A Dream That Will Not End
The carriage that left Rombamel had entered the Rival Plains.
The mercenaries, who had been keeping watch for danger all around them, had also taken their places with each of the carriages.
Coincidence, or something deliberate?
Either way, the escort job had only hired five mercenaries.
Seated at the back of the carriage, Lawrence looked out over the Rival Plains.
A lonely expanse where, now and then, the only thing in sight was a barren tree.
The last time he had come here to subjugate orcs, the carriage had plunged deep into the plains, but this time it was moving along the outer road, unlike before.
There were no monsters bold enough to attack a carriage outright.
Under Wolves did wander by from time to time, though.
Every single one of them would tuck tail the moment they saw the carriage’s size.
If anyone were foolish enough to launch a raid, goblins might have been the only ones with any hope at all.
As a result, the tension had naturally thinned.
Lawrence had even taken out his magic book, thinking it a shame to waste the time, when—
“Can I sit next to you?”
Luca emerged from inside the carriage.
She was carrying a cup in both hands, white steam rising from it in soft coils.
“I don’t mind, but it’s cold out here.”
“It’s fine. I’m confident in how much I can put up with.”
It was a line he had heard from the girl more than once.
Luca sat beside Lawrence and offered him the cup.
“Thank you.”
“Elvira made it for me. There’s this kind of stove thing she uses, and she heated the water and milk with it.”
It seemed to be one of the traditional crafts the gypsies used.
He had heard they had all sorts of strange and interesting tools.
Apparently, there were even portable braziers that could be used inside a carriage.
Warm milk seeped into his chilled body.
Luca, however, did not drink.
Instead, she stared blankly at the scenery slipping by.
She looked very much like the boy who had left Hilton Village on a whim with Lenard.
“I suppose it feels strange to you.”
“Honestly, it still doesn’t feel real.”
Holding the warmth of the cup in both hands, she spoke quietly.
“It feels like all of this is a dream, and when I wake up I’ll be back in that house. Maybe even the me in the real world went off with Leo to be by the Goddess’s side?”
“Maybe. Dreams and reality are harder to tell apart than people think. But what really matters is your heart. Don’t forget that. Whether this is a dream or reality—that’s for you to decide.”
Dreams and reality. Reality and dreams.
In the end, it was the self that drew the line between them.
Lawrence, who had come into contact with the Spirit World through dreams, had come to accept both sides as real in their own way.
“At first, I was planning to end it that day. I didn’t think I could live alone in a world without Leo. To begin with, the only reason I kept struggling on was because I couldn’t leave Leo all by himself. But then Lord Lawrence found me.”
Why Leo had died.
What had happened.
Lawrence did not ask her a single thing.
There was no need to rush.
And there was no reason to pry.
When the wounds in her heart had healed, there would come a day when she could speak of it with a smile.
“Leo always longed to see the world outside. He used to say that someday, once we got out there, we’d live doing the things we wanted together. He’d be healed somehow. We’d fall in love. Build a family… and live like ordinary people. But I never truly wanted that. Leo at my side was enough for me. Why don’t boys understand such a simple thing?”
A single tear that should have been dried away slipped from Luca’s eye.
“If Leo were here right now, what would he say to me? He’d probably resent me for leaving him behind in that freezing Rombamel, wouldn’t he? He’d ask how I could abandon my one and only little brother and do something like this.”
Lawrence said nothing.
Only the silent passing of the world watched over her.
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t what I meant to say.”
“You aren’t leaving him behind.”
Lawrence cut off her words, heavy with regret.
“Don’t forget this: you aren’t leaving him behind. You’re taking him with you. As long as you remember your little brother. As long as you carry him in your heart. Leo will live on in your heart forever.”
Eyes as still as a lake looked down at the girl who had bowed her head.
“You’re the one taking Leo out into the world.”
“…….”
It sounded like words meant for himself, as much as for her.
When he closed his eyes, everyone still came back to him.
Slowpoke Titu. Skinny John. Fool Baril. Big Haman.
And the Leader, who must still be waiting somewhere for a reunion.
So the boy would not stop walking.
Luca looked back over the road they had traveled.
At the scar they had left behind at the end of it.
“…….”
A small voice answered.
It was not meant for anyone else.
It was a farewell to herself, and a new resolve.
Lawrence asked one last thing.
“Are you still dreaming?”
“Yes. I’m dreaming. A dream that will never end.”
There was no sound of sobbing.
The girl only cried in silence.
“Thank you, Lord Lawrence.”
After a moment, Luca had gathered herself enough to speak again.
Her voice was still a little caught, but the grief had no longer swallowed her whole.
“I didn’t do anything. You got up on your own.”
“That’s one of your good points, Lord Lawrence.”
She gave him a faint smile.
“Wouldn’t it be better if you went back inside now?”
“Can I stay out here just a little longer?”
“...Do as you like.”
But it was true that she had been out in the cold wind far too long.
The milk that had steamed with warmth had gone cold long ago.
Lawrence draped the robe he was wearing over her shoulders as well.
Since it had been used as a disguise when they entered the Gutter, it did not feel especially small on her.
“Ah, thank you.”
“If you’re cold, don’t force yourself. Go back inside. We’ve only just set out. There’ll be plenty of time to talk from here on.”
Luca leaned her head against Lawrence’s shoulder.
The carriage pressed onward toward the pitch-dark Rival Plains, where not a single light could be seen.
....
......
The carriage’s destination was Frang.
From what the mercenaries were saying, it would take at least a month or two to get there.
By then, perhaps the sharp chill of winter would have softened into the gentle warmth of spring.
“I heard Frang is a village with beautiful scenery. It’s smaller than Rombamel, but that doesn’t mean there are fewer people. And there’s a coastal cliff? A high place built up there. They said the sea visible below it is an incredible sight.”
“The sea, huh….”
“Have you ever seen the sea, Lord Lawrence?”
“No. I’ve only heard about it. I remember hearing that it was like a lake that was unbelievably huge. If it were a river, it should end around there, but I heard it doesn’t end even beyond the horizon.”
Honestly, he couldn’t picture it very well.
If the rumors about the sea were true, it would make even the waterway he had seen in the Ulbazar Swamp seem insignificant by comparison.
“Amazing. If there’s a sea, then there’s no need to worry about drinking water.”
“Unfortunately, I’m told you can’t drink seawater. It’s apparently so salty that it makes you keep drinking more water instead.”
“That’s kind of disappointing. If you can’t drink the most important water there is, then what’s the point?”
“Nothing comes easy. Still, at least you won’t have to worry about fish for the rest of your life.”
Luca’s lips lifted a little.
As long as you didn’t go hungry, life couldn’t be too hard.
“What do you plan to do once you reach Frang?”
“I’m not really sure yet. But I think it would be nice if I could find work at an inn or somewhere like that. No one would hire me in Rombamel, but Frang should be different.”
It wasn’t a bad idea.
Lawrence had stayed at an inn in Hilton Village as well.
It would provide food and lodging, and maybe even allow her to make a little money.
For a child, it was about the best place of work one could hope for.
“What do you think about monastery life?”
“A monastery? You mean the Holy Cross Order?”
Lawrence nodded.
“I heard there’s a St. Pierre Monastery in Frang. If you’re willing, it would be much easier than working at an inn.”
She was a stranger in a strange land with no one to lean on.
Morris, at least, had a proper trade and people he knew.
For a pitiful orphan girl trying to adapt to life in another village, it would not be easy.
In that sense, the order would make a reliable patron.
“...I’ve never really thought about it, so I’m not sure. More than that, would I even qualify to enter a monastery?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll speak with the head priest of St. Pierre Monastery myself. I don’t know the monastery’s circumstances, but the order isn’t so heartless that it would refuse to take in one girl with nowhere else to go.”
Love and mercy were the order’s very foundation.
“But the most important thing is your own will. To entrust yourself to a monastery is to become a servant of the Goddess Belche. Think it over carefully before you decide. Whatever choice you make, I’ll respect it.”
“Understood. I’ll think seriously about it.”
“Good. There’s still plenty of time before we reach Frang, so think it over slowly.”
They had only just set out on the road.
It might become the choice that decided the rest of the girl’s life.
Lawrence hoped Luca would come to her decision after careful thought.
By her own will.
* * *
That evening, a small performance was held at the camp.
With only the minimum watch posted, the gypsies danced alongside the band.
Among them, he could even see Luca, awkwardly trying to keep up with Elvira.
At first she had been dragged along not understanding a thing, forced into the dance.
But before long, thanks to Elvira guiding her from beside, she began to blend into the scene.
So she really had learned singing and dancing at a playground, huh?
Lawrence hadn’t known she had that kind of talent.
“So this is the famous magic of Lord Lawrence.”
An unwelcome guest approached.
It was Cedric, one side of his face swollen, cup in hand.
“What do you call this magic?”
“Shadow Light. As you can see, it creates a sphere of light.”
“Shadow Light… Then I’ve got one more song to sing about someday.”
Probably a little drunk, Cedric’s face glowed red under the Shadow Light.
“Would you like a drink?”
“I don’t drink. And I’m on an escort job right now.”
“You’re awfully stiff. As you may know, the other mercenaries are already drinking.”
“…….”
Lawrence frowned.
He had made Shadow Light all over the camp, but that did not mean goblins or Under Wolves would flee at the sight of it.
For every place he lit up, there would likely be a few curious things drawn toward the glow.
“I was prepared for that, so I brought milk too. Surely you won’t refuse that, will you?”
“...Fine. I’ll have one cup.”
Cedric sat beside him.
He must have fetched it freshly prepared, because the milk was still warm.
“Is your face better now?”
“Ahaha. You really saw me at my worst there. Thanks to Luca looking after me, most of the swelling’s gone down.”
“That’s a relief. If that handsome face of yours had been scarred, there would have been no shortage of women mourning.”
“How unusual of you to be so generous with your praise. I’m flattered.”
Was he made of iron?
Lawrence had not been complimenting him, and yet Cedric just grinned away.
“So why were you hit?”
“The man who laid hands on me was Esmeralda’s husband.”
So he had been meddling with someone else’s married woman after all.
“He was waving his hand at Esmeralda without even caring that people were watching. So I took the hit for her instead. The one who was wrong wasn’t Esmeralda. It was me, for giving her a single night’s dream.”
“Her husband hit his wife? Not you?”
“Yes. He’s a man with rather a lot of problems.”
Cedric gave a dry smile.
“Esmeralda is a lady with a keen mind, not at all like the daughter of a poor farming family ought to be. If she had been born to nobility, she might have become a scholar. At the same time, she loves her family more than anyone. And she loves her younger siblings more than anyone. That’s why she became the sixth wife of a landowner thirty years her senior. If she sacrificed herself, her family wouldn’t have to starve.”
“…….”
“It’s a tragedy you’ll find in any village. An old landowner lusting after a young lady’s body. You have no idea how many ladies from poor farming families die without ever being treated like human beings, Lord Lawrence. It’s all right. Things ended as best they could, and Esmeralda has escaped that landowner’s hands. I hope the money I gave her will help her return to the hometown where her family is waiting. I’m sure they’re longing for her desperately.”
Lawrence had not known there was such a story behind it.
No—more precisely, he hadn’t wanted to know. If he was honest, he still did not understand men and women very well.
It was true, at least in part, that he lacked interest.
But his view of Cedric had also been clouded by prejudice.
“I think I may have misunderstood you, Mr. Cedric.”
“That’s fine. No matter what circumstances there were, it doesn’t justify what I did. And I don’t want to clear up any misunderstanding either. Isn’t life more enjoyable, more fun, if you just pay attention to what’s in front of you instead of worrying about the dark side of things like that?”
“Like how, if you count one, two, three, all the painful memories vanish?”
When Lawrence repeated his habitual phrase, Cedric laughed.
“Come now. More importantly, wouldn’t you tell me a little more about what happened in the Gutter? Some mysterious organization you fought, or a secret dark cult, or something like that.”
“I’m terribly sorry, but what I told you last time was everything.”
“Isn’t it stranger that there’s nothing at all? It looks to me like you took Luca in as though you’d rescued her from some organization.”
“I didn’t rescue Luca. Luca came to the inn on her own. The inn staff all knew about it too. From the way you’re talking, it seems you’re the only one who didn’t know.”
“Well, who can say? Just as I don’t reveal a lady’s secrets, Lord Lawrence, you look like a man with a rather tight mouth.”
Lawrence had flinched inwardly, but answered with perfect calm.
“Not at all. You think too highly of me.”
“Then let’s change the subject. How about Elvira’s reaction when she found out you were a mage?”
“That topic seems best left unspoken. I’m saying this for your own good, Mr. Cedric. You just got back on your feet. If you end up lying down in the carriage again, Luca will be the one who suffers.”
Cedric was not so dull that he failed to understand what that meant.
“Hmm… if Elvira were to step on me with those feet, it might count as an honor in a different sense.”
“...Could you please sit a little farther away?”
Lawrence said it with complete sincerity.
How long had he been talking with Cedric?
Lawrence checked the time.
The hands of the clock were already moving toward tomorrow.
If he stayed any later, it might interfere with their journey.
He stood up and went to find Raul for a moment.
But when he saw Raul laughing with a pair of gypsy women on either side of him, Lawrence had no choice but to turn back.
In the end, he had the camp packed up through Elvira.
After watching the group scatter one by one back to their carriages, Lawrence returned to his place.
“Mr. Cedric. You should go in and sleep now.”
“That pocket watch. Don’t tell me it belongs to you, Lord Lawrence?”
Cedric’s gaze was fixed on the watch at Lawrence’s waist.
“No. It was a gift. Is there some problem with it?”
“I’m sorry, but could I see it for a moment? I promise I’ll handle it carefully.”
His voice was unusually serious.
Cedric examined the pocket watch for a while before returning it.
“Thank you for indulging such a sudden request.”
“No. But why?”
If Lawrence wasn’t mistaken, the drunken haze seemed to have cleared.
After looking around, Cedric spoke carefully.
“Do you know which noble house’s crest is engraved on that pocket watch?”
“Isn’t it just a pattern carved by a craftsman?”
“No. Craftsmen don’t carelessly engrave family crests onto goods. The kingdom forbids unauthorized use of such emblems. Especially hawks, lions—engraving them without permission is extremely dangerous.”
He had no idea what Cedric was talking about.
At Lawrence’s questioning look, Cedric answered, “The roaring golden lion. There are many lions, but within the kingdom, there is only one house entitled to embroider a golden lion. The guardian deity that destroys the king’s enemies. The great house that protects the kingdom from the warriors of the sands. The Laynald Family, of which Saint Sevitia, the Sword Saint who taught the Four Knights of the Promise, is a member.”