Where Suimei was from, this type of thing was often called a caravan. It was a group of people who banded together for the purpose of transporting goods over long distances, all while keeping themselves and their merchandise safe from bandits, looters, and the like. Multiple merchants would hire help and guards so they could all work together on their journey.
Well, it certainly resembles that, anyways.
Just from the look of it, this wasn’t anything Suimei wouldn’t have expected to see in his own world. But even so, the number of armed guards in the group was quite considerable. If anything stood out to him, it was that. But it was understandable considering the unique dangers of this world, including monsters.
Civilization here wasn’t extraordinarily advanced, meaning that just living came with inconveniences and dangers on a day to day basis. Those were only exacerbated while traveling. Without a sufficient armed force, it simply wasn’t possible to journey between cities, let alone countries. There was a single maintained road between towns that served as a highway, but there was nothing along the way that passed as lighting. Moreover, just the requisition of water and lodgings while on the road took a considerable amount of time.
Contemplating all this, Suimei gained a much better appreciation of how easy he had it in his own world. While groaning internally about how much harder it would be to get by here, Suimei walked over to a particular man in the crowd who had a fairly good physique and the demeanor of a merchant. According to the information he’d gotten from the reception desk at the guild, this man was the client who’d put in the commission for the job.
“Do you have business with me?”
“I’m from the Adventurer’s Guild, Twilight Pavilion. My name is Suimei Yakagi, and I’ve come today as requested to escort this trade corps.”
As Suimei gave his formal introduction, the man’s suspicious eyes suddenly lit up.
“Ah, my my, how polite. I’m Gallio, the one who put together this trade corps. If you’re Yakagi-dono, you’re the mage capable of using recovery magic, right? Thank you very much for taking the job and coming along. In the event anyone is injured during our journey to Kurant City, I’ll be counting on you.”
“Of course. And thank you. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
The two men shook hands and then went about their business. Gallio headed off towards the other merchants. Since they were just about to depart, as the man responsible for the operation, there were no doubt last-minute preparations that he would have to see to. As Suimei watched him walk off, he heard a familiar voice call to him from behind.
“Might... Might that be you, Suimei-kun?”
“Huh? Ah, Grakis-san.”
When Suimei turned around, he spotted the figure of someone he hadn’t at all expected to see—Lefille Grakis.
“Grakis-san, what are you doing here?”
“I’m going to be accompanying this trade corps for work.”
“Oh? I thought you weren’t going to be departing Metel for quite some time yet.”
That was the reason Suimei was surprised to see Lefille. The two of them had coincidentally lodged at the same inn during their stay in Metel, which had given them many occasions to chat together. During one such talk, Lefille had mentioned that her trip to Nelferia would be delayed for various reasons and that she wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. Yet in spite of that, here she was all dressed and ready to go on a journey. It was in complete defiance of what she’d previously told him, and she nodded in response to his question.
“Indeed, I originally thought so as well. But two days ago, a commission I took turned out to be far more profitable than expected. As such, I was able to amass funds much quicker than I had planned, and I was able to move my schedule up accordingly.”
“So you were able to take care of all the necessary expenses you spoke of already?”
“Yes, that’s all taken care of.”
With that, Lefille flashed a calm smile. During their conversations, she had mentioned that she would require funds to cover traveling expenses and the fees to start attending the Magic Institute. She had told him she was planning on staying in Metel to gather the money before making her way to the Empire. The traveling expenses were one thing, but it seemed that the Magic Institute tuition was a tidy sum. As such, Lefille had said she wasn’t expecting to be able to leave anytime soon. However, she’d managed to clear her savings goal with a single commission. It must have been quite a difficult request to be so profitable.
“...Though it’s a little impolite of me to ask, what sort of commission was it?”
“It was a monster subjugation request. Just a little further away from here, a powerful monster suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They wanted it taken care of right away. Since it was an emergency job, the reward was quite large.”
“A powerful monster?”
“About as powerful as those from the half-giant race. It was an ogre.”
“An ogre, you say?”
“Yes, that was the target of the subjugation.”
The monster Lefille mentioned was something that Suimei had heard of before, but he was incredibly interested in the details.
“You mentioned the half-giant race... Are those different from ogres?”
“Ogres? Of course. Ogres are completely different than those man-eating giants.”
“Huh...”
Suimei raised a puzzled voice. In his world, ogres were monsters of folklore that originated from the man-eating giant in the fairy tale of “Puss in Boots.” It became the general name used to describe the giants of Europe. He heard it translated that way in his head, so why was it that giants and ogres were different entities here?
“Then... what kind of monsters are they?”
“You don’t know? That’s unexpected...”
“Well, I’ve never seen one, after all.”
“I see... That’s not particularly unusual. Strictly speaking, ogres are a subspecies of giant. They aren’t as large as pure-blooded giants, but they’re still regarded as powerful monsters. They rely entirely on brute strength. It is said that a single one can bring down a small fortress.”
If they had the destructive power to take out a fortress, that meant they had to be a formidable threat in battle. Compared to the idiotic ogre who was eaten after being tricked into turning into a mouse by a cat, it seemed the ogres here were doing quite well for themselves.
“Wow... And you defeated something like that, Grakis-san?”
Suimei sighed a little in admiration. He couldn’t hide his astonishment. Based on what she’d said, the giants and ogres of this world were truly dangerous monsters. Lefille had given a very simple explanation of the matter, but she hadn’t boasted or even acted excited about defeating one. She was apparently quite formidable herself.
“Well, I wasn’t alone. Several of us grouped together to go defeat it. My own contributions were insignificant.”
She was acting quite humbly, but Suimei was having trouble taking her at her word.
“By the way, does that kind of thing appear often?”
“No, not really. There are smaller monsters, but things as serious as ogres don’t appear very often. I mean, its native environment isn’t even anywhere around here.”
That meant something must have happened to bring it here. While Suimei was pondering what the cause may have been, Lefille shared a similar opinion.
“However, I find it hard to believe it was just a coincidence. There must be a reason it showed up.”
“Uhuh...”
When Lefille said that, Suimei fell deep into thought. According to the documents he read in the castle on the ecology of monsters, there were two or three theories about what would lead to outbreaks of powerful monsters. One suggested that if a sudden phenomenon caused the deterioration of their natural habitat, monsters would abruptly spread out into other lands. The other stated that when demons were looking to establish their bloodlines, the less intelligent offspring be
came monsters with herculean strength.
In Suimei’s opinion, the second theory was the more viable one in this case. The first theory could have been coincidentally true, but the second made more sense in light of current events. Which meant...
“There are demons here.”
Suimei wasn’t sure where exactly Lefille had fought the ogre or ogre-like demon, but it wasn’t all that far from here. But, perhaps because Suimei had been mumbling, Lefille made no reply to his statement.
“Grakis-san?”
“...Ah, you may be right.”
Lefille took so long to reply that Suimei was curious about what had caught her attention. When he looked at her, she was standing there staring at a single point without moving. Her eyes, which usually had a refreshing light to them, were clouded over with a mysterious gloom. Something about their conversation had deeply affected her. Lefille must have noticed Suimei’s knitted brow, and as if lifting away a veil, her countenance suddenly returned to normal.
“It’s nothing. Please pay it no mind.”
“You don’t say...”
Surely Lefille had her own circumstances. While Suimei was pondering what those might be, he gave a simple, unconvinced reply to her insistence that nothing was wrong. She then began acting like she had something she wanted to say that was a little difficult for her to express.
“Um...”
“...?”
Her voice was nowhere near as dignified as it usually was. She even looked embarrassed, like a young girl calling out to someone timidly.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, it’s... Um...”
Lefille was acting very hesitant. When Suimei looked closely, he could see that she was lightly blushing. As Suimei tilted his head to the side and contemplated what could have possibly brought on this change, Lefille steeled and began speaking.
“U-Um, I’m sorry about this morning. On top of bumping into you, you saw me in such a disgraceful state...”
“Huh? Oh... Oh! No... I should also apologize for my carelessness. I should have been more careful coming around the corner.”
“No, it was my fault for not paying attention to my surroundings. It certainly isn’t anything you should be troubled over. I’m sorry.”
Lefille shook her head as she apologized once more. Suimei decided to ask her more about it.
“Um, did something happen?”
“That’s... Sorry.”
“No, I should be the one apologizing for asking you something so impolite. Please forget about it.”
“W-Well then... I’m going to go introduce myself to the organizer of the trade corps.”
Perhaps she wasn’t able to take the awkward tension anymore. Without waiting for a reply from Suimei, Lefille hurried off to where Gallio was.
★
Within an hour of Suimei and Lefille successfully meeting up with the group, the trade corps departed from the outskirts of Metel without any trouble. It was a promising start to Suimei’s journey. He wanted nothing more than for the rest of the trip to continue this way. Suimei’s job was to escort the trade corps all the way to Kurant City. According to his investigations beforehand, there was a good bit of ground to cover before they would reach their destination.
The distance between Metel and Kurant could be traveled in several days. In terms of the Gregorian calendar Suimei knew, it would take about a week. Metel was situated just west of the country’s midland, while Kurant lay toward the western border. All things considered, one week was actually a fairly short trip between two cities in a country of this size. But for a modern boy like Suimei, having to walk from nearly dawn to dusk was like a light punishment. As for his position in the formation, Suimei had been placed at the rear of the trade corps.
For the purpose of strengthening the forward guard, veteran guild members and trusted mercenaries of other affiliations had taken charge of the front. The other escorts who had accepted the commission, including Suimei, were put in charge of surrounding the cargo to protect it.
Lefille was also part of this group and was walking beside Suimei. Despite the awkward atmosphere from their earlier interaction, nothing was strange between them. While keeping tabs on the wagons and their surroundings, they would talk to each other and engage in idle conversation to pass the time. Since they were comrades on this job, they naturally opened their hearts to each other a little. Even now as a pleasant wind began to blow over the plain, they were still talking.
“...So what about the Goddess Alshuna?”
“The Church of Salvation teaches that she is the being who formed the heavens and earth that we live on. In all the world, there isn’t anything that surpasses her. To those who study the mystical arts, there is no higher existence.”
“I see...”
Suimei was putting together his thoughts while listening to Lefille’s explanation. Currently, Suimei was in the middle of a receiving a lesson from Lefille about the Goddess Alshuna. Suimei knew that Lefille was someone who frequented the church and took this opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the local religion, but...
That means the majority of the people of this world see the Goddess Alshuna as a supreme being. It’s a monotheistic culture...
As it was explained to him, the Goddess Alshuna was the only deity who was worshiped worldwide. The transformation of the world from pure chaos to its current state was attributed to her divine intervention. The only other existence on her level would be the evil god worshiped by the demons, but it seemed the Church of Salvation didn’t recognize their god.
“Even different races like the elves, dwarves, therianthropes, and dragonnewts all acknowledge the Goddess Alshuna.”
“Oh, of course! There are those kinds of demi-humans around, aren’t there?”
“That’s right, but... were there none where you came from?”
“No, I’m afraid not. I’ve only heard about them, and nothing more than that.”
He was glossing over the details, but Suimei wasn’t exactly lying. Races like that were extremely common in fantasy settings, so he knew what they were based on context. But even so, Suimei hadn’t seen a single one in Metel.
“Then I guess you’re in for a surprise once you reach Nelferia. It’s quite diverse there. There won’t be many elves or dragonnewts, but I hear that therianthropes are fairly common... We’ve gone a bit off topic, but did you have anything else you were curious about with regards to Alshuna?”
“No, that’s enough for now. Thank you very much. It was quite educational.”
“You’re quite welcome. It was nothing, really. But if I may ask, does the Goddess not exist in the eastern lands?”
“Hahaha, you could say that...”
Suimei ended up giving a vague answer. Lefille had specifically asked whether or not the Goddess “existed” where he was from. Much the same way the people in this world thought of the Elements as literal powers they could beseech, they regarded their Goddess as an unambiguous entity. Not only were they quite sure she existed, they thought of her in a very anthropomorphic, rather concrete way.
Lefille had fallen silent as Suimei was digesting his thoughts on religion. When he turned to look at her as she walked beside him, he conspicuously took note of what she was carrying. She was wearing the same light armor as when he first met her in addition to a reasonably-sized backpack that wouldn’t be unwieldy for a girl of her stature. But on her back, she was carrying something rather curious and eye-catching.
“What’s the matter, Suimei-kun?”
“Nothing much. I was just thinking that the object on your back is quite large.”
“Ah, this?”
Lefille turned her head and looked over her shoulder at her back. Strapped to it was something large and wrapped in cloth. Suimei and Lefille were around the same height, but this object was easily bigger than either of them. Looking at its shape, it was likely...
“It’s caught my interest for quite a while now, but would that perhaps be
a sword?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly it.”
Lefille gave a nod. Just as Suimei had guessed, the huge object was in fact a sword—one massive enough that it looked as though it had been forged to cleave a grizzly bear in two. Calling it a great sword was an understatement. However, what Suimei found more astonishing was the fact that Lefille had been carrying something like that on her back all this time without showing any signs of fatigue. There wasn’t so much as a single drop of sweat on her face. Her strength was simply astonishing to him. She also used a fairly thin sword, but this made it quite clear she was capable of much, much more. How this was possible with her slim figure was a complete mystery to Suimei, even with the eyes of a magician.
“So, why did you choose that as your weapon?”
“This is something that has been passed down in my family from generation to generation. After its previous owner, my father, stepped down, I inherited it.”
“Then at first you used something else?”
“No.”
If she had inherited it from her father, that would suggest it hadn’t always been in her possession. Yet Lefille claimed that wasn’t the case. She gripped an imaginary sword in front of her and acted as if she were swinging it.
“It was drilled into me even as a child. From the very beginning, I only ever trained to use a large sword.”
“In that case, you must have quite some confidence in wielding that thing.”
“Heh... It’s because of that that my only redeeming feature is my talent with a blade.”
“I think it’s amazing. I also have some experience with swords, but even if I had the physical strength for it, I wouldn’t have the confidence to wield something like that.”
Lefille gave a self-deprecating smile as Suimei put his admiration into words. Swords weren’t something someone could use with strength alone. Certainly, all swinging and striking at something took was brute force. But when it came to actual combat ability, that was a completely different game.
On top of the strength needed to just hold the sword, wielding one required precise control of the user’s entire body. For Suimei, who was primarily a magician, that kind of feat was impossible. Lefille must have dedicated her life to learning how to use something of that size and weight to take it on as her weapon of choice. Perhaps that is why she spoke about it the way she did.
The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind! Volume 2 Page 8