by Kiri Komori
I saw Roin get on one knee and present the flower ring. He said something, but I couldn’t hear what it was from this distance. But that was fine. His proposal was for Enofa’s ears only. She spread out her arms and wrapped them around Roin in an embrace…
“Looks like it went well,” Dad said.
“Let’s carry out the food!”
“Yeah.”
This was a happy night, albeit in a different way from yesterday. It was a mysterious sort of feeling! I carried the roast bird Dad made this morning, along with salad and a pot of soup. I placed the pot over the campfire, and Dad brought a few glasses and a bottle of liquor.
“Now then!” Dad chirped. “A feast and some drinks to celebrate! And I’ll cut the fish you caught, Enofa!”
“For the small fish, you can just pick out their insides and roast them as is,” I added.
“Th-Thank you!”
“Huh?! Th-Thanks, you two!”
Roin and Enofa thanked us, their expressions full of emotion. Roin probably assumed we didn’t prepare anything for the occasion… We prepared a table near the campfire and set it up so a few tree stumps could serve as chairs. The table was pretty simple, done by setting a plank between a couple of stumps, but it was good enough to place the plates and cut the fish.
Dad used a knife to prepare the fish Enofa caught, and I poured some liquor into their glasses. As I did, I noticed the Lemone flower ring sitting on Enofa’s ring finger.
“Enofa, Roin! Congratulations on your engagement!”
“Thank you!”
“Thank you, Tinaris. For all your advice…”
“This flower ring was your idea, wasn’t it, Tinaris?”
“Huh?!”
She figured it out already?!
I was so surprised my voice lapped over Roin’s.
“I mean, making a flower ring and preserving it by making it into a pressed flower? Roin could never come up with that!” Enofa said with a smile.
“Ugh…” Roin hung his head.
“E-Erm…” I stuttered.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Knowing Roin, he probably lost his ring at the last minute and came crying to you, didn’t he? He’s such a troublesome little boy.”
“Huh?!” Our voices overlapped again.
How did you figure out that much?! Enofa, you’re amazing! Roin could never cheat on you like this!
“Mm?” I heard Dad’s voice.
“Dad, is something wrong?”
“No, it’s just, I found something in the fish’s stomach… Mm? Wait, is this…?!”
“What’s wrong?”
“What, what?”
“Did something happen?”
The three of us approached Dad, who raised his voice in shock. His eyes were wide in surprise as his fingers rummaged through a large fish’s open stomach. As we looked on, Dad pulled something out of the fish’s gut.
What’s this…? A fish egg?
“…It’s a ring,” Dad finally said.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Roin cried. “That’s the ring I got! Why was it inside that fish…? Aaaaah!”
“Huuuh?!” I raised my voice in surprise too.
“What? Roin, is this the ring you were going to give me…?” Enofa asked, her eyes round with apprehension.
“Y-Yeah! I got it, thinking I’d propose with it. What is it doing inside a fish!?”
Huuuuuh?! The thing Dad found in the fish’s stomach is the ring Roin got for Enofa…?! Why?! How does this make sense?!
“…Didn’t you spend all of yesterday fishing at the lake?” Dad asked, eyeing Roin dubiously. “Maybe that’s when you dropped the ring…”
“Huh…? Ah.” Roin’s eyes widened in realization. “Now that you mention it, while I was fishing, I was practicing how I’d propose… And just then, I hooked a big fish…”
“So you’re saying that fish swallowed the ring? And then Enofa hooked the same fish today? How do coincidences like that even happen? But…”
“That’s the only way it makes sense,” I said, agreeing with Dad’s theory.
We all saw him take the ring from the fish’s stomach. Nothing else could explain it. The only other possibility was that Dad found the ring in the room and pretended to find it in the fish… Which would be a rude assumption to make about Dad. He wouldn’t do anything that gross.
“Hehehe… Ahahaha!” Enofa burst into giggles. “What kind of story is that?! I can’t believe it!”
“Ahaha, ahahaha… Seriously? That’s what happened…?” Roin cracked a wry smile.
“Well, see…” Dad said, cracking a sardonic grin of his own. “It looks like, one way or another, this ring was fated to find its way to Enofa.”
“Ah…” Roin let out a shocked gasp. “Y-You’re right…”
“Yes, when you put it like that, it sounds lovely,” Enofa smiled. “I don’t think you can call this anything but a miracle.”
Dad gave Roin the ring. Realizing we had a bucket handy, I scooped up some water and washed the ring clean. Using the soap I made! I returned the ring to Roin and sat back down.
And then, Roin placed the ring on Enofa’s finger. They brought their foreheads together and shed tears of joy as they smiled at each other. It was a sweet, wonderful sight… I felt my heart warm up with emotion.
“Talk about a surprise, eh..?” Dad smirked, scratching his cheek. “All right, let’s get to eating. The food’s gonna get cold. I’ll have you two know a roasted bird’s hard to come by this time of the year.”
“Right! This is a feast!” I affirmed Dad’s words.
“Wh-What about the fee for all this…?”
“Well, normally it’d be ten thousand colts… But today, the Rofola Lodge is gonna cover all expenses!” Dad said with a magnanimous smile.
“Thank you!”
You’re so generous, Dad! Let’s give Enofa and Roin all of our blessings!
“All right, raise your glasses. Tina, you get juice,” Dad said, calling for a toast.
“Right!”
“Cheers!!!”
♣♣♣
“WE owe you two a lot,” Roin said.
“Thank you for everything, Tinaris,” Enofa squatted down and told me.
“Oh, not at all! I got to enjoy your music and dancing for free,” I said modestly.
“Oh, that much is nothing.” Enofa shook her head.
“It really isn’t,” Roin agreed. “And I had to show you my skill as a minstrel.”
The next day, the newly betrothed couple announced they’d be returning to their troupe to break the news to their friends. Each country in this world managed its own census. When it came to travelers like them or an inn like ours, which wasn’t part of any country in particular, there were no specific rules or processes when it came to marriage. That said, each country worshipped its own gods, so people tended to marry according to whatever faith they followed.
“Oh, and uh, this is a gift… Use it if you’d like,” I said, handing them a few pieces of soap.
“Oh, soap!” Enofa said.
“Thank you. You really gave us so much…” Roin said gratefully.
And you weren’t reserved about taking any of it! But it’s fine; you’re celebrating.
I warned Roin, telling him not to accidentally eat the soap, to which he insisted with a smile that he wouldn’t. It did little to curb my concerns that he would end up doing it anyway.
“I hope you two find happiness!” I waved goodbye to them.
“Yeah. Take care,” Dad said, waving beside me. “Oh, and uh, you might want to decide on a name for your kids early. Coming up with Tina’s name was really hard.”
Dad was acting like he was some kind of experienced parent compared to them. And my name was…if I recalled right, based on his favorite dancer in De Marl…?
Wait. Enofa’s a dancer too… Aaah, now I feel even closer to her for some reason…
“I-It’s still too soon for that!” Roin said, his cheeks turning rosy.
“Is it, though?” Enofa asked, a teasing smile on her lips. “We can think of it while we’re on the road. Goodbye, you two! We’ll drop in to visit next time we’re in the area!”
“You’re always welcome here!” I said.
The Rofola Lodge always welcomes its customers!
♣♣♣
“THAT was a lovely inn.”
“It really was. We definitely have to come visit here again someday.”
The young couple left the inn, walking with their arms linked on the way to De Lulua, where their troupe awaited their return. The afterglow of last night was still on their minds. A marriage proposal, followed by food and drink. A night of joy, tenderness, and love.
On Enofa’s finger was the ring. They didn’t expect to find the ring Roin lost in the belly of the fish she hooked up, but it ended up being a pleasant surprise.
“By the way, the owner told us to come up with a name for a child. What do you think might be good?” Enofa asked.
“Actually, I’ve had a couple of names in mind ever since I heard about the Twin Moons…” Roin muttered.
“Oh? What names?”
“Remember when we traveled to the east, to the demi-human continent? We ran into a tribe that called the moons René and Moné. So, if it’s a boy, we can call him René, and if it’s a girl, we can call her Moné.”
“Borrowing the moon’s names, huh? Hehe… That might be nice. A minstrel’s choice. I like it; it’s romantic!”
“Oh, and…”
Roin paused for thought. The inn’s owner said it was hard work and wasn’t “something you can do without devotion,” but he couldn’t get the last two evenings they spent out of his mind. He was raised by the troupe, so to him, the feelings he experienced in these few days were so poignant and pleasant, he couldn’t find the words to describe them. But he was sure Enofa, who had been there with him, felt the same way.
“Do you think, maybe, we could run an inn ourselves? The owner said it’s really hard, but… Yesterday and the day before… I had so much fun here.”
“I know how you feel! I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
“Really?!”
He had a feeling she felt the same way. Their faces drew closer and they smiled. They would spend those happy moments together, this time as hosts. They would stand beside others, bringing joy and smiles to them.
“We might not be as good at it as Tina and the owner were, but… Yes, I like that idea! We should talk to the troupe leader. Living on our own, leading self-sufficient lives… It sounds lovely! It won’t really be all that different from now. We’ll host and entertain people from all over the land. Managing everything will be hard, but I’m sure the two of us can do it!”
“Enofa…”
“And besides, just clinging to life was the most we could do until now. So now that we have something we both aspire to…I think we should do it. We can make our place in the world, with our own hands! Between the two of us, there’s nothing we can’t do!”
“Yeah… You’re right!”
The path the two of them chose could very well be a harsh, tumultuous one. But they’d walked down hard roads together before. So they’d be fine.
The trek to De Lulua would take them two weeks, but their stride felt lighter and quicker than ever before.
♣Can Never Let Your Guard Down
A month had gone by since Pops passed away. I…well, I knew the day would come. His illness was getting worse, and he was getting up there in years. While Tinaris was able to help with his medication, there was no cure. After we gave him a simple cremation and held a memorial service, I regained my composure more or less.
The girl I’d adopted that day, Tinaris, turned five and was growing all too quickly. And today, she’d made a lot of manure and showed it off to me.
“I made a new kind of manure!” she proudly announced.
“Thanks. Look at this, Tina. I used the manure you made last time, and the poteitos are already ready for harvest!”
“W-Wow! Already?! The manure really is good quality!”
“Yeah. Let’s try it again.”
“Yeah!”
Last year, Tina learned alchemy to create a medicine that would ease Pops’ disease. Ever since, she’d started making not just medicine but also seasonings for food, fertilizer for the fields, soap for laundry and dishes, and whetstones to improve the farming equipment. It all made life that much easier for us. We could well have reached De Marl’s standard of living.
Perishable products and ingredients like pepper weren’t available in the area, and we could only restock when a merchant caravan passed by… But still, the way things were going, Tina and I were, by and large, self-sufficient.
“Hm,” I hummed as I looked at Tina, who looked back at me questioningly.
She really has grown. And we needed to restock on perishables…like black pepper and some seasonings. We were also short on alcohol, oil, seeds, flour…and clothes. It was about time I got Tina some new threads.
“Say, Tina.” I squatted down to look her in the eye. “Aren’t those clothes getting too small for you? Why don’t we head out to Fei Lu tomorrow and buy you some new ones?”
It would take five days to get to Fei Lu by horse. We’d have to camp out. That meant the inn would have to close for a while, and we’d need to make some preparations, but not much could be done about that.
“Besides, you’ve got a stock of all those tonics you made. Why don’t we sell them for some coin?”
“O-Oh! Good idea!”
…That’s what got your attention?
With some mixed feelings as a father, I set about finishing what farming still needed to be done before we left.
♣♣♣
THE following day, I hitched the wagon to Judie and loaded it with camping equipment. I put up the “Closed For Errands” sign on the inn’s door and took all the valuables and money with us, so there’d be nothing to steal.
While buying Tina clothes is important, maybe I should also buy her a horse. It won’t be cheap, but two horses means we could carry that much more.
As I contemplated things on the road, we reached the trade country of Fei Lu within five days.
“Woooow… It’s gotten even bigger than last time!” Tina exclaimed upon seeing the streets.
“Yeah, it has.”
Fei Lu was the closest country to the demi-human continent and a center of trade and commerce. This was also where our family doctor, Doctor Rob, ran his clinic, so we came to Fei Lu quite often. But we were always surprised to see how their territory seemed to grow every time we came.
And it’s been two years for Tina… Hm?
“I’m surprised you remember what this place looked like two years ago. You were only three at the time,” I said.
“Huh?! Ah, r-really? W-Well, Fei Lu’s gotten so much bigger that even I can remember how much smaller it was before!”
“Mm. I suppose?”
I always thought it’s hard to remember things when you’re young, but Tina probably had a good memory. Which reminded me…that shifty old adventurer recommended I send Tina to study in Saikorea or the Elven Empire of Forestria. Moving to either place was an option.
Recalling that comment made me think back on the couple who got married at our inn not too long ago—Roin and Enofa. I could have left the inn in their hands. He was interested in running an inn, so I could’ve left the Rofola Lodge to him for a while until Tina finished her studies and decided on her future.
Well, if fate would have it, they might come to visit again someday. If Tina hadn’t decided on her future by then, we could discuss it some more.
But what mattered at present was our business in Fei Lu. The customs inspection wasn’t too much of a hassle. There were only traveling merchants and vagabonds in line this time, so we got in pretty smoothly.
Fei Lu had many houses under construction, so unlike De Marl, it wasn’t surrounded by tall walls. This country had knights to pr
otect it, of course, but I had to wonder if there were enough of them to go around. I relied on Fei Lu a lot for supplies, so I hoped the country would stay safe in the face of bandit attacks.
Judie suddenly neighed nervously as we entered the inspection post.
“What’s wrong, girl?” I asked.
The horse pounded her front hooves against the ground anxiously, shook her head, and snorted.
“What’s the matter, Judie?” Tina asked, looking at the horse with concern.
We stroked her neck soothingly, which did calm her, but… I drew my sword with my left hand and looked around. But the only people in sight were just merchants and travelers.
“…All right. Let’s start by buying a new horse,” I told Tina upon confirming everything seemed safe.
“Huh? But I thought we were going to sell the tonics…”
“We will, later. But first, we gotta find the right horse… If we don’t find a good horse right away, we’ll need to make a few trips to the stable.”
“But why do we need to buy a horse all of a sudden? We have Judie…”
“Well, once you get older, Judie won’t be able to support both of us. And we’ll have a lot of things to bring back too, so we may as well get another horse now.”
“Okay..?”
Tina still didn’t seem to understand what I meant. But either way, I decided we should hurry. We had a lot to buy, after all.
Our first stop was the ranch. There were a few large stables in Fei Lu’s west end, and while they mostly dealt with husbandry and dairy products, there were a few that sold horses as well. I’d bought a few horses there in the past.
Judie was a military horse bred in De Marl and was one of the farewell gifts I’d received when I left the knighthood. She was a proud horse who wasn’t attached to anyone else, so they might’ve decided to pawn her off on me since she was too much of a pain for them to handle…
To that end, she was a proud girl with a bit of a wild, stubborn streak. But, to put it another way, she was earnest and dependable. If only Kelt, my ex-wife, was as tolerant as Judie, I’d have been much better off… But no. It was my fault for neglecting Kelt. She didn’t do anything wrong. Trying to shift the blame to her would be wrong of me.