God Exists, and Justice Always Prevails
Clop, clop...
"Tihana Village, is it... I can't say I've ever heard of the place."
The man who spoke, stroking his long beard as our wagon rolled toward the village that had posted the request, possessed a voice both gentle and deep. His name was Brom.
Though the blood ran thin in him, he had inherited a measure of giant ancestry, and it showed. He stood well over six and a half feet, with a frame so broad it called a bear to mind; even in a wagon that was reasonably spacious, he had to hunch to fit.
His imposing appearance gave, at first glance, an impression of intimidation—the sort of man one might hesitate to approach. But I knew better. I knew how kind he was, and how readily he would give himself up for the sake of the party. Brom was our warrior, the one who held the vanguard with that enormous battle-axe of his. Every time I closed the wounds that opened across his body, I felt a mixture of guilt and gratitude that never quite left me.
"Eh, who cares, nya? Doesn't matter, does it? Long as we get paid, it's all good, nya."
The lively young woman who had a habit of tacking nya onto the end of her sentences was Ki-ana. She wore her silver hair in a somewhat messy bob, and her eyes were a light, honeyed amber. A feline beastkin of my own age.
True to her kind, she was quick of body and sharp of sense, and in our party she served as thief—disarming traps, scouting ahead. The word thief might conjure an unsavory image, but I knew perfectly well where the money she gathered actually went. She always seemed to put coin first, and that was because of her younger sisters. They were in school, and she was paying their tuition. Despite the hard circumstances that had separated her from them so early, she had gone on secretly supporting their education all this time. Her heart was a warm one.
Beastkin faced no small amount of prejudice, and unkind looks came her way more often than they should have. Even so, she met the world with a bright face, always. She and I were nothing alike—I was quiet, she was not—and at a glance one might have thought we would never get along. Yet we clicked, strangely and completely, and as friends we trusted each other without reservation.
"Heh. I'd take a few pretty girls over money any day."
The man leaning back against the wagon with both hands laced behind his head was Gael. Like Brom, he held the vanguard; he was a warrior who fought with a longsword. He had a way of throwing himself into reckless things from time to time, but the truth was that more than a few of us had drawn our courage from his. He did have an eye for women wherever we went, but he was no lecher. If anything, he was a romantic—and for all that he looked hearty and rough, there was a delicacy to him that most people never saw. I felt the same way about Brom, but when Gael was out in front, I felt a security that nothing else quite matched.
"......"
Listening to all of this without a word was our mage, Rene. Her red hair hung long to her waist, unkempt from a lack of care, and her uncut bangs had settled over her eyes, veiling them by half. She wrapped herself in a long robe and rarely let any part of herself show. Not only her body. Her heart, too.
I knew why. She had once confessed to me—to me, a priestess—the story of her past. When I had heard it, I pulled her into my arms, and we wept together.
Rene was a truly gifted mage. That is not a friend's flattery. Had she possessed even a little more confidence, a little more ease among people, she could have entered the Academy and made her name known to the world. She was quiet in the party, but the truth was that she heard every word we said. And so, when a fight broke out, her magic arrived exactly where it was needed, exactly when it was needed, and carried us. We never even had to ask. Watching those spells come in at such impossible moments, I could not help but marvel. It was from her that I learned you could speak with the heart even when you did not speak at all. In more ways than one, she was remarkable.
"All right, that's enough chatter, everyone. We're almost there, so start getting ready to get off."
The woman who gathered every wandering attention at once was Serena. She aimed for the exalted rank of Paladin, the highest attainment of a holy knight, and though she served a different god from mine, we shared the same noble purpose.
To destroy the evils of this world. To save as many people as we could.
The two of us followed the will of the gods and spread their sacred teachings, and to say we were connected by the soul would be no exaggeration. That was why, though we shared no blood, I looked up to Serena as I would a real sister. The woman who bound six such different people together and led them as one could not be summed up by a word as small as reliable. We were here because she was here. It was Serena who had taken us—each with our own nature, each with our own past—and made us into a single thing. I never once doubted that she would one day become the most noble holy knight on this continent.
Our party was six in all. I, Aria, was the priestess at the rear, healing and supporting everyone. Serena held the middle as our holy knight. Brom was our tank, a warrior planted on the very front line. Gael stood shoulder to shoulder with him, the two of them holding the vanguard together. Ki-ana drifted between rear and front, reading the shape of each fight as our thief. And Rene, from the back, laid down covering fire with her magic.
We had only been together for about a year, so we could hardly call ourselves a famous party. Even so, our bond was strong, and we had been steadily earning a name for ourselves. We were still inexperienced in more ways than one, but I was certain that if we combined our strength, we would one day achieve something greater.
"Yes, Serena. Let's go."
I spoke brightly, and together with the others I climbed down from the wagon. We followed the map for a short walk, and then a little village came into view.
"Hello. I am Cecilia, the chief of this village."
The moment we arrived, a woman came forward to greet us as if she had been waiting—and she was remarkably young, for a village chief. I was not the only one who thought so. Puzzlement showed on every face in the party. A few other women had come along behind her, and looking more closely, there did not seem to be any men in the village at all. Gael, who had an eye for women, looked rather pleased by that fact, though he tried to be subtle about it.
And the village itself was, to be honest... I am truly sorry to say it, but it was a little embarrassing to even call it a village, given its size. It was well kept, but there was no palisade around it, and the houses were few enough to count. It was a truly small village. I marveled inwardly that such a place existed in this world—and yet, at the same time, I felt a sense of unease.
Unease?
I wasn't sure. Why was I feeling uneasy? I couldn't understand it myself, and I tilted my head.
"What's wrong, nya~?"
I must have looked strange, because Ki-ana sidled up beside me, narrowing her round eyes, and asked the question with a playful lilt.
"It's nothing."
I considered telling her about the unease, then thought better of it. I didn't want to worry her. I smiled and shook my head.
"Hmm~."
Ki-ana put on a look of suspicion, then dropped her voice to something only I would hear.
"But this village... you think they can even pay us, nya~?"
I didn't answer. I only smiled, a little bitterly. Following the will of the gods, I myself did not care much about the reward. The party, however, did. That was why I couldn't say anything, and why I only smiled. A sidelong glance told me Brom was of the same mind as Ki-ana; he had folded his arms and looked lost in thought, though he gave no sign of it outwardly. Gael was still busy looking at the women. And Rene... yes. Rene was standing there blankly with her staff in her hands, same as always.
Serena knew the worry that had settled over the party, and she met it with composure all the same.
"A pleasure to meet you, Chief Cecilia. We are the adventurers who accepted the quest your village posted. My name is Serena, and those behind me are..."
She began by calmly giving our names and our standing, planting a sense of trust in the one who had hired us. No one said as much, but watching her do it, every one of us felt steadied.
"I've already read the general contents of the quest on paper. Even so, I would like to hear the details more fully. The layout of the forest, the kinds of monsters that inhabit it, the numbers we are expected to put down—if you would tell us those things, I would be grateful."
Serena addressed the chief with careful courtesy. The chief smiled and answered every one of her questions in turn. Watching them, I found myself seized by a faintly uneasy feeling. How to put it... as if the village chief's words and gestures had been rehearsed. As if I were speaking with a marionette.
I shouldn't think such things.
It was rude. Yes—it was terribly rude.
Forgive me, Lady Selenia.
I confessed the sin to my goddess and asked her forgiveness. I shook my head to drive the thought away, and Ki-ana, standing beside me, looked at me again with a puzzled eye.
"I see. Very well. The day is still bright, so we will begin the work at once."
Having heard the chief's explanation through to the end, Serena finished speaking—and then, for a moment, she fidgeted. Even someone as sharp and decisive as she was would naturally hesitate. One look at this poor village, and the thought of asking for a deposit of four gold would weaken any paladin's heart.
"Your deposit."
As if she had read the mood, the chief stepped forward and held out a small pouch. Serena accepted it with embarrassment and gratitude both, then put as much strength into her voice as she could.
"You needn't worry. We will most certainly rid this village of the monsters that plague it!"
Empty boasts, even well meant, are never wise. And a nature as careful as Serena's would not ordinarily have let her say such a thing. But the goodwill the village had shown us, and the guilt that came with it, put force into her voice.
"Yes. We'll be counting on you."
The young chief bowed her head with perfect courtesy.
Mild sunlight poured down through a clear sky. A party bound together by a bond that did not fray. The true adventure had not yet begun, and even so, until this moment, everything had gone smoothly.
I believed, without a shadow of doubt, that today would be no different from any other. That I would fulfill the will of the gods, and that together with my companions I would strike down the evils of this world.
Yes. It would be so.
God exists, and justice always prevails.