Pilgrim Lenard (1)
Lawrence returned the Bible.
But Blackwell pressed down on the end of it with his hand.
“From this moment on, it belongs to you. Cherish it after your own life, but never let it leave your side.”
“I don’t want to become a priest.”
“I know. Still, keep it. Even if you have other dreams, the goddess will be watching over you.”
He’d expected a scolding.
Yet from the look on Blackwell’s face, he didn’t seem angry at all.
“You seem to be under a serious misunderstanding. A monastery doesn’t only accept people who want to become priests. We take in homeless children from all over the continent and educate and support them.”
“Then you mean…?”
“You don’t have to become a priest.”
Only then did Lawrence understand why he hadn’t been angry.
“To be honest, your refusal is a little shocking.”
“I’m sorry.”
Lawrence hurriedly bowed his head.
He could hear the sincerity in the man’s voice.
“So. Have you thought about what you want instead?”
“I’d like to see the world.”
“The world?”
“Yes. Since I came to the monastery, I’ve realized something. The world is vast, and there’s still so much I don’t know. So I want to see that wider world with my own eyes.”
The joy of learning about the world.
The world of dreams and magic had awakened Lawrence.
Long ago, before he settled in Hilton Village, the boy had simply wandered wherever his feet carried him.
Nowhere to call home, nowhere to stay, only moving on.
With a heart trembling between fear and excitement.
Remembering those days, Lawrence steadied himself.
“That isn’t a bad thought.”
There was no smile on Blackwell’s face.
He seemed to be weighing Lawrence’s true feelings.
Then I should be a little braver.
If he didn’t speak now, he might never get another chance.
“About the pilgrim priests.”
“Pilgrim priests?”
“More precisely, I heard there are some who set out on the pilgrim road.”
There were five traveling priests who had visited Saint Charmant Monastery.
Among them, the pilgrim Blackwell had mentioned was no ordinary name.
Since arriving at the monastery, he had been the only one who swung a sword in the corridor from day one and came and went through the grounds as if they were his own home.
Marjorie complained about him all the time.
She said she couldn’t tell whether he was a priest or a mercenary.
“Could I perhaps go out and see the world with that man?”
“You mean with Lenard?”
“Ah, I don’t mean I’d keep following him forever. If it’s not Hilton Village…. I wouldn’t mind just traveling with him as far as the nearest town. After that, I can figure things out on my own.”
After hastily adding that explanation, Lawrence bowed his head.
The other man seemed somehow displeased.
Maybe it was too much to ask.
Lawrence was just an employee, after all. Worse, he was the insolent orphan who had refused the monastery’s offer to become a novice priest.
And yet, even after time passed, no rebuke came.
“Did you come up with that on your own?”
“I started hoping for it after you asked me about the novice priest position, sir.”
“Good boy. Fine. I’ll speak to Lenard for you. I don’t know about the others, but that bastard should have no trouble taking along one companion.”
At last, Blackwell gave him permission.
“But time isn’t on your side. Lenard will be setting out on the pilgrim road soon. I can’t promise he’ll be willing to take you.”
His tone carried real concern.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
In the end, Blackwell’s concern was half right and half wrong.
“I’m pilgrim Lenard.”
“My name is Lawrence.”
Pilgrim Lenard was a man with rough brown hair.
His clothes were no different from the last time Lawrence had seen him at the monastery.
A dirty robe and leather armor.
His equipment was the same too, except for one thing: the crossbow was gone.
“Blackwell told me you wanted to go with me.”
“I’d be very grateful if you’d allow it.”
“You want to go on the pilgrim road?”
“No, I—”
“If you’re not a traveling priest, then I have no reason to let you accompany me. Do you even know what the pilgrim road is?”
“……”
Lawrence couldn’t answer.
Seeing the boy’s silence, Lenard snorted.
“The pilgrim road is, by nature, a path walked alone while seeking the goddess’s teachings. You don’t travel with others, and even if you meet someone on the road, the rule is that you don’t stay together to the end.”
“Then… if I’ve misunderstood, I apologize. When you arrived at the monastery, there was someone else with you, wasn’t there?”
There had been four other traveling priests who visited the monastery that day.
None of them were pilgrims; all of them had come to Saint Charmant Monastery to seek instruction.
“We met at the entrance.”
“So he wasn’t part of your party.”
Lawrence hadn’t known.
No—if he’d known a pilgrim traveled alone, he never would have made such a request.
If you were going to explain it, you could have explained it properly….
He muttered the complaint to Marjorie, who wasn’t there to hear it.
Of course, he did know.
It’s my fault.
I should’ve looked into it more carefully.
Hearing that there wasn’t much time left had made him anxious.
“One week.”
“Pardon?”
“In one week, I’ll set out on the pilgrim road. If you still want to come with me then, be in your travel clothes and come to the corridor before dawn tomorrow morning.”
It seemed it was too early to give up.
“Is that really all right?”
“Be grateful to Blackwell. If he hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t even have considered it.”
Lenard went on.
“That said, I’ll decide tomorrow whether you’re worth it.”
The next day, Lawrence practiced Shadow until he saw the sun rise, then changed into his travel clothes.
When he stepped out into the corridor, Lenard still wasn’t there.
The boy took a seat near the well and fell into thought for a moment.
At first, Lenard’s proposal had been bewildering.
But on reflection, it made sense.
To walk the pilgrim road meant having to overcome many things alone.
The dangers along the journey couldn’t be counted on one hand.
Lawrence hadn’t been roaming Hilton Village’s back alleys because he liked them.
More precisely, he’d lacked the confidence to leave for anywhere else.
The first danger that came to mind was monsters.
Even around Hilton Village, if you strayed beyond the safe areas, Under Wolves would show up without warning.
For a child who hadn’t eaten well and could barely sleep, even the strength of their jaws was enough to tear him to pieces.
And once the sun went down, monsters only grew more savage.
A wild beast might be driven off by a fire you managed to light in a pinch.
But that didn’t apply to monsters.
In fact, the fire would only reveal his position.
While he’d been trapped between choices, Lawrence had ended up adapting to life in Hilton Village.
He couldn’t afford to repeat that mistake.
He didn’t want to live any longer by passively yielding to the world around him.
He was done wandering the filthy back alleys.
He wanted to run beyond the village boundaries he’d once been unable to cross.
Toward a world he still hadn’t seen.
“Hmph. At least you didn’t run away.”
Lenard’s first words upon seeing him were as sharp as ever.
“What a waste of time. Let’s go.”
“Where to?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
Lenard’s stride was rough.
Compared to Abeline, who walked without making a sound, he didn’t feel like a holy man at all.
Lawrence watched his back.
Aside from the sack whose contents he couldn’t guess, the crossbow he’d seen before was strapped across the man’s back.
Before long, the monastery fell behind them.
At first, Lawrence thought they were heading down to the village.
The sack was probably for things they needed to buy for the journey, and Lenard’s clothes had always been like that, so there was nothing suspicious about it.
But the moment he realized where those footsteps were leading, Lawrence’s face stiffened.
“It’s dangerous from here on.”
“Dangerous?”
“This is Under Wolf territory.”
It was common sense.
Monsters did not forgive trespassers who invaded their territory.
It was an area the people of Hilton Village never approached.
The same went for hunting.
Usually, he’d heard, you lured them out with raw meat or a scent they couldn’t resist.
He’d never even heard a rumor about someone coming this far in.
“I know.”
You know?
Lawrence almost doubted his ears.
If he hadn’t misheard, Lenard had just admitted he was walking straight to his death.
“Blackwell told me something. That you want to see the world with your own eyes.”
“Yes.”
“Then keep quiet and follow me.”
The unspoken pressure was clear: no more questions.
Watching Lenard forge ahead up the mountain path without hesitation, Lawrence let out a long breath.
Of course, there was another option.
He didn’t have to see the world with Lenard at all.
But retreating like this left him with a bitter, unfinished feeling.
Was this some kind of test?
It was obvious Lenard knew Blackwell.
Maybe he was doing this to judge Lawrence’s true motives.
The hesitation didn’t last long.
If he kept watching any longer, he felt like he’d lose sight of Lenard’s back.
In the end, after much deliberation, Lawrence followed him.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“So you were serious when you said you wanted to see the world.”
“……”
Lawrence couldn’t answer.
The world seemed to be spinning.
He had no idea how many hours they’d been climbing that harsh mountain trail.
He’d always had some confidence in his stamina, but seeing Lenard, who wasn’t even breathing hard and hadn’t shed a single bead of sweat, drained him completely.
He wasn’t human.
There was a reason this man was a pilgrim.
“Do you know monsters?”
“Creatures that threaten human lives.”
“Then have you ever faced a live one?”
“I have…. yes.”
He dug up an old memory.
Back when he still traveled with his friends.
It had been when Skinny John died. They’d been roaming the low hills, looking for a burial site, when they came face-to-face with an Under Wolf.
“Good. Did you kill it, or did you run?”
“I ran.”
It had been pure luck.
Because they’d spotted the creature first, they’d all managed to escape unharmed.
“So you’ve never killed one.”
“That’s right.”
Even now, could he really kill an Under Wolf?
The answer was no.
At present, the only weapons Lawrence had were Shadow and Fire.
Shadow could emerge from darkness and take shape, but it still wasn’t at the level where it could be used effectively in a fight.
If anything, Fire, which dealt with flame, seemed to offer more promise.
But he wasn’t ready yet.
Lawrence knew that better than anyone while practicing Fire.
It could heat water or kindle a small flame, but with that alone, he would never bring down an Under Wolf larger than a grown man.
Maybe someday, but not now.
“Take this.”
Lenard handed Lawrence the sack he’d been carrying.
It was heavy.
Even receiving it with both hands made his body sway.
“What’s all this?”
“See for yourself.”
As though explaining it would be too much trouble, Lenard turned away.
Lawrence checked the sack.
Inside were leather armor, several daggers, and an old crossbow.
“This is… hunting gear.”
“Then you can probably guess what we’re hunting.”
There was no need to wonder.
The prey Lenard meant was obvious.
“You’re thinking of hunting an Under Wolf.”
“Scared?”
“It would be a lie to say I wasn’t.”
“Then turn around right now. It’s not too late.”
“If I go back, wouldn’t this conversation be as if it never happened?”
“You do say the obvious things.”
Lawrence understood what he was getting at.
This was the minimum condition for stepping out into the world.
“Will one be enough?”
“That sounds like you’re sure you can take one down.”
“If I didn’t have the courage to try, I wouldn’t have said I wanted to see the world.”
Lawrence took the crossbow and quarrels out of the sack.
Compared with a bow, it was considerably heavier.
But conversely, that weight made him trust it.
After examining the crossbow once, he pulled back the string.
It was heavy, too. The force it demanded was different from a bow’s.
He doubted he could keep loading quarrels again and again without tiring quickly.
Could he use his foot to press it instead?
He set the crossbow upright. When he stepped on the brace and drew the string, it locked into place much more easily than before.
There were plenty of suitable targets around him.
Taking aim at a tree, Lawrence fired.
Crack!
The quarrel shot out with force and sank into the trunk.
It shook so violently he could see it trembling.
The power seemed much greater than the rumors had suggested.
At this rate, maybe it really could bring down an Under Wolf in a single shot.
The problem was…
“Did you aim for it?”
“No. I aimed for the tree in front of me.”
“Yeah, figured as much.”
A little practice was probably needed.