Chapter 100
After crossing south over the mountain range into the Kingdom of Rudoria, we continued walking until we reached the capital, Warfield.
The capital of this country was as large and bustling as ever.
But it seemed that some things had changed, too... Of course, that was only natural.
One of the shops we passed—the butcher's shop I used to frequent—had a different owner.
The new owner wasn't entirely unlike the old one, but he was too young to be his son. Perhaps the old owner's grandson had taken over the shop.
Win seemed to notice it too. Ah, the old butcher had always fussed over him, so Win looked lonely.
In the dwarven nation, there had been no difference in how quickly time passed for Win and those around him, but things were different in a human country.
The only way to look away from it, really, was to keep traveling forever.
We followed the road to the dojo and climbed its stairs.
When we were about halfway up the long staircase, I suddenly noticed it.
At the top of the stairs, by the gate, two... no, four humans were waiting for us.
"Wow, it really is Win and Eisa-san. ... Mom's intuition is incredible."
The words came from a man who looked to be in his late twenties or around thirty.
His demeanor was utterly guarded, yet the smile on his face revealed his goodwill toward us.
It had to be Shizuki.
He held a child in each arm.
One was a girl of four or five, and the other was a boy of two or three.
Shizuki's children, and Kaeha's grandchildren, then.
The two children looked at us with puzzled expressions, clearly unsure what was going on, and were both adorable.
Beside them stood Kaeha.
When we reached the top of the stairs,
"Welcome home, Eisa, Win. I thought you'd be coming back around now. Win, you've grown again."
She greeted us with a gentle smile.
Win looked a little embarrassed at being told how much he'd grown.
"I'm back. Still, how did you know we'd be coming home?"
I was glad to be welcomed home, but also a little puzzled by it, so I tilted my head and asked.
I sent occasional letters from the dwarven nation, but I hadn't told them when we'd be returning.
"Mom suddenly said that you two would be coming home soon. I wasn't entirely convinced, but I came out in front of the gate just in case."
Shizuki answered my question, looking surprised himself.
So it seemed Kaeha was the one who had noticed we were back.
When I turned my gaze toward her, Kaeha smiled and said,
"Yes, the wind was different from usual. It must have told me."
That was what she said.
Kaeha shouldn't have been able to hear the spirits' voices, but somehow her answer felt completely right.
Once inside the gate, I saw far more disciples training than before.
The number alone was close to what I'd seen the last time I visited the Lordran Greatswordsmanship dojo.
In other words, the Yosogi School had made a complete comeback as one of the four great schools in the Kingdom of Rudoria.
Not all of them could be here, so the total number of disciples must have easily exceeded a hundred.
And it was Shizuki, not Kaeha, whom the disciples called master.
Apparently, Kaeha had already handed the position of head over to Shizuki.
Judging by how naturally everyone treated Shizuki as their head, it had probably happened several years ago.
If so, the large number of disciples was probably due in large part to Shizuki's leadership and ability.
Among the disciples, I spotted a few familiar faces—veterans who had been studying the Yosogi School for years—and they had taken on teaching roles.
The passage of time really did change everything.
Well, there was nothing to be done about that; it was only natural.
"Shizuki-nii, spar with me. It's been a while. And introduce me to your children."
Win pointed toward the dojo and asked Shizuki for a match.
Perhaps he was a little excited to be back at the dojo after so long.
I was about to think that he was being a handful—we hadn't even given them their souvenirs yet... Ah, no, that wasn't it.
Apparently, Win was looking out for me.
Shizuki grinned and nodded, then entered the dojo with the children still in his arms.
He was followed by the other disciples, who seemed intrigued.
"Win really has grown. He was so small before... Now then, Eisa, I'll make some tea, so come sit over there and tell me about the dwarven nation."
Left behind, I nodded at Kaeha's words.
Win really had grown.
Saying that he had grown too much would be rude, but a tiny part of me did feel that way.
Even so, I felt proud of him far more than anything else.
I didn't know what Win himself thought, but if he set his mind to it, he should already be capable of standing on his own whenever he wished.
The journey through the mountain range had made that perfectly clear to me.
He was skilled with a sword, and his ability as a smith had been good enough to earn Azvardo's approval.
Unfortunately, he had no aptitude for magic, but the spirits were on Win's side.
Of course, I'd started learning all those things much earlier, so I still didn't think he could beat me, but that might not always be true.
Especially with the sword: even now, if we sparred ten times, Win would win three or four.
As for his relationship with the spirits, I probably wouldn't lose to him there, but that was merely a difference between our races.
There was no point in worrying about that.
Above all, he had agonized and struggled, continuing to grow in ways I knew nothing about.
He could even be considerate of me in an instant, just as he had been a moment ago.
When had he learned to do that?
It made me happy and lonely at the same time, leaving me terribly conflicted.
At the time, I didn't realize it myself, but perhaps I had a rather pathetic look on my face.
Kaeha suddenly stopped, gave a small sigh, pinched my sleeve, and tugged me along before starting to walk again.
Kaeha could be forceful at times, but the fact that she tugged my sleeve instead of taking my hand was oddly restrained of her.
That part of her had remained unchanged since the old days.