Bagloros's Gifts
“Anak! Anak! Come out quickly! Bagloros is here!”
Though dawn had barely broken, Rowell urgently shook me awake. Bagloros had finally arrived.
The night before, we had talked late into the night until Erill returned to the mountains. Since I had to relay Erill’s words to Rowell and Aegina, I ended up doing most of the talking. Honestly, I had already met Bagloros and witnessed his astonishing transformation, so I desperately wanted to sleep a little longer—but that was not an option.
“Bagloros?”
I tried to sound surprised, but my voice came out awkward, still heavy with sleep.
“That’s what I’m saying!”
Fortunately, Rowell simply assumed I was still half-asleep. Bagloros’s visit must have been that surprising and welcome.
“Hurry up and come out! You’ll be shocked too!”
I threw on some clothes and stepped outside. Bagloros stood in front of several enormous travel bags, answering Rowell and Aegina’s questions.
“Yes.”
“That’s right.”
“It was fine.”
Most of his replies were short like that, yet Rowell and Aegina looked genuinely amazed and delighted. Occasionally, when something he had learned from the memory crystals came up, Bagloros responded with such natural, textbook-perfect phrasing and breathing that both of them let out gasps of admiration.
I reacted appropriately from the side as well, but if Rowell and Aegina had not been so overwhelmed, they would have noticed I was acting.
In any case, it was a moment that made me painfully aware my acting skills were even worse than I had thought.
“By the way, Bagloros, what’s all that?”
This question was genuine. When we parted a few days ago, he had not been carrying anything like this.
“It is proper etiquette to bring gifts when visiting a friend’s home.”
Bagloros opened one bag. Inside were various gauntlets that clearly belonged to Aegina.
“Here, Aegina. You said they break easily.”
“Thank you, Bagloros.”
There were far more than necessary, and honestly, we were not about to embark on another world-saving journey, so they would probably see little use. Still, Aegina accepted the gift with genuine joy. Like a gentle mother, she seemed more moved by the thought behind it than by the gift itself.
“And Rowell.”
When Bagloros opened the next bag, it was filled with various medicinal herbs. Most of them—actually, all of the visible ones—were for indigestion, detoxification, and stomach health.
“Th-thank you, Bagloros.”
Rowell could not accept the gift as cheerfully as Aegina had. Aegina was smiling, but her eyes were not smiling at all.
Yes. He remembered. During our travels, whenever Aegina cooked, we had begged him to find these herbs for us.
“Now, Anak.”
By this point, I was genuinely curious what the last bag contained. What on earth had Bagloros decided would make a good gift for me?
“Your gift was easy to obtain.”
“……”
When Bagloros opened the bag, none of us could speak. The entire oversized bag was packed full of countless coins from various countries, mixed with the occasional gold or silver piece.
“You always liked money.”
Yes. How could I deny it? I admitted it. I had always been weak to material desires. Even when we turned down titles and territories offered to us at the Allied Nations leaders’ meeting, and even when we donated the massive treasures for post-war reconstruction, unlike my companions, I had felt reluctant to part with them.
And in secret from the others, I had claimed the treasures found in the Demon King’s castle and Denatel’s library as my share.
But even so, had it been that obvious?
“…Y-yeah, Bagloros.”
Anyway, I accepted the bag for now. It was so heavy that Rowell and Aegina had to drag it for me.
“Thanks. Where did you get all this money?”
“There are secret locations I discovered during my assassin days. Places thieves and swindlers used as hidden storerooms. A few of them were still untouched.”
Their owners had probably died in the great war. That explained why there was not a single Pel among the coins—Pel had been newly minted as the common currency after the war.
“Let’s go inside. It’s a bit early, but I’ll prepare breakfast.”
“Sure.”
“Ah, no, Aegina, wait……”
Rowell and I desperately tried to stop her, but this time it was impossible. Her joy at seeing Bagloros and her emotion over his growth were too great, and the herbs from earlier had somewhat weakened our voices.
In the end, she once again pulled out ingredients from the corner of the storage room—ingredients we never wanted to see—and began cooking. Rowell and I silently took several herbs from the bag Bagloros had given us and started chewing them vigorously.
“…Let’s go in.”
“…Yeah.”
After carrying the coin bag to my house with Rowell, we sat at the table like condemned criminals awaiting judgment, waiting for Aegina’s cooking to be finished.
It did not take long for us to realize once again how grateful we were for Bagloros’s presence. Thanks to him calmly eating most of the food on the table, we only had to eat a relatively small amount.
“Then Bagloros can come with us.”
“Where to?”
“We were thinking of stopping by the Ayman Kingdom. It’s been years since we last saw everyone.”
“And we need to resolve Anak’s fiancée issue.”
“Fiancée?”
At the word “fiancée,” Bagloros turned to look at me.
“It’s a misunderstanding. We just need to investigate the situation.”
I had to explain quickly. Otherwise, he would be confused for a long time.
“Should I go?”
He stood up as if ready to dash off immediately, but Aegina and Rowell pulled him back down.
“It’s fine, Bagloros.”
“Yes. We can all just go together. It’ll be a trip down memory lane.”
Well, there probably would not be any fierce battles like before, so it really would just be a trip.
“Then I’ll go tell the village chief and the others later. Since Bagloros is here, let’s leave tomorrow.”
Afterward, Rowell and Aegina helped the villagers who had come seeking assistance in preparation for their long absence, while Bagloros and I assisted them from the side—removing rocks that had rolled into fields, treating sick people or livestock, and other miscellaneous tasks.
The work ended quickly. In my case, there was almost nothing for me to do, so I wanted to go see Ropena, but Bagloros’s presence made that impossible. Even if I claimed I was just going for a walk, Bagloros could search the entire mountain in no time if something happened.
If he asked where I had gone, I would have no excuse. And so the day passed without me visiting Ropena. As for Bagloros, I prepared the bed my parents used to use in my house for him.
Bagloros himself said he was fine sleeping on the floor or outside, but since he had come as a guest, that would not do. In Peltecheru or Deshlang, he had his own nighttime activities, but there was no reason to be rude when he had come simply as a guest with nothing else to do.
“All right.”
The next day. As soon as the sun rose, I quickly got out of bed and headed to Rowell and Aegina’s house. Aegina had been cooking by hand from yesterday morning until evening. Judging by the atmosphere, she would obviously insist on cooking breakfast again today.
Eating three meals like that yesterday had already been difficult enough; we could not go through it again. Today, I had to prepare the food myself in advance to stop her.
But just as I cautiously reached for the door of Rowell and Aegina’s house, Rowell opened it with an expression that suggested he had already given up on everything. He gave me an awkward smile.
“Oh, Anak. You’re up early?”
Aegina had already finished cooking and even set the table. When Bagloros followed me out, looking puzzled by my behavior, the three of us sat down at the table. Rowell secretly slipped me a few dried herbs under the table.
“Aegina, I could have prepared the meal today……”
“Oh my. Bagloros has come after so long, so of course I should cook. You two always made such a fuss whenever I cooked with care, but Bagloros never does that.”
…I had said it before, but Aegina was not incapable of cooking. Honestly, the problem was the ingredients; the taste was not that strange, and it was not bad for the body either. If anything, it could even be considered a kind of nourishing food.
But it was not that we were being overly dramatic. Those ingredients—especially for someone who remembered what they looked and smelled like while still alive—were simply not easy to eat.
Even the wild Orcan would sometimes declare a fast, citing nonexistent tribal traditions, whenever Aegina cooked.
“Now, everyone eat quickly.”
Fortunately, some of the worst ingredients that Rowell and I hated had run out. Even though she said that, perhaps thinking of how we had eaten her food all day yesterday, half of the dishes on the table this time were made with normal ingredients and normal cooking methods.
We finished the meal relatively enjoyably, once again realizing how skilled a cook she was, and after cleaning up, we began preparing for the journey.
When we all finished preparing and came outside, white emblems appeared across both of our houses at my gesture.
“Anak, it’s fine. We’ve already taken or hidden all the important items, and last time we all cast security spells on the storage together.”
“That’s right, Anak. Besides, there’s honestly not much worth stealing in our house anyway.”
Rowell and Aegina laughed and spoke playfully, but they did not try to stop me.
Of course, what they said was true. The holy sword Grandias was at Rowell’s side, and the necklace Aegina had received from Asgard hung around her neck. All other dangerous items were sealed deep in the secret storage behind multiple layers of barriers.
But this was the world-famous “Hero’s Village.” Since we did not know when or who might come looking after we left, and we would be away for a long time, there was no harm in being cautious.
From within the white emblems, faint spirit forms appeared. They were the most famous and commonly used spirits among guardians that protected homes or locations. While there were stronger guardians, the reason these spirits were chosen was that, with a small magical device, they could naturally absorb surrounding mana and maintain themselves semi-permanently.
Of course, they were not particularly strong compared to ancient golems or powerful guardians, but they would not be harmed by anything short of a highly skilled mage or someone intent on destroying the house entirely.
“Well then, let’s go.”
As before, Rowell took the lead, and we followed behind at a leisurely pace. Smiles lingered on our lips as we reminisced only about the pleasant memories of the past.
There had been a time when I left this village thinking I would never return. Yet now I was setting out with such a joyful heart. Various thoughts came to mind, and a strange feeling filled my chest.
However, the fact that I would not be able to visit Ropena for the next few days weighed on my mind.