Tears on the Road to Mielta
Overnight, however Arnel had managed to persuade her, Einy was already shouldering a backpack and preparing to leave.
“Mom, do I really have to go?”
Her eyes were swollen from crying, and she kept asking Arnel the same question, as if she still couldn’t believe it.
“Einy, go with your sister. You have to listen to her, all right?”
“Hngh… I don’t want to be apart from Mom.”
“Then how are you going to hunt a deer? Or pluck feathers from a bird?”
“……I can’t do that.”
“Einy. You’re my one and only daughter. I know there are other things you can do. I also know there’s nothing here that you truly want to do.”
Arnel calmly soothed Einy, who kept sniffling the whole time. If it had been me, my patience would have run out long ago.
“Listen carefully. You must never leave your sister’s side.”
“Okay……”
“It’ll be even more important once you leave the forest. Never go off alone in crowded places. Cities are more frightening than jungles. When you get to the academy, listen to the adults… and send letters to the inn. Don’t cry just because there’s no reply. Now, promise me.”
Einy, looking ready to burst into tears at any moment, only nodded instead of answering.
Even though her worry was plain to see, Arnel deliberately put on a composed face and turned to me.
“I’m counting on you, Jeanie.”
“Don’t worry. Einy’s journey won’t be very long.”
A long journey meant prolonged danger. Traveling with a child was a burden for both sides, so I planned to use the warp facility as soon as we reached the city and send Einy ahead to the academy.
I couldn’t use warp magic myself, but Einy could. As long as Warp Sickness wasn’t something that only struck people with talent for Spirit Magic, there shouldn’t be a problem.
“It’s not just Einy I’m worried about.”
“Me? Hah, I could be dropped in a dragon’s lair and still walk out alive.”
Arnel seemed to take it as a joke. It wasn’t.
“For example, that sword. Are you planning to keep carrying it on your back?”
“Why not?”
“If you are, at least cover it with this cloth. Walking around openly with a fine sword like that is dangerous. Mielta doesn’t check identities, so the public order is terrible. There are plenty of bandits.”
After fussing over every little detail for both of us and making sure nothing was missing, Arnel finally saw us off outside the village.
Truthfully, if we stayed any longer I doubted we’d leave before sunset, so I said my goodbyes first.
I helped Einy onto the horse and sat behind her.
“We’ll be going now, Arnel.”
“Mom……”
“Go safely. Be careful.”
I could see the tension in Arnel’s folded arms.
It was obvious she was holding herself back from hugging Einy again. She’d already hugged her dozens of times since morning, yet it still wasn’t enough.
Einy kept looking back. Even after Arnel was long out of sight, she kept turning around.
It was heartless, but I urged the horse faster. We had a long way to go.
Our sudden traveling companions didn’t make us any closer.
Honestly, it only took a day to realize just how bad Einy and I were together.
I wasn’t merely unsociable—I was outright cold, and I found other people exhausting.
Einy, on the other hand, was timid and easily frightened. We were bound to make each other uncomfortable.
“Hic, sob… I want to go home.”
It was bad enough that anyone seeing us might have mistaken me for a kidnapper.
“Really? Your mom would be thrilled if you went back. You’d probably have to head that way. You might run into orcs and ogres on the road, though.”
“Ugh, hic!”
Maybe I’d scared her too much.
On the first night after leaving the village, Einy lay on the opposite side of the campfire with her back to me and sniffled all night. The sound kept me awake too.
I understood it was her first time apart from her mother and that she was only eight years old, but I absolutely hated crying.
Especially when it went on for more than three days—it started to make me angry.
“Stop it already! Crying won’t solve anything. Nothing at all!”
“Hic… I don’t want to cry either……”
“Then don’t!”
“I don’t know how. How do I stop? Do you know, Sister?”
“I’ve never cried, so I wouldn’t know.”
I had, but there was no need to tell this kid.
Einy only seemed to realize I wasn’t the type to comfort her after her eyes had swollen from crying for over three days straight.
Not that I enjoyed carrying her in my arms, either.
There was only one horse, and I couldn’t put her behind me, so whether I liked it or not, she ended up in front while I held the reins.
“Sister, what did Mom say? Does she not expect anything from me anymore?”
“What are you talking about?”
We were riding slowly because the mountain path was rough when Einy mumbled in a hoarse voice from all the crying.
“She said I don’t have to learn swordsmanship or go hunting… At first I was happy, but then it started to scare me. I wondered if Mom was so disappointed in me that she didn’t expect anything anymore.”
“Weren’t you the one begging to go to the academy? Do you have any idea how much your mom pleaded with me to take you?”
“So Mom isn’t disappointed in me?”
“Probably not.”
Maybe I should have answered with more sincerity.
Einy was the complete opposite of me in every way. She worried about things I never would, made herself miserable, sulked, and picked at her food…
She had no appetite, so no matter what I gave her she only ate half-heartedly, which irritated me even more.
I finally understood why my mother used to get angry when I refused to eat the meals she prepared.
Watching her eat with that miserable expression after I’d gone to the trouble of catching and roasting something made my stomach twist.
“Einy.”
Instead of shouting again, I decided to try speaking as gently as possible.
“I think Arnel believes the city suits you better than the jungle. That you’d be happier there.”
“……Mom did?”
“Yeah. She’s thought about you a lot.”
Maybe my rare moment of kindness worked. Einy seemed to feel a little better.
“Sister…… You have to tell Mom later, okay? That I didn’t cry. You have to.”
“After crying your heart out already.”
“I won’t cry anymore!”
“Fine. I’ll think about it once you finish all of this.”
Maybe that was when it started. Einy began pretending she was holding it in. But at night she still often lay face-down in silence.
She whined less as time passed, but I was constantly anxious, never knowing when she’d break again.
The last thing I wanted was to drag a crying child along on an already exhausting journey.
[Rai, go be her pillow or something. She looks pitiful curled up like that.]
[What? No way! I’m Master’s exclusive pillow!]
[She’s miserable.]
[Then you give her an arm pillow, Master.]
That was a bit much.
The awkwardness wasn’t just between me and Einy—Rai felt it too. Neither of us was the affectionate type.
Even after more than a week of traveling together, our relationship remained just as uncomfortable.
“I should get some sleep too. Keep watch properly.”
Since Rai had no concept of sleep, he stood guard every night.
Using his tail—which made the perfect pillow—I closed my eyes.
According to Arnel, the city wasn’t far now.
My suffering was finally coming to an end.