The Compass That Couldn't Choose
After waking up at the exact same time every day for over ten years, it becomes a habit.
No matter how exhausted my body was at dawn, I would wake up on my own. That was because mana training at that hour had become completely ingrained in me.
Even against my will, I would wake up, groggily reach for the mana, and wrap it around my body. Before I knew it, my mind would sharpen as if it had never been foggy at all.
The mana filled me like gentle waves, rising all the way to my throat and rippling softly.
Once it faded, my body felt so refreshed that I often drifted back into a pleasant sleep again.
But when I woke up after falling back asleep, Einy was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did that kid go?”
She had been sleeping soundly right next to me when I woke up at dawn.
I nudged Rai in the side with my foot. He was sprawled on his back at the foot of the bed, belly exposed, rolling around lazily.
“Rai, where’s Einy?”
He wasn’t supposed to be in the room, but he definitely wasn’t the type to sleep in the stable either. Whenever the inn grew quiet, he would sneak into my room.
[About an hour ago. He heard Chad’s voice outside and scurried right out.]
“You didn’t stop him?”
[Why would I? I’m grateful when he disappears.]
This little brat was completely serious.
“You’re one thing, but… that little kid doesn’t seem to know who her actual guardian is.”
I’m supposed to be her protector, you know.
Well, if it was Chad, I could trust him. After watching him for a few days, I’d realized he was the kind of man you could leave a child with. Despite his hulking, intimidating appearance, he was surprisingly gentle and kind with kids. And he was definitely better at looking after her than I was.
I lounged under the blankets for a while longer before reluctantly crawling out of bed, dragged down by the thick sunlight pouring through the window.
Still half-asleep, I shuffled heavily toward the washbasin set up in the corner of the inn room.
And then I came face to face with myself in the mirror—hair a complete mess.
“Good grief… just look at this hair. Wow, even in the morning, I’m pretty.”
My genes really are something else.
They say true beauty is inborn, and that saying was made for me.
My mother in this world had been quite the beauty, and I had inherited every bit of it. Lately, my looks had really started to shine.
Is it even allowed to be this pretty? I’m going to make a lot of men cry. Sometimes I even found myself falling for the girl in the mirror.
Being a beauty was an exhilarating thing.
Even beauties get eye crust, though.
I washed my face like a cat, then dampened my hair and roughly smoothed it down. I thought about braiding it, but that would require brushing first, and I couldn’t be bothered right now.
Better to fill my stomach first. I rummaged through the clothes I’d taken off before bed.
Over the thin, sleeveless muslin nightgown I’d slept in, I pulled on a stiff beige long shirt, then threw on a comfortable leather vest with pockets.
It laced up with strings instead of buttons, so once I tightened it, it gave a slight corset-like shape. Below that, I slipped into the new, perfectly fitted dark leather pants I’d bought, then buckled on the belts I’d left on the table one by one around my waist.
I securely fastened a dagger to one of the belts, hung my coin pouch, clipped on the compass, and picked up my cloak. All that was left was to put on my shoes and I’d be ready to go.
“Something feels missing.”
[Master’s treasure! You didn’t take me!]
“Something feels missing.”
[Are you deliberately ignoring me?]
Hmm. What is it…
“Ah!”
There was only one compass. I’d tossed Lubao’s Compass onto the pillow before sleeping.
I’d been staring at it until I fell asleep because it was fascinating how it kept pointing toward Ash.
I moved the pillow aside, picked up Lubao’s Compass that had been hidden underneath, and was about to clip it to my belt when something strange caught my eye.
The compass needle was swinging wildly back and forth.
“Is Ash teleporting or something?”
That couldn’t be it. Why was it acting like this? The needle kept twitching left and right nonstop, like a broken gauge.
Status: Malfunctioning
Behavior: Needle oscillating violently between two directions
I threw on my cloak haphazardly and headed down to the first-floor dining area.
Sure enough, Einy was there. She was sitting right next to Chad, eating a sandwich. When she saw me, she blinked in acknowledgment.
“Einy, I told you not to go off alone.”
“But the uncles are here?”
“That’s exactly why. Those uncles could be dangerous.”
“Hey!”
Chad raised his voice like he wanted to argue.
“What!”
“You’re teaching her some excellent things! She’s absolutely right!”
“……”
“Listen carefully, kiddo. You shouldn’t just follow any old uncle. Especially watch out for guys who look like me.”
This guy really is one of a kind.
Chad began lecturing Einy about how dangerous the world could be. Meanwhile, I looked around for Ash.
“Miss Jeanie, you’re awake.”
“Lox.”
“Do you like sandwiches? Join us. We ordered plenty.”
But the only one I saw bringing over breakfast was Lox.
“Where’s Ash?”
“He should be at the stable.”
Lox jerked his chin toward the back door. I pulled out the compass to check the direction. But right now, the compass was pointing in the complete opposite direction. It was aimed precisely at the inn’s front entrance.
Had Ash moved to the front entrance in the meantime?
As I stared at it strangely, the needle slowly slid again—this time pointing toward the back door. I stood still, and it kept swinging on its own.
I followed the compass, which was behaving inexplicably, and walked toward the back door. Now it stayed steady, pointing only at the back.
Just to test it, I turned my body and headed toward the front entrance. When I reached the middle of the dining area, the needle whipped around to point at the front door again.
I stayed put to see what would happen. The needle began frantically alternating between the inn’s back door and front entrance, like a person who couldn’t make up their mind.
“Why is it doing this?”
Has it gone crazy?
Or is it broken? Or maybe… there are two people who miss me, and they’re at almost the exact same distance?
Two people close enough that the compass couldn’t choose between them?
That was the only explanation that made sense.
The one at the back door must be Ash. Then who the hell is at the front entrance?
I stepped outside the front door and looked around, but no familiar faces were in sight no matter how hard I looked. Everyone I knew in this city was currently behind me.
“I don’t know anyone in Mielta…”
People who would miss me weren’t exactly common, either.
As I stood blankly in front of the door, I felt a certain gaze for the briefest moment.
For an instant, a piercing stare stabbed at me and then vanished.
I looked up from the compass and glared at the nearby alley. Something unpleasant was there.
[Master! Did you come out to greet me? Sigh, you just couldn’t wait, could you?]
Rai, who had come down through a completely different route—well, more like a completely different window to avoid the inn staff’s eyes—came bounding over from the side path.
If he had been with me, he probably would have noticed this unpleasant gaze too.
“Be quiet for a second.”
[What’s wrong?]
“I felt something.”
Whatever it was, it made me feel absolutely filthy. My nerves on edge, I glared at the alley and started walking toward it.
The moment I tried to check for myself, a vicious killing intent burst out from the alley as if it had been waiting.
“Hey! If you bump into someone, you should apologize!”
“Ow, I think my shoulder’s dislocated.”
What the…
I witnessed the scene and immediately relaxed my tension.
So that was the source of the discomfort I’d felt. Two thuggish men in worn cloaks had surrounded a lone traveler and were pulling the classic self-injury extortion scam.
But the man in the cloak ignored them and continued on his way.
“Hey, you bastard! I said my shoulder’s broken!”
“The hell? Don’t you walk away!”
It was a common street brawl. The only unusual parts were that the cloaked man seemed far from ordinary, and that the two scammers might actually end up beaten to a pulp.
“Shut up.”
A gloomy voice flowed out from beneath the hood’s shadow.
“I don’t converse with insects.”
“…Did you just call us insects?”
“What kind of bastard is this?! We were gonna go easy on you, but now we can’t!”
It was impossible not to be drawn to the sinister man in the black cloak.
He possessed a very peculiar aura. Unpleasant, yet somehow familiar.
[That person is a Spirit Master, right?]
[I had my suspicions, but yeah.]
[You can sense it too, Master?]
[A little? But for a Spirit Master, that aura is incredibly gloomy. It feels drenched in killing intent… that kind of feeling. This is the first time I’ve sensed something like this.]
What kind of spirits does he handle to give off this kind of vibe?
Spirit Masters usually radiated clear and pure energy.
Swordsmen gave off solid, mountain-like auras, and mages carried the thick, complex scent of mana.
But this man possessed a pure yet incredibly firm killing intent.
When I thought about who this aura resembled, the answer was Robenin.
Maybe that’s why it had caught my attention.
Now that I looked closer, the man’s suspicious appearance—his entire body covered by a cloak—was also similar to Robenin’s. But the fundamental energies of a swordsman and a Spirit Master were completely different.
They were as opposite as water and oil, impossible to confuse. This only resembled him at first glance. It wasn’t him.
Besides, there was no way Robenin would ever miss me.
“The more cowardly the dog, the louder it barks.”
“What? You arrogant bastard! Do you even know who we are?!”
“You wanna die without anyone knowing?!”
“And you’ll be the first to die.”
My prediction that this looked dangerous hit the mark perfectly.
The cloaked man instantly grabbed the neck of one of the thugs posturing in front of him and lightly lifted him into the air.
He wore gloves, but the forearm visible beneath the black cloak was strangely dark gray.
This man… might not even be human.