Chapter 226
Janpemon, a town in the Duchy of Travoia, one of the small nations.
How many times have I visited this place now?
My stays had never been particularly long—at most, I think, about a year and a half—but it was a memorable town that I occasionally found myself wanting to visit again.
The wheat harvest is still a long way off, so I couldn't see the stone boats floating in a golden sea this time either, but the blue wheat fields have a charm of their own.
I could see the fortress in the distance, just as I had on my last visit, but perhaps because I knew the turmoil was over, it no longer bothered me as it had before.
If more time passed and that fortress weathered further, I felt it might become a familiar and impressive sight in its own way.
Once inside the town of Janpemon, I headed straight for the inn.
What should I do about the Blacksmiths' Guild?
It had been quite a while since I had felt the heat of a forge, so my desire to do some smithing was growing.
But I could probably rent a forge once I got to Siglea, my destination.
After all, Siglea was a country with considerable military strength, bordering the dangerous region known as the Great Man-Eating Marsh.
Naturally, the demand for blacksmithing ought to be high.
If I wasn't going to do any smithing, there would be no reason to stay long in Janpemon either.
If all I did was see how much Aina had grown, leave flowers on Nona's grave, and enjoy the inn's food, three or four days would be plenty.
Since Janpemon was only a detour, that seemed about right.
When I opened the inn's door, the aroma of simmering stew drifted out from inside.
I swallowed reflexively before stepping through the inn's entrance.
As I did, I remembered that I had chosen this inn the first time I came to Janpemon because I couldn't resist the smell of dinner wafting all the way outside.
Back then, the inn hadn't been nearly as grand, so the smell of dinner had leaked outside.
"Welcome... Oh, Eisa-san? Oh! You're Eisa-san, aren't you? It's been so long!"
The person who came out to greet me after hearing the door open was Schene, Nona's granddaughter and Aina's mother.
After murmuring my name with a surprised expression, she called it out again, her voice brimming with delight.
The spring in her voice made it clear that she truly welcomed me, which made me feel a little bashful.
"Yeah, it's been a while. I'd like a room for three days to start with, and some food. The smell made me hungry."
When I said this, Schene nodded, still smiling, and showed me upstairs to a room.
The same room I had stayed in last time.
Had it been a coincidence, or had she remembered which room I had stayed in?
Either way, I was a little happy about it.
"But I'm surprised you came to visit, Eisa-san. I'm sure she'll be happy, too. For quite a while after that, all she talked about was you."
By "that child," she presumably meant Aina.
Hearing Aina's name mentioned so casually, I felt a little relieved.
No, it was just that I couldn't see her anywhere, so I had started wondering what had happened.
Humans could die from illness as well as old age.
Children, in particular, could die with astonishing ease.
Or perhaps it was because this town had once been close to the front lines between Zieden, the Duchy of Karkoym, and the Republic of Vilestrika.
"I see. I wondered what had happened since I couldn't see her anywhere. She must have grown a lot by now."
When I said that, Schene nodded in agreement.
For a High Elf, human children grew up in the blink of an eye, but apparently even for a parent, her own child seemed to grow up quickly.
"She's at the town's sword-training grounds today. ... Come to think of it, it was because of your influence that she decided she wanted to start going to the training grounds, Eisa-san."
Once I'd taken the key and set down my luggage in the room, I went to the dining hall to fill my empty stomach.
The trivial conversation that continued as we went down the stairs gave me a strange sense of enjoyment and comfort.
Still, sword training because of my influence, huh.
Ah, come to think of it, when I was doing my daily training on the roof before, Aina begged me to carve her a wooden practice sword, and I seem to remember teaching her the basics of swinging it.
I never imagined she'd go on to practice swordsmanship seriously in this town, but I found that rather fascinating.
Back when this had still been a small inn, their daughter would have been a valuable worker, so they likely wouldn't have had the leeway to let her learn swordsmanship.
But the inn grew, and hiring people increased its workforce.
In other words, their prosperity gave them the leeway to devote time to learning.
If you asked whether the innkeeper's daughter really needed swordsmanship, the answer would probably be no. Even so, Schene seemed happy that I had been the one to inspire her.
That being the case, I found myself wondering just how skilled Aina actually was, but that was something I'd only know after meeting her.
She probably didn't go to the training grounds every day, so I doubted she was as skilled as Aiha, who had grown up at a Yosogi-ryu dojo, but...
Ah, come to think of it, their names were similar, and, if I did the math, they were probably both seventeen—the same age.
If the two of them ever met, I wondered whether they would become friends.
As I thought about such trivial things, I ate the meal set before me: soft bread and stew, followed by venison steak.
Aina came home through the back door at exactly the moment I finished that meal.