by Ennki Hakari
Ariane spoke up again. “Villiers Fim, I would like your permission to partake in the power of the spring near the Lord Crown.”
As long as you don’t plan to mess up my forest, you need not ask my permission for such things. Do as you please.
Ariane smiled. “Thank you. In that case…”
Just as Ariane was about to stand up, Villiers Fim seemed to remember something. Actually, wait! While my actions, admittedly, have been somewhat careless, you are not all blameless, either. If you truly are sorry, well…
The Dragon Lord’s long, swooping tail twitched slightly, like that of a small, nervous animal. The sight was hardly cute, however.
Ariane frowned. “Villiers Fim, what would you like us to do to show our sincerity?”
Well, I… You see… Umm… Someone named Felfi Visrotte lives in your forest. Well, I believe so, at least. I would like you to request an audience on my behalf. The Dragon Lord’s front claws glowed as he brought them together slowly.
“Do you know this Felfi Visrotte, Ariane?” I asked.
Ariane hesitated, her gaze still fixed on the Dragon Lord. She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye and responded in a low voice. “Felfi Visrotte is a Guardian Dragon who lives within the Columbia Mountains at the center of the Great Canada Forest.”
The name of the mountain range brought to mind the delightful scent of roasted Colombian coffee, but I had the feeling it probably referred to the Canadian Columbia Mountains, to go along with the “Canada” and “Maple” naming pattern.
I recalled Ariane mentioning Guardian Dragons before. Relatively few elves lived in the forest’s depths, but if powerful protectors like Villiers Fim lived with them, I could see how they kept the overwhelming number of humans at bay.
I took another look at our surroundings, awed by the sheer destruction. Humans wouldn’t stand a chance against a Dragon Lord. Not in the slightest.
“Do you think we can fulfill Villiers Fim’s request?” I asked.
Even as the daughter of the village elder, Ariane was still just a soldier. It seemed unlikely that she’d be able to make any promises.
“Kyi?”
For some reason, Ponta also seemed curious, and looked quizzically at Ariane.
Ariane put her hand to her chin. “I don’t know if I can secure an audience for you, but my elder sister Eevin knows the Dragon Lord personally. So, at the very least, I can say that your message will be heard. How is that?”
Despite his reptilian features, excitement was clear on Villiers Fim’s face. I would be greatly honored if you would serve as an intermediary. But when you speak with Felfi Visrotte, please don’t be too pushy about my wanting to meet. I’d hate to give a bad impression. Villiers Fim looked like an overstimulated puppy as he bounced up and down, completely different from the Dragon Lord who’d just turned the plain into a wasteland.
“Well, with that settled, we’ll be on our way to the Lord Crown.”
Ariane offered thanks to the Dragon Lord and turned her attention to the mountain.
I am usually in this area, so there’s no rush on the reply.
The Dragon Lord unfurled its wings and prepared to take off.
“Wait, Dragon Lord!” Chiyome said. “I have one question I would like to ask you! Will you spare me a moment of your time?”
Villiers Fim folded his wings and craned his neck to get a closer look at Chiyome.
Ah, the little one from Hanzo’s clan. What is it that you seek? I will answer, if I am able.
“Did you know Hanzo? If so, do you know where his hideout is?”
I looked toward the torii.
Aaah, that. He had already made his home here by the time I arrived. But you will find what you seek near the spring at the top of the mountain.
Chiyome bowed her head. “Thank you.”
Villiers Fim gave a warm nod before once again unfurling his wings and leaping into the air, soaring toward the Lord Crown.
“Well, it looks like you and I are heading to the same place, Chiyome.”
“It seems so. I never thought it would work out so easily.” Chiyome turned to me and smiled. “Now that we have the Dragon Lord’s permission, we should make our way to the peak.”
“Kyiii!” Ponta cried in excitement as it wagged its tail.
A short distance away, the gray torii stood stoically at the base of the mountain.
Ariane smiled at me, although there was no warmth in her expression. “That was a pretty awful thing you did back there, leaving us behind and acting all on your own, Arc.”
There was something rather intimidating about her smile, accented by the vein bulging in her forehead. I took a few steps back. I could practically see the angry aura rising from behind her and closing in on me. I dropped to my knees and bowed my head.
“I-I’m really sorry, Ariane. I saw this structure, and just kind of got…caught up in the moment.”
There was really no good way to explain myself. Sure, I might have gotten overly excited at the sight of the torii. Nevertheless, I had to acknowledge that running off on my own, in a place I knew nothing about, was dangerous. If this had been a movie, I would almost certainly be dead.
Ariane shrugged her shoulders, looking down at me with exasperation. “You’re usually pretty coolheaded, Arc. I swear, though, sometimes you act just like a child.” She sighed.
At least it seemed as though Ariane was willing to let this go. In that way, she took after her mother, Glenys. Still, when she got angry, the look in her eyes was terrifying.
Chiyome butted in, cheeks flushed. “I admit, what you did back there was impressive, Arc. I’m amazed you could stand up to the Dragon Lord like that.” She looked at me with pure admiration.
“Ah, um, yes,” I mumbled, feeling embarrassed under her gaze. “Well, I was pretty much fighting at my limit.”
I wasn’t being modest, either. I’d barely held my own against the Dragon Lord. Not to brag or anything, but most of the skills at my disposal were on the level of weapons in an international arms race. So, the sight of me going toe-to-toe with someone even more powerful must have been nothing short of unbelievable.
“The Dragon Lord whom Villiers Fim mentioned, Ariane…is he equally powerful?”
Ariane scrunched her face into a frown. “I’ve heard that Felfi Visrotte is one of the strongest Dragon Lords, if not the strongest. But I think Villiers Fim might have another reason for wanting an audience.”
“Oh? Do you think he’s scheming something?”
Judging by how happy the Dragon Lord looked earlier, I had a hard time imagining that he was planning anything underhanded.
Ariane shook her head. “Felfi Visrotte… Well, you see, Felfi Visrotte is female.”
Wanting an audience with Felfi Visrotte out of respect for the Dragon Lord’s power was one thing. But the story changed when you added attraction into the mix, if that was what was going on.
“You mentioned that you’d ask your sister to pass along the request for an audience to Felfi Visrotte. Are you okay with that, Ariane?”
A man asking a third party to serve as an intermediary to introduce him to a woman was hardly rare. However, it was also hardly rare for the woman not to return his feelings, making the situation uncomfortable for all involved.
Ariane scowled. “I mean, I didn’t promise that it would happen, so it should be fine. Still, I’ll ask my sister to do her best to convince Felfi Visrotte.”
On the surface, the Dragon Lord was a truly intimidating force. Thinking back on his childlike excitement, though, I couldn’t help but see him as an average guy with an unrequited crush.
“Well, let’s put that aside for now and head up to the spring.” Ariane brought us back to the task at hand.
We passed through the towering gray torii and marched up the moss-covered steps built into the mountainside. They’d been constructed at an easy, shallow angle, although about half of the staircase had sunk into the earth after being neglected for so long.
Densely forested tranquility stretched all around us, the only sounds rustling leaves and bird calls. We didn’t encounter any large monsters, as we had in the Furyu Mountains and Great Canada Forest. Honestly, this felt a lot like a weekend hike.
That was undoubtedly due to the Dragon Lord, who made his home on the mountain’s summit, at the Lord Crown. No monster would want to live so close to a fearsome predator.
In the branches above, I saw a family of squirrel-like creatures, watching with great interest as strange intruders—the three of us—walked by.
We chopped a path through the low-hanging branches and undergrowth, surprising several birds and other animals along the way. I could feel Ponta’s reaction through my helmet with every encounter.
We reached the outcropping at last. The trees gave way to gravel and waist-high shrubs, offering a clear view of our surroundings. In front of us towered the Lord Crown, its massive trunk almost like a wall, its countless branches stretching high into the sky, blanketing the mountain’s summit in its massive shadow. Looking up at the Lord Crown, I felt as if I might tumble backward down the slope.
“I never would have imagined a tree could grow so large.”
The trees back in the Great Canada Forest were massive in their own right, but this was on a completely different scale. The Lord Crown reminded me of a gigantic tree I saw in an anime once, wrapping itself around a certain castle in the sky.
Ariane and Chiyome gaped as well, taking in the Lord Crown’s immense size.
Chiyome spoke in a murmur, squinting against the bright sunlight. “It’s practically a mountain on top of the mountain.”
“I’ve heard that there are more like it back in Canada, but I’ve never seen them.” Ariane pulled her waterskin from her bag, took a swig, and sighed. She wiped the sweat from her amethyst brow with one arm. “Well, we’re almost at the top. We’d better hurry up!”
With that, Ariane began making her way toward the summit. Chiyome and I followed.
The stone staircase ended abruptly at another, smaller torii, similar to the one at the mountain’s base.
The outcropping was desolate, and mostly devoid of trees, although the area surrounding the torii was covered in thick foliage similar to what we’d left behind in the forest below. Only the minimal sunlight broke through the dense leaf cover.
“It looks like that’s the way to go.”
I stepped through the torii and looked around.
It appeared to have originally been built in a small depression near the mountain’s summit, although the ground had flattened over the years as the undergrowth slowly took over. Fortunately, I could still see the occasional stone step peeking through the grass. Ahead, at the end of the path, sat a building that had fallen into ruin.
I couldn’t get a sense of the building’s original shape, since the wooden roof had collapsed. The moss-covered stone still stood firm, however, suggesting a design I was very familiar with.
“That looks like a shrine.” Ariane took the words out of my mouth.
She was right. Between the torii and the design of the building, it looked almost exactly like a Shinto shrine.
A series of windows, placed at regular intervals, dotted the walls on either side of the shrine’s entrance. This particular building differed from the Shinto designs I was familiar with, since it lacked a donation box or bells of any sort. The entrance stood empty; the doors had long ago rotted.
“So, this is the shrine where Hanzo lived,” Chiyome said. “It looks a lot like the house where our village elder lives now.”
With the massive Lord Crown as its backdrop, the gentle mist floating in the air, and the silence that surrounded us, the shrine’s ruins gave off an altogether mystical feeling.
Chiyome’s nose and ears suddenly perked up. She spoke up in a low voice. “I’m catching the scent and sound of water. But there’s something different about it.”
“Kyii!” Ponta cried out in agreement.
Since I didn’t even have a nose, I instead listened carefully and focused. Just as Chiyome said, I could hear water flowing. “Is that the spring?”
“It sounds like it’s…that way.”
Chiyome led Ariane and I past the shrine, down a stone path. We followed in silence. Behind the building, we met a most unexpected scene.
Warm water burbled from a rocky outcropping, steam roiling into the air. The water snaked down through a groove in the rock face, then accumulated in a stone-lined pool built into the ground below. Excess water poured over the sides of the pool, forming a small waterfall that ran down the cliff.
“Is that warm water?” Ariane’s pointed ears perked up.
Chiyome seemed surprised as well. A look of excitement captured her face. “It’s an outdoor bath, and a pretty large one, at that.”
She was right—the bath was around the size of two twenty-five-meter pools placed side-by-side.
The stone basin resembled a large bath at an old-fashioned Japanese inn, although moss covered the rocks surrounding it, due to the moisture rising from the water. Trees and other plant life grew close around the perimeter.
“I guess even springs can be heated,” I said. “But is this really the one we’re looking for?”
Ariane dipped her hands into the water. “Seems like it.”
“Kyii! Kyiiiiii!” Ponta, excited by the sight of the spring, hopped down from my head and ran to the bath’s edge. It leaned over and lapped at the water, its nose and chin touching the surface. Satisfied, it sat back and batted at its wet fur with its paws, cleaning itself.
Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that the spring we were looking for would be a hot spring. This was quite fortuitous.
I took off my armored gauntlet and stuck my hand into the water.
I felt its warmth seep into my bones. A few moments later, I pulled my hand out to find it covered in flesh, just like the time I’d used Uncurse on myself. Unlike that time, however, I didn’t feel any strange sensation.
“Whoa! It…it looks like it’s working.”
Chiyome and Ariane stared in disbelief at the fleshy hand at the end of my bony arm.
Ariane spoke in a low voice. “It really can bring your physical body back.”
I’d forgotten that I hadn’t actually shown them Uncurse’s effects. This was the first time they’d seen my skin. Honestly, though, it kind of looked like a horror show.
A few moments later, the flesh on my hand faded like mist, leaving nothing but bone behind. The temporary effect was exactly what had happened before. Either even the hot spring wasn’t strong enough to remove the curse permanently, or perhaps I needed to soak my entire body for the spring to have any lasting effect.
“I’m going to climb in. Maybe that will cure me.”
I took off my helmet and set it down on a large rock next to the water, then piled my rucksack and the rest of my gear alongside. To be honest, at that moment, I just wanted to soak my bones in an outdoor bath, surrounded by a beautiful view. Whether or not the water cured me was of secondary importance.
As soon as I removed my upper armor, a chill ran through me.
“H-hey, don’t just strip down in front of us!” Ariane objected loudly from behind me.
I turned to meet her gaze. Her purple ears flushed red.
“I never would’ve guessed you’d get excited over the sight of a skeleton.”
Ariane’s fist hit me in the rib. She didn’t take to teasing all that well.
“C’mon, Chiyome. Let’s go check out the building while Arc here soaks in his precious hot spring.”
With that, Ariane stormed off toward the ruined shrine, gesturing for Chiyome to follow.
“See you later, Arc.” Chiyome bowed her head and ran to catch up with Ariane.
I turned my attention back to the bath, rubbing my bruised rib. Ponta waited patiently, sitting on its haunches and wagging its tail as it looked at me.
“Oh, you want to join me, Ponta?”
Ponta gave a vig
orous wag in response. “Kyii!”
I scratched under its chin.
Already feeling a bit better, I removed the rest of my armor and made my way to the edge of the water, standing there in all my skeletal glory.
I wondered for a moment about proper bathing etiquette, and whether I should wash myself off first. However, there were no buckets in sight, and no other people in this hidden mountain paradise to object.
There was only one thing left for me—and my animal companion—to do.
We shouted and dove in.
“Yeah!”
“Kyiiiiiiii!”
I hit the water with a tremendous splash, popping my head out a moment later, giving it a shake, and scrubbing my face. Having such a glamorous bath all to myself was simply magnificent. Ponta doggy-paddled back and forth across the spring.
“Fwaah! I never would’ve guessed there was a hot spring on this mountain,” I blurted out to no one in particular.
I looked down at my arm and saw muscle-bound flesh instead of bones. I ran my eyes over my entire body—it was much more muscular than it had been back in the real world. I cocked my head.
“Huh?”
I’d been a skeleton ever since arriving in this world, so there was really no reason for my muscles to have developed.
I wiped water from my eyes and looked down at my reflection. The ripples calmed, and the surface smoothed, revealing my face.
It wasn’t my face in the real world.
I looked to be of Arab ancestry, with long, black hair, a stubbled chin, and an altogether roguish appearance. If I had to guess, I’d say I was in my mid-thirties.
However, the face looking back at me also had deep crimson eyes and long, pointy ears—both unusual in humans. I reached up and tugged one ear to make sure my eyes didn’t deceive me.
“Is this…?”
I stared at my face for a long moment before I finally realized why it looked so familiar. It all came flooding back, like a sudden downpour washing through a muddy stream.
“Gwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!”
Immense pain tore through my head, a relentless storm of dark emotions: anger toward the bandits who’d roughed up those women, hatred for the slave traders, fear of the vicious monsters, regret and disgust at the human lives I’d taken, and homesickness.