A Warm Day on Horseback
We stayed one more night at the inn in Limena, whose kind-hearted owner made everyone feel welcome. The sea voyage had left us weary, and we’d needed time to dry Pirel’s clothes the old-fashioned way.
During the day, Pirel went to the stable and chattered away to Ashwind about all sorts of things. Horses couldn’t possibly understand human speech, but she insisted that animals grew stressed when left cooped up without traveling, so she was keeping the mare company.
I carried a chair out to the stable and read the mental-magic tome I had clung to since my previous life. Every time my eyes grew tired, I would glance over at Pirel and the gray mare.
On our second morning at the inn we again savored the local delicacies for both breakfast and dinner, but as promised I touched no alcohol. Not even the lightest fermented wine. We could not risk any accidents.
That night we slipped into the same blanket as we had during the earliest days of our journey, holding each other tightly inside the sleeping bag.
It had been a long time since I slept so peacefully. My body was not exhausted from losing control and seducing men in endless orgies, nor was I swaying on a hammock tossed by the waves.
“Thank you for everything these past two days.”
The next morning I handed the landlady three silver coins—payment for the room key, the lodging, and two full days of meals for both of us—then offered a small, polite curtsy.
“Oh, you didn’t have to… By the way, is the little miss all right? Has the fear passed?”
Pirel’s plump cheeks puffed with clear displeasure at being called “little miss.” Her petite frame made her look no older than ten, yet in her own mind she was a “mature” fifteen-year-old girl.
“I-I’m fine… Thanks to you, ma’am. Thank you…”
Still, she was adult enough to express proper gratitude for the underclothes she had received.
And so we set out once more on the long road. According to the map, we could reach the holy city of Poscotia in three to five days.
The reason I spoke so vaguely was simple.
“You’ll keep your promise, right? Kaira… Sister!”
It was what Pirel had asked of me.
“Yes. I’m not confident, but…”
“You’ll be wandering everywhere from now on, so you must learn at least this much. Hehe, as your mother I simply can’t neglect to teach you, can I, Kaira?”
So saying, Pirel wrapped her arms tightly around my torso from behind, her face glowing with uncontainable affection.
What she wanted was straightforward.
“Up we go…”
To sit in the front of the saddle and take the reins.
Ashwind, sensing that the journey had truly begun, snorted loudly. The moment I grasped the reins I felt the mare’s wary distrust of her new rider.
“Wait, wait. Kaira, the reins are far too loose. Hold them too short and the horse’s mouth hurts; hold them too long and you can’t speak to her. And you mustn’t grip with any strength.”
“Ah… Y-yes…”
I adjusted my grip exactly as Pirel guided me. To turn, pull only the rein on the desired side; to slow or stop, draw both reins gently so as not to frighten her.
Is this really going to be all right…?
I felt uneasy. Still, she was a gentle old mare who seemed fond of Pirel; she probably wouldn’t bolt just because she disliked me.
Pirel gave the horse’s rump a few soft pats, then swung up behind me.
“Then I’m counting on you… daughter-sister?”
What a bizarre title.
“Just call me Kaira like always. All right then—hya, let’s go…”
I tapped her belly lightly with my heels. Ashwind gave a doubtful whinny, but she obediently began to walk.
And so we left the small port city of Limena with my hands clenched white-knuckled on the reins. I was so tense I could only stare at the mare’s ears and missed the peaceful scenery of the harbor town entirely.
Pirel, seated behind me with both legs draped to the horse’s left, seemed perfectly comfortable and was cheerfully drinking in the sights.
Something brushed my side while I was busy staring at the fluttering mane.
“Hya…?!”
It was Pirel’s slender arm. From behind she wrapped herself around me, pressing her face into the robe on my back and rubbing happily.
“Y-you startled me…”
“Hehe. I like this. I like being with Kaira so, so much. I want to… yes, I want to keep traveling like this forever…”
“…”
I could not answer.
It wasn’t that I was too focused on the horse’s head to find words.
The greatest power beneath the western plains and the eastern mountain range was the Empire. And that Empire had branded me a wanted criminal. In any land where human influence ran deep, I could not rest easy.
People eager to cut off my head and present it to the imperial palace swarmed not only the Empire but the eastern kingdoms as well.
In the end I had only two paths. I could exile myself among the other races and live as a nameless refugee, or I could drift between human empires and kingdoms, never staying long enough for my identity to surface.
Even exile would have to be modest; no ruler would want to shelter the hero Kaira and earn the Empire’s enmity.
Pirel knew all of this. She had spoken with full awareness.
Knowing we would have to part in a few days.
I murmured, half to myself.
“… love you…”
But with her face buried against my back and her ear pressed close, she caught the whisper.
“Hm? K-Kaira. Just now… what did you say…?”
I hadn’t expected her to hear. A flicker of panic ran through me.
“Uht…”
“Heung.”
I didn’t turn, but I could perfectly imagine the impish, devilish smile on her face.
“Say it one more time. Please? Hehe. Say it, say it… Kaira, big sister? Come on, say iit…”
She pestered me in a childish tone that perfectly matched her small body. I turned my head just slightly. Even without a mirror I knew my cheeks were burning scarlet.
“… you. …Mother.”
“What? That was even quieter! Louder, Kaira. Come on, ehehe, louder!”
“Huu…”
Yes.
It didn’t actually require courage. It was only,
Yes,
only embarrassing.
“I… love you. Mother. …Now that I think about it, I never once said those words to you face-to-face. I regret that now.”
“Wow…”
Pirel let out a soft exclamation and fell silent. Still turned toward her, I watched anxiously.
Then I felt her arms tighten around me again, squeezing so hard I thought my waist might snap. Against my back I felt the soft press of a young girl’s cheek.
“I love you too, Kaira.”
Her voice had grown calm, peaceful, and wonderfully warm.
Not wanting her to see the tears welling in my eyes, I faced forward again and kept my gaze on the road ahead. All the way through the edge of the little city until we reached Limena’s northern gate.
Passing through the gate was easy.
This was not imperial land; it fell under the Church’s direct authority rather than secular law. Red-eyed female mages were of no interest to the guards, and bounty hunters were far less likely to operate here than elsewhere.
Once we were safely beyond the gate I let out a relieved breath. I was also growing more accustomed to handling the horse. At Pirel’s instruction I urged Ashwind into a trot the moment we left the walls.
The hoofbeats quickened and the jolts against my backside grew stronger. It looked as though we would have to travel like this until sunset.
“Pirel, please check the map. I’ll keep the reins.”
“Okay. Let’s see… Ah. It’s almost a single straight road. There are forks, but we can ignore them—just keep heading north. But…”
“Yes?”
Pirel’s voice carried a trace of worry.
“If we follow the road we’ll have to cross a stretch where imperial territory dips into the Church’s direct lands. Should we detour?”
I thought for a moment, then answered lightly.
“It should be fine. I heard that while the borders with the eastern kingdoms and northern wastes are heavily guarded, there are no troops watching the border with the Church’s territory. It’s only what travelers told me in Valdenheim, though.”
The absence of troops was both a drawback and an advantage.
The advantage was that suspicious criminals like me could slip across with only a little caution. The drawback was that the same suspicious criminals tended to gather along that very border.
That was why, while there were no permanent checkpoints, patrol soldiers still rode the area.
“But…”
Pirel sounded troubled.
“That protruding slice of Valdenheim County is exactly where we’ll be passing. Not the capital, but still.”
“Ugh…”
A painful groan escaped me. The county held both fond and bitter memories, yet the greater problem was the possibility of meeting people who knew me.
Of course, those I had seen every day lived in the county seat. The odds of encountering familiar faces on the remote edge that jutted into Church territory were low.
Even so, the thought made me uneasy.
According to Pirel, the protrusion was narrow—only half a day’s ride across. Nothing but farmland, forest, and wasteland; no need to gallop.
I offered my opinion.
“It’s all right. There’s no need to go around. …It might not be so bad to set foot on that land again after so long.”
“You really are strong, Kaira.”
I turned and gave her a sad smile.
“I’m weak. I can’t let go of old memories, so I keep clinging to the past.”
Pirel smiled gently in return.
“That’s what experience is. You grew strong through those very memories. I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you for understanding, Pirel.”
“I’m your mother. Hehe, I’m always on your side.”
On the first day after leaving Limena we bought firewood in a small village. I quietly suggested asking a farmhouse if we could sleep indoors, but Pirel said she preferred sleeping outside despite the discomfort.
“It’s easier to hold Kaira tight inside the sleeping bag.”
That night, after we prepared our spot and crawled into the bag, Pirel kept fidgeting and stroking her stomach as if it still bothered her. I gently rubbed her back and asked with concern.
“…Does your belly still hurt? You’re not bleeding, are you?”
“Mm…”
It was her first time; of course it felt unpleasant. I made an offer.
“Shall I turn time back for you? I avoided my own cycles for years that way…”
“No. That feels too unfair. I’ll endure it. It’s the first time, after all.”
With those brave words, Pirel hugged me tightly and soon fell asleep, murmuring her father’s name in her dreams. The scent rising from my body seemed to stir her heart and call up memories of the father she missed.
After all, the only trace of him left in this world was me.
The next day we packed our bedding and rode at a trot from dawn to dusk. I had grown more used to handling the horse, and Ashwind no longer showed much resistance toward me.
We spent the whole day crossing open fields dotted with farmland and patches of forest, faint mountains visible on the horizon. Just before sunset, in a wide valley between two distant peaks, Pirel spoke.
“…According to the map, the border should be between those two mountains.”
Yet there was no marker anywhere to indicate a border.
“Since the Church is treated almost like a state religion by the Empire, they probably don’t think it’s necessary to build even a single checkpoint.”
“Yeah… But what do we do, Kaira? I miscalculated our pace. It looks like we’ll have to spend tonight inside imperial territory. Is that all right?”
I stroked her hair.
“Eut… I’m not a child, I’m your mother.”
“Pfft. Weren’t you the one saying you were my little sister and calling me big sister?”
Pirel puffed her cheeks, momentarily speechless. How cute.
“It’s fine. We won’t be sleeping in a village anyway. We’ll let Ashwind rest, and if we don’t light a fire no one should notice us while we sleep.”
“It’ll be cold…”
I smiled.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“That’s true. Sleeping while hugging Kaira is warm. And the scent is nice…”
I teased the girl just a little.
“Yes. Pirel smells good too.”
Once again her soft cheeks puffed out. Teasing my adorable mother was becoming addictive.
We rode until twilight, then cut grass by the roadside to prepare another spot for our sleeping bags. Forgetting the worry that had crossed my mind the night before, I fell into a comfortable sleep.
The thought that suspicious criminals like me tended to swarm along the border between the direct Church lands and the Empire.