by Funa
“Well done on spotting Miss Kaoru! I’ll be sure to reward those guards at the border for their efforts. When should we be expecting her to arrive at the capital?”
It was evening when, in the audience chamber of the royal palace, the king and his son, crown prince Fernand, were all smiles after hearing the news. The messenger who brought it, though, didn’t seem quite as ecstatic.
“I’m not so sure about that, Your Majesty...”
“Hm? They’re using one of the carriages we had stationed all around the border, no? So I’m sure you must be able to at least make an estimate depending on when they set off, correct?”
“W-Well...it appears Miss Kaoru and her group didn’t use the carriage we prepared, and instead chose to continue on using their own horses...” the messenger answered hesitantly.
“Well now! They may have preferred their own trusty steeds over a carriage, I suppose. There are those who prefer to put their own horses over any others, so I suppose there’s nothing to be done about that... Then what time should we expect them to arrive?”
“They passed by me fairly quickly after I first set off, and I haven’t seen them since, Your Majesty...”
“Wh-What was that?!”
“They shouldn’t be able to keep that pace up all the way to the capital. Their horses would collapse from exhaustion in no time at all. That’s why I assume they must have either strayed from the main road to rest, or they pushed their horses too far and now their journey is at a standstill. Since I don’t know which scenario they’re in right now, it’s a little difficult to predict when they will arrive...”
“A-hah, I see. So that’s what you meant.” The king looked relieved to hear that and sat himself back down after being on the edge of his seat just moments before.
Fernand, on the other hand, looked anything but at ease.
“Did you consider the fact that Kaoru is almost definitely carrying all manner of healing potions?” he said, barging into the conversation.
““Oh...””
The king and the messenger were at a loss for words. Over the past four years or so, the so-called “Miss Kaoru researchers” of the capital had come to the conclusion that she had some sort of invisible bag that could be filled with any amount of potions she needed. There were plenty of situations where it wouldn’t make sense otherwise, the war against the Aligot Empire included, and there were even those who’d seen Kaoru pull things out of thin air.
Normally, there wouldn’t be anyone who would even think of using valuable healing potions on their horses, but this was Kaoru they were talking about. The word “normal” didn’t really apply to her.
“Gather all the soldiers you can! I want them scouring the capital for Miss Kaoru, and the rest of them to be stationed on all the roads coming into and out of Aras, now! Fernand, you head to that restaurant, just to be safe!”
Everyone who was gathered in the room scattered and rushed out in a hurry, with Fernand not even offering a reply to his father before dashing out of the audience chamber himself.
“Yeah, we had Kaoru’s big sister stop by here last night. So what?”
“Wh-What?!”
The owner of the restaurant answered brusquely after he recognized Fernand as that “Fernie” guy who’d hounded Kaoru when she still worked as a waitress. They made sure to follow Kaoru’s instructions and give him the runaround, just in case something like this happened. Still, there was one detail that didn’t escape Fernand:
If Kaoru and her sister had supposedly never met since they went their separate ways, then there was no way she would know about the restaurant.
That had to have been Kaoru herself...
“But boy were we surprised to get a customer out of the blue who looked just like Kaoru! Some of our workers even went over and starting hugging her! It really turned into quite the commotion, I tell ya.”
“Huh?”
“After everything settled down and we heard her out, that’s when we figured out she was Kaoru’s sister. Even she was surprised! She had no idea the restaurant she happened to pass by was where her little sister used to work. We all decided to throw her a welcome party last night, and it got a little crazy with all the celebrating we did.”
“...”
Right when he thought he had solid proof, it had gone up in smoke in an instant. If only Fernand had been there when it happened, then he would have known... No matter how much he regretted it now, there was no changing the fact that he hadn’t been.
“Did the sister say anything about what she was planning on doing next?”
The owner thought things over for a second before acting like they just remembered something.
“She didn’t say where she was going, but she was absolutely livid when she heard Kaoru had been hurt and chased out of the capital. Can’t say I blame her. She kept muttering things like, ’They tricked her,’ and, ‘I’ll never forgive them,’ with this terrifying look on her face. Her eyes were scary enough to make kids cry, I tell you! Just like her little sister.”
Fernand turned pale as soon as he heard those words. He had a horrible feeling he knew who the “they” and “them” Kaoru’s sister had been referring to were...
A horrible, chilling feeling...
“S-So, where is Kaoru...I-I mean, Kaoru’s big sister, now?” Fernand asked, his voice trembling slightly.
“Who knows? I think the people traveling with her must have found an inn somewhere.”
The moment he heard that, Fernand left the restaurant without saying a word of thanks.
“Tch. You may be hiding the fact you’re a prince, but to me, you’re nothing but a scumbag. Like hell I’m gonna forgive the person responsible for driving Kaoru away in the first place!” the owner spat out after the prince was gone.
Kaoru had figured Fernand would come sniffing around to try and find her, and it looked like her prediction was right on the money.
Fernand made a beeline for any inn he could find. While most people would have thought it was obvious to search the inns first, the prince was only searching at the more luxurious inns the nobility and important merchants would stay at.
It was true that at least half of Kaoru’s traveling companions were used to staying at such grand places, though. They did have a king’s brother, his fiancée (who happened to be a hero who saved her country), and a goddess with them, after all. But Kaoru would never stay at any of those inns, and she’d made sure to tell everyone as much immediately after setting off on this trip. Francette would never choose one of those fancy places to spend the night.
All this went to show how little Fernand truly knew about Kaoru, and that all his work was nothing more than wasted effort...
“So she left early this morning then?”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The search of the capital was still ongoing. According to the soldiers sent to investigate the inns, however, it appeared Kaoru and the others had already left the capital first thing in the morning. All they’d found out was that she’d cleared out of her room, but it was safe to say they weren’t planning on staying longer if they’d already packed up their things and left. There was also a chance they didn’t like the inn they were staying at and moved on to find another one, but that was slim at best, especially since the guards had already done a sweep of every inn found in the capital as well.
“What about stationing troops along the roads to follow her?!”
“We’ve already sent word to them, Your Majesty. But it was already evening by the time we received your orders. We called an emergency assembly and split them into squads after giving them their mission. But trying to travel on a moonless night would only bring harm to the horses. That’s why it was decided they would set out first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Hrm... We’ll be a whole day behind her, but I suppose there’s nothing we can do about that...”
The king of Brancott wasn’t ready to give up just yet. Kaoru’s group had pushed themselves to
the brink just to reach the capital before the messenger, but now that they’d achieved their goal, they wouldn’t have to move as fast anymore. That was his reasoning at least.
But having returned after searching the inns, Fernand had a hunch what was going to happen... He had the awful, sneaking suspicion that she was going to slip through their fingers yet again.
“So this is the town you wanted to visit, Kaoru?”
“Yup! I only really want to poke my head in and say hi to the guild, so I doubt it’ll be that long.”
It looked like Francette had finally gotten used to acting casual around me (even though it took Belle and Emile almost no time at all). Her body may be younger, but it looked like the inside of her head was just as empty as ever... Though I shouldn’t really be talking smack about her, since I could practically feel some karma creeping up, ready to smack me right back for that.
All right, time to go inside! It was way earlier in the day now than the first time I’d come to the guild. If I didn’t come during the busier hours, only the people on the night shift would be here, which meant I’d have even less of a chance of seeing who I came here for. That was why I aimed for peak business hours, when most of the employees for the guild would have to be on duty.
Jingle, jingle.
All eyes were on me when they heard the bell above the door announce me coming in. Yup, just the same as last time. The only thing different now was that instead of going back to whatever they were doing before, they kept on staring at me.
...It was a pretty big difference, actually.
“Huh? I-Is that you, Little Miss Angel?”
Hey, it’s the guy who gave me some sausage back then! After he asked me for that massage, I was flooded with all sorts of requests that got me food and copper coins. I’ll never forget what you did for me, man!
“Thank goodness you’re all right!”
And the boar steak guy, too!
“Gene!” the scary-looking receptionist who’d taken care of me when I first got here shouted. With a silent nod, the hunter whose name she called stood up and latched the front door shut, with the other hunters getting to work shutting the windows as well.
Uhhh... What’s going on here?
Roland and Fran put their hands on the hilts of their swords, while Emile and Belle stood on either side of me. Emile had his hand on his sword as well, but Belle was still hiding the fact she was carrying a knife. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with said knife, which was when the receptionist shouted out for all to hear:
“We’re so glad to have you back at our humble guild, Miss Kaoru, friend of the Goddess. On behalf of the guild, let me offer you our most heartfelt greetings to have you here. This time, we swear to the Goddess Celestine we won’t let you be taken away by any rotten, fat cat aristocrat!”
She came out from behind her counter and knelt down before me. Now that the other hunters knew who I was, they followed suit as well.
Roland and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief and took their hands from their swords. That included Belle, whose hand had been twitching in anticipation to pull out her knife at a moment’s notice.
Back when I first began selling my potions, my lack of stock and the fact that I didn’t have proper distribution channels meant they’d only circulate domestically. When it finally began spreading outside the country, I made sure this was the first town they were shipped out to, and that the people here received a priority shipment of potions appropriate for how much a small town in the sticks with its own guild would use. I was sure those involved with distributing the potions were confused as to why some tiny, far-flung town in the middle of nowhere was getting that much before the royal capital even got any, but they weren’t about to question the creator for the miracle medicine—and for good reason, too.
As soon as the potions arrived at the guild, the staff knew exactly what the items were—and who had made them. Afterward, the members heard one piece of shocking news after the other: the war with Aligot; the ascension of the Goddess at the peace talks when it was over; Aligot’s miraculous comeback as a country; the end of the Holy Land of Rueda... And at the center of all this was a single girl.
Even though they hadn’t been able to protect the girl from being taken away, she was still trying to show how thankful she was for what they had done for her in her time of need. They’d been waiting for the day she’d return to this town just so they could show their gratitude to her—or that’s what I wanted to think, at least.
But I didn’t want people kneeling before me. I wasn’t into that sort of thing. That was why I took a different approach...
“I’m starving! Does anyone want a massage? I’d be willing to take two sausages or a fourth of a boar steak as payment!”
Everyone stared at me blankly for a moment before they caught on to what I was trying to say.
“If it’s sausages ya want, leave ‘em to me! I’m gettin’ ‘em, and I ain’t lettin’ anyone say otherwise!”
“Then I guess I got that boar steak covered. Right... Now who’s the guy who got the drink before?”
“That was Dalson, right? He’s out on a job right now, so I’ll cover for him!”
“Damn, does he have some bad timing! I bet he’s gonna be kicking himself when he hears about this...”
Laughter broke out among the guild members as they stood up, and I got to work tending to their massaging needs.
“M-Miss Kaoru, what are you doing?! Please, stop!”
Francette went back to being all formal in her rush to try and stop me, but I just ignored her. This was the first town I went to, where I got my start in this world. Everything began right here.
Before I knew it, I felt my mouth twitching. Yup, this was my smile all right... I get told to stop showing it so much since it made kids cry, though.
When I glanced up, I could see the scary receptionist lady’s lips curled back to reveal her teeth as she made some sort of horrifying expression... Oh, wait, I guess that was a smile, too, huh?
“Me next!”
“Then me after him!”
With a swift elbow strike from Fran and a pinch on the back of his hand from Belle, Roland and Emile’s cheerful remarks quickly turned into yelps of pain.
Time flies when you’re having fun, and this was no exception.
“Right, then it’s about time for me to get going.”
“I see... Feel free to come stop by again anytime,” Gilda, the receptionist, said, back to her normal self now.
The other hunters were there to see me off as well, and... Oh yeah, that’s right!
“Scary recep...er, Gilda, take this.”
Oh crap, I can’t believe I almost let that one slip out!
I pulled a small wooden box from out of my Item Box.
“What’s this?” she asked, a curious expression on her face.
“Do you understand what I mean when I say I’m leaving the country?”
She thought things over for a second before the realization set in. “Th-There won’t be any more potions going around?”
Ding ding ding, we have a winner!
“These are specially made potions with Celes’s blessing. Their quality will never deteriorate; in other words, they have no expiration date.”
Everyone’s breaths, hunters and workers alike, caught in their throats when they heard just what I’d given her.
“I-If anyone found out about these...”
It was only natural for her to be worried, and her concern was certainly not unfounded. It was all but guaranteed the nobles would come to take them for themselves. But I’d already planned ahead for just that possibility!
“Not to worry, they’ll lose any effects they have the moment they leave this building. Also, if anyone other than a pure, worthy person belonging to this guild tries to use the potions for themselves, then they’ll turn into poison.”
Despite calling it poison, it’d only give them about two or three days of cramps and
nausea. They’d wish they were dead by the end of it, though.
Of course, everyone at the guild turned pale from shock when they heard my explanation, and rightfully so.
“That’s why I think everything should be all right. So with that, good luck trying to get by, everyone.”
Gilda made like she was going to kneel again, but I stopped her by throwing my arms around her instead.
Oh no you don’t! I hate it when people do stuff like that!
“Huh...?” Gilda was taken aback by the sudden hug.
“I hate it when people do that,” I said softly to her.
“You do, huh... I guess you would, wouldn’t you?” Gilda said with a grin.
“Hehe...”
“Ahaha...”
We shared a laugh and smiled at each other. Two very horrific, unsettling smiles at that.
“Oh, Goddess, what am I looking at?!”
“They look like they’re the heads of some sinister organization or something!”
“I’m gonna have nightmares about this tonight...”
““Shut it!””
After Kaoru and the others had gone, the people gathered there ended up kneeling once more. It looked like it was going to take some more time before the closed-off guild was back to normal.
Chapter 19: A Brave New World
Our five horses continued on through the dark of night, a small, flickering blue light leading their way. I couldn’t shake the feeling that one of the baron’s lackeys would come for me if we stayed in that town, so we ended up leaving in the middle of the night. I wasn’t planning on having us keep pushing on until morning, though. We’d go just far enough to get out of the baron’s territory, then make camp in the forest or something off the main road. That way the baron wouldn’t have any authority. He didn’t stand a chance if he wanted to try and take me away by force anyway.
We had the brave and honorable brother of a king; the hero who saved her country and wielded a legendary blade; two fanatics willing to throw their lives away if it meant protecting the Goddess;, a legendary sword and knife between them all—and a goddess herself. Even if the baron mustered all the troops he had available, they wouldn’t last even a few minutes.