The Gold Trinkets
"Selen, I'm seeing this right, aren't I?"
Deep inside the warehouse, gold ornaments lay heaped in the gloom—and not a few of them. The thought hit me at once. This was going to be serious money.
"I never figured on this much. It's a jackpot, isn't it?"
Levan seemed to be thinking the same thing. Bright with excitement, he snatched up one of the ornaments from the back. It didn't look like a simple gold trinket, though.
"I believe I've seen these at the church."
I nodded at Runesa's words. They were identical to the decorations you found in churches all across Darkland. Since coming here, I'd never seen them up close like this.
"Hah. Church property?"
At that, Levan's face went stiff.
"Yes. Everything here appears to be the same."
Besides the ornaments, there were a fair number of coin-like pieces as well, and every one of them was stamped with the crest of the Holy Kingdom.
"Ha. What do we do? This could get a little awkward."
The church took back church property. That much wasn't unusual. Levan, though—maybe because of where he came from—seemed uneasy about the very idea. And however expensive the gold looked, the money we could actually walk away with might not amount to much. It would depend on how they chose to interpret what these things meant.
"Still, better than getting nothing. Let's take it all."
We gathered up everything that glittered and left the fortress. All that remained was to hope the road back stayed safe.
"I believe that's everything."
We packed the gold trinkets into Runesa's backpack, and she shouldered it.
"You sure about that? Can you haul this all the way to Belmor?"
"More than enough. Back when I served the count's household, I marched with loads this heavy plenty of times."
"That really was a count's household?"
Levan gave the pack on her back a testing lift and let out a dry laugh.
"What kind of army was that?"
"Ah, it was nearly that, yes. The count was always out subjugating the monsters around his territory, you see."
Levan and Runesa headed out first. I lingered a moment, looking over the warehouse in case something had been left behind—and then I felt something clenched in my hand.
"Huh. This..."
A Goddess's Trace rested in my palm. When did these things even appear? It was uncanny, the way one simply ended up in your hand between one moment and the next.
"I did take down the Skeleton Swordsman. Figures they'd hand one over."
Maybe because the place was so cold, it felt a little warmer than usual. As before, I squeezed a bit harder, and it crumbled lightly, sinking into my hand as if it were soaking in.
I hope my mana went up a little, at least.
"What are you doing? Hurry up."
Levan called from outside, and I followed the two of them at once.
"Selen. Just my personal opinion, but..."
"Yeah?"
On the way, Levan spoke quietly.
"When you go to sell those gold trinkets to the church, I don't want to come."
"Suit yourself."
"You're not even going to ask why?"
He didn't just want to stay behind. He looked like he meant to talk me out of it, too.
"Because you're a thief?"
"What kind of talk is that? I swear by the heavens, I've never lived a life I'd be ashamed of."
Offended, Levan narrowed his eyes and flicked me on the head.
"...It's just that nothing good comes of getting tangled up with that side. It makes me uneasy for no good reason."
"Oh, please. You think handing this over is going to make the Saintess take an interest in you?"
Levan frowned at my reaction, studied me, and then nodded.
"Yeah. Something like that."
"You've got quite the imagination."
"Wouldn't that be a good thing, though?"
When Runesa cut in, Levan shrugged.
"You two have no idea how terrifying the Saintess is, do you?"
I knew, all right. We just weren't at a level to meet her yet. Darkland had been an online game, so the story never reached its end, and I didn't know everything about the Saintess either. Even so, I was certain this wasn't a stage we needed to worry about.
"I do know of her. From what I've heard, she's very kind to people like us."
"Guess Levan isn't 'people like us,' then."
"No, that's not what I meant."
Something seemed to catch at him. He made an ambiguous face, then gave up and let out a sigh.
"Fine. Maybe it is an overactive imagination, like you said."
"See? Told you."
I thumped him on the back. A little hard.
"Ugh. Do you have to be so damn strong?"
Anyway, I more or less understood what he was trying to say. He was afraid the church's attention would make our adventuring uncomfortable. But that was the direction I had to go. If I meant to clear the main quest, it was inevitable. And once I'd cleared it all, if I wanted to go back to where I used to live...
We walked without rest and made it back to Belmor around dawn.
Once we were inside the castle, we ran into Elian almost at once. He had just returned from scouting the grounds, and surprise crossed his face when he saw us.
"I heard you had set out for the western fortress. You have returned safely."
His eyes swept over what I was wearing, and an interested smile touched his mouth.
"You put an end to him, then?"
"Yes. All of this was his."
I showed him the cape I wore and the sword.
"Might I examine the sword for a moment?"
I held it out to him. Elian confirmed that what I had brought back was genuine, then smiled faintly and returned the blade.
"A fine sword, worthy of an excellent knight. ...It will serve you well."
"And what of our payment?"
Levan went straight for the practical matter.
"We will confirm the state of the western fortress first, and then I shall inform you."
With that, he let us into the castle.
"Ah—and do visit the church as well, should you have recovered anything from the fortress."
So he knew about that, too. At the suggestion, I gave an awkward smile, said nothing, and got out of there.
The moment we were inside, Levan glanced around the guard post, plainly dissatisfied.
"He's not planning to settle our pay with those gold trinkets we brought back, is he?"
"As if."
It wasn't so much that I trusted Elian. I trusted this world as I knew it. At least, whenever I'd done quests like this one, no one had ever stiffed me on the reward.
It was late, so we returned to the inn. The moment we got back to the room, relief hit so hard I thought my eyes would shut on their own.
"You worked hard."
"Ugh. Let's just sleep."
Runesa set the luggage down beside the bed. I flopped onto the mattress at once, cracked the bag open, and looked at the gold trinkets inside.
"Heh heh."
"Will you be going to the church early tomorrow?"
"No. We earned a rest. We'll sleep in and go at night."
Runesa smiled and nodded.
"Understood."
"You rest too. Don't go doing anything you don't have to."
"Yes. I will."
Still lying there, I unfastened my gear, tossed it roughly aside, and peeled off my clothes. Once everything that had been binding me came loose and I could finally breathe easy, I felt as if I'd be asleep in no time.
"Um, Miss Selen. Are you asleep?"
"Hm? Not yet..."
"There's something I was wondering."
Her voice sounded close. I rolled over and opened my eyes. Runesa was sitting beside the bed, leaning in a little, watching me.
"What is it?"
"You aren't feeling unwell, are you? Chills, or a headache?"
What? Oh. Because it was so cold out there.
"I'm fine, though?"
"Ah, that's a relief. The truth is... after the fight ended, you were shivering so badly that I was worried."
Had I? Enough to worry her?
"You grabbed hold of Mr. Levan and held on tight. The two of you stayed in each other's arms for quite a while."
"What? I did?"
What was she talking about?
Runesa flinched, startled, and blinked at me.
"You were so cold that Mr. Levan was holding you. I wondered if you might be hiding that you still felt ill, so... I asked."
She smiled, a little embarrassed. Sleep fled completely. I sat up.
"Levan and I were holding each other for ages?"
Why don't I remember that? What was that guy doing, holding me?
"You don't remember? Ah. I've heard that if you use too much mana, your memory can cut out for a moment."
She caught my arm as if to calm me, and all at once the sensation of that moment came back. It had been warm, and I had wanted to lean on it. The situation had been that extreme; I could allow that much. When you think you're about to die, what wouldn't you do? Even so, having relied on Levan that far left me with a strange feeling I didn't know how to explain.
"Ha... He didn't say anything about it, did he?"
"No. Do you also not remember eating the potatoes by the campfire?"
"I remember that."
"Then it seems you remember everything after all."
He's going to tease me about this the moment I see him tomorrow.
"Did I... cry?"
"Pardon? Ah, I don't believe you did."
She smiled awkwardly, not entirely certain, and shrugged.
"I didn't, right?"
"Yes. I'm sure you didn't."
This time she answered without hedging, as if to give me certainty. Anyway, once we'd talked that far, my head started to ache again. So the western fortress really had been that cold.
"I think I am sick."
"A-are you truly? For now, you must stay warm. Here... please cover yourself with this as well."
Runesa laid another blanket over me.