Upon This Earth (2)
“If I was going to call for time off anyway, I should’ve asked for about three weeks. A full month, even.”
Mia, Young Lord of Camborer, muttered as much as she cast her mind back over the events of a few days prior—the recollection of the knight who had come to ask about her schedule, even though she had already sent word that she would match her departure to theirs.
“Mia, what did you just say?”
“Nothing important, Leon.”
When she had first heard that question, she had wondered if the message had simply gone astray. Then she had discarded the idea the moment she realized it was none other than the Demon Knight himself who had come to inquire.
If it had truly been a botched delivery and they had merely sent someone to check, they would have used a messenger rather than the Demon Knight. Or else the Archmage himself—the one among the Hero’s party best at external dealings—would have come.
“Come on. I’m curious.”
“…I was talking about how I panicked and only asked for a week.”
So she had probed gently with a casual “Didn’t you hear anything?” and, reading the frown between the Demon Knight’s brows, she had arrived at a new conclusion.
For reasons she did not know, the Hero’s party had simply not shared the information with the Demon Knight alone.
“Ah… if that’s all.”
She had therefore smoothed things over with something like, “The messengers must have crossed paths. I told the party it would take about a week,” and left it there.
“In the end it wasn’t a mistake… but I still wish I’d asked for more.”
Later, when she had summoned the Archmage, it turned out to be true that information had been kept from the Demon Knight alone.
The reason—that they simply wanted him to rest, and that only a Young Lord’s word might make him listen—had been a little amusing.
“Same here.”
“Really?”
“Once we leave this time, we probably won’t see each other for months. With the city still being rebuilt, the wedding’s going to get pushed back too.”
She leaned back into the one who had come up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. The hand that held hers rose, and a soft warmth brushed the back of it.
“Even after we’re married we won’t really get to see each other properly. You’re all right with that?”
“…True. I really should have begged Mother and Father for a younger sibling when I was little.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Mother said she would, but Father started bellowing that the only reason I could even ask was because I hadn’t watched my mother suffer through it. That old man, honestly.”
The warmth tickling her was so pleasant that she giggled.
“You’re not… bitter toward your father?”
“Oh, come on. How could I hold something like that against him? He wasn’t wrong.”
“Not about a sibling. About… giving up on you.”
The laughter did not last long. Mia lifted her head a little. The face of the gentle man filled most of her vision.
“No. Not even a little.”
“……”
“The night he sent word that he thought he would have to offer me to Biryuho… I heard him crying so bitterly in his room.”
“…Guess you get your tearfulness from him.”
“Probably.”
And for all that gentleness, he was also a strong man.
“If anything feels bitter… wouldn’t it be the rebels you beat into submission who deserve it more?”
“You were close enough to them to feel slighted? They tried to kill you.”
“No… not close, exactly. More like—I wanted to thrash them myself. They were the ones who spent days demonstrating that if it wasn’t me and Father who killed the previous lord, then we should hand over the real culprit at once. They were so irritating then…”
“Ah……”
By way of cheering him up, she pressed her forehead to Leon’s. He nuzzled back gently, then bumped his lips against hers with a soft sound.
“Mia, what about you? Aren’t you bitter toward your family?”
“Ah, I’m fine. We’ve come too far for bitterness… and I can’t even be a headache for them anymore.”
“…They lost power?”
“Something like that.”
She thought of her family, who had been watching only her face ever since the people rose up. Only now had they realized that the moment she gave the order, their own bellies could be slit open. Truly foolish of them.
“They can’t stop me anymore.”
In truth, that was the only reason she had been able to leave her post at all.
Even if she stepped away now, they would not dare entertain any foolish ideas. The entire city would be watching them.
“That’s a relief.”
“Right?”
Still, she would have to head back soon. But she should have filled out a full month. She let out a small sigh of regret.
Knock-knock. The sound of a knock came just then.
“Young Lord!”
“……?”
“Come in.”
“Yes… ahem.”
At the permission of Leon, Young Lord of Ednium, the aide opened the door and entered the room. Of course, the aide who stepped inside had to clear his throat vigorously at the sight of the two people clinging so tightly together.
“I know you’re overflowing with regret about leaving later, but my sides are freezing over here, Young Lord.”
“Then go date someone.”
“You ought to give me the time to do that before you say things like that……”
“Haha. All right. Once this whole affair is over, I’ll give you leave.”
“Yes!”
“So, what is it?”
“Ah, it’s not urgent… but something’s come up that’s a bit awkward to delay reporting.”
“What?”
At Leon’s question the aide cleared his throat once more, then spoke with proper formality.
“The forest that burned down during the Biryuho subjugation… has begun, however faintly, to regenerate.”
Ah, I feel a yawn coming on.
“Why’s the atmosphere like this?”
“Ah, there you are.”
“Aren’t we leaving?”
“We will. Only the route may change a little. We’ll have to take a longer way around… but it seems we’ll stop by the forest where we caught Biryuho.”
I recognized the yawn trying to escape from sheer lack of sleep and bit my tongue lightly to hold it back.
Of course. Even handsome and beautiful people look terrible when they yawn. Doing that on purpose for the character? That’s just asking to kill the cool factor.
“Why?”
“Word came that something unusual has occurred there.”
“…Don’t tell me it’s a demon?”
“I doubt that. Outwardly it was a positive change, they say.”
“A positive change…”
“Grass has grown, apparently.”
“Huh.”
“Still, we must not let our guard down! There is no such thing as change without cause!”
But the heaviest things in the world are eyelids.
The warm sunlight pouring down and the soft breeze made me drowsier by the second. If we were on a forced march it would be one thing, but with everything this languid I was genuinely about to doze off.
“Archmage, it looks like we’re about to depart……”
“Ah, preparations are complete? Then proceed. Don’t mind us over here.”
“Yes.”
Fortunately the departure signal came before sleep could defeat me. Time to mount up.
Neigh.
My horsemanship had improved a good deal over the past few months, but I still wasn’t at the level where I could ride while asleep.
So I focused on the horse’s tempo. The animal that had seemed a little uncomfortable soon showed signs of ease.
“Um……”
Good. Now the battle against boredom begins.
I always feel this, but traveling between cities always gives me the sensation of riding a car out into the countryside. Only much slower and far less interesting.
“Um, Demon Knight. Are you feeling all right……”
Still, I don’t wish for incidents to break out. The events here have a nasty habit of linking straight into the main story whenever something happens, which is annoying.
Honestly. What I want are side quests that wrap up in a day or two—not the main quest.
“Demon Knight.”
Of course, when I say side quests I mean things like “Gather Salad Ingredients” or “Deliver the Salad.”
I absolutely do not want “Bandit Subjugation: Annihilation” or “Neatly Slice the Heinous Criminal ★.”
“What are you doing, Mister?”
“No, I… never mind.”
In the meantime, the one who had been trying to talk to me was finally driven off. All that diligent spinning of idle thoughts without so much as a glance paid off.
Just like the past week, this time also passed without incident.
“……”
I felt the presence of the horse that had drawn up beside me recede into the distance. And when that distance felt safe enough, I finally drew a proper breath after half-holding it.
The red hair visible from afar, the head hanging dejectedly, made a corner of my chest twinge for no good reason.
“Hah.”
Even so… this is right. Yeah. This is the way it has to be.
I let out a small breath so no one else would hear and looked up at the sky. The sky, which knew nothing of other people’s hearts, was truly blue.
Whoosh.
“Ah, summer snow.”
“Everyone cover your mouths and noses with cloths. If summer snow gets in your nose, I’m not taking responsibility.”
And the moment the wind blew, the seeds of the wind-pollinated trees scattered all at once.
While we had stayed in Ednium, the fruit and seeds must have properly ripened. The fluffy seeds drifted like snowflakes.
The name “summer snow” was not wasted on them at all.
Sway.
I caught one of them. Maybe because I had rarely seen a sight like this back home, it felt quite unfamiliar.
As if May had been trapped inside winter. Even though this place was neither May nor winter.
Still, to me it was winter.
“Here.”
Just then, Deathbringer suddenly held something out. A piece of cloth.
“If it gets in your nose… those things make you suffer something awful. So……”
Whether that made me glad or sorrowful.
I parted my lips slightly, then closed them again. Clop-clop. The horse, reading my signal, picked up a little more speed and moved forward.
Rustle.
In the meantime I took out a handkerchief and covered my mouth and nose. Really, that thing had all sorts of uses. Buying it had been a good call.
“…I tried.”
“…What are you saying.”
“You’re not giving up already, are you?”
“Seriously, what are you on about. Just look ahead, Mister.”
“Hmph. I’m already looking just fi—wah!”
“That’s why I told you to look carefully.”
“E-ehhh, achoo!”
“Good grief.”
“Achooo! Y-you! When a wad of fluff comes flying you ought to say something, a-achoo!!”
“That’s your job, isn’t it.”
…I’ll say it again: buying this handkerchief was an excellent decision. Thanks to it, I also hid the lips that had started to twitch upward.
“You’ve really changed.”
At any rate, after we had walked for quite a while past the summer snow, the group I was with reached the intermediate destination. The place between Ednium and Camborer that the demons had burned to ash.
“Moss……”
“Have the trees grown this much since that day?”
“To be precise, starting a week ago.”
“…Is that even possible?”
“…A week? A week ago is when the Young Lord……”
“Well. There’s little point debating the possibility of something that has already happened. What matters is whether this becomes a problem or not. Archmage, if you would not mind, I would like to hear your insight, if it is possible……”
“Please wait a moment. I believe I should run some analysis myself.”
Ah, maybe I stayed up last night for nothing. I didn’t expect to come back here.
With that thought I looked around.
The ground that only a few days ago had been blackened and scorched was now covered in soft moss and grass. Young trees growing here and there were a bonus.
“Young hunter, why that face?”
“What is it, Slicker. Got a hunch about something?”
“No, well… there is something I’m suspicious of.”
“Then shouldn’t you tell the Archmage?”
“Just wait a second, will you!”
For now they only reached the knee, but in a few years this would become a lush forest.
Thud.
“Goodness gracious. Didn’t ya say we wouldn’t meet again? Still here, huh.”
…Or maybe within a few days.
“So how about chattin’ with me a little longer…? You free for that?”
I let out a long breath as I looked at the snake peeking its head out from the far side of the forest, and at the tail swaying gently beside that head.
“Ah, still, gotta do what needs doin’ first. Should I start right away? But if I’m gonna, I need folks to back up a bit.”
“…Wait.”
The familiar way of speaking and acting made me worry a laugh might slip out for no reason.
“Mage.”
“…Are you speaking to me?”
“Young Lord.”
“I’m listening.”
“Have the people fall back.”
“……?”
“Now.”
Without taking my eyes off the snake, I gave them a request… or rather, a somewhat forceful urging.
The two of them exchanged glances, showing their puzzlement.
“…Well, all right then.”
“If it’s the knight’s word. Only, if we might hear the reason……”
Even so, while they harbored doubts, neither of them refused to follow. Showing them the great big white snake later should clear everything up.
“Ah, the knight don’t need to go. The others, yeah. That far’s fine. Doin’ it now?”
“Demon Knight, is this enough—”
“Do it.”
“—?”
“Heehee.”
The white snake laughed flippantly and moved its body. Rumble-rumble. Just as I thought a wind was rising, the snake’s head plunged into the earth.
“A gale?!”
“Whoa!”
At the same time, greenery began to spread like wildfire. Yes—it was exactly the shape of fire spreading.
Vines growing, the stems of tiny sprouts lengthening into flowers, trees spreading their branches and thickening their trunks.
It was the shape of nature’s flame lifting its head straight toward the sky.
“…It’s growing.”
“The forest……”
And I was able to watch all of it from the center. It was wondrous.
Whoosh!
“Whee! Near home the forest was already so thick I never had to put in work. This feels better than I thought. Anywhere else that needs fixin’?”
Normally I would have said “None, you idiot,” but… right now I thought, Yeah. I wish there was one more too. So I could see this again.
“…Well done.”
“Ehehehe. I did work pretty hard, didn’t I.”
I placed my hand on the head of Sangun as he approached. Instead of refusing, Sangun gently moved the spot I touched. The cool, slippery texture unique to snakes met my palm.
“Ah, but knight. Even before I got here I felt my own power and the sea-person’s power in this place. Was this maybe your doin’?”
Ah. So he can sense that too.
I fell silent for a moment at the unexpected observation. Because it was true that, in case Sangun could not come, and also to test the orb’s effects, I had buried the orb for a few days.
In the end Sangun’s arrival had rendered it meaningless, but still.
“Well. If you don’t wanna say, you don’t gotta.”
Even so, it had not been a completely worthless act. I had learned that removing the orb from my body increased the holy-power DoT, and that the orb’s plant-growth ability was somewhat—oh come on, when growing plants it just keeps them from dying and helps them grow well? You’re kidding me! It’s way more broken than that!—boosted.
“More’n that, well. I heard the punk who was here before just goofed off instead of workin’. So, is the whole East in this sorry state? If so, I was thinkin’ of wanderin’ around a bit and puttin’ some power into it.”
Well, good things are good things. And him bringing up first the part I hadn’t been able to bring myself to ask for was nice too.
“…Do as you like.”
“Whoa, for real? I can really do as I please? Ehehehe. Since you gave permission, I oughta roam to my heart’s content.”
“……”
I gritted my teeth as I watched Sangun whirling his tail like a propeller. The slightest slip and a laugh would burst out.
“Don’t look at me like that. I ain’t some immature kid. It’s just that the second I leave my post those thick-headed priests start cryin’ and carryin’ on, so up till now I had to keep my rear planted in that tiny scrap of forest. Even this, if it weren’t for the knight’s request, the kids wouldn’t have let me come.”
I hadn’t been looking at him like he was immature. He must have felt guilty on his own.
But with a heart that kind, and with excuses that were funny and cute as he prattled on, I had no desire to tease him.
I gently stroked the underside of Sangun’s jaw—or maybe closer to his lower lip?—then took my hand away.
“Demon Knight, this is……”
Ah, right on time, the Archmage had arrived.
After confirming the Young Lord standing beside him as well, I looked at Sangun. So I could ask him to show himself to them too.
“That snake… what in the world……”
But thinking about it, their gazes had been fixed on Sangun from the start, not on me.
Before the forest regenerated I didn’t think they could see him. He must have revealed himself in the meantime.
“…This is Sangun of the Great Forest.”
“Sangun!”
Not a bad development. It saved me the trouble of explaining.
“Why is Sangun…? No—rather. Thank you. The Young Lord of Camborer greets one so esteemed.”
“My oh my. Are all the humans outside this pretty? Ah, maybe the knight’s partner?”
Separately—hey. Don’t make me out to be some scumbag of a human, will you? That person already has someone they’re seeing, you know?
“Ah, is that so. Aw, shucks. That’s a shame. Y’all look good together.”
Honestly. We weren’t even standing close, so why pair us up the moment you see us. Were you that kind of troublemaker all along too?
“…You summoned this one as well, I take it?”
Perhaps I had glared at the snake with narrowed eyes.
The Archmage, who seemed to have grasped the situation in the meantime, spoke as if sighing. The Young Lord looking at me with slightly reddened eyes after hearing that was a bonus.
“Haa. They really do look good together……”
“…Give your thanks to the Great Forest. They are the ones who gave permission.”
“They really do… are you truly not interested?”
Sangun. You, please.