Poor Alec Has It Tough
For Lud, none of it felt quite real.
The Heavenly God had simply appeared before him, declared that he was now the Hero, and delivered her revelation: to stand against the coming calamity and drive back evil. He had been granted the Light Spear, the weapon of the Hero, and in truth that spear was an immensely powerful arm.
There was no particular reason to doubt any of it, and even if he had become the Hero, that was hardly a strange turn of events in itself. He had risen to Gold-rank adventurer in just ten years — his strength was thoroughly proven. And a Hero being born in Marlene, the land where legends said the descendants of the Heavenly God had lived for generations, carried its own plausibility.
"Having to go all the way to Infula is rather a nuisance."
The route Lud's party was taking differed considerably from the one Yona's group followed. Cutting straight across the Insturia Mountains would have been the fastest way, but it was far too dangerous. Alone, Lud would have had no trouble — but carrying Saint Vigrind over those peaks was another matter entirely, a real risk.
Besides, this was a party setting out to receive proof of their titles as Hero and Saint, so their escort numbered quite a few. Taking the overland route would have been foolhardy.
"So we will be going by ship — is that the gist of it?"
"Yes."
Vigrind nodded to him, and then her pale white fingers darted lightly across the map, retracing the path they would travel.
"We make for the northernmost port of the Lucasia Kingdom... cross the Vithia Strait, then the Plavus Sea, the Alter Sea... and put into port at the Grand Duchy of Carpatia."
"And from there, the way should be smooth."
"Yes."
Lud knew little of this northern continent's geography. Everything about how they were to move had been left entirely to Vigrind — and since she was no expert on geography either, she had had the pilgrimage officer at the cathedral walk her through the route.
The number of people who had to travel, the burdens they carried, the dangers to avoid. What lay before them was the result of weighing and calculating all of those factors together.
"It's a longer way around than going overland, but given the size of our company, sea travel is the safer choice. And if we went by land we'd have to cross the Insturia Mountains — factoring that in, the sea route won't be much slower, if at all."
"I see. Then that is what we shall do."
As Lud nodded without hesitation, Vigrind stole a glance up at him.
Lud, the man who claimed he had become the Hero. And yet whenever she spoke with him, something about him left her oddly unsettled. Wasn't the Hero supposed to be the savior of mankind, of all people? But was this man truly the sort one could call a savior?
"We depart first thing tomorrow, yes?"
"Y-yes."
Vigrind gave a small nod. Well, he must be the Hero, at least. Watching him cut down that terrifying demon without breaking a sweat — there's no mistaking it.
"Then rest well, Saintess."
"And may you have a peaceful night as well, Sir Hero."
Lud bowed his head briefly and stepped out of the room. Only after she had confirmed that his door had shut completely behind him did Vigrind let out a small sigh and sink down onto the edge of the bed.
Was she happy? Not particularly. Joy wasn't quite the word — she simply felt nothing at all.
After the Day of Discernment she had become a priestess, and her holy power alone stood so far above that of her fellow ordinands that the gap was almost embarrassing. Excellence upon excellence meant she soon distinguished herself, and her nobility and purity of heart carried her, in short order, all the way to the seat of Purification Priestess.
"Whew..."
And now — now she had reached the very summit of the priesthood. For a male priest, that summit was the Papacy; for a woman, it was the title of Saint. And that was where Vigrind stood today. It didn't make her particularly happy at all.
Vigrind rose from the bed and removed her veil, hanging it on the clothes rack. She loosened the waist-cord of her vestments, folded the garment neatly, and set it on the nightstand. The robe slid loose and fluttered free as she eased it off with care, taking pains not to wrinkle it, and hung that on the wooden rack as well.
"I will take my bath now."
— Yes, my lady.
A small voice answered from behind the inner wooden door — not the door to the corridor, but the one shielding the room itself. She had moved lodging the moment the revelation came. From the cramped little room she'd been living in, she had been relocated to these private quarters with a bath and privy attached.
Three attendants had been assigned to serve her as well. Now, truly, she felt like a person of high nobility. Though I never imagined it would be this that finally made it feel real.
Before long came word that the bath had been prepared, and Vigrind slipped into a thin garment and entered the washroom. Steam kept rising from the lion's head carved into the wall, hot water gushing down to fill the tub to the brim. After the attendants lightly washed her body down before her soak, she lowered herself slowly into the bath and let herself sink into it.
The Hero. The Saint. The Demon King...
Not one of it felt real. Especially not that last word — Demon King. It was so unreal she honestly wondered whether it had happened at all.
...And Yona.
Come to think of it, hadn't Lud been far more drawn to Yona, as though she were the true Saint? When he set out to slay that demon, hadn't he tried to take Yona along — not Vigrind?
— Creak.
Vigrind clenched her teeth. As her jaw ground shut behind squeezed-closed eyes, a sharp ache bloomed through her.
Always. You always... you always have to make me feel this way...
Her holy power was nothing to sneeze at either. In raw holy power alone, Yona didn't even come close to matching Vigrind's — and in command and control, Vigrind had always been far superior. And yet people had always crowded around Yona.
The one who laughed easily, who was bright and open, who got along with everyone around her. If Vigrind had been called a flower of lonely elegance — beautiful, but with thorns — then Yona had been called a blossom lovely and graceful enough, with a scent to match, that bloomed in a roadside flowerbed and refused no hand that reached for it.
Why, even Sister Aize had once said that if Yona became a priestess, the cathedral would grow closer to the people of the town. — Not that I was meant to have overheard that.
But Yona had become a Healer. Vigrind had become a priestess — and in the end, the Saint herself.
The Saint: the being every last worshipper was bound to look up to and revere. And even the Hero, the one who must stand closer to the Saint than anyone else alive — even he had his mind fixed on Yona.
That insufferable little...
She could not forget Yona's face from the day she'd become a mere Healer — the way she had simply laughed it off. She could not forget it, the day the convent split them into priests and healers, when Yona had said that being a Healer was a fine line of work too, without a single thread of envy in her voice.
Vigrind cupped her palms together and scooped up the water. No matter how tightly she pressed them, it spilled in thin streams through the seams of her hands. The fallen water struck the bath's surface, and ripples spread outward — round, and round again — widening, widening, spreading ever farther.
"You wicked girl."
...Yes. This is your fault. You, who appeared out of nowhere and now shine brighter than I do—
"I really hate you..."
"Atchoo!"
"You catching a cold or something?"
"A cold my ass..."
Even as she said it, Yona scooted a little closer to the campfire. Alec tossed a couple more logs onto the flames in front of her, then got up and poured water into the mess tin, setting it across the fire.
"You're used to camping out like this, right?"
"Yeah. Plenty used to it."
Yona sniffled and nodded toward Kayak.
It was their first night — the first night since leaving Evian for the Wizard Community. Alec had butchered the two rabbits they'd caught earlier, Yona had skewered the meat and set it roasting over the fire, and Kayak had ground down a chunk of rock salt and seasoned it. The roasted rabbit the three of them produced together turned out to be damn tasty.
"By the way, what was that stone you used earlier? It tasted way better than just roasting the meat plain. Genuinely surprised me."
Wiping her upper lip with the scrap of cloth Alec handed over, Yona asked Kayak. She remembered buying it at Henson's general store, and she'd seen him rubbing it liberally over the meat.
"That's called rock salt. Think of it as a stone made of salt. You rub on just a touch of it when roasting meat, and it does the seasoning for you."
"Oh, so that's rock salt?"
Yona did remember it. Not in that stone form, of course, but she'd known rock salt existed.
"Just a little seasoning and the whole flavor changes like that, huh."
"Wouldn't know — nobody carries stuff like this around with them."
So this is the level it takes to be called a Silver-rank adventurer, huh. Yona found herself impressed by Kayak all over again.
"Here."
"Oh — yeah, thanks."
Thin steam curled up from the wooden cup Alec handed her. Not scalding, but comfortably warm — exactly the temperature that made you want to slurp it down, sip after sip.
"Ah, that's the stuff."
"Nights are still cold, after all."
Alec answered as he poured a cup for himself and drank. Kayak had waved his off, saying he was fine.
"There'll be a village tomorrow."
"A village?"
"That's right. We'll be at the tail end of the Lucasia Mountains by then. Terrain like this is good hunting ground too — plenty of beasts about."
"Ooh..."
"It's going to be a long journey. Whenever we reach a village, we rest a full day each time and preserve our strength. Once we enter the Insturia Mountains there won't be any villages at all, so we'll need to pace ourselves carefully. Got that, Alec?"
"...Why are you telling Alec?"
Yona herself was the one whose stamina would be the biggest problem, yet here was Kayak, out of nowhere, drilling it into Alec instead. And Alec, for his part, was nodding along as though he'd actually understood something.
"Because if Yona keels over, you're the one who has to carry her."
"She won't keel over."
"Well. Who's to say."
The firelight swayed and danced. Sparks drifted aimlessly on the updraft, and from somewhere far off in the dark, a magic beast let out a long, low howl.
"You're heading to the Community first, right?"
"That's the plan."
Yona drained the last of the hot water and set her cup down. Waving off Alec as he moved to refill it, she turned to Kayak.
"Whatever happens, the Community comes first. Once I'm there, it's one of two things — get back to my old world, or get back to being a man."
At that, Kayak let out a long, slow sigh.
"Alec. You've really got it tough ahead of you."
And Kayak snickered.