The Curse No Sword Can Sever (7)

I walk along the road toward the town of Vistcoat, carrying Win in my arms and holding Shizuki's hand.

Win still isn't old enough to be expected to make the journey on foot, but he's grown considerably heavier.

He sleeps well, eats well, and plays well—and lately, he's even been practicing with Shizuki and Mizuha by swinging wooden swords—so he's growing by leaps and bounds.

Of course, compared with humans, that's probably a much slower rate, but from my perspective, it's still a remarkably rapid change.

When I think that he'll keep growing until I can no longer carry him like this, I can't help feeling a little sad.

The trip is paced to the steps of Shizuki, a child not yet ten, but he's doing surprisingly well.

I did ask whether he was prepared for a grueling journey, but I'd expected that, in the worst case, I'd carry Shizuki on my back with Win in my arms in front of me, so his doing this well is a pleasant surprise.

Win, too, was accustomed to long journeys for a child his age, since I was always dragging him around with me.

Thus, the journey to Vistcoat has gone more smoothly than I'd expected.

I don't know what sort of exchange took place among Kaeha, her mother, and the children over Shizuki joining us on this journey.

I was curious, of course, but Kaeha seemed not to want me to hear about it, so I deliberately didn't ask. That night, while they discussed it, I went to bed early in my room with Win.

The next day, Kaeha gave me a reproachful look, so she had probably opposed it, but her mother must have prevailed.

By shooting birds with arrows and stopping at villages along the way to replenish our supply of preserved food, we reached the town of Vistcoat after several weeks.

When the destination town came into view, Shizuki let out a cheer.

Probably without even realizing it himself.

Although we hadn't even crossed a national border, it was a grand adventure for Shizuki.

Surely, in all his life, he'd never spent so long away from his family or reached a destination entirely by his own efforts.

Win watched the excited Shizuki with a surprised expression.

Unfortunately, it was still difficult for Win to truly understand the sense of accomplishment Shizuki was feeling.

But someday Win would surely make a journey far away under his own power—or overcome some other difficulty—and rejoice like this.

Until then, yes... I want him to let me keep carrying him like this for just a little longer.

When I tightened my hold on him, Win shifted his gaze from Shizuki to my face and tilted his head in puzzlement.

The guards overseeing entry to the town were, unfortunately, young soldiers I didn't know, but the inspection was extremely simple.

Or rather, my Vistcoat citizenship was still valid, and I was practically given a free pass.

It must have been nearly fifteen years since I left this town...

That felt like only yesterday, but looking back on my travels and all the places I'd visited, it also seemed like a very long time ago.

At the very least, enough time had passed for the guards on duty to have changed.

Even the gate I'd once stared at in wonder no longer seemed particularly large now that I'd grown accustomed to traveling.

I thanked the guards, and we passed through the gate into town.

...Ah, this really takes me back.

Even though the townspeople and guards had changed, the townscape remained exactly as it had been: the same view I'd seen when I first arrived at a human town that day.

Nostalgia filled my chest so completely that it made my body tremble.

The ones who'd passed through this gate with me that day had been Airena, whom I'd only just met, and Kreias and Martena, hadn't they?

At first, I'd intended to part ways with them soon, but before that, my complete lack of financial sense was exposed, and the worried Airena ended up looking after me for a while.

Though 'a while' may be understating it—I feel like she paid for my lodging for nearly a year...

After that, I met my damn dwarf master, learned smithing, and spent ten years in this town.

Before I knew it, Win reached up from my arms and touched my cheek.

I realized my cheek was wet with tears that had spilled without my noticing, and Win seemed startled and worried by them.

"No, yeah, it's nothing. I just got a little nostalgic..."

I was shaken more deeply than I'd expected, even by my own standards.

This hardly ever happens, but... Vistcoat is the starting point of my life in the human world, so I suppose it really is special to me after all.

And just as I finished wiping away my tears with my sleeve—

"Heeey, Eisa!"

Two men came running from the street toward us, both out of breath.

One was the young guard who had let us into town a moment earlier; the other was a middle-aged man wearing rather ornate armor that seemed somewhat impractical... Rodner.

Come to think of it, when I showed my identification and underwent the entry inspection, one of them ran off somewhere. Apparently, he'd gone to call Rodner.

"Hey, Rodner. ...How nostalgic. I was just thinking about the first time I came to this town."

I held Rodner back with one hand as he tried to embrace me and smiled.

I was happy to be welcomed, but a hug from someone in armor would be hard and painful, and, more importantly, Win would get crushed.

"It's really nostalgic, Eisa. I'd convinced myself I'd never see you again for as long as I lived. One of my subordinates told me, so I came rushing over. I'm glad to see you again."

Rodner said this sheepishly, then looked over at Win in my arms and Shizuki beside me, his expression softening into a gentle smile.

When we met, Rodner was merely a guard, but by the time I left town, he'd risen to captain of the guard... I don't know what his position is now, but apparently he's still on active duty nearly fifteen years later.

But... he really has aged.

His claim that he'd thought he'd never see me again before he died didn't sound like a joke in the slightest.

If I'd waited another ten years before returning to this town, perhaps I might never have seen him again—not likely, but not impossible.

"But I'm glad I get to say this to you again. ...Eisa—and you young lads over there, too—welcome to the town of Vistcoat."

Even so, Rodner patted me on the shoulder and said those words just as he had back then.