come with me."
"I'd just end up studying if I went back anyway."
The two of us walked at an easy pace, hands still linked.
"You're training again tomorrow afternoon, right?"
Eline gave a faint nod.
"I'll hold back this time."
She added the careful promise as if remembering last weekend's spar. ...Yeah, she really did go hard.
After that we drifted into the most trivial talk imaginable—what to eat, how to train. Everyday chatter. Yet nothing felt more comfortable than those ordinary subjects.
The path to the dorms that always seemed endless felt strangely short today. Before I knew it we were standing in front of her building. Eline let go of my hand and looked at me one last time.
"Thanks for today."
"Go on in."
Even as she stepped through the door she turned back for a final glance. Once she disappeared I stood there staring up at the stone façade of the Alpha Class dormitory.
…
Could I ever walk through those doors myself?
I'd have to work for it.
Next time we parted, I wanted it to be in the hallway inside—not out here at the entrance.
After seeing her off I headed back. Maybe it was all the walking and studying, just as she'd said, but the moment I washed my face and lay down my eyes grew heavy. Sinking into the soft mattress, cheek against the pillow, a wave of drowsiness rolled over me. My muscles loosened and a pleasant warmth wrapped my whole body.
…I'm wiped out.
Was it because I'd spent so long with Eline? Even lying here I could still catch her scent.
It almost smells stronger than usual.
I told myself it was just my imagination, surrendered to the cozy feeling, and closed my eyes.
The West—one of the five great regions that divided the empire.
Once fiercer than even the North, scarred by countless wars, the West had at last found a measure of peace. Fields stretched in every direction, and the soil that had once drunk blood now grew crops. People in work clothes sweated under the sun.
Watching them through the window, the lord of the territory, Hezler, sipped his tea and sank into thought.
Knock-knock—
The bright sound of knuckles on wood pulled him back. He raised his head.
"Father, it's me."
"Come in."
At the stern reply the door opened and his son Asel entered with a light bow. Brown hair like his own, a solid build—anyone could see the young man was the image of Hezler in his prime. Watching him carry a sheaf of documents felt like looking at a ghost of the past.
"The results for last month's proposals have come in."
Asel sorted the reports with practiced ease and laid them out before his father.
"Well? How did they go?"
"These two passed, but the rest…"
Asel's voice trailed off.
"Asel."
"Yes, Father."
"How many times must I tell you? When you finish a sentence, finish it cleanly. Don't let it fade."
"…I'm sorry."
The Western Alliance—his own house and the other western families—had submitted eight proposals to the imperial court.
Only two had been approved. Freezing the crop taxes and securing transport subsidies were genuine wins, yet the rejection of the remaining six was far from good news. The refusal of reinforcements and funding against the rising monster threat cut deepest of all.
"Are they only looking at the surface peace, or did we simply fail to convey how bad the monster damage has become?"
"I don't believe that's the case. Still, the North…"
The North again.
"That damned North, North, North."
Of course every eye was fixed on the northern front, the empire's hottest battlefield. Yet the West was suffering no less. Monster numbers had climbed sharply these past few years; even villages were taking direct hits. The danger could no longer be ignored. Still the empire treated western affairs as an afterthought.
"Father, perhaps we should start hiring knights again."
Hiring knights—the privilege of knightly houses. Under the pretext of defending their lands they were allowed to keep a minimum number of knights. Hezler's family was one such house; the sword hanging on the left wall of his study, a gift from the imperial court, proved it.
But the blade had been awarded centuries ago. No matter how carefully it was tended, rust had begun to claim it. In the same way the house itself had stopped producing knights more than a hundred years past.
"Asel."
"Yes."
"Do you have any idea how much it costs to maintain a single knight?"
"…"
"Wages, food, gear, supplies, the taxes we still owe the empire—and that's not all. Living expenses, quarters that need constant repair… Where do you think all that money comes from?"
Hezler pointed out the window at the vast territory. The upkeep of knights was a crushing burden. Monster activity had grown, true, but hiring them now would be far too hasty.
"…I spoke without thinking. Forgive me, Father."
"Remember this, Asel. You will be the next head of Riperto Territory. You will manage these lands after me."
"Yes. I understand."
"Meia and Elven have been running up needless expenses lately as well. Keep them in check."
Hezler pressed his fingers to his brow, cooling the heat that had risen in his head.
"They could have just sent the subsidy. Instead they want to dispatch mages…"
He muttered while scanning one of the rejection notices. The court claimed it would send mages to determine whether the monster surge was temporary or long-term.
A handful of people who could toss a few spells around, clinging to their privileges. They pretended to revere scholarship while calculating every coin more shrewdly than anyone. Hezler had long since grown sick of their ways.
…No. Not quite.
He reined his thoughts in. That old story was nearly finished. Once this harvest season ended, his own house would finally set foot among those privileged ranks.
His second child—born of a knightly line, yet sensitive to mana and able to wield magic. The boy had even entered the academy everyone said was impossible to get into. When that child returned, the standing of the territory would rise. In an age when magic grew more vital by the day, he was a treasure beyond price.
"A mage in our house… I wonder what faces the other lords will make."
It was the first smile Hezler had shown. Asel offered no reply. He simply finished tidying and bowed before he left.
"Hah."
Out in the corridor the crushing pressure seemed to lift; a long breath escaped him of its own accord. He loosened the necktie he had cinched tight with nerves, and the stranglehold around his throat eased.
The older he grew, the more one question had begun to haunt Asel. Father Hezler was strict yet attentive to his children; Mother was always gentle and embracing—except toward one of them.
As a boy he had never wondered why. But as he aged, saw more of the world, and gained perspective, he finally understood the loneliness his younger brother must have felt.
…
How isolated, how hard it must have been.
Yet all of that was in the past now. In the two years since the boy left for the academy he had never once come home. The only replies were the reluctant letters Mother sent at Asel's own request. If the boy simply returned someday, that alone would be enough.
Crash!
"Are you kidding me?! Not this—I told you to bring the Samebringham brand!"
From farther down the hall came the spoiled tantrum of his still-immature younger sibling. Asel let out a deep sigh and started walking.
When I opened my eyes it was morning.
"…Mm."
I must have slept especially well; my body felt light. A lazy stretch sent a satisfying series of cracks through my joints.
"Guess all that running around yesterday paid off."
Still half-asleep I rose, folded the blanket, and fluffed the pillow.
"Huh?"
The white cotton pillow that was always spotless now caught the sunlight and glittered with something. Without thinking I plucked it free and looked closer.
A hair?
A single fine strand I had first taken for a thread. Why was it here…?
…
Eline had come over yesterday, but she had only sat at the desk.
"Ah."
It must have blown in on the wind. That had to be it. Strange thoughts tried to form in my head; I forced them down.
The moment I left the dorm that morning I went looking for Valrod. Anyone might wonder how you find a single person on a campus this size, no matter how close you are. With Valrod it was simple. Put politely, he loved food. Put bluntly, he ate like a starving beggar lived in his stomach.
It was a weekend morning. There was only one place he would be: the cafeteria—specifically the eastern one he favored.
…
Sure enough, when I arrived I spotted a student who had already cleaned three bowls and was face-down in a fourth. Four bowls before noon. I walked right up and he still didn't notice, shoveling food without pause.
"Valrod."
Only then did he jolt and slowly lift his head.
"Hrrgh—huh?"
"Swallow first, then talk."
Noodles tried to escape his mouth; he vacuumed them back in with a wet slurp.
He really does look like an animal.
The sight was pure starved beast. I sat across from him as he finished, let out a belch, and reached for water.
"What's up this early on a weekend?"
"I've got a favor to ask."
"A favor?"
He wiped his mouth and eyed me with interest.
"You can decide after you hear it."
"Doesn't sound like an ordinary favor."
"Depends on who's listening."
"Hmm."
Valrod grinned mischievously and bounced to his feet.
"All right, how about this."
"What?"
He cleared his tray and jerked his chin toward the exit.
"I'll do your favor."
"…?"
What was he talking about?
"I haven't even said what it is."
"I know. You're not about to ask me to kill someone, right?"
Is that how he saw me?
"I figure you won't ask anything crazy, so in return you do one for me."
…Oh-ho.
"You'll do mine if I do yours? Without even hearing it?"
"Of course."
"Even if I told you to starve for a week?"
"For real?"
"Joke. Unclench."
I stood and followed him out into the quiet academy grounds.
"So what favor is so important you'd agree to anything of mine?"
"Nothing big. Just… patrol?"
Patrol.
"Out of nowhere?"
"Yeah. The professors are all out on assignment, so there's a gap in security."
I'd heard they would be gone all next week; quite a few had already left on Friday.
"The student council put the third-years on temporary guard duty."
Temporary guards. Well, third-years—especially Alpha Class—were already good enough for active service.
"So you volunteered?"
"More like got drafted. Who volunteers for that?"
Valrod shrugged as if he'd been stuck with a chore.
"It's boring alone, so just walk with me and keep me company."
"That's all?"
"That's all."
"…"
I couldn't decide whether it was simple or just annoying. Suddenly told to patrol the academy with no warning.
"It's nothing. You went to the Whispering Forest with Ross once, right?"
"Yeah."
"We just need to circle a bit of that and come back."
How much was "a bit"? The forest was far larger than it looked.
"We'll be done before lunch?"
"Maybe sooner. Other students are already out patrolling."
If it finished before lunch, fine.
"All right. Let's do it."
Valrod grinned in satisfaction and clapped my shoulder.
"Great. I was bored anyway—now I've got something to do."
"Why the patrols, though?"
"Things have been restless lately. More monsters, more criminal groups. The academy's putting on a show of security at least."
Long ago, break-ins at the academy had been common—anti-magic gangs, theft of knowledge, attacks on promising talent. Now that the continent was fully pacified, direct assaults on the heavily fortified academy had vanished. Attention had simply shifted to more sensitive targets.
Patrol, huh…
Maybe this would be a new experience too.
"This the place?"
We arrived at the eastern entrance of the Whispering Forest. Even in the morning the dense canopy cast the interior in deep green shadow.
"Never been here?"
"Not once. Only heard about it."
Valrod said it as if it were obvious.
"People are already inside looking around, so it won't take long."
He quickened his pace and stepped into the trees first.
Well, it's just walking. Should be over soon.
The long trek was a downside, sure, but I could treat it as exercise.
"Hurry up! I don't know the paths in here!"
At Valrod's impatient call I finally followed him in. The forest felt familiar from the few times I'd visited; I decided to treat it like a light stroll.
…Huh?
I stopped dead.
"Valrod."
"What? Don't tell me you're backing out now—that's no fun."
"No… it's nothing."
I shook my head, rubbed my eyes, and caught up again.
Maybe it was only my imagination. But for a moment the trees had seemed to sway—not one of them, the entire forest.