Family (7)

"Take care of yourself. This is dangerous work, so keep your head on straight."

"Yes, of course."

"We'll come again. And if we can't make the trip, we'll write."

With that, his father gave him a clap on the shoulder and climbed into the carriage. Only his mother remained.

"Be careful. Don't go getting yourself hurt. No matter how gifted you are, you still can't heal yourself."

"...Yes, of course. I know that."

"You'll do just fine. After all, whose son are you?"

She pulled him into a brief embrace, then added,

"We'll see each other again. Make sure you eat properly."

"I will. Travel safely."

"We're off!!"

As if he had been waiting for mother and son to finish their goodbyes, the driver called out from the box. The two of them settled into the southbound carriage and waved through the window at their son. Ain raised a hand in return — and then the thick-muscled horses surged into motion, and the carriage's receding shape shrank away with startling speed.

Someone spoke to him as he stood watching it go.

"Have they left?"

"...Yeah. Just now."

The one who'd asked was Er, and today the shadows under her eyes looked a shade darker than usual. Unlike yesterday, when she had been dressed to dazzling effect, she was back in her everyday clothes — and she was still, as ever, a beauty who caught the eye without even trying.

"...You're looking pretty ordinary today."

Ain gave her a sidelong glance as he said it.

"Are you disappointed I didn't dress up?"

"...That's not what I meant."

Er caught the disappointment he couldn't quite hide, and a soft smile touched her lips.

"Don't look so disappointed. I'll show you again sometime."

"...Sometime?"

"Say, if you asked me out on a date?"

Ain shut his mouth. But Er knew him well enough by now. When this man was embarrassed, he went silent.

"Heh..."

She caught the faint flush creeping into the tips of his ears, and a laugh escaped her before she could stop it.

"Hey, that's enough already, don't you think? Weren't we supposed to start taking requests again today?"

Jina, dressed as usual in her short-sleeved white priest's robes, cut in with a sour look on her face.

"Ain said he wanted to see them off alone, so I let him — and this vixen couldn't even wait that long before she came trailing after him?"

"Aren't you doing the same thing, Jina? You're here too."

"He was taking forever, so I came to check!"

Ain snorted as the two of them launched straight into a staring contest. Then a vacant voice drifted in from behind Jina.

"Ain... not resting more?"

"Wasn't really anything to get tired from. Time to get back to work."

The rest was over. As adventurers — a profession that demanded you stay sharp — going too soft wasn't a good idea either.

"A light hunting request would be nice."

"Right? If Haru just snapped her fingers, the whole thing would be done."

"Ain. Trying to freeload a little too hard, no?"

"That's what a DPS is for! Come on, let's go make some money!"

Inside the rattling carriage, a couple sat side by side in a cabin large enough to hold a crowd, speaking in voices that might have belonged to any ordinary afternoon.

"Dear, what did you make of Miss Er?"

"She seemed all right. I think we can trust her... At the very least, she wouldn't betray Ain."

"And the young lady named Haru?"

"She'll be fine too. She kept looking after Ain the whole time."

Having finished with Er and Haru, Ain's mother went on.

"Add Jina to that... they'll be all right. At the very least, they won't fall apart."

"That's unexpected. I didn't think your assessments would be so generous."

"I simply took a liking to those girls. Which is why—"

She turned to look out the window.

A violent jolt slammed through the floor, as though the carriage had rolled over something, and the entire cabin listed hard to one side.

"Kyaaah!"

"Waaagh!"

"W-what's going on!?"

"We just stopped all of a sudden?!"

Passengers screamed and shouted over one another as panic rippled through the cabin.

"Dear."

"...Yeah."

In the tilted compartment, husband and wife found each other's eyes.

And then, from outside the carriage, the voices began.

It was a more common thing than most people liked to admit. Former adventurers turning to banditry, raiding merchant companies and passenger carriages. The kind of commonplace misfortune that could happen anywhere at all.

There was nothing strange about it.

"Good day, Miss Jina, Miss Er, Miss Haru, and... Master Ain."

"Lize? What brings you all the way out here in person?"

Er asked as Lize offered them her greeting.

"To make a good impression on all of you. Did Master Ain not mention it?"

"...Ain? What's she talking about?"

"She said she needs to get on the good side of Master's disciples. That's why she's doing this."

"...Ugh, what a hassle."

Jina shook her head after Ain's explanation, and Lize answered without a flicker of change in her expression.

"Please don't worry. I have no intention of being a nuisance. I will simply be overseeing all request-related affairs for Er's Party and its members. You will hardly notice I am there."

"...Really?"

"Yes, of course."

Jina eyed her as though she didn't quite believe a word of that deadpan delivery, then turned away and muttered under her breath.

"Why do women keep piling up around Ain..."

"Don't start with that... Actually, this works out. You're a guild clerk, so you know the requests pretty well, right?"

"Yes, that is correct."

There was something oddly reassuring about that flat, professional voice.

"So, anything good among the requests? Easy, high pay, good for our reputation..."

"...Even so, there is no such thing as a request you can simply coast through."

"Can't we ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do something about that part?"

Whatever had become of the grave, earnest young man she had met not long ago, Ain was grinning at her now like a brat looking for a shortcut, and something flashed in Lize's eyes. Whether he noticed or not, he was still chuckling and waving it off, about to ask after the requests in earnest —

"This is bad! This is really bad!"

A man came crashing through the Adventurer Guild doors, shouting in a voice raw with panic.

"Would you excuse me for a moment? This appears to be urgent."

"Yeah, of course. Go ahead."

"Thank you."

Lize excused herself from the commotion and started toward the man who had just burst in.

"I wonder what that's about?"

"Eh, it's probably nothing. People who make that much of a fuss usually turn out to be overreacting. Wouldn't be the first time."

Jina's assessment was as cutting as it was familiar. Attention-seekers who loved to blow things out of proportion were a daily fixture around the guild, and the adventurers scattered through the hall looked just as unmoved — some of them didn't even bother glancing over. Ain figured it was more of the same and had started skimming the request board when the man's voice rang out again from the entrance.

"I'm telling you it's real! A carriage was attacked!!"

He was clutching his side as though a blade had opened it, and the desperation in his voice was far too raw to write off as empty bluster.

"...Adventurer-turned-bandits are blocking the southern road and attacking carriages and merchant caravans. Is that what you're saying?"

Having heard him out in detail, Lize narrowed her otherwise unreadable face by a fraction.

"Damn it all. Why did they have to be former adventurers..."

"I'm telling you it's true! Someone had to get word back to the city, so we decided I'd—"

"Hey. What did you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just say."

A voice cut across the man's explanation — a voice that had gone startlingly, ice-sheet cold. Lize turned toward it along with him, and found a young man standing there with golden eyes lit like drawn steel.

"Master Ain, I am still taking his statement—"

"A carriage heading south? When was it attacked?"

"Who the hell do you think you are, talking to me like—"

The man had caught sight of the iron rank plate hanging at Ain's throat and was winding up to snap — and then he froze solid. The woman who had stepped in front of Ain wore a silver plate at her neck.

"We're going to need that answer."

"Er."

"The timing is too close. Mother and Father's carriage left just moments ago. So please... answer quickly. We're in a hurry."

"I-it was...! A passenger carriage from the Kay Trading Company that left around noon! They were crossing the ravine when—"

The color drained from Ain's face so fast it went paper-white. Lize took that in, weighed it for a heartbeat, and then raised her voice to the room in a tone that left no room for argument.

"...If former adventurers are attacking civilians and carriages, that constitutes a grave injury to the Adventurer Guild's reputation. By my authority, I am issuing an emergency request for the suppression of these bandits. The reward will be... three times the standard rate."

"Three times?"

"Rough up a few idiots for triple pay..."

The adventurers who had been listening stirred and muttered among themselves. But there was one person in the room who could not have cared less about the reward.

"...Er. Jina. Haru. I need to ask you something."

The golden-eyed young man's face had gone frighteningly hard, and his voice held nothing that could be called an emotion.

"Damn it all — I can't do a single thing on my own. So—"

"Let's go."

The answer came without a second's hesitation. Ain’s eyes snapped wide, and Er — her own face set just as hard as his — kept talking.

"If the bandits have any sense left, they wouldn't have harmed the civilians indiscriminately. Factor in the time it took this man ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to reach the guild, and the time they'd need to move people and goods... we can still catch up."

"Er's right. So Ain — those two are going to be okay. You have to believe that."

"Long talk. Not needed. Time is life."

"...Thanks. Then—"

Ain managed the smallest of smiles at his companions' words, and closed his eyes.

The voices of those two still lingered in his ears.

Take care of yourself.

We'll see each other again.

He held onto them, and when he opened his eyes again, every feeling he had was burning in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that gold.

"—Let's go. Time to wreck those sons of bitches."