12. O Sole Mio (2)
12. O Sole Mio (2)
- 1 -
[Going outside the dungeon at this time...]
After nursing Sonia back to health and finally setting out on a journey with her, I looked different than usual.
I no longer looked like the noble young lady with black hair and purple eyes, but a wandering mage with golden hair and blue eyes.
This wasn't an illusion spell cast over me, but a measure using a potion containing dye and cosmetic magic that covered my eyes and hair. Its duration was shorter than an illusion spell, but its stability was higher.
On top of that, I drew my eyebrows a bit thicker to add a slightly stronger impression, making me look even more different from my usual appearance.
[I obtained the items you requested, but please be careful, my lady.]
[Thank you for your concern. And for obtaining the goods.]
[Don't mention it! Until next time, then.]
Scarlet helped procure the supplies needed to go outside the dungeon.
To do that, Eve and Mire had to lead goblins and skeletons in a surprise raid on a bandit gang to empty their mountain stronghold, but the process was smooth without a single difficulty.
Morning was the time when everything awakened, but the dawn before it was the most dangerous time of all.
"It seems the issue has been resolved, Teacher?"
The beginning of the journey was very peaceful.
The surrounding area had already been cleared out by my soldiers, so there was hardly any room for monsters or beasts to appear, and the place where I had built the cabin was so sunny.
When I stepped out the cabin door, Sonia, who had already finished her preparations, was waiting and waved when she spotted me.
"Yes. There's a child I'm fond of, and she kept blocking my way and wouldn't let me go."
"You had a pet?"
"A pet... Fufu."
It was an absurd misunderstanding on Sonia's part, but it made me smile involuntarily.
Because in reality, Evangeline's behavior often felt like a large dog or an affectionate monkey, so I could somewhat relate to those words.
Seeing my smile, Sonia also smiled reflexively.
"You must care for her a lot."
"She was by my side when I went through a period of loss."
"Ah."
"Ah... I'm sorry."
At the word 'loss,' Sonia must have been reminded of her friends; she lost her words and her expression darkened. When I apologized, she shook her head vigorously, saying no, and focused her gaze ahead.
"No, Teacher. She must be a precious child to you, so I'm sorry I couldn't let you boast about her to your heart's content."
"Don't say that, Sonia. ...But you must get used to it now. For your own sake."
"Miss Rita's words were right. Because at the decisive moment, I was of no help at all. So that such a thing won't happen again in the future..."
It was important to make her recall her 'mistakes.'
The more she buried herself in the mistakes she saw as her own and longed to escape them, the easier things would become.
Her goodness still scratched at my heart, but I had no intention of postponing a necessary task.
She was highly likely to become a valuable opportunity for me.
It had become difficult to delay warning about the danger of the new dungeon. Should I delay the second assault on the dungeon, or choose another method?
For that, investigating the enemy was essential.
"There, you need to put more effort into constructing the otherworldly coordinates."
On the evening of the uneventful first day, I taught her several offensive spells.
A few low-burden spells that even the current her could use, and about two higher-level spells that she couldn't use yet but could sufficiently handle given her mana capacity.
It was something I had been doing since we were at the cabin.
"Ah, so that's why I lost strength so quickly when I summoned fire."
"Yes. Because elemental magic ultimately draws energy that isn't of this world."
"That's so true. Thank you, Teacher."
It was an awkward situation where I, who had only been in this world for a little over two weeks, was teaching Sonia, who had practiced magic for at least a few years. But 'nobility' helped me appear as if nothing was amiss.
It made me look as if I had known for years spells I had only recently purchased from the Mammon Trading Company in human spellbooks and learned.
To be precise, it didn't raise my proficiency, but made me 'appear' that way.
Either way, it was sufficient to teach Sonia, who was still an apprentice mage. Thanks to the fact that my own magical talent wasn't that low either.
"Excellent. You're doing really well, Sonia."
"...Thank you."
"What's wrong?"
Her expression darkened once again.
When I patted her shoulder and asked for the reason, she uttered the thought I had already guessed.
It was also the reason she was learning magic from me.
"If I had practiced and learned more magic... if I had been able to use it... then my friends wouldn't have died like that, would they?"
"It wasn't your fault."
"No. It was my fault. Because I was lacking..."
"Sonia..."
Her body had healed, but the wound in her heart was still deepening.
Sonia buried her face in my chest and cried for a long time. Until she almost fainted and fell asleep.
This, too, was a routine that had continued since our time at the cabin, so my hands had become quite skilled at laying her down on the bed and putting her to sleep.
"Jack... Remi..."
The voice of a frail woman crying while clutching my hand.
That voice scratched at my heart again, but my heart didn't waver in the slightest; it maintained its steady rhythm.
I was growing accustomed to 'evil.'
"Sonia! Get down!"
Kwak!
"Kieeek!!"
The next day, there was a small assault.
While we were walking and resting in the shade of a rock, several goblins suddenly jumped out from behind us.
The one the lead goblin attacked was Sonia.
And what took that goblin's life was the arrow I shot.
To be exact, it was Mire and a few skeletons reaching out from the shadows of the rocks I was contracted with to grab the goblin, after which I shot an arrow to finish it. But no one except us here could know that.
"Hah... Hah..."
"Good work. Are you okay?"
"Yes, yes..."
And in that assault, Sonia couldn't defeat a single monster.
Because the other three goblins also lost their lives to my bow before they could even approach or flee.
It was a bow made by the strangely competent Eve. I had only practiced with it for a few days, but I could use it quite effectively.
Perhaps the blood of an archery people flowed within me after all.
"That bow... it wasn't for hunting."
"It's barely usable."
"Even Lemia couldn't shoot down a fleeing goblin. They're such cunning and fast creatures..."
"Sonia?"
"...I'm no help at all. Even though I learned attack spells..."
After that, aside from encountering beasts, nothing much happened, but I could see her face grow dark once more at the evening camp.
She had gradually grown accustomed to leaning on me, and as she grew used to speaking while holding my hand tightly, she whispered of her own faults and mistakes.
"Originally, there's very little a mage can do in an ambush. Mages demonstrate great power in an orderly formation."
"Even so. Jack always said that's why I should at least carry a club..."
"Healing is more urgent for you, Sonia. Self-defense can be learned even after that."
"...I'm sorry, Teacher."
"It's okay. You can do well, Sonia."
I knew that sound arguments were no help.
I also knew that for someone who says 'I can't do it,' expectations and confidence only become a burden.
If I truly wanted her awakening here, I would have to push her harder or create something she could do and help her accomplish it step by step.
Since psychiatry hadn't developed in this world, the only more effective mental treatment would be direct treatment through hypnotic magic.
But I didn't do that.
"You'll be able to do well."
In my eyes, reflected in her pupils as I faced Sonia, a purple light was gently flowing out.
The light of magic seeping into a person's heart.
- 2 -
Thus, on the early evening of the third day of travel.
Considering Sonia's lack of stamina, it was when we had walked a distance somewhat short of two days' worth.
"Maria, unnie...?"
We encountered a group of adventurers.
An adventuring party led by a woman with a dark eye color similar to Lemia's.
The sisters' hair colors were completely different—Lemia's was blue-gray while this woman's was reddish-brown—but the shape of her eyes and her features were strikingly similar.
Moreover, Sonia's face brightened instantly when she spotted the woman at the front, so I could be sure she was Lemia's sister.
"Sonia? You!"
Unlike Sonia, who hesitated while still holding my hand as she tried to run to Maria, the brown-haired adventurer rushed over without hesitation and embraced her.
"Thank you...! Thank you, O God...! How worried I've been about you all!! Jack, Remi! Where are the two of them? Huh?"
"Ah..."
And then, at Maria's next words, the brightness that had bloomed on Sonia's face died.
Still clutching my hand tightly, the already withered woman bowed her head deeply before Maria.
And seeing that, another woman gradually lost the emotion on her face, withering like a wilting flower.
The only one who could speak was me.
"First of all. Miss Sonia is in a very weakened state. She managed to walk here, but... she seems to have difficulty walking any further."
In the end, both groups stopped walking and decided to spend the day at a spot where a nearby stream flowed.
The other adventurers hired by Maria went out to scout and hunt the area, while only three women and one man sat around the campfire that had not yet been lit.
To be precise, Sonia was placed inside the tent, with Maria, me, and a man who introduced himself as Daniel remaining.
"So this is..."
"These are the mementos of the two."
There, I handed Jack and Lemia's adventurer's tags over to Maria.
The tags Sonia had said the three of them made on the same day, at the same time—the ones enchanted with communication magic and tracking magic so they could talk to each other from a distance.
The items she wouldn't want to believe were mementos yet.
"Ah..."
"Maria. We've come this far. We have to search more. Their bo— no, we have to search the vicinity."
Maria clutched the two tags preciously in her hands, pressing her forehead against them, unable to hide her sorrow. Daniel placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but didn't know what to do.
I wasn't sure if he was sincere, but regardless, his behavior was different from his first impression, showing fervent devotion to her.
Though outwardly he looked like a complete thug.
"I'll assign two adventurers to you. You can go straight to the city. We will continue searching for the dungeon."
Perhaps thanks to that, Maria composed herself and raised her head a moment later.
It was a very quick recovery, considering she had lost a relative. Even if they weren't close, it was probably because she was a veteran adventurer who had experienced losing people before.
"No, Miss Maria."
"Yes...?"
I shook my head toward Maria, who was steeling her resolve like that.
I had taken sufficient precautions regarding the dungeon, but there was always a one-in-a-million chance, so there was no need to deliberately let her search for it.
"It will probably be useless."
And I had sufficient grounds to stop her as well.