The Name of the Man Who Brushed Past You (5)
"Master, have you ever made a mistake in your life?"
"Plenty. What kind of man goes through life without a single immoral slip? I've eloped with a woman I had no business loving. I've run off with a priestess whose order forbade marriage. And then there was that girl from another race..."
"That wasn't what I was asking. Typical of you, Master—your mind always goes straight to the gutter."
"What was that, you brat? Acting all high and mighty. You think you'll never make mistakes like that? Pretty boys who look as soft as you always end up worse."
"Haha. Last lesson you said a beggar only sees beggars and a prince only sees princes. Now I get exactly what you meant, Master."
"Just you wait. The day you drag some precious noble daughter home bawling her eyes out, I'll laugh so hard my sides split."
"That will never happen. Absolutely never."
It was daytime, so at least this wasn't an elopement.
Besides, we weren't even lovers. Of course, the mere fact that the thought crossed my mind meant something was pricking my conscience, but I shoved it aside and looked around. Midway up a deep mountain, the cabin Master and I used for training still held onto its cozy warmth.
Even so, seeing a strange girl in a place that had always been just Master and me felt jarringly out of place. If I just sat there in silence it would only get more awkward, so I forced out a few words.
"There's still some corn left in the storage shed."
"..."
"...Might taste pretty good if we roast it."
No answer. I trailed off, feeling sheepish. The silence grew so thick that I tried layering on a little more kindness.
"If you need a cushion or anything, they're in the cupboard on the left. The outhouse is right outside and to the right."
"..."
"Like I said earlier, all the food's stacked in the storage shed—there's none in here. The kitchen's through the door farther inside."
"..."
"Uh... well..."
Still nothing. She was acting exactly like a sulking child. Probably a little angry that I'd dragged her here on my own.
Outwardly, though, she gave nothing away. The girl simply surveyed the room with a hollow, icy expression. When she finally spoke, her first words were these:
"There's nothing here."
"The corn's in the storage—"
"I heard that already."
So she had been listening. The moment the thought formed, the girl turned her head toward me. The eyes that met mine were a clear sky-blue so pure that even the moonlight looked dull beside them.
"Are people waiting outside? Or did you plan to ambush me tonight?"
"Huh? No way. Besides Master and me, you're the first person who's ever come here. It's that remote—"
"Of course. It wouldn't be efficient at all."
"...Are you even listening to me?"
"Then why did you do what you did earlier?"
Earlier. She had to mean when I pulled her out of the way of that knight. The answer was already decided, so I spoke calmly.
"If I hadn't caught you, you'd have been seriously hurt. That woman hits like a freight train."
"That... woman?"
"Yeah. That woman. Oh—right. You probably couldn't tell with the helmet."
"What's your relationship with her?"
"Just someone I ran into a while back, that's all."
"Someone you ran into... a while back."
This time my answer seemed to spark something. The girl let the words hang, then kept staring at me with a new flicker of interest in her eyes.
"..."
"...Hmm."
Her eyes really were clear. The cold tone had made me forget for a second, but looking at her, she was a cute, pretty girl. I couldn't help wondering why someone like her was mixed up with that band of thieves, so I butted in.
"So why were you traveling with people like that? They don't seem like your kind of crowd."
"...Interesting question."
"Don't take it the wrong way. From the way those knights were talking, they just sounded like a pack of bandits. I don't know your story, but you don't have to stick with people like that."
"Bandits. You're right. Without me, those kids can't do a thing."
"Then why stay with them?"
"Who knows? Why do I?"
"..."
Why is she getting harder to talk to the longer this goes on? Did puberty just hit her late or something? Then again, if I'd grown up in that kind of environment, I might have turned out the same.
Separate from my own feelings, though, more and more light was gathering in the girl's eyes—like she was peeling back layer after layer of a truth she hadn't known.
"Anyway, my point is, living at odds with the kingdom won't do you any good. I don't know your people well, but they didn't seem like the quality type."
"Fun. Keep going."
"Maybe try a different life for a while. Stay with relatives, or someone you know..."
"There is no one."
"Then turn yourself in. I know it doesn't sound appealing, but I'll help however I can..."
"You'll help me?"
Suddenly the girl tilted her head as if she'd just heard something fascinating. Her expression made me pause and wonder whether I could actually take responsibility for my own words.
The hesitation didn't last long. Our glorious Master could probably pitch in too. A man who claimed he'd been a big deal in his prime surely still had a few strings he could pull in the kingdom. With that lighthearted thought, I nodded.
"Yeah. Shouldn't be too hard."
"If I promise to turn myself in, you'll help me?"
"That's what I said."
"But there are a few places I need to stop first."
"Fine by me. As long as they're not too far."
"Aha."
Once again the girl gave a meaningful little nod. I had no idea what it meant, but girls that age did a lot of inexplicable things.
I was ready to let it slide when a forgotten fact suddenly hit me. Only then did I ask the question that was far too late.
"Oh. Right. I never got your name."
"I never got yours either."
"I'm Claus. And you?"
"My name, huh."
For such a simple question she dragged her feet. A long stretch of silence passed before her lips finally parted and two syllables slipped out.
Lia.
The girl's name was Lia.
Who had given it to her, she didn't know. The only certainty was that it hadn't been her master. Long before that man ever called her by it, her name had already been Lia.
And the man now sleeping in the corner of the room was named Claus. The only person who could casually call the kingdom's White Knight "that woman." The man who had once "met" her.
"Someone I ran into a while back." The meaning was clear. Lovers. Perhaps something more. He had the looks for it—yet he was far too pure and gentle to stand beside the Iron-Blooded Lady.
That must have been why they drifted apart. Even for someone she loved, what the White Knight needed wasn't kindness but resolve. She could never walk the same path as a soft-hearted fool who believed he could redeem the Black Lady.
Ability and strength. He possessed every necessary quality, yet a single inability to be ruthless had forced a tragic separation.
There was no need to invent the rest of the story. Though she herself had never taken a lover, the girl understood better than anyone that the position of the strongest sometimes forced cruel choices.
...
Which was why she could so easily imagine the depth of loss the White Knight must have felt when that same gentle nature betrayed her once more.
"Hmm..."
Naturally, no pity stirred in her. She was simply calculating how to use the situation. A hidden lover of the White Knight that no one else knew about—his value was immeasurable.
Even the White Knight herself would never have dreamed that this reunion would produce a variable of this magnitude.
"So even that woman makes mistakes."
While she murmured, the man slept on. Lia approached without a sound and stared blankly at his face.
"..."
Truthfully, she still couldn't fully trust his actions. Anyone dragged into a deception of that scale was capable of fooling someone at any moment.
Perhaps even the face he showed now was a lie. With no way to know where the act began and ended, she would have to watch every move—
"...Can't sleep?"
"...!"
"Yaaawn... What's wrong?"
The instant he suddenly spoke, her hand almost flew to the blade at her waist. But Lia recovered her composure in a heartbeat and answered evenly.
"So you weren't asleep."
"Nah. I just... yaaawn... dozed off a second ago. So... something you wanna say?"
"..."
"Lia?"
He spoke her name so naturally it startled her more than the fact that he'd noticed her footsteps. She smiled at the sheer boldness of it.
"Light sleeper."
"Master used to wake me up out of nowhere for 'ambush training' and then beat me half to death. Guess it stuck."
"Impressive, that master of yours. Mind if I ask a few more things about him?"
"That..."
"..."
"...Ah, forget it. I'm just gonna sleep."
The mere thought of Master made his head throb. He buried his face in the pillow and yanked the blanket up tight, hoping that would keep the old coot out of his dreams.
And Lia, watching Claus, thought to herself:
He looks loose on the surface, but the man is thorough to the bone.
"...Hmm."
An attitude that never let its guard down even in sleep. The discipline to withhold crucial information to the end. And personal strength that matched it all.
No matter how she looked at it, he was better suited to an organization than a knightly order.
"..."
Lia spent a long while thinking about the boy, then closed her eyes. Claus, plagued by memories that refused to stay buried, tossed and turned for a long time before sleep finally came.
When his heart at last settled, he stared up at the ceiling and shook his head. Then, just before drifting off, he forced out one last mutter.
"...Getting dragged into something this pointless. What a pain."
SUBJECT:Aftermath of the Ernia Confrontation
STATUS:Priority Report
The decisive clash at Ernia has driven a massive fracture through the existing balance of power. For the first time, the Black Lady and the White Knight faced each other directly. The intervention of an unidentified man between them is expected to introduce considerable chaos into the outlook ahead.
The man in question has been confirmed to have departed northward in the company of the Black Lady. Judging by their direction of travel, there is a high probability they are heading toward a city within her sphere of influence.
The White Knight's whereabouts, however, remain unknown. The knights who accompanied her returned to the Capital immediately, yet have refused to speak regarding her condition. The complete absence of eyewitness accounts or even rumors among the populace strongly suggests a deliberate disappearance. No evidence of injury sustained during the confrontation has been verified; the White Knight's status will therefore be recorded as missing.
Additionally, the precise identity of the man traveling with the Black Lady is still under investigation. Details remain scarce, but he is believed to stand at the very center of these events.