To Orsis (2)
Hwia had been buzzing with excitement since morning. Today was finally the day we set out for Orsis.
Dressed in the armor she'd bought at the shop—lightweight gear made for women—she grinned brightly and chattered away.
"Oppa! Tiable! Look at this. Don't I look like a warrior now that I've got this on?"
"If I just pick up a sword, I'll totally look like an adventurer, right?"
"Like this!"
Hwia swung an imaginary blade through the air without a real sword in her hands. She was completely thrilled about going to Orsis.
I had put on the dress we'd bought from the armor shop. They'd said it was enchanted, but I never expected it would even adjust its own size.
It was more than earning its steep price.
"Tiable…"
When Hugo saw me in the dress, he brought a hand to his chin and spoke with absolute seriousness.
"You still don't remember where you came from, right?"
Why is he bringing that up all of a sudden?
"U-um… I don't remember."
"You're actually some noble from somewhere, aren't you? There's no way this dress would suit you this well otherwise."
"You're cute. No—beautiful. I'm so happy I get to see you like this first."
"Hwia gets to keep this sight right beside her the whole time. I'm so, so jealous."
"Ugh, Oppa. Tiable's cute, sure, but isn't that going a little too far…?"
Hwia grabbed both of her own arms with a look of pure disgust, eyeing Hugo as if he were some kind of bug. The two of them really did look a lot alike.
"Can't I just come to Orsis with you guys?!"
Hugo shouted it at full volume.
"Oppa, you've got your own work to do."
"Urgh. But—!"
We stood at the door and kept listening until Hugo finally calmed down. By the end he was practically teary-eyed.
"So… you're really going now?"
It was a face I'd seen somewhere before—the face of a puppy watching its owner leave.
"D-don't get hurt, okay…? Come back safe…"
"And if you can, come back soon…"
If we stayed in the doorway any longer, Hugo was going to start bawling. All the early-morning preparations we'd made would have been for nothing.
"I-I'm going now! Take care…! We'll be back soon."
"Y-yeah…"
"Have a safe trip."
Hugo forced a smile and tried to see us off properly. Even when I glanced back halfway down the road, he was still waving without stopping.
We were walking through the streets of Sepia on our way to the castle gate when a strangely familiar silhouette caught my eye. It was Deriel.
Moving among humans with one broken horn, he stood out easily.
It had been a while, and before I could stop myself I called his name.
"Deriel—!"
Whether he heard my voice or not, Deriel stopped mid-step and turned around.
"Ah, it's been a while, Tiable."
He looked us over, noticed all the luggage we were carrying, and asked if something was up.
"Going on some kind of adventure?"
"Not an adventure… a trip!"
"A trip's good. Helps clear the head. But are the two of you going alone?"
"Yeah!"
"Mind if I ask where you're headed?"
"Orsis!"
"Orsis, hm. That's quite far. And the human beside you would be Hwi…"
"It's Hwia."
Hwia wouldn't even meet his eyes, as if something about Deriel still rubbed her the wrong way. Last time she'd called him "mister," I was pretty sure.
Fortunately Deriel didn't seem bothered by her reaction this time either.
"Right. That was the name. Tiable—do you know anyone in Orsis?"
"Lena. One person."
"So she'll be handling the interpreting. In that case it shouldn't be a problem."
Interpreting…? Right. Beastmen had their own language too. I'd completely forgotten.
"W-we're going to Orsis to find Lena, so I don't know where she is right now."
"Then how do you plan to talk to anyone once you get there?"
"Th-that's…"
"I'd love to come interpret for you myself, but I've got a mountain of work today. I was on my way to it just now, in fact…"
"Ah—but Tiable, you have a talent for magic, so this should work."
"Huh?"
"Have you ever wondered why we demons speak human languages so fluently when we barely interact with humans?"
Now that he mentioned it, it was strange. Why hadn't I ever thought that was odd?
From the first time I met him, Deriel's human speech had been unnaturally perfect.
No—Tilia, another demon, had been the same.
"As a gesture of goodwill, I'll teach you something useful."
"We demons are born with certain magics already carved into our minds. For example—"
Something like this.
"Eep!"
Deriel's mouth hadn't moved at all, yet his voice rang inside my head.
It was nothing like the voice that echoed in my mind whenever I cast a spell. This wasn't sound coming through my ears—it burrowed straight into my brain, sharp and intimate, and I let out something that wasn't quite a scream.
"Wh-what did you just do to Tiable?!"
Apparently Hwia couldn't hear the voice at all.
Well? Fascinating, isn't it?
I nodded. I couldn't see my own face, but my eyes were probably sparkling.
"Let Hwia hear it too."
"Let her hear? Hear what?"
She looked a little thrown when I suddenly called her name.
"Wh-what the—! Stop it!"
Hwia clapped both hands over her ears in shock. The voice would keep coming through anyway.
Deriel lightly covered his mouth with one hand, smiling as if he found the whole thing amusing.
"Congratulations, both of you. You've just become the first humans in this world to experience the demon-exclusive magic called Message."
"Tiable, did you already know about magic like this?"
Not at all. I'd never heard of it, never seen it.
"No…"
"That isn't what matters. This isn't the magic you need right now."
Don't tell me. There can't be a magic like that.
"We demons have a magic called Translation. Look at the person in front of you and cast it, and you'll instantly understand everything they say—no matter the language. What you speak is converted as well, of course."
"Translation…! Ah—tell me! That magic!"
"You know that being told a magic doesn't mean you can use it right away, don't you? Though with your talent, maybe you can. Fine—I'll teach you the structure first."
"Someone's really worked up."
Hwia looked a little bored, unable to join the conversation. But this was endlessly fascinating to me.
If a magic called Translation had existed, I wouldn't have struggled half as much when I first came to this world.
Deriel crouched to match my eye level and explained the structure of the magic.
"And you cast it like this. $-G-R."
So that was the pronunciation for Translation magic.
"It'll be hard to get on the first try. Practice while you're traveling to Orsis and—"
"E$-GR-. Deriel, how is it?"
I couldn't perfectly recreate the pronunciation I'd only heard once, but I felt the magic take hold.
"T-Tiable? What are you saying all of a sudden?"
Hwia, who'd been watching our conversation with mild disinterest, suddenly cut in looking startled.
"Pfft—ha, haha. Clean. I didn't expect you to cast it right away."
Deriel laughed hard. I never imagined he'd laugh that freely—he must not have expected me to succeed either.
"Hwia, you really can't understand me?"
I asked while staring straight at her.
"Huh? Oh—no, I can understand you now."
"What about like this?"
I lifted my head and looked at Deriel instead.
"I can't understand you again…"
Hwia tilted her head, puzzled.
"Tiable, you really are sharp. Never mind casting the magic—you immediately tried to figure out how it stays active."
"Truly clever."
Deriel had been watching with keen interest as I turned my head and spoke, then opened his mouth again.
"Ah, I've spent more time teaching magic than I meant to. Have a good trip. You won't need to find an interpreter anymore."
"I've got urgent business myself, so I'll be going."
"Yeah! Bye. Thanks for always helping us!"
"We're the ones who caused you trouble. Helping this much isn't something that deserves thanks."
I'd meant I was grateful for the demon magic he'd taught me, not for helping with Sepia.
"Ti…ble… …"
Deriel muttered something as he passed beside me, but he spoke so quietly I couldn't make it out.
It sounded like my name. Well—I'd cast Translation magic on the first try. That was probably worth being surprised about.
It was exclusive demon magic, after all!
We reached the castle gate, but there was no convenient way to get all the way to Orsis. A carriage was the only real option… and I got terrible motion sickness, so I'd wanted anything else. Nothing else presented itself.
If something like a portal existed, we could just pay and walk through. I'd asked Redrago about it once—Sepia didn't have portals.
"A portal…? There's no such thing here."
So a carriage it was.
"We're trying to go to Orsis."
"That place stinks. Not going."
"Can you take us to Orsis?"
"I don't go as far as the beast country."
"Would you be able to take us to Orsis?"
"I-it's a bit far, you see. Try someone else."
"Orsis—"
"Not going."
Hwia and I kept looking for a coachman who would take us to Orsis, and we kept getting turned down flat.
When we'd gone to Orun with Redrago, the distance had been shorter—maybe that was why it had been easier to find someone.
Most of the coachmen refused the moment they heard the word Orsis.
What now? Every preparation was finished, and we still couldn't get there. I hadn't expected this at all.
Then a pretty good idea popped into my head. I approached the coachman who had seemed the most promising.
"Ah, you kids again. Like I said earlier, Orsis is far, so I don't think I can—"
I quietly pulled out the bundle of silver coins. When I set it down with some effort, it chimed and hit the ground with a dull thud.
Thud—
The moment the silver touched the dirt, I held up two fingers in a V and told him:
"Double the usual price."
This was probably why Redrago had given us so much money.
"Urgh—g-g-get in."
Lena had been right. Money really was the best. Thanks, Redrago!