Because It's Not a Story (8)
How many days had we spent resting like that? Just as I was starting to feel that the temple and the Magic Tower were getting strangely on edge with each other, a report finally arrived from the mages dispatched to the Jatab tribe.
The gist of it, results only: there was no problem.
"As expected, it seems densely concentrated mana has to be corrupted to a certain degree before a being carrying Demon Energy—or a demon itself—is born."
In other words: when mana concentrates, its nature begins to change. If you count those stages of change up to ten, a demon only appears around stages nine or ten.
Put another way, the Magic Tower lake incident had gone all the way to that level.
Sangun's nest sat around stages seven to eight; the snake farm the Jatab tribe was raising, the one just investigated, was about five or six.
This wasn't my guesswork. Sangun had explained the difference between his nest and the snake farm, and the mages had polished that explanation and sent it over, so it was solid.
"The threshold where something starts carrying Demon Energy seems to begin at stages seven and eight. Sangun is a special case—whether things jump straight to demonhood at nine and ten, or whether they can still remain human… animal… ordinary living creatures, like Sangun, even while carrying Demon Energy… that part's still unclear."
"I see."
"Separately, whether they stay ordinary creatures or become demons, I believe the ability to convert Demon Energy into mana and hide themselves is something they're born with starting from that stage. So keep that in mind going forward!"
"Understood."
"I'll run experiments for the details and pass on the confirmed results once I have them. It's important material, after all."
White Wind, holding up a picket that read Show me the bead, declared, "That concludes the explanation!" The moment she did, Inquisitor's hand rose cautiously.
"By experiments, you mean…?"
"We'll deliberately create an environment of concentrated mana and observe a demon being born!"
"I-Is that really all right?"
"We've already coordinated with the temple, and it'll proceed under their supervision, so you needn't worry."
"I see…"
Inquisitor, ever the stickler for procedure, seemed satisfied and lowered her hand. Dev's expression, however, turned complicated. He had probably thought the same thing I had.
Namely… that some mage out there was almost certainly going to run the experiment in secret.
"Have you decided to make it public?"
"Only on the temple side. On the Magic Tower side, only a few Great Sages and our branch are to know. The odds of someone here causing trouble are just too high. Of course, even the temple will probably only report it quietly to the upper ranks."
Fortunately, they had at least decided on countermeasures. Whether those would work remained an open question, but it was better than doing nothing.
"I'm already getting dirty looks, so I regret it a little! Ahaha!!"
If word still leaked after all that… well. It might actually make it easier to identify anyone colluding with demons.
When the people who know are limited, tracking down the culprit gets simpler. For all I knew, someone was already exploiting that fact.
"And the Jatab tribe has no connection to any demon. At least, none of the barons we've turned up so far."
White Wind continued her explanation, then glanced my way and smiled faintly.
"Too bad, huh?"
That was the follow-up to her earlier promise that she'd hand any related parties over to me.
I didn't bother answering. Instead I only tightened the arms I had folded across my chest, crumpling the coat hem clenched in my fist even further.
"Well, too bad or not, nothing to be done about it. Take this."
Ah. So it was finished.
"What is that?"
I had no idea why she was handing it over in front of everyone, but it was boxed, so no one would be able to tell what was inside.
Relieved on that point, I accepted what was almost certainly a chest guard. I would put it on before we left later.
"Heh heh. Nothing the Hero needs to know about."
"I see…"
Yes, yes. Better that the dumpling remain ignorant. I agreed with White Wind as she waved her picket. Our business at the Magic Tower was truly finished now.
"Then we have no further reason to involve ourselves with the Great Forest."
"From your perspective, sure. You aren't going to sit around here until something finally turns up, are you? And you have places you need to go."
"Then may I ask a favor?"
"Don't even mention it. This is the sort of thing we ought to do without being asked, so you don't need to say a word."
I ignored White Wind's picket without a word and pushed myself off the wall I had been leaning against.
We had rested enough; there was no reason left to stay. I expected we would leave before the day was out.
We had already settled on our next destination during the break, so the odds were even higher.
"If you really feel bad about asking, then the Demon Knight could just give me the bea—"
"Aren't you sick of that yet?"
"Why would I be?!"
I had already found a place to leave Akata today; I needed to give her the thread before we left. Had I really still not handed it over after all this dithering? Honestly.
"Then you'll be leaving today."
"Berserk likes that! I was about to die of boredom anyway!"
"I could more or less guess from the way you went and helped rebuild the bridge while claiming you had nothing to do…"
"I'm a little disappointed myself… My technique was almost complete."
While Archmage smoothly shut down White Wind's whining, we all filed out of the Magic Tower in a noisy group. While the bridge was under construction they were running boats across the lake, so at least we didn't have to worry about swimming.
"I'd rather be out of here as soon as possible, myself."
"Come to think of it, you've been oddly reluctant to stay in the city these past few days. Did something happen?"
"…Nothing happened. But were we close enough to ask each other that kind of thing?"
"…!"
I sat down in the boat under the warm sunlight. Even setting Berserk and me aside, everyone else was a heavyweight in their own right, so we had to split across two boats.
"That bastard actually worried about me!"
For reference, Berserk was heavier than I was, so she paired with the lightest of us—Dev—while I paired with Kimchi Dumpling.
Inquisitor, who had worried about Dev only to get the cold shoulder—though from where I sat it looked more like he was just unused to showing concern and was being tsundere about it—spent the boat ride huffing in indignation. That was a free bonus.
"Oh! Look, a fish!!"
"Aaaagh! Sit still!"
"Ooooh!!"
"The boat's going overrr!!"
Meat Dumpling seemed to be receiving his payback from Berserk for his earlier curtness.
"Serves you right."
Inquisitor must have realized it too; she stuck her tongue out at Dev—who was clinging for dear life to the boat—then returned to normal. I had no idea where she had even learned to stick her tongue out like that.
"Ah, right. Demon Knight—they say they found a place to send Akata today! Would you like to come along?"
Oh. I had been wondering how to arrange it myself, and here she was handing me the perfect excuse. Good dumpling, good dumpling.
I only ruffled Kimchi Dumpling's hair in my mind while, on the other hand, thinking of Akata.
Even though she could have stayed comfortably at the temple, the girl had deliberately chosen the harder path.
Hadn't she said that since she was already outside, she wanted to see and learn more, and so refused to remain at the temple? That she would enter some place where she could learn about the world, even if it meant becoming an errand girl.
White Wind had complained that sorting out decent options and steering her toward one of them had kept her busy… but that was none of my concern. What mattered was the way the child faced the trials that came her way without breaking.
That girl was going to grow into someone great.
"This is the place!"
Without answering, I followed behind Inquisitor. Dev and Berserk, who hadn't overheard our conversation, trailed along in confusion as well.
"Where are we going?"
"Were we close enough to ask each other that?"
"…! Petty!"
"Get lost!"
Anyway, they came with us.
"It should be around here… Ah!"
And just as we were passing a merchant guild with the letters for Gridana on it—
"There it is."
—a small sign that had been half-hidden by Gridana's lettering came into view. It was a merchant guild, all right, but a considerably small one.
"Chirity Merchant Guild. Yes, this is it!"
Even if the scale was small, it didn't look shabby. People streamed in and out without pause, and wagons loaded with goods were everywhere. The building itself was a bit compact, but the interior looked solid.
"What? You came to see the kid?"
"Why did you come?"
"Ah, there she is."
At that moment someone came trotting out from between the stables beside the guild building. Four of her six arms carried empty water jugs.
She was already working, it seemed.
"Akata!"
"Hm? Oh!"
At Inquisitor's call, the child who had been about to head inside looked our way. All eight of her eyes went wide.
"Priestess!"
"You're already working?"
"Ah, this. Uh. Work. Good. See?"
After a few days of diligently eavesdropping on people's conversations, she already seemed familiar with the language. The girl strung together a few words, clumsy though they were.
Apparently they had given her work to test whether she was any good at it.
"They said they'll take her if she passes the test."
"I see. Already preparing to stand on her own!"
"Still, four water jugs is a bit much…"
"Isn't she only carrying empty ones?"
"Uh. Me, do. First say? 4. This."
"Akata said she would do it first?"
Her word choice was excellent.
I felt an odd pang comparing myself—who had once been left among foreigners and could only sit blankly, unable to speak—with this child who somehow made communication work.
If even she was trying this hard, then back then I…
"Well done. Take care of yourself, and stay healthy."
"You're doing great. But don't overdo it. Work too hard or too diligently in this line and they'll just work you harder."
"Uwahaha, little friend. If it gets hard, laugh big! Then the hard things fly away!"
Feeling a faint guilt, I watched the others each offer Akata a word. She wore a slightly puzzled look, as if the longer sentences were still hard to follow, but soon she broke into a bright smile.
"Yeah!"
I was glad she seemed so much brighter after only a few days.
"You there."
There was no good reason for me to join that circle. Considering my awkward position, I called over someone nearby—presumably the guild's doorkeeper.
"You're the doorkeeper."
"That I am, but…"
Good. I would leave it with him.
I took a package out of my inventory. I had wrapped it roughly because just handing over bare thread felt odd.
"Once those idiots and I have left, give this to that child."
I indicated Akata with a glance. The doorkeeper looked somewhat reluctant, but when I added fifty thousand gal as a tip he bowed deeply. Money really was best.
"If you pocket it…"
"I absolutely will not do any such thing."
Just in case, I added a little intimidation while resting a hand on my sword; the effect was quite decent. Leaving the doorkeeper—who hadn't even paused for breath—behind me, I slipped cleanly away from the spot.
Inquisitor and Dev showed no sign of noticing I was leaving, and Berserk noticed but didn't care, so there was no risk of being stopped.
"Ah, right—Demon Knight came to see you too. Isn't that… wait!"
"Hm? Eh. Where'd milord go?!"
"If you mean the Demon Knight, he left just now."
"When?!"
"I-I can't believe I didn't notice…!"
I returned to the temple at a leisurely pace.
"We'll be going now!"
"Stay healthy!"
"Little friend, goodbye!"
Meanwhile, after watching the sudden visitors leave, Akata started walking back toward the guild. She had learned over the past few days how good those people were and how kindly they had treated her, so her smile never faded the entire time she saw them off.
Strength returned to arms that had gone sore from hauling water jugs back and forth.
"You there."
"…?"
She still hadn't fully mastered the language, but she knew that phrase was used to call someone.
The girl looked up at the doorkeeper she had never once spoken with before.
"Take this. A guest left it for you."
"Huh?"
Combinations of words she was hearing for the first time—or had heard but only half-understood—brought confusion.
But before that could matter, the object had already been placed in her hands. When her fingers closed around the cloth of smooth material wrapping it, the package folded softly into her grip.
Whatever was inside, it didn't feel hard.
Rustle.
Judging by the atmosphere, this was meant for her. The girl carefully undid the opening at the top of the package.
It was thread.
The same threads she had browsed with the giant warrior in the shop not long ago.
There were quite a few of them, too. Everything she had so much as touched or looked at seemed to be inside.
…How stupid.
It really was stupid. The girl guessed at once who had given it to her and let out a small laugh.
Of course. The people she had just been talking with, or the white high priestess, would never deliver a gift this way. That left only one person.
He didn't have to…
He had definitely come with them, yet there was one person she alone had never seen.
The girl laughed and cried at the same time as she closed the package again. From now on this bundle would be her treasure, something she would never trade for anything else.
The best gift, one that would give her strength whenever things got hard.
He delivered it, right? I paid him fifty thousand gal—he wouldn't just pocket that, would he?
I stood in front of the temple stables fretting over whether the gift had been handed over. If I was going to worry this much I should have just watched it get delivered, but it was already too late.
I had come back to the temple, and everyone else had arrived as well. Archmage had even joined us out of nowhere and was just finishing preparations to leave.
"So we're leaving this place now."
"Are you disappointed?"
"Not at all. I know we still have work left to do."
Ah, whatever. My fretting wasn't going to change anything; I would just have to trust that it had been delivered properly.
More importantly, everyone already had their packs loaded on the horses. Once we mounted, we would be ready to go.
"Ah, I forgot to mention something earlier."
Or rather, we almost were. Archmage seemed to have something he needed to say.
"A few days ago we discovered someone who may have been a demon or a demon worshiper."
I'm sorry, what was that?
"Uh, is it okay to say that now?"
"We didn't find them in the city. Given the possibility they might be lying in ambush along the road, now is the time to speak."
Dev clearly already knew what Archmage was about to say. He wasn't asking what it was about—he was asking whether it was all right to talk about it. This was the first I was hearing of it.
"What do you mean?"
"Ambush? There's an enemy?"
Judging by their reactions, Inquisitor and Berserk didn't know either. Only Archmage and Dev wore the faces of people in the know.
It was an odd pairing, but not a strange one. Those two handling information between themselves was something that had happened often enough.
"Speak. Now!"
Regardless, once the words "demon" and "demon worshiper" had been mentioned, I could not let it slide. I barked the order.
"Well…"
Soon the story began to flow from Dev's and Archmage's throats. The gist was that a few days ago Dev had run into a bizarre individual. Not just bizarre—thoroughly suspicious!
"Why are you only telling us now?"
"It wasn't confirmed information, so we were reluctant to move rashly. If anything had come of it, we would have informed you at once."
The fact that our Meat Dumpling had nearly been in danger again without my knowing made my blood boil, but I still had to hear the explanation.
When I pressed him in character, Archmage sighed and laid out the circumstances.
They had investigated to be sure of their suspicions and found nothing. They had also kept watch around Dev, but the person never reappeared. That was the sum of it.
"We sought cooperation from both the Magic Tower and the temple, but nothing turned up."
Ah. No wonder the temple and Magic Tower had looked strangely busy these past few days. So that was why? But then why keep it secret from us?
"Why did you conceal it from us?"
Inquisitor asked on my behalf. Archmage's face aged ten years on the spot.
Somehow I felt I already knew the answer.
"Inquisitor, you were training to advance to the next stage, were you not? And the Demon Knight had only just recovered from his injuries. I did not wish to disrupt that with uncertain information."
"But…"
Yes. I thought so.
It wasn't as if someone had stormed in, or was hiding under the city doing something nefarious—just one person approaching another and leaving after a single conversation. Disrupting a rest for that would have felt awkward. Especially when it was the first group rest we'd had in months.
And more than that, what kind of people were Inquisitor and I? The sort who flipped out at the mere sight of a demon and tried to abandon everything else. Berserk would have gotten excited, chased the target, and probably smashed half of everything in the process.
I understood at once why Archmage had kept silent.
"That is not for you to decide…!"
But the demon-hating character didn't know that.
I cut past Inquisitor, who was about to offer a half-hearted protest, and shouted with veins standing out on my neck. A long sigh slipped from Archmage's lips.
"I apologize. I will be more careful next time."
From the real me's perspective Archmage had nothing to apologize for, but it was the best response available right now. Once he said that, I could grind my teeth all I wanted but I couldn't dig any further.
My expression twisted a little more.
"In any case, be careful. Given that no trace of them has turned up these past few days, they either deliberately went to ground or left the city. They may even be preparing an ambush."
"I see. Understood."
"Hmm. So we might get to hunt demons on the way? Berserk likes that very much!"
Perhaps because I had thrown such an overwhelming tantrum, Inquisitor spared Archmage's blood pressure and calmly accepted the facts.
Berserk was the same as always, so there was nothing more to add there.
"S-So, we're going around the border of the Great Forest to Camborer, right?"
Once the storm had passed, Dev carefully changed the subject.
Everyone's expressions eased. Everyone except mine.
"That's right."
"…We're not going to Ednium, right?"
"We're going because there's a problem in Camborer, so I doubt we'll head that way unless we have to. Did you want to go?"
"No, nothing like that."
Everyone looked ready; my character was supposed to still be seething from the earlier conversation. Without uttering even a single syllable I swung up onto my horse.
"Then let's depart!"
Our next destination was Camborer. The city that lay below White Cat Ridge, also known by the nickname Blue Mist Nest.