The Fiancée's Letter
“Anak?”
She sounded puzzled by my visit at such a late hour.
“Have you… been well?”
It was a foolish question, but I had no idea how else to begin.
“Same as always.”
She answered cheerfully, yet traces of the morning still lingered on her face.
“What brings you here? It’s already time to sleep.”
“Yes, well… a few things happened.”
I briefly recounted the day’s events to her first—the death of Raze, and that we would be returning in two days. Fatigue and drowsiness made the story come out in fragments, but I managed to finish it all the same.
The only reason I went to such lengths was to keep myself from collapsing into sleep right there, and to avoid another topic altogether.
“What a foolish clown. If he could control that shadow so easily, Denatel would never have failed.”
“Yes. You’re right. He probably never even saw a proper Demon King’s army.”
After all, if he had, he wouldn’t still be alive.
“So you’re heading back now?”
“Yes. It took far longer than I expected.”
I had never imagined it would drag on this long. I hadn’t expected to summon Bagloros, let alone help Granbipra hatch.
“But why did you decide to stay two more days?”
I hesitated for a moment before answering.
“I’d already paid for the inn.”
There was no deeper reason. The words had simply slipped out the moment the paid lodging fee came to mind.
She stared at my face in silence for a while, then burst into laughter as if she could no longer hold it in.
“…Pfft! Hahaha, what—what is that! You have plenty of money! Hahaha.”
She laughed for a long time.
“Miser! Hahahaha!”
…I swear it wasn’t because I was particularly reluctant to spend money. It had simply occurred to me at that moment. Of course, it was undeniable that I wasn’t very accustomed to spending money either.
“I should get some sleep now.”
“Ah, right.”
She kept laughing even as she answered. Leaving her behind, I pulled the bedding from my bag and carried it to my spot. At this rate, it might be better to set up a separate sleeping area here…
“Ah!”
“Wh-what?”
Startled by my sudden reaction, she looked at me with concern.
“N-no, it’s nothing.”
I had told Bagloros I hadn’t brought anything, yet I had forgotten about this bag. In front of Rowell, I would have to be holding this bag. Even if I wasn’t, I would still need to explain what had happened to it. Bagloros could silence Rowell’s questions, but he couldn’t stop Rowell from asking in the first place.
“Well… there’s always a way, I suppose.”
Anyway, I spread the blanket and lay down. It was truly time to sleep. I deliberately turned my back to her and closed my eyes—not because of her laughter, but because of something else.
“…Lady Rofena.”
“Hm? Understood. I’ll be quiet now…”
“I want you to remember that I’ve always felt sorry about this.”
With those words, I felt her laughter fade. Then, after a long while, as tension and fatigue blurred the line between dream and reality, I heard her murmur softly.
“…It’s fine. I’ll stay like this for as long as you want.”
The two days in Peltecheru passed quickly. During that time, I managed to obtain several boxes of Maracas fruits—though not a large quantity—and delivered them to Erill. I also visited the guild branch on the opposite side of Raze’s with Bagloros.
The atmosphere inside the guild branch was truly a sight to behold. Despite the name High Assassin Guild, they trembled at our visit. Even the branch chief and someone claiming to be directly under the leadership came forward, endlessly insisting that this was merely the deviation of Raze or one of the leadership executives, and in no way represented the guild’s will. Still, they admitted they had no idea which executive had actually given Raze his orders.
That was probably the truth. Even among the high-ranking executives, their identities were kept almost entirely secret from one another. Since Raze had operated as a top-tier assassin rather than being directly affiliated with any single executive, any of them could have issued him orders.
Even though they competed for influence, the branches outwardly pledged loyalty to the High Assassin Guild itself, not to any one executive. The personal influence each executive held over individual branches came solely from recruiting members, not from actual ownership. As a result, their power struggles were meticulously concealed, made to appear as nothing more than conflicts between individual agents rather than between the high executives.
Moreover, from the perspective of the high leadership, a single branch was little more than the lowest of the low—easy to sever if it risked exposing connections.
They promised to thoroughly investigate and uncover the true culprit, but I knew better than anyone that tracing the trail backward from the tail would be impossible. Especially with the high executives already in conflict, a proper investigation targeting one another was out of the question.
In any case, they offered Anak and Bagloros a considerable sum under the pretext of consolation and apology money. I might have accepted if it had been cash, but when they suggested using a merchant guild account that would leave a record, I refused.
They surely weren’t short on cash. They probably intended to use the record as a safeguard in case Anak and Bagloros threatened the guild itself. But no matter how weak I was to material desires, I had no intention of falling for such an obvious ploy.
Instead, I made sure to clearly state that we would find and deal with the culprit ourselves, chilling the hearts of that man and any other executives who might hear of it later through him.
Bagloros and I also visited several restaurants. Despite the city’s small size, the variety of food surprised me.
And now, it was time to leave Peltecheru. We exited the city and arrived at Erill’s location, where she greeted us with her beak stained from Maracas fruit juice.
“Bagloros. Remember, this incident is a secret from Rowell. You never met us. You simply came because you missed us. Understood?”
I had made him promise this repeatedly during meals, but I still couldn’t feel at ease.
“Yes.”
Originally, I had planned to ride Erill back together, but this was the only way to hide the bag’s existence from Bagloros. Besides, thinking about it, this approach felt far more natural anyway.
“Take your time coming back. Make sure to rest along the way.”
“Yes. Understood.”
With those words, Bagloros vanished from my sight.
“…He won’t arrive before us, will he?”
No matter how fast he was, he couldn’t possibly outpace flying. Still, watching that speed made me oddly uneasy.
“Alright. Let’s go too.”
“Yes. That’s the place.”
Though we had flown through the sky, the distance still took several days. But at last, familiar scenery unfolded below us, and our village came into view.
It hadn’t actually been that long, yet it felt as though we had returned after an eternity. Following my guidance, Erill descended right in front of the houses where Rowell and I lived side by side. At the sight of us, village children and villagers who had never seen a phoenix before gathered around.
“Anak! Erill!”
“Welcome back, both of you.”
Of course, Rowell and Aegina greeted us with bright smiles as well.
“It’s been a while, Erill.”
Erill responded by moving her wings and head, letting out a soft cry of delight as Rowell and Aegina gently stroked her.
“How was the party?”
“Ah, same as always. Banquets, dance parties, receptions. The food was pretty good, though.”
“Didn’t you bring any gifts?”
At Aegina’s playful question, I was able to put on a smug smile. While spending the extra two days in Peltecheru, I hadn’t forgotten to buy presents for Rowell and Aegina.
“Of course I prepared some.”
I took a small pouch filled with rare spices from my bag and handed it to Aegina.
“A set of spices used even in famous restaurants.”
“Oh my! Thank you so much, Anak!”
She was the kind of person who would be happy with even the smallest gift, but this time she seemed genuinely delighted. I had considered buying combat gloves or training clothes, but worried it might lead to unnecessary sparring that would trouble Rowell, so I chose this instead. It seemed I had made the right decision.
“Here, Rowell. This is yours.”
And for Rowell, I pulled out several books.
“H. L. Smith’s new work and the complete collection of C. Clark! I was planning to buy them next month when I went to the city. Thanks, Anak. You’re the only one who knows my taste in books.”
“There’s one more.”
I handed Rowell an additional book I had kept hidden. He accepted it with a joyful expression—until his face slightly twisted.
“…Anak.”
At his quiet call, I smiled. The book I had given Rowell was The Chronicles of the Hero of Light, Rowell. Somewhere, a bard or storyteller had mixed Rowell’s exploits with his characteristic exaggerations into a book that had apparently sold quite well. But Rowell absolutely detested it.
“Why? I just wanted fewer people to read it.”
“Yeah. Thanks a lot.”
“Don’t mention it, O Great Hero.”
Even as I bowed theatrically, a smile spread across my face. This warm, calming feeling… It finally felt like I was truly home. We moved inside Rowell’s house, while Erill stayed outside to play briefly with the village children.
“Ah, right. Anak. There’s a letter for you.”
Once inside, Rowell headed toward the bookshelf as if he had just remembered.
“A letter? What’s it about?”
Over the past few years, I had received almost no personal letters. Aside from joint invitations or thank-you notes addressed to Rowell, Aegina, and me, there had been nothing.
“I don’t know. It was addressed only to you.”
“……”
“Anak. Why do you look like that?”
Ah, I must have unconsciously stiffened my expression. I forced a smile and tried to relax my face.
“No, it’s just unexpected.”
Another letter addressed only to me, out of nowhere. Something about it felt eerily familiar, almost ominous. Rowell retrieved the letter from between the books and handed it to me. Even at a glance, the high-quality paper sealed with a red stamp looked exactly the same. Surely this wasn’t déjà vu?
“Is there something worrying you?”
Rowell asked cautiously. When I turned my head, Aegina was also looking at me with concern. I had made a mistake. My expression had worried them for no reason.
“Of course not.”
I broke the seal and unfolded the letter. Now that it had come to this, there was no way to gloss over it or lie. The only option was to show them the contents directly. I held up the letter and began reading it slowly.
“I hope this letter finds you well, Lord Anak. First, allow me to once again express my gratitude to the Hero of Light, Lord Rowell, and the other heroes for saving the world.”
The writer appeared to be a woman. The elegant, slightly stylized handwriting carried a distinctly feminine grace. It began with a brief praise of our achievements, followed by a mention of the wind according to the old western regional etiquette.
“Just as the warm Edulian wind blows…”
In the western regions, it had long been considered rude to directly express one’s emotions through words or writing. Instead, people used the names of winds to convey their feelings. There were four winds in total, originally referring to seasonal winds, but in this context they symbolized love, friendship, sorrow, and hatred respectively.
“Edulian means love, right?”
“Yes.”
Rowell answered my question, and Aegina nodded. I had learned this as part of my general education at the academy, but since it was an outdated custom rarely observed even in the west nowadays, I had nearly forgotten it.
Indeed, Edulian was the spring wind representing love, Serquin the summer wind for friendship, Soltatis the autumn wind for sorrow, and Wisen the winter wind for hatred. During our travels through the western regions, the only winds people mentioned when following this etiquette were Soltatis and Wisen, which had briefly confused me.
“Love, huh…”
Though mentioning love struck me as odd, I continued reading. Gradually, the content grew strange.
“Hearing of your exploits in Paol Village and the Baihua Plains last month, I cannot describe how my heart trembled.”
Last month? Paol Village? Baihua Plains? I couldn’t pinpoint their exact locations on a map, but I vaguely recalled them as western place names. The word “exploits” felt mismatched, and something about the whole thing felt off. Still, I kept reading.
The rest of the letter continued with achievements I had never heard of, set in times when I couldn’t possibly have been there.
“Until we meet again…”
When I reached the very end, I could hardly believe my eyes. As I stopped reading, Aegina took the letter from my hands and quickly scanned it herself. Finding the spot where I had paused, she carefully continued.
“…I shall be waiting until we meet again. Your fiancée, Jane Conwell.”