Chapter 105
When I arrived at the Silver Tangerine Inn, I ran into Dante-san, who was on his way to buy breakfast.
"Hey, you got here sooner than expected. Hmm, who's that...?"
I felt relieved to see that Dante-san was truly his usual self, and introduced Zelly-san.
"This is Zelly-san. She's a beastkin who used to belong to the same Dark Fang Mercenary Corps as Raikira-san, and she came along with me when I escaped the Keithgran Federation."
"Yo."
"Raikira's..."
Dante-san furrowed his brow as though thinking, but soon smiled again.
"Let's go back to the inn for now. Mimino and Non will be surprised. I figured Reiji wouldn't show up for at least five or ten days. Noble schedules are so painfully slow."
"I did come yesterday, actually..."
"Non said, 'At this rate, it'll be impossible for a while.'"
I see. So Non-san had thought I would choose to work for the count's household.
We entered the Silver Tangerine Inn and headed for the room where Dante-san and the others were staying. Apparently, the two women shared one room, while Dante-san had another. I wondered if he wasn't sharing a room with Non-san, but when he said sadly, "...She says she doesn't want her old man around..." I realized it was a subject I shouldn't pursue any further.
Dante-san raised his index finger, winked, and mouthed "Shh" before knocking on the women's door.
"—Who is it?"
"It's me. Open up a little."
"—Dad? You're awfully early."
The door opened slightly with a creak, and Dante-san poked only his face into the room.
"Oh, actually, I haven't even gone shopping yet... Guess who I ran into?"
The two of them, Mimino-san and Non-san, seemed to hold their breath at his joking words.
"—Don't tell me, Dad. If it's another truly pathetic 'drinking buddy' like last month, I'll be seriously angry."
"A one-month drinking ban is too lenient, I'd say."
What are you doing, Dante-san...?
"You're the one whose petrification the Young Master cured, aren't you? Now that you're back on your feet, you've started causing trouble too, huh? Honestly, what a loser."
Is Zelly-san really the one saying that? You used to get drunk and sleep on the street too, remember?
"Th-this time I'm not joking. It's truly one of our companions—Guh!"
Dante-san was shoved aside, and the door flew open with a bang.
"Reiji-kun!?"
Mimino-san and Non-san both came rushing out.
"You really came! Oh wow, aren't those the clothes I mended for you!?"
"Reiji-kun, did you actually quit the count's household?"
"Yes."
They made a fuss while patting and touching me all over.
I smiled—seeing them like this, how could I not?
"I'll be in your care again from now on."
I said.
After that, we left the inn, bought breakfast from a food stall, and talked while eating on a bench in the plaza.
I told them almost everything about my circumstances—though I didn't mention my 'promise' with my lady—and it took more than an hour.
"That's... I mean, it must have been hard..."
Dante-san squeezed the words out.
"Yeah, I suppose. But it was pretty fun."
"This goes way beyond difficult—it was downright awful! The nobles in this country are nothing but people who repay kindness with hostility—mff!"
"Yes, yes, Mimino-san, please keep it down a little. Criticizing nobles in public will only cause trouble."
Non-san clamped a hand over the indignant Mimino-san's mouth from behind. Nice one, Non-san.
"Then let's leave the Holy Capital today. Staying any longer will only mean more trouble."
"But, Dad. We have several quests we accepted from the guild."
"Cancel them."
"...Right."
I wondered whether quests from the Adventurers' Guild could really be canceled. When I glanced at Zelly-san, she said,
"You're the people from the 'Silver Balance,' aren't you? The Gold-rank party?"
"Yeah."
"Then the cancellation penalties must be pretty severe, wouldn't they?"
Huh, really!? I mean—
"'Gold rank'!?"
"That's right. I hadn't told Reiji, but we went up one rank... It'll probably drop because of the penalty, but I don't care."
"That's..."
"Either way, we were guaranteed to get penalized yesterday for making a scene at the guild."
What on earth did you do, Dante-san...? Was it that thing Non-san mentioned—the one about how "we need to teach a lesson to anyone who talks down to us just because we're outsiders"!?
"By the way, we went undefeated against Gray Silver and below, and drew with the Gold rank here. Man, there really are some strong guys out there!"
"Dante-san... Have you somehow turned into a musclehead?"
"That's right. Reiji-kun has to take responsibility for turning your father into this."
"Me!?"
"That's right. It's Reiji-kun's fault."
"Mimino-san, you too!?"
Though the conversation had gone off on a tangent, everyone seemed to be taking the canceled quests with a "well, it can't be helped" attitude.
"I appreciate it, but I'm sorry..."
"It's fine. The Silver Balance only truly becomes the Silver Balance when Reiji-kun is with us!"
Really? Is it all right for them to do so much for me?
I felt happy and apologetic at the same time, as though I was being treated far too generously.
As I fidgeted beside him, Dante-san said,
"Are you Zelly-san, known as the 'Stealth Cat'?"
"Huh?"
Z-Zelly-san has a nickname like that!?
"Nuffuffuffu. Young Master, surprised? As it happens, I have an epithet—"
"That's so lame!"
"What did you say!?"
Zelly-san was aghast, but come on, she's called the 'Stealth Cat.' That's lame, isn't it? It sounds more like a nickname given to a particular cat at a cat café. Some kind of cute mascot character, really.
"Anyway... I agree with you that Young Master should leave this Holy Capital as soon as possible..."
Zelly-san seemed pretty wounded, but don't let it get you down. Even without an epithet, I know perfectly well how capable you are, Zelly-san, as well as your less-than-admirable side as a person.
"Now that that's settled, let's get moving."
Even though my arrival had drastically changed their plans, Dante-san said it in such a bright voice that he didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
"Reiji, don't make that face. I'm unbelievably happy right now. I'm in perfect health, and I get to travel with my only daughter, the apothecary who's been a longtime companion, and you, my great benefactor. If I wished for anything more, I'd be punished for my greed."
"...Dante-san."
Maybe it was because I hadn't slept. I suddenly felt like crying.
People's warmth had saved me so many times. Much of that warmth had come from the members of the 'Silver Balance.'
Have I managed to give even a little of it back?
I cured Mimino-san's petrification, but have I really done anything for her?
I want to go to the Lef Magic Empire to meet Lulushia-san. After that, we'll look for Lark. And when that's done—I'll find something I want to do together with everyone in the 'Silver Balance.'
"...Come to think of it, Zelly-san, you're coming along with us too, right?"
"That's cruel, Young Master! I'll follow you anywhere!"
When Zelly-san said that, Mimino-san quietly slid up beside me.
"I don't mean to discriminate against beastkin, but this particular beastkin seems like a bad influence. Reiji-kun, you mustn't imitate this person's way of thinking too much."
"Isn't that discrimination!?"
"It's all right. If anything, I intend to learn all sorts of things from Zelly-san."
"Young Master!? I'm trying pretty hard, you know!?"
"Debt."
"Ugh..."
I laughed as Zelly-san backed away inch by inch, hunched over as though her stomach hurt. Mimino-san laughed too. Non-san looked puzzled, while Dante-san whispered something to Non-san—surely something about the ways adventurers commonly ruin themselves.
After that, we returned to the inn, packed our luggage, and headed for the Adventurers' Guild. As soon as we entered, the adventurers who saw Dante-san went pale and fled to the walls... What on earth did you do, Dante-san...?
The guild staff processed the quest cancellations with a sigh and announced the 'Silver Balance's' demotion to Gray Silver rank. But Dante-san, Mimino-san, and Non-san all looked completely unconcerned. At that point, we accepted a quest to deliver a letter to the Lef Magic Empire, which apparently had such strict entry restrictions that we couldn't enter without one. I had no idea.
Once we left the guild, all that remained was to find a carriage and leave the Holy Capital. Though no one appeared to be pursuing me, I felt eyes on me as we boarded the carriage. They might have belonged to the Duke of Ebenyu's men, or they might have belonged to someone else. In any case, I stopped feeling them after we left the Holy Capital.
Traveling by carriage took a long time. We talked about all sorts of things.
Dante-san laughed and said, "If our first encounter involved a snake, then so did our reunion."
It seemed Non-san had indeed learned 【Light Magic】, and since 【Light Magic】 had so few users—few people with an aptitude for it—the Church apparently had no intention of letting her go, no matter what.
Non-san even said, "How is it possible to fire off magic one after another and simultaneously unleash two kinds of magic with such wildly different attributes?"
Mimino-san said in all seriousness, "It's not strange because it's Reiji-kun." I caught a glimpse of her doting-parent side.
The 'Magic Duplication Potion' Mimino-san had used for the battle against Ouroboros had apparently been made with a huge amount of extremely rare materials. She had kept it as a last resort for emergencies. She cheerfully said, "I guess I'll have to make another one..." without sounding disappointed in the least—in fact, she sounded excited. Was that really all right...?
The Holy King's Knights had apparently confiscated most of the materials from Ouroboros, but the Adventurers' Guild had taken some back as well. On top of that, Dante-san had brought back the jewel-like object from Ouroboros's head that I had shattered with my short sword. "It's a little sad that this is all we got for spoils, but it's better than nothing," he said with a laugh. But when I looked at it with 【All Creation】, it seemed to have an utterly tremendous amount of magical power sealed inside it... We'll take a closer look at it in due time.
No matter how much we talked, we never ran out of things to discuss. The four years of the 'Silver Balance' had apparently been just as eventful as my own. Unfortunately, though, they seemed to have no information about Lark or 【Shadow King★★★★★★】.
The enormous city we had been able to see from far away, the Holy Capital of Kurvagne, eventually disappeared from sight, and we continued being rocked by the carriage for many more days.
Each time we passed another city, I felt my frayed heart slowly settling down.
In the Holy Capital, I had made many mistakes, but I had also managed to do the right thing. I had regrets, but I put each one away in my heart and looked ahead.
Surely my lady was doing the same.
(My lady, let's meet again.)
The sky we looked up at was the same sky. The same stars twinkled, and the same clouds drifted by.
Surely we'd meet again.
By then, would my lady have grown into a splendid lady? Or would she still be the same young lady who made unreasonable demands?
Her appearance would change, but I hoped the part at her core would not.
If she's my lady, surely she won't change.
We headed straight for the country of magic and technology, the 'Lef Magic Empire'—to fulfill one of my journey's goals: meeting Lulushia-san.
A wind mixed with heat rising from the ground blew into the carriage.
The season was nearly summer.