The Journey Begins
…That guy was for real.
Standing there with the most thoroughly refreshed look on his face, grinning like an idiot.
"Captain. You look like a complete dork."
"What was that, you little— pffft!"
He was smiling brighter than I'd seen in ages, and it was so irritating that I stretched out a wing and swept a fan of feathers across his face.
"Well, since it turned out this way… looking forward to working with you."
Then I held out my hand toward the soft-looking guy who was still staring blankly at the whole scene.
"…You asleep?"
He was just gawking at my wings.
Huey, was it…? Was this guy seriously an adventurer?
"Master."
"Ah—no! Yes. Looking forward to working with you."
The foul-tempered-looking girl beside him jabbed him in the ribs, and only then did he snap back to reality.
"We're going to be traveling together for a while anyway, so just take it easy."
At a glance he looked about my age, but maybe people from other worlds were all this awkward by nature.
Either way, my arm was getting tired, so I gave my wings a few flaps to hurry the handshake along.
"Yes… I mean, yeah."
We finally managed a handshake. He just stood there staring at his own hand with a dazed expression, as if the feel of the feathers had short-circuited his brain. I ignored him and turned to the girl sighing at his side.
"Luciella, right?"
"Yes."
"Like I said earlier, I'm Ren."
"Please call me Lucy."
Honestly, she seemed more reliable than he did.
"I hope you will understand. As it happens, regarding you… mmph!"
"I was the one who messed up, so could you just keep your mouth shut?"
Huey clamped a hand over Lucy's mouth mid-sentence and shot her a frantic look. The two of them started rolling their eyes at each other like they were haggling over some private deal, and I sighed.
"Haa…"
"Ah, youth."
"Oh, sure. Since it's youth, don't go sticking your nose in, old man. And another thing…"
The Captain was sprawled across his desk, smirking like none of my answers mattered in the slightest. I pretended not to notice and gave my wings one big, deliberate shake—
Just enough to send every document on his desk flying.
"I told you I'd get you back for this."
—Whoosh!
"Huh? Hey—Reeeen!!"
"Have fun with that!"
While the Captain flailed in panic over the papers swirling through the air, I stuck my tongue out at him, then called to the two still locked in their silent staring contest.
"Huey! Lucy! Let's go!"
"Huh?"
"…Understood."
No one around to pick up his papers for him today.
"I'll give you the building tour if we ever come back. For now, just grab my stuff and let's move!"
Leaving the Captain behind as he stared out the window at the drifting papers, torn between jumping after them and giving up entirely, I took Huey and Lucy down the opposite corridor to my room, slung on the bag I always kept packed for missions, and headed out.
"Hahaha! Serves you right!!"
"You little—!! Just you wait!!"
"Hmph! People who say 'just you wait' never turn out to be scary!"
"Wai— gah—!! It's wet!!"
Apparently last night's brief rain had left a puddle somewhere. With the Captain's shriek as our soundtrack, we stepped out through the front gate.
"Ahh. That felt amazing."
"Um… are we really okay just walking out like this?"
I was stretching, still basking in the rare satisfaction of landing a solid hit on the Captain, when Huey asked with an uneasy look.
"Doesn't matter. This isn't a one- or two-day thing."
Before my body changed, this kind of exit had been routine.
"We've got ways to contact each other anyway."
"Well, if that's the case, I guess it's fine, but…"
"It's already done. No point dwelling on it."
"You get it."
Life was meant to be enjoyed. The present moment only came around once!
That said…
"Something I've been wondering about since earlier—what's with that coffin?"
"Ah, this?"
It had looked pretty heavy when she set it down earlier. Watching someone casually haul a coffin bigger than her own body around with one hand would make anyone curious—even me.
"…I don't know."
"Huh?"
"Other than the fact that it is an important object to me, I know nothing about it."
An important object she knew nothing about. That made so little sense I just stared at her in silence.
"I'll explain that one."
Huey cut in.
"Since we're traveling together now, it's better you know."
"Well, I suppose so."
"What are you talking about?"
"It was about half a year ago…"
And so the explanation began. Filtering the long-winded account of half a year ago and everything else down to the useful parts…
"So basically, it was found with Lucy when she was sleeping at the end of some ruins?"
"Yeah."
"And the reason she calls you Master?"
"Apparently she was set up to call whoever woke her 'Master.'"
Oh. That was all.
I'd been wondering why she'd call someone who clearly wasn't a noble "Master."
"I figured you two were into some kind of master-servant roleplay."
I'd even been ready to give them space at night if it came to that.
"It's not like that!!"
"Even as a joke, that is offensive. How could you associate a beautiful young lady such as myself with something so…"
"…That one kind of stings in its own way."
"And besides, the person Master has fallen for is someone else entirely— mmph, mmph!"
"Lucy. Didn't we already settle our deal earlier?"
So that earlier thing really had been a deal.
Well, my curiosity was more or less satisfied.
"Anyway, I'm going to be a lot of trouble from here on out, but take care of me."
It wasn't like I wanted to be—but I was genuinely going to cause them a lot of trouble going forward. I said as much to the two of them, still whispering between themselves.
"Not at all."
"At least things will not be boring now."
They both smiled as they answered. We kept walking and talking about this and that until the house we'd left vanished from view, and a great mountain rose up ahead.
If I remembered right, there was a city past that mountain… Dublin, was it?
"Looks like we'll be camping on the mountain tonight."
While I was still turning over the name of the city beyond, Huey spoke up with a map already open in his hands—when he'd even pulled it out, I had no idea. It was a fairly large mountain to cross on foot, and there was no way we could keep hiking through the night.
"You going to be okay, Ren?"
As we entered the mountain path, Huey asked with genuine concern.
That kind of worry was a first.
"I'm tougher than you think. Don't worry about it."
"Good to hear."
Had this guy already forgotten I belonged to a mercenary company?
"Oh—hold on a second."
Mid-climb, Huey suddenly stopped, as if he'd spotted something.
"What is it?"
"This happens often."
He held up a hand for me to wait, then went over to inspect the base of a nearby tree. He crouched, dug a little around the roots, and pulled something free.
"…A mushroom?"
Looking closer at what was in Huey's hand, I saw a large mushroom with a striking round red cap.
Why was a mushroom buried underground?
"Heh. Looks like dinner's going to be a feast tonight."
"Isn't that a poisonous mushroom?"
I watched Huey digging away with an excited face and spoke up, unconvinced. I was pretty sure mushrooms that flashy were all poisonous.
"Ah, this? It's called a burrow mushroom. Looks like this, but it's completely harmless. Smells great, too."
Huh. You learn something new every day.
"It usually only grows underground, so it's hard to find. We got lucky."
Probably grew so close to the tree roots that it got pushed up a little toward the surface, he said, coming back with both hands full of mushrooms.
"Here you are."
"Thanks."
With practiced ease, Lucy unhooked one of several pouches hanging from the top of the coffin and held the opening out so Huey could drop the mushrooms in. Most of the luggage she was carrying seemed to be cooking ingredients.
Still—I'd never even heard of something like that…
"Guess mushrooms like that are common in other worlds."
"No? They're not."
"Huh?"
"This is just a hobby."
Saying that, Huey pulled a small notebook from his coat and opened it toward me.
"Oh…"
A notebook filled with unfamiliar writing and simple sketches scattered throughout.
"Cooking's been my hobby since back in my original world."
It was a notebook of notes on this world's ingredients, he said, smiling softly.
"Getting home is important, sure—but when else am I going to get experiences like this?"
"Meanwhile I am the one suffering for it."
Judging by the number of failed dishes, Lucy grumbled with a thoroughly dissatisfied look on her face.
"Well, either way—you can look forward to dinner tonight."
With good ingredients on hand, and to celebrate me joining them, he was going to put in some real effort, he said. Huey tucked the notebook away and thumped his chest confidently.
"Alright. I'll hold you to that."
We climbed a little farther, and the sun began to sink. A reasonably wide clearing appeared just in time, so we decided to camp there for the night. Since it was still a bit early for dinner, we lit a fire, tidied the area, and were sorting out the watch rotation when—
"Lucy and I will take the watch. Ren, you just rest easy."
"Huh?"
"You must've been worn out just keeping up with us."
"Huuh?"
"Still, I am surprised. I expected at least one or two complaints about dying."
"Huuuuh?"
I made my confusion plain at the sudden, incomprehensible remarks.
What kind of treatment was this?
Ah. Don't tell me.
"Girls your age pretty much pass out after even a short hike."
"The last escort commission was truly a spectacle."
…Confirmed.
These two had been treating me like some winged little girl.
"Let me ask you something first. How old do I look?"
"Being generous, twenty?"
"Late teens, is it not?"
I was going to lose my mind.
"Sorry to break it to you, but I'm twenty-seven this year."
"…Oh."
"You have a… remarkably youthful face."
Only then did the image of me getting thrown off the second floor earlier, and the story of ending up like this during a ruins expedition, seem to click. Both of them looked at me like something had just dawned on them.
"And for the record…"
This was all the Captain's fault. He should have explained properly.
"I used to be a man!"