Summary of the Previous Volume

On our return from Orvil, Celes informed us she might have an inkling about the origin of the Collars of Domination, which had been a major factor in the conflict in the Dura Forest, and that she would be heading back to her homeland, the demons’ isle in the north, to investigate the matter. By sheer coincidence, Karen also wanted to get in touch with the demons to negotiate for more red magic crystals, so I asked Celes to take a group of us along with her.

My initial impression of the northern isle was that it was really, really cold. But I got a fuller idea of the place when I looked up and saw auroras in the sky, which suggested it was a more whimsical place than I had been expecting. We followed Celes to her village, where she introduced us to her little sister, Mifa.

“Shiro, Shiro, Shiro. At last we meet. My enemy. The rat who stole my dear sister away from me.”

The second she laid eyes on me, Mifa declared I was her enemy, for some reason (I had no idea why). But despite her attempts to shut everyone out, she eventually became friends with Aina after spending some time with her.

Unfortunately, things started to go south as soon as a merchant from the Setting Sun merchant guild named Jilvared made an appearance in the devils’ village. Using a peculiar magic item, he caused Mifa’s body to transform into a grotesque monstrosity, then said he would only undo the transformation if Celes joined him. The situation was looking desperate, but due to my quick thinking and—perhaps more importantly—the help of my friends, we managed to save Mifa before it was too late.

It didn’t end there, however, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when Jilvared summoned the Destruction Dragon, who was basically an anti-Dramom. Luckily, he didn’t prove to be much of a match for the combined might of the Immortal Dragon and Celes, who was in an “awakened” mode after consuming some of Dramom’s flesh. The Destruction Dragon and Jilvared eventually fled the scene when it became clear they couldn’t win.

So yeah, a lot happened on our trip to the demons’ isle, but by the end of our time there, we’d managed to establish a new and improved trade agreement between Ninoritch and the village of the devils that would hopefully help both parties to thrive in the future. “All’s well that ends well,” as they say, and with all of that done and dusted, my friends and I were able to return to Ninoritch.

Chapter One: Back in Ninoritch

“Look, Mister Shiro! It’s snowing!”

“Oh, so it is. Looks like it’s the snowy season here too.”

We had just stepped out of the teleport gate in the Gigheena Forest, the woods to the east of Ninoritch. The gate was linked to an identical one on the demons’ isle, so once we activated it, we were instantly whisked back home.

Prompted by Aina, I looked up at the sky and saw snow softly falling, each flake catching the sunlight in such a way on its descent, it almost looked like the air was sparkling.

“Oh? Looks like we’re getting some snow again this year,” Karen muttered, shaking her head with a sigh.

“I’m so done with being cold, meow!” Kilpha complained as a chilly gust buffeted her.

Patty and Suama, on the other hand, seemed in good spirits. “Shiro! When the snow’s all piled up, we have to do the thing! You know what I mean! Build a snowy-man or whatever it’s called. Right, Suama?”

“Ai! A shnow-man!” the little dragon girl squealed in agreement.

Baledos the blacksmith turned to his older brother. “Eldos, let’s ’ead straight to the drinkin’ ’all when we get back to town,” he suggested.

“Aye. Gotta warm ourselves up with some booze,” Eldos agreed. The pair were already salivating at the thought of the alcohol that awaited them.

I noticed there was barely any snow on the ground. Maybe it had only just started falling. Compared to the northern isle, where the ground had been frozen solid and the cold had been so intense, I’d genuinely feared for my life, these conditions were a lot more manageable. It was just a mite nippy. Actually, if anything, I was even a little warm in the extra-thick down jacket I’d worn to the demons’ isle.

“It’s a little before noon,” I remarked, glancing at my wristwatch. “Dramom, can you take us the rest of the way to Ninoritch?”

But my question was met with silence. I looked across at Dramom and noticed she had her hands pressed firmly to her temples with a pained expression on her face, as if she had a pounding headache.

“Dramom?” I tried again.

This time, she heard me. “Master? Did you say something?” she asked, turning toward me.

“Well, I was just asking if you’d take us the rest of the way to Ninoritch, but you seem a bit out of sorts. Are you all right?” I asked with concern.

On the northern isle, she had battled the Destruction Dragon, a creature who was every bit as strong as her. Each time they’d clashed, the sheer force of their attacks had made me feel like I was watching two giant kaiju duke it out. If Celes—with her awakened new powers after taking a bite out of Dramom’s flesh—hadn’t been there, Dramom would likely have struggled to repel her draconic foe. That just showed how intense the fight had been, to put it mildly. True, she had superhuman regenerative abilities and she excelled at healing magic, but it was entirely possible she was still suffering from damage she had taken during the fight.

“I was simply lost in thought. I am fine,” she replied with a smile as if to reassure me.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I apologize for worrying you, master.”

“There’s no need to apologize,” I said. “It seems I’m the one who got the wrong idea.”

Quite a lot had happened on the demons’ isle, after all, so it was understandable if her fatigue was making her zone out a little.

“Hold on...” I’d just noticed something odd.

Celes was uncharacteristically quiet. I knew for an absolute fact she never missed an opportunity to find fault with Dramom and would always make some snide comment whenever she displayed a weakness. But this time, she hadn’t said a word.

I glanced in her direction and saw her staring at her hands, which she was opening and closing over and over, as if there were something wrong with her body. “Celes? Do you have an issue with your hands?” I asked.

“No,” she replied after a beat. “I am simply tired.”

“Well, you pushed yourself to your limits on the northern isle, so it’s not surprising. You should go soak in the hot springs and relax when we get to Ninoritch.”

“Yes, I shall do as you suggest,” she said, an impassive look on her face.

The battle with the Destruction Dragon seemed to have taken its toll on both her and Dramom.

◇◆◇◆◇

After this short exchange, Dramom changed into her dragon form and flew us back to Ninoritch. I got her to land a little way from the town, and we finished the journey on foot. After all, the townsfolk had been shocked at the sight of a dragon in their town when Dramom accidentally uncovered a hot spring with her flames while trying to dig a well, and I was sure the memory was still fresh in their minds. So to avoid giving them another fright, I always made sure to have her land somewhere out in the forest whenever we went anywhere on her back.

“Aaah, home at last,” I groaned while stretching to relieve some of the tension in my limbs, before turning to my companions. “Thanks for accompanying me on such a long trip, you guys.”

Ninoritch had become a second home to me, so it really did feel like I was coming home after twenty days away. A wave of relief washed over me as soon as I found myself walking down its familiar streets again. I’d really grown attached to this little town, hadn’t I?

“Shiro, I’m heading straight over to town hall. What about you?” Karen asked.

If it had been the evening and we were both free, I might have invited her over to mine for a drink. Unfortunately, it was still the middle of the day, and she was the mayor. Her desk was likely piled high with paperwork that had accumulated while she’d been away, and in addition to dealing with all of that, she had to make a start on the preparations for welcoming the devils who would soon be moving into the town. We hadn’t told Celes yet, but we planned on getting her little sister, Mifa, to join us in Ninoritch in the near future. Furthermore, Karen had also told me that she wanted to write to the earl of the fiefdom, Lord Bashure, as soon as possible to tell him about this mysterious Setting Sun merchant guild.

“I think I’ll return to my shop. My sisters have been looking after things for me the whole time I was away.”

“Right you are. Okay, see you, then. Say hi to your sisters for me.”

“Will do. Bet you have loads of work waiting for you. Do your best with it all,” I said, giving her a little pep talk.

“I always do. After all, I’m the mayor,” Karen said simply before heading off toward town hall.

The rest of the group decided to call it a day, with Patty, Kilpha, and the two dwarf brothers heading straight to the Fairy’s Blessing Adventurers’ Guild.

“We will also take our leave, master,” Dramom said.

“Pa-pa, bye-bye!” Suama babbled.

And with that, mother and daughter left as well. Probably in search of something to eat, the gluttons. Celes had also disappeared off to who-knows-where, so Aina and I were all that remained of our traveling party.

“Well, shall we go?” I said to the little girl.

Aina nodded with a quietly murmured “Yeah,” and the two of us headed back to my store.

“Mister Shiro?”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Do you think the snow is going to pile up?”

“Who knows? It’s not super cold right now, so it might not last. Are you hoping for lots of snow?” I asked her.

Aina flashed me a bright smile. “Yeah. I want the snow to pile up really high so we can make another snow hut.”

“A snow hut, huh? That’s a great idea. So you’d want to make one in Ninoritch too?”

“Yeah!”

On our way to the village of the devils, we’d found ourselves having to build snow huts every night in order to stave off the cold. The weather had been so horrible there, the adults of the group—me included—had hated every second of it, but it sounded like Aina felt differently. To her, sleeping huddled up all together in the snow hut had likely become a fond memory, and she was eager to re-create the experience.

“So what kind of snow hut do you want to build next?” I asked.

“Um...” She thought about it for a moment. “A really big one! Way, way, way larger than those ones we made before!”

“Sounds good to me. In that case, let’s invite Shess over and we can build a huge one together when the snow starts piling up.”

“Yeah! I wanna make a snow hut with Shess!” the little girl exclaimed delightedly.

The snow kept on falling and showed no signs of stopping. Who knows? Perhaps it really would start piling up. Over the past few years, it had snowed less and less in Tokyo, to the point where there had even been years without any snow at all. Now, you’d think I would’ve had my fill of snow after spending three weeks surrounded by it on the northern isle, but we were so busy while we were there, I hadn’t been able to just stop and enjoy the landscape whatsoever. But winter had only just started in Ninoritch.

I kinda want to sit alone with some nice booze and just watch the snow falling. Ah, then again, having hot pot with the gang sounds great too. Maybe I should introduce hotpot culture to the Fairy’s Blessing drinking hall.

Aina’s voice pulled me out of my reverie. “Mister Shiro?”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Could you hold my hand?” the little girl asked shyly, peering up at me.

“Of course.” I took the hand she was holding out toward me and gave it a squeeze. She squeezed back, and hand in hand, we made our way along the streets of Ninoritch in the falling snow.

◇◆◇◆◇

As soon as we stepped into the store, my sisters dashed out from behind the counter to greet us.

“Welcome back, bro-bro,” Shiori said in her usual carefree drawl, beaming at me.

“Oh! You’re finally back, bro!” Saori exclaimed, a defiant smirk curling her lips upward. “Oh, and welcome back to you too, Ainy!”

“I’m so happy to see you again. It’s been so long,” Shiori added.

“Hello, Miss Shiori and Miss Saori.”

The two of them really did treat Aina like she was their little sister. Saori had even started calling her by a nickname, it seemed. They immediately wrapped their arms around her for a three-way hug—Shiori to her right, Saori to her left—before ruffling the little girl’s hair from both sides.

I was about to scold the pair for being too rough, but Aina’s giggling stopped me. “That tickles!” she exclaimed gleefully. Well, she didn’t seem to hate it, so I supposed it was fine.

“Oh, yeah, you just came back from the land of the demons, didn’t you, bro? Did you meet the demon king?” Saori asked me while she and Shiori continued hugging Aina.

“Did he say something like ‘I now give thee a chance to share this world and rule half of it,’ or something?” my other sister chimed in.

“If he did, you totally have to share your half of the world with us,” Saori pointed out.

I shook my head. “As luck would have it, I didn’t meet the demon king.”

I had no wish to meet the ruler of the demons, though I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little curious about what kind of person lay behind such a grand title. The mere thought of it made my inner child tingle with excitement.

“Seriously? That sucks. You scared of him?” Saori taunted.

“No, not at all. But I wasn’t the one who had business with the demon king, you see. Celes did. I had my own reasons for going to the northern isle.”

“So you’re saying nothing happened during your trip?” Shiori asked.

Aina and I exchanged knowing glances, then silently nodded at each other.

“Oh, something did happen. Something terrible,” I said.

“What?!” she exclaimed. “What happened?”

“Wanna know?”

“I do! Saorin, you wanna hear about it too, right?” Shiori asked her sister excitedly.

“Stop trying to build up the tension and just tell us, bro!” Saori urged, seemingly running out of patience.

“So you want to know that badly, huh? Okay, fine. As a reward for looking after my shop while I was away, I’ll tell you all about my trip—”

“Bro, you’re taking way too long to get to the good part,” Saori interrupted. “Ugh, whatever. Let’s just ask Ainy instead. Hey, Ainy, tell us about your trip to the demons’ isle, will ya?”

“Huh? Who, me?” the little girl blurted out in surprise. She clearly hadn’t expected to be dragged into the conversation in this manner.

“Yeah, I wanna hear it from you, Aina,” Shiori chimed in. “Bro-bro always lays it on way too thick.”

Saori nodded. “Doesn’t he just? He’s always making everything super dramatic. And way too long.”

“Sometimes, he even makes it super-duper dramatic.”

“Oh, definitely!”

Hey, that’s slander! Although I had to concede that I did have a tendency to exaggerate events just a little when recounting them to my sisters.

“So, Aina...”

“Ainy...”

Shiori and Saori fixed their gazes on the little girl.

“Please tell us about your trip,” Shiori said.

“You’ve got to tell us about your trip!” Saori urged.

And just as you’d expect with twins, the final few words of their sentences were perfectly in sync.

◇◆◇◆◇

“And, um, yeah. That’s what happened,” Aina said, wrapping up after telling my sisters all about what had happened to us on the northern isle. She was a little out of breath by the end of it, as if her memories of events had all come rushing back to her while she was recounting the tale. I’d had to jump in with extra details during the retelling, and due to how eventful our trip had been, it took quite a long time to cover everything.

“Wow, a guild of shady merchants, huh? What do you make of it, Shiorin?” Saori asked her twin sister.

“The goal must be world domination. I bet it’s an evil organization that’s trying to take over the world,” Shiori replied.

“Those are my thoughts too. Turns out there are bad guys here too, huh?” Saori commented.

“This is a big scandal to us. After all, we’re heroes of justice,” Shiori added.

I couldn’t believe how nonchalant their reactions were to the whole thing. They were talking about the Setting Sun guild as if it were something they’d read about in an online news story, despite the fact that a member from it had triggered an epic battle where Dramom and “Awakened Mode” Celes squared off against the Destruction Dragon.

“Anyway, I think we’ve got the gist of the situation,” Saori said, nodding thoughtfully.

Your big bro is glad you understood.

“So what are you gonna do now, bro-bro?” Shiori asked me.

“What do you mean?” I said.

“Duh. This is an evil organization we’re talking about here, bro! You’re not just gonna let them do whatever they want, are you?”

Shiori nodded sagely. “Saori and I—no, the entire Amata family are heroes of justice, after all.”

My sisters looked up at me expectantly. Hold on a minute. When exactly did our family become “heroes of justice”? That said, the two of them have always been very principled.

“So what about it, bro-bro?”

“What are you gonna do?”

Their excitement must have been infectious, because Aina turned to me with a similarly eager expression on her face.

The Setting Sun merchant guild. Jilvared’s plot to assassinate the demon king.

Now that I knew about his plan, I couldn’t exactly stay on the sidelines and do nothing, could I?

“I’m gonna deal with them, of course,” I assured my sisters.

My sisters immediately voiced their approval of my decision.

“That’s my bro-bro!” Shiori chirped.

“I’d expect nothing less from our bro!” Saori added in agreement.

“For the time being, I’m thinking of going to ask a certain someone for advice. Someone I can trust, and who is very well-connected,” I said mysteriously.

Saori blinked at me. “Someone well-connected? Who are you talking about, bro?”

With a smirk curling my lips upward, I told my sisters who I had in mind.

Chapter Two: The Mysterious Adviser

Once Aina and I had finished telling my sisters about our trip to the demons’ isle, we all had lunch together, then afterward, Shiori and Saori sneakily went back to grandma’s house, since they had homework to do, and I returned to the counter in my shop, ready to play store owner again for the first time in a while. Aina seemed excited to be back doing her sales clerk duties again too. She was hard at work straightaway, neatly rearranging the items on the shelves so they were displayed in a more visually appealing manner, and even writing our top recommended products on the standing chalkboard. I had a great time chatting away with my regular customers—adventurers and townsfolk alike—and when dusk began to creep in, we closed up for the day. After that, I dropped Aina off at Shess’s place (the two of them were having a sleepover to celebrate their reunion) before making my way over to the Fairy’s Blessing.

“Oh, you came too, Shiro, meow!” Kilpha exclaimed as soon as I set foot in the building, the first to notice my arrival.

Kilpha was sitting at a table with Patty, Eldos, and Baledos. From the looks of it, she had been drinking with the dwarf brothers ever since we’d made it back to Ninoritch. Her flushed face and the way she was swaying in her chair made it quite clear that she was drunk.

“Whaddaya say, Shiro? Come ’ave a pint with us,” Eldos offered.

“Thank you, but I can’t right now. I have some things I need to take care of. But I’d love to join you later.”

“Gotcha. Come back when yer done, then. We’ll be waitin’ for ye,” he said. He seemed to have guessed where I was heading purely based on that exchange.

“Will do. See you later.”

“I’ll be waiting for you too, Shiro, meow!” Kilpha chirruped.

“Okay, Kilpha. Let’s drink together later, all right? Oh, and you’re included in that too, boss, of course,” I added, glancing at Patty.

“You’d better hurry up. That’s an order from your boss!” the little fairy chimed in.

“Yes, boss!”

With that, I headed over to the reception desk. I spotted that Emille was in charge of the leftmost station, so I lined up at the rightmost one, which was the farthest possible from hers. The line I joined was especially long, likely because it was early evening and all the adventurers who had finished up their quests had come to report in. In fact, it was so lively, no one would ever have guessed that Ninoritch was a little town out in the middle of nowhere, although between the casino, the theater, and the hot springs, we had plenty in the way of entertainment for people, and it wasn’t rare to hear about adventurers deciding to settle here after initially only coming to complete a quest.

Time passed, and the line steadily moved forward, step by step. After roughly a ten-minute wait, it was finally my turn.

“Next person, please!” the receptionist called out.

I was absolutely speechless.

“Next person, please!” she urged.

I still didn’t budge an inch.

“Mister, hurry up and come over to me,” the receptionist said in a sickly sweet voice. As always, I could almost hear the heart marks she added at the end of her sentences.

I stared at the black bunny ears in front of me in total shock. This made no sense. Up until a second ago, I could’ve sworn it was Trell who had been the one manning the counter...

“C’mon, mister. Come give me a hug to celebrate our reunion!”

...so why in the world was Emille standing before me?

Hold on a minute. Now that I’m thinking about it, something similar happened in the past, didn’t it? I turned to ask for help, only to find no one else there. Without me realizing, everyone who had been waiting behind me had switched to another line. They must have learned from experience that Emille’s interactions with me always took a while.

“Hurry uuuuup, mister,” she cooed.

This was bad. She’d already started unbuttoning her shirt, and at the rate it was going, I was about to find myself dragged off into a dark room. I needed to call for help. Luckily for me, Kilpha was nearby, although she was completely drunk, which wasn’t wholly ideal. I glanced over into the drinking hall to beg her with my eyes to come and save me, but before I could find her, Emille had climbed over the reception desk and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt.

“Hur-ry up,” Emille repeated, emphasizing each individual syllable, “and get over here!”

Someone, please help me!

“So what brings you here today, mister? A marriage proposal? An engagement? A betrothal, perhaps? Or would you rather skip straight to the wedding ceremony itself? With whom, I hear you ask? Well, with me, of course!”

She was coming on strong today—way stronger than anyone in their right mind would.

“Help me, Kil—” I tried to call out to Kilpha, but before I could even turn my head toward the drinking hall, Emille grabbed my face with both hands.

“Pah! Don’t you go thinking about that thieving cat, mister. Your eyes should be focused solely on me!” the bunny girl said, wrenching my face toward hers with such force, my neck made a scary cracking sound.

Someone, please help me. I’m going to die!

“So, mister...” Emille began, breathing erratically through her nose. “How are you going to propose to me? I’d just love a set of accessories made out of enormous diamonds.” She stared at me with greed-filled eyes.

Why in the world did she assume I was about to propose to her? Plus, her face was too close. Way too close. Every time she took a ragged breath, my bangs swayed.

“H-Hold on! Hold on, Emille!” I stammered. “You’re too close. Like, your face is even closer than usual. I’m scared!”

“Well, of course it is! How else will I kiss you?” she said slyly. “Then, I’ll make you take responsibility for stealing a kiss from me.”

“Nooooo!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “Someone, help me!”

Emille chuckled ominously. “Sometimes, a girl’s just gotta get a little rough, you know? Happiness is something you must seize with both hands, after all. And if I’m happy, you will be too. Probably.”

“Stop with your convoluted logic!” I tried to shake her arms off me, but it was to no avail. At the end of the day, she was a beastfolk, meaning a human beanpole like me couldn’t even hope to match her strength, no matter how hard I tried to break free.

The adventurers nearest to us were completely ignoring us, and Kilpha—who always came to my rescue whenever Emille managed to get her claws in me—was dead drunk. Was this checkmate? Was this the day Emille would finally succeed at dragging me into a dark room? A wave of despair washed over me, and I was on the verge of resigning myself to my fate when a familiar face appeared behind the bunny girl.

“Oh, my, Emille. Would you mind telling me what you’re doing?”

The bunny girl didn’t even glance behind her. “Huh?!” she snarled. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m about to make mister mine! Whoever you are, you’d better not get in my way!”

“I see. Well, that is a problem. If I recall correctly, you’re currently in the middle of your shift. Isn’t that right?” the voice said.

“Yup, that hard-ass of a GM is working me to the bone! But why does that even matter? Right now, I have much bigger fish to fry. Yes, that’s right! Making mister mine is way, way, waaay more important! Work is the least of my priorities right now!” Emille blurted out.

The person behind her sighed. “I see you’re neglecting your duties.”

“Woo-hoo! A little closer...” the bunny girl mumbled. “Just a liiittle closer, and mister’s lips will be mine. Then, I’ll force him to take responsibility for kissing me, and...” She trailed off and broke out into uncontrollable laughter.

“Emille, I can hear it, you know! I can hear your plan!” I cried out.

“Aw, you can read what’s in my heart? Well, of course you can! See? That means you and I are destined to be together!”

Emille’s face—her lips—drew nearer and nearer.

Crap! Five—no, three more centimeters, and—

“Stop right there.” The sharp tip of a sword appeared in front of Emille’s eyes.

“Eek!” she shrieked. “Wh-Who’s the idiot thrusting that thing at me?! It’s dangerous!”

She whipped her head to the right and glared at the owner of the sword, who just so happened to be...

“Ah, so you finally looked at me.”

...Ney Mirage, the Fairy’s Blessing guildmaster. She stood there in silence for a moment, smiling and idly tapping the flat of her sword against her palm.

Realizing that she’d been yelling at her boss this whole time, Emille flew into a total panic. “Waaah! It’s you, Miss Guildmaster! W-Were you looking for me?”

“Let me ask you this one more time: What are you doing, Emille?” Ney said.

“Eek!”

It was strange. Ney was smiling, yet her tone was icy. “Perhaps you’re not suited for reception work,” she said. “Or for guild work at all.” She hadn’t said the words out loud, but her meaning was quite clear: Cut it out, or you’re fired. “What do you think, Emille?” she asked, her grin widening.

It was obvious from Emille’s reaction that being on the receiving end of Ney’s icy smile wasn’t a pleasant experience. Her entire body was shaking, her face had gone as white as a sheet, and I could even hear her teeth chattering. How much fear had Ney instilled in her to prompt this reaction?

“You understand what I expect of you, yes?” the guildmaster continued.

“Of course!” Emille replied without missing a beat. “Allegiance to the guild, faithful service, and love!”

“What?” Ney blinked in confusion. It appeared this wasn’t the answer she’d been expecting. “Wh-What did you say? All I want is for you to do your work properly, and—”

“Allegiance to the guild, faithful service, and love!” Emille repeated, interrupting her.

“Now, wait a minute, Emille. I—”

“Allegiance to the guild, faithful service, and love!”

“Emi—”

“Allegiance to the guild, faithful service, and love!”

She kept repeating the same sentence over and over like a broken record, a crazed look on her face. It reminded me of what the toxic company I used to work for had called the “new hire induction course”: a training camp where new employees would basically get brainwashed into being obedient.

The adventurers nearby began muttering among themselves.

“That receptionist is up to no good again.”

“Look, the GM’s there too.”

“What in the world is going on?”

“Search me.”

“This guild really expects ‘allegiance and faithful service’ from their employees? What in the world are they teaching them?”

“Who knows? Turns out the GM might have a hidden side none of us knew about...”

“Well, she’s a former noble, ain’t she? For all we know, she coulda been treatin’ her employees like slaves this whole time.”

“Allegiance, faithful service, and love? It’s like she expects ’em to worship her like a goddess or something.”

“Aw, man. Pretty girls are always doing stuff like that.”

Uh-oh, this wasn’t good. Emille’s antics had caused a wave of distrust to surge through the adventurers, making them question the actions of the guild and even of Ney herself. The guildmaster must have sensed the shift in the atmosphere, for she started getting flustered.

“Allegiance to the guild, faithful service, and love!” Emille repeated again.

“A-All right, Emille. Please just go back to work,” Ney urged.

“Yes, ma’am! As I have been forced to pledge my loyalty to this guild, I have no choice but to return to my duties. Okay, who’s the next idiot in line? Hurry up and get over here!” the bunny girl said as she returned to her workstation, and I didn’t miss the satisfied smirk that flashed across her face as she turned around to start serving people.

Even Ney’s authority might not be enough to keep Emille’s inner monster in check, I reflected.

◇◆◇◆◇

“Shiro, I apologize for the behavior of our employee, Emille. As guildmaster, I’m incredibly sorry for the trouble she caused you,” Ney said, bowing deeply in her seat on a sofa opposite the one I was sitting on. We had left the reception area and relocated to her office.

“Don’t sweat it,” I said. “That’s just how she always is. Besides, I was looking for you anyway, so it’s a good thing you came over to stop her.”

In fact, requesting a meeting with Ney was the reason I’d lined up at the reception desk in the first place. Admittedly, I hadn’t expected the whole Emille fiasco, but I’d ended up where I wanted to be in the end, so it was pretty much fine in my book.

“So why were you looking for me?” Ney asked.

“There’s something I’d like to discuss with you in your role as guildmaster of the Ninoritch branch of the Fairy’s Blessing guild.”

“With me?” She gazed at me for a moment. “You seem troubled.”

“You can say that again. I assume you’re aware that I’ve just come back from the demons’ isle, yes?”

Her face tensed at the mere mention of demons. “Yes, I’d heard. As it happens, I was the one who went to the mayor originally and expressed a desire to have access to a larger supply of red magic crystals. And you accompanied her there, correct?”

I nodded. “I’ll get straight to the point, if it’s all right with you. When we were at the village of the devils, we ran into a member of an organization that’s scheming to assassinate the current demon king.”

A gasp escaped from between Ney’s lips. “D-Did you say assassinate the demon king?! Are you sure?”

“Yup. Well, the man we crossed paths with seemed fairly serious about his intentions, at least.”

This news had left Ney speechless.

“He said he was a member of an organization called the Setting Sun,” I continued.

I proceeded to fill Ney in on everything that had happened to us while on the demons’ isle, from the events in the village of the devils to meeting Jilvared, a member of a mysterious merchant guild called the Setting Sun. I also informed her about the merchants who were peddling dangerous magic items around the continent, sharing my theory that they might also be members of this clandestine guild. Last of all, I brought up how the former prime minister of Orvil had seemingly been involved with this guild. All in all, it was a lot to unpack, and it took me quite a while to get through it all.

“Well, if their plan truly is to assassinate the demon king, I’m afraid to say stopping them would be beyond my capabilities,” Ney declared gravely when I’d finished.

“Have you ever heard of this Setting Sun guild?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “Never. And if I, as a Fairy’s Blessing guildmaster, have never heard of it before, it can only mean one of two things: Either they’re a newly formed organization, or they’re so good at keeping a low profile, even headquarters hasn’t heard of them before.”

“I see. Well, based on the scale of their schemes and their future projects...”

“The latter is more likely, yes,” Ney agreed.

“That’s what I thought.” I sighed. “To be honest, I’m completely stumped. I have no idea what to do about them. But that doesn’t mean we can just—”

“...let them do whatever they want. Is that what you were about to say?” Ney said, finishing my sentence and fixing her eyes on me.

I nodded. “Precisely. Now that I know this dangerous guild exists, I can’t turn a blind eye to it.”

“You are very strong-willed for a merchant,” Ney observed.

“I’m seriously not. In fact, it’s because I’m a scaredy-cat that I refuse to just leave them at large,” I said with a smile, making light of the situation. “Besides, they know the names and faces of my friends. And mine too now.”

“In that case, I shall pretend that’s why you wish to go after them,” Ney said with a chuckle.

“Actually, that’s why I wanted to talk to you. If it’s not too much trouble, could you look into this Setting Sun guild for me?”

“Look into that guild?” she echoed.

“Yes. The Fairy’s Blessing is renowned not just throughout this kingdom, but in nearby lands too. I figured a reputation that widespread might allow you to dig up something,” I explained.

Ney paused as she considered my request. “With my connections, I might be able to find something out,” she finally said. She hailed from a noble family, and a pretty important one at that, if I remembered correctly. As such, I reasoned she must have a large network of contacts in addition to the resources that came with being the guildmaster of a branch of the Fairy’s Blessing, and it was exactly for this reason that I’d sought her out. “Yes, all right. I will do my utmost to help you figure out who it is we’re dealing with here.”

“Thank you very much.”

“I will need to make a few arrangements first, but I will set off for the headquarters of the Fairy’s Blessing in the royal capital as soon as I can. Letters might be intercepted, and they generally take a long time to reach their destination anyway, so I believe it would be best to carry out my inquiries in person.”

“Oh, might I accompany you? I wish to tell my merchant friend at the capital about this. Actually, it might even be an idea to inform Queen Anielka too. I am her royal purveyor, after all.”

Ney nodded. “Of course, though I can scarcely believe you even list royals among your contacts. You truly are incredible.”

“Nah, I just got lucky and met the right people at the right time.”

I wondered what kind of face she’d make if she ever learned Shess was in reality the first princess of the Giruam Kingdom. Part of me couldn’t resist wishing I’d get to see her reaction to finding out someday.

◇◆◇◆◇

The conversation between Ney and me continued for quite a while after that, and we were soon joined by Karen, who had wrapped up her work for the day, and Duane, a knight who was presently stationed in Ninoritch. We filled them in on our plan.

“In that case, I shall go report our findings to Lord Bashure directly as well, instead of sending a letter,” Karen declared.

“I will accompany you there, Miss Karen,” Duane offered.

“As for myself, I will see if anyone at headquarters knows anything about the Setting Sun. After that, I’ll reach out to my father’s contacts to see if they have any potential leads,” Ney said.

This meant Karen and Duane would head to Mazela, the feudal capital, while Ney would travel to the royal capital.

“Got it,” I acknowledged. “In that case, once I’ve reported to Queen Anielka, I’ll swing by Orvil to see if they’ll let me interrogate their former prime minister. I don’t think he’s been executed yet, and he might be able to tell us something about this Setting Sun guild, since he was a customer of theirs.”

“Careful, Shiro,” Duane warned me. “An important figure like him with ties to the Setting Sun means some of its members could still be lurking around the city. Stay vigilant.”

“Got it. I’ll be extra careful.”

So with our various destinations decided upon, we called it a day. Man, I only just returned to Ninoritch, and I’m leaving again already, I lamented. Calling me a “busy man” was an understatement. Then again, if I could get Dramom to agree to help me, I might just about manage to make my proposed round trip in a day. And with all the annoying planning now out of the way, I was finally able to enjoy myself by having some nice booze while admiring the snowfall. That thought cheered me up greatly, and I left Ney’s office with a spring in my step to join my friends in the drinking hall.

“Mrrreooow, you’re finally heeeere, Shiro, meooow,” drawled a clearly drunk Kilpha when she noticed me, her upper body sprawled across the table.

As I got closer, I saw that Patty was lying spread-eagle on the table and snoring her head off. Just how long had they all been drinking? Unlike the girls, Eldos and Baledos were still guffawing loudly while ordering yet more alcohol, and it was almost as if they were trying to show off how much they could drink. Talk about scary.

I’m so sorry for making you wait. I acknowledged that it was kind of my fault that Patty and Kilpha had ended up in this state, and I felt I had to make it up to them. First, I gently scooped up the little fairy and placed her in my pocket.

“Hnnn? Where’m I? Feels cramped ’n ’ere...” she mumbled as I moved her. Then, I picked Kilpha up like a newlywed bride and walked out of the guildhall.

“Shirooooo, I can walk on my own,” she protested, slurring her words.

“Yes, yes, I’m sure you can. Now, stop arguing and let me carry you home.”

Chapter Three: An Unseemly Argument

Two days after our strategy meeting at the guildhall, I received word from Ney and Karen around early afternoon saying they were ready and raring to go. Considering the high-powered nature of their roles—the mayoralty in Karen’s case, and the role of guildmaster of the town’s one and only Adventurers’ Guild in Ney’s—the fact that it had taken them a mere two days to finish up all their work and pass the baton on to whoever would be handling their duties while they were away spoke volumes about their efficiency and capabilities. The pair weren’t at the top of their respective fields for nothing.

I decided to shut up shop for the day to join them so we could discuss our next course of action, but as soon as I stepped outside, she appeared.

“Amata! Aina tells me you’re going to the royal capital. Take me with you!”

Yes, Shess—or should I say, Her Royal Highness Princess Shessfelia, to use her actual title—was on the scene. She was standing in front of my store with her hands on her hips and her loyal knight, Luza, by her side.

“You hear that, Amata?” the knight said with a chuckle. “You’re not going to refuse my lady’s demand, now, are you?”

She glanced around to ensure there was no one nearby—no Celes or Dramom, in particular—then shot me a provocative smirk. She rested her hand on the hilt of her sword to make clear what would happen if I had any thoughts of turning her mistress’s request down. I’d noticed she was a lot more assertive with me—the human embodiment of a beanpole—while seeming to lack a bit of confidence around others, but even so, I didn’t feel particularly intimidated by her thinly veiled threats. If anything, I found this other side to her quite refreshing.

“So what do you say, Amata?” Shess demanded.

I waved at her. “Hi, Shess. Sure thing. I don’t mind taking you to the capital with me. Actually, I planned to come and ask you to tag along.”

“What?” she said after a beat, a puzzled look scrunching up her face. “Really?”

“Yup,” I said, nodding. “Could you tell me exactly what Aina has said to you?”

“She didn’t elaborate. All she said was you’re off to the royal capital,” the little princess replied, her lips pursed into a pout.

Based on her reaction alone, I could tell what kind of conversation she and Aina must have had, and I was fairly certain the subject of the Setting Sun guild hadn’t been broached at all, because the little girl in the know understood just how serious the matter was. But while Aina was a smart girl, she was also a terrible liar, meaning Shess would have picked up on the fact that her friend was hiding something from her. After being apart for the past three weeks, it must have been frustrating for Shess to find out that her best friend had returned with a secret, and then when she heard Aina and I would be leaving again soon, that had likely only added to her unease, to the point where she decided she had to tag along this time.

“Oh, really? In that case, I should explain some stuff to you first.” I hummed pensively. “This might take a while. Let’s talk inside, all right?”

I let Shess and Luza into my shop and ushered them up to the second floor, where I invited them to make themselves comfortable on one of the sofas while I brewed black tea for all of us. I offered the pair some snacks, then immediately launched into a full outline of the situation like I had done at the guildhall when my audience was Ney. I told them how I was first planning to swing by the royal capital before heading over to Orvil to gather as much information as I could about this Setting Sun guild, and when I finished, I could tell how relieved Shess was just from glancing across at her, likely because she now knew Aina hadn’t been hiding things from her out of malice. Still, that was a fairly normal reaction considering Aina wasn’t just her best friend but the only friend she had who was roughly the same age as her. Besides, the two of them were nine, so it was only natural for them to experience big emotional ups and downs at their age.

“So my plan is to go to the capital and request an audience with your mother, Queen Anielka. If possible, I’d like His Majesty King Alhart to be present as well,” I said.

“You want to talk to my mother and father?” Shess queried.

“Yup. But your parents are king and queen. While I might be Queen Anielka’s royal purveyor, it’s not like I can just waltz into the palace and instantly demand an audience with her. So I’d like you to help with arranging one.”

I had originally planned to ask Shess to tag along with us only after I’d gotten confirmation from Ney that she was all ready to go, because the last time I took her somewhere with me—to the city-state of Orvil—I had been well and truly chewed out by her butlers, maids, and teachers for taking her away from Ninoritch.

“It is customary to send a letter to the royal palace requesting permission if you wish to take the princess somewhere,” they had told me.

And they had been really, really angry about it. I’d never expected to be on the receiving end of such a reprimand as an adult. Not that I didn’t understand where they were coming from. After all, it was their job to look after the princess, and I knew they were only concerned for her safety, given her title. But sending a letter to the royal palace in order to get the go-ahead to bring Shess along would have forced me to postpone my departure by several days, so I’d decided to keep everything hush-hush until the very last minute, safe in the knowledge that the little princess would agree to come with me with or without permission. And it turned out I was absolutely right on that, because she’d instantly demanded to accompany us to the royal capital the moment she learned of our plans. I knew this meant getting a real earful from her servants on our return, though.

“I get it now. Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll ask mother and father to schedule an audience with you,” she said.

“Thanks, Shess.”

“No need to thank me. We can’t let this evil organization—the Setting Sun or whatever it is they’re called—just do as they please!” she declared with a look of utmost seriousness on her face.

I noted that she was also calling the Setting Sun an “evil organization,” just like my sisters had done. Did that mean the mental capacities of my sisters were comparable to a nine-year-old’s?

“Ama’a, mm-when’re we lea’in’?” Luza asked, her cheeks bulging due to the amount of snacks she had stuffed into her mouth.

She was holding her (seventh) cup of tea in her left hand, and in her right was the empty wrapper of a Winter Lover cookie, a popular snack from the north of Japan. I then noticed the table was littered with cookie wrappers. It seemed Luza had been stuffing her face with sweets the whole time Shess and I had been talking. I briefly wondered if she even noticed the exasperated glares the little princess was shooting her way.

“If all goes to plan, I’d like to leave today,” I replied. “With Dramom as our transport, we’ll be at the royal capital in no time.”

“I shee,” Luza mumbled.

“All right,” Shess said after a short pause. She made eye contact with Luza, and the two nodded at each other—the knight throwing yet another cookie into her mouth as she did so—before the little princess turned to address me once more. “I’ll go prepare for the journey.”

“Ama’a, mm-where—gulp—where will we meet when we are ready?” Luza asked.

“We chose the Adventurers’ Guild as our meeting point,” I said. “I’ve just sent Aina out to get Dramom. Could you join us there when you’re good to go?”

Shess nodded. “All right.”

“You’d better not leave us behind, you hear? I’ll never forgive you if you do. I swear on my honor as a knight, your head will roll if you dare to depart without us,” Luza growled at me.

“Jeez, don’t you think that’s being a tad dramatic?” I said. “I won’t leave without you, so there’s no need for threats.”

She chuckled ominously. “Well, the dragon and the devil aren’t here. If I don’t take advantage of this chance to threaten you, when am I going to get another shot?”

“I take it not threatening me isn’t an option?” I ventured.

“Of course not!”

“Stop it, Luza, or I’ll cut your pay again,” Shess chimed in.

“Wha—?!” the swordswoman exclaimed with a start.

Now that’s what I call a real threat. Shess doesn’t just have the title of princess for show, huh?

“Okay, I’ll wait for you two over at the guild,” I said.

“All right. We’ll be with you soon,” Shess replied.

And with that settled, I accompanied them back downstairs to see them off, only to suddenly be stopped from leaving my shop a second time.

“Mister, we have an emergency! An emergency, I say!” Emille hollered as she barged her way into my store.

It was rare for her to come all the way here from the guild, and she did seem genuinely panicked. What could have happened? Had she finally gotten herself fired from her job after ditching her duties one time too many? Uh-oh. What should I say if she begs me to hire her to work in my shop?

“Wh-What’s the matter, Emille?” I said, my heart starting to race.

“Something terrible’s happened— Huh? Mister! What is that woman doing here?” the bunny girl said tersely, thrusting her chin toward Luza.

“Who, me?” the swordswoman replied.

Emille shot her a glare that was dripping with animosity. “Yes, you! Of course I’m talking about you!” she snarled. “Mister, what are you doing, bringing this flat-chested ho into your shop when I’m not looking?!”

“Huh? Emille, what in the world are you—”

I had been about to say, “What in the world are you talking about?” but Luza was much quicker on the draw.

“Wh-Who are you calling a ‘flat-chested ho’?!” she exclaimed.

“You, you hoebag! Are you trying to seduce mister here with your nonexistent titties? Don’t make me laugh!”

“Me? Seduce Amata? Why would I ever want to do that? Besides...” Luza’s eyes grew wide as she pointed an index finger at Emille’s chest and yelled, “Your chest is flatter than mine!”

“What?!” Emille shrieked. “In what world is my chest flat?!”

Luza scoffed. “So you were unaware? Poor girl. I can’t believe you’d go around running your mouth when you’re the one with no curves here!”

“Nuh-uh! My chest looks great when I have nothing on,” Emille pouted. “It’s just that wearing clothes makes me look more petite, that’s all. I’m in a totally different league than you with your actually flat chest! A different dimension, even!”

“Pah! Quit bluffing,” Luza said dismissively. “I’m a knight, you know. My eyes cannot be deceived so easily. Your breasts don’t budge an inch when your body moves. That’s proof they’re flat!”

“E-Excuse you! My boobs do jiggle when I move! Have you got empty holes where your eyes should be? By contrast, your breasts refuse to make even the slightest of movements! Oh, but what am I saying? You don’t have boobs capable of jiggling. I’m sorry,” Emille said in a sickly sweet tone.

“What did you just say?!”

“What’s your problem?!”

The two of them were having an unseemly argument right in front of me. A very, very unseemly one. In fact, this diss battle between guild receptionist, Emille, and Luza, a knight, had me at my wit’s end. This wasn’t even their first meeting either. They’d seen each other at the joint birthday party we’d thrown for Aina and Shess. Well, I think they had, at least. But since they hadn’t really talked to each other, either at the time or in the intervening period, I presumed the rule that states “my friends’ friends are strangers to me” still applied. In which case, it appeared that this was the day that two people who should never, ever have met finally came face-to-face with one another.

“L-Luza?” Shess called out to her knight, her confusion at the situation audible in her voice.

Thinking about it, what were Emille and Luza—two grown women—even doing, arguing in front of a child like this? And that’s even before you take into consideration how deeply inappropriate the subject of the argument was. Seriously, please don’t fight in front of a kid.

“Amata, what’s that flat-chested woman’s problem? She’s so rude! Is she your girlfriend or something?” Luza asked me.

“Please never say that again, even as a joke. I’ll die.”

“Mister, what is that stick of a woman doing in your shop, anyway?” Emille piped up. “How dare you invite another woman over when you have a girlfriend you love so much?! You’re so cruel!”

“Hm? I have a girlfriend? News to me,” I deadpanned.

“Of course you do! It’s me! I’m your dear, precious, beloved girlfriend!”

“Please cut me some slack here or I’ll die for real.”

Luza burst out laughing. “You just got rejected, you ironing board! How awkward.”

“Shut up, you ironing board!” Emille yelled back at her.

Sparks flew between the two as Emille balled up her hands into fists while Luza placed a hand on the hilt of her sword. It seemed their animosity toward each other had escalated to full-blown murderous impulses.

If only Dramom or Celes were here... I lamented inwardly. They could have resolved this situation through sheer strength alone. After all, on occasion, the mere threat of violence was the most effective way of restoring order. Too bad I was just some powerless human beanpole.

“S-Stop this, Luza!” Shess ordered.

But her knight refused to back down. “Please stand back, my lady. You shouldn’t have to subject your eyes to the sight of such a vulgar woman. I’ll chop off her head!”

“Oh, yeah? Bring it!” Emille snarled. “How stupid of you to pick a fight with me, the ‘Fairy’s Blessing’s Jewel,’ as everyone calls me! If you so much as touch me, a hundred powerful adventurers will come rushing to my aid! Go ahead! Attack me if you dare! Look, I’m right here,” she taunted, deliberately provoking Luza by pointing to her left cheek.

Hmmm... In a way, the two of them were so similar, it only made sense they wouldn’t get along.

“Amata, please! Stop Luza!” Shess pleaded with me.

“I’ll do my best.” I knew it was my duty to stop them as the only rational adult here. “All right, all right, you’ve had your fun. Quit it now, you two,” I said, stepping in between the two women.

“Don’t get in my way, Amata,” Luza snapped.

“Move, mister. I can’t punch the ironing board with you in the way.”

“Now, just hear me out a second, okay? Luza here is my guest,” I said. “We don’t have the sort of relationship you seem to think we have.”

Emille made an unconvinced “Mmph” sound in reply to this.

“Exactly, ironing board. I know I’m a beautiful woman, but my heart is already set on someone else. In fact, I’m waiting for him to propose to me,” Luza said, her cheeks reddening. Despite her sudden bashfulness, there was a hint of triumph in her tone.

I didn’t really know what she was going on about, but I could more or less guess that the “someone else” she was referring to was Duane. From where I stood, it was clear Luza had an unrequited crush on the knight, so while she was technically telling the truth—or perhaps, her truth—her love was very much one-sided.

“What?” Emille said, clearly baffled by the swordswoman’s sudden declaration of love.

This is my chance! I should use this opportunity to change the subject.

“Oh, by the way, Emille, when you first got here, you were saying something about an emergency. What’s happened?”

She gasped. “Oh, that’s right! Something terrible has happened!” she said, getting all flustered. “That crazy bitch with the big tits—Celes—has collapsed!”

“What?! Celes?” I was shocked to the core by this news. Celes was one of the demon king’s four lieutenants, yet here was Emille, claiming she’d collapsed?

But before I could ask the bunny girl for more information, Aina burst into my shop. “Mister Shiro, we have an emergency!” she cried out. Had she heard about Celes already?

The little girl looked up at me, her breathing a series of quick gasps.

“Miss Dramom has passed out!”

Chapter Four: An Unexpected Situation

“How did this happen?” I whispered, my eyes firmly fixed on the two women lying in the guild’s infirmary. Celes had collapsed in the drinking hall, while Dramom had been found unconscious out by the edge of the forest. Or at least, that was what Emille and Aina had rushed to my store to tell me.

“When I went looking for Miss Dramom, I found her lying on the ground, so I...” Aina had paused at this point, her voice full of emotion. “So I...” The little girl had been so badly shaken by the sight, she hadn’t even been able to finish her sentence.

“It’s okay, Aina,” I’d reassured her. “Thanks for coming to tell me.”

She had responded with a weak nod before taking me to where Dramom was. When I got there, I immediately picked her up and carried her to the Adventurers’ Guild. I’d told Shess and Luza to prepare for our departure to the royal capital later that same day, but under the circumstances, sticking to the original timetable would prove difficult.

“Ugh. I cannot move...” Celes groaned in pain.

“Ma-ma! Ma-ma!” Suama sobbed, snuggling up to her mother.

“I am sorry, Suama...” the dragon replied weakly.

The women were both grimacing, their faces contorted in pain.

“Master...” Dramom breathed, looking up at me. “I am really very— Ugh!” She was interrupted by a violent coughing fit, forcing her to press a hand to her mouth. Blood trickled through the gaps between her fingers.

“Ma-ma!” Suama cried out, followed quickly by Aina and myself.

“Dramom!”

“Miss Dramom!”

“Ma-ma... Ma-ma!” Tears were streaming down Suama’s face, but she didn’t stop trying to heal her mother with her magic, not even for a moment. Unfortunately, Dramom’s condition didn’t seem to be improving at all. In fact, if anything, she seemed to be getting weaker with each passing minute. All of a sudden, Celes started coughing up blood as well.

What the hell? What’s going on here?! My first thought was that they had contracted some sort of infectious disease, while my second landed on the possibility that they’d been poisoned. But could Dramom and Celes even get sick from viruses or bacteria like regular humes? Did poison even affect them? Besides, if they had caught something, why weren’t Aina, I, or anyone else who’d traveled with them to the northern isle and back showing any sign of illness? No, it was only a theory, but I felt their symptoms weren’t due to some sickness or other.

“Shiro, I’ve fetched all the adventurers able to use healing magic,” Ney said as she stepped into the room, an army of clerics following her in. “Please try using your magic on them,” she urged them, and the clerics immediately set to work.

“Thanks, Ney,” I said.

“Only thank me once these two have recovered,” she replied.

“All right,” I said after a pause.

I watched on as the clerics offered up prayers to their respective deities, then cast healing spells on the two barely conscious women. Please, please, please work, I hoped inwardly. Beside me, Aina had shut her eyes tight and was silently praying with her hands clasped together. But alas...

“Guildmaster, I’m sorry to say this, but we cannot help them,” said one of the clerics—a woman—with a shake of the head.

“Why not?” Ney asked.

“This is no illness or poison. I believe it is, um...” The cleric hesitated.

“Please speak your mind freely. It’s all right if your assessment is wrong. We won’t hold it against you,” Ney reassured her.

“Yes, ma’am. Well, I believe...” The female adventurer turned her gaze to Dramom and Celes. “I believe they have been cursed.”

◇◆◇◆◇

So the mysterious ailment that was gnawing away at Dramom and Celes was a curse? This “diagnosis” (as it were) was so far outside of my expectations, I struggled to even process it. But I might have had an idea about the origin of that curse: the Destruction Dragon. His powers were equal to Dramom’s; didn’t it make sense for him to be able to cast curses? That damn dragon... I thought. He said something like “I’ll get you next time!” as he flew off, but he’d actually already cursed them? Talk about petty.

An hour had already passed since we’d brought Dramom and Celes to the infirmary, and Suama and the clerics were still continuously casting healing spells on them. Not in an attempt to cure them of the curse—they couldn’t do that—but to prevent their condition from declining any further. The clerics told me that if their bodies became too weak to fight the curse, it could spell instant death for them.

“Shiro! I’ve collected up all the potions I could find, meow!”

“Thanks, Kilpha.”

I took one of the potions she had brought in with her, flicked open the lid, and brought it up to Celes’s lips. “Please drink this, Celes,” I said.

The devil’s breathing was labored, and what was more, her body was drenched in sweat and she kept vomiting up blood. I had never seen her looking so weak. “Sorry about that, Shiro...” she mumbled as she choked on the liquid.

“Don’t apologize. But if you really are sorry, then focus on getting better, and fast.”

I forced a smile onto my face and propped Celes up to help her drink the potion in my hand. She seemed even frailer than when I’d first walked in. The clerics were trying repeatedly to dispel the curse, but they hadn’t managed to make even the slightest bit of progress. That said, if it truly was the Destruction Dragon who’d cursed Celes and Dramom, I supposed it made sense that regular clerics wouldn’t be able to cure them. If anyone could do something about it, it would be—

The door slammed open, ripping me out of my thoughts, and my sisters, Shiori and Saori, burst into the room.

“Bro! Is it true Celes fainted?!” Saori said hurriedly.

“What happened?” Shiori drawled.

Aina followed them into the room. I was actually the one who’d sent her to go fetch them.

“Saori! Shiori-chan! I’ve been waiting for you,” I said.

“Aina said you were looking for us. But why, bro-bro?” Shiori queried.

“Do you two know where grandma is right now?”

If anyone could do something about the curse afflicting Dramom and Celes, it was grandma. And if even she couldn’t manage to cure them with her out-of-this-world powers, then there was no one else I could turn to.

“Grandma?” Saori repeated. “Uh, do you know where she is, Shiorin? She said she was going somewhere, but I don’t remember where exactly.”

My sisters exchanged glances.

“Uh, she said...” Shiori started uncertainly before suddenly remembering. “Oh, right, yeah! She said she was going to see a movie.”

“Right!” Saori jumped in, backing her up. “She went to see a movie by that random celebrity whose name I forget.”

“A movie? Talk about rotten timing,” I groaned.

My sisters nodded. “Yup, a movie,” Saori said decisively.

“Yeah. She said Mel-something directed it,” Shiori added.

“Mel-something? Oh, you mean Mel Kipson?”

“Yeah, that’s the guy.”

Mel Kipson. Grandma’s favorite actor and Hollywood royalty. Several years ago, he retired when his career was at its peak, shocking grandma so much, she not only left Japan but Earth altogether. Not to go to space or anything (she’s not an alien), but to return to Ruffaltio, the world where she was born. But then, lo and behold, Mel Kipson made his big return to the silver screen this year, though as a director instead of as an actor. Suffice to say, grandma was over the moon. She said she would be able to feel the spirit of her beloved Mel-sama in the movie, even if he didn’t actually appear in it.

The movie he’d directed was premiering that very same night, which explained why she had gone to the cinema. And actually, in a way, this was a good thing. Grandma had a knack for wandering off whenever the mood struck her, so I was relieved we could at least track her down this time.

“Do you know which movie theater she’s gone to?” I asked.

“Yup!” Shiori replied. “We’re the ones who bought her ticket, so of course we know where she is.”

“Great, Shiori-chan! Could you two go get her for me? Please!”

My two sisters exchanged glances, then nodded at each other.

“Wait right there, bro! We’ll get her here in no time!” Saori assured me.

“Yeah, we’ll be right back,” Shiori drawled in her usual carefree manner.

The pair spun on their heels and walked out of the infirmary.

◇◆◇◆◇

An hour later, my sisters were back again, but this time, with grandma in tow. Wearing a seriously ugly T-shirt, she approached Dramom while we all watched.

“Oh, gosh. Yup, that’s the Destruction Dragon’s curse if ever I’ve seen it,” she said. “It seems your battle with him had quite a sting in its tail, immortal one.”

A weak chuckle escaped Dramom’s lips. “My dear friend...” she rasped. “I did not wish for you to see me in this shameful state.”

“What are you saying?” Grandma laughed. “It’s far too late for that. Anyway, I’ve seen you as a skeleton, remember? What’s a little curse compared to that?”

“Oh, is that so?” Dramom said, a self-deprecating smile creeping across her face. It was clear from their conversation that the two knew each other.

“Grandma, can you remove the curse?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not me. I’m just a mage. Curse-lifting’s out of my area of expertise. If it were some normal curse, I could probably have figured out a way to dispel it, but this is the Destruction Dragon’s curse we’re talking about. There’s nothing I can do.”

“No...” I breathed. “Then, what... What are we supposed to do?” I could feel myself growing more and more anxious.

“Shiro. I understand your feelings, but please try to calm down,” said grandma. Despite how dire the situation seemed, she was totally placid.

“O-Okay,” I mumbled.

“The Destruction Dragon doesn’t actually control his own curse. His mere presence is enough to corrode the land and all the people living on it. Poor thing.”

“It’s still his fault both Dramom’s and Celes’s lives are in danger. Sorry, but I’m not mature enough to just nod and go, ‘Oh, is that so?’ and let him off the hook,” I shot back.

“I’m not saying you should forgive him. He’s been twisted to his core for a very long time. Still...” She paused, her gaze shifting to Dramom and Celes. “These two are truly remarkable. Any regular person hit by the Destruction Dragon’s curse would have decayed and turned to dust in seconds. I’m amazed they’ve managed to fight it off this long.” She turned back to me. “Now, while I can’t undo the Destruction Dragon’s curse, I know someone who can.”

“Seriously? Who? Where can we find them?” I asked.

“The person who can help you is...”

Everyone in the room—Aina, Kilpha, Shiori, Saori, Ney, the adventurers, and myself—stared fixedly at grandma, awaiting her next words with bated breath.

“...the sovereign of the land spirits.”

“The sovereign of the land spirits?!” Ney echoed in shock.

And she wasn’t the only one to have a reaction like that. All of the adventurers in the room stared at grandma with wide-eyed incredulity, including the female cleric from earlier, whose jaw was on the floor.

“L-Lady Immortal Witch...” Ney timidly addressed grandma.

“You can call me Alice, dearie.”

“Lady Alice, if I’m not mistaken, you’re referring to the sovereign who rules over all the spirits of the land, yes? Is it even possible to summon the sovereign here from the spirit realm?”

“Communicating with spirits is precisely the kind of task shamans excel at. All you need to do is ask a good shaman for their assistance,” grandma replied matter-of-factly.

Ney gasped again. “What?! But I’ve never heard of a shaman who can summon a spirit sovereign. Elves can sense the presence of spirits, certainly, but even they would find it difficult to summon their ruler.” She seemed utterly baffled, as if she was wondering what the hell grandma was going on about. I’d never seen such confusion on her face before.

Grandma nodded. “You’re right there. An elf probably couldn’t manage it.”

“Then, what—” Ney started to say, but my grandma interrupted her.

“Now, listen, dear. Like you say, even though elves excel at communicating with spirits, they cannot ask their rulers for help directly. There have been a few exceptions to that in the past, of course, but those elves generally had to sacrifice their lives just to borrow a fraction of a spirit sovereign’s powers.” Grandma paused, her gaze landing on me. “And I don’t imagine my grandson would wish for someone to lose their own life just so he can save his friends. Isn’t that right, Shiro?”

“Of course not,” I confirmed. “Besides, I’m positive neither Celes nor Dramom would want anyone to die for their sake.”

“Exactly. That’s what I thought,” grandma said with a nod, seemingly satisfied with my answer. “So that leaves you with two options to save these two.”

She raised the index and middle fingers on her right hand and made a peace sign. This situation isn’t exactly peaceful, grandma.

“One solution is to eliminate the cause of the curse itself: the Destruction Dragon. If he dies, the curse should disappear along with him.”

“What the...” I gasped. “Don’t be ridiculous, grandma. Celes and Dramom fought him together, and the best they could manage was to drive him off!”

“Well, yes. There are fewer than five people in the whole of Ruffaltio who can hold their own against him.”

“Then—”

She cut me off. “Then you’ll have to go with the second option, which is the one I mentioned earlier.” She folded down her middle finger so that only her index finger remained raised. “You need to summon the sovereign of the land spirits, who can lift the curse for you. Shiro, go find someone who can help you with that. A high elf should be able to borrow the sovereign’s powers.”

Hearing grandma’s words, Ney let out a hysterical cry. “Wh-What did you just say?!”

◇◆◇◆◇

High elves.

According to Ney, they were a superior race of elves that were incredibly similar to spirits, despite living in the mortal realm. For that reason, they made for much more powerful shamans than regular elves, and according to grandma, would “probably” be able to summon spirit sovereigns. In short, if we could somehow get a high elf to help us, lifting the curse on Celes and Dramom should be a piece of cake. The only issue was that no one had actually seen a high elf in decades.

An elf’s lifespan was roughly a thousand years, but high elves were said to be—believe it or not—ageless. Although that didn’t mean they were immune to death. No, no. They could die, just not of old age. Wow! Just like in fantasy novels!

For a born-and-bred Tokyoite like me, the mere existence of something like the high elves was way beyond my comprehension, but even the people of this world seemed largely unfamiliar with them. And no one—not even my grandma—knew where they lived.

“So you’re saying even you don’t know, grandma?” I mused.

“High elves tend to dislike other long-lived beings, so as I’m immortal, they probably absolutely despise me,” she explained with a chuckle.

“Hey, this is no laughing matter! Wait a minute. If they hate immortals, won’t Dramom be included in that? She is the Immortal Dragon, after all.”

“That’s certainly a possibility,” grandma replied.

“You can’t be serious,” I groaned.

“But you’re not going to give up over a little thing like that, are you?” she said, as if testing my resolve.

I grinned. “No, of course not. I’m going to find a high elf and ask them to lift the curse from Celes and Dramom.”

“That’s the spirit,” she said. “Okay, I’ll look after these two while you’re away.”

And with that, she turned to Dramom and Celes, who were both barely conscious.

“Immortal one. Young devil lady. I’m going to freeze the two of you for the time being. I hope you don’t mind,” she said.

Celes was the first to react. “You want to freeze us?” she said feebly.

“Yup, I want to freeze you. It’s the only thing I can do to prevent the curse from spreading any further.”

“Then, I suppose I do not have a choice...” Celes replied.

“Don’t worry, it’s not scary. It’s just like falling asleep.”

“Really? All right, then...” Celes exhaled weakly.

Grandma turned to Dramom next. “You don’t have any issues with it either, do you, immortal one?”

Dramom gave a weak nod of assent. “Do it...” She squeezed her daughter’s hand. “Suama... Move away from me...”

“Ma-ma... No,” the little dragon girl said firmly, refusing to let go of her mother, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

“Master... Please take care of Suama...”

“Will do.” I walked up to the little girl and crouched down so I was at her eye level. I made sure to look her in the eye as I gently took her little hand. “Everything will be all right, Suama. Come with me, okay?”

“Pa-pa...”

“Everything will be all right. Okay?”

Suama’s gaze shifted from me to Dramom, then back to me again. Wiping away her tears roughly, she all but threw herself into my arms. “Ai!”

“Everything will be all right, Suama,” I repeated. “I’ll— No, we will find a way to help your mother and Celes.”

“Ai...” She wrapped her little arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. I softly stroked her back as I held her in my arms.

“Master... Please lend me your ear...” Dramom said weakly.

“Hm? Like this, you mean?” I leaned in close so that my ear was right next to her mouth.

She muttered something only just audible, and I nodded. “Oh, I didn’t know that was an option. All right. I’ll do as you suggest.”

“Thank you...”

“You can count on me. I’ll find a high elf in no time!” I assured her.

“All right...” she replied, a look of relief settling on her face.

Still cradling Suama in my arms, I took a few steps back. Grandma had been watching us in silence, but as it looked like we were done, she smiled gently at us.

“Okay, it seems we don’t have much time, so I’d better hurry up and freeze you now. Is there anything you’d like to say before you head off to dreamland?” she asked the pair.

Celes’s gaze shifted to me. “Shiro, you are weak...” she said. “Do not push yourself too hard.”

I couldn’t help letting out a chuckle at her advice. “I see that even in these circumstances, you really know how to cut me deep, don’t you? But don’t worry about me. I know I’m weak, which is exactly why I’ll do everything I can without overdoing it. Besides, you know as well as I do that I have plenty of friends I can rely on, right?”

She huffed a laugh. “Yes... That is true...” A small smile crept across her lips, and she closed her eyes.

It was Dramom’s turn next. “Master... I apologize for not being able to accompany you this time...”

“No, no. No need for apologies. In fact, I should be the one thanking you for always being by my side. I promise to repay you in full for everything you’ve done for me, plus interest. I mean, I am a merchant, after all,” I said, attempting to lighten the mood.

It worked. Dramom chuckled slightly at my little joke. “Then, I shall await your return...” Following Celes’s example, she too closed her eyes.

“Okay, time I froze you two,” grandma declared as she pulled a glowing sword out of thin air. It was her trusty magic sword, Melkipson. It had been a while since I’d last seen it. “Sleep.” She slowly waved her sword left and right.

It only took an instant for Dramom and Celes to start levitating and for a layer of ice to begin forming around them.

“Rest easy. The next time you wake, my adorable grandson will be lifting the curse that has been cast on you.”

Perhaps they heard that, for soft smiles appeared on both their faces as ice spread over their bodies.

Chapter Five: Departure

With my plan to ride to the royal capital on Dramom’s back well and truly scotched, I needed not only to find a new means of transport to get us all there, but also to seriously revise my itinerary. First things first though, Karen and Ney had to find people who could adequately cover their duties while they were away, since the journey was going to take much longer than originally planned. Thankfully, Shess’s brilliant tutor agreed to take on some of the mayoral duties in Karen’s absence, and as for the Adventurers’ Guild, all of the staff would share Ney’s duties between them while she was out of town. Although I had to admit, I did feel a little uneasy about how enthusiastic some of them (Emille) were at the prospect. I just hoped the mischievous bunny girl wouldn’t use Ney’s absence as an excuse to do anything weird. In any case, I was glad that it seemed like the town wouldn’t be too badly impacted by the absence of Karen and Ney.

The next step was to find a new means of transport, and truth be told, I was at a bit of a loss there. It wasn’t as if I could just easily find a replacement for Dramom, after all. I voiced my concerns to Ney, who suggested we use the guild’s trump card: six-legged horses. They were apparently a type of monster that was far superior to regular horses, as they were not only three times faster, but also ten times sturdier. She provided us with four six-legged horses—two for each carriage—though she warned us in a grave tone that we should be prepared for the carriage to shake a lot, since the horses were really fast. I made a mental note to buy memory foam cushions for everyone.

The following day, we were finally ready to depart.

“Suama, I’m going now, okay?”

The little dragon girl had come to see us off, and I crouched down to give her a hug. “Ai. ’Ave a safe twip, pa-pa.” She squeezed back as hard as her little arms could manage. “Goo’ luck!”

“Thanks. I’ll do everything I can out there.”

With my arms still wrapped around the little girl, I turned to the two other people who were standing beside her.

“Shiori-chan, Saori, take good care of Suama while I’m away, you hear?”

“You can leave it to us, bro-bro,” Shiori drawled.

“In exchange, you must find that super-duper amazing elf. You got that?” Saori said. It almost sounded like a challenge, which made me chuckle.

I picked up Suama and passed her over to Shiori. “I got it. Put a little trust in your big brother, yeah?” I replied.

Last of all, it was grandma’s turn to say goodbye. “Now, listen, Shiro. While the immortal one and the devil girl are sleeping, the curse won’t progress any further, so you—”

“...don’t need to rush. Right?” I interjected, finishing her sentence. “I know, grandma. You’ve said that to me many, many times since I was a kid.”

“Yup, that’s exactly what I was about to say,” grandma said with a nod, seemingly satisfied with my answer. “I’ll stay with them the whole time you’re away, so you don’t need to worry about a thing. Just go out there and do what you’ve got to do, Shiro.”

“Gotcha. Okay, I’ll be off, then.”

“Have a safe trip, bro!” Saori called after me.

“Give it your all, bro-bro,” Shiori added.

“Will do!”

After fondly watching this exchange between me, my grandma, and my sisters, Ney finally piped up and said, “Come on, people. Climb into your respective carriages.”

So that was what we did. Karen and Duane climbed into the carriage that was going to the feudal capital, Mazela, while I walked over to the other one that was patiently waiting for its passengers.

“Think we should get in now, Aina?” I said to the little girl beside me.

“Yup,” she said with a nod, and we both climbed into the carriage.

“Hey, should I hide in Aina’s backpack?” Patty asked, following us inside.

“It’ll just be us in the carriage, so you don’t need to hide, meow,” Kilpha replied.

Shess rushed over to Aina. “Aina, let’s sit together!”

Beside her, Luza could be heard grumbling away. “Why can’t I be in the same carriage as Sir Duane?”

“Is everyone ready to leave?” Ney asked as she joined us in the carriage. The seven of us would be riding directly to the royal capital.

“Meooow.”

Make that eight. Peace, the little black kitten, would be joining us on this adventure so that we could communicate with grandma while we were out of town. He was grandma’s familiar, meaning she could see through his eyes whenever she wanted to. She wouldn’t be watching us all of the time, of course, but it was nice to know we had the option of getting advice from her if we found ourselves in a bit of a tight spot. The little kitten hopped up into the carriage and immediately curled up in Aina’s lap.

“Okay, let us depart,” Ney announced.

At her command, the coachman cracked his whip at the six-legged horses, who responded by neighing. A moment later, the carriage lurched forward, and a split second after that, the horses had reached top speed.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed. Aina also let out a little cry, while a surprised meow escaped from Peace.

“Ouchie! Th-That hurts, Kilpha!” Patty squeaked.

“Sorry, meooow!”

“Eek!”

“Don’t worry, my lady! Your Luza will— Oof!”

The carriage shook like crazy, to the point where I almost started to suspect we weren’t in a coach at all, but on some sort of rollercoaster ride at an amusement park.

“Be sure to hold on to something, everyone,” Ney advised us.

She’d clearly known how bumpy the ride was going to be, as she was the only one who had thought of grabbing one of the leather straps that dangled down from the roof and gripping it tightly as the carriage jolted its way along the road.

◇◆◇◆◇

In a way, it was a good thing the snow hadn’t piled up, despite what Aina and I had wished for. The six-legged horses were cruising along at twice the speed regular horses could manage at a gallop, which naturally meant the ride was extremely shaky.

“Mister Shiro, can I have some more of that medicine?” Aina asked, her face white as a sheet.

“The motion sickness lozenges?” I said. “Sure. Here you go.”

“Thank you.”

I handed the little girl a lozenge and also gave one to Shess, who seemed to be in an even worse state than Aina. “Here, Shess. Have one too.”

“I suppose I will,” she said after a beat.

We had been on the road for six hours by this point, and the carriage hadn’t stopped shaking for a single minute of that time. Needless to say, everyone was drained by the constant movement, save for Patty, who had decided to fly instead of sitting, and...

“Are you okay, Shiro, meow?” Kilpha asked.

“I’m hanging in there. I’ll probably change my tune once I’m out of medicine, but I’m managing for the moment. Barely.”

“Really? Well, tell me if you feel like vomiting, okay, meow? I’ll have a bucket in front of you in no time!” she said, practicing her bucket-handling skills. The constant bumping and shaking didn’t seem to be bothering her in the slightest. Maybe she had a more resilient inner ear than the rest of us? Poor Luza, for example, had puked so many times, I’d stopped counting.

“We shall take a break shortly...” Ney said, her face as pale as everyone else’s.

Seeing her like that, I understood why she must have been reluctant to suggest the usage of these six-legged horses until the very last moment. As it turned out, there were considerable downsides to the guild’s “trump card.” I was told six-legged horses were rather difficult, outright refusing to walk because they preferred to trot instead (or when the mood struck them, canter). I found myself really, really hoping they didn’t decide to go any faster. If it hadn’t been for the memory foam cushions I’d brought along, I was certain everyone’s backsides would have been sore as sore can be by this point, mine included. Had I known in advance about the severity of this uncomfortable ride, I would have hired a rental car or whatever, like how I’d brought that food truck to Ruffaltio a few months back. Then again, the roads in this world weren’t surfaced, and given the likelihood of encountering monsters or any number of other dangers while out on them, perhaps going by horse-drawn carriage was the most sensible choice. Especially since six-legged horses were apparently stronger than quite a few other monsters...

Crap. This motion sickness is sending my thoughts all over the place. The mere thought of having to endure this for several days... This journey was nothing short of hellish, and that was putting it mildly. Oh, how I missed Dramom’s back! I so wished I could have been sprawled out on her in her mighty dragon form with the others in that moment.

I’ll do everything I can to save Dramom so that I can ride on her back again, I silently vowed to myself.

◇◆◇◆◇

After a full day in that swaying carriage, we reached a fork in the road.

“Okay—gulp—Shiro. We’ll head to Mazela now. I, ugh—pant, pant—will be praying for your sa—urp—your safe travels,” Karen said, her face as white as a sheet and her hand in front of her mouth. She had nearly heaved several times while speaking but had done her utmost to somehow stop herself from retching. I’d come to expect that kind of iron willpower from the mayor of Ninoritch, but I was still impressed.

“Thanks. You be careful out there too, yeah?” I then turned to the knight beside her. “Duane, I leave Karen in your hands.”

“I’ll take good care of Miss Sankareka,” he assured me. “Shiro, I’m sure you’ll find a high elf and convince them to help you. Good luck out there.”

“Yessir. I’ll do my best.”

We bid goodbye to Karen and Duane, then resumed our journey to the royal capital.

◇◆◇◆◇

After three days of swaying and shaking, we had almost made it to the royal capital. Just one more day on the road and we’d be at our destination. The sun was moments away from setting, so we decided to make camp in a clearing in the forest. On previous nights, we had stayed at inns in towns on our route, so this was the first time we’d slept under the stars.

“All righty. I’ve pitched the tents, everyone,” I announced, wiping the sweat from my brow while admiring my handiwork.

I’d decided to bring along some two-room tents made by a popular outdoor gear brand in Japan. For those unfamiliar with this specific bit of gear, these two-room tents were basically divided into two distinct spaces: a large “living room” of sorts, and a “bedroom.” The fact that you could have a separate room without the need for an extra tarp or some other kind of additional equipment was a particular highlight of this type of tent. In this room, I’d installed a few items of folding outdoor furniture—namely, a camping table and some chairs—that had been collecting dust in my inventory, because I’d stashed them in there a while back, thinking they would be useful things to have on hand. At last, it was their time to shine.

I’d pitched two tents in total: one for the coachman, and the other for the rest of us. The middle-aged coachman had driven us all the way from Ninoritch, and as soon as I was done pitching his tent, he promptly passed out in his sleeping bag. The journey hadn’t been an easy one due to how fast the horses galloped and the fact that he needed to keep his attention focused firmly on the road the entire way, so it was no wonder he was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Thank you ever so much, Mr. Coachman. We’ll be counting on you to take us the rest of the way tomorrow as well.

“Dinner’s ready, Mister Shiro,” Aina announced.

“Thanks, Aina. Oh, wow,” I said, my eyes landing on the food. “This looks delish.”

“Thanks!” the little girl giggled.

It had been her turn to make dinner that evening, with Shess and Kilpha as her helpers. The cat-sìth had chopped up the ingredients, while Aina had taken charge of cooking and seasoning them, with Shess adding the occasional helping hand when needed. The result of all this effort was a delicious-looking stew with a creamy base made from the milk I always kept on hand in my inventory. Food never spoiled in there, so it was very convenient for storing dairy products and the like.

“Then, that means it’s dinnertime,” I announced.

The stew was served on aluminum plates with a hunk of baguette on the side, and we all thanked the girls before digging in. The meal was delicious, and eating it beneath a starry sky with all of my friends only made the experience that much better. Shess had been in high spirits from start to finish—likely since she didn’t get the opportunity to camp out very often—and after dinner, she and Aina brushed their teeth before changing into their matching sets of pajamas. The pair chatted and laughed for a short while, but they were soon fast asleep in each other’s arms. The rest of us—Team Adults—decided to turn in too, with Ney, Kilpha, and Luza taking turns standing watch. I offered to help, but Ney politely turned me down.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but we’ll be fine. Please get some rest, Shiro,” she said with a chuckle.

Standing watch was an important job, since you were basically in charge of everyone’s safety, so it wasn’t really the kind of duty you handed to an amateur like me willy-nilly. In the end, it was decided that Luza would take the first watch, then the other two would take shifts after that. Left with no other choice, I settled myself down in the tent’s “bedroom” and let myself drift off, the sandman visiting me in no time.

◇◆◇◆◇

I awoke at a weird hour, signaling to me that I was more anxious than I’d thought. Grandma had told me not to fret over the curse afflicting Celes and Dramom because it couldn’t progress as long as they were asleep, but I still couldn’t help worrying about them.

Glancing to one side, I found Aina fast asleep beside me. Shess had seemingly wrapped her arms around her at some point during the night, and the little girl next to me had a slightly pained look on her face as she slept. She had also somehow ended up clinging to my arm. On a sidenote, Patty was soundly asleep on a towel inside Aina’s backpack.

“Heave-ho.” I gently tried to free my arm from Aina’s grip without waking her, first lifting up her left arm and pulling mine out from under her—

“Mnn...” mumbled a sleepy-sounding voice. “Mister Shiro?”

Oh, crap. I’d woken her. “Sorry,” I whispered, extracting my arm from her grip.

“It’s okay,” she murmured back. “Mister Shiro, are you going outside?”

“Yeah. I’m too wide awake to sleep any longer.”

“I’ll come with you,” she said.

“Are you sure? It’ll be cold out there at this time of night,” I cautioned.

She chuckled quietly. “I’m too wide awake to sleep any longer too.”

“Okay. Then, let’s tread carefully so that we don’t wake up the others.”

“’Kay.”

Being very careful not to make too much noise, the two of us staggered out of the tent.

“Meow? What are you two doing out here, meow?” Kilpha asked, turning around with a surprised look on her face. It appeared it was her turn to stand watch, and given how it wasn’t even three in the morning yet, I could understand her bewilderment at seeing us awake.

“Good work standing watch, Kilpha. I accidentally woke Aina up,” I said.

“That’s not true,” the little girl retorted. “I just woke up at the same time as you!”

“What? No, you didn’t.”

“Did too!” she insisted with a smile. There wasn’t even a hint of fatigue on her face. Come to think of it, she’d always been a super early riser. She’d just happened to wake up extra early that morning.

“Aren’t you cold? Come warm up by the campfire, meow,” Kilpha suggested.

“Sounds delightful. We’ll take you up on that offer. Won’t we, Aina?”

The little girl nodded. “Is that all right, Miss Kilpha?”

“You’re more than welcome, meow!” Kilpha replied.

And with that, we settled down around the campfire, the crackling of the kindling helping to soothe my nerves.

“Want something to drink?” I offered.

“Oh, I do!” Kilpha exclaimed. “What do you have, meow?”

“Mister Shiro, I’d like some hot cocoa, please,” Aina said.

“Hot cocoa? Sure thing. I’ll make some for you.”

I dumped the contents of a water bottle into a pot, then placed the pot over the fire. The flames were fairly intense, so it took no time at all for the water to come to a boil. Then, once the water was bubbling away, I ripped open three packets of milky cocoa mix and emptied them into mugs that I subsequently filled up with steaming water.

“Here you go, Aina,” I said, handing her one of the mugs. “It’s hot, so be sure to blow on it before you drink it, okay?”

“Thanks!” she said before doing exactly as I’d instructed her.

“And this one’s for you, Kilpha,” I said, handing the second mug to the cat-sìth.

“It’s, um, brown,” she noted. “Is it tea, meow? It smells sweet, but it looks a bit thick.”

“Oh, right. You’ve never had hot cocoa before, have you?”

“I’ve seen Nesca drink it before, meow,” Kilpha said. “But every time I ask her to give me a sip, she says no.”

“Well, I suppose it is a kind of chocolate,” I conceded.

“And Nesca never wants to share her chocolate, meow.”

I chuckled. “So true. It’s like she turns into a completely different person when her favorite treat is involved.”

“Miss Nesca always stares at me when I’m eating chocolate,” Aina chimed in.

“I’ve noticed that too,” I agreed. “I remember this one time where I was munching away at some chocolate, and I suddenly felt someone’s eyes on me. I looked in the direction I was getting the feeling from, and there she was, lurking in the shadows, watching me.”

“Emi stole some of Nesca’s chocolate once. That went badly, meow,” Kilpha added.

After gossiping about Nesca for a bit, the three of us moved on to all sorts of stories, making sure to stay quiet, despite how excited we were getting. Kilpha got a little carried away and even started recounting some Blue Flash moments. These were all new to Aina and me, and the two of us struggled to keep our laughter in check in fear of waking the others. It even got to the point where my stomach started hurting because of how much I was laughing and trying to muffle the noise.

Looking skyward, I saw that Ruffaltio’s twin moons were full, their glow casting a bright silvery light over us.

We had just managed to calm down from all our laughing when Kilpha drew my attention. “Hey, Shiro.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Are you feeling a bit better now, meow?”

I hesitated. “Was it that obvious?” I said, a little sheepishly.

“Totally, meow. Your face was all stiff. Like this!” She showed me the face I’d been supposedly making, and it was such a hilarious sight, I nearly erupted into laughter once more.

Seeing me struggle to contain my laughter, Kilpha’s expression softened and a gentle smile spread across her face. “Everything will be all right, Shiro, meow. Okay?”

“Okay,” I replied after a pause.

“Everything will be all right.” Those were the exact words I had said to Suama. I’d genuinely tried to hide my inner turmoil, but it seemed Kilpha had seen right through me.

“Thanks, Kilpha,” I said appreciatively.

She shook her head. “It’s nothing compared to everything you’ve done for me, meow.”

“I’d argue I’ve done less for you than you’ve done for me,” I said. “You always seem to keep saving my hide.”

“Huh? No way, meow.”

“Yes way, meow.”

“Hey! Don’t imitate me, meow!”

Watching our little improvised skit, Aina chuckled softly. Then, all of a sudden, she sat bolt upright in her chair and uttered a quiet “Huh?”

“Is something wrong, Aina?” I asked.

“What’s the matter, meow?” Kilpha said.

The little girl pointed straight ahead. “There’s...” she said hesitantly. “There’s a little girl over there.”

Intermission

Something felt out of place in the dark forest around them, and when Aina realized what it was, she couldn’t help tilting her head in confusion. A little girl?

Aina was very confused. A young girl with silver hair stood around twenty paces in front of her, right in her line of sight. She was so beautiful, Aina couldn’t take her eyes off her. She looks around my age. Why’s she alone?

This forest was teeming with monsters. While it wasn’t all that dark at present, thanks to the full twin moons, it was still the dead of night. Yet this little girl appeared to be wandering around the woods completely alone. Aina stood up.

“Something wrong, Aina?” Shiro asked her.

“What’s the matter, meow?” Kilpha said.

She pointed straight ahead. “There’s...” she said hesitantly. “There’s a little girl over there.”

Had she been separated from her parents? If that was the case, she shouldn’t be roaming the forest alone. It was too dangerous. I have to ask her.

Aina ran up to the little girl. “U-Um...” she said timidly, trying to grab the girl’s attention. But the girl didn’t even glance at Aina as she walked past her. “Ah, uh, wait. Wait!” she tried again, raising her voice ever so slightly.

This time, the girl stopped and turned around to gaze at Aina. She had white skin that was almost translucent, silver hair so pale it was practically the color of glittering snow, and jade green eyes. What a beautiful girl, Aina thought.

“Who, me?” the girl said.

“Y-Yeah. Um, why are you alone?”

The girl’s face betrayed no trace of an emotion. She simply stared at Aina with a blank look in her eyes.

“Where’s your mama or papa?” Aina asked.

The girl appeared to ponder the question. After about ten seconds had passed, she eventually replied, “I don’t know.”

“Y-You don’t know?”

“No. I don’t know. I think I might always have been alone.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been alone ever since I can remember.”

Aina was at a total loss for words. She didn’t even have the first idea how to respond to this mysterious girl’s statement.

“Well, I’ll be on my way.”

The girl went to leave, but Aina refused to give up and took a deep breath in through her nose to motivate herself. She couldn’t let this girl roam around the forest so late at night. Her beloved Mister Shiro would never allow someone to do that without intervening.

“Where are you trying to get to? We’re in the middle of the forest, you know, and it’s the middle of the night. It’s dangerous out here,” Aina said.

A frown appeared on the girl’s face. “I’m...” She paused. “I’m looking for someone.”

“Who? Your mama?”

The girl shook her head. “I don’t know. But I feel like it must be someone important to me.”

“Really?”

So this girl was looking for someone, but she didn’t know who exactly. A confused Aina was having a hard time wrapping her head around the concept. Looking back, she saw Shiro and Kilpha watching her, and that gave her the courage to keep trying to convince the little girl not to wander about on her own.

“So you’re looking for someone dear to you, huh?”

A pause. “Yes.”

“I think I understand a little. I have important people in my own life.” When the girl didn’t say anything in response, Aina continued. “But it’s dangerous to be out in the forest alone after dark. Come with me. We have warm drinks. Oh, have you ever tried hot cocoa before? It’s really sweet and super yummy!” Aina said, reaching to grab the little girl’s hand. Her fingers were icy, which made sense because she’d been walking around the forest without any gloves on.

“Mister Shiro, Miss Kilpha, can we make some hot cocoa for her?” Aina asked as she walked back, her hand still clasping the little girl’s.

Her Mister Shiro was very kind, so she had no doubt that he would instantly agree and flash them both a smile. She waited for him to answer, but the response she got wasn’t the one she’d been expecting. No, Shiro just sat there dumbfounded with a bewildered look on his face.

“Mister Shiro?” she tried again.

And it wasn’t just Shiro. Kilpha was sporting a similar expression. The two exchanged glances before turning back to Aina.

“Um, Aina...” Shiro began.

“Yeah?”

“Uh, how should I put this?” He repeatedly opened and closed his mouth, visibly hesitant over how to vocalize what he wanted to say.

“What’s wrong, Mister Shiro?” Aina asked.

After another lengthy pause, the young man finally came out with what had been troubling him. “Aina, who have you been talking to all this time?”

And at this, all Aina could do was let out a confused little “Huh?”

Chapter Six: She Called It a Ghost

“There’s...” Aina said hesitantly, taking a few steps forward. “There’s a little girl over there.”

A little girl? I looked around, but I couldn’t see anyone. Next to me, Kilpha did the same thing, although it seemed she couldn’t see this mysterious little girl either.

“Y-Yeah. Um, why are you alone?” I heard Aina say to seemingly no one. “Where’s your mama or papa?” It was almost like she was actually talking to someone.

“A-Aina...” I whispered, exchanging confused looks with Kilpha, who glanced in the little girl’s direction and shook her head. It seemed I wasn’t the only one unable to see who she was talking to.

“Where are you trying to get to? We’re in the middle of the forest, you know, and it’s the middle of the night. It’s dangerous out here.” Aina seemed to be getting more and more animated with each sentence, and judging by the look on her face, this wasn’t just some prank she was pulling on us. “But it’s dangerous to be out in the forest alone after dark. Come with me. We have warm drinks. Oh, have you ever tried hot cocoa before? It’s really sweet and super yummy!”

As the little girl walked back toward us, she called out, “Mister Shiro, Miss Kilpha, can we make some hot cocoa for her?”

What in the world should I say to that?

I hesitated over what to say, and a confused look flashed across Aina’s face. “Mister Shiro?”

I exchanged glances with Kilpha again before turning back to the little girl. “Um, Aina...”

“Yeah?” she said, tilting her head to one side.

“Uh, how should I put this?” I mumbled, scratching my head nervously. I didn’t want to give the little girl too much of a shock, so I had to be careful about how I worded this.

“What’s wrong, Mister Shiro?” she asked, looking up at me with her pure, innocent eyes, her right one a beautiful, clear blue, while the other was a light purple color. Her heterochromatic eyes—that she had inherited from her mother—shone like jewels under the full twin moons.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. After whispering a silent “All righty” to steady myself, I opened my eyes again and stared straight at the little girl.

“Aina, who have you been talking to all this time?”

“Huh? Mister Shiro, what do you...” she mumbled, clearly confused by the question.

“Aina, I need to tell you something, but promise me you won’t panic when I do.”

“O-Okay.”

“I can tell that you’ve been talking to someone,” I said. “It’s just that Kilpha and I can’t actually see who you’re talking to.”

There was a long pause, followed by a half-whispered “What?”

The word “shocked” didn’t even begin to describe the expression that had planted itself on the little girl’s face. She was utterly bewildered by what she had just heard. She glanced behind her to check something, looked up at me again, then turned back for a second time. “But there’s a little girl right there,” she said uncertainly.

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Aina, but I can’t see her. Can you, Kilpha?”

“I can’t see her either, meow. Is there really a little girl there, meow?”

“There is! There is. There, uh, is. Isn’t there?” She was gradually losing confidence in herself, and I could hear her voice starting to waver.

I hummed pensively. “So Aina can see a little girl, but Kilpha and I can’t,” I mused. “Kilpha, come with me for a sec.”

“Meow?”

I led her over into a shadow cast by a tree. “Are there any monsters that only certain people can see? If you can’t think of any, do you have some explanation for what’s happening right now?”

“Hmmm...” Kilpha pondered. “Well, the first thing that comes to mind is an illusion spell, meow. I dunno if there’s a monster around though, meow.”

“I see.” I said. “It didn’t look like Aina was under a spell though, did it?”

“Nope. Plus, we’ve been with her the whole time, so she’s probably not under a magic spell or anything, meow.”

“Th-Then...” I hesitated. “Okay, I’m going to have a stab at explaining it, but this is just a theory, okay?”

All of a sudden, my throat felt dry, a chill ran down my spine, and goose bumps began prickling.

“Maybe— And this is just a maybe, yeah? Maybe the reason Aina can see that little girl and we can’t...”

“Meow?”

“Um, do you know what a ‘psychic phenomenon’ is? I think what Aina’s seeing is something she’s not meant to see. Like some sort of spiritual creature that shouldn’t be visible to us—”

I was trying my hardest to explain what I meant while dancing around any words that might trigger an adverse reaction, when Kilpha interrupted me by bringing her fist down in the palm of her hand. “Oh, you mean a ghost, meow?”

“Yes!” I blurted out, immediately nodding. My first thought was there must have been some sort of psychic phenomenon going on that was affecting Aina’s body.

“A ghost? A ghost, meow? If Rolf were here, he could have maybe helped us, meow.”

“Well, let’s assume it really is a ghost. Is Aina in danger? Do you think she might get cursed or something?”

“If it’s a wraith we’re talking about, then definitely, meow. But she seems to be doing fine, so I don’t think we need to worry too much, meow,” Kilpha said, letting out a chuckle.

I was impressed by her positivity, given we could have been standing mere meters away from an actual ghost. But I could see her point. As long as it wasn’t a “bad”(?) ghost, Aina was probably fine, and even if it was, holy magic was a thing in this world. From what I’d been told, it could even make quick work of zombies and earthbound spirits. Feeling a little reassured, I headed back over to Aina with Kilpha in tow.

“Mister Shiro...” the little girl murmured, a worried look on her face.

I couldn’t blame her for that reaction. After all, it must have been quite scary being the only one able to see something that others couldn’t. I gently patted her head to reassure her. “Everything’s fine, Aina. Um, is that little girl still there?”

She nodded and glanced to her right. “Yeah, she is.”

All right. So she could still see her. Hm, what to do, what to do... The ideal outcome would be for the ghost to take her leave without any fuss, but what was the best way to ask her to do so?

“Aina, what’s the ghost’s name, meow?” Kilpha asked, and I was horrified that she had called the mysterious little girl a “ghost” out loud without any hesitation when I’d been trying my hardest to avoid saying that particular word.

“G-Ghost?” Aina repeated.

Kilpha nodded. “Since you can see her even though Shiro and I can’t, it means she’s probably a ghost, meow,” she explained to the bewildered little girl. “Aina, could you ask her what her name is, meow?”

“R-Right.” She turned to the ghost beside her and said, “Can I, um, ask what your name is? Huh? You don’t know? Okay. Um, okay. Oh, right, I see. You can’t remember.”

The little girl awkwardly turned back to us. Based on their conversation (Could it even be called that?), it seemed the girl—who shall be nicknamed Li’l Ghostie for the time being—had forgotten her name.

Kilpha hummed in thought. “Without her name, we can’t ask her to leave, meow.”

“Wait, really?” I said.

“Yup. That’s what Nesca told me anyway, meow. If you want to negotiate with spirits or whatever, you need to know their name, meow.”

“I see. Hm? Hold on a minute. Since Aina stopped her as she was wandering the forest, can’t she just say bye to her and send her on her way?” If that possibility were available to us, I really hoped we could just release the ghost Aina had caught by accident. What can I say? I’m simply no good with anything horror-related.

But Aina had other ideas, and she chose that moment to ask something completely outrageous. “Mister Shiro, can’t we take her with us?” Her gaze was firmly fixed on me.

“T-Take her with us?” I echoed.

“Yeah. She’s all alone, and that’s really sad,” she said, squeezing the ghost’s invisible hand. She seriously wanted us to let Li’l Ghostie tag along on our journey. What do you even say to that?

While Kilpha and I were busy pondering this question and its potential implications, Luza sluggishly emerged from the tent. She rubbed her eyes as she stifled a yawn. “Kilpha, it’s my turn to stand watch— Huh? Amata? What are you doing here?”

It looked like Kilpha’s shift was over. “Luza...” I said.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look so uncomfortable? Oh, I know!” She looked in turn from Kilpha to me, a smirk spreading across her face. “Amata, Kilpha just rejected you, didn’t she?”

There was a lengthy pause before I managed to utter, “Excuse me?”

“No need to spell it out for me. I can totally picture what happened. You probably hit her with a ‘The moons are so beautiful tonight,’ didn’t you? And then, she rejected your advances. Tee hee hee. How awkward. Looks like someone got the wrong idea after playing the part of the lovestruck fiancé.”

“Uh, Luza?” I said, trying to interject.

But she carried on regardless. “I shall commend you for having the courage to confess your feelings to her though. Even if you did get rejected. Ha ha ha!”

Her high-pitched laughter echoed through the night air. This was a conclusion I’d already come to after seeing the way she looked at Duane, but love and all that was never far from Luza’s mind, was it? The way she imagined romantic relationships between all of the men and women she knew reminded me a lot of a teenager going through puberty. I was pretty sure she was in her early twenties by now, but it seemed her mental age was still that of a teenager.

“This trip is gonna be sooo awkward for you! Oh, and don’t even think about turning your attention on me just because Kilpha’s given you the cold shoulder. I’m waiting for my beloved Dua—ahem!—for my knight in shining armor to come and sweep me off my feet.”

Like always, I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. All I could tell for sure was she hadn’t even noticed Aina’s presence. Perhaps she couldn’t even see her.

“I didn’t get rejected by Kilpha,” I said in a flat tone of voice.

“Yeah, that didn’t happen, meow,” Kilpha confirmed.

Seeing us refute her story, Luza pursed her lips as if we were lying. “Oh, come on. Why else would the two of you be out here alone in the middle of the night? You can deny it all you want, but I won’t be fooled that easily!”

“But we’re not alone. See? Aina’s here with us,” I said, taking a step to the side. From Luza’s point of view, it must have looked like Aina had just appeared from behind me.

“O-Oh. And she was here all along?” the swordswoman said, suddenly sounding less sure about her concocted story.

“She was.”

“Yup, meow,” Kilpha added with a nod. “So as you can see, we weren’t alone, meow.”

And it wasn’t even just the three of us. I glanced at the empty space beside Aina where presumably the ghost was standing, given that the little girl was still seemingly holding the invisible (to us) girl’s hand. Wait, is she even able to touch her if she’s a ghost?

“Um, Miss Luza?” called a serious-looking Aina in an attempt to draw the attention of the swordswoman.

“What is it, Aina?”

“Look here beside me,” Aina said. “There’s a little girl there. Can you see her?”

“A little girl? Where?”

“Here, I said. She’s right here,” Aina insisted, frantically gesturing to her right.

For the longest time, Luza simply stared blankly at the space beside Aina before eventually turning back to Kilpha and me.

“H-Hey, you two?” she stammered.

“What is it?” I said.

“What’s wrong, meow?”

“Aina said there’s a, um, a little girl beside her or something. Do you two see her?”

“Nope. But it seems Aina can,” I replied.

“S-So, uh, what? Are you saying it’s a gho...” Her voice briefly failed her. “A ghost or whatever?”

“Yup, meow,” Kilpha chimed in merrily. “There’s a ghost standing next to Aina as we speak, meow.”

Luza looked at the space beside Aina once more, then fell backward with a loud thud.

“What the...” I said, startled. “Luza! Luza!”

“Meow?! She passed out, meow!”

Kilpha and I rushed to her side with the intention of helping her to sit up, but it seemed she really had actually lost consciousness. I couldn’t believe there was someone even more scared of ghosts than me in our friend group. Should we take her back to the tent?

While Kilpha and I debated what we should do with the unconscious Luza, it was Patty’s turn to emerge from the tent. “What’s going on out here? You woke me up with how loud you’re being!” she scowled, rubbing her eyes with her fingertips.

“Oh, it’s Patty,” Aina said.

“Sorry for waking you, boss,” I said. “But just so you know, that was Luza’s fault.”

“Yeah, meow!” Kilpha nodded. “She was the one making all the fuss, meow!”

The little fairy flew over to us, her wings flapping gently, and she landed on my shoulder. She looked up at Aina. “Hm? Hey, Aina, who’s the kid beside you? She’s a phantom, right? Where’d you find her?”

Chapter Seven: The Fairies’ Eyes

“Patty, you can see her too?” Aina said, visibly surprised.

“Of course! We fairies can see all sorts of things: spirits, phantoms, even mythical beasts!” the little fairy replied smugly from her perch on my shoulder.

Aina had started to lose hope after Kilpha, Luza, and I told her we couldn’t see the ghost girl, but reinforcements had arrived in the form of Patty. And as it turned out, being able to see the spectral figure wasn’t the extent of the little fairy’s powers.

“Shiro, Kilpha, you can’t see her?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“I can’t, meow.”

“Huh. That so? You two sure are a handful, ain’t ya? Hold on a second. Ah, here it is.” Patty produced a gourd-shaped container from her inventory. “Here, drink this.” The gourd was filled with fairy mead, a drink that was regarded as super-fancy alcohol in Ninoritch.

“Wow! Can I really have some, meow? Gimme! Gimme!” Kilpha exclaimed, her spirits suddenly soaring.

I took two paper cups from my inventory and shared the fairy mead out between them. “Here you go, Kilpha,” I said, handing one cup to her.

“Thanks, meow.”

We lightly tapped our paper cups together as if we had given a toast, then gulped down the contents in one go. The fairy mead’s deep flavor and sweetness spread all around my mouth before the liquid slipped smoothly down my throat.

“Have you drunk it now?” Patty asked.

“I have, meow!”

“Same here.”

“Good. I see you haven’t left a single drop. Now...” With a smug smile curling her lips upward, she pointed to the spot beside Aina. “Look again.”

We did as instructed.

“What the...” I whispered. “No way.” What in the world? I hadn’t been able to see anything next to Aina before, but after drinking the fairy mead...

“Meow, meow? It’s a little girl! There’s a little girl beside Aina, meow!”

Kilpha was right. There really was a silver-haired girl standing next to Aina.

“Boss, how is this possible?” I asked after a pause.

“Tee-hee! Fairy mead actually has a secret effect which allows other tribes to see what we can see! Are you surprised? You must be, right?” she preened.

“Seriously?” I paused. “Yup, that does seem to be what’s happening here. So yes, I am surprised, boss. Very much so.”

Now that I thought about it, there had been an incident back at the guild where an adventurer claimed to have seen a ghost after drinking fairy mead, but everyone else had brushed it off, saying it must have just been a drunk hallucination. It sounded like that adventurer might have been right after all.

“Can you see her, Mister Shiro? And you too, Miss Kilpha?” Aina asked.

“Y-Yeah,” I stuttered. “Thanks to the boss’s fairy mead, I can see her.”

Yup, I could see the little girl beside Aina very clearly. She had emerald green eyes, silver hair that was so light it bordered on being white, and pale skin that looked almost translucent. Although since she was a ghost, I supposed it was entirely possible that she was actually transparent to some extent.

“I had no idea your fairy mead had such an amazing side effect, boss. I just thought it was really yummy booze.”

If I’d known it could do that, I would’ve sold it for way more, I thought, a tad frustrated. I’ll have to up the price a bit when I get back to Ninoritch.

I shifted my attention to the little ghost girl and tried talking to her. “H-Hi. Uh, what are you doing out here in the forest?”

Sadly, my question was met with no response. Or, well, that’s not quite right. It would be more accurate to say I couldn’t hear her reply, because while I could see her lips moving, no sound reached my ears.

“Kilpha, did you hear any of what she just said?” I asked.

“Nope, I couldn’t make it out either, meow.”

“Yeah, I thought as much.”

“W-Well, yeah! Just ’cause you can see her, that doesn’t mean you can automatically hear her too!” Patty interjected from her perch on my shoulder, her tone laced with irritation.

“Really? But Aina can talk to her,” I pointed out.

“What?!” It was Patty’s turn to be shocked. “Is that true, Aina?”

The little girl nodded. “Y-Yeah, I can. Mister Shiro, she did reply to your question. She said she was looking for someone.”

The revelation that Aina could actually communicate with the ghost left Patty speechless, her jaw hanging open in disbelief, but she eventually pulled herself together. “G-Grandpa once told me certain humes can see the same ethereal beings we do, but I’ve never heard of anyone who can actually talk to them.”

“Really? So just being able to see them is already, like, super-duper rare, huh?” I said.

“Exactly! But even we fairies can’t communicate with them.”

All right, let’s recap: At that particular moment, all four of us were able to see the little girl, but only Aina was able to talk to her. I’d had no idea that my young charge possessed such an ability, and quite frankly, I was shocked by this revelation. Could it have something to do with her heterochromia? I made a mental note to ask grandma about it.

Kilpha’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “Hm? Hey, Shiro?” she said, prodding me in the side.

“What is it, Kilpha?”

“Look, meow. That girl...” She pointed to the little ghost girl’s ears. “She’s an elf, meow. Probably a high elf, meow.”

◇◆◇◆◇

At Kilpha’s behest, I took a good look at the ghost girl’s ears. They certainly were long. In fact, on closer inspection, they appeared to be even more elongated than the ears of the elven adventurers I’d previously seen at the guild. I couldn’t believe we’d stumbled across a high elf (albeit in ghost form) so early in our journey.

“Aina, can you ask her if she’s a high elf?” I said.

“Okay,” the little girl said with a nod. She did as I asked, and I saw the ghost’s lips moving in response.

“What did she say?” I asked.

“Um, she says she doesn’t know,” Aina replied.

“She ‘doesn’t know’? Even though it’s her own identity we’re talking about here?” I said, rather puzzled.

“She’s...” Aina began. “She’s apparently forgotten all about her past.”

Aina gave us a brief rundown of the situation the ghost girl found herself in. Put simply, she had lost most of her memories, from her name and her race to who it was she was looking for. All she could really remember was that the person she sought was very dear to her, and she felt a strong urge to find them. That was what was driving her at present.

“Oh, Mister Shiro, can’t we take her with us?” Aina asked me again.

Aina was the only one who could interact with her. To me, the little girl was essentially a ghost. But thanks to Patty, I’d at least received visual confirmation that she really did exist, and knowing that, I couldn’t bring myself to just abandon her to her fate. Of course, part of that stemmed from self-interest, because Kilpha believed this little ghost girl was, in all probability, a high elf, and if that was true, it meant she might be able to lead us to someone who could summon spirits. I really hoped whoever it was she was looking for turned out to be a high elf shaman.

“Can’t we?” Aina repeated in a barely audible whisper.

I smiled and patted her on the head. “Let’s take her with us, shall we? After all, we know she’s a high elf, and we just so happen to be looking for one of those. Perhaps once we find another one, they’ll know the person she’s looking for,” I said.

“So we can?” Aina said with hope in her voice.

“Yup. Kilpha, boss, neither of you mind her tagging along, do you?”

“I’m all for it!” Kilpha replied.

“I’m okay with it too, since I agree with Aina. We can’t just leave her alone out here,” Patty added.

“That’s my boss for you! You’re so cool!” I cheered.

“W-Well, of course I am! I’m your boss, after all. And Aina’s too,” she said with her hands on her hips and still perched on my shoulder. Then, without changing her stance at all, she lowered her gaze to the ground. “By the way, Shiro...”

“Hm? What is it, boss?”

“Why’s Luza sleeping on the ground?” she asked, eyeing the swordswoman sprawled at our feet.

“Mnmh... A ghost... A ghooost... Nooo...” Luza moaned in her sleep, a pained expression on her face.

“Sh-Shouldn’t we wake her?” Patty asked.

Aina, Kilpha, and I exchanged glances and shared an awkward smile.

Chapter Eight: Let’s Come Up with a Name

Morning came, and as the sun began its long climb into the sky, the rest of our crew emerged from the tent. I immediately filled them in on the situation.

“So, yeah, anyway, we’ve decided to bring this little high elf girl with us on our trip,” I concluded, introducing them to the little ghost girl standing next to me. The effects of the fairy mead I’d drunk earlier hadn’t quite worn off yet, so I could still see her, although her legs were going a little blurry.

“It’s a shame she’s a phantom,” Ney observed. “Still, I’m surprised we stumbled across a high elf so soon.” She’d also drunk some fairy mead, so that she could see the little ghost girl. As for Shess, she was still a child, so we obviously couldn’t give her alcohol.

“She looks like this, meow,” Kilpha said, handing a notebook to Shess in which she’d drawn a portrait of what I could only assume was some kind of monster. It reflected Kilpha’s drawing skills perfectly, and was, quite frankly, terrifying.

“I-I see. Um, so this monster—ahem, I mean, this little girl will be traveling with us, w-will she?” the little princess stammered.

Shess was clearly scared—her knees were even trembling—but she was pretending nothing was wrong. That’s princesses for you.

“L-Let me just ask you this one last time, Kilpha: Are you sure the monster—ahem, the little girl you drew is currently standing next to Aina?” the little princess asked again, her voice rising several octaves until she was pretty much talking in falsetto.

“Yup, that’s right. I drew her really well, if I do say so myself, meow!” Kilpha replied with unfounded confidence.

I was at a total loss for words. I can’t just come out and tell her. She was so enthusiastic about her drawing, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that she had zero artistic abilities whatsoever. However, the real problem wasn’t Kilpha. It was Luza.

“You claim drinking this fairy mead will allow me to see the ghost of a young girl? Hah! No, absolutely not! I categorically refuse to drink it!” Hiding herself behind Shess, the swordswoman shrank away from the fairy mead Patty was trying to hand to her.

“Don’t you think it’d be better if you could see her too?” I said. “It’ll be easier for all of us to connect and communicate with her if we know she’s there.”

“I-I-I don’t want to see her!” she howled, pointing at Kilpha’s drawing.

“Huh? You don’t, meow? But she’s so cute! Isn’t she?” Kilpha turned to me to get my opinion, but I quickly averted my gaze.

You see, the actual high elf girl was cute, but Kilpha’s drawing made her look like the kind of monstrosity that heralded the end of days, and that was putting it mildly. I mean, seriously, why was her lower half mostly tentacles?! Were we somehow not seeing the same little girl? Or were Kilpha’s drawing skills really that abysmal?

“Either way, I refuse to drink the fairy mead! Besides, even if I did, I’d only be able to see her, not talk to her, right? Aina’s the only one who can communicate with her, after all, which means there’s no need for me to drink that mead!” Luza insisted.

“Hey, Amata,” Shess said, drawing my attention.

“What is it, Shess?”

“It only takes a few drops of alcohol to get Luza drunk. I think it might be better if you don’t force her to drink that fairy mead,” the little princess suggested.

I hummed pensively. “You’re right. Plus, it might be wise if at least one of the adults—excepting Mr. Coachman, of course—doesn’t have any alcohol in their system.”

After all, it would be somewhat detrimental to Aina’s and Shess’s education if they saw all of Team Adults drinking all day long, even if there was a legitimate reason for it. Besides, mead had a relatively high alcohol content, and I didn’t want to actually force Luza to drink some if she didn’t want to.

“All right. Luza, you don’t have to drink the mead,” I said, extending both arms out to the side like an umpire signaling that a runner is safe.

Not even a second later, Luza let out a loud “Hell yeah!” that echoed all through the forest.

◇◆◇◆◇

We took down the tents and were almost ready to depart when I was hit by a sudden realization.

“Oh, wait, yeah. The girl doesn’t remember her name, does she?” I asked Aina.

“She said she doesn’t,” she replied.

I stared at the little ghost girl, who shook her head as if confirming what Aina had said.

“I see. Then, how about we give her a name before we hit the road?” I suggested.

“Give her a name?”

“Yup. A name. We’re going to be traveling together, so we can’t just keep referring to her as ‘the girl’ or ‘that little girl,’ can we? That’d just be weird.”

Aina beamed at my suggestion. “Yeah, okay! I wanna think up a name for her.”

“Great! What do you think would suit her?”

“Um...” Aina gazed intently at the little high elf girl, searching for inspiration in her physical features, which could be used as the basis for a name.

“Shiro, Aina, what are you doing?” Patty asked as she fluttered over to us.

Kilpha joined us as well. “Shiro, we’re gonna be leaving soon, meow. Huh? Where’d the little girl go?” she asked, looking around.

“She’s still standing next to Aina,” I replied, then realization struck. “Oh, wait. Did the effects of the fairy mead wear off?”

“Looks like it, meow. Patty, can I have another sip?”

“If you insist. But only a sip, okay?” the little fairy replied.

“Thanks, meow!” Kilpha said, taking a big gulp of the mead. “Ooh! I can see her again, meow! I can see the little girl now, meow!”

We’d first drunk the fairy mead a little after three in the morning, and it was now nine. Did that mean the effects of the alcohol lasted for about six hours? Except I’d drunk the mead at exactly the same time as Kilpha, and I could still see the little girl just fine. Maybe the rate at which the alcohol was metabolized influenced how long someone could see spirits.

“So what are you up to?” Patty asked again after returning the fairy mead to her inventory.

“We’re trying to come up with a temporary name that we can give to the little high elf girl until she remembers her real one,” I explained.

“Sounds fun! I’ll help!” Patty chirruped.

“I will too, meow!” Kilpha added.

“You’re both welcome to join in,” I said. “Let’s all work together to come up with the perfect name for her.”

For a while, we bounced a few ideas around among ourselves, but we ended up with so many suggestions, we decided to limit it to a name each, and we’d let the little ghost girl choose her favorite.

“My suggestion is Zalboda! It means ‘the strongest’ in the ancient language of the fairies. Whaddaya think? Pretty cool-sounding, right?” Patty preened.

But the little girl shook her head, and quite vigorously too.

“Aw, she doesn’t like it,” Patty whined, her head drooping. She was clearly heartbroken that her proposed name had met with such resistance.

Next up was Kilpha. “I like Camcam, meow.”

The little girl tilted her head to one side, as if pondering the name. From the look on her face, it appeared she didn’t hate it, but we could tell she didn’t exactly love it either, so we were back to square one.

“What about Cocoa?” Aina suggested next.

She wants to name her after a drink? Well, let’s see what the little high elf thinks of that particular name. Once again, the little girl shook her head, and it seemed she wasn’t taken with that one at all. Aina’s shoulders drooped in disappointment.

“Looks like it’s my turn,” I said. “I propose Kalmia.”

The high elf girl twitched slightly, gazed up at me, and said something I couldn’t hear.

“Aina, what did she say?”

“She said she likes the sound of it.”

“Oh, I’m glad about that. Kalmias are flowers from my homeland. In the language of flowers, they symbolize ‘great hope.’ It carries my wish within it.”

Great hope. That was exactly what we needed at this moment in time, which was why I had suggested that particular name. I saw the high elf girl’s lips move.

“Huh? Are you sure?” Aina asked her.

I had no idea what the little ghost girl had just said, but a smile spread across Aina’s face.

“Okay. That’s great!” she said, then turned to me. “Mister Shiro, she said she wants to go by that name. She likes it.”

“All righty. So from now on, your name is Kalmia. That is, until you remember your real name, of course.”

“Kalmia...” Aina said, trying it out. “Okay, I’ll call you Mia!”

The little girl—Kalmia—nodded.

“Mia, huh? That’s a nice name. You’re not my underling for nothing, Shiro!” Patty said.

“I’m looking forward to traveling with you, Mia. I’m Kilpha by the way, meow!” the cat sìth added.

Practically as soon as we’d decided on a name for the little ghost girl, my friends were already shortening it to Mia.

◇◆◇◆◇

After the whole naming business, we hopped back into the carriage and set off for the royal capital once more. This section of the highway was much better maintained than what we’d had to put up with on the first leg of our journey, and by this point, we’d started to get a bit more used to all the shaking, so none of us felt sick this time.

“Yes, Mia? I know it shakes a lot, but try to bear with it, ’kay?” Aina said.

Kalmia said something in response, but I couldn’t hear what it was.

“Is this your first time in a carriage?” Aina asked her new friend. “Huh? Oh, you like the shaking? Uh-huh. Right. Tee-hee. Is that so?”

With the addition of Mia (the little phantom), the atmosphere in the carriage could only be described as a tad complex and a little chaotic.

“Yeah, it’s a lot faster than walking,” Aina said, continuing her conversation with Mia. “Hah! Oh, we’re going to the royal capital. Yup, the royal capital. There are lots of people there.”

The carriage was spacious enough, with two rows of four seats facing each other. I sat in the rightmost (looking in the direction we were heading) seat in the row closest to the coachman, while Patty hovered to my left, and Kilpha and Ney sat beside her.

“Have you ever been to the royal capital, Mia?” Aina asked. “Oh, you haven’t? I see. Well, you should look forward to it, then!”

As for the second row of seats, from right to left, it went: Aina, Mia, Shess, Luza. All the members of Team First Row were able to see Mia, thanks to the fairy mead, but aside from Aina, no one on the other row could. She hadn’t stopped talking to Mia since stepping into the carriage, and to Shess and Luza, it must have looked like Aina was talking to herself, which explained the rather stiff expressions on their faces.

“Hey, Amata,” Shess called over to me.

“What is it?”

“Th-That girl, Mia...” she began. “She’s, um, sitting next to me, is that right?” She pointed to her right with a grave look on her face.

“Yup, she sure is,” I replied.

“I...” she said hesitantly. “I see. So she really is here.”

I couldn’t help chuckling at her response. “There’s no need to be scared. I can’t hear her either, but she seems to be having a blast chatting with Aina.” The little princess glanced to her right, where Aina was still engaged in deep conversation with Mia.

“M-My lady, you can’t!” Luza exclaimed all of a sudden. Her voice sounded like it was trembling, and I was pretty sure it wasn’t just my imagination.

“Luza?” Shess said quizzically.

“If you lock eyes with the gh-gh-ghost, you might get cursed!” Luza warned.

“Well, Aina, Shiro, and I have looked her in the eye a bunch of times, meow,” Kilpha pointed out.

“I have too,” Ney added.

“Same here,” Patty chimed in.

Luza chuckled ominously. “Well, you’re all idiots. Don’t come crying to me when you find out she’s cursed you.”

“Shiro, this ‘Miss Luza’ reminds me of someone...” Ney said, tilting her head to one side as if to say, “But who?”

She reminds you of someone, does she? It’s probably Emille. The two of them are oddly similar. Mia’s presence and Luza’s ominous warning had caused the atmosphere in the carriage to grow even more awkward.

“Guildmaster, the royal capital has come into view,” announced the coachman.

It seemed we would shortly be arriving at our destination.

Chapter Nine: Back to the Royal Capital for the First Time in a While

We were soon at the gates of the royal capital. Under regular circumstances, we would’ve had to line up for hours to get permission to enter the city, but this time was different.

“I’m Luza, a member of the order of chivalry. You know who I work for, don’t you?” Luza pointedly said to the guards.

After being made aware of Luza’s presence and catching a glimpse of Princess Shessfelia in the background, the gatekeepers all bowed as one and let us into the royal capital without further delay.

“Okay then, Shiro. I shall head off to the guild’s headquarters,” Ney said before promptly taking her leave.

“Amata, I’m going to see my mother,” Shess announced next.

“L-Let’s hurry, my lady! The ghost... The ghost will...” Luza stammered behind her.

“Hey, Luza, stop pushing me!”

“Let’s hurry! Let’s hurry!”

“Good grief! Amata, I’ll be in contact again soon!”

And with that, the two of them went off in the direction of the royal palace. The five of us who were left—Aina, Kilpha, Patty, our newest member, Mia, and myself (plus Peace the little kitty cat)—made our way to the Eternal Promise, the capital’s largest merchant guild.

“I’ve come to see the boss,” I said to one of the employees on our arrival.

An instant later, Zidan appeared in the shop. “Shiro! Is that really you? You’ve come all the way here?”

The birdman spread his wings wide, and once he’d rushed over to me with small steps, he pulled me in for a hug to celebrate our reunion.

“Oh, hi, Aina!” Zidan squawked. “It’s been a while. How are you doing?”

“Good!” the little girl replied. “You seem to be doing well too.”

“You betcha! I’m doing extremely well!” the birdman chirped as he ushered us into the drawing room of his store.

Zidan was the guildmaster of the Eternal Promise, the merchant guild that I belonged to, and thanks to all the items I’d brought over from Japan, the guild had been able to expand and now had branches all over the kingdom. I noticed the main store had become quite a bit larger since the last time I’d visited, seemingly occupying the two buildings on either side of what once was the original store.

“So what brings you here, Shiro?” Zidan asked as he took a seat on the sofa opposite me. “It’s not time for you to be going around replenishing stock just yet.”

“Well, a lot has happened and things are all a little complicated right now. I won’t be going back to Ninoritch for a while, so I need to arrange for deliveries to be expedited in my absence,” I explained. “Also...”

The door to the drawing room was closed, but I still glanced around quickly to make sure no one was listening in. I brought my face closer to Zidan’s and whispered into his ear. “Remember how we said there was likely a bunch of shady merchants peddling forbidden items?”

“Yeah, I do,” he said, a grave look appearing on his face.

“Well, I know who they are now. I actually ran into one of their members the other day.”

“What?! You met them?!”

“Yup. We even had a huge fight.”

“Whaaaaaat?!” the birdman squawked so loudly, an employee rushed into the room to check that everything was all right.

◇◆◇◆◇

I regaled Zidan with my adventures on the demons’ isle, relating everything I knew about the Setting Sun guild.

The birdman hummed in thought. “The Setting Sun, huh? Never heard of them.”

I nodded. “I thought you wouldn’t have. Even the Fairy’s Blessing guildmaster—well, the guildmaster of the Ninoritch branch anyway—hadn’t heard of them.”

“So it must be an underground guild, then,” the birdman surmised. “And a pretty secretive one to boot.”

Zidan told us he’d make some discreet inquiries into the Setting Sun. Back in Mazela, he’d stuck firmly to his principles, continuing to do the right thing even when bullied by the other merchant guilds for his earnestness. I fully trusted him not to put either himself or his employees in any danger while asking around about the Setting Sun.

“By the way, Shiro, may I ask a question?” he said suddenly.

“Sure. What is it?”

“Um, well...” He pointed to the empty space between Aina and me with the tip of a wing. Except the space wasn’t actually empty, of course. Mia was sitting there. But to Zidan, it must have looked like there was a random gap between Aina and me for no reason. “Why have you left an empty seat between Aina and yourself? Are the two of you fighting? That’s no good,” he reprimanded us.

Aina and I exchanged awkward smiles.

“No, we’re not fighting,” I assured him. “I know you probably can’t see her, but there’s actually a little girl sitting between us.”

He paused. “What?”

Seeing the confusion on Zidan’s face, Patty produced a gourd of fairy mead from her inventory and urged him to drink some. The birdman took a sip and... Well, well, would you look at that?

“O-Oh! So there is! There really is a little girl sitting there!” he exclaimed, his surprise evident on his face.

“Mister Zidan, she—I mean, Mia says hi,” Aina said, correcting herself.

“Oh, um, hi,” he replied, awkwardly shaking hands with the little girl.

Yup, you read that right: he shook hands with her. I wasn’t really sure how it worked, but apparently being able to see Mia meant you could also touch her. Conversely, if you couldn’t see her—like Luza and Shess couldn’t—not only couldn’t you feel she was there, but your hands would pass right through her. It really was rather peculiar.

“Zidan, I do actually have one more question for you. We’re currently on the lookout for a high elf. Got any idea where I could find one?” I said.

“High elves? You mean the race of superior elves talked about in legends? It’s not even clear they actually exist.”

“Well, fairies are technically legendary creatures too, but Patty’s right here, meow,” Kilpha pointed out.

“Yeah!” the little fairy piped up. “If I exist, high elves must exist too! Grandpa told me they do. Besides...” Patty pointed to Mia. “She’s a high elf!”

“What?!” Zidan yelled for the second time that day. “Is that true? What’s that? Because her ears are longer than a regular elf’s, you say? Oh, so they are. I don’t believe it. Oh, but hold on a minute. Why don’t you just ask her where to find other high elves?”

“Well, you see, the thing is, Mia’s lost all her memories of what I guess you would call her past life from before she became a phantom,” I replied. I recounted how we had met the little high elf girl, as well as the reason we were looking for a high elf in the first place.

“Oh, that’s terrible. Poor Dramom and Celes. You’ve been going through so much, Shiro, and I had no idea,” Zidan said, repeating things like “How awful,” and “Hang in there,” over and over with tears streaming down his face. After pulling himself together again, he addressed what we wanted to know. “Circling back to your question, I haven’t got a clue where you’d find a high elf, but your best bet is probably to go to the Magic Nation of Bolinoak and ask around. The folk there might know something.”

“Bolinoak...” I repeated. “Huh? I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before...” And quite recently too. But where?

“A merchant friend of mine told me there’s an enormous library there. Apparently, it contains texts from long before any of us were born,” the birdman explained.

“Like, documents from the Ancient Magic Civilization Era, you mean?” I asked.

“It’s entirely possible.”

According to Zidan, the library in Bolinoak boasted the largest collection of books on the entire continent, with tomes from various eras and regions covering a wide range of topics, from monsters and humanoid races to mythical beasts and legendary creatures. High elves were immortal, so perhaps we’d find some clue to their whereabouts in the library’s ancient texts. That’s a great lead! Zidan always has such good ideas.

“Bolinoak, meow...” Kilpha mused. “I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before, meow.”

It seemed I wasn’t the only one with a sense of déjà vu. “You have?” I asked.

“I feel like someone mentioned that name a long time ago, meow... Ah!” She hit her palm with her fist as the light bulb in her head flicked on. “I’ve got it! It was Nesca, meow! Bolinoak is the name of her homeland, meow!”

“What? Seriously?” I said.

“Yup, meow! And her father works as a court mage there, meow.”

My mouth fell open in surprise. Who would have guessed that one of my friends would have a connection to the nation we were talking about? Then, I remembered a conversation I’d had with Nesca, where she had indeed mentioned that her family lived in Bolinoak. And it just so happened she was there at that very moment, visiting her parents with Raiya. If I asked nicely, would she agree to introduce us to her father, the court mage?

Please let this lead be exactly what we need to find a high elf, I prayed silently.

Intermission

There were many people here. Kalmia—that was the name that had been bestowed upon her—was presently in a settlement known as the “royal capital,” which was teeming with people.

“Mia, this way.” Aina—the hume girl she’d met while she was searching for someone—grabbed her hand and led her along the street, pushing her way through the crowd. “Mister Zidan said there was a pretty temple over this way,” the little girl added. Kalmia thought she was a strange child.

Because she can see me.

In the past, Kalmia had met a handful of people who could see her, but most of them had run away screaming the moment they laid eyes on her. Aina truly was a strange girl.

Because she talks to me.

Not only could Aina hear her voice, but she even talked to her willingly.

I’ve been alone all this time.

Kalmia couldn’t say how long she had spent by herself. Days? Months? Years? Maybe even a decade?

I was so incredibly lonely.

She’d had nowhere to go. All she knew was that she was looking for someone, but she couldn’t even remember who. What an unfunny joke it was. But what could she do about it? She simply couldn’t remember. She had forgotten everything: her race, her name, and who it was she was looking for. Day after day, month after month, she had wandered around alone. Perhaps she had slowly lost a sense of what mattered to her over time.

I was so incredibly lonely.

“Look, Mia! I think we’re here. This is the temple. Wow, it’s so beautiful!” Aina said, pointing at a stunning building bathed in the warm light of the setting sun.

A strange feeling washed over Kalmia, like a pleasant breeze blowing tenderly inside her chest. But it wasn’t just her imagination. Even though it should have been impossible, there was definitely a gentle zephyr fluttering around her heart.

“Yeah. It’s pretty,” she said, gazing up at the beautiful building, her hand still in Aina’s.

I was so incredibly lonely. But now...

“Isn’t it just? It’s so breathtaking! I’m so glad we came here.”

Kalmia nodded. “It’s my first time seeing something so pretty. I think.”

“Really? Don’t worry. We can go see lots of beautiful things together from now on!”

“Together?”

“Yeah, together! ’Cause we’re gonna stay together!” Aina assured her. “We’re going to Orvil next, so I hope there’ll be some nice, pretty places for us to visit there too.”

But now, I’m not lonely anymore.

Chapter Ten: Reunion in Orvil

From the moment we’d arrived in the royal capital, my companions and I had been extremely busy. Next on the agenda was my audience with Queen Anielka, which Shess had managed to secure for me—except she’d gone one better and convinced her father, King Alhart, to attend as well. Given his busy schedule, it was decided they would receive me at dinner, with King Alhart at the head of the table, while I sat opposite Shess and her mother. A full-course meal was brought to the table, with dishes periodically appearing in front of me, and I spent the entire dinner trying my hardest not to embarrass myself.

“Th-This is delicious,” I said with a stiff expression on my face.

It was a lie. I was so nervous to be dining with members of the royal family, I couldn’t taste a thing. But despite that, I still managed to achieve my main objective of telling them about the Setting Sun merchant guild, and they promised to get the kingdom’s secret services to look into it. At the risk of sounding a little rude, I hadn’t really been expecting all that much from the meeting, so I was pleasantly surprised by this outcome. According to King Alhart, every ruler on the continent knew the current demon king was a pacifist who was against starting a war with the humes, which meant the mere existence of the Setting Sun’s plan to assassinate the demon king was a matter of great danger not just for his kingdom, but the entire continent.

The king and queen promised they would contact me as soon as they learned anything, and with that, my audience with them came to an end.

◇◆◇◆◇

The next stop on our wide-reaching tour was the city-state of Orvil.

“All righty. Should we get going?”

It was the day after my audience with the king and queen, and we were back in the carriage, ready to set off for Orvil. There, I was hoping to be able to talk to Magath, the former nation-state’s prime minister, since he was one of the Setting Sun’s customers. Ney had decided to stay in the royal capital for the time being to look into the Setting Sun guild, which meant the composition of our group for this leg of the journey was slightly different.

First up, there was Shess and Luza.

“Let’s go, Amata!” the little princess ordered.

“Hey, Amata, you and Aina will sit over there, okay? W-With the ghost,” Luza told me.

Next, Aina and Mia.

“Mia, this way!” the little girl said. “Yeah, this is the same carriage as last time.”

Then, Kilpha and me.

“Shiro, can I sit next to you, meow?”

“Of course.”

“Yippee!”

And last but not least, Patty and Peace.

“Peace, you lie down over there,” Patty demanded. “You’re going to be my bed from now on, you hear?”

“Meooow!” came the response.

All in all, there were seven of us, plus one kitty. On a sidenote, our carriage was going to be pulled by regular horses this time, which we hoped would make for a much more comfortable ride.

◇◆◇◆◇

We entered Orvil without any issues, thanks to my status as a baronet in the city-state. In other words, I was a noble here. A first-generation petty baronet, sure, but a noble nonetheless. The gatekeeper’s attitude toward me was a complete one-eighty from what it had been the last time I’d passed through these same gates, pretty much letting us in immediately when I mentioned my name.

Once inside the gate, we didn’t waste a single second, heading straight to the royal palace to pay our respects to the king. The young king’s face turned crimson as soon as he laid eyes on Shess (who had entered the city incognito), and he invited us all to have tea with him. It appeared his crush on the little princess hadn’t faded at all. Seeing how infatuated he was with her even after she’d slapped him in the face on our last visit here, I had to admit his feelings might be more serious than I had initially thought.

When I asked him if we could see Magath, a complicated expression passed across his face. As it turned out, the former prime minister, who was presently under house arrest in a stand-alone building, was apparently suffering from severe mental distress. It seemed his fall from grace, coupled with the loss of his personal fortune and the looming threat of the death penalty hanging over him, had utterly broken his mind. The king gave us permission to visit him, but Magath—whom I barely recognized—wasn’t in any state to hold a conversation, so we had no choice but to abandon our idea of pumping him for information about the Setting Sun guild.

◇◆◇◆◇

“So there was no point coming all the way out here after all, meow,” Kilpha moaned as we left the royal palace. Our most promising lead had turned out to be a dead end, and she was clearly dejected, her shoulders drooping in disappointment.

Luza nodded. “There really wasn’t,” she agreed. “We should have headed straight to Bolinoak.”

The two of them were evidently frustrated that we had wasted time traveling to Orvil for nothing, and observing their irked expressions from the side, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. While it was certainly true that we’d learned nothing new from our time here, investigating the Setting Sun hadn’t been my only reason for wanting to come to Orvil. Of course, they didn’t know that yet.

“Cheer up, you two. As we’re here now, let’s go say hi to the beastfolk in Zudah and Lugu, shall we?” I suggested.

The immense forest bordering Orvil was home to a large number of beastfolk settlements. There were the bearfolk in Lugu Village—which was where my friend, the warrior Valeria, lived—plus villages for dogfolk, demonwolves, high cat-sìths, foxpeople, apefolk, and more. Kilpha’s home, Zudah Village, was also in the forest, so I naturally thought she might want to swing by and see her brethren.

But to my surprise, she seemed dead set against it. “We can’t, meow!”

“Huh? Why not? Don’t you want to see your family?” I asked.

“I do, meow. I do, but...” She hesitated. “I can’t. Not right now, meow.”

“How come?”

“Have you forgotten, meow? They think, um...” She brought her lips close to my ear and whispered, “They think your baby’s growing inside my belly, meow.”

I gasped. I had completely forgotten about Kilpha telling her grandma, the chieftain of Zudah Village, that she was pregnant with my child. As a result, the people there still believed the two of us were engaged. What would they do to me if they found out we’d been deceiving them all along? Kilpha’s former fiancé, Sajiri, might even try to kill me for real.

“Um, right. Yeah, let’s skip Zudah Village this time around.”

“It’s for the best, meow,” the cat-sìth agreed. “In fact, we probably shouldn’t go near the Dura Forest at all, meow.”

“Ah, uh, sorry, Kilpha, but I do really need to go there.”

“Huh? Why, meow?”

I chuckled softly. “Well, you see...”

◇◆◇◆◇

It was the day after our audience with the king. We had entered the Dura Forest and were currently standing face-to-face with...

“D-D... A d-d-d... It’s a dragon!” Luza shrieked, making it sound more like a sound effect than actual speech, which wasn’t uncommon for her.

The recumbent pitch-black dragon let out a low growl, though it wasn’t a threatening one. In fact, it was the complete opposite. It lowered its head to me in a display of obedience.

“Oh, wow. You really did manage to tame this guy. Impressive as always, Shiro,” remarked a tall and bulky woman, her lips curling upward into an awestruck smile.

This was Valeria, a bearfolk who had saved my hide by participating in a combat tournament in Orvil for me. The two of us were good friends by this point, though I hadn’t seen her in a while, and I noticed she was looking even bulkier than before, which I put down to the improved food situation in the forest.

I chuckled at her comment. “I’m not the one who’s impressive. That’s Dramom. This black dragon obeys her,” I corrected her.

“That may be so, but this Dramom is one of your servants, isn’t she?”

“Nothing of the kind. She’s a dear friend, just like you,” I said, although the hum I got in response suggested Valeria was unconvinced by my protestations.

Our first stop in the Dura Forest had been Lugu Village, where our reunion with the bearfolk—and in particular, Valeria—was celebrated by both parties. Once the enthusiastic greetings had died down, I asked them to take me to the black dragon, and as the head of the warriors, Valeria had offered to lead us there herself.

“I haven’t seen you in forever, and the first thing you ask is to go see a dragon. Even I got taken aback by that.”

The former prime minister, Magath, had put a Collar of Domination on the black dragon and forced it to fight Dramom the last time we were in Orvil, but while the black dragon was certainly a powerful creature, unfortunately for it, the Immortal Dragon was in a different league altogether, defeating it with a single breath attack and making it her servant. Since then, it had served in its present role as the forest’s guardian angel (well, guardian dragon). However, I had another task in mind for it.

“Dramom suggested using the black dragon as our transport this time around, since she’s unable to move.”

Yup, this was the solution Dramom had devised for us to be able to travel freely while she was incapacitated, and she had told me her idea moments before grandma put her to sleep. I had already planned to come to Orvil to have a chat with Magath, but securing the black dragon quickly rose to the top of my list of priorities. Ultimately, this was why we had come to Orvil. Interrogating Magath had been relegated to a secondary objective before we’d arrived.

“Mister Shiro, are we gonna ride this cute dragon?” Aina asked, looking up at the black dragon.

I couldn’t help but be impressed by her daring to call such a gigantic creature “cute.” Dragons were among the most powerful beings in all of Ruffaltio, and I was willing to bet Aina was the only nine-year-old in the whole wide world who wasn’t afraid of them.

“Yup. This is our ride this time, instead of Dramom,” I explained.

“Wow! This’ll be my first time riding a dragon that isn’t Dramom!” she said.

“Same here,” I said. “Go on, Aina. Go say hi to the dragon.”

“Okay! Come on, Shess, let’s go! You come too, Mia!”

“Wait, Aina, I—” Shess tried protesting, but the other little girl wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“Oh, come on. It’ll be fine!” Aina assured her.

“Aw, man,” Shess mumbled.

“P-Princess! Be careful! That’s a d-d... A d-d-d... That’s a dragon!” Luza shrieked as Aina led both Shess and Mia by the hand to the black dragon.

The three little girls began playing with the dragon, gently slapping its legs and petting its tail while Luza watched on incredulously. Oh, look. Patty’s joining the fray too. And she’s riding Peace, I noted.

While we watched the children play, Valeria asked, “So where are you planning on riding this bad boy to?” She must have overheard my conversation with Aina.

“Well, long story short...”

I told her everything that had happened to us on our various adventures, starting with our encounter with the merchant from the Setting Sun guild and ending by outlining our quest to find a high elf. As she listened, Valeria’s expression grew graver and graver.

“He managed to put a curse on Celes and Dramom?” she muttered, unable to hide her disbelief at the misfortune that had befallen her former teammates from the combat tournament.

“Yeah. That’s why we’re looking for a high elf to help lift the curse,” I said.

“I see. A high elf, huh? You really are just like an adventurer now, aren’t you?” Valeria remarked. “I mean, you’re even searching for a legendary tribe that may or may not exist.”

I chuckled. “Please pray for me to find one without too much trouble.”

“Well, I do wish you well on your travels, but...” She paused and glanced around at my companions. Her gaze stopped in turn on Kilpha, Aina, and Patty. She skipped Mia (she probably couldn’t see her) and let her eyes land on Shess and Luza. “You have very few fighters in your group,” she pointed out, her tone tinged with concern.

“You think? Boss can use magic, and Kilpha and Luza can fight pretty well.”

“Yep, that’s right, meow! I can fight, meow!” Kilpha chimed in, flexing her biceps in an attempt to show off how strong she was.

But Valeria looked unconvinced. “What are you talking about? The people of Zudah Village told me everything. You’re pregnant, aren’t you? That means it isn’t just your body anymore. You’d better not go fighting anyone. That’d be totally reckless!”

Kilpha’s expression shifted to one of severe discomfort, while I forced out an embarrassed chuckle and probably looked even more awkward than she did.

Valeria tilted her head to one side in confusion at our reactions. “What’s the matter? Why are you making those faces— Ah!” Her eyes widened in realization, and for a split second, she looked horrified as if she’d made some huge blunder before quickly turning her face away from us. “I-I’m sorry. I ran my mouth without thinking. I know it’s not my place to say this, but, um, just don’t lose hope, yeah?”

I paused. “Um, Valeria?”

“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden, meow?”

I had no clue what Valeria was driving at, and Kilpha seemed just as confused.

“You two will be fine. I’m sure of it. You’ll soon be blessed with another one,” Valeria added, ignoring our questions.

Realization struck. She had the situation completely wrong.

“You cat-sìths sure are tough, aren’t you? And I know how strong your love for each other is. It really is unfortunate, but you’ll have another—”

I hurriedly interrupted her before she reached the end of her sentence. “Hold on a minute, Valeria!”

“—baby soon. Huh? What’s the matter, Shiro?” Valeria said.

Kilpha and I exchanged glances and nodded at each other. Her face was bright red, and I was fairly sure mine was a matching shade.

“Valeria, it’s all just a big misunderstanding,” I said.

“A misunderstanding? Oh! So the baby is sa—”

“No, not that part!” I said hurriedly. “The real misunderstanding is...”

Kilpha and I explained it all to her. Well, “confessed” might be the more appropriate word to use in this situation. We told her we were never actually engaged, and that the whole baby story had just been a lie that Kilpha had come up with in the heat of the moment. And how did Valeria react, you ask? Well...

She burst out laughing. “Okay, right, I get it now,” she wheezed as she clutched her stomach, doubled over with laughter. “Heh, I can’t believe you made up that whole story just to deceive the chieftain of Zudah Village and Sajiri. That’s hilarious.” She eventually managed to calm down again. “Whew, you sure gave me a good laugh there. This is just great. I like being with you guys. It’s always so entertaining.”

“Sorry for making you believe a lie this whole time,” I said sheepishly.

“We’re very sorry, meow.”

“Don’t be. I get it. You had no other choice at the time. Besides, I now know Shiro doesn’t have a partner.” She wiped away the tears that had escaped from laughing herself silly before continuing, an amused smile tugging her lips upward. “Hey, Shiro, can I tag along on your journey?”

“You want to come with us?” I blinked in surprise. “I mean, you’d be a huge help, for sure, but you’re the leader of the warriors in Lugu. Can you really leave the village just like that? Just so you know, I have absolutely no idea when you’ll be able to come back home.”

“That’s fine,” Valeria said nonchalantly. “The men are back, thanks to you. And besides, Gugui’s there.”

Gugui was a bearman and Valeria’s former rival. The pair had fought for the spot of leader of the bearfolk warriors for years before things ended up going south in the whole of the Dura Forest.

“I owe you too much to ever be able to repay you, and so does everyone else in Lugu. But at least let me try to chip away at it, will you?” she said.

She added that, as head of the warriors of Lugu, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself knowing she hadn’t come to her savior’s (her words) aid when it was needed the most.

“More importantly, I want to help you,” she continued. “So can I?” The broad smile on her face made her look especially dashing.

“Thank you very much for offering to come along,” I said. “We’ll definitely feel a lot more reassured with you by our side.”

“So it’s settled, yes?” Valeria said hopefully.

“Yep. I look forward to traveling with you,” I confirmed before turning to the black dragon and adding, “And with you too.”

It growled softly in reply, and just like that, I had managed to secure myself yet another reliable traveling companion and a dragon for all of us to fly around on.

Intermission

“Come on, everyone. Hop on the black dragon. We’re leaving,” Shiro announced, and following his instructions, his traveling companions climbed up onto the back of the dragon, one by one.

Aina held her hand out to a confused Kalmia. “Let’s go, Mia.”

“Go where?”

“We’re gonna fly high in the sky on the back of this cute dragon!”

“Fly...” Mia repeated. “In the sky?”

“Yup!” Aina confirmed. “Come on. Let’s go!”

“Ah...”

Still clasping Kalmia’s hand with her own, Aina let Shiro haul her up onto the dragon’s back by her other hand, yanking the little ghost girl along with her. Thanks to a little extra boost from Shiro, Kalmia was able to safely nestle herself on the dragon. She was so high up! It felt almost as if she were looking down at a different world from the one she was used to. She was as high as that time she’d sat on a tree branch.

“Huh?” she uttered to herself. A tree branch? When did I climb a tree? I can’t remember.

I can’t remember.

Kalmia felt an aching in her chest. Was one of the memories she had forgotten the reason for this prickly sensation in her heart?

“Has everyone put on their safety harnesses?” Shiro asked the group, wrapping a harness he had pulled out from who-knows-where around his waist.

Thick ropes had been looped around the dragon’s neck and torso, and they were all being urged to attach their own harnesses to these ropes. According to Shiro, this was so they wouldn’t fall off. In all truthfulness, Kalmia didn’t fully understand what was going on, but since Aina had complied, she followed suit.

“Okay, off we go. Black dragon...” Shiro paused. “No, hang on. That doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it? You’re one of us for the duration of this trip, so would you mind if we gave you a name?” he asked the dragon, who purred softly, seemingly liking the idea. “Right, what should we call you? If anyone has an idea, raise your hand.”

“Ooh, me! Me! Shiro!” Patty shouted out. “Zalboda! We have to call it Zalboda!”

“I wanna call it Camcam, meow!” Kilpha piped up.

“Patty, Miss Kilpha...” Aina said. “Those are the names you suggested for Mia.”

“Ah, busted, meow.”

Shiro laughed. “Well, boss, what’s your reply to that, hm?”

“Uh...” she hesitated. “Wh-Who cares?! Zalboda means ‘the strongest.’ It’s such a cool name!”

“‘The strongest,’ huh?” Valeria jumped in. “I like it. My vote goes to Zalboda.”

“Oh! I see you have good taste, Valeria,” Patty said, flying over to the bearwoman and slapping her extremely muscular back several times. Everyone laughed at the scene.

They’re all smiling, Kalmia thought. Do people always have so much fun when they spend time together like this?

“What do you think, Shess?” Aina said.

“S-S-Stop, Aina! Don’t talk to me right now! Unlike on Dramom, there are hardly any places to grab onto on this dragon, and— Ah!”

“Shess!” Aina cried out as her friend lost her grip.

Fortunately, Luza caught her just in time. “There you go, my lady,” she said, placing the little princess back on the dragon. “Are you all right? Don’t hesitate to hold on to me.”

“Th-Thanks, Luza.”

Kalmia couldn’t believe she was being included in such a joyful moment. She had wandered alone for so long, under clear skies, and through rain, snow, and thunder.

“Well, my boss seems really passionate about ‘Zalboda.’ Whaddaya think of that as a name, buddy?” Shiro asked the black dragon, who responded with an excited growl. It seemed to approve, so just like that, the new name of the dragon was Zalboda.

Kalmia watched the entire naming process unfold, and couldn’t help wondering if she had ever given someone a name before losing her memories.

“A name. My name.” She had no issues with her new name. In fact, she quite liked it. But she felt like something deep inside was screaming at her that it was wrong. That it wasn’t her name.

“Okay, time to set off. Zalboda! Go!” Shiro ordered the dragon with a look of triumph on his face.

The dragon growled in response and spread its wings, then kicked off from the ground. The flapping of its massive wings generated a strong gust of wind, causing Kalmia to reflexively close her eyes. For a split second, it felt like something heavy was pressing down on her, but an instant later, it was like she was floating. As the wind pounded her, Kalmia gripped the rope tightly, her eyes still firmly shut.

“...a! ...ia!”

Was someone calling out to her? She opened her eyes a crack.

“Mia!”

This time, she heard it clearly. Beside her, Aina was calling her name.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Mia, look!” the little hume girl said, beaming at her and pointing off into the distance.

Kalmia followed Aina’s gaze, and her lips parted in wonder as her eyes took in the majesty of the crimson sky in front of them, while below, the land seemed to roll on endlessly toward the horizon. She couldn’t stop an awestruck whisper of “Incredible...” from passing her lips at the sight of the sun beginning to set in the west, casting its golden glow out across the sky and the land beneath it. It was truly breathtaking.

“It’s so beautiful,” she mumbled, the words just slipping out again. Her jade green eyes were firmly fixed on this beautiful view—this beautiful world—that stretched out before her.

“What do you think, Mia? Pretty, right?” Aina said.

Kalmia nodded. “It is. It is pretty,” she agreed. “Really pretty.”

Aina giggled. “I’m so happy we were able to see yet another beautiful place together!”

Together. That word caused something to stir inside Kalmia.

“Ah! Mia, you just smiled! You can’t deny it!” Aina teased.

“Huh?”

Kalmia brought her hand up to her mouth. The corners of her lips had indeed curled upward. Naturally, she didn’t touch her mouth every day, but she could tell that she was making a different expression than usual. So this is what it feels like to smile.

“You look so cute when you smile, Mia.”

Once again, something stirred inside her. It would be a little while yet before she learned the name of this feeling: happiness.

Chapter Eleven: The Bolinoak Magic Nation

Flying through the sky was pure bliss. While the black dragon’s scales were a little on the hard side, the ride was heaven compared to the rattling carriage we’d endured for days on end.

“Shiro! I can see Bolinoak’s capital in the distance!” Kilpha called out, pointing somewhere up ahead.

I had been there once before in order to pick up Raiya and Nesca, and the view hadn’t changed one bit since that time.

“Amata, is that Bolinoak down there?” Shess asked.

I nodded. “Yup. What you’re looking at is the royal capital. I forget its name.”

“You forget? Even though it’s the capital?” Shess said.

I shrugged. “I’ve only come here once before, and I was in a hurry at the time.”

“It’s called Palasua, meow,” Kilpha supplied, coming to my rescue.

“Oh, right, right. Yep, that’s it.” I started again. “Look, Shess. That down there is Palasua, Bolinoak’s royal capital.” The little princess treated me to a sharp look, and I chuckled to ease the tension.

Bolinoak was considered the longest-standing nation on the continent, and Palasua—which served as both the administrative hub and the capital of the kingdom—was about three times the size of the city-state of Orvil. The city was divided up into a perfect grid, making it almost look like a Go board from above. I’d also been told many mages lived in the capital—which made a lot of sense, what with Bolinoak literally being called the “magic nation”—and that magic items and magic research were especially advanced here. But the one thing that really stood out was the presence of a bunch of towers scattered around the outskirts of the city. They were much taller than the royal palace—which stood in the center of the capital—and it almost looked like they were fencing the city in.

“Zalboda, can you land in that forest over there?” I asked, pointing to a wooded area just short of the city.

The black dragon growled in response and began descending toward the forest at speed. The ground and the trees got closer by the second.

“We’re landing! Prepare for touchdown, everyone!” I shouted back to my companions to warn them, my hands tightly gripping the rope around Zalboda’s neck.

I braced for impact too, but confounding my expectations, the black dragon landed softly in a clearing in the forest.

That was as gentle as a Dramom landing. Thanks, Zalboda.

◇◆◇◆◇

There was absolutely no way we could take a dragon into the city, so I asked Zalboda to wait for us in the forest while we went the rest of the way on foot. And before we got to the city, I asked Valeria to put a jacket on, because I was worried that her rather, well, minimalistic outfit might get us into trouble. The only issue with this was I wasn’t entirely sure I’d brought any outerwear that would actually fit over her tall, muscular frame, so I decided to just show her everything I had with me and let her pick what she preferred. She ultimately settled on a leather jacket, which was a tad tight in the shoulder area, so she tore off the sleeves with her bare hands. Her muscular build combined with the leather jacket look reminded me a little bit of a certain cyborg assassin from the future, which I found rather amusing.

We joined the line of travelers who were waiting to get into the city, then answered all of the gatekeeper’s questions to finally earn the right to pass through the gates, despite him eyeing me with suspicion, likely wondering why I was the only man in our group. However, when he learned I was a noble in Orvil, he nodded his understanding, as if it all suddenly made sense to him. He probably thought I seemed like the type of lousy noble who liked to keep a harem. I had to admit, my pride was a little wounded by that.

◇◆◇◆◇

Finding out where Nesca’s parents lived turned out to be insanely difficult. The last time I’d come here, I’d been so desperate to find them, I’d resorted to the pretty heavy-handed approach of having Dramom fly around in circles above the capital and create a commotion that eventually caught the attention of Raiya and Nesca themselves. I felt like I couldn’t get away with doing it a second time, though.

“Hm... This way, meow! I can smell Nesca and Raiya over there, meow!”

So instead, I decided to rely on Kilpha’s superior sense of smell to find our friends this time.

Sniff sniff. “Yup, this is Nesca’s scent, I’m sure of it, meow!” Sniff sniff. “Oh, it smells like meat’s being grilled over there, meow...” Sniff sniff. “And is that, um, fish, meow? With an herb stuffing, it smells like, meow?”

The moment we reached the bustling marketplace and its many food stalls, our search hit a bit of a brick wall. Kilpha kept wandering this way and that, prompting me to have to constantly go grab her by the hand and lead her back to the main path, which was a spectacle my companions seemed to find quite entertaining.

“Poor Mister Shiro. You really have your hands full, don’t you?” Aina remarked.

“Can’t say I blame Kilpha, though,” Shess chimed in. “Seems there’s a lot of delicious snacks in this marketplace.”

“My lady, could you please give me some pocket money? Even just a little bit will be fine!” Luza pleaded.

“No way. You can wait until we’re at the inn to eat,” the little princess replied, categorically refusing her knight’s request, which caused her to let out a dejected sob.

Meanwhile, Peace was meowing away, while Aina chatted with Mia.

“Yeah, you’re right, Mia. Mister Shiro and Miss Kilpha are really funny together. What was that? Oh, yeah. Yup.” She giggled. “I think so too!”

“Hey, Aina, what’s Mia saying?” Shess asked.

“She says Mister Shiro and Miss Kilpha are entertaining to watch.”

Shess hummed. “I wish I could see her too,” she grumbled.

To my surprise, Mia—whose face had been a blank mask ever since I’d first laid eyes on it—was actually laughing. Seeing her like that made me really happy, so I made sure to act extra dramatic for her entertainment.

“Aw, c’mon, Kilpha. I’ve told you a hundred times now that it’s this way!”

“Meooow, but the meeeeeeat!”

“No meat. We’re looking for Nesca’s house.”

“Aw, just a bite! I just want a bite, meooow!” Kilpha whined exaggeratedly. She had quickly caught on to my antics and had decided to aid me in making the kids laugh.

Yup. Kids should always have a smile on their faces, I thought as I watched Mia and Aina giggling at our tomfoolery together. Kilpha and I exchanged glances, then sneakily bumped fists. Ever since our trip to Orvil, the two of us had seemed to always be on the same wavelength, which turned out to be quite an odd feeling for me. I noticed her wandering off again and was busily trying to come up with some new way to make the kids laugh when a familiar voice called out my name.

“Shiro?”

“Huh? What are Kilpha and Shiro doing here?” chimed in another, equally familiar voice.

Kilpha and I turned in the direction of the newcomers.

“Hiya, man. What are you doing here?”

“Long time no see, you two.”

And lo and behold, there stood Nesca and Raiya with their fingers interlocked like the lovey-dovey couple they were.

“Raiya!” I exclaimed.

“Nesca! There you are, meow!”

Kilpha and I rushed toward the pair for a hug to celebrate our reunion.

Chapter Twelve: Where Can We Find High Elves?

“I see. I can’t believe something like that has happened to Celes and Dramom,” Nesca remarked when I’d finished recounting the events that had led us to be there.

After we stumbled across Nesca (and Raiya) in the marketplace, she had taken us to her parents’ home, which turned out to be a rather impressive mansion. I figured that made sense, given that her dad was a court mage. The parlor alone was around ninety square meters, which you just wouldn’t get back in Tokyo. When I’d commented on the size of the house, Nesca explained that in Bolinoak, court mages were higher up the social ladder than even minor nobles, and as such, they were compensated quite generously for their services. Many even had private research labs in their homes, which possibly explained why their houses were typically so large.

“So that’s why you’re looking for a high elf. Sheesh. We take our eyes off you for one second, and you end up getting dragged into a whole new mess!” Raiya chided me.

“Yeah, what he said,” Nesca added, as taciturn as ever.

I let out a sheepish chuckle. “Uh, yeah, sorry about that.”

“Not to mention, you’ve already found a high elf. Or, well, a phantom one, but still. You somehow always manage to blow me away, man,” Raiya remarked, and Nesca nodded in agreement.

“Speaking of which, the boss’s fairy mead allows anyone to see ethereal beings. Do you want some so you can see Mia too?” I offered.

“Nah, I don’t want any booze right now,” Raiya said. Nesca also didn’t seem particularly keen on the idea of drinking alcohol in the middle of the day, so I dropped the matter.

There were three four-seater sofas in the parlor, all arranged in a U-shape. I was sitting on one with Kilpha to my right and Valeria to my left, while Raiya and Nesca occupied the sofa opposite. Luza, Shess, Aina, and Mia shared the final sofa, sitting in that order from right to left. As for Peace and Patty, they were taking a catnap over by the window, basking in the warm sunlight that was streaming in through the glass.

“I think I understand the situation now. You want to ask my father to take you to the institute’s library to see if they have any books on high elves. Is that it?” Nesca asked.

“Yup. Do you think you could ask your father for us?”

“If it’s for you, I’d be happy to oblige. But...” Nesca paused, then let out a pensive hum. “If you’re looking for a high elf shaman, you might want to talk to my mother. She’s a shaman too, you see.”

“Your mother?”

“Yes.”

Nesca was a half-elf, born to a hume father and an elf mother, and what I hadn’t known prior to coming here was that her mom was a highly skilled shaman. Even if we were to ask Nesca’s father for help, we would still need to wait to receive permission from the “institute” (whatever that was) before we could access their books on high elves. So in the meantime, she suggested asking her mother to tell us what she knew about them.

“She should be home soon. Would you like to meet her?” Nesca asked.

I nodded eagerly. “Oh, absolutely!”

“Okay.”

“By the way, Nesca, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

I glanced at Raiya. For some reason, he was sitting unusually straight. “Is it just me, or did Raiya’s posture suddenly improve the second you mentioned your mom?”

“Pretend you didn’t see a thing, man,” Raiya said, trying to brush it off.

“No way,” I teased. “I wanna know what’s going on. Don’t you, Kilpha?”

“Yeah! Raiya, you look all stressed, meow.”

Nesca’s brow furrowed. “Well, that’s because—” she started explaining, but she was cut short by the sound of the front door opening.

“I’m home!” a voice cheerfully announced. “Oh? Do we have guests? Nesca! Are you here?”

Raiya went even stiffer. I’d never seen him display such perfect posture.

The parlor door opened, and in strode what could only be described as a beautiful woman. “Oh, there you are,” she said.

She had shoulder-length blond hair and slender, narrow eyes. She had a baby face, yet she was also very graceful. She looked to be in her early twenties and bore a vague resemblance to Nesca.

“Oh, my. I see we have a lot of guests over. And who might you all be?” she asked, beaming at us.

I immediately stood up and gave her a quick bow. “We’re very sorry for intruding. I’m Shiro Amata, and I’m a friend of Nesca’s. Are you her older sister?”

“Nesca’s older sister? Oh, you!” she said, flapping her hands. “That’s such a kind thing to say.” She tittered and added, “Unless you’re just trying to flatter me. Nesca, this boy... Um, what’s his name again?”

“Shiro,” Nesca said before jokingly adding, “sis.”

“Yes, Shiro. He seems like such a nice boy. Why don’t you ditch that indecisive fool over there and date this one instead?” the woman said, giggling.

I was shocked at how she could make such an outrageous suggestion without even a hint of hesitation. I also hadn’t missed the ice-cold glare she had shot Raiya’s way when she said the words “indecisive fool.”

“Um, Nesca?” I said.

“What is it?”

“By any chance, would that woman be...”

Nesca heaved a sigh. “Yes, she’s my mother,” she said, a resigned expression appearing on her face.

“I’m Fana,” the woman interjected. “I assume my daughter has been causing you all sorts of trouble. She’s my youngest, you see, and I can only assume I must have spoiled her too much when she was young because she always has her head in the clouds. It must be very hard on you, yes? Still, I’m touched she has friends who would come all this way here just to see her. Thank you!” Fana rambled on, grabbing my hand and shaking it vigorously.

“Oh, uh, it’s no big deal,” I stammered as she let go of my hand and proceeded to shake Kilpha’s and Valeria’s.

“Do you have a place to stay tonight? If you don’t, you should absolutely spend the night here. Oh dear! Hang on a moment.” She paused as she caught sight of Aina and Shess. “I didn’t realize Nesca had such young friends! You two are just darling! Little girl, could you please tell me your name?”

“I-I’m Aina,” stammered the little girl she was addressing.

“Aina, huh? That’s a pretty name. And you?”

“Shessfe—ahem, Shess,” the little princess replied.

“Your name is lovely too. Now, listen, you two: While you’re here, you have permission to view me as a mother figure, so you can indulge in all the care and attention you want, okay? I’ve been so lonely lately! Nesca stopped letting me make a fuss over her years ago, even though I know she secretly loves it when I spoil her. Oh, that reminds me: Have you eaten yet? Are you hungry? I’ll make you a snack.”

The two little girls seemed completely overwhelmed by Fana’s whirlwind of words. What is this feeling? I wondered, before it hit me: While Fana looked like a nice older sister in every way, she was more like a grandmother inside. And the lively, bubbly kind to boot. Since Nesca was always so quiet, it came as quite a shock that her mother was such a chatterbox. And if the way Kilpha was sitting with her mouth gaping next to me was any indication, it seemed I wasn’t the only one taken aback.

“I’ll prepare some tea and snacks, okay?” Fana declared, then briskly disappeared into the kitchen.

A stunned silence fell over the room. Her overbearing presence had left us all speechless.

Peace eventually broke the silence by waking up from his nap with a big yawn.

Chapter Thirteen: A Lead

Dinner that evening was a lively affair. I was surprised by the sheer size of the dining table, which seemed to even rival the one I’d sat at during my audience with Shess’s parents a few days earlier. It turned out that Nesca had two older brothers who were both married and had children of their own, so it made sense that they would need a huge table for family reunions. This also meant we could all sit comfortably around it for dinner, despite there being so many of us.

“So you’re looking for a high elf, and you wish to access the magic institute’s library to research them?” Nesca’s father summed up in his seat at the head of the table, with his wife sitting beside him.

His name was Latham. At the ripe old age of sixty-nine, he had been working as a court mage for over fifty years and held the position of third chair. In other words, he was one of the “Top Three” most influential mages in the land. He conducted his research on magic and magical items in one of the many towers around the city and had roughly a hundred disciples. He had supposedly once had the same hair color as Nesca when he was younger, but it was now pure white, which made sense given his age. Yet his posture was still perfectly straight, and his eyes hadn’t lost any of their vigor. From what he told us, his two sons were also court mages, and he intended to pass his research down to them in the future. As it turned out, the whole family was crazy good at magic, Nesca included, naturally.

“Yes,” I said, nodding in response to his question. “Can we bother you with that?”

“Of course. I’ll have a chat with the librarian and see if we can get you the authorization you need to visit the library.”

“Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it. From what I’ve heard, you’ve all been taking good care of my daughter. Especially you, Shiro. However, if I may...” He paused and flashed me a bright smile. “There is no need to visit the library if you wish to learn about high elves.”

I blinked in surprise. “What do you mean?”

Latham raised a finger and pointed to his head. “Because I have every document and tome related to elves stored right in here.”

“Is that true, dad?” Nesca asked.

“Yes. I can remember every single detail from all of them. You see, Nesca, I love your mom so much, I read every single book we had about elves so that I could understand her better. And some of those books did have mentions of high elves in them.”

“Aw, don’t say such cheesy things in front of Nesca’s friends. How embarrassing,” Fana teased, giving her husband a playful slap on the shoulder.

“Why not? Children who see their parents getting along well grow up to be well-adjusted adults,” he chuckled.

“I’m already twenty-nine. I’ve done all my growing,” Nesca pointed out.

“My, my. Our little Nesca is quite rebellious today, isn’t she? Is it because all of your friends are here? In elf years, twenty-nine makes you barely older than a runny-nosed little baby. Isn’t that right, everyone?” Fana said, glancing around for support for this assertion. However, none of us dared to reply, and we all just exchanged awkward smiles instead.

I decided to steer the conversation back on track. “Latham, could you tell us some of the things you’ve read about high elves? We’re especially interested in anything that might give us a hint to their whereabouts,” I said, getting straight to the point.

“Sure, I don’t mind. It is a mage’s duty to impart knowledge to the younger generation, after all.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Well now, which book should I start with?” He put his fork down on his plate and began recounting some of what he’d read to us. “According to the ancient tomes, the high elves are the tribe responsible for protecting the world trees.”

He went on to explain this in great detail. In short, world trees were a particularly rare species of tree, to the point where there were only a handful throughout the entirety of Ruffaltio. They were vital to the land, and every part of them—the trunks, branches, and leaves—teemed with power. It was said the high elves were responsible for caring for and protecting these world trees from those who coveted their power, and there were certainly plenty of individuals who harbored such desires. According to the historical records, there had even been a large-scale war fought over the world trees.

To prevent a similar conflict from happening again, the high elves had erected special barriers around the world trees, which prevented the other races from being able to detect them anymore. Consequently, all of the high elves’ settlements were hidden from the rest of the world too. And according to Latham, this was about the sum of the information contained in the library’s books. In the end, we learned nothing about their whereabouts, I thought, feeling dejected.

But then, he added one last little tidbit. “There is one minor detail that isn’t written in any of the books, though. There is actually one tribe responsible for assisting the high elves.”

“A tribe that assists the high elves?” I queried.

“Yes. While the high elves might be powerful, it’s totally unfeasible for an entire race to cut itself off from the world for hundreds, even thousands of years. This is merely conjecture on my part, but they likely recognized that severing all communication with the outside world would ultimately put the world trees at risk.”

“So what you’re basically saying is there’s a tribe out there somewhere that’s in regular contact with the high elves?”

“Exactly,” he declared with such confidence, it almost sounded like he’d met them personally.

“Could you tell us about them?” I said. “Of course, I’m not asking you to give us this info for free. If there’s anything you need in return, just let me know. I’ll try to fulfill your request to the best of my ability.”

“Please, dad,” Nesca said.

“Please tell us, meow!” Kilpha chimed in.

My other companions all started to follow our example.

“Please, mister!” Patty said, a serious look on her face.

Valeria wore a similar expression. “I would really appreciate it if you could tell us.”

“U-Um, please,” Raiya mumbled quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Mister, please help Mister Shiro!” Aina pleaded.

“Yeah! Tell him!” Shess interjected.

Seeing how eager the two little girls were to get this information, Luza joined in. “You heard my lady. So hurry it up and tell us about this mysterious tribe,” she demanded.

I vaguely heard Shess hissing at her knight that she would be having her pay cut for being so rude to our hosts, but that barely registered. We were so close to getting a proper lead on high elves, nothing else mattered in this moment.

Latham chuckled. “Well, gosh. You didn’t need to all start begging me to tell you. I was planning to impart the knowledge to you all along.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes.” But then he paused and corrected himself. “Well, not exactly. I was actually thinking of getting my wife to tell you about that particular tribe.” He looked across at her. “You don’t mind, do you, Fana?”

Nesca’s mother sighed at length but eventually acquiesced. “Fine,” she said gravely. “The tribe you want to know about is from a village called Vehar.”

“Vehar?” Nesca echoed, a look of surprise registering on her face. “But mom, that’s your—”

“Yes, Nesca,” her mother said, cutting her off. “I was born into the tribe responsible for assisting the high elves.”

◇◆◇◆◇

So it turned out that Fana was from the village responsible for assisting the high elves who cared for the world trees.

“I didn’t know that, mom,” Nesca said, astonished at this revelation.

“Of course you didn’t. I never told you. Randy and Naj don’t know either.”

Nesca’s older brothers, I presume?

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Nesca pressed.

“Because I never saw the need. I told you what happened, didn’t I? Your father and I eloped, running away to Bolinoak together. I had no intention of going back to Vehar, so what would’ve been the point in telling you about it?”

Nesca was speechless, but her mother simply shrugged and launched into telling us about her old village. Roughly two nations north of Bolinoak lay the vast forest of Leshy, which was home to the elven village of Vehar. They were considered a particularly strict tribe even by elven standards, and their motto was “In all circumstances, rules must be obeyed.” Anyone who dared to break the rules faced severe punishment.

According to Fana, the people of Vehar kept all communication with other settlements to a bare minimum, only bartering and exchanging goods with a select number of tribes, and when it came to assisting the high elves, just a handful of individuals from the village were entrusted with the role. Fana’s parents were among the chosen few and often had to travel outside of the village to perform their duties. At best, they would be gone for a few days, but at worst, it could be several months. Whenever Fana complained about these protracted absences, they would simply respond that they were following “the rules” and brush her off, but each unproductive debate of this kind caused her to grow more and more frustrated with life in Vehar.

Time passed, and Fana hit puberty. She had been living the same routine for a hundred years, and each day was more boring than the one before. To make matters worse, she was still having to deal with her parents disappearing for long stretches of time. Utterly fed up with her lot in life, she decided to slip out of the village one day. I’ll be right back, she had told herself as she sneaked out, but before she knew it, she stumbled across an injured Latham in the wilderness...

“And I fell in love with him at first sight, Nesca,” she said with both hands pressed against her cheeks as she wiggled in her seat.

Nesca recoiled in disgust at her mother’s embarrassing display.

“It was in that moment that I made my decision,” Fana continued. “I would spend my life by his side.”

The pair moved to Bolinoak, where they put down roots and were eventually blessed with three children. Since she had essentially run away from her village, Fana hadn’t returned there in nearly fifty years.

“It hasn’t been that long,” she added, which gave me a keen insight into how humans and elves viewed time very differently.

“Um, haven’t you ever considered going back to your home village just to say hi since then?” I asked.

“Not even once,” she replied firmly. “Did you know they only eat nuts, berries, and grass there?”

“G-Grass?” I stammered. “You mean grains, right? Or, like, actual wild plants?”

“It’s all just grass at the end of the day. Oh, they do also have delicacies like honey though. The only problem is those pesky village elders always get served first, so by the time it reaches the rest of us, there’s not a single scoop left. The same goes for the nuts and the berries. Don’t you think that’s cruel?” Fuming at the memory of it, she stabbed a chunk of meat with her fork and brought it up to her mouth.

My overall impression of elves was that most of them were vegetarians, but Fana seemed to really like her meat. Was that possibly the result of those lean years when she’d eaten nothing but “nuts, berries, and grass”?

“If I’d had access to a wider variety of food, I probably would never have left the village,” she noted.

“Well, then. Didn’t it all work out for the best in the end? I wouldn’t have met you if it hadn’t been for those harsh rules,” Latham chimed in.

“Oh, you!” Fana squealed, acting all lovey-dovey with her husband.

Latham had the appearance of an old man in every way, while Fana looked to be in her early twenties. At first glance, anyone would assume they were a couple with a crazy age difference. Heck, if someone had posted a picture of them on Japanese social media, it would have undoubtedly drawn comments suggesting that Fana was only after his money. Yet looking at them like this, it was clear how much they really did love each other.

“Fana, I’m sorry to ask you this, but—” I started, but she interrupted me.

“Yes, I know, Shiro. You want me to take you to my home village of Vehar. Correct?”

“Yeah. Could you please help us get there?” I asked, getting to my feet and bowing to her.

“Shiro once saved me when I was attacked by a monster. It’s only thanks to him that I’m still alive,” Nesca chimed in, standing up and staring at her mother. “Mom, please help him.”

“Nesca...” Fana whispered, her eyes locking with her daughter’s.

Next to Nesca, Raiya began rising from his seat as well. “P-Please will you—”

But he had barely opened his mouth when Fana shot him an intense glare, causing him to dejectedly fall back into his chair. What was going on? A single glare from Nesca’s mother was all it took to make Raiya shrink and curl up. This was the guy who was always laughing heartily at everything, taking care of others around him, and who would stand his ground no matter what he was dealing with, yet here he was, acting as meek as a kitten in front of Fana. Even Peace, who was presently busy eating his meal enthusiastically in one corner of the room, was more assertive!

“I don’t mind taking you and your friends to Vehar, Shiro,” Fana said, as if that whole thing with Raiya hadn’t just happened.

“Really? Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes. However...” She paused and heaved a lengthy sigh. “The village elders will probably refuse to see you, let alone allow you to meet the high elves.”

Apparently, the ones in charge of the village were elderly elves of a more conservative persuasion, which meant they tended to cling tightly to their “rules.” According to Fana, they would likely just send us away as soon as we showed up on their doorstep.

“I see. So not only will they refuse to talk to me because I’m a hume, but they won’t even agree to meet me. Is that right?” I summarized.

“I’m sorry. They’re just inflexible like that. Must be all that tasteless grass they eat,” Fana sniffed, taking another bite of her meat.

“I see.”

I contemplated the issue for a moment. The elves of Vehar Village refused to have any interaction with humes. In fact, they had no intention of seeing anyone other than the select few tribes they already did business with. In that case, what I needed to do was give them a reason to have to interact with us.

“Aina, where’s Mia?” I asked the little girl to my left.

Team Adults (myself included) had stopped drinking fairy mead as soon as Nesca’s mother had told us we could meet her husband at dinner. After all, I was worried he’d refuse point-blank to let us take a look at the books in the library if we showed up reeking of alcohol. So at the present time, Kilpha, Valeria, and I had no alcohol in our system, meaning we had lost the sight granted to us by the fairy mead, and consequently, couldn’t see Mia.

“Um...” An awkward look appeared on Aina’s face, and she pointed over to the corner of the room where Peace was eating. “She’s over there.”

Okay, she’s in the room. Good.

“Thanks, Aina. Boss,” I said, turning to Patty.

“What is it, Shiro?”

“Can you get out the you-know-what?”

“The you-know-what? Oh! The you-know-what! Boy, you really like the stuff, don’t you, Shiro? Okay, here ya go.” She produced a gourd of fairy mead from her inventory.

Latham’s eyes grew wide in awe. “Ooh! Miss Patty, you have the Inventory skill?”

“Is it that rare here? Nearly all fairies have it,” she replied matter-of-factly.

“Fascinating,” he marveled. “I would love to have a long conversation with you at some point. If you don’t mind, of course.”

“That’ll have to wait for another day, darling,” Fana chimed in. “I’m more curious about what’s inside that gourd thing.” She had started fidgeting excitedly. “P-Patty, would that be...”

“This? It’s some fairy mead that I made,” the little fairy said.

Fairy mead was a type of alcohol that was so rare, it was treated as only a legend by many. Thanks to Patty and the cooperation of her fairy friends, we had a steady supply of it in Ninoritch by this point, but in Bolinoak, it was still considered a mythical drink.

“The alcohol of legends!” Fana exclaimed. “Oh, please, Patty, let me have a sip. No, wait, a glass! Just one! Or maybe two! Three, even!”

“Mom, you’re asking for more and more,” Nesca pointed out.

“Well, of course I am! Don’t you know you have to seize a chance when one presents itself?”

Nesca was visibly thrown off-balance by her mother’s statement. Meanwhile, Patty was staring at me, as if wordlessly asking me what she should do, so I took the fairy mead from her, produced a few shot glasses from my own inventory, and filled them up.

“Oh! You have the Inventory skill too, Shiro?” Fana asked, sounding surprised.

I chuckled and put my finger to my lips. “Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

Latham, Fana, Kilpha, Valeria, Nesca, Raiya, and I all clinked our shot glasses together before draining them in one gulp. And practically as soon as the mind-blowingly delicious liquid had slid down our throats, the effects kicked in.

“Look, darling! Th-There’s a little girl standing over there,” Fana said, pointing at the corner of the room where Mia was sitting on the floor with her hands on her knees.

“You see her too? So it’s not a hallucination...”

The little phantom girl occasionally petted Peace, who let her do as she pleased and seemingly enjoyed the attention.

“Shiro, who’s that girl there?” Fana said, asking the question both she and her husband were thinking.

I schooled my face into a serious expression. “Her name is Kalmia. We’re not totally sure of it, but we have reason to believe she might be a high elf phantom.”

◇◆◇◆◇

“I see. So that’s what happened. You’re a very strong girl, Mia,” Fana said.

She must have felt sorry for the poor little phantom girl, who had been searching for someone dear to her all this time despite her inability to even remember who the person was. Tears pooled in her eyes as she picked up Mia, sat her down on her lap, and gave her a big hug from behind.

“Fana, just so we’re sure, is Mia really—” I started, but she interrupted me with a nod before I could finish my sentence.

“Yes, she’s a high elf, all right. Her ears are longer than mine.”

“See? That’s exactly what I said!” Kilpha exclaimed proudly.

And yes, it turned out she had been right. We’d gotten an elf’s seal of approval, so there was little doubt about Mia being a high elf now.

“Are you really sure you can’t organize a meeting between us and the people of Vehar Village?” I pressed Fana. “For Mia’s sake.”

“Oh, this changes everything. Those stubborn old fogeys always prioritize the high elves over even the village’s rules, so it might work. They’ll feel like they have to receive her.”

“That’s great!”

My companions and I looked from one to another, and at last, we all started beaming. My friends must have felt every bit as relieved as I was.

“The sooner, the better, I suppose. We’ll head to Vehar tomorrow,” Fana declared.

We finished up our dinner and spent the rest of the evening preparing for the journey.

Chapter Fourteen: Raiya’s Concerns

Since we’d be setting out for Vehar together the next day, Fana and Latham had offered to let us stay the night.

“I seriously couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you in the marketplace, man,” Raiya said to me.

There were plenty of guest rooms in Nesca’s childhood home, and it was decided that Raiya and I would be bunking together for the night. I’d figured he would be sharing a room with his girlfriend, so I was a little surprised by this, but I decided not to say anything about it. Perhaps he didn’t want to be too forward with her parents around?

“And you’re looking for a high elf this time,” he continued. “Don’t you know that pursuing legendary creatures is supposed to be our thing, not yours? We’re the adventurers.”

I laughed. “Valeria said something similar.”

“Great minds think alike when they’re around you, huh?” Raiya said, flashing me an impish smile.

There it is! There’s the Raiya I know! Yet whenever he was around Nesca’s parents—especially her mother—he became a lot more sedate, and it was almost like he was trying to blend into the background. I was still hung up on that.

“Hey, Raiya,” I started.

“Hm?”

“Why do you sit so properly when Fana’s around? Your spine was so straight at dinner, I almost wondered if you had an iron rod up your shirt,” I joked, feeling at ease to do so since it was just the two of us in the room.

But the smile on Raiya’s face disappeared as soon as I said it, and was replaced by an expression of worry. “Well, uh, how should I put it?”

“She was especially harsh on you, I noticed. Did you do something to upset her? Or does she just not like you because you’re the man who’s stolen her precious daughter away from her?”

He hummed in thought. “The former, I guess.”

“Seriously? Please tell me you didn’t do something as bad as trying to peek at her when she was in the bath.”

“As if I’d ever do that.” He tried to punch me in the shoulder, but I swiftly dodged out of the way.

“So what did you do?” I asked, lowering my voice slightly.

This time, I was serious. Raiya had helped me out countless times before, and I wanted to return the favor if I could. Of course, whenever I brought that up, he always denied it and insisted that he was the one who owed me. It was exactly for that reason that I was so determined to help him and give him advice.

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone,” he said after a pause.

“I promise. I’m decently good at keeping secrets.”

“Whaddaya mean, ‘decently’ good? How am I supposed to trust you if you say that?”

I chuckled. “I’m just kidding. I won’t tell a soul.”

“Please don’t.” A dry smile curled his lips upward slightly, and he started telling me all about what had happened between him and Fana. “So Nesca brought me here to introduce me to her parents as her fiancé.”

I nodded. “Yeah, Kilpha and I had an inkling that was why you two had come here.”

“Is that so? Well, I guess we weren’t exactly discreet. Anyway, I took her to my hometown too. Told my parents and my brothers that she was my future wife. Then, Nesca said it was her turn, and brought me to Bolinoak,” he explained.

“And that’s when I swooped in to whisk you two off to the Dura Forest. Just when you were about to ask her parents for her hand. Right?”

“Yup. You have no idea how mad Nesca was at you,” Raiya said. “Well, in the end, Kilpha agreed to go back to Ninoritch, so all’s well that ends well, I guess.”

Raiya’s adventuring party, Blue Flash, was presently on a long break, as all four members had gone home to spend time with their families, friends, and mentors. However, trouble had arisen during their time off in the form of Kilpha’s former fiancé, Sajiri, whose scheming had nearly ended up forcing Kilpha to retire from her life as an adventurer. If it hadn’t been for Raiya, Nesca, and Rolf showing up at just the right moment, Kilpha would have felt compelled to abandon her career entirely in order to marry a man whom she had zero affection for.

“But surely you asked Nesca’s parents for her hand as soon as you got back here again, right?” I said. You know, saying something along the lines of “Please grant me your blessing to marry your daughter.”

“Well, about that...” Raiya mumbled.

“Huh? What’s with that reaction?” I said before realization slowly dawned on me. “Hold on a minute. Don’t tell me you haven’t asked them yet.”

“Wh-What, are you saying I messed up?”

“You totally did! Dude, if I was Latham, I would’ve beaten you up already!”

What do you mean, he hasn’t completed the “Asking Nesca’s parents for her hand” event yet? I was utterly flabbergasted. He had always come across as so dauntless, I’d just naturally assumed he would have no issue in taking that step.

“So you really haven’t asked them? Well, now I get why Fana’s so mad at you.”

“You do?”

“Of course. You’re the man who’s stolen her precious daughter away, yet you keep putting off that crucial conversation, y’know? It’s no wonder she’s always glaring at you.”

Raiya was silent for a moment. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” he eventually admitted.

The two of us let out simultaneous sighs.

“It’s not too late, you know, Raiya. How about having the ‘talk’ with them tomorrow? All you have to say is, ‘Please let me marry your daughter!’” I suggested.

But Raiya didn’t reply. A look of concern settled on his face. Uh-oh. Is he going through the dreaded pre-wedding jitters? As someone who hadn’t been in a relationship in years, let alone had thoughts of marriage, this was completely alien territory to me.

“It’s not as if they’re against your union, right?”

My words were once again met with silence.

“Wait. Fana called you ‘indecisive’ earlier, didn’t she?” I recalled. “Don’t tell me you haven’t even proposed to Nesca yet?”

“No, I haven’t,” he murmured.

“What? That’s no good!” I slapped my hand to my forehead and reflexively looked up at the ceiling.

“Hey, what was your impression of Nesca’s parents when you saw them?” Raiya suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had formed around us.

“Fana and Latham? My first thought was about how well they seemed to get along.”

He nodded. “Yeah, they do seem to really love each other. But Nesca’s dad is already sixty-nine.”

“Well, he’s a hume and Fana’s an elf, so...” I pointed out.

In this world, different races had different lifespans, which was an issue any mixed couple had to face up to. Hadn’t I once heard someone say you had to marry someone of the same race to truly be happy?

“Raiya, are you having doubts about marrying Nesca because she’s a half-elf and will end up living a lot longer than you?” I asked.

“Are you saying I can’t? I mean, I want to marry Nesca. I even invited my parents and siblings to the wedding,” he said, pouring his heart out.

I nodded, signaling him to continue.

“But when I saw her father, I...”

I personally believed Latham looked great for sixty-nine, but I couldn’t deny that his age became a lot more apparent whenever he was standing next to his wife. After all, the older you get, the closer you are to death. It seemed as though Raiya had foreseen his future with Nesca when looking at her parents.

“Nesca will live for centuries. But for us humes, even with all the will in the world, reaching a hundred is about the best we can hope for,” he said. “If Nesca marries me, she’ll be alone for hundreds of years after I’ve passed on, and when I picture her all alone like that, I can’t help wondering if I really should keep pushing my affection onto her.”

“Raiya...”

“What do you think I should do, man? Maybe it would be better for her sake if I just broke things off altogether.”

I couldn’t find the words to answer his question.

Chapter Fifteen: On the Dragon’s Back

“This is incredible! I can’t believe I’m riding a dragon at my age!” Latham exclaimed excitedly. We were all aboard Zalboda, heading for Vehar.

Fana, our guide for this expedition, chuckled. “My, you’re in such high spirits, darling.”

That morning, the pair had been about to hail a carriage that would take us all the way to Vehar when I’d stopped them and told them about Zalboda. In response, Latham had disappeared for a moment, then returned with a bunch of saddles. Apparently, they had originally been made to go on wyverns, but he quickly altered them so they would fit on Zalboda and arranged them in three rows of four “seats” on the dragon’s back, making it the perfect number for our group. As for Fana, she had used the power of wind spirits to create a barrier around Zalboda’s back. And what did this barrier do, you might ask? Well, it completely stopped the wind from blasting in our faces and allowed us to talk among ourselves without needing to scream above the noise.

Saddles and a wind barrier. These two additions had made the journey a lot more comfortable than the way there, when we had to grip ropes I’d tied around Zalboda and hold on for dear life. The only real issue was that the saddle was too big for Patty, so she sat atop Peace’s pet carrier, which we had secured to her spot instead, though the little cat didn’t seem all that happy about being confined to a carrier. As for the seating arrangement, Fana occupied the rightmost saddle in the first row, while Latham was seated next to her, and Kilpha and I were to the left of them both. The middle row went Luza, Shess, Mia, and Aina from right to left, while Raiya, Nesca, Peace and Patty, and Valeria were sharing the final row. Twelve people and a cat. That was a large ol’ group.

At first, I’d assumed Latham wouldn’t be tagging along with us due to his job, but he told us he’d always wanted to visit Vehar and had decided to take some last-minute time off in order to accompany us. He also mentioned that he’d been looking for a chance to introduce himself to Fana’s parents, but she had always refused to go back to her home village. Although they were certainly in for a shock, because not only would it be their first time seeing their daughter in fifty years, but she would also be accompanied by her husband and daughter.

“Thank you so much for providing us with these saddles, Latham,” I said. “Zalboda was quite cautious for our sakes on the way to you, and I was still a little worried one of us might fall off all ride long.”

“I have to admit, I’m shocked you even dared to ride a dragon without a saddle,” he replied.

I laughed evasively. “W-Well, we were in a hurry, so...”

“Bolinoak has just started raising wyverns for the sake of riding them in the past six years,” he explained. “It was purely a stroke of luck that one of my friends happened to have been involved in the development of the saddles.”

When he’d told this friend he needed the saddles to put on Zalboda, his friend had been very excited about the prospect of trying his creation on a dragon and had immediately agreed to help. Bolinoak sure was full of enthusiastic researchers, wasn’t it?

“I’m still amazed by the effects of that fairy mead you let us try yesterday,” Latham added. “That drink truly is a marvel. I cannot believe it allows a person to temporarily possess glam sight.”

“Gla...” I repeated in confusion. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Glam sight. There is a legend among those who can use magic that fairies are able to see things that do not exist on this mortal plane. ‘Glam sight’ is the name we mages and alchemists use for that ability,” he explained.

“Ooh, really? I learned something today.”

“I have spent my whole life studying it,” he continued. “I’m currently developing special glasses that will allow the wearer to see ethereal life-forms like phantoms and spirits.” He produced a lorgnette from his pocket. “This is the first prototype I’ve completed after thirteen years of effort.”

“Oh, so you’ve made one! Congratulations,” I said.

“Thank you, Shiro. Would you like to give them a try?”

“May I?”

“Of course. Just don’t drop them, okay?” Latham quipped before handing the lorgnette to me.

Over half a day had passed since the previous evening, which was when I’d last drunk any fairy mead, meaning the effects of the alcohol had completely worn off, and at present, I was unable to see Mia.

“I’ll take you up on your offer,” I said, peering into the spectacles. “Whoa!”

The first thing my eyes landed on was a young boy I’d never seen before. He was practically translucent and very beautiful (also, it must be noted, half naked), and he was flying around us with a smile on his face.

“Latham, there seems to be a semitransparent boy frolicking around us?” I queried.

“Oh, that must be the wind spirit my wife summoned,” he replied. “I’ve seen him a few times before.”

“A spirit?”

Still slightly in shock, I turned around and looked at the spot where Mia was supposedly sitting. And sure enough, there she was. I could see her quite clearly, straddling the saddle with her hands gripping the reins. As I stared at her, she cocked her head to one side, likely wondering what the strange contraption in my hand was.

“Well?” Latham prompted.

“I can see Mia!” I exclaimed. “These glasses are amazing.”

“Aren’t they just?” he said excitedly. “I only just finished them this morning!”

“This morning? That’s, uh, rather sudden, isn’t it?”

“I know, right? My wife helped me to confirm that the glasses could indeed see spirits, but since I’d never actually met a phantom before yesterday, I couldn’t confirm if they worked on them too or not.”

“Wait, so you mean—”

“Yes. Thanks to you bringing Mia over, I was finally able to prove that they function on phantoms as well.”

“I see. So that’s why you only finished them this morning.”

“Exactly. I’m truly thankful to you,” he said, flashing me a smile and seeming to be genuinely overjoyed. It was an understandable reaction, because after all, thirteen years of research had finally come to fruition that morning.

“By the way, Latham...”

“What is it?”

“Can these glasses be mass-produced? I was just thinking I’d love to own a pair,” I said, shamelessly asking for my own benefit.

But Latham simply laughed off the suggestion. “Don’t be silly. You’re a merchant, aren’t you? Surely you must know how absurdly expensive just a pair of plain spectacles are?”

“O-Oh, of course. After all, I’m a merchant,” I said with an awkward chuckle. I’m sorry, Latham, but I really have no idea how much glasses go for in this world.

Glass manufacturing technologies hadn’t been discovered in Ruffaltio yet, so I could only assume artisans manually crafted each lens one by one. This meant there was a limit to how many pairs of glasses could be produced at one time, which inevitably made them very expensive. And given how the only people I’d seen wearing glasses in Ninoritch were high-ranked adventurers and merchants, it was clear they were considered a luxury item.

“Acquiring the glasses themselves was actually the biggest challenge in my research. As you well know, they’re very expensive, so I could only buy a few pairs with the funds set aside for my research. Even by investing some of my own money, I was only able to afford seventeen pairs.”

Latham began telling me about all the challenges he had run into during his research over the past thirteen years. Not only had he had trouble sourcing pairs of glasses in the first place, but they had all kept breaking during experiments. For thirteen years, his research had produced nothing but disappointment, until he had finally hit upon the idea of engraving a condensed magic circle directly onto the glasses. But even then, he had struggled with gauging how much power to put into the glasses, and several pairs had split while trying to perfect the process.

“I was completely out of funds and only had a single pair left, so I had to be very careful,” he admitted.

Just one pair. Latham had decided to engrave the magic circle onto the glasses himself this time. When carving a condensed magic circle onto something, you needed to channel some mana into it while being mindful not to put in too much or too little, because it just wouldn’t work if it wasn’t at the exact level it needed to be. Apparently, he’d been so tense and focused that by the time he was done, he’d collapsed on the spot.

“So these glasses caused you a lot of trouble, huh?” I remarked.

“The making of them was a long and arduous journey,” he confirmed. “But my efforts were rewarded in the end. This is the kind of thing that keeps me hooked on magical research.”

Fairy Glasses. That was the name Latham had given to the lorgnette he had developed. I handed him back the glasses and let out a pensive hum. The only reason he couldn’t mass-produce his invention was due to glasses being too expensive in this world, to the point where simply acquiring them was a major hurdle. In Japan, however, you could find countless pairs for under 10,000 yen. You could even get sunglasses and pairs of glasses with plastic lenses for around 1,000 yen. That gave me an idea.

“Latham,” I began.

“Yes?”

“What if I could provide you with, oh, let’s say, a hundred pairs of glasses?”

“A hu— A hundred pairs, you say?!” he repeated in disbelief.

“Yes. With my connections, I think I could manage that without too much trouble.”

Latham stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “Nesca told me you were a very competent merchant, but a hundred pairs of glasses is just...” He paused. “Ah, but then again, you did manage to tame the black dragon. Getting your hands on some glasses is probably nothing to you.”

I forced myself to chuckle. “W-Well, yeah.” And it was true. There were tons of opticians in Japan, after all.

“I’d be extremely grateful if you could provide me with a hundred pairs of glasses. But what do you want in return, hm? Just so you know, if you’re after Nesca’s hand, you’ll have to ask her for that directly,” he joked.

He was probably expecting me to reply with a quip of my own, so I happily obliged. “Uh, I think if I did that, Raiya would have my head.”

“Oh, I’d much prefer you over that pathetic, indecisive loser,” Fana interjected. She had good hearing, huh? Well, I guess that made sense. She was an elf, after all.

Latham chuckled. “Don’t be so mean, Fana.”

“Oh, but darling, don’t you think Shiro would make a much better son-in-law?” his wife asked with a pout, and for some reason, Kilpha—who was sitting next to me—flinched at the comment.

“Just leave him be. When you’re young, it’s only natural to worry about things. Isn’t that right, Shiro? You’re a man too, so I’m sure you agree, don’t you?” Latham asked me.

“Y-Yeah. Well, there are definitely a lot of things to think about,” I replied awkwardly. I recalled the conversation I’d had with Raiya the previous night. He must still have been worried—no, anguished about the kind of future he would have with Nesca.

“Anyway, what would you like in exchange for all these pairs of glasses you say you can get for me, Shiro?” Latham asked again, steering the conversation back on track.

I chose to be direct this time. “Do you think you could furnish me with a few pairs of these Fairy Glasses once you’ve made them?”

“Oh? Fairy Glasses? Why?” he queried.

“Well, you see, one of my friends over there is a child, so she can’t drink alcohol,” I explained, motioning to Shess.

Latham seemed to understand my concern and nodded his acknowledgment. “She must be feeling rather left out because she can’t see Mia at all. I understand. If you can provide me with a hundred pairs of regular glasses, I’ll give you five pairs of Fairy Glasses in return.”

“Thank you,” I said. “As soon as things have settled down, I’ll go get them for you.”

“Thanks. Who would have believed that a friend of Nesca’s would become an investor in my own research...” he reflected. “Life really is full of surprises.”

And so, Latham and I had finalized our agreement. I told myself the first thing I would do once I received the Fairy Glasses would be to give a pair to Shess, because it would be so adorable to see her, Aina, and Mia playing together.

Chapter Sixteen: The Village of Vehar

“Shiro, can you tell your dragon to land in that forest over there?” Fana said.

We had departed from Bolinoak on the back of Zalboda, the black dragon, about six hours previously, and we were presently approaching a vast forest that was smack-dab in the middle of the continent. According to Fana, we had reached our destination, for this was the forest of Leshy.

“Sure thing,” I replied. “You heard the lady, Zalboda.”

The black dragon purred as if acknowledging the command, then began its descent, getting progressively lower and lower until I could make out each individual tree.

Fana pointed to a small patch of the forest. “Over there. That’s where the village is.”

“In the middle of all these tall trees?” I queried, following her gaze.

“Yup. Vehar’s right there. Just keep going until we get there.”

“Don’t you think we should land before we reach the village?” I suggested. “We are riding a dragon here, after all.”

She chuckled mischievously. “Won’t it be more fun to touch down in the village itself?”

“More fun? Wait, can we even do that? Won’t the villagers think they’re under attack?”

“Who cares what they think? They’re probably bored out of their minds anyway. Besides, a little bit of stimulation might do those old farts some good.”

She had just referred to the elders of her village as “old farts.” She seriously had a grudge against them, didn’t she? Still, landing in the middle of the village when we were here to ask the people of Vehar for their help? I wasn’t so sure about that.

“Don’t even think about not doing it, Shiro,” Fana warned, as if reading my thoughts. Her tone was still kind, but there was a notable firmness to it that made it clear I wasn’t going to change her mind.

“But Fana, this is a dragon we’re talking about. They might think they’re under attack and retaliate,” I pointed out.

“Precisely,” she said before launching into explaining her reasoning, her words slow and deliberate, as if she were talking to a child. “Listen up, Shiro. What I’m going to tell you may sound a little silly, but elves are very clannish people, you see. A lot of elves consider other races to be beneath them, and that’s especially the case in Vehar. The second they see you’re a hume, they’ll start acting all high and mighty.” She had a stern look on her face, though I couldn’t tell if it stemmed from anger or frustration.

“So that’s why you want me to tell Zalboda to land inside the village itself?”

“Yup. They’ll likely behave a little better if they see you’ve tamed a dragon. And if they don’t, then oh well. You can just burn the village to the ground. I won’t hold it against you.”

All I could say to that was “Uh, wow.”

So she wanted me to get Zalboda to land in the middle of Vehar. I understood that the intention was to get the people of the village to take me more seriously, but it was so extreme, my heart started racing in my chest. I really wished she had told me her plan earlier and not when we were about to reach our destination.

Thankfully, here came the cavalry in the form of Latham weighing in on the matter. “Fana, you’re really putting him on the spot,” he chided his wife.

“Darling...” she said, her brow knitted and a dejected look on her face.

“Although, if I may offer my own opinion, I would rather not have to walk too far, so could you do as my wife suggested and land in the village, Shiro?”

“That’s my husband!” Fana exclaimed, throwing herself into Latham’s arms. He hadn’t come to my rescue at all!

“Fine. Have it your way,” I sniffed. “But you’ll be the ones taking responsibility for whatever happens next!”

In reality, I could hardly go against our guide’s wishes anyway, so I had no choice but to entertain her whim. I passed on the instruction to Zalboda, who started doing loops in the sky right above the village as if to signal to those below that we were about to land.

“A-A dragon!”

“Are we under attack?!”

“Call out the warriors and the shamans!”

“Grab bows and all the arrows you can find!”

“What’s the black dragon doing in this forest?!”

“Take the children into the woods! Anyone who can fight, fetch a bow!”

As I feared, the elves had been sent into a panic. Well, of course. What else would you expect? This was actually the second time I’d been in this exact situation. The first was when I went to Palasua on the back of Dramom to pick up Raiya and Nesca.

“What’s this? Hey, look! There are people riding that dragon!”

One of the villagers had spotted us. Now that I thought about it, I’d been told that elves had great eyesight, which they put to good use as hunters.

“Captain, shouldn’t we be trying to repel them?” asked another.

“Not just yet. But be prepared to loose your arrows at a moment’s notice.”

“Yes, sir!”

Well, that wasn’t a scary thing to hear at all.

“Zalboda, don’t descend too fast. Take it very slow, you got that? Like, as slow as you possibly can. Please,” I begged the black dragon.

The dragon did as I ordered, and as light as a feather, we touched down in the village square.

“Um, hello?” I ventured.

I looked around and saw dozens of elves aiming arrows at us. The tension in the air was so thick, my stomach was twisting itself in knots. But suddenly...

“Impossible...” gasped one of the elves. “Fana?”

Oh! He’s seen her. That’s great! Hopefully, this meant we could now have a nice, peaceful conversation about—

“Did you just say Fana?”

“The stupid girl who fled the village?”

“What’s she doing, coming back here after all these years?”

“Look! She’s accompanied by some beastfolk and some humes!”

“I can’t believe she’s brought outsiders to the village! Just how foolish can you be?!”

“Does she have any idea how much trouble we found ourselves in because of her?!”

My hopes were almost instantly crushed. While it wasn’t quite as bad as the elves taking potshots at us, they had all started yelling, and I could feel the anger in their words. And here I was, thinking they’d welcome Fana back with open arms. Sure, they might have had a few disagreements with Fana in the past, but they hadn’t seen her in fifty years.

“Hup!” Fana jumped down from Zalboda’s back, ignoring all the angry shouting and harsh words of criticism directed at her. “Long time no see, everyone. Gosh, are you really sure you want to be pointing those things at us? If you keep this up, I might just ask this cute little dragon to reduce your village to cinders.”

This rendered everyone speechless. I had not been expecting the first thing to come out of her mouth to be a threat. But by this point, I was sure of it. She had claimed the reason for wanting me to get Zalboda to land in the village was so the elves wouldn’t underestimate us, but that had been a flat-out lie. This was all about settling her own personal grudge and nothing more.

Her cheerful tone only served to reinforce my theory. “Come on, lower those bows. Unless you really do want to be ash. A dragon’s breath is very hot, you know. Tee-hee.”

“Mom, you shouldn’t threaten the people of your home—” Nesca tried reasoning with her.

But Fana didn’t even let her finish. “I’ll give you five seconds! One. Two. Three...” she called out, enunciating each number with exaggerated clarity.

The elves quickly threw their bows to the ground and raised their hands in surrender.

“Good. Yes, that’s very good. Although you could have spared me the trouble and just lowered your bows when I first asked,” Fana said, a pleased look settling on her face.

“Mom,” Nesca tried again. She seemed completely perturbed by her mother’s actions, and she wasn’t the only one. Save for Latham, we had all been taken aback by Fana’s attitude.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Fana said, bringing her fist down into the palm of her other hand and breaking into a grin. “I’m home, everyone!”

The only response she got from the elves was a bunch of murderous glares.

◇◆◇◆◇

“Foolish girl,” muttered Vehar’s chieftain.

His name was Tisto, and he was Fana’s father, which I was very much surprised to learn. He had the look of a handsome thirtysomething, but he was apparently over four hundred years old.

We were still in the village square, although thanks to Zalboda’s presence, we had secured ourselves an audience with the elders of Vehar, which happened to include Mr. Tisto. Someone had brought out a table and some chairs, and the representatives for both groups had seated themselves across from one another, with Tisto and three other men on one side, and our guide, Fana, Latham, Nesca, and myself on the other, which made it a total of four representatives per group.

“It’s not very nice to call your own daughter ‘foolish,’ dad,” Fana said.

“What were you thinking? First, you disappeared without a word, and now, you’ve brought people of other races back with you!”

“Oh, don’t be like that. It’s because you keep making such a distinction between the races that you’re so bigoted, you know.”

“Now you’ve done it!” Tisto bellowed, angrily slamming his fist down on the table in stark contrast to Fana’s airy tone.

He was obviously furious. Was it really such a big deal that Fana had broken the rules and left the village?

“Fana! Do you have any idea how many younglings have left the village because of you? Ever since you departed, more and more have followed your example!”

“How could I have known that?” Fana countered. “But I can understand how they feel. No one cares about anything in this village, other than your precious ‘rules.’ But I suppose that makes sense. You’re all obstinate old fools, after all. You never even left us more than a spoonful of honey each!”

Tisto looked around at her words, and out of curiosity, I did likewise. Several of the younger-looking elves were nodding along, suggesting they agreed with Fana. It seemed they were also dissatisfied with life in the village.

Seeing their reaction, a sour look registered on Tisto’s face. “It’s always been our custom to let the older folk enjoy the bounty of the forest first.”

“You and your customs again? I’m sick of your rigidity. Don’t you agree, everyone?” Fana asked the other young elves around us, and they nodded along once again. It was almost as if she were acting as their spokesperson.

“Disregarding the rules only leads to depravity!” Tisto insisted.

Fana chuckled airily. “Isn’t that better than letting your entire village wither away because you keep following those same old rules?”

“You foolish girl,” the chieftain grumbled.

“Ah, you called me ‘foolish’ again. What a big ol’ meanie you are, dad.” She was deliberately fanning the flames, causing Tisto’s anger to continue to rise.

The pair argued back and forth for a while, with Tisto repeatedly blaming her for this, that, and the other, while Fana shot back that she had only done what she had because he kept feeding her “nothing but grass.” From their conversation, I was starting to get a pretty good picture of what had happened here. Fed up with all the rules and traditions of Vehar, Fana had left the village, triggering a wave of emigration among the younger elves, who decided to do the same. As a result, the number of young people in the village had dwindled drastically, and this was soon a real headache for the other villagers. In other words, Vehar had become an aging society, just like Japan. More importantly, I’ve completely missed my moment to ask them about high elves.

There was no way I could broach the topic with the atmosphere as tense as it was at that time.

No, you mustn’t waver now, Shiro!

Dramom, Celes, and most importantly of all, Suama were awaiting our return. I needed to achieve my goal, even if I had to get a little pushy about it.

I mustered all my courage and stood up. “E-Excuse me...”

But sadly, things didn’t go quite as I’d hoped.

“Shut up, hume!” Tisto snapped at me. “I’m having a conversation with my daughter!”

“Give us just a minute, okay, Shiro? I’m talking to my pigheaded father here.”

“Oh, uh, okay.”

Overwhelmed by the angry vibes radiating from the pair, I sat back down again. I was utterly powerless. Was this how Raiya had felt at dinner the previous evening? As I sat there, my spirit well and truly broken, Nesca poked me in the shoulder, and I turned to look at her.

“Shiro, we’re going to get nowhere at this rate,” she said to me.

I nodded gravely. “Yeah, I know.”

Fana and her father were so angry with each other, all they were managing to do was get increasingly worked up. There was no way I could ask them about high elves when they were in this state. First, I would need to find a way to calm the situation down.

“Nesca, what do you think I should do?” I asked.

She brought her hand up to her chin and thought about it for a moment. “Well, we can probably assume my grandfather’s angry because of all the young elves leaving the village.”

“I think you’re right there.”

“So how about we try to come up with a solution to that problem and put it to him?”

“A solution, huh?” It was my turn to do some pondering.

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to eat nothing but grass?!” Fana yelled.

“Do not call the bounty of nature ‘grass’!” her father shot back.

“But that’s what it is! Right? Don’t you agree, everyone?” she said, looking around at the other younger elves in the crowd for support.

“Stop egging them on!”

From their conversation, it sounded like the main source of discord between the elders and the young elves was food. I could understand how Fana and her fellow villagers felt, for after all, wasn’t the desire for good sustenance one of the strongest desires a person could have? Having been born and raised in Japan, I was aware that some people didn’t have access to good food, and I knew just how miserable that could be.

I had an idea.

I turned to Fana’s husband, who was calmly watching the argument between his wife and his father-in-law. “Latham? Do you have a minute?”

“What is it?” he asked, turning to me.

“Is the elves’ diet as restrictive as they say?”

“Yes, indeed. Apparently, they’re only allowed to eat plants, which means grains, vegetables, mushrooms, fruit, and so on,” he explained.

So their diet was essentially what we would refer to in Japan as “vegetarian.” Anything plant-based was fair game, while meat, fish, and eggs were strictly off-limits. Interestingly though, they were allowed to drink cow’s and goat’s milk.

Okay, gotcha. I can work with that.

“Thanks. That was very helpful,” I said.

“It sounds like you have an idea brewing, Shiro,” Latham noted.

“I sure do. Watch this.”

Fana and Tisto were still arguing, so I decided to forcefully insert myself into the conversation.

“Excuse me. There’s something I’d like to talk to you two about,” I said.

But the pair were extremely worked up by this point, and clearly weren’t in the mood to hear me out.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” Tisto snapped.

“Hang on just a little bit longer, will you, Shiro?” Fana said.

I was busy racking my brains in search of some way to convince them to listen to me when Nesca chimed in. “Grandfather, could you please listen to what Shiro has to say?”

Tisto’s gaze shifted to her. “What did you just call me?” He had frozen in his seat. “Little girl, what did you just say?”

But Nesca didn’t repeat herself and instead said, “Grandfather, I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. I am Nesca Frontiene. Fana is my mother, which makes me your granddaughter.”

Tisto was at a total loss for words. Not only had his daughter finally come home after fifty long years, but she’d brought her daughter—his grandchild—with her. Even more shocking to him was that the grandchild in question was a grown woman. In all honesty, I would have been surprised if he’d reacted any differently.

“My granddaughter? You?” he mumbled.

“Yup,” Fana piped up. “Nesca’s my daughter, which makes her your granddaughter. Isn’t she adorable? She looks just like me!”

“Grandfather, I ask you again: Please listen to what Shiro has to say.”

Tisto finally graced me with some attention. “What does the hume want?”

I decided introducing myself was probably the best way to get things going. “Hello, Mr. Tisto. I’m Shiro Amata, and I’m a merchant. It’s an honor to make your acquaintance.”

And with that out of the way, I could swiftly move on to my proposition.

“If I’ve understood correctly, it sounds like the younger elves are leaving the village because they do not share your perspective when it comes to eating habits.” I paused and put on my best business smile. “If it’s all right with you, would you be willing to let me try to help make the diet of your village better?”

“Our diet? You claim a hume like yourself can improve it?” Tisto huffed.

“Yes. I believe I have a fairly good understanding of what the elvish diet looks like. I would like to provide you with some good food that is in keeping with your traditions.”

He didn’t respond immediately, but treated me to a skeptical stare instead. It was obvious he didn’t trust me, yet it seemed he was interested in my proposal. One more small push should bring him around.

“Please think about it,” I said. “After all, I’m pretty sure fewer elves would leave the village if they had access to better food.”

“He’s right!” Fana chimed in. “That’s exactly why I ran away. All you ever fed me was grass!”

A stern look crossed Tisto’s face. “You might be right. But...” He paused and fixed his gaze on me before continuing. “I’ve heard merchants never do anything that doesn’t benefit them directly. So what is it you want in return, hume?”

“If I manage to provide you with good food that doesn’t go against your traditions, and as a result, the younger generation chooses to stay...” I raised the index finger of my right hand. “If I can do that, I want you to listen to what I have to say, just once. All you need to do is grant me one opportunity to have a discussion with you. That’s all I want. Well, for the time being, at least.”

Tisto hesitated for a moment. “Fine. Your terms are acceptable. I will hear you out. But only if your food really is as delicious as you claim.”

And with that, I had managed to convince Tisto to grant me a meeting. Well, if I managed to hold up my end of the bargain, of course.

Chapter Seventeen: A Fun Little Shopping Trip

That evening, I sneaked through the portal to grandma’s house, and from there, I headed to the nearest station, got on the subway at the Hibiya Line, and headed to the district of Hiroo. The journey took me approximately thirty minutes, including a swift change of train at another station. On reaching Hiroo Station, I made my way on foot to a fancy supermarket in the area, which offered—believe it or not—a wide variety of food items for both vegetarian and vegan diets.

You’ve probably guessed by this point, but my idea to spruce up the elves’ diet was to offer them food that was targeted specifically at vegans and vegetarians. Or in other words, basically anything that didn’t include animal products. Japan had been experiencing something of a tourism boom in the past few years, leading to the emergence of more restaurants and shops that specialize in vegan food, perhaps to meet the growing demand for diversification in dietary options.

As a student, I had once gone to a gluten-free restaurant with a friend which had also offered vegan and vegetarian options, so I’d decided to try a few out of sheer curiosity. The dishes turned out to be delicious and completely exceeded my expectations. That place had left a strong impression on me, and while it was just my own theory, I believed that being so limited with the ingredients they could use pushed them to put a lot more emphasis on the recipes themselves, leading them to really pour their hearts into each dish. Even a meat lover like me wanted to go back and eat there again.

I passed through the sliding doors into the store. While it wasn’t necessarily uncommon for supermarkets in Tokyo to have vegan sections, there weren’t many that put quite this much effort into the selection of foods available. Or at least, I didn’t think that was the case. The ingredients were all neatly arranged on the shelves, and they all sported seals attesting to the fact that they didn’t contain any animal products. Tofu Hamburg steaks, plant-based sausages, nuggets, burger kits... They even had muffins, cookies, and ice cream.

“This all looks delish.”

I hadn’t eaten before setting out on my mission, and I found myself almost yielding to temptation. No, Shiro. Have some self-restraint. You’re not here to buy food for yourself. You’ve come to find yummy things for the elves to try. To “prove those old farts wrong,” as Fana would say.

“Guess I’ll just get everything,” I muttered to myself as I began stuffing my basket full of food.

Once it was full, I grabbed a second basket, then another, fully intent on buying every single thing they had to offer. It had been a while since I’d last bought so much stuff all at once, and I was getting increasingly anxious about it. It wasn’t like I was raiding the shop for fun—I did need all this stuff—but even so... The other customers all goggled at me. I tried to keep my expression neutral, but I couldn’t help silently apologizing to them as I continued emptying the shelves.

“Heave-ho!”

Grabbing all of my baskets, I headed over to the register and apologized (out loud this time) to the young man there for raiding the store.

“We still have plenty of stock in the back, so it’s not an issue,” he replied warmly.

Once everything was paid for, I walked out of the shop and found a deserted corner where I could transfer everything I’d bought into my inventory without being noticed. Now that I had all of the ingredients I would need, my next stop was the bookstore.

“Vegan recipes, vegan recipes... Ah, here you are,” I mumbled as I found what I was looking for in the cooking section.

Just like with the food, I bought everything I needed, then sneakily tossed it into my inventory. So by this point, I had all the ingredients I needed, plus the kind of cookbooks that even an amateur like me should be able to follow, meaning I could technically head back to Vehar if I wanted to. But I didn’t. Please bear with me for a little longer.

You see, even if I went back at this point, I wouldn’t have nearly enough food for all the elves to be able to eat to their hearts’ content. And besides, it was always fun to spend a bit of money. So I didn’t feel like leaving just yet.

“Could you ring me up?” I asked the woman who was working at the cash register of the umpteenth store I’d visited that day.

I’d decided to go to all the supermarkets in the city that were vaguely “organic” and buy even more ingredients.

“A-All of this?” the cashier asked, goggling at the (many) baskets I’d placed on the counter. I had once again emptied the shelves, so there were quite a few of them.

“Yes. I’m dealing with an emergency, and I need all of this. Could you please ring me up?”

“Y-Yes, sir,” she replied on the verge of tears.

Two more employees immediately came over to help and began ringing up my items together. I’m so, so sorry.

I figured I wouldn’t have had the space to put everything down at a single self-register, so I’d ended up coming to this one here instead, but perhaps in hindsight, that had been the wrong move.

By the end of it, the cashiers were panting. “H-How would you like to pay?” the woman asked once she had scanned the final barcode.

I beamed. “Cash, please!”

Chapter Eighteen: A Father’s Feelings

It was noon the following day, and a delicious scent filled the air in Vehar’s village square. Tables had been set out with portable stoves on them, and each one had a sizzling frying pan or a bubbling stockpot atop it. There were roughly two hundred elves in Vehar, and my friends and I had been cooking since early that morning to ensure everyone would have enough to eat.

“All righty. We should be almost good to go,” I said, turning the knob on my portable stoves to the off position.

I glanced over at my friends who were working at the makeshift food stalls on either side of mine to see if they were ready to start serving the crowd that had gathered in front of us. Aina raised both arms above her head and clasped her hands together to form a circle, signaling that she was all set. Raiya gave me a thumbs-up, while Valeria simply nodded vigorously. It appeared their food was all done too.

I removed the lid of the frying pan in front of me, cupped my hands around my mouth to amplify my voice, and called out to the crowd. “Thank you for waiting, everyone! The food is now ready!”

The reaction of the elves was instant.

“Oh! Finally!”

“My stomach’s been growling this entire time due to the mouthwatering aroma.”

“Mom, he said the food’s ready!”

“Yes, he did, dear. I’m looking forward to trying some.”

“Tch. The elders are gonna get priority like always, aren’t they?”

“No, that hume said he’d divide everything up into equal portions.”

“For real?”

Due to the sheer number of mouths we needed to feed, we had started cooking in the small hours of the morning, and since elves were early risers themselves, they had gradually started crowding around our cooking stations to see what we were making. In fact, I was pretty sure every single inhabitant of Vehar was right here in the village square.

Of course, two hundred residents meant a lot of food to cook, so I’d turned a bunch of tables into makeshift food stalls and divided my comrades up into four groups, all working on different dishes: Kilpha and I were in charge of cooking the tofu Hamburg steaks and nuggets; Aina, Shess, and Luza were making a creamy veggie stew; Nesca and Raiya were cooking plant-based sausages and burger patties on a barbecue grill, then placing them between two slices of egg-free bread; and Valeria was cooking rice in a humongous pot. I’d already cooked rice for the bearfolk in Lugu Village one time, so this wasn’t anything new to her.

“Listen up, everyone!” I called out to the crowd. “For your main dish, you can either have what Valeria’s— Oh, Valeria, could you raise your hand?”

The bearfolk did as I instructed, and I continued. “Thanks. Like I was saying, for your main dish, you can either have the rice Valeria—that’s the bearfolk lady over there—has made, or one of the hot dogs or hamburgers cooked by the annoyingly adorable couple over there. Once you’ve made your choice and you’ve been served, please line up at my stall, then go to the kids’ stall. We’re implementing a first-come-first-served basis, so I’ll kindly ask you to respect the following three rules: No pushing, no running, and no talking in front of the food. Please keep that in mind as you line up—”

Thump, thump, thump!

“Give us our food!”

“I’m starving!”

“What is that mouthwatering aroma?”

“You’d never smell anything like this in the forest, that’s for sure!”

“Do humes really get to eat delicious-looking food like this every day?”

“Maybe I should leave the village.”

“I was just thinking that.”

“Same here.”

I hadn’t even finished speaking before the elves all surged toward the stalls in total disregard for any sense of order. Heck, some of them even tried to reach out for the food with their bare hands. It was utter chaos, and Aina and Shess seemed terrified by the intense reaction of the crowd. Uh-oh, I thought. Luza noticed the two little girls clinging to each other in fear and instinctively reached for her sword. We were heading straight for a potential catastrophe.

I’d arbitrarily decided that elves would be rational, intellectual people, but my assumptions were quickly being proven wrong. They appeared to be just as wild as the Fairy’s Blessing’s adventurers. Or perhaps their dissatisfaction with their diet and desire for better food had reached the breaking point after years of bland meals. I tried to calm them all down, but there was no stopping their surging rampage, their eyes gleaming with hunger like those of starving beasts. What should I do?

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Zalboda—who had been lying in the square—abruptly got to its feet and let out a bloodcurdling roar. All the elves jumped in surprise and shrank away as they fearfully turned to face the dragon.

On its head stood Fana with her hands on her hips, chuckling with amusement. “You’re being rude, everyone. Didn’t you hear what Shiro said? Or are you all so thickheaded that you can’t understand simple instructions? If you keep being such bad boys and girls, I’ll get this little one to gobble you all up,” she stated. “Yes, that’s it. Move back. Good. Shiro, it would seem they are finally ready to listen to you. Sorry to ask, but could you repeat those instructions one more time?”

It hadn’t even been a day since I’d introduced Fana to Zalboda, but she had already won over the dragon. Actually, looking at them again, it seemed Zalboda had no issues with showing off its authority. Oh, right, yeah. The black dragon’s known for being quite belligerent, isn’t it?

“A-All right,” I said. “I’ll go through the instructions again, so please listen carefully this time, everyone. First, you’re going to...”

It was all pretty smooth sailing after that false start. Intimidated by Zalboda’s sheer presence, the elves began lining up in perfect rows in front of the stalls, and waited patiently while we placed the food on their plates. For their mains, they had a choice between rice, hot dogs, or hamburgers, while for sides, we offered tofu Hamburg steaks and plant-based nuggets, and for their starter, we had some nice, creamy stew for them. I’d also prepared some salad they could have along with their meal, but that didn’t prove too popular. A few days later, I asked Fana why she thought that was, and she simply told me the elves were “tired of eating grass.”

“Can I have some?” Tisto asked, handing me his plate, which already had a heap of rice on it.

“Of course you can.” I took his plate from him and placed a tofu Hamburg steak next to the rice. Then, I handed it across to Kilpha, who placed a nugget on it.

Both looked exactly like meat, so I wasn’t too surprised when Tisto shot me a skeptical look. “Are these made of meat?”

The other elves had accepted the food we’d dished out to them without asking a single question. In fact, it was entirely possible they didn’t even know what “meat” actually was. Yet Tisto had noticed. I supposed it made sense for the chieftain to be the most knowledgeable person in the village. And this was only a theory of mine, but I suspected he might even know quite a bit about the world outside of Vehar.

I met his gaze and shook my head. “Nope. This is all plant-based.”

“I’ve never seen plants that look like this. Not here in the forest, nor outside of it.”

“Well, of course you haven’t. These items of food have undergone an extensive process to make them taste better.”

Tisto paused. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you see, where I’m from, there are people who don’t eat meat-based products, just like elves,” I explained.

“News to me,” Tisto remarked. “You claim there are humes with the same dietary habits as us?”

“Yes. And everything I’ve brought here today was made for those people. These items of food all replicate the taste and texture of meat, but they have been made exclusively from plants, which means no meat, no fish, and no eggs have been anywhere near them. It really showcases the kind of effort that goes into creating products like these.”

“I see.”

“Besides, the people of my homeland are terribly fussy about food. They don’t like it when things are mislabeled, and anyone who lies about what’s in the food they provide can even get punished in certain cases.”

In Japan, whenever companies falsify labels on their products, it tends to be headline news, and the backlash can be so severe, the companies sometimes even go bankrupt, I thought to myself.

“So your people also have strict rules about these things?” Tisto asked.

“You could put it like that. Disclosing everything that’s in your food is the law—or a rule, if you prefer—in my homeland. So you can relax and chow down to your heart’s content.”

“Is that so?” He still seemed doubtful.

“How about you give it a bite? You’ll immediately realize it’s not meat.”

“I will do that. But we elves know instantly if what we’re eating contains any meat, so be prepared to face the consequences if what you say isn’t true.”

I chuckled. “Oh, I’m prepared, all right. But I promise you, there’s no meat or fish in any of the things we’ve served you.”

I handed his plate back to him and he shuffled off to Aina’s stall, where the little girl dished out some creamy stew to him, though as it clearly contained nothing but vegetables, Tisto had no comment to make this time. The stew was made with plenty of milk, but unlike vegans, elves were fine with cow’s and goat’s milk. On Earth, such people would be called “lacto-vegetarians.” When I asked Fana why milk was considered to be allowable for consumption, she told me—and I quote—“Well, cows and goats eat grass, right? So at the end of the day, their milk is made from plants, because it’s essentially grass.”

◇◆◇◆◇

We had finally served the last person, and Kilpha and I high-fived to celebrate a job well done. It meant I could take a break at last. The elves had seated themselves around the village square and had started munching away, prompting me to sneakily eavesdrop on some of their conversations.

“A-Are all these things really made from plants?”

“That’s what the hume claimed. Let’s give them a try.”

“O-Okay. Oh, hey! This is really good!”

“Delicious! What’s the black liquid? It really enhances the, uh, Hamburg steak, was it? It really brings out the flavor of it.”

“It’s called ‘soy sauce,’ I think. It’s made from beans and salt, apparently.”

“Who would’ve thought you could get such a rich flavor from beans? I almost can’t believe it.”

“The difference between this and the wild plants we usually eat is night and day.”

“You said it. Compared to this stuff, our food is basically grass.”

“It so is!”

It seemed Fana’s way of referring to the forest’s edible plants as “grass” was starting to catch on among the other young elves. The elders frowned at their conversation, but it was difficult for them to scold the youths while they themselves were sitting there, also stuffing their faces with burgers.

“This is delicious.”

“It really is.”

“Mommy, I wanna eat this every day!”

“Let’s ask the chieftain if we can have it again sometime, okay?”

Exclamations of “Delish!” echoed all around the village square, and even though I’d heard elves typically had small appetites, the majority of them ended up eating everything on their plate. Heck, some even glanced wistfully over at us, which made me want to prepare even more food for them.

“Valeria, do you have any leftover rice?” I asked.

She nodded. “Seems Raiya and Nesca’s stall was more popular than mine, because I still have plenty left.”

So we still had rice. That meant I could make that one particular recipe I’d seen in the cookbook. I turned my stove back on and dropped a tablespoon of olive oil into my frying pan. Next, I stir-fried some chopped vegetables, then added some water and sprinkled in a dash of curry powder and garam masala. Then, I sautéed everything together before adding the following in sequence: chopped tomatoes, milk, yogurt, sugar, and salt. Once it had come to a boil, I turned the heat to low, let it simmer for a further ten minutes, and just like that, it was ready. By this point, the spicy aroma of the curry had overrun the square, and before I knew it, a crowd of elves had gathered in front of my stall, some already with plates in hand, ready to hand them to me. A few were even drooling. Oh, I feel you. The smell of curry really stimulates the appetite, doesn’t it?

“It looks delicious, meow,” Kilpha whispered beside me. I glanced across at her and saw that she was eagerly eyeing my vegetarian curry.

“All righty, done! What do you think, everyone? You saw that I didn’t put in anything other than vegetables, right?” I said to the crowd in front of me, and they all nodded with impressive vigor, like headbangers at a metal concert.

Hold on a minute. Standing right in the middle of the first row and nodding with all his might... That’s Tisto, isn’t it? As chieftain, he was supposed to be an example to the other elves, so what was he doing in the middle of all these youngsters? I also noticed the woman beside him was the spitting image of Fana. Was she Tisto’s wife? The two of them were gripping their plates tightly.

“This is called curry,” I explained. “I’m going to start serving it now, so go get some rice at Valeria’s station, then come back here, all right?”

“Yes!”

By this point, they were all following my instructions, no questions asked. Once Valeria had given them some rice, they returned one by one to my stall, and I poured curry onto their plates. We quickly ran out of both rice and curry, so I quickly made another batch of curry, while Valeria cooked some more rice to ensure that everyone could have a try of it. It wasn’t easy, but...

“So good!”

“This is the absolute best!”

“Wow, I could eat this every day!”

“Y’know, this might be a little addictive...”

Everyone seemed satisfied—no, elated with their meal.

“This is totally scrumptious, Shiro. I’ve never eaten anything so tasty, even in Bolinoak,” Fana remarked. I hadn’t noticed prior to that moment, but she had sneaked up and served herself some curry before happily digging in. She turned to her husband, who was standing beside her. “Don’t you agree, darling?”

“Oh, yes, indeed. This is the first time I’ve had a dish with such a generous amount of fancy spices. It’s delectable.”

“Hear that, everyone?” Fana shouted out. “You can’t even find food this good outside of the forest, so you’d better be thankful to Shiro!”

This caused another commotion to course through the crowd, and the moment those words came out of her mouth, an idea flashed up in my mind. My instincts screamed at me that I was in win-or-bust territory now.

“All righty,” I muttered to myself as I removed my apron. I made my way to where Tisto was sitting. “It seems your people enjoyed my food.”

He paused for a moment before replying. “Yes, it certainly seems that way. You say you’re a merchant, but are you sure you’re not secretly a chef?”

“Not a chance,” I said. “I really am a merchant.”

“Well, I certainly never knew hume merchants could cook.”

“Are you surprised? Everything I served you today was made using ingredients I sell.”

“Is that so?” he said, his interest clearly piqued. “Does that include what you used to make that curry or whatever it’s called?”

“Naturally.”

Elves had good hearing, so even though they were some distance away, all of them were listening attentively to my conversation with their chieftain.

“Tisto, I’ve come all the way here because I have something I’d like to ask of you. If you agree to grant my request— No, wait, scratch that. If you agree to at least hear me out, I will provide you with a year’s supply of rice—that’s the grain you just enjoyed—and all the spices you need to make curry yourself.”

Murmurs rippled through the crowd once more.

“Did you hear that? He said he’d give us a year’s supply of the stuff!”

“So we’ll be able to eat this dish every day for a while?!”

“If that’s an option, I’m absolutely staying in the village!”

“Same here!”

“Fana even said the food outside the forest isn’t as good.”

My proposition was met with resounding enthusiasm, and I knew I had to strike the iron while it was hot.

“And that’s not all!” I continued. “I will also provide you with all of the food you’ve enjoyed today.”

“Oooh!” the elves cooed, their eyes glittering with anticipation.

“Like the Hamburg steaks, you mean?”

“What about those hot dogs, or whatever it was you called ’em?”

“Those nuggets were delicious too!”

“I’ve eaten my fill, but thinking about all that yummy food again is making me drool...”

The elves were clearly excited by my proposition, but some seemed worried.

“Will... Will the chieftain accept the offer?”

“Let’s wait for his response.”

The commotion eventually died down, and silence fell over the square. Tisto was the one who would have the final say, and all the elves waited with bated breath to see what his answer would be to my proposition.

“Well? What do you say, Tisto?” I asked, staring him straight in the eye, although I didn’t have to wait long for his response.

“It’s a no. I cannot accept your offer.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. After all that, my negotiations had failed? The elves seemed even more disappointed at the outcome than I was.

“But why, chieftain?!”

“You only have to hear him out!”

“Yeah! Just listen to what he’s got to say!”

“Don’t you care if more youngsters leave the village?”

“Chieftain, you’re a cheapskate!”

“Fana’s right! Eating nothing but grass really does make you inflexible!”

“Hear, hear!”

“Why did you refuse the offer, Tisto? I wish I could eat this food every day too!”

All the elves began booing Tisto, including the woman I believed to be his wife.

“Silence!” he barked at them, and his tone was so intense, they all fell quiet immediately. “Hume, you say you want to talk to me, huh? You want us to help you, you say?” His shoulders were shaking. “Preposterous! Before I even think of hearing you out, there’s someone else here who owes me an explanation first!” he yelled, then glared at his daughter. “Fana! Why have you only returned now, after all these years? And with my granddaughter, no less! What are you scheming?!”

“Dad...” Fana uttered.

“You haven’t reached out to us in fifty years! Why have you come back?!”

“That’s... Well, it’s because Shiro asked me to. And, um...” she said haltingly before hanging her head, her voice barely above a whisper as she continued, “And because year after year, he kept begging me to bring him here.”

The words had barely left her lips before she ducked behind her husband’s back to hide, making it obvious to everyone that the “he” in her explanation was none other than Latham.

“So you came back just because a hume asked you to? It wasn’t even your will? You didn’t want to return? Is that what you’re telling me?!” Tisto accused, his voice booming with anger.

Fana was at a total loss for words.

“All these years, I... I...” Tisto stammered. “I’ve been waiting for you! Every day, I prayed for your safety!” His eyes gleamed with fury, yet there was also a hint of sadness there. Fifty years had passed since his daughter vanished without a trace. How could he not be sad about the whole situation? “Well? Have you truly come back here against your will?” he pressed.

Latham took a step forward, eyeing Tisto with a calm expression on his face. “You ask why she has returned now. It’s because the time has come, father.”

“‘F-Father’?! Why are you calling me— Oh!” Tisto’s eyes widened as realization struck. “Y-You can’t be...”

“I apologize for not introducing myself sooner. I am Latham Frontiene. I work as a court mage in the Bolinoak Magic Nation.” Latham bowed to Tisto before resuming. “And I am Fana’s husband.”

Tisto’s already wide eyes widened even further in shock, perhaps because Latham looked much older than his daughter. “Fana’s husband? A feeble old man like you?” he said.

“I am, as you say, a decrepit old man. But father, believe me when I tell you that I still love your daughter, Fana, from the bottom of my heart.”

Tisto glanced at his daughter, who confirmed what her husband was saying with a slight nod.

“You say your name is Latham, yes? Well, Latham, is it true that you asked Fana to bring you to Vehar?”

“Yes, it is. I have said to her many times that I want to come here, but before today, she never agreed. It’s entirely thanks to Shiro here that she has finally granted me my wish. Shiro, I’m incredibly grateful to you.” Latham briefly turned to me and flashed me a bright smile before his gaze drifted back to the astonished Tisto.

“Latham, why did you wish to come here?” the chieftain asked.

“Because I am a hume, father.”

Tisto seemed confused by this response. “I don’t understand.”

“Humes have much shorter lifespans than elves. I’m already sixty-nine, you see, which means I don’t have a lot of time left with Fana.”

“Darling...” his wife breathed in shock, clutching the hem of his shirt.

Latham gently wrapped his hands around hers. “That is why I wanted to come to Vehar—no, why I had to come to Vehar.”

“What do you mean?” Tisto asked with a serious look in his eye.

“Because Fana’s family—that’s you, father, and you too, mother”—Latham looked at each of them in turn as he said this—“you live here. Even after my death, you’ll still be here.”

Tisto gasped softly at this.

“Like I said before, I sincerely love Fana with all my heart. So I beg you, please comfort her when I die and sadness consumes her. She pretends to be strong all the time, so she’d never show such a weak side of herself to our children.” This was his earnest, sincere wish.

“Latham, you...” Tisto trailed off, unable to find the words.

“Please, father. Please say you will console Fana when I am gone. Please take her in your arms so she won’t feel alone. I beg you.” He dropped to his knees and bowed his head like he was praying. However...

“I refuse,” Tisto said.

I couldn’t believe my ears, and judging by the aghast expressions on all of the elves’ faces, neither could they.

“Father...”

“You have no right to call me that. But if you truly wish to do so...” Tisto walked up to Latham, took his hand, helped him to his feet, and for the first time since we’d arrived in the village, a smile spread across his face. “Then prove to me that Fana married a dependable man.”

“Father? Does this mean...” Latham breathed.

“Yes.” Tisto nodded vigorously, then turned to the crowd of elves that had been watching their exchange. “The humes and beastfolk have treated us to this incredible feast. And now, we will hold a wedding ceremony for my daughter and her future husband, Latham! Any objections?” he called out.

The elves looked at each other before all cheering in unison.

Chapter Nineteen: Wedding Ceremony and Resolve

The elves subsequently organized an impromptu marriage ceremony for Fana and Latham, and clad in gorgeous outfits under a starry sky, the couple exchanged vows of love before an elven priest, making them officially husband and wife in the eyes of the clan. Fana was all smiles as her brethren congratulated her.

As for me, I was still on curry duty, tossing food in my frying pan without so much as a break, and Valeria was making rice to go with it. Kilpha, Luza, Aina, and Shess were watching their first elven wedding ceremony with stars in their eyes, but the happiest people of all were undoubtedly Fana and Latham. As for the second-happiest, that would probably be Nesca.

“I’ve never seen my mother looking so overjoyed before,” she remarked, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks as she watched the ceremony.

On second thought, Tisto had also been crying the whole time, so it looked like they would have to share the title of second-happiest. Still, it was an understandable reaction, since the man had spent the past fifty years missing his precious daughter, and now that they were reunited, he must have wanted nothing more than for her to be happy.

◇◆◇◆◇

“Here you go. That’s the last of the curry. Enjoy,” I said, handing the last plate of curry to the newlyweds(?).

“Thanks, Shiro. My husband and I will savor every bite together. Here, darling. Say ‘Aah,’” Fana instructed before trying to feed the curry to Latham, who looked a little awkward.

“Stop that, Fana. Shiro’s looking at us.”

Fana chuckled. “It’s fine, isn’t it? Aw, are you feeling shy, dear?”

With my duty truly done, I removed my apron and cracked open a beer. I went over to lean against a tree a little way back from the village square since the party was still in full swing there, took a sip from the can, and let out a contented sigh.

“Ah, so good,” I murmured blissfully.

It was decided that I would have a proper confab with Tisto the following day to talk to him about my request, and it finally seemed like we had made a step in the right direction. Even so, the high elves were a sensitive topic among the people of Vehar, and there was no guarantee Tisto would be willing to help us, despite Fana assuring me it would all go fine if I told him about Mia. I only hoped she was right.

“Good job out there, man,” Raiya called over to me.

“Right back at ya. You and the others were a huge help. Thanks,” I said.

“Don’t sweat it. I’d never actually tried cooking for real before. It was fun.”

He was holding a wooden cup filled with alcohol, and when I asked him what it was he was drinking, he said it was some local booze the elves made. The two of us clonked our drinking vessels together and turned to gaze back at the jollity in the village square. Ripples of laughter occasionally reached us as we stood and sipped our drinks in silence, neither of us needing to say anything in order to understand each other. I found myself reflecting on the fact that the two of us had become really good friends.

I had just finished up my beer and was debating whether I should get another when Raiya broke the silence. “Hey, man.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve made up my mind.”

“Finally,” I said.

“Yep. I’ve just this minute decided what to do.”

I didn’t say anything boorish like “What exactly have you decided?” in response. No, the two of us were best friends, so I knew what he meant without having to ask. The only part that bothered me a bit was that I hadn’t been the one who had helped him get to his decision. That honor went to Latham. As Raiya’s best friend, I was a little mad at myself.

“How do you think I should broach the topic?” he asked.

I thought about this. “The best advice I can give you is to just be yourself.”

“Be myself?”

“Yep,” I confirmed. “I mean, she fell in love with you because you’re, well, you. Right?”

He paused for a moment, then chuckled. “You think so?”

“I really do.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “You’re totally right.”

He drained the last of his drink, and I offered to hold his cup for him. “It might get in the way,” I explained.

“Okay,” he said, inwardly building himself up. “See ya later, man.”

“Come back victorious.”

“Dude, you make it sound like I’m going off to war or something.”

“Well, aren’t you? Raiya, brave warrior, this is the battle of your life! If now’s not the time for me to pray for you to emerge victorious, when is?”

He paused. “Yeah, you’re right, man. Okay, I’m off!”

And with that, he returned to the bustling village square. As I watched his retreating form, he suddenly thrust his fist upward into the night sky, as if he could feel my gaze on his back. He eventually stopped in the middle of the square, right in front of Nesca, and while I was too far away to hear their full conversation, I saw how they were gazing at each other.

I finally decided to take a second beer out of my inventory, and as I did so, Raiya’s masculine—no, his heroic voice floated over to my ears. “Nesca, will you marry me?”

I watched the happy couple embrace, then cracked open my beer. “Cheers,” I said quietly to the air around me before taking a sip.

Intermission: Part One

“Nesca, will you marry me?” Raiya said, his voice echoing around the village square.

Nesca simply nodded, her resolve evident as she accepted her boyfriend’s proposal. The two lovebirds embraced, and everyone around them cheered. Aina and Kalmia happened to be standing nearby when Raiya proposed.

“Wow! They’re getting married! Miss Nesca and Mister Raiya are getting married!” Aina exclaimed as she and her spectral friend watched the scene unfold.

“Married?” Kalmia repeated in some confusion.

What does that mean? she wondered. Now that she thought about it, the village elders had also used that word before. Based on that, it appeared to refer to some sort of ritual.

“Yep, married. You know. Marriage, Mia!” Aina exclaimed, beaming.

She seemed very happy. Kalmia found her smile so bright, she couldn’t help but blurt out her question. “But what does ‘marriage’ mean?”

She wanted to know why this one word was making the little girl smile so broadly.

“Huh? You don’t know what it is, Mia?”

“No.”

“O-Oh, I see.”

“Please tell me what ‘marriage’ is,” Kalmia said.

Aina crossed her arms to show that she was thinking. Kalmia realized she must have gotten this habit from Shiro, but she didn’t remark on it out loud.

“Uh, well, marriage means a husband and a wife becoming a family,” the little girl said eventually.

“A family?”

“Yeah, a family! And once two people have become husband and wife, they are blessed with a baby!” Aina said, gesticulating excitedly to emphasize her point.

Kalmia, on the other hand, still wasn’t understanding. “A baby?”

“Yeah, a baby! A very small child who has only just been born. And when they get a baby, Miss Nesca will be a mother, and Mister Raiya a father.”

These words seemed to trigger something in Kalmia, and all of a sudden, a dull ache began spreading all through her head.

“Mother? Father? Ugh, my head.”

Ouch. That hurts. The pain was so intense, Kalmia reflexively crouched down. What was happening to her? She had never felt pain like this before.

“Mia? Mia!” Aina grabbed the little ghost girl’s hands. “Are you okay? I’ll go get Mister—”

She was most likely about to say she would bring Shiro here, but Kalmia interrupted her, muttering something that sounded like it ended in “ember.”

“Huh? What’s wrong, Mia? Did you just say something?” Aina asked, staring at her.

Kalmia stood up.

“Mia?” Aina said uncertainly.

The high elf girl was staring into the void, as if looking at something that wasn’t there. At last, she opened her mouth.

“Mother. I remember now. I was searching for her. For my mother.”

Chapter Twenty: To the High Elves’ Village

The emotion and excitement of the previous evening still lingered in the air as I strolled over to Tisto’s house for our meeting, and when I got there, I saw that the chieftain’s residence was nestled in the hollow of a tree so large, I couldn’t help but wonder just how many millennia it had been there. The initial plan had been for us to meet a little after noon, but due to how hungover we all were from the previous night’s festivities, we had decided at the last minute to postpone until the evening.

“Thank you for making time for me,” I said to my host, bowing.

“I don’t mind at all. After all, we’re friends now,” Tisto replied, flashing me a smile.

After his reconciliation with Fana, he seemed a lot more amiable and kind. And so, it was in this friendly environment that our meeting began. Like on the previous day, Vehar’s delegation consisted of Tisto and the other elders, while I had been accompanied by the newlyweds, Fana and Latham, plus Aina and Mia, for a total of five of us. Or rather, since the other party couldn’t actually see Mia, it must have looked like there were only four of us.

“Could you tell me where I might find a high elf?” I asked right off the bat.

Tisto refused, saying that was the one thing he couldn’t help me with. This was exactly what I’d expected him to say, so I wasn’t too bummed by the response I got. I handed things over to Latham, who produced the lorgnette he had been working on, then passed it to Tisto. The elf chieftain looked a bit puzzled by this turn of events, but went along with it anyway and peered through the glasses. He could finally see Mia. He and the other elders were flabbergasted by her presence, and their shock only grew when they learned she was a high elf.

From that point onward, the conversation flowed smoothly, and after conferring with the other elders, Tisto eventually agreed to take us to the high elves’ village. I suspected the reason he had relented so easily was due to Mia saying she wanted to stay with Aina, as was relayed to us by the little girl. Judging by the demeanor of Tisto and the other elders, it appeared the high elves were really important to the people of Vehar.

◇◆◇◆◇

“This way.”

It was nighttime, and we were following Tisto through the Leshy Forest. He had told us we couldn’t bring Zalboda along, so we’d left the black dragon back in Vehar with Fana and Latham. Given Latham’s age, he likely would have struggled on this trek through the woods, so we’d asked him to stay behind with his wife and look after Zalboda while we were away. Nesca and Raiya had suggested accompanying us instead, but I’d declined their offer. I figured we would end up bothering the high elves if a huge group of us suddenly showed up on their turf. Although that was only part of the reason I’d said no to them. The previous night, the pair had finally expressed their true feelings for one another, and I simply couldn’t bring myself to let the loved-up couple tag along with us. I knew I wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

Now, don’t get me wrong: They weren’t the kind of people to make grand declarations of love or anything. But I could almost hear the words “I love you” being conveyed in their long gazes at one another, and as someone who had been single for years, I knew my sanity wouldn’t have been able to cope. It just wouldn’t. They took a fair bit of convincing, but they eventually agreed to stay behind too.

“They might be pregnant by the time we get back,” Luza muttered, ever the romantic.

I found myself thinking that didn’t actually seem too far-fetched.

◇◆◇◆◇

After five hours of trekking through the woods that had very nearly used up the entirety of my human beanpole stamina, Tisto finally stopped.

“We’ve arrived,” he declared.

I glanced around, but all I could see were trees and bushes. “This is where we were going?” I asked.

“Yes.” While I tried to make sense of this answer, Tisto started handing out wooden chokers, enough for the entire group. “Put these on,” he instructed.

Apparently, these chokers were some sort of token that would grant us passage to the village of the high elves. They were way too big for Patty to wear, but Tisto said if we put a choker in Aina’s backpack and the little fairy nestled in there too, it would still work, so that was what we did. Having lost his walking buddy, Peace hopped up onto my shoulder.

“I’ve put on my choker,” I announced.

“Me too, meow!” Kilpha said.

“Same here,” Valeria added.

Once he had made sure that we were all ready to go, Tisto chanted some sort of incantation, and lo and behold, a shimmering gate appeared in front of our eyes. I recalled Latham’s little lecture to us. To prevent a similar conflict from happening again, the high elves erected special barriers around the world trees to prevent the other races from being able to detect them.

I see, I thought. So this is the barrier, huh?

“You can still turn back. Do you want to?” Tisto asked all of us, and judging by the serious expression on his face, he didn’t appear to be joking.

“Nope. We’re obviously going there,” I replied.

After a brief pause, he sighed. “All right. But high elves are sacred to us, so please don’t disrespect them.”

“Got it. I’ll keep that in mind,” I assured him.

Tisto led us through the gate, and we walked into a passageway that was made entirely of light. It was so bright, in fact, that I struggled to even distinguish up from down, until suddenly...

“Huh?”

We found ourselves in a forest. But unlike before, our surroundings felt like they were sparkling, and for some reason, I immediately understood we weren’t in Leshy anymore.

“Mister Shiro, look! There’s a big tree over there,” Aina said, pointing up ahead of us.

She was right. It was an enormous tree that stood much deeper into the forest and towered over its surroundings.

“Is that...” I faltered. “Is that the world tree?”

“Yes,” Tisto replied. “That’s the great world tree. Do not approach it under any circumstances.”

He seemed dead serious, so I just nodded. “Wow. Noted.”

“We still have a bit farther to walk,” Tisto said, resuming his pace, so we followed him.

A short while later, a voice called out from overhead. “Stop right there!”

I looked up and saw a young elven—no, a young high elven man with a bow and arrow trained on us. His piercing eyes were staring us down, and he was clearly on guard. He also obviously hadn’t been expecting us.

“Who are you? How did you get here?”

From what I could tell, the arrow was pointing directly at me. I tried stepping aside, but the arrow followed my movement.

“Please do not shoot! I am Tisto of Vehar. I come bearing urgent information, O esteemed ones!”

“Urgent information? Then, who is this hume?” the high elf asked, thrusting his chin in my direction.

I hurriedly raised my hands into the air to show him I meant his clan no harm. “I’m a hume merchant. I have a request, so I begged Tisto to bring me here with him.”

The high elf’s reaction was instant. “A m-merchant, you say?!” he exclaimed, his eyes bulging in surprise. Even his voice seemed higher in pitch than before.

What’s gotten into him? I wondered.

“I see...” he said. “A merchant. Wait right there. You hear? Do not move.” And with that, the high elf disappeared.

I exchanged glances with my friends and shrugged. Why had that young man looked so shocked when I told him I was a merchant? Perhaps the high elves suddenly needed supplies? If that was the case, that was great news, because it meant I’d have a much easier time negotiating with them. However, this little spark of hope was quickly doused when a high elf woman leading a group of warriors appeared in front of us.

“Are you the merchant?” one of them spat.

At a quick glance, there seemed to be around a hundred high elves behind the woman, and they were all armed to the teeth. Some even had arrows trained on us. This was the second time I had been met with this kind of reception in as many days. In fact, I couldn’t imagine there were many people out there who could say they had been greeted by elves with arrows trained on them twice in two days.

“Speak. Are you the merchant?” asked the woman who was clearly the leader of the warriors.

She was wearing black from head to toe. Even the robe she wore was black. And to finish off the look, her face was hidden by a veil that was—you guessed it—black. It looked like she was in mourning attire.

“Yes. I am Shiro Amata, a merchant,” I said for the second time.

But the words had barely left my mouth before I was overwhelmed by the strong, murderous aura that was radiating from the group of warriors. But why?!

“I see. So you’re a merchant.” The woman paused, her gaze firmly fixed on me. “And you’re from the Setting Sun, aren’t you?”

I was so taken aback by this, the only word that tumbled out of my mouth was a very confused “Huh?”

Intermission: Part Two

A large group of high elves were all aiming arrows at them. Standing behind Shiro—who had stepped forward as if to shield his friends—Aina’s knees were trembling. She was scared.

The second Shiro confirmed he was a merchant, bloodthirsty auras shot outward from the high elves, and the little girl was so scared, she took Shessfelia’s hand in her own right hand, and Mia’s in her left, and squeezed them both tightly. It was then that she realized that something was wrong.

Kalmia muttered a few words that were just on the edge of hearing.

“Mia?” Aina whispered.

But Kalmia didn’t reply. The little high elf ghost’s eyes were wide, and her gaze didn’t leave the woman in black once. Aina peered into her friend’s face, getting closer and closer to it until she could finally make out the words that were spilling from her mouth.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

For some reason, Kalmia kept apologizing.

“What’s wrong, Mia? Do you know this woman?” Aina asked her.

But her words didn’t seem to be getting through to Kalmia, who hadn’t stopped apologizing.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

One last sentence reached the bewildered Aina’s ears.

“I’m sorry, mother.”

Afterword

Thank you for purchasing the eleventh volume of Peddler in Another World: I Can Go Back to My World Whenever I Want! I’m the author, Hiiro Shimotsuki.

In this volume, I wanted to explore what Shiro would do if he didn’t have his pair of fighting machines (lol), Celes and Dramom, by his side. It ended up being quite a bit longer than I’d initially planned, but if I manage to stick to my schedule, I should be able to deliver the next volume to you in a timely manner. I hope.

But there’s a limit to how many pages I can use for this afterword, so let’s move straight on to the usual acknowledgments:

To the illustrator, Takashi Iwasaki-sensei, thank you as always for your beautiful, sentimental illustrations! I look forward to working with you on the next volume too!

To Shizuku Akechi-sensei, who is responsible for the manga adaptation of this series, thank you for your work and congratulations on the release of volume 6! I’m really excited for volume 7.

To my editor and the whole editorial department of HJ Bunko, thank you so much for helping me publish yet another volume in this series.

To my family, my friends, and my dogs, thank you for everything, always. I’m really thankful to you. I really am.

And as always, the biggest, fattest thank you of all goes to you, the reader, for reading up to this point!

Lastly, I will be donating part of the royalties from this book to children in need. So by purchasing this book, you are helping these children. Thank you all so much.

See you all in volume 12!

Hiiro Shimotsuki

Bonus Short Story: Suama, the Twins, and Grandma

After seeing Shiro and the others off in the afternoon, later that evening, a pajama-wearing Suama went to see her mother, who was “sleeping” inside a block of ice. Dramom and Celesdia had been placed in a room that had been hastily arranged for them, and a magical light cast a gentle glow over the two ice-encased women. Suama trotted over to her mother and gazed up at the floating block.

“Ma-ma,” she called out softly.

She was naturally met with silence.

“Ma-ma,” she tried again.

Still no answer.

Tears welled up in the little dragon girl’s eyes. “Ma-ma...”

She was lonely. So incredibly lonely. Her father, Shiro, and big sister, Aina, had both left town, and this was the first time Suama had been separated from all those she held dear. She peered out through the window at the twin full moons shining in the night sky. Up until a few hours earlier, she had also been with her family, just like the two moons were.

“Ain-ya...” she mumbled, tightly clutching the hem of the pajamas her big sister had given her.

The little dragon girl couldn’t sleep, no matter how hard she tried. That was why she had come here in the first place. Her mother always slept beside her, but now that she was encompassed by ice, the little girl couldn’t even touch her. Shiro always let her sit on his lap, but he wasn’t around either, and nor was her big sister, Aina, who always played with her.

“Pa-pa... Shuama, lonely.” The words tumbled from her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks.

The door suddenly swung open, and Shiori and Saori burst into the room.

“Oh, there you are! Shiorin, she really did come here!”

“I’m so glad you’re okay, Suama!”

They must have rushed out of their room, since they were still in their pajamas too.

“Shao-wi. Shio-wi,” Suama mumbled as she looked up at the pair, her face stained with tears.

“Seriously, you shouldn’t go out alone so late at night, Suama. You made Saorin and me very worried,” Shiori chided the little girl.

“Yeah, Shiorin’s right! We looked everywhere for you!” Saori added.

“Shuama sowwy,” the little dragon girl said while bowing her head, which caused more tears to spill to the floor.

Saori hummed theatrically. “Well, I guess it’s all right. You’re cute, so we forgive you!”

“But we weren’t angry? So there’s no need to forgive her,” Shiori pointed out.

“Yes, there is! Bro said we have to scold her if she does anything bad!” And with the “scolding” now dealt with, Saori flashed Suama a big smile and spread her arms wide. “Come here, Suama.”

“Ai,” the little dragon girl yipped as she toddled over to Saori, who pulled her in for a warm hug.

“You’re sad that your mom’s frozen in ice, huh?” Saori said softly. “I get it. Even I cried when I saw her like that.”

“You can think of us as your temporary mommies for the time being, Suama,” Shiori suggested, coming up behind the little girl and wrapping her arms around her.

“Dearie me. Children should not be awake at this hour,” stated Alice the Immortal Witch—otherwise known as Arisugawa Mio—as she walked into the room. Just like the girls, she was wearing pajamas, and she even had a pillow under her arm.

“Suama, are you missing your mother?” Mio asked tenderly.

The little dragon girl nodded. “Ai.”

“Yes, I imagine you must be,” she sympathized. “You’re feeling lonely, aren’t you? That’s only natural.” She paused briefly, then stated, “I have an idea.”

A grin curled Mio’s lips upward as she produced a bed from her inventory. And it wasn’t just any old bed either. It was an extra-wide one that was around three whole meters across.

“Let’s sleep here until Shiro gets back. What do you say to that? I’m talking about all four of us, of course,” she added with a wink.

Shiori immediately jumped onto the bed, and Saori followed suit, still with Suama in her arms. The three of them started bouncing up and down on the soft bedding, eventually bringing a smile back to Suama’s face.

“Good grief. What am I going to do with you three?” Mio said with a tickled grin.

She could tell it would be a while before the girls even thought about settling down to sleep.