Chapter 82 - Shadow (5)

"Liria?"

She just stared at me as if in silent protest.

Just then, one section of the play ended and the curtain came down for the transition into the next scene.

I tried to make conversation to change her mood.

"Have you ever seen a play before, Liria?"

Liria kept her mouth tightly shut for a moment before reluctantly answering, "...No."

"What do you think now that you've seen it? You seemed quite focused."

"It's fun... very much."

Her expression was complicated. How to put it—she looked frustrated about enjoying it so much. Perhaps she was bothered that Trisha had brought us here.

Someone on stage pushed aside the curtain with their hands. A woman with a sickly complexion, wearing glasses and her long hair roughly pinned up, crouched at the front of the stage.

Then, she pointed at us and signaled us to come closer.

At this, Trisha stood up and said.

"A Drama Club senior is calling. Keep watching! I'll be back later."

With Trisha's timely departure, Liria's face showed relief. Liria seemed quite uncomfortable with Trisha.

The curtain opened again and the rehearsal resumed.

And Trisha didn't return until the play was completely finished.

***

The stage emptied, and the audience seats gradually cleared out.

Liria and I remained seated while waiting for Trisha, but she never showed herself.

Liria seemed tired of waiting as she nodded off sleepily.

"Liria."

"Ah, yes!"

Her eyes went wide as she startled awake at my call, having been half asleep.

She seems very tired. I should stop keeping her here and leave soon.

"Where is the carriage?"

"Ah, it's at the main gate. They said I couldn't bring the carriage in since I'm an outsider..."

"Next time, come in a carriage with Eternia's seal instead of a regular one."

"...Yes!"

"And..."

I took off the crystal necklace that detected Dark Mages and placed it in Liria's hand.

"Keep wearing this until I ask for it back."

Liria held her breath for a moment, startled at seeing the necklace.

"Master Damian, this..."

"Just remember this. If this necklace vibrates, flee to the professor's mansion and send me a Stitch. Ah... and for a while, don't leave the professor's mansion. Leave the groceries to the servants."

Liria nodded vigorously without asking why.

"Yes!"

I couldn't stay with Liria all day to protect her. That made one corner of my heart ache.

"Should I put it on now?"

"Yes."

Liria immediately grabbed the necklace chain and fidgeted trying to connect it at the back of her neck. But she seemed to have trouble as her hair kept getting caught in the clasp.

"Um, Master Damian..."

She looked at me with a face that said she needed help.

"Let me see."

A smile started to bloom on her face but she held it back and answered brightly, "Yes!"

She returned the necklace to my hand and tidied and lifted her hair slightly with both hands.

And I reached out with the necklace chain toward Liria. She turned slightly, creating a position as if I was embracing her.

This feels like something I've experienced before.

Just as I connected the necklace chain, a voice suddenly rang out from the stage.

"What are you two doing?"

It was Trisha's voice. I quickly returned to my original position, worried about potential misunderstandings.

She came running from the stage. Then, she sat on the edge of the stage looking down at us. Fortunately, it seemed she hadn't seen that moment.

I cleared my throat casually and said, "We waited for you. But quite some time has passed, so we should head back soon."

"Did you wait long? I guess it's time to send the maid back."

"No, I'm going with Liria."

I was planning to return to Silveryn's mansion. I felt uneasy about sending Liria back alone, and I needed to review Zverev's notebook, who had become the Dark Mage's sacrifice, at Silveryn's mansion.

Trisha tilted her head slightly in question.

"Where are you going with the maid? You should come with me!"

I shook my head.

"I'm going back to the professor's mansion, not the dormitory. I have some personal business to take care of."

Trisha's expression hardened slightly. She glanced sharply at Liria while trying not to show it and said, "You're going to play just the two of you without me? I'll be lonely by myself."

"You have Cecil and other friends. They'll be at Witdruff Hall."

"Senior Cecil is always busy, and I decided to stay away from that group for a while. Her cousin keeps bothering me. I'm alone. Drama Club is over."

"..."

"I want to go too."

"What do you mean..."

"I want to go too."

"You should be at the dormitory..."

"I got permission when you were collapsed. That's Professor Silveryn’s mansion, right? I heard it's safer than the dormitory since it was where the founding principal lived. It's not far either. They said I just need to accompany you when commuting."

"..."

Trisha swung her crossed feet and smiled slightly while looking at me.

"So I want to go too."

Why is she so stubborn? It's a bit surprising, but there's no reason it can't work. If what she's saying isn't a lie and the academy really gave permission.

While I was organizing my thoughts briefly, Liria grabbed and pulled at my shoulder. Then, she looked at me pleadingly.

"Master Damiaaaan..."

Absolutely don't bring her along.

***

The sun tilted diagonally, staining the sky. The carriage was passing along the golden banks of the Eternia River.

Though I felt sorry for Liria, Trisha ended up coming along to the mansion. I eventually went to Professor Ella to verify that she wasn't lying, and received confirmation that it wasn't a lie. At that point, I couldn't bring myself to refuse Trisha's request.

Liria, after being gloomy for a while, now seemed tired of everything and blinked in a half-asleep state, leaning her head against the door. And Trisha, sitting beside me, was absorbed in admiring the scenery outside the window, paying no attention to this.

Trisha let out a small exclamation.

"It's really pretty..."

"You talk like you're seeing it for the first time."

"I've seen it a few times, but I could count them on one hand. I always passed through here in carriages without windows."

Carriages without windows. What could her identity be to receive such treatment? Even when transporting prisoners, they let them see outside through iron bars.

"..."

"You and others can see scenery like this whenever you want, and go on picnics and outings freely, right?"

Her voice carried faint traces of envy and loneliness. Seeing that, I could somewhat understand her insistence on coming along.

The sunset entered the carriage, filling the interior with golden light.

Sunset colors people with sentiment. Trisha was stained with it as well.

"Even good things become dull if you see them every day. I prefer seeing them occasionally. Like now."

"...Will there ever come a day when I take scenery like this for granted?"

Though young, she spoke like someone with a terminal illness who didn't have much time left.

I was in no position to pity Trisha. Once Silveryn returned, my free time would end too.

"It's not too late to worry after the sun sets. For now, we should just enjoy it."

This was also something I was saying to myself. For now, I decided to forget about the Dark Mage, Zverev, Luna, and Silveryn... and just relax.

Trisha stared at me for a while. I wondered what she was thinking about.

"What's wrong?"

"...It's nothing."

Trisha turned back to the window.

Then, as if discovering something strange, she fixed her gaze on the riverbank and said, "What's... that?"

She pinched my arm as if telling me to look too.

"...Hmm?"

"There, on the sandbar... isn't that horse a magic creature?"

I turned my gaze to the window too.

As Trisha said, a white horse was standing on the riverbank, wetting its neck. Its silver mane sparkled in the sunset and a horn protruded from its head.

Its bearing was clearly different from ordinary wild horses.

Come to think of it, Silveryn had mentioned before that griffins, pegasi, and unicorns come down here.

"It's definitely not an ordinary horse..."

"Isn't it a pegasus?"

Trisha knocked on the driver's compartment. Soon the carriage stopped and she shouted as if seizing a golden opportunity.

"Let's go see! They say all fantastical beasts that come to Eternia are friendly! I want to see it! I want to see it!"

When she tried to open the door and run out, I grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Let's go slowly, just in case...!"

But Trisha instead grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the carriage.

"You come too!"

With surprising strength from her slender body, Trisha practically dragged me outside.

"Ah, Master Damian!"

When I was pulled out, Liria also jumped out of the carriage.

Trisha pulled me by the hand from the front, and Liria grabbed my sleeve following behind. Like that, we crossed the golden sandbar in a line.

Her innocent behavior stirred up faint nostalgia. Because of that, I couldn't resist properly.

Reaching the edge of the wide sandbar, Trisha stopped about ten steps away from that mysterious creature. She observed it carefully and said, "It’s a pegasus, right?"

"Since it doesn't have wings it's not a pegasus... but since it has a horn, it must be a unicorn."

"Really? What do unicorns like?"

"Well..."

I didn't know anything about fantastical beasts. I turned to Liria and asked, "Liria, do you know anything?"

"I don't know much either... but I've heard about cases where unicorns were studied..."

"What about them?"

"There's a saying that unicorns prefer young women. Because of that, alchemists once researched the connection between unicorns and rejuvenation potions with noble ladies' sponsorship... But when the results came out, the sponsorship was cut off with protests, and the data was destroyed."

"...Why?"

"I'm not sure... but they say research that doesn't make money often ends up that way."

At this, Trisha said confidently, "Seems they don't like men. Damian, you stay here. I'll go."

"..."

Trisha let go of my hand and moved forward. She whistled to get the unicorn's attention.

The unicorn stopped drinking from the river and glanced at Trisha.

She held out her hand and narrowed the distance step by step. The unicorn showed interest in Trisha and stretched out its neck.

After smelling Trisha's hand, it soon started rubbing its head against Trisha's body as if its wariness had disappeared.

"See, it worked!"

Trisha hugged the unicorn's neck and happily stroked its fur.

"The fur is super soft too. Oh, it's so pretty!"

I was actually ready to cut its neck if it showed any strange behavior, but fortunately, things seemed to work out well.

Watching quietly, Liria also seemed curious and approached the unicorn slowly in a shrinking posture. She let out an unconscious exclamation.

"Wow..."

When Liria held out her palm, the unicorn licked between her fingers without wariness.

"Eek!"

She was startled and ran away to hide behind my back.

Hearing the scream, Trisha turned her head this way and looked at Liria with slight disapproval.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she spoke, "Ah right. You know what? Our first common class the week after next is about fantastical beasts."

"Really? Seems you heard something about it."

"Yeah, they say animals with magical abilities are called fantastical beasts, and if such animals live for a very long time, they become like indigenous gods or high-level spirits. That's why they say it's advantageous if you can handle spirits, according to the Drama Club senior."

Wait, spirits? 

If it really was connected to spirit arts as Trisha said, this became quite troublesome. I didn't have good compatibility with spirits.

"So only the spirit summoners are excited. Damian, can you handle spirits?"

I spoke in a half-resigned tone, "I made a contract, but still. If I'd known this would happen, I would have done intensive training."

No. Even if I'd done intensive training the whole time, there wouldn't have been meaningful results.

"Lucky you. I want to handle spirits too. How do you train in spirit arts?"

"The professor says you just need to feel and enjoy nature. But that's not as easy as it sounds."

Trisha also makes a puzzled expression as if she didn't understand.

The unicorn, perhaps having had enough fun, moved away from Trisha toward the water.

"Where are you going!"

She quickly threw off her dress shoes with a regretful expression and followed the unicorn into the water.

The unicorn lowered its head toward Trisha as if saying goodbye and then picked up speed.

Then, as if by magic, it ran across the water's surface.

With such graceful movements, it kicked off the river's surface and disappeared into the forest on the other side.

"..."

All three of us could only stare in amazement at this unexpected mysterious ability.

Looking toward where the unicorn had disappeared, Trisha said, "It really wasn't an ordinary animal..."

Then, still regretful, she splashed the river water that reached her calves aimlessly.

"Let's go now. It's getting late."

"Wait a moment."

Trisha bent down and looked carefully at the riverbed as she spoke, "Hmm? Come here. It left something behind..."