My Friends
“……”
“The viscount and his wife doted on their children so much. What a shame for a noble house to suffer such misfortune… Tsk, losing their daughter and then perishing together in a fire on the same day. Truly tragic. Even if the daughter were to return someday, what would she come back to with the house burned to the ground?”
Pay asked quietly.
“Is the place still abandoned?”
“No. Just days after the fire, nearly a dozen priests from the temple stayed at our inn.”
A strange feeling crept over her.
The innkeeper continued rambling.
“They asked around if anyone nearby needed help, tended to the injured with great care, and even visited the lord’s residence. There they heard the sad tale of the Caris viscount’s family.”
“And then?”
The innkeeper’s face lit with admiration.
“They went straight to the scene of the fire, collected the remains at their own expense, buried them in the cemetery, and even cleared away the charred ruins of the house.”
“Do they come regularly?”
“No. This is such a remote area that the temple priests rarely visit, so they were truly remarkable. Thanks to them… even a humble merchant like me found some comfort. Heh.”
“……”
Pay was plagued by a dreadful premonition.
A sudden fire, followed days later by a group of priests who never usually came to this region, generously handling the aftermath?
They had even paid for the burials out of their own pockets without being asked.
And again, it was the temple.
She tried to piece the timeline together.
Dot had requested an investigation into the affairs of the Sionel territory. Shortly afterward, the Caris viscount’s household burned down. Days later, priests who rarely visited the area appeared and took care of the burials—tasks the local lord had neglected out of laziness.
The circumstances fit together too neatly to be mere coincidence.
Could it be…?
Was this also the work of the “Shadow Mage”?
“Let’s go.”
At Lucius’s words as he closed his book and stood, Pay rose without a word. This time, Raphael and Astaine chose not to remain at the inn and followed them.
Thud, thud.
Finding the graves of the Caris family in the neatly maintained cemetery was not difficult. Four plots in a recently cleared section where grass had yet to grow, only fresh soil. They had already seen the maid’s grave near the entrance.
So it really was just these four?
Pay hesitated to disturb the dead based on mere suspicion, so she asked carefully.
“Lucius, could you send a gnome or another earth spirit to check what kind of object is inside the coffins?”
Neither Cassel nor the other two men questioned her strange request. They seemed to understand that there must be a reason behind it.
“All right.”
Something ocher-colored shot from Lucius’s hand and sank into the ground. The result came back almost instantly.
A cold, restrained anger had already surfaced in his black eyes.
“Something else is in there instead of what should be.”
Pay braced herself.
“……”
“Only the maid’s grave is normal. The others are not. If the bodies had been burned, there should be charred or blackened remains, but what’s inside are old, bare skeletons. No flesh or skin attached. It seems they thought swapping the bones was better than leaving the coffins empty.”
Pay nearly staggered as she listened to Lucius’s analysis.
She had suspected as much, but the plan was far more meticulous than she had imagined.
If it was Dot, she would have chosen to kill the family to silence them forever.
That would be far more advantageous.
The only people who could testify that the publicly recognized Klein daughter was an impostor and that they were her true blood relatives.
Who would go to the trouble of staging their deaths and replacing the bones? That could only be…
It must be Saintess Capia’s doing!
The saintess was said to be arriving at the imperial palace soon.
Once she met Dot, who had become the daughter of a duke, she would eventually use this incident as leverage to corner her.
So my theory was right. She intercepted the contents of Dot’s request to the mercenary guild and acted first. Truly… one could call it thorough.
How could a person be capable of something like this?
She must have seen the request to investigate the Sionel territory, realized that Trisha Caris was Dot, and carried out the deed!
Clever, cunning, and utterly repulsive schemes.
Having guessed the mastermind, Pay declared on the spot.
“I’ve confirmed what I wanted to know. It’s late, so let’s rest and return early tomorrow. Please keep what happened in the Sionel territory a secret for now. And the fact that we came here as well.”
“Understood, Lady Pay.”
Even the usually playful Raphael remained silent.
Pay hesitated for a moment before adding,
“Someday, I may be able to explain why I came here and what happened. When that time comes… I’ll tell you everything without hiding anything.”
Astaine spoke gently.
“There’s no need to feel burdened. I was simply glad to be allowed to accompany you on your journey, and I will keep your secret.”
“The stars are out in full tonight. We should head back inside. If we stay here any longer, the moon might mistake Lady Pay’s eyes for fallen stars and try to take them away.”
Raphael recited a line from a bard’s poem he had once heard, trying to lighten the mood.
“…Thank you.”
The annihilation of an entire noble family. And the swapping of bones that should never have been there.
Even those accustomed to harsh realities would be shocked enough to faint upon learning the truth.
Yet they not only promised to keep her secret but also considered her churning emotions.
Where else could she find people like this?
As she walked slowly behind Lucius, tears threatened to spill for no reason.
I… I really have met good people. Even though I’ve let go of so many things and lost so much, I’m truly happy…
That night, after everyone had gone to their rooms one by one and Pay was about to rest, Astaine poked his head out from inside his room. He looked as though he had something to say.
“Ast? What’s wrong?”
“Could we talk for a moment?”
“Of course.”
The two of them leaned side by side toward the narrow window at the end of the hallway.
Astaine spoke quite frankly.
“Thank you, Lady Pay. To be honest… I know it too. I’m someone who can’t do anything on my own, and among those who came along, I’m the biggest burden.”
“That’s not true.”
There were plenty of nobles who acted arrogantly without reason.
Astaine had brought a practical short sword with no unnecessary ornamentation.
When they had gone to capture the bandits, he could have taken offense at being told to stay at the inn with Raphael, but he hadn’t insisted on coming along.
His way of thinking was practical, unlike that of a typical imperial prince.
Once this journey ended, there would be few opportunities to call him “Ast.” Unless another secret excursion like this arose where they could completely avoid others’ eyes.
“Raphael looks after me whenever he has time, and my brother is lenient, but that can’t last forever. I think I’ll remember every moment I spent with you, Lady Pay, with perfect clarity.”
“Even though I dragged the journey along according to my own whims, it wasn’t too bad, was it?”
“Of course not. You freely gave me the kind of thrilling experiences and adventures that would never be permitted to someone like me. From our first meeting until today.”
“Ast…”
Born as an imperial prince, yet his dream was to be a wanderer, an adventurer.
“It seems you came here to investigate something difficult. Thank you for allowing me to accompany you despite the complicated circumstances.”
They stood so close that if either turned their head slightly, their cheeks would touch.
Yet both of them kept their gazes fixed on the dark night sky beyond the window, as if by agreement.
Pay spoke softly.
“I’m glad I could come with you, Ast.”
Because… Prince Astaine,
You were one of the few good people in my gloomy past. Even though I returned to the past by turning back time, you haven’t changed.
Just like Lady Ranya, like Sir Raphael, and like Brother Cassel—someone I’ve never met but believe in without doubt…
Astaine, Ast. I wish you eternal good fortune.
May four-leaf clovers bloom vividly wherever your path leads.
“Good night.”
“Yes.”
After finishing their brief conversation, Astaine stood up first and returned to the room where Raphael was waiting.
Pay pretended to head to her own room, then quietly lifted her heels and hurried down the stairs.
It was late enough that even the innkeeper and his wife had gone to bed.
At a corner table on the first floor, Lucius was already waiting. Though no one was eavesdropping, they spoke in hushed voices.
“Trisha really does seem to be Dot Trisha. All the circumstances line up too suspiciously in chronological order.”
“Hmm.”
“Before the capital’s mercenaries could enter the Sionel territory after receiving Dot’s request, someone must have beaten them to it, come here, set the fire, and kidnapped the family. They even openly sent a group of priests to clean up afterward.”
“What do you want to do?”
Pay looked up and met Lucius’s gaze.
If she asked him to resolve everything here and now, he would do it. He would bring down Saintess Capia in an instant and decide Dot’s fate as well…
He would even restore the position of the lost daughter without difficulty. But was that what she wanted?
No matter how many times she thought about it, it didn’t feel right.
Just as she still hadn’t chosen the easiest path of becoming a Water Specialist.
“I want to watch a little longer. If someone helped without the parties involved knowing, they’ll eventually try to reap the harvest, won’t they?”
“That’s true.”
“It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Both of them are the main culprits who tormented me, yet one is now unknowingly becoming an accomplice to the other—someone whose existence she didn’t even know about—and is tightening the noose around her neck.”
“As you said, staying still for now might serve as punishment for one of them.”
Pay reached out and wrapped her hands around her cooling elbows.
Now that she had come to Dot’s hometown, she felt newly astonished.
Such a long journey. Even if she had stolen the medicine money and the family’s funds, how had Dot managed to reach the capital? A distance that would take knights on horseback a considerable amount of time…
Dot’s obsession was truly remarkable.
And there was someone even more astonishing than her.
“Dot had a clear purpose, but why did that person do it? Did the weakening of her divine power twist her heart so much? I don’t understand. Even if she were driven to the edge and faced her end, would she really ask for my forgiveness? It makes no sense.”
Before standing up with her, Lucius left her with one remark.
“Her upright heart must have already been crumbling before now, which is why her divinity no longer responded.”
Though the journey had lasted only about four days, their business was complete. Having pursued the uncertain events to their very doorstep, Pay felt the vengeful spirit she had believed had faded flare up once more.
The next morning.
Before departing from the inn for a less populated area, she spread out a map and asked—