by Mamare Touno
“No help for that. Here, Minori.”
Minori was still giggling. Touya took her hand, and the whole group got out of the cart.
Her feet were unsteady after riding in the cart for so long, but Touya supported her. Minori’s little brother was almost too perfect.
On the night when she’d become conscious of her love for Shiroe, while she was writhing in the darkness, Touya had stayed close the entire time. She wouldn’t tell him this, but she was very proud of him.
“The horses ran away, but this is exhilarating in its own way, isn’t it!”
With a big stretch, Rundelhaus looked around. “And? Where are we, roughly?” he said.
According to Minori’s map, they seemed to be about halfway between the inn at Karube and the Wistria settlement.
However, whichever one they went to, with a horseless cart, they’d be lucky if they got there by the middle of the night. Of course, they’d be able to use Lyman’s Twin Horse Whistle again once the recast time was up, but that would take another eighteen hours. It would probably be about ten o’clock the next morning.
The five of them decided that, in that case, they should just steel themselves and camp for the night.
They worked together to move the cart to the side of the road so that their stalled group wouldn’t block the way and cause trouble for any merchants or Adventurers.
Then they began to set up camp.
Their camp was a total disaster, and that was putting it mildly.
Because Minori’s group had been clumsy, their preparations had taken much longer than they’d expected. Serara had put on New Wife’s Apron and enthusiastically made stew, but by the time it was finished, it was already completely dark.
Minori was a modern middle schooler, and to her, four o’clock—the time when the horses had run off—was nothing more than late afternoon. They’d wandered around the area looking for a suitable campsite for a little over an hour after that, and the sun had started to set before they began cooking.
They got the fire ready and pitched the tent, making mistakes as they went, and by the time they’d gotten everything into a semblance of order, it was probably around eight in the evening.
The tent Touya had eagerly set up was off balance and listed to the right, and when the five of them saw it, they laughed. Everyone’s hands were dirty with earth and grass stains, but even that was just another excuse for them to point and laugh at one another.
The stew Serara had made was watery, and even if they were being tactful, no one could have called it good. Rundelhaus fished out a string of carrot slices that were still joined at one side, and Serara was terribly ashamed and apologized over and over, but it wasn’t enough to dampen the party’s spirits.
When Minori heard the word “nature,” at best, she thought of what she’d see in a nature park. The mountain hiking course she’d walked on a school trip to Oze was as far as her imagination went. That was all the experience she had, and so she was surprised to discover that “nature” had far fewer flat areas than she’d expected.
The surface of the grassland where they were sitting was dotted with pieces of shattered concrete, and tree roots twisted under the soil. When Touya carelessly plopped down cross-legged, he sprang up with an “Ow!”
Inside the tent, things were sure to be at an angle, so even when they laid out their beds, they might not be able to sleep soundly.
Even so, the five of them smiled and ate warm stew under the starlight.
Between breaking up and passing around red bean buns from their luggage, remembering the heartless horses, stirring the bonfire so that clouds of sparks went up, and inspecting the axles of the car using Magic Lights, the five of them stayed up quite late under a night sky filled with countless stars.
As far as the beginning of a journey went, it was nothing laudable; it was awkward and clumsy. Still, it was their first long expedition.
The thought that they were the only ones for several kilometers in any direction thrilled even Minori. She felt exhilarated, happy, and anxious all at once, as if she were on the verge of flying off somewhere.
She wanted even just a little more power, so that she could catch up to her beloved Shiroe.
She was happy that she’d been able to leave on her journey to obtain it with friends.
On this spring night, all the trouble they’d encountered that day and all the mistakes they’d made spun together until they almost seemed to be blessing Minori and the others. Now, even things that would have made them hate themselves and want to go home if they’d been alone struck the group as entertaining jokes that added color to the journey.
Saying “I’m practicing!” Isuzu began to play a cute little tune. She repeated it over and over, and Minori and the others hummed along far into the night.
Only when the sky began to lighten did they regret not having gone to bed sooner.
2
Three days after their departure, Touya and the others were in the town of Southern.
As they’d planned, they’d arrived in the village just after the sun began its journey down the sky. Waving greetings at the villagers from their cart again and again, Touya’s group made for an inn that had a sign with a horse on it.
The local residents called the road Touya’s group had followed “the Highway to the West.”
To the locals, highways were the main arteries of Yamato, boasting an unprecedented amount of traffic. The villages along these highways were larger than the surrounding fishing and farming villages; they became centers of physical distribution for their areas, and from time to time, they held markets. As a result, traders came and went frequently, and it was ordinary for such towns to have inns.
Touya and the others had heard all this in advance, but after starting their journey, they had learned:
There was a reason for everything.
When they’d looked at the map, they’d thought, Why would anyone make a road that winds around like this? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to just make it go to the destination in a straight line? However, once they’d actually traveled on that road, they saw deep forests and depressions or hills that hindered the creation of a straight path. With modern construction machinery, things might have been different, but in this medieval world, it couldn’t be done.
There were reasons behind the locations of each village, too. Many elements twined together organically—the location of nearby water sources, its relationship to the highway, whether there was flat land that could be cultivated and the distance to forests and other resource-rich areas—and the villages were built in places that made you think, Yes, building here was the right choice.
Villages that were particularly convenient and whose populations had grown were likely to expand until they were proper towns. Southern had developed for all sorts of reasons—resources, geography, importance to trade, and the safety of the vicinity—and for the area, it was a comparatively large People of the Earth stronghold.
The first floor of the inn had been billed as a tavern, but it felt more like an assembly hall than a tavern or restaurant. The hearty, rustic building was enormous, and its first floor was a high-ceilinged space that was bigger than a classroom. Its floor was pieced together from brick-like blocks, and for about half of the hall, floorboards had been laid over the bricks.
The inn’s reception desk and cashier were located in one spot, and the place used a unique ordering method in which a seated, cheerful-looking elderly individual shouted out any orders for food or drink. The old man had a huge dog at his feet, and even as he dozed by the stove, he relayed customer requests to his granddaughters, who ran the tavern.
At a big table, People of the Earth with bronzed skin who looked like sailors were enjoying an early round of drinks. The menu consisted mostly of marine products… That and liquor.
Half an hour after entering the inn, Touya’s group was performing with the biggest table at their backs.
Apparently, in a People of the Earth vil
lage with very little entertainment, the thought of turning them down never occurred to their hosts, especially when they weren’t asking for much by way of compensation.
Serara played a toylike, foot-pumped porta-organ while Touya drummed on the back of a wooden crate. Isuzu and Minori played their lutes in turn alongside impromptu vocal work, sung by whoever happened to be free at the time.
Their show was more like a student exhibition than a gig, but the crowd of villagers who’d gathered in the hall looked like they genuinely enjoyed it.
The innkeeper’s granddaughters (and there were a lot of them!) carried liquor as if they’d gone mad, their faces bright red. Apparently, they racked up record sales.
The old man, who had pure white eyebrows like a goat’s, told the group, “Just for you kids, room and board are free,” and that made them even livelier. Toast after toast was called, and Isuzu in particular was mobbed by People of the Earth and showered with praise.
Touya was having too much fun: The crate had been a clothing case, and he accidentally struck it hard and broke it. Minori got mad at him for that, but even she was happy.
They’d heard that Rundelhaus was a former People of the Earth noble, and true to Touya’s mental image of a noble, he was running this banquet as if he was really enjoying it.
After all, Rundelhaus had launched the whole affair by speaking to the innkeeper: “We are a group of traveling Adventurers, and our musician says she would like to stage a single night’s performance at this inn. We won’t make a nuisance of ourselves. Could you see your way to providing us with a venue?”
After that, he’d gone up on stage first and introduced Isuzu, Touya, and the rest. When the performance began, he retreated to a corner, bright blond hair gleaming, and waved the entire time. From the look in his eyes, you’d have thought he was watching the most entertaining thing in the world.
It brought Touya to think, in the end, that Rundelhaus was a pretty amazing guy.
When Touya had to sit out from his soccer group, he hadn’t been able to cheer them on with a truly happy face like that. This time around, the thought had put a lump in his throat and had made him perform a bit forcefully. Isuzu might not notice such subtleties, but that was all right. It was fine to share this sort of respect exclusively between men.
They stayed up very late that night.
The five of them had sung all the songs they could think of, and they’d given the best performance they could.
Of course they’d squeezed in meals and breaks, but every time they’d rested, a group of People of the Earth that hadn’t been in the assembly hall earlier had come in, looking dejected, and asked whether the day’s performance had ended, and whether they’d missed it. They’d added one more song for these people, and then another, and every time they did, the show got longer and longer. By the time the old innkeeper stood up and yelled, “That’s it for today. Everyone’s tired, and there’s work to do tomorrow! Go home, g’wan!” it was already five hours past sundown.
“The girls are going to sleep now, you hear?! Rudy, you need to wrap up warm.”
“Touya, Rundelhaus, sleep well.”
“Good night, Touya and Rundelhaus.”
On that note, the three girls, who’d already changed clothes, disappeared into the room they’d been given.
Although there was no bath, the inn employees had kindly heated water for them, and the girls had used it to give themselves sponge baths and wash their hair. Touya and Rudy had just sluiced the dust off, leaving everything else for the next morning.
When they parted ways in the corridor and entered their rooms, the rooms were—as befitted an inn where traders stayed—even more trim and tidy than they’d expected. Thick, quilted coverlets decorated the plank beds, and compared to their rock-littered camps, it was heaven.
“Magic Light.”
In the midst of the light Rundelhaus summoned, the two briefly checked their luggage, which they had brought in from the cart, and then took seats on their beds.
Their throats were hoarse, bellies full, and arms leaden. All of it was due to the huge ruckus, but in their inn room, Touya and Rundelhaus savored the echoes of that happiness.
This wasn’t like the journey Touya had imagined when he thought about going to hunt Wyverns; he thought it was much better.
When the five of them worked together and journeyed across the wilderness all on their own, it was like an adventure program all by itself, but on the other hand, camping in the wilderness was much harder than he’d thought it would be. Touya didn’t want to admit it, but he was a modern kid who was used to city living, not a wild boy.
Besides, the idea of stopping at villages and performing music had been a big hit and a whole lot of fun. It had been like a festival, and being in the brightest spot in the center of it had been a heady experience.
On the bed, he stretched and groaned, but the excitement was still there, like the sound of the surf, and he doubted he’d be able to sleep.
“……Heh-heh.”
“……is…right. Uh-huh…… Yes…… Knew it!”
In the quiet room, he could hear fragments of the bright voices next door.
He couldn’t tell what they were saying, but from the tone and quality of the voices, he knew they belonged to Serara and Isuzu. Minori also seemed to be part of the conversation. He could hear soft, giggly laughter from all three of them.
“They’re quite energetic, aren’t they?” Rundelhaus quipped.
“Yeah, way too much energy.”
Rundelhaus had sounded as if he were biting back a smile, and Touya sat up, agreeing with him.
“I wonder what they’re discussing.”
“Curious, Rudy…?”
“Perish the thought. I’m not so vulgar that I would interest myself in ladies’ secrets. I merely wondered at the fact that they hadn’t yet run out of things to talk about.”
“Well, yeah, they’re girls.”
Biting back a grin, Touya responded with an answer that wasn’t an answer at all.
He thought back to when he’d been in school. When girls’ conversation grew enthusiastic, it got out of control. They could stay excited for half a day, or even a whole day, over the pattern on a pair of socks. Touya and the other boys could never understand it.
He thought Minori had a relatively calm personality for a girl, but even then, once she got going, there was nothing anyone could do. He’d once been given a description of the pudding from some shop in front of the station that went on for half a day, and he really didn’t think he could match that level of excitement.
However, from what he’d seen, even Rundelhaus seemed happy. He spoke as if the girls’ chatter puzzled him, but he was polishing his Magician’s Gauntlets with a smile on his face.
“You look pretty cheerful yourself, big bro Rudy.”
“Hm. This is, erm, because one must maintain one’s weapons.”
“Uh-huh. Guess I’ll do that, too, then.”
Touya began inspecting the leather belts of the armor he’d packed.
Right before they’d set out on their journey, the group had had a Hermit artisan look at their gear. There was no way it would have gotten damaged or broken in a few days, so any maintenance was about 20 percent caution and 80 percent for show.
It was already close to the middle of the night, no less. They were physically tired, and it wasn’t as if they had to tend to their armor now, so why were they awake?
The answer was a bit embarrassing: They didn’t really want to sleep.
It had been a magical evening.
Touya and Rundelhaus kept talking, unwilling to part with the night, as if it held jewels they hadn’t yet discovered.
They spoke about the cart, the horses, their journey. About the food, and the camping, and the battles.
Before stopping at this village, they’d come across a Wild Boar and had managed to vanquish it easily. Minori had been very cautious, but they’d heard that strong monsters didn’
t appear in the vicinity of the highway anyway, and combat in this zone didn’t seem to be a problem.
Then they talked about their companions again.
Rundelhaus, looking dejected, suddenly muttered with a sigh, “Touya, listen. Why is Mademoiselle Isuzu so pure and innocent?”
“…Is she?”
To Touya, Isuzu didn’t seem all that innocent or childlike. She wasn’t calm or intellectual, but she did act her age. She was a good friend who understood the feelings of the people around her. He could understand why Minori had become close friends with her.
“She hugs me at the drop of a hat, you know, and she tries to comb my hair.”
“Oh.”
That was true.
But it was something she did to Rundelhaus, never to Touya.
“I feel as if she may be making light of me somehow… Don’t laugh, Touya. I’m being serious.”
Trying to choke back the laughter that had welled up inside him, Touya fell over onto the bed, holding his stomach and twisting around. Wiping away the tears that had appeared at the corners of his eyes, he searched for a response. It was a tough problem. Any answer he gave would be funny.
“Uh, listen.”
“Yes?”
“It means you’re special.”
“Special?”
As Touya spoke, he was fighting back the urge to laugh. An image of Isuzu striking a powerful stance, lips compressed into a dissatisfied line, saying, “Rudy’s my henchman, so he’s special!” popped into his mind, and as a result, his abdominal muscles gave an awful spasm.
“That’s what Isuzu-sis does when she has fun being with somebody and she’s feeling happy about it.”
“Is it?”
“Yuh-huh.”
Rundelhaus folded his arms, muttering to himself. He seemed to be trying to internally come to grips with something.
“Still, I don’t think it means ‘especially pulchritudinous,’ or ‘especially godly,’ or ‘especially magnificent and mighty.’ What does she think of me? The way you Adventurers express your emotions is a bit strange.”