To the Desert
After a restless night spent haunted by the image of Osmon from the day before, I was out with Huey and Lucy looking into carriages for our departure from Swinford when—
"Oh, thank goodness! You haven't left yet!"
"Frederica?"
"…Lump of fat."
Frederica came sprinting toward us as if she had something urgent to deliver. Lucy was staring dead-eyed at the bounce of her chest, so I blocked her view with a wing before turning to Frederica.
"What are you doing here?"
If she had something to say, she could have just sent a scrap of parchment. Why come in person?
"Hiiing. That's so mean. I ran all the way here to deliver good news in person, and this is what I get."
"Whatever."
"Honestly… you've never had so much as a speck of romantic sensibility, not even back then. Really."
"You should set your expectations somewhere realistic."
"Aigoo. Fine. It's my own fault for expecting anything from a man who only cares about swinging a sword. Yes, yes."
Tsk. She was saying things people could easily take the wrong way.
"Our cute little alchemist told me the prototype is almost finished."
"Oh."
Wait a second.
"Why is she telling you that?"
"I'm sure Ren would know better than I would."
…Ah.
"Because she can't write?"
"Exactly. She says she hates sending letters when she can't even make small talk in them."
Tsk. That letter addiction of hers was something else. For someone who could barely string two words together face-to-face, she sure loved putting things on paper.
"Fine, whatever. So?"
"Betty can't come down from the north for a while, so I said I'd hold onto it. She says it should arrive in about ten days."
At that, I crossed my arms and thought for a moment, then turned to Huey.
"Huey."
"Yeah?"
"Could we swing back through here after we hit the desert?"
"Stopping by briefly? Sure. How many days are we talking?"
Perfect.
"You heard him. Take good care of it."
"Fufu. Leave it to me."
"That everything? Then we're really going."
"Yes. Everyone, take care of yourselves."
"You take care too, Frederica."
And so, leaving Frederica waving behind us, we headed for the outskirts of the city to hunt down a carriage.
However—
"The desert? Impossible right now. Completely impossible."
"If you're trying to reach the desert these days, even triple the fare won't get you there."
"There's been some nasty rumors circulating about the south for a while now."
The moment we so much as mentioned the desert, every coachman waved us off.
"Ugh… what do we do?"
"Walking all the way to the desert seems a bit much."
"…What if we at least get as far as Dublin and try again from there?"
We were stomping our feet over this completely unexpected snag when—
"Hmm… so you're headed for the desert, are you? Then you ought to look into Jackson's carriage."
One of the older coachmen, who must have been watching our whole predicament, offered us a tip. There was a merchant who made regular runs delivering medicinal herbs to a desert city in the south. Even if it was a tight squeeze, we could ask him for a ride.
"Thank you!"
We headed straight for the place the coachman had pointed out, and sure enough, found a carriage nearly ready to depart.
"Ah, you're headed toward the desert? Perfect timing. I was just about to go looking for some escorts."
Apparently he'd been on his way to the Adventurers' Guild to hire protection. The brown-haired middle-aged merchant—Jackson—lit up the moment Huey handed over his adventurer registration.
"Well, well! If a Gold-rank adventurer is willing to come along, I'd be more than grateful."
"Then…"
"Haha. It'll be a bit cramped, but I'll make sure the pay is more than fair."
"Whew. Thank you."
"Well then. Shall we go over the contract terms first?"
After a bit of back-and-forth over the details, Huey finished drafting the contract and shook Jackson's hand with a satisfied look on his face.
"Been waiting long?"
"Looks like the pay was pretty good."
"Ah, well…"
Jackson had gone off to check on the horses one last time. The moment I brought up the compensation with Huey as he walked back, the idiot broke into a cold sweat and looked away from both me and Lucy.
…This bastard. Don't tell me.
"He said there are rare spices you can only get in the desert, so I agreed to take those instead of the usual pay…"
"Lucy. Do it."
"I was already planning to, even without being told."
"Wait—whoa!"
I swept the legs out from under the fool who'd swapped our pay for spices without a word to either of us, and Lucy climbed right on top of him like she'd been waiting for this exact moment.
"Well then. Are you prepared, Master?"
—Crack.
"W-wait a second…! The spices were worth more than the usual commission pay…!"
Huey scrambled to defend himself, terror written all over his face as he watched Lucy roll up her sleeves above him.
Ha. And he thought that counted as an excuse.
"Hey. We're going to the desert. Why would you take rare spices that you can only get in the desert as payment?"
"If you'd just taken the money and bought the spices once we got there, we'd have had cash left over. Obviously."
"…Ah."
Only then did the realization of what he'd done hit him, leaving him with a completely blank look on his face. I locked eyes with Lucy, then drew a wing across my throat in a cutting gesture.
"Nothing left to say? Then take your beating."
The contract was already signed, so there was no undoing it. He just had to take his lumps.
"Next time, try using that thing called a brain."
"If even Ren is saying something like that, I trust you understand the severity of the situation."
"…I'm sorry."
And so, with Huey's face already swelling up for the day, we climbed into the cargo bed of the carriage.
"I thought I heard a commotion… You must be the adventurers Brother Jackson mentioned."
Apparently there was already another passenger. A soft, gentle woman's voice drifted over to us.
"Ah, come to think of it, he did mention there was one more person headed for the desert…"
"Yes. That would be me."
Judging by Huey's reaction, he'd already been given a heads-up.
"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Chloe. Though I am unworthy, I am a priestess who serves the god Deneb."
"I'm Huey, an adventurer. These are my companions, Ren and…"
"Luciella."
The priestess had golden hair tied back at the nape of her neck, falling all the way to her waist. Her jewel-bright blue eyes curved gently as she pressed her hands together and addressed us.
"Since fate has brought us together like this, I shall pray that blessings fill the path ahead of you all."
"Thank you."
At the same time, a faint dark-blue holy power spread through the cargo bed of the carriage.
That aside—
"Her clothes look a lot like Lucy's."
"They do, don't they."
Looking at Chloe's outfit—different from any Rest Temple priestess's vestments I knew—I said as much.
"Oh my. Now that you mention it… they really are similar."
"They really are."
Unlike a typical nun's habit, it was a long-sleeved dark-blue dress that followed the curves of the body. Compared to Lucy's clothes, the color was a shade lighter and it bore the emblem of those who served the god Deneb—but beyond those differences, the two outfits were astonishingly alike.
"Humble as it may look, this is a recreation of the garments said in ancient texts to have been worn by an Apostle of the god Deneb…"
"…I have no particular interest in serving any god."
At the mention of ancient texts, Lucy looked distinctly unsettled, glancing down over her own outfit.
"Then it must simply be a coincidence that they resemble each other. Since the opportunity has presented itself, how about we become friends?"
"Not interested."
"Fufu. How cold."
Something I'd only recently come to realize: Lucy was incredibly cold toward anyone who wasn't me or Huey.
"Sister Luciella. Please don't be like that—won't you talk with me a little?"
"Ugh, so annoying…"
—Rattle.
I was watching with a wry smile as Chloe clung on undeterred by Lucy's frosty reception when the carriage finally started moving.
"How long did he say until we reach the desert?"
Feeling the vibration of the rolling carriage, I tossed the question at Huey.
"About a week?"
"Haa. This is going to be boring."
I sighed at the answer that came back a moment later. I'd expected it wouldn't be a short trip, but a whole week? …I just hoped my lower back and rear end would survive.
"Huk. You have no memories? Aah—how can something so tragic happen."
"If you understand, then please stop…"
"This simply will not do. If you ever have the time, you must come with me to the Temple of Rest. If we offer up a prayer with true sincerity, I am certain the god Deneb will grant us aid."
"…Can someone please save me?"
Before we knew it, Chloe was casually including Lucy in her "we," as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Lucy, thoroughly flustered by the priestess's intensity, turned to us with a plea for rescue.
Huey and I quietly locked eyes, then nodded.
"…Zzz."
"Yaaawn…"
Deliberately ignoring the look from Lucy that promised she would tear us apart, we closed our eyes and pretended to sleep. There was absolutely nothing to gain from chatting with a priestess that devout.
But there was one thing we'd failed to account for.
"…Both of you. I'll make sure you never open your eyes again."
Namely, the fact that Lucy herself was not exactly a model of mental stability either.
—Clink-rattle.
"I'm up, I'm up! I said I'm up!!"
"Stop! Stop! If you start swinging that thing in here we're all dead! Wings! I'll cover you with my wings!"
Hearing the sound of Lucy tightening the iron chains bound to her weapon, I had a sudden premonition that if we left things as they were, the carriage itself might not survive. I scrambled upright, yanked Lucy into my arms, and draped my wings over her.
"Ehehe…"
Fortunately, that turned out to be the right answer. Lucy's face melted in an instant.
"Whew. That was close."
"…This kid really is dangerous no matter how many times I see it."
We stayed like that for a moment, having scrambled up to cover Lucy in wings and calm her down, when—
"Um…"
Chloe's voice called out to us, her expression thoroughly bewildered, as if she couldn't make sense of what she'd just witnessed.
"Ah, sorry about that."
"No, no. That's not what I meant…"
Even as Huey apologized, she shook her head and pointed at the chains in Lucy's hands—or more precisely, at the coffin bound to them.
"What exactly is that?"
"Huh?"
"All of a sudden?"
Chloe's eyes were wide with genuine shock, fixed unblinkingly on the coffin. As we tilted our heads in confusion, she spoke again, her face utterly serious.
"That coffin Sister Luciella is carrying… it holds a holy power stronger than any sacred relic I have ever seen."
…What on earth was she talking about all of a sudden?