Whispers Beyond the Partition
“……Jeanie? The rule is ten minutes of rest per match……”
“I want to lie down already. Who’s the next bald hopeful?”
When I wiggled my fingers in open provocation, the leader stepped forward.
He walked up with grim resolve, glared at me, and forced his stiff lips to move.
“I forfeit.”
“……Weren’t you bragging just now that you’d already secured one win by pointing me out?”
“The me from five minutes ago and the me now are different people. People change, after all.”
“How funny. Hurry up and come at me……”
“Then rest well!”
The opposing side quickly dragged their unconscious mage away and vanished into the darkness.
The spectators muttered in disappointment while Ash shook his head in exasperation.
Rai was still sprawled out, yawning without a care.
It had been a very peaceful day.
“We made it through safely again today.”
[Master, have you already forgotten that you half-killed the bandits and then sold the other half?]
“I’m safe, aren’t I?”
I was going to walk my own damn path no matter what.
***
The honorable duel had ended rather anticlimactically, but we still managed to claim a room at the inn with our heads held high.
It might have been the very last room left in Daniz that day.
I’d never stayed in a five-person room before; five beds were lined up in a row like a dormitory.
“I’m taking this one!”
Since I liked the window side, I immediately claimed the innermost bed and flopped down.
This was definitely where my talents lay.
Doing absolutely nothing and just rolling around made me feel incredibly at peace.
Ash watched me with visible unease, while Chad and Lox awkwardly set their belongings on the farthest beds.
Why were they acting like that?
[Master! There’s one bed left. Can I use it?]
[Sure, sure.]
Luckily, this inn allowed pets.
They charged an extra fee, but money was never really an issue for me.
Rai naturally took the bed right next to mine and wagged his tail in delight.
Standing proudly on all fours, he swished his fluffy, duster-like tail and bounced around.
While I was watching him, Ash slipped out somewhere, only to return shortly with something in hand.
At first glance, the white square object looked like a window.
“I got a partition from the first floor.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll use this to block things off.”
Without being asked, he set up the partition between the beds and, still uneasy, draped a cloth over it as well.
The small gaps in the five-panel divider must have bothered him.
While Ash busied himself erecting the partition and hanging the cloth, I braided my hair and got ready for bed, paying him no mind. How diligent, Ash.
“……Jeanie? Are you listening?”
“What is it?”
“I told them we had no choice but to share a room tonight, and that we’d look for another inn as soon as it’s light tomorrow. It must be uncomfortable for you.”
“It’s not uncomfortable, though?”
“Ahem, but we’re the ones feeling self-conscious…… We still need to wash up, change clothes, and so on……”
“Do whatever you want. I’m tired, so I’m going to sleep.”
Sharing a room with three men was obviously risky, but I had Rai, my ever-vigilant watchdog who never slept, and none of the three seemed reckless enough to harbor strange thoughts toward me.
If they wanted to die that badly, I wouldn’t stop them, but we wouldn’t have traveled together if I couldn’t even trust them that much.
After two weeks together, I’d come to realize these three men were people I could practically strip naked in front of without issue.
Ash would probably cover his eyes and scream if he accidentally saw me changing, while Chad would frown, treat it as something he shouldn’t see, and then wash his eyes out.
Lox…… would probably throw clothes at me while scolding.
Of course, that situation had never actually happened, so it was just a guess, but my belief that all three men were trustworthy had only grown stronger.
They say all men are wolves, but……
[Why?]
Because Rai was stronger than any wolf.
I stared at Rai for a moment before looking at Ash.
That one was clearly an herbivore no matter how you looked at it.
A harmless creature with gentle eyes and a pitiful soul that needed protecting.
“Go to sleep. I’ll keep watch over here…… so rest easy.”
I was already lying down as comfortably as if I were in my own home.
Pulling up the blanket, I nodded at Ash standing at the edge of the partition and closed my eyes.
Why did I want to protect Ash?
The question briefly crossed my mind, but sleep took priority.
***
[Master! Wake up and listen.]
How long had I been asleep?
My body was still sluggish, so it seemed I’d only slept an hour or two at most. The window was still pitch dark, like the middle of the night.
It wasn’t time to wake up at all, yet Rai was tapping my forehead with his thick paw.
[What…… Why are you waking me?]
[They’re talking about you, Master.]
Still half-asleep, I pushed Rai’s paw away before my eyes snapped open.
What? They were badmouthing me behind my back?
The human body was truly remarkable. As if I’d never been asleep, every nerve in my body jolted awake.
My hearing sharpened as if my ears had grown larger.
Anything concerning me automatically drew my attention.
“Ash! How long is that woman planning to follow us around?”
“Until she feels like leaving?”
“Stop saying such carefree things! Gail and Enk are joining us soon. We can’t just let her do whatever she wants forever!”
I didn’t miss a single word of the whispering coming from beyond the partition.
“I’m the one who doesn’t understand. Lox, why do you hate her so much? There’s no reason for it at all.”
“First, her personality is terrible. Second, she’s cruel. Third, she has no conscience. Fourth, her name is Jeanie, she’s a Spirit Master, she’s blonde, and her eyes are blue……”
“That just sounds like you don’t like her.”
“The biggest problem is that you’re our leader, and she completely ignores you!”
So Lox was the one who disliked me the most.
What about me rubbed him the wrong way so badly? Here I was…… eavesdropping on other people’s conversations.
“I thought I was being pretty accommodating.”
“In what way!”
“I’ve always…… felt that way. I thought she at least showed the minimum respect by acknowledging me as the party leader. Lox, don’t try to see only the bad in her. She has her good points too.”
“Enough! Let’s part ways in this city! Kick her out tomorrow! We’re not here to play around. How long are we supposed to indulge in her little pretend game?”
Pretend game, my ass! That was going too far!
How did he know?
“You don’t have to go that far. She’s not really getting in the way, and if you just think of it as traveling together for a while since we’re headed the same way, wouldn’t that be easier for you too?”
“What are you going to say to Enk and Gail! They’ll be here soon! They’re the ones who risked their lives going all the way to Koi at your request to get the map. How do you think they’ll feel when some random young girl suddenly joins as part of the group?”
“Calm down. I’ll talk to them properly……”
“Ash! I also hate how weak you are around that woman! What reason do you even have to go that far for her? Do you know this? You act so pathetic and flustered around her! Why do you do that when you’ve barely known her?”
“……Was I really that weak?”
“Yes!”
“I don’t know. Was I really like that?”
Hmm, seems like only Ash himself doesn’t realize it.
I’d noticed it too.
I rolled onto my side, propped my head on my hand, and focused more intently on their conversation. The men were in the middle of a meeting about my whereabouts, completely unaware that I was awake.
The others seemed to be keeping their voices down, but the surroundings were so quiet at dawn that every word came through clearly.
“Chad, you say something! Tell him how much of an idiot Ash looks like when he deals with that woman! He gets pushed around every single time!”
“Uh, that’s true. It’s not like him.”
“See! If Chad noticed, then everyone noticed!”
“Lox…… that’s an insult to Chad.”
“Was it? I just thought that since Ash was acting so smitten, that woman must be pretty appealing to him.”
“Ack! Don’t say such ominous things!”
I could feel Lox jumping in shock beyond the partition, as if he’d heard something utterly horrifying.
Hey, you’re going to wake people up. Though I was already awake.
“Why? Honestly, I quite like her too.”
“……You’re bickering with her nonstop, so what are you even saying! Chad, don’t tell me……”
“Do you only see male-female relationships that way? I mean as companions traveling together, not as the opposite sex. Sure, she does whatever she wants, but she doesn’t cause trouble, doesn’t cry, and she’s useful in a fight! I even like her sharp eyes. A hundred times better than someone with a gloomy face. Ah, and she eats the food I cook well too.”
Oh my, Chad.
So he was someone who could judge people properly?
I should ease up on teasing him from now on. I’d actually thought Chad disliked me as much as Lox did.
“……That can’t be. You fell for her over something so trivial? I eat well too!”
“I’m just saying I don’t dislike her. I’m fine with traveling together. At the very least, I don’t want to make an enemy out of that woman.”
“We were supposed to vote on whether to accept her into the party or not! I say we kick her out! Tomorrow, without fail!”
“How are we supposed to suddenly tell her not to follow us?”
“Snap out of it! Ash! That woman isn’t some rain-soaked puppy! If anything, she’s a crocodile that crawled out of the water! If you can’t do it, then I will!”
I quite liked crocodiles, though.
“She’ll be hurt if you say things like that.”
The one who sounded pitiful, like a rain-soaked puppy, was Ash.
Just from his slightly audible, listless voice, it was obvious.
“Absolutely not. There’s no way that woman would feel hurt.”
“Telling her not to follow sounds like you’re saying you don’t like her. If you heard something like that, would you be happy that day? Lox, try to find her good qualities. You just haven’t discovered them yet.”
“You know she’s probably killed around a hundred people, right? I saw her kill six with my own eyes.”
“……It was self-defense.”
“You know her definition of self-defense is way too broad, right? I can’t trust that woman. She’s someone who could kill all of us at any moment! Aren’t you scared? What are you relying on to be so relaxed!”
Now that I thought about it, the one who hadn’t built trust was me, not them.
I’d never seriously considered that my presence could be a threat to Ash’s group.
I had done a bit of threatening when I joined the journey, though.
So that’s how it was. The reason I could lounge around so comfortably was because I was the predator in this situation.
“Ah! She is suspicious. I am curious about her identity…… but back in the last city, knights and mages came looking for her, calling her ‘my lady’ and following her around. Isn’t she some noble’s daughter with connections?”
“……”
“……Chad.”
“Right? That makes sense, doesn’t it? Aren’t I pretty smart?”
Chad……
“Do you really not know? Her name is Jeanie. Her hometown is Dmitry, she’s a Spirit Master, and she’s blonde. The royal knights came and were bowing and scraping like that.”
“So what? My name is Chad, and my hometown is Dmitry too.”
“Haah……”
“Not everyone is as smart as you, Lox.”
“God, we don’t need this kind of trial. Please save us. Do something about that woman and pull us out of this black beast’s clutches. This is my prayer.”
“So what is it then? Is she a noble’s daughter? Am I the only one who doesn’t know? Huh? What is it, what?”
From quietly eavesdropping, I gained a few certainties.
Chad was a good and kind guy, but his intelligence was questionable. Ash didn’t seem to mind traveling with me all that much.
And Lox needed to be dealt with somehow.
Because he was too smart for his own good, and it was annoying.