Friend
The streets were full of pedestrians moving briskly back and forth.
Neat roads, well-tended street trees, and benches placed at intervals along the way, as if the city itself were trying to keep from being swallowed by the bustle.
“This way, Sister!”
“W-wait a second, Angela!”
Angela, linked arm in arm with Francois, looked around with restless excitement.
She followed wherever her curiosity led, her eyes constantly bright as she studied people and goods alike.
She was like a fish finally thrown into water.
Francois, who usually kept to herself in the library, couldn’t keep up with her sister’s pace and was dragged along in her wake.
Where people passed in numbers, money always circulated.
And a merchant who could smell money would never leave such a place alone.
“Meat skewers, three coppers apiece! Buy four at once and I’ll give them to you for just ten coppers!”
“Anyone want some delicious water? We’ve got beer and fruit drinks too, so come take a look!”
The wares sold by the street vendors were as varied as could be.
Some stalls sold snacks, while others dealt in a modest bit of alcohol and something to go with it.
There were rare animals, unfamiliar ornaments, and all kinds of uncanny performers showing off strange tricks at every turn.
Wherever such entertainers gathered, crowds were sure to follow, and laughter and cheers rang out from the throng.
It was a place impossible to hide the scent of human life.
Even today, Mistra’s streets were peaceful.
“Don’t go too far, Lawrence.”
Francois seemed uneasy.
Even while she watched the current of passersby with wonder, she kept turning back to Lawrence as if hoping for help.
The nun’s habit she normally wore was nowhere to be seen.
After changing before going out, the Valentina sisters blended naturally into the street.
“Don’t worry, Sister. I’m right here beside you.”
“You don’t need to worry. I’m here too.”
“Y-yes. I’m not alone, so… I’m fine.”
Francois managed the faintest smile.
Angela hugged her sister as if she were too adorable for words.
“Come on, Sister. Opportunities like this don’t come around often.”
“W-wait a moment. I’ll go, so….”
Francois, still being tugged along by the arm, looked oddly comical.
Walking after the sisters, Lawrence thought back to the night before.
“Going out?”
“If there are Church members with us, we’re allowed to go out. That’s my favor to ask.”
“Can I take this as the two promised favors we discussed?”
“No. This is my favor. You’ll need to listen to Sister’s request separately, won’t you?”
“...Very well. Angela did me a kindness, after all.”
The decision hadn’t taken long.
To be honest, it wasn’t even a difficult favor to grant.
More than that, he owed these sisters in more ways than one.
If he thought of it as repaying a debt already accumulated, then he could gladly hold out a hand.
So Lawrence had left the monastery with them.
Watching the two of them delight in the streets, he found himself thinking that sometimes, this wasn’t so bad.
Merely walking around the city made time pass quickly.
By the time lunch drew near, Lawrence headed to the restaurant.
“Welcome. Oh—Lawrence!”
Lada greeted him with a bright smile.
But when she saw the sisters following behind him, her expression hardened.
“Who’re those two?”
Lawrence looked back at Angela and Francois.
What was the right way to introduce them?
He couldn’t exactly say they were Church sisters.
A nun was a body that couldn’t freely leave the convent.
They had taken off their veils and habits precisely so they could step out onto the street.
Then what should he say?
Acquaintances?
People he knew?
No. There was a better word than that.
“Friends.”
It had been a long time since Lawrence had spoken the word aloud.
“Friends?”
“Yes, friends. Could you show us to a table?”
Once he’d said it, the rest came naturally.
Lada, still looking at him with a strange expression, soon nodded.
“Come inside, then, guests.”
She led Lawrence’s group to the best seat in the house.
The spot with a view of the outside lay a little apart from the other tables, making it quiet enough for a peaceful meal.
“Can we choose the menu ourselves?”
Angela’s eyes sparkled as she accepted the menu.
It was the same look Francois got whenever a beloved book was laid before her.
“Order as much as you want.”
“You said so, then I won’t hold back.”
“Angela. That’s a little rude….”
“It’s all right. I can afford that much.”
Lawrence nodded at the hesitant Francois.
“See? Lawrence said it’s fine. Hurry up and choose, Sister.”
“...Thank you, Lawrence.”
Angela and Francois bent over the menu together.
There were so many dishes, and just as many drinks, that it took some time before they finally settled on their order.
“What a cute friend.”
A flat voice cut in.
Looking up, Lawrence saw Lada wearing her customer-service smile.
“Thank you, as always.”
He didn’t even get a chance to offer a tip.
After confirming the order, Lada took her tray and walked back to the counter.
It was the sort of attitude that sent a chill right through the room.
For some reason, it reminded him of Anne in Rombamel.
“Um… is that all right?”
Perhaps sensing the odd atmosphere, Francois asked.
“That’s what I should be asking.”
The important thing wasn’t Lada right now.
Even if the sisters were fallen nobles, they were still nobles.
He wasn’t sure whether it had been all right to introduce them as friends.
The two women looked at each other.
Without a word, they both burst into laughter.
“What do you think, Sister?”
“I think the same thing Angela does.”
Angela turned to Lawrence.
“Then were we not friends until now?”
“……”
For a moment, he had no words.
Friends. Did they really understand what that word meant to Lawrence?
“...I suppose you’re right. It’s been so long since I’ve kept company with friends, I don’t think I even realized we’d become them.”
Lawrence answered with a smile that came straight from the heart.
* * *
The Valentina sisters’ outing ended only when evening fell.
On the road up the hill toward the monastery, Angela looked positively alive with the joy of the day, while Francois was completely spent and half collapsed against her younger sister.
“Angela….”
“Mm-hm. I’m here, Sister.”
Angela supported her sister as her eyes kept slipping closed.
Seated on a bench, Francois looked as if she might fall asleep any moment.
“Thank you for today, Lawrence.”
“No. Thanks to you both, I had a good time too.”
It had been a very long time since he’d emptied his mind and simply let the day pass.
He’d been dreaming of the Spirit World lately, true enough, but even then his attention had been fixed on the new mysteries surrounding Bodanoy.
“Really?”
“It made me think of the old days.”
It was different from the time he’d enjoyed Frang Village’s festival.
Back then, he’d been there as Luca’s guardian and Yerina’s junior; he hadn’t been out enjoying himself as a friend the way he had today.
“Hmm. Then can we ask you again sometime?”
“If I could, I’d like that. But I’m short on time.”
“I figured as much. I wasn’t expecting much.”
Francois was already speaking with her eyes half closed.
Angela adjusted her position so her sister could rest more comfortably.
Lying down with her head in her younger sister’s lap, Francois murmured, “...Someday, I want to go to Ulbazar Swamp too.”
“Honestly, Sister. If you mean the swamp, that’s going to be hard with your stamina as it is now.”
Angela stroked Francois’s hair.
Watching the affectionate sisters, Lawrence spoke up.
“You must really like Ulbazar Swamp.”
“When we were younger, my brother told us stories about the Sultaniya Kingdom. A kingdom of sand where the Anabram Desert and the Danama Swamp coexist. Proud warriors of the sand, great hunters. Those vivid tales planted a dream in my sister, who loves books.”
“In that case, shouldn’t you want to go to the Sultaniya Kingdom rather than Ulbazar Swamp?”
“You know that’s impossible, don’t you? A bird in a cage has no freedom. And we don’t even know whether the brother we promised to go with is alive or dead anymore. Realistically speaking, I want to at least see something similar, even if it’s only Ulbazar Swamp. I don’t know when that’ll be, though.”
Not every noble lived a life of privilege.
Lawrence had heard from Cedric what a lady’s life could be like.
The once-great family had fallen.
Now only wolves remained, circling them for the sake of their name.
A bird in a cage.
Whether they liked it or not, the sisters were destined to spend their entire lives trapped in the convent.
His heart had not worn so thin that he felt nothing at the sight.
“I can’t show you Ulbazar Swamp itself, but I can show you the creatures that live there.”
“What do you mean?”
“A small repayment for everything you’ve done for me.”
Lawrence held out his hand.
“Fire.”
A single stream of flame cut through the dark.
“Magic?”
He didn’t stop after casting Fire.
Slowly, Lawrence began changing the shape of the blaze.
“Sister. Sister. Wake up.”
“Mm… just a little longer, Angela….”
As if indulging her, Francois sat up at last.
“What is that?”
“It’s magic, Sister. Lawrence was a mage!”
“What are you talking about, Angela? Lawrence isn’t a mage, he’s a pilgrim.”
Francois rubbed at her sleepy eyes as if to tell her sister not to say such nonsense.
But only for a moment.
Once she saw the flame moving freely before her, Francois froze.
“I’ll show you an Ulbazar jaguar first.”
The shape of Fire changed into a predator from the swamp.
“That’s an Ulbazar jaguar….”
“Don’t touch it. It’s dangerous.”
Lawrence stopped Francois when she reached out a hand.
“Dangerous?”
“It’s fire. Of course you have to be careful.”
“Really? That’s strange. The fire another mage handled was fine even when I touched it.”
What?
She had touched a flame with her hand?
Lawrence’s concentration broke, and the fire dwindled away.
“My Ulbazar jaguar….”
A heartbroken voice echoed out.
For a moment, the life seemed to leave Francois’s eyes, but that was not the important part.
“You said you touched magic and it was all right?”
“Huh? Y-yes. It was fine.”
Had his voice risen without his noticing?
Startled, Francois gripped Angela’s hand tightly.
“Wait a minute, Lawrence!”
“Ah, sorry. That was my fault.”
Lawrence apologized for his haste.
After quickly regaining her composure, Francois spoke.
“Yes. It was a long time ago, but the magic our territory’s mage handled could be touched by hand.”
“Is that true?”
“It is. I touched it too. As long as it wasn’t some frightening magic, it would feel warm or cold, but it wouldn’t hurt us.”
That was something he’d never considered.
Not that a mage used magic was impossible to touch, but that another person could actually lay hands on a completed spell….
It felt as though he’d glimpsed another possibility for magic.
So magic could, apparently, be made harmless depending on the mage’s intent.
Of course, he doubted that applied to all magic.
Magic focused on power, like Shadow Spear or Shadow Trap, surely wouldn’t distinguish between friend and foe.
If there was any exception, it was probably basic magic like Fire.
Then how should he practice it?
This wasn’t something solved by will or thought alone.
If it had been, he would have seen the possibility much sooner.
“Um… aren’t you going to show us more?”
He seemed to have drifted off in thought for too long.
Francois’s disappointed eyes met his.
Angela, sitting beside her, also looked like she wanted to say something.
“I’ll show you as much as you want.”
It was repayment for giving him a glimpse of a new possibility.
Lawrence moved his hands before the sisters until the night grew deep.
* * *
Before leaving the room, Lawrence checked his belongings.
The Key of the Spirit World.
Three grimoires and Water.
He had also packed Lurizisa’s reading book in his bag.
There was the telekinesis grimoire he’d bought at the magic shop too.
He’d only looked through it once while learning Worm magic.
He didn’t know whether he’d find time to examine it during the request.
The same went for Lady Vina’s book.
It had sounded interesting when he’d heard about it as a story.
But once faced with pages packed so tightly with text, his enthusiasm hadn’t exactly surged.
Pulling a robe on over his vestment, Lawrence headed for the stable.
He packed the necessary belongings into his saddlebag and took up the reins.
As he came slowly out to the monastery entrance, he found the Valentina sisters waiting there in thick coats.
“You should’ve stayed inside if it was this cold.”
“Quite right. We already said our goodbyes yesterday, after all.”
“Angela. You can’t say things like that.”
With every breath, a cloud of white vapor drifted out into the air.
Francois shivered, wrapped so tightly that only her face remained uncovered.
“Warm.”
With a small chant, magic took form.
“That should be better now.”
“Wow. That’s nice and warm.”
“If there’s magic this convenient, you should’ve used it sooner.”
Amused by Angela’s grumbling, Lawrence smiled.
“After I finish circling the north, will I come back to Mistra?”
“I wonder. I’d like to if I can, but people’s lives don’t always go the way they’re planned.”
If there truly was a Lost Sanctuary, then contact with the seam of the Spirit World was inevitable.
And based on everything he’d seen so far, it was fair to say there was no reason to think the place he’d emerged from the seam would be in the north.
“In moments like this, you’re supposed to say something like, ‘Come visit us again.’”
“I don’t like throwing out promises I can’t keep.”
“You really are impossibly stubborn.”
As if to say fine, have it your way, Angela snorted.
“I don’t know about anywhere else, but I do intend to visit the Holy See.”
“The Holy See? Hmm… I wonder if they’d send us if we asked?”
“I’m definitely not going. The Holy See is the Church’s main stronghold.”
Angela shuddered, as if the mere thought were dreadful.
“It seems like the sort of experience you should have at least once.”
“I said I’m not going.”
“Angela.”
“Ugh….”
Under Francois’s gaze, Angela soon raised both hands in surrender.
“Just once. And maybe they’d even let us go.”
“They definitely would. Father Newman goes to the Holy See from time to time too.”
The sisters’ conversation came to an end there.
Lawrence held out his hand.
Angela clasped it, as if she had no choice.
“Be careful. I’ve heard the north is dangerous, Lawrence.”
“The pilgrim’s road is always hard.”
“I hope the Goddess’s blessing goes with you.”
“And I hope the Goddess’s blessing goes with you as well, Angela.”
Next was Francois.
“Lawrence. May I ask the favor I mentioned earlier now?”
“Of course.”
Angela’s request was done. Hers remained.
“If you succeed in contacting the Watcher of Winter in the north, I’d like you to ask after my older brother.”
“Your older brother?”
Was she speaking of the brother Angela had mentioned?
He’d heard that Francois’s interest in Ulbazar Swamp came from him.
“Even if you don’t hear anything, that’s all right. The chance of my brother still being alive is slim. But if he is… and if there are any survivors of our family left, I’d like you to tell them that Angela and I are safe. That they no longer need to worry about the family. Please tell them that.”
“Understood. I’ll tell them you’re both doing well.”
“Thank you, Lawrence.”
Just as he had with Angela, Lawrence held out his hand.
But he soon realized there was no reason it should be taken.
And yet, surprisingly, Francois stepped forward and clasped it.
“Francois?”
Lawrence wasn’t the only one startled by the sudden move.
Angela stared at them, mouth hanging open in disbelief.
The handshake did not last long.
It was only the briefest overlap, touch and release.
When their hands parted, Francois was trembling.
“L-next time, let’s meet at the Holy See.”
He didn’t need to say how much courage it had taken for her to make that handshake happen.
It was plain enough without words.
“Understood. Next time, we’ll meet at the Holy See.”
At Lawrence’s answer, Francois’s face brightened.
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