The Road Home
Final exam results had been posted, and once again there were no surprises. Eli held onto the top seat with a perfect score, just as he had at midterms, while Aidan and Logan took first place in the Knight Faculty side by side. Bayul and Quinn didn't reach the very top, but they scored higher than they had before.
The top student of the Administration Faculty was, as ever, Lubinsky, and Lanasa joined Aidan and Logan among the Knight Faculty's best. Shusuke and Elaine each claimed second place in the Magic and Theology Departments.
It was a relief that, even after the long trip to the imperial palace, none of the group had been thrown off course.
"So what are you all doing over break?"
It was their last meal at the academy. Classes had already ended for the term; all that remained was to pack up after eating, walk out of the dormitory, and the semester would truly be over.
"Got some big plans or something?" Schubik asked, tearing into a hunk of bread with all the grace of a starving wolf.
"I've gotta help around the house. What about you?"
Ever since yesterday, Aidan had been inexplicably glum, pushing his food around more than eating it.
"I'm heading home for the first time in ages, so I'll get some of Mom's cooking, go surfing with the neighborhood guys... the usual."
"Surfing?"
"Yeah, the waves off our coast are insane. I may be a bottom-of-the-barrel student here, but I rip at surfing! You guys should come visit if you get the chance!"
Though a commoner, Schubik had grown up quite comfortably, his family having been in the shipping business for generations. Sipping cold juice on a breezy beach all summer while riding waves was one of his great joys in life.
"Ah, wait, Quinn probably wouldn't be into that, huh...?"
Inviting Quinn, of the merfolk, to go surfing was like teaching a fish to swim.
"Come to think of it, Eli, where's home for you? I heard gypsies don't have a fixed place to live—you're staying at the Chairman's estate, right?"
"Are you insane? Why on earth would I go there?"
"...You still haven't made peace with the Chairman?"
"I never will, so drop it."
"Then where are you staying over break? Got somewhere to go?"
"Obviously I do. What kind of question is that? Worry about yourself, not me. With grades like those, can you even survive next semester? What a waste—lending you my notes was for nothing."
Under the merciless barrage of Eli's brutally realistic report card critique, Schubik's face flushed red. His scores had already dropped significantly since midterms; honestly, he felt like crying.
"This is all your fault for never studying with me! You're supposed to feel sorry for a friend in need—seriously, you're all way too much!"
"You're the one who tanked them, so why are you blaming us?"
"Next semester, I'm keeping an eye on you all! Think of it as a friendship test! If you pretend not to know me again, we're all done—total falling out!"
"Oh, will you now?"
Watching him rail away on his own was absurd enough to be funny. One really did wonder what on earth went on inside that head of his.
"Bayul, did you return the book to Professor Rothius?"
Thanks to Eli, Bayul had finished reading Guide to the Great Path cover to cover. He couldn't keep a book from the imperial palace archives for a whole month, so that very morning he had returned it—excusing himself with a lie about having made a copy.
"Book? What book?"
Before Bayul could answer, Schubik barged in, curiosity suddenly alight—the same Schubik who never so much as glanced at a book normally.
"Oh, just a history book. It's not available at the library, so the professor lent it to me for a while."
"Huh."
Schubik answered absentmindedly—then abruptly leaned in close across the table.
"So, our illustrious Lucky Champion, any plans for the break?"
"...Lucky Champion?"
"That's what everyone's calling you these days. You won the Kite Flying Tournament, didn't you? The sole survivor of that whole disaster! If I'd known it would turn out like that, I would've entered myself!"
Everyone knew Bayul had won through luck, not skill. It had all been Tempesta's doing(?), but the students who knew nothing of spirits marveled that, as expected of Duke Randert's son, Bayul must have been born with absurdly good fortune, and they envied him for it.
As he thought back on where the new nickname had come from, the moment he had named the wind spirit floated into his mind, and Bayul smiled faintly.
"...So, what's my name?"
The wind spirit had blurted out the question, insisting that he had never once hated Bayul. Oddly enough, his face was full of expectation. What Bayul didn't know was that the boy had actually been harboring quite a bit of envy toward Innocent and Shame.
"Come on, Bayul. Did you settle on a name?"
Aidan had planted himself beside the wind spirit like he was glued there, urging Bayul on. He wanted a name decided as soon as possible so he could call this adorable little guy to his heart's content.
"Ah, well, you see..."
As Bayul hesitated under the sudden pressure, the light in the wind spirit's eyes slowly dimmed. Put off any longer, the boy was clearly about to throw a fit.
He's far too impatient...
Who else could it be but a spirit of the wind? He swirled and surged like a tempest—delighted one moment, furious the next, utterly impossible to read. Bayul was already losing track of which rhythm to match.
"...Ah! Tempest!"
In that instant, a single word sprang to mind.
"Tempesta!"
It meant storm. The sound of it wasn't bad, and it suited the boy's nature perfectly.
"...Tempesta?"
"Yeah—it means the mightiest of winds. What do you think? Do you like it?"
Bayul carefully searched the boy's face. If he wasn't satisfied, another tantrum was a sure thing. If he didn't like it, Bayul needed to come up with something else before the storm broke.
"Tempesta..."
But there was no need for any of that. The wind spirit, murmuring the name over and over, wore an expression of pure, unclouded delight.
It was the same reaction Innocent and Shame had shown. To beings who had never had names, simply being given one was an endless wellspring of happiness. Through it, they seemed to confirm that they were special in their own right.
Tempesta.
From this day forward, that was his name.
"Schubik, I know anyone's free to their own delusions, but not you. My kite got obliterated—do you really think yours survived? Absolutely not."
"Aidan, how would you even know that? The Goddess of Luck might have chosen me!"
"Hmm, no, I don't think so."
"Right, definitely not."
"Couldn't have happened."
"Obviously."
Everyone except Bayul denied Schubik's claim as if they had rehearsed it together. Knowing full well that all of it had been Tempesta's handiwork, their reactions were perfectly natural—though to Schubik on the receiving end, it was baffling.
"What's with you guys? Did you lose a bet or something? Why are your answers all identical? Something smells seriously fishy here."
"...Schubik! Weren't you asking about my plans?"
Fearing his friends might blurt out something strange, Bayul hurriedly changed the subject.
"It'll be my first time home in a while too, so I'm planning to take it easy. I need to play with Jasper when I can, do a bit of reading in the library, ride through the territory and see what needs looking into. Now that I say it all out loud... I might actually be pretty busy."
"Well, you are the young lord of House Randert. Plenty on your plate, I'd imagine. Those shoulders of yours must carry a lot. Being an heir isn't for just anyone, it seems."
An heir.
In truth, the most important thing was waiting for Bayul back home. It was something he couldn't bring himself to mention, knowing it would surely sour the mood.
Big brother...
"I'm glad to be going home, but thinking about being apart from you all for a whole month, I'll miss you. I'll write, so you'd better write back."
"Only if you spell everything properly."
"Ugh, you really never let up, do you? Picking at my weaknesses right to the end."
He'd wanted to end the term with a bright, pleasant farewell, but that one had ruined it completely.
"This humble senior's deep and abiding wish is that you stop scribbling whatever nonsense comes to hand and consult a dictionary as you write. You really ought to master spelling before graduation, don't you think?"
"Ahh, yes, yes sir, right away sir~"
Aidan snickered at the sight of Schubik bobbing his head in mock deference. Quinn sighed without warning, and Eli tilted his head, glancing sideways at Bayul, whose face had somehow turned oddly dark. Only Logan seemed to understand the reason for it; his expression hardened, and he sank into quiet gloom.
When he had left Hamilton, it had been just him and Ian, the two of them alone. Now, on the way back, they were six. Counting the spirits invisible to other eyes, they were nine. Add in the Rizai and Rivai brothers riding in another car, and they were more than ten in all.
Rita, who had been running herself ragged securing the Carrington residence right up until that morning, was now dozing off across from Bayul, her head nodding.
On the seats across the aisle sat Death and his two younger brothers. While the eldest, Death, kept quietly to himself, Bar and Amon had been going "Whoa! Whoa!" nonstop ever since they boarded the train.
Bar he could understand—but Amon couldn't see a thing. Bayul couldn't imagine what he found so impressive.
They're coming along to Hamilton too?
When he first heard that the three brothers of Death would be joining them, Bayul had been puzzled. Taking people who weren't truly part of Hamilton's household along didn't sit easily with him.
Yet the ones who ended up speaking on the brothers' behalf were, unexpectedly, Ian and Rita.
'They said they were curious to see what Hamilton looks like.'
'They promised to help with the main estate's work once we're there. There's a fair amount to do in Hamilton, you know. Now that they're getting somewhat useful, it seems fine to bring them along.'
'Besides, we find ourselves in a bit of a pickle ourselves, don't we.'
Would Father be glad to see him when he returned?
Jasper would surely leap around for joy?
Just three more days, and they would reach Hamilton. He would be returning home looking entirely different from the boy who had left.
'Bayul, welcome home. I've been waiting for you!'
Beyond the scenery rushing past the window, he could almost see his brother smiling and waving.
His beloved hometown.
The place where his father was.
'All right—this time, let's do it right.'
He wanted to settle everything properly: mending things with his father, his brother's memorial day, and the secrets surrounding his mother.
'I'm not going to live the way I did before.'
Clasping his hands where they rested on his knees, Bayul made the vow in his heart.
Hamilton was drawing steadily closer.