What If (10)
Ekuya watched the departing figure. The loosely bound wheat-colored hair looked a little awkward, but that was all.
The ramrod-straight back and the steely firmness in his waist had not changed in the slightest. Even with his appearance altered and his distinctive features hidden, he remained the knight they knew.
Perhaps he always would.
“So you’re really not going to step forward till the very end?”
“Hmph.”
And this stubbornly dishonest creature would remain their eternal pillar as well. Ekuya chuckled under his breath at the tortoise that had slowly crawled out from under Sangun’s spine.
“What about him is so cute that I’d go out of my way?”
“Even you, Lord Yukgui, are being dishonest. You went to the trouble of using your power for his convenience.”
“No, that was just…”
“Hehe. How about simply saying goodbye? No tellin’ when we’ll see him again.”
Yukgui snorted at Sangun’s remark.
“Why would I want to see him again?”
Both Ekuya and Sangun knew full well that was not the truth. They laughed once more.
“Then you really won’t be seein’ him again, eh?”
“I won’t. Absolutely not. I’ve done enough already—why would I go looking for him again?”
“And yet a fellow like you still put a blessing on those items.”
“Tch. That was just ’cause I hated wasting the money I spent.”
Well now. If one were to list things of little value to Yukgui or Sangun, human currency would rank rather high.
And even if the money truly felt wasteful, it would still pale in comparison to the power Yukgui had only just recovered. In other words, there was no reason to expend freshly regained strength on a blessing unless he had the recipient’s welfare in mind.
Thus Ekuya judged Yukgui’s words to be a lie, and smiled softly because of it.
“Why’re you laughing?”
“I am simply the sort who smiles often…”
“Ugh, this brat.”
Oh, of course. Even so, Ekuya did not go so far as to say something like “You’re being dishonest again.”
Naturally. Why would he voice every thought when Yukgui was already getting angry at a mere smile? Ekuya had absolutely no intention of sitting still for a thrashing.
“Aaargh, seriously. I can’t even punish him.”
Well, the other party seemed to have already read his entire mind from that smile alone.
Sangun and Ekuya, thick as thieves, smirked once more.
“So what kinda blessin’ did you put on ’em, anyway?”
“…None of your business!”
“Awwww.”
“Ugh, you’re so damn clingy.”
At Sangun’s wheedling, Yukgui spat to the side and curled his body into a tight ball. Contrary to every word he had just uttered, the only place his gaze kept returning to was the particular direction the knight had gone.
“…A hardness that will not crumple even if crushed by a great mountain, will not buckle even if swept into the deep sea, and will not melt even if plunged into lava.”
“…Oh?”
“I granted only that.”
Indeed, no matter how much he pretended otherwise, Yukgui clearly cared for the knight. From the way he had earlier prodded Sangun about packing the man some food, all the way to pouring his power into ensuring those two items would never break no matter the circumstances.
“That’s amazin’! As expected of our ancestor, you really do like the knigh—Yowch!”
“This whippersnapper! I look the other way a few times and he starts climbing all over me!”
“Ah! No scale-lifting! Scale-lifting forbidden!!”
Ekuya laughed lightly at the two bickering beings. The knowledge that the person he liked was also loved by others truly felt wonderful.
“Hiiing. Always just me…”
“You’re the one earnin’ the beatings.”
“Hiiiiiing.”
And so, may only good fortune continue to follow that person. May the world itself bless him.
Ekuya offered a quiet prayer to fate and turned his steps. It was time to return.
“Haah, finally some breathing room!”
Fierce White Wind—Murloc—pressed down the brim of his ridiculously oversized hat and stretched with a groan.
“Indeed…”
The Chief Mage who, far from stopping the escape, had joined it and become a co-conspirator looked much the same.
Instead of stretching, the Chief Mage covered his mouth with both hands and expressed his rapture with his entire body. The sunlight and breeze on his skin seemed nothing short of glorious.
“People really do need to get some sun now and then.”
“Absolutely, absolutely.”
“Money’s nice and all, but being locked in a basement for over ten days is simply impossible!”
“Hear, hear!”
Anyone who heard of their recent days would have understood the reaction at once. The two of them had been forced to spend a full twenty days underground solely because of the avalanche of item-crafting commissions. Even after all that, the pile of requests remained mountain-high, meaning they were looking at least another ten days of confinement.
“Right then, onward! To the ends of the earth for my very own blanket!!”
“To the ends of the eaaaarth!!”
But was it really reasonable for a person to spend a combined thirty days underground?
At the very least, White Wind could not accept it. The Chief Mage, who had been locked up right alongside him as an assistant, felt exactly the same. They needed freedom. Freedom to breathe outside air, freedom to buy the blankets that had recently become fashionable inside the Magic Tower—things of that nature.
“By the way, where was it that sells the blankets again?”
Perhaps they had simply been buried in work for too long. The destination had completely slipped his mind. At White Wind’s words, the trailing Chief Mage tripped over a stone and nearly fell flat.
“…The Chirity Merchant Guild.”
“Ah, right. I must be getting old. Lately I keep blanking on things like this.”
Well… if age were truly dulling his memory, wouldn’t he forget the list of four thousand magical materials circulating inside the Tower first? The Chief Mage thought as much but wisely kept the observation to himself. Saying it out loud would only earn a “Doesn’t that just mean you’re the stupid one?” from White Wind.
“Hmm. Still, if it’s the Chirity Guild… we’ll get to see the cute little one too!”
“Cute little one?”
“You know, the kid we agreed to look after.”
Even if the original client had ended up a wanted man, they could not simply wash their hands of the commission. The money they had received—more precisely, the money the other party had refused to take back—was still money, after all.
“From the regular reports she seems to be doing just fine, of course.”
The Demon Knight had only asked them to look after the child until she could stand on her own; he had never requested surveillance, so the finer details of her daily life were unknown. Besides, when they had first placed the girl with the guild they had used a friend’s friend’s friend rather than the Magic Tower’s name, so there was no proper information channel anyway.
Still, the occasional messenger they sent confirmed that the child remained bright and energetic. A little personal investment in the guild had apparently improved her food, clothing, and shelter a great deal—lucky that the guildmaster was the sort who cared about employee welfare—and so on.
So they hadn’t exactly eaten the commission for free, had they? The girl had settled in so well that White Wind had barely needed to lift a finger, but still.
“If we hand her a bit of pocket money on top, we shouldn’t lose face, right?”
“Depends on how much you give, doesn’t it?”
“We’re making plenty these days, so I’ll just give her about five hundred thousand gals and call it done.”
The real problem was having no free time to spend the money; with the flood of commissions and the skyrocketing prices of items, their assets kept ballooning. In that situation, dipping into personal funds for a mere five hundred thousand gals was nothing. Selling a single item brought in twice that amount.
“Only five hundred thousand gals?”
“I’d love to give her a million, but at that point she’d probably refuse out of burden.”
“True enough.”
Five hundred thousand gals was already an enormous sum for pocket money… but this much, at least, could be forced into her hands. Completely ignorant of ordinary living expenses, the mages thought such things with perfect equanimity.
“We’re here!!”
In the meantime their feet had reached the front of the Chirity Merchant Guild building. Excited White Wind kicked the door open and bellowed. As the robe that marked him as a mage fluttered, the people inside the building scrambled in panic. Even so, the automatic bowing of spines and the chorus of greetings were pure instinct.
“Skip the greetings. We’re here to commission a patterned blanket.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Ah, right. I heard you have an employee from the Great Forest. Could you call her too? I’ve got a few questions about the Great Forest.”
“Yes. I’ll bring her at once.”
It was not that he did not know Akata’s name; speaking it here would only put the child in an awkward position. So White Wind summoned her while pretending they were complete strangers.
“Please allow us to show you to a reception room.”
“Fine.”
Fortunately the employees seemed to fall for the paper-thin ruse. Having barely collected themselves, they led the way.
Ding-a-ling.
Around that time the entrance door White Wind and the Chief Mage had already passed through opened once more. A customer, apparently. “How may I help you?” One of the remaining employees moved to attend the newcomer.
“Whoa.”
“What is it?”
Of course, the arrival of another customer was no reason for White Wind or the Chief Mage to pay any particular attention. Just someone who would pass by in the end.
“No, it’s just… the person who just came in is enormous.”
Yet the newcomer’s sheer size made ignoring him impossible.
The Chief Mage murmured in admiration, and White Wind turned his head after him.
“Someone that tall among the Middle race is genuinely rare. He’s almost a full head taller than everyone else.”
“……”
Being born with a frame like that was not merely a matter of individual luck. If there were a trait that allowed growth even after adulthood it might be different, but a person from a household that had gone hungry while growing up would have a hard time reaching that height.
Moreover, the Chief Mage’s eyes already picked out two magical tools: silver-rimmed glasses and an ear cuff resting on one ear.
Until examined more closely it was impossible to know what sort of magical items they were, but the mere fact that he possessed them meant he was at least no ordinary commoner.
“A mercenary? But he doesn’t have any weapons…”
The cloak that concealed his body line made it difficult to declare him a fighter with certainty. The lack of any weapon hanging from back or waist only reinforced the ambiguity.
On the contrary, the combination of soft wheat-colored hair, gentle green eyes, pale skin, and glasses somehow conjured the image of a lifelong scholar who had never left his books. All in all, a rather ambiguous young man.
“…Thirty years.”
But the Chief Mage was unable to continue that line of thought any further. He noticed that the Great Sage standing beside him was muttering an incomprehensible phrase and trembling violently.
The Chief Mage panicked.
“Great Sage?”
White Wind did not even seem to hear his voice. The trembling running through White Wind’s body grew stronger still, while the newly arrived customer offered a bright smile to the employee attending him.
The Great Sage clenched a fist.
“If only I were thirty years younger!”
“Excuse me?”
“If I were, I’d ask him out on a date right this second!!”
Ah. Right. This was the person who always grumbled about preferring beauties with the simple charm of wildflowers. The Chief Mage’s eyes went flat and dry.
“If only I were, I’d ask him out on a date right this second!!”
Yikes. I startled at the sudden shout, then startled all over again when I saw who had made it. Why is White Wind here?
“Yes, yes. Let’s go.”
“No, no, no! Even if I can’t date him, looking is fine, right?! Beauties like this don’t grow on trees!!”
“You’re causing a scene, Great Sage.”
“Nooo, my beeeeauty!!”
Thankfully—blessedly—White Wind showed no sign of recognizing me.
I scratched my cheek awkwardly. Even if I had received them half against my will… the glasses and ear cuff really were effective. I unconsciously touched the frame of the glasses. A strangely warm heat seemed to radiate from the cool metal.
“Haha… so, whom were you looking for?”
“Ah, I heard a child named Akata works here…”
“Ah, Akata.”
Separately, I still needed to accomplish the purpose that had brought me here. Resolving to leave as quickly as possible before I ran into White Wind properly, I asked after Akata.
“I’m sorry. That child already has a prior guest…”
“…Is that so?”
Yet that plan was immediately obstructed. There was already a guest ahead of me.
“What sort of work requires a prior guest…?”
“Until recently she focused on deliveries, but a special order from the guildmaster came down and she is handling that first.”
“Nothing dangerous, I hope?”
“Of course not.”
Since they called it a special order, learning the details would be difficult.
Still, if the guildmaster himself was entrusting her with work, her standing inside the guild could not be too poor. The employee’s face when mentioning Akata was full of nothing but fondness; there was no hint of bullying.
And she even had guests seeking her out first. At this rate, wasn’t it fair to say the child was steadily advancing toward success?
“Then… might I ask one other favor?”
Thinking that, something warm began to well up inside me. All I had done for the child was a little bit of sponsorship—and even that I had left in someone else’s hands—yet even that alone filled my palms with a strange sense of pride.
“Depending on what the favor is…”
“I was asked to deliver something to Akata, but I have somewhere I must go right away. Would that be too much trouble?”
“Ah, if it’s only that, it is no trouble at all.”
Besides, it would be stranger not to feel pride watching children who were progressing well.
I accepted the swelling pride with pleasure and handed the bundle I was carrying to the employee. When the employee peered inside the basket, his eyebrows lifted slightly.
“What name should I give when I deliver it?”
“Ah, that…”
My gaze followed his into the basket. Soft, multicolored threads of fine quality that I had bought once more from the same shop I had visited before.
“Thread bracelet. Tell her I lost it and I’m sorry—she’ll understand.”
I had bought them not knowing what else to give, but I believed she would like them. Making thread bracelets had seemed to be her hobby, after all.
“I know it’s a bother. Thank you for taking the request.”
And even if she didn’t… at the very least she would make good use of them, wouldn’t she? With that faith I moved my lips.
After keeping my face frozen for so long, the act of smiling had become strangely awkward… but it could not have looked too odd. After all, the employee smiling back at me showed no “what’s wrong with this guy?” in his eyes.
Ding-a-ling.
Good. Then shall I be on my way?
I left the building under the employee’s send-off. Not seeing Akata’s face was a little disappointing, yet at the same time I felt some relief.
After all, if we met with this face, how exactly was I supposed to set the personality? Disguise itself was already in the realm of character-breaking; if I also showed my original personality on top of it, Akata’s mental state might simply explode.
Acting out the original concept while disguised would also be strange. As I just said, the disguise itself already constitutes character-breaking.
In that case, perhaps missing each other like this was for the best.
With those thoughts I retraced the path I had come. Today I would lodge here, and starting tomorrow I would begin tracking the Demon Knight’s past.
“For the beginning, the nearest place would be Chechebator in Manahfelt, I suppose…”
And the first step of that pursuit would be the knight academies of the east. If it was true that the Demon Knight had clearly received formal eastern swordsmanship education, and if his family had truly been knights, then that was exactly where the most traces would remain.