Back to the Land of Civilization (2)
"Thank you, Glazalus."
Those were the first words out of my mouth the moment I stepped down from the giant ogre’s palm onto the ground where short grass sprouted.
We stood on a low hill from which the Plain’s Entrance could be seen nearby. A short walk would bring us to the wide road used by merchants.
This was the limit of the ogre territory Glazalus knew. Beyond it lay settled ogres and humans who had become imperial citizens. For him, a warrior of the nomadic tribes, the prospect was uncomfortable.
"It was good to see you after so long, Kaira. Once I send you off now, who knows when we might meet again."
"I was glad too, Glazalus. I won’t forget this kindness."
"It was not kindness. I merely kept my promise and banished you."
To my enormous friend who still insisted on that same tune, I offered a small, wry smile.
"Then… I’ll leave before I cause you any more trouble. I hope one day I’ll be able to repay you."
"Carry no debt in your heart. And… I was grateful as well. It has been a long time since I smelled your scent, Kaira, and you let me remember that brief journey we once shared."
I caught the hem of my robe and skirt, bowed lightly at the waist toward him, then descended the hill toward the road that stretched endlessly across the plain below.
When I finally stood on the road and looked back up at the hill, Glazalus’s massive silhouette had already vanished. He must have left as soon as I turned away.
"Huu……."
It was not an especially urgent journey with time snapping at my heels, yet I had lingered far longer than planned at the Empire’s western border. Had it not been for the Curiosity Demon, I could have finished exploring in two days and returned to Latenear.
I had stayed a little over two days in the Rock Crevice’s nest, but while bound in the demon’s tentacles I could not even guess how many days had truly passed. Had it been a single day’s nightmare, or had months slipped by while my mana was steadily drained? I would have to check the date once I reached Latenear.
With that thought I set off down the road. I would walk the wide, pleasant path that cut through grasslands brimming with the vitality of spring, observing the merchants as I went.
The traders heading west had been bustling since dawn. Winter had ended; it was the season for movement. Among them were many imperial merchants, but also westerners who had finished all their business inside the Empire.
Desert merchants passed by in long, pure-white sleeves and wide-brimmed hats that seemed to devote every effort to blocking the sun. Flowing silk and cotton garments with wide, fluttering sleeves—oddly reminiscent of Earth’s Eastern styles—also caught my eye.
At the roadside closest to the Plain’s Entrance, the last place I had left the path, I was taking one final look at the ruins when a loud voice rang out.
"Ah, there she is! There, there! Heyyy!!"
It was a young woman’s voice, so cheerfully energetic it felt almost burdensome. I reflexively turned toward the sound. A party of merchants walking nearby did the same.
A girl in a blue robe, clutching a jet-black wooden staff nearly as tall as she was, came running toward the merchants. Perhaps those she had hired as escorts or agreed to travel with had departed first, and she was hurrying to catch up.
Her running form did not suggest a trained body. Yet that speed could only mean she had cast Mobia’s Haste. A mage, judging by her attire.
With an awkward posture but propelled by magic at tremendous velocity, the girl came to an abrupt stop directly in front of me. Both I and the merchants turned our full attention to the noisy newcomer.
She had long hair falling just past her waist, a striking mix of near-platinum blonde and soft red that shimmered in the sunlight. Her features suggested a trace of the blood of those who lived beyond the plains rather than a pure imperial. Perhaps she was from the Bestebene Margraviate.
She wore a deep-blue robe with only simple ornamentation, loose blue-dyed trousers that reached her knees, and a sky-blue shirt beneath. Sturdy boots made of thick quilted cloth with leather soles completed the look. Practicality clearly took precedence over decoration.
Her age… she looked young. Having only just graduated from the academy, she had probably only recently turned twenty.
Those bright eyes, blue as the zenith of the midday sky and perfectly matched to her hair that appeared pale pink in the sunlight, were fixed on—
—me. Not the merchants.
"Huu, huuu…… I’ve been waiting for you!!"
"Pardon? Waiting? For… me…?"
As I spoke, my right hand slipped inside my robe to rest on the hilt of my knife. With my other hand, my head slightly lowered, and my lips moving in a whisper, I prepared Yorlick’s Silence—the best gift one could give a hostile mage.
The claim that she had been deliberately waiting for me made me wonder if she was a bounty hunter. She looked so young and bright. Yet running up openly like this and revealing herself made no tactical sense.
"Yes! Because you’re the person I’ve admired since I was ten years old. The Empire’s greatest mage, the hero Ka—…? ……!! ――?!"
I completed the formula in an instant.
⟨ Yorlick’s Silence ⟩
A group of merchants was staring openly in our direction; it would not do for that name to be spoken aloud. I strode forward and whispered into the ear of the girl who was now flapping her hands in panic, her voice unable to stir the air.
"I understand. I understand, so answer me. …You’re not here to capture me, are you?"
Seen up close, she was half a head—about ten centimeters—taller than me. Still, this dangerously bright and guileless girl finally seemed to sense the shift in atmosphere. Realizing what spell had been cast on her, she nodded frantically.
Only then did I release Yorlick’s Silence.
"U-um… capture? Uncle Tilke told me… that Lady Kaira had come this way. He said if I wanted to meet you that badly I should come find you…. So I camped and waited for about five days…."
I let out a long sigh. That damn one-legged uncle. He called me his benefactor, yet he gave away my whereabouts so easily? …Well, if he thought well enough of her to introduce us, she could not be an enemy.
Recalling what both the bookstore owner and Tilke had said, it seemed people in the Bestebene Margraviate did not view me too unfavorably. I whispered quietly enough that passing travelers would not overhear.
"For now, let’s go. If you’ve set up a campsite, we’ll break it down together. I’ll help."
"Ah, y-yes, yesss!!"
"Puu…… This is harder than it looks. It brings back memories."
After pulling out every metal tent stake driven deep into the earth, I dropped onto the grass with a thud and voiced the thought. My small, half-starved body lacked the strength for such labor; after extracting only two stakes I had been forced to borrow Master Viran’s telekinesis.
I shouldn’t have used my hands from the start.
"Oh……! So even the hero pitched and struck tents often!"
"No, that’s not— it was in the army……. …Never mind."
The girl tilted her head, black eyes sparkling, as her pink hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall.
"More importantly…… who are you, miss?"
"Hyaat?! I’m so sorry. That was incredibly rude of me!!"
The girl who had been resting beside me jumped to her feet in alarm, hastily grasped the hem of her robe, and offered a small bow.
"It’s an honor to meet you. My name is Azami, a mage. I… barely… graduated from the Imperial Magic Academy this year! I entered because I admired you, Lady Kaira, and to think I would actually meet you like this……."
When she straightened again, her blue eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
"Please accept me as your disciple, Master Kaira!!"
"……Pardon?"
Hearing words that could not possibly exist and should never be spoken, I could only stare blankly at her expectant face, mouth hanging open in stunned silence.
I asked Azami for directions, and the moment we returned to Latenear I sought out the post office where carrier pigeons flew in and out. First I sent the record containing my memories of the ruins to Master Viran at the Imperial Magic Academy. I did not know what she was doing, but since she had said she would return to the university, the letter should reach her there.
I also released one bird toward the Holy City of Poscotia. A letter for Azalea and Pirel. It roughly described my current location and the waypoints I expected to visit on my coming journey, so they would not worry.
And then…….
"Hmph."
"I already told you. I’m sorry, Miss Kaira…… Can’t we make this work somehow?"
Uncle Tilke personally carried over a mountain of lamb steaks the inn had prepared. The staff watched with folded arms, amused by the sight of a seasoned veteran adventurer attending so politely to a small mage.
…The aroma of the steak—long-marinated in spices until every peculiar scent had been mellowed and only rich flavor remained—was so enticing that saliva dripped from my parted lips before I could stop it.
"Slurp…… Hyaat!? I didn’t drool! A-anyway. You know what kind of position I’m in. Is it really all right to tell just anyone where I am?!"
"Because Azami isn’t just anyone."
With that, Tilke and I turned our gazes toward Azami, who sat at the corner of the table watching us with an anxious expression.
"That child’s grandfather came from beyond the plains when he was young. Hearing stories of the Imperial Magic Academy, he traveled a great distance and became a rather skilled mage. After earning money by wandering for a time, he settled here—the best place to hear news from his homeland."
Certainly…… The slight oriental cast to both her name and features had made me think she possessed an atmosphere somewhat different from pure imperials. So that was why.
"During the Demon King’s invasion, he joined the fight despite his age. Her parents, seeing him take up arms, did the same and stood in the ranks beside him. She lost them all. Her grandmother raised her alone, but passed away while Azami was studying at the academy."
"I see……."
So she had lost her entire family. Something inside my chest rang out like a distant bell.
"It’s probably a simple story. The Demon King is the enemy of her family. Kaira, who defeated that enemy, is a hero. That is how she thinks and why she admires you. As you’ve likely realized, here in the Bestebene Margraviate people do not think too badly of the hero’s party. Many veterans live here."
I stared at the top of Azami’s pink head as she kept it bowed. Her thin shoulders trembled slightly as her quiet voice reached me.
"So… if I… if I would be a burden…."
It was difficult to refuse a voice trembling with held-back tears. I took her white, unblemished hand in mine and spoke gently.
"Azami, most of the ugly rumors circulating about me are true. Even so, do you still wish to follow me?"
"Even the story that you wiped out His Majesty’s family—the one who now sits upon the throne…?"
Yes. That was the one truth that would not waver.
"…Yes."
"The story that you survived on the outskirts of the capital as a lewd prostitute…?"
"Correct."
"The rumor that you eradicated the pirate fleet on the great river with a single gesture?"
"That’s ri— eh?"
"The rumor that in the land of death you mastered secret necromantic arts no one else can be taught?"
"Ah, no… that one isn’t…."
But my words were no longer reaching Azami’s ears at all.
"You really are the hero I respect most in the world! Master Kaira, please accept me as your disciple!"
A headache bloomed behind my eyes. I shook my head wearily and tried a different approach.
"The road ahead is harsh…. I have been captured by monsters many times. I have also been… violated… by people. It is not something a girl like you could endure."
"We’ll have two mages! No one will lay a hand on us again! I will protect you, Master Kaira!"
Persuasion seemed impossible. Perhaps I needed an entirely different tone.
"Azami, I am a wanted fugitive. Sometimes people who aren’t necessarily evil will still come to kill me. I will have to fight them."
"I know. Anyone chasing Master Kaira must be the evil ones. I will help you fight them!"
This girl…
Having lost her whole family as I had, there was no one I could ask to talk sense into her. And Tilke, who should have been calming her, only encouraged her further. In the end I gave up, closed my mouth, and reached for the knife. The lamb steak before me was growing cold; it would be a shame to waste it. I cut a piece and placed it in my mouth.
…….
It was delicious. And warm. So warm it felt as though tears might fall.