Becoming Family
“Ahem.”
Jamie, seated in the driver’s seat, cleared her throat with an awkward little cough.
“Would you like some water?”
“…I’m fine.”
I caught the sidelong glance she shot me—the one that said she knew perfectly well why I was asking and wished I wouldn’t—and simply tugged the corner of my mouth up the way I always did.
“Still, I never expected we’d be seeing each other again only a day after we parted.”
“Ahem…”
That was exactly why she looked so embarrassed.
Yesterday, after I’d met Raven and come back, I’d handed a letter to one of the Mad Dog members who’d been standing guard over the materials downstairs, asking him to deliver it. This morning, instead of a written reply, Benjamin had simply sent Jamie back to me.
“There she is.”
In the distance I spotted Vita running toward us.
“Sorry I’m late.”
The moment she opened the rear door and climbed in, Vita dipped her head lightly toward the two of us already seated up front.
“You aren’t late, so there’s no need to apologize.”
“Then we’ll just pretend it never happened.”
True to her roots as a slum native, Vita could bow when the situation called for it and turn shameless the very next second without so much as blinking.
“We’re off, then.”
The scenery outside the windows, which had been standing still, began to slide slowly past.
“Vita.”
“Yeees.”
I studied her reflection in the rearview mirror as she sat quietly in the back.
“Is that the gear you wear for labyrinth expeditions?”
“It is. Of everything I own, this is the cleanest outfit I’ve got. Does it look strange?”
“No. I’ve just never seen that style of clothing before, so I was curious.”
“I see.”
When I’d first asked about her clothes she’d fidgeted a little, but the moment she heard my honest answer her face relaxed and she leaned back against the seat. She knew I wasn’t the type to offer empty compliments; that was why the change showed so clearly.
“Priest.”
“Yes?”
“May I ask one question?”
“Of course.”
The truth was, ever since she’d come to fetch the dynamite yesterday, the question she was about to ask had been written all over her face.
“Why is She looking for me?”
“I’m certain I already told you once. Lady Verdia has taken quite a liking to you, Vita.”
“Ah… I think you did. Honestly, I was so worked up and out of my mind at the time that I barely remember.”
“Do you at least remember me saying She brought someone precious to you in as an actor?”
“Ah.”
Vita’s eyes widened for a heartbeat, then narrowed again. She gave a small nod.
“…Even so, I still don’t really get it. Why would She take a liking to someone like me?”
“That’s a rather strange question, you know.”
Why would She like me—I have no idea.
I felt the same way, but there was no need to dig for deeper reasons.
“Those beings are more faithful to their desires than anyone else. So I’d like you to stop hunting for a reason. Just accept it as it is. She simply took a liking to you, Vita—nothing more.”
“Is that… really all it is?”
“At least, that’s how I see it.”
Unless two people can read each other’s minds, perfect understanding between them is impossible. That was my firm belief.
“Hmm.”
As we entered Sector 11 and drew near the border with Sector 10, Vita let out a soft, complicated little hum.
“Are you uncomfortable?”
“It’s not that, exactly…”
She hesitated, then licked her lips while staring straight ahead at the barrier of poisonous steam that had begun to appear in the distance.
“I’m not sure I should say this, but… I feel incredibly empty.”
“Because you got a chance to leave these slums so easily?”
“….”
Her barely perceptible nod made me pause for a moment before I spoke again.
“Come to think of it, if you become Lady Verdia’s servant, that would make us family.”
“Cough, cough!!”
“Pffft—?!”
Jamie, still gripping the wheel, erupted into a fit of coughing that made the car lurch. Vita slammed her forehead into the window yet didn’t seem to feel any pain; her startled eyes stayed locked on the rearview mirror.
“F-family…?”
“Yes. Every priest who serves Lady Verdia is family. We may not share blood, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be family.”
“Uh, th-that, um…”
I had no idea what was going through her head, but it was obvious she’d short-circuited completely.
I still had a few more things I wanted to ask, yet somehow I got the feeling Verdia wouldn’t appreciate them, so I decided to hold my tongue.
From the moment the goddess had taken a liking to Vita, half of the girl’s fate had already been decided anyway.
“We’ve arrived.”
“Let’s get out.”
“Ah—y-yes, yes.”
We stepped out of the car. Jamie, climbing down with us, signaled to a waiting subordinate. Moments later the steam parted, revealing a street that felt almost identical to the one we’d left behind.
“Safe travels.”
“It might take a little longer than a day.”
“Even better. My job is to escort you back safely, Priest, so a little extra time is fine by me.”
“A sort of vacation, then.”
I reached out to give her shoulder a light pat.
“….”
“Now that’s interesting.”
For some reason Jamie tilted her chin up just a fraction. I watched the faint flush color her cheeks for a second, then simply patted her shoulder the way I’d originally intended.
“Vita. Shall we?”
“Yes, sir.”
Her walk was so stiff she looked like a wooden doll, but I didn’t bother pointing it out. Leaving it alone was more entertaining.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
As we approached the carriage that stood ready, the middle-aged coachman climbed down from his seat and gladly opened the door for us.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all. This much is only proper service.”
Apparently the fare he’d been paid was substantial.
I climbed in with the still-rigid Vita. The coachman returned to his seat of his own accord and set the horses moving.
“W-wow, this is incredibly comfortable…?”
“I was surprised the first time too.”
Who would ever expect a carriage ride to feel this smooth? It was the sort of experience you couldn’t believe until you’d felt it yourself.
Of course, once you heard how much a single trip cost, the comfort made perfect sense.
“P-priests… everywhere…”
As we neared the temple district, priests draped in cloaks or robes embroidered with sacred emblems began to appear one after another along the street. Vita, who had been gazing out the window at the scenery of the light zone, swallowed hard and shot me a sidelong glance.
“They die just the same if you crack their skulls open.”
“….”
The tension that had been written all over her face drained away as if it had never existed.
“It was an honor to serve you.”
I waved off the coachman’s polished farewell and stepped down with Vita.
—Ah! There, there!!
—What? Why—oh my.
—I told you last time!
The moment I set foot in the temple district, the already lively street grew noisy in an entirely different way—especially among the female priests.
“Th-there’s an awful lot of attention on us.”
“Must be because your looks are so dazzling, Vita.”
“…I really don’t think that’s it.”
“I know.”
“….”
The prickling stares boring into the back of my head made me smile.
“Oppa!!”
As we drew near Verdia’s temple, Vivian—who had been hovering near the entrance—spotted us and came bounding over in little hops.
“You’re safe!!”
“Yeah.”
I caught her as she threw herself into my arms, then gently set her back on her feet.
“Is this the person you brought, Oppa?”
“Not me—Lady Verdia.”
“Same difference. You’re the one who found her.”
There was a strange edge of hostility in Vivian’s tone. I gave her head a light pat.
“She might end up family, so don’t be like that.”
“Okaaay~”
Her mood brightened instantly. She slipped free of my arms and trotted back up the stairs.
“Vita?”
“Ah… y-yes.”
I climbed the steps beside her and asked,
“Is it very different from what you imagined?”
“…Completely different.”
“Wherever people live, it’s pretty much the same.”
Priests were still human in the end. Mix them in among their own kind and they became ordinary people again.
“Just go straight in!”
“Got it.”
Apparently she had clients waiting; Vivian scooped up a few contracts and disappeared into the sleep chamber.
“Let’s go.”
“Hoo… um, just… give me a second to breathe.”
“No need to be so nervous. Of all the gods, I think Lady Verdia is the most human-friendly.”
“Even if you say that, my heart’s still… ah.”
I took Vita’s hand and led her toward Verdia’s bedchamber.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I rapped on the closed door. Without anyone touching it, the massive doors swung open of their own accord.
“Oh.”
As the doors parted, pink smoke billowed out through the gap. Vita’s grip on my hand tightened. Her body was reacting on its own—probably leftover trauma from the drugs.
Send her in alone.
The seductive voice that belonged to neither man nor woman did not grant me entry.
“She’s telling you to come in.”
“M-me, me alone…?”
Yes. Hurry inside.
“That’s what She says.”
“Ah…”
Vita looked back and forth between me and the smoke-filled chamber, then squeezed her eyes shut and stepped into the thick pink haze.
You have business with Bishua, don’t you? Go see him and come back.
With those final words the doors slammed shut with a heavy boom.
I turned to leave, and suddenly an old remark of Vivian’s floated up in my mind.
She said She likes beautiful things.
And so a question occurred to me.
I wondered whether Verdia’s standards applied just as strictly above the bed as they did everywhere else.