The next morning, I headed over to the headquarters of the Search
and Rescue Squad to let Paul know about our plans.
The HQ itself was a perfectly ordinary two-story building. It didn't
take long for me to find my father. He was hard at work in what seemed to be
a conference room, discussing something or other with roughly a dozen other
men. I could make out snatches of the conversation from outside; it seemed
they were preparing for a large operation of some kind.
From the way Paul looked the other day, I'd assumed he spent every
day in Millishion either getting drunk or nursing a hangover, but maybe my
timing had just been bad. Right now, he was the picture of a focused,
competent leader. I was impressed despite myself…at least, until someone
alluded to the fact that he'd skipped a month's worth of meetings while on a
massive bender. From the sound of things, it was only yesterday that he'd
abruptly gotten motivated again.
It was most likely because Paul wanted to show me his better side. In
other words, he'd gotten back to work because of me.
Goodness gracious. The boys do love showing off for me…
With a theatrical sigh, I decided to wait for Paul to find a little free
time.
Sitting around in the room outside might get boring, so I opted to
wander around the building for a while. After a few minutes of exploration, I
came across my little sister Norn at play. She was in a room that seemed to be
serving as a nursery, playing blocks with a bunch of other kids around her
age.
"Hey there," I said, raising a hand in greeting as her eyes met mine.
Norn started in surprise, then scowled and hurled the wooden block in
her hand, which I managed to catch. "Go away!"
This didn't strike me as the friendliest way to say hello. Hmm. Had I done anything to make her upset with me? The only thing that came to mind
was that time I beat the crap out of Paul before her eyes.
Yeah, that probably had something to do with it.
"Um…Father and I made up with each other, Norn," I protested gently.
In response, she shouted "You liar!" and scampered off as fast as her
little legs would carry her.
Apparently, my baby sister hated my guts now. That was a bit of a
downer.
I didn't want to upset her with my presence, so I headed back over to
the closest thing the building had to a waiting room. As I sat down in the
corner, a number of heads turned in my direction. I recognized at least a
couple of the guys I spotted "kidnapping" Somal the other day.
I was starting to get the feeling I might not be too popular in this place.
But before I really had time to bathe in the awkwardness, a familiar
woman walked into the room, and all eyes were suddenly on her. It was the
bikini-armor lady, back to her old half-naked ways. She spotted me
immediately and walked right over.
"Good morning," I said.
"Good morning," she replied with a smile and a small tilt of her head.
"Did you need something from us today?"
"Yes. I'm here to see my father, um…" What was this lady's name
again? I felt like Paul hadn't told me. "Ah, pardon me. I haven't introduced
myself, have I? My name is Rudeus Greyrat, miss." Rising to my feet, I put
one hand to my chest and offered an aristocratic bow.
"Uh, oh…m-my name's Vierra," replied the bikini-armor lady, her
hands fluttering anxiously in the air. "I'm a member of Captain Paul's
squad." She proceeded to return my bow, offering me a truly irresistible view
of her cleavage.
The girl really was a sight for sore eyes. Or even non-sore eyes,
honestly. I'd only just resolved to cut back on my perverted behavior, so I
didn't want to stare. But I couldn't seem to look away. All my good
intentions were meaningless in the face of her chest's gravitational pull.
That outfit was just unfair.
"I'm very sorry I was so rude the other day. My father's something of a
womanizer, so I'm afraid I got the wrong idea."
"No, no! It's all right. I can understand why you'd think that, given
how I was dressed." Vierra emphasized her words by shaking her head
vigorously. Certain other parts of her body also moved as a result. That bikini
armor did seem to be fixed in place to some degree, but it wasn't enough to
keep her from jiggling when she made sudden movements. Those things were
big, after all.
Whoops. I was doing it again.
With an effort of will, I managed to tear my eyes away. "I'm not sure
it's a great idea to hang around a bunch of men in that armor if you can help
it, miss. I'd imagine some people might find it a bit distracting. Maybe you
could put on a cloak over it, at least?"
Vierra smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry, but there's a reason that I wear
this."
Maybe I was imagining things, but it felt like a lot of people were
looking over at me all of a sudden. Had I said something I shouldn't have?
Well, whatever. I'd have to ask Paul about this later. "Do you know when
Father's meetings will be over?"
Vierra cocked her head thoughtfully to one side. "Well, he has a whole
month's worth of work to catch up on at the moment. I expect he might be
very busy for a while."
"All right then. When you get a chance, could you let him know that
I'm planning to leave Millishion seven days from now?"
"Really? That seems awfully soon."
"Well, it's what we're used to at this point."
"I see… In that case, let me go get Shierra for you. Just a moment,
please."
With that, Vierra pattered off somewhere or other. A few minutes later,
she returned with a familiar robed healer.
When the girl saw I was looking at her, she let out a little gasp and
stepped behind Vierra before saying anything. "The captain's schedule is
jam-packed at the moment, but he has some free time in the evening four
days from now. Would you care to have dinner with him then?"
"Um, it's all right if he's too busy, you know."
"When he talks to you, the captain's full of life and energy. He is very
busy, but I hope you'll come anyway."
Shierra's voice sounded composed enough, considering she was still
hiding behind Vierra. This girl really seemed to hate me. Or maybe even fear
me. That was kind of regrettable, but…oh well.
"Four days from now, right? Okay then. Should I meet him at his inn?"
"I'll make you a reservation at a restaurant our squad frequently visits.
Please head directly over there instead."
Shierra proceeded to calmly provide me with an exact time and
location. We'd be eating at a place in the Commercial District by the name of
"Lazy Millis." Just to be on the safe side, I asked about the dress code, but
apparently there wasn't one.
This felt kind of odd, though. Like I was scheduling a business meeting
with the CEO of some major corporation. Paul had a secretary planning out
his days now, huh? The guy had certainly come up in the world.
"Will you be bringing a companion?"
Eris' face popped into my mind, but in the same instant, I recalled her
shouting "I'll kill that stupid jerk!" as she stormed off to murder Paul.
"No, I think I'll come alone."
With that, we'd ironed out all the details, so I took my leave.
***
Now then. A week wasn't much time to work with, so we'd have to use
it productively. With that in mind, I headed over to the Millishion
Adventurers' Guild.
The building was on the large side, as one might expect from the
headquarters of the whole organization. It was two stories tall and occupied
much more space than any other Guild branch I'd ever seen. Of course, I'd
seen a few skyscrapers in my time, so the sight didn't exactly take my breath
away.
Once inside, I got to work gathering information. Initially I asked around about the Fittoa Region, but nobody seemed to
know anything that Paul hadn't already told me. In this city, at least, the
Search and Rescue Squad was probably better informed about Fittoa than
anyone else.
Next, I looked for information on the monsters native to the Millishion
area.
From the sound of things, they weren't comparable to the creatures of
the Demon Continent on the threat level. Mostly, you had stuff like the Giant
Locust, which was just a big grasshopper; the Meat-cutter Rabbit, a
carnivorous bunny; and the Rockworm, essentially an overgrown earthworm.
The majority of them posed very little danger to anyone.
They also tended to be very small, at least in comparison to the beasts
of the Demon Continent. In that harsh land, monsters several times larger
than humans were commonplace. Even the Pax Coyotes, which we'd hunted
to the brink of extinction (slight exaggeration), were over two meters in size;
Acid Wolves were more than three. As for the Great Tortoises, an ordinary
specimen might be eight meters long, and at their largest they could grow to
over twenty. The monsters that emerged during rainy season in the Great
Forest were mostly about the size of a grown man as well.
Size didn't always correspond to strength, but sheer mass was a
weapon in its own right. All in all, the monsters around Millishion were puny
weaklings.
That was fine with me. One less thing to worry about.
Once I'd heard enough about the monsters, I took some time to
consider how we could improve the locals' opinion of the Superd people.
Unfortunately, it seemed like we had our work cut out for us.
For one thing, there was a prominent political faction in Millishion that
advocated the "expulsion" of demonkind. The leaders of this group were
associated with the Temple Knights, one of the Millis Church's holy military
orders. They loudly declared that all demons should be banished from the
Millis Continent entirely.
At present, this party wasn't in control of Millis. The current pope
belonged to a more powerful faction that called for coexistence with
demonkind; as a result, the Temple Knights couldn't take active steps to expel them. However, if a demon happened to cause trouble in the city,
they'd eagerly come running to harass everyone involved. Despite their
political weakness, they often got away with taking aggressive action in the
name of "justice" or "public order."
If Ruijerd were to publicly announce he was a Superd and start doing
jobs around Millishion, the Temple Knights would be making our lives
miserable in no time. They had eyes and ears all over this city, from the
sound of things.
In that case, maybe we could try working outside of it.
With that thought in mind, I snatched up a B-ranked task the Guild had
only just put up on the board. Apparently, a rampaging monster in a local
village needed killing. The location was near enough that we could easily
make a day trip of it.
Our target this time was a Leaf Tiger. This was a monster native to the
southern regions of the Great Forest, but for whatever reason this one had
wandered south to take up residence in this area.
Leaf Tigers had coats of spotted green overlaid with a brown pattern.
This allowed them to blend into the forest perfectly. Because they were hard
to see and often moved in small packs, they were considered to be B-ranked
monsters. However, the one we were after was on its own, and its camouflage
was useless in these open grasslands. It was probably less of a threat than
your average Acid Wolf. I'd have placed it at Rank D, at most. Back when
we were on the Demon Continent, I would have jumped for joy to find a job
this easy on the board.
The three of us headed over right away. And just as we arrived, a big
green cat happened to be sauntering out of the village with a chicken in its
mouth.
It noticed us and dropped its prize to growl in our direction, but Eris
just said, "I'll take this one," ran up to it, and cut the thing clean in half.
Mission complete! Huh, that was quick.
The people of the village offered us their heartfelt thanks. This tiger had killed a lot of livestock and attacked several farmers in the area recently.
Normally, one of the holy military orders would have been dispatched
to protect them. But just a few days ago, there had apparently been a serious
incident where a Blessed Child was attacked in this vicinity. Her escort, a
unit of Temple Knights, was almost entirely wiped out; only their captain had
survived.
The knight captain just barely managed to protect the Blessed Child,
fortunately. But she was still relieved of her post in punishment for the grave
losses suffered.
The holy military orders were already on edge after a recent string of
suspicious slave kidnappings, even before this disaster. The news of it threw
both the Millis Church and their knights into an uproar. As a result, they'd
totally failed to do anything about a certain dangerous B-ranked monster. For
lack of any better options, the villagers had turned to the Adventurers' Guild.
It was an interesting story. Not that it had much to do with us.
Now that I'd gathered what information I could, I moved on to a little
experiment.
To be specific, I told the villagers about the Superd. I explained that
our friend Ruijerd belonged to that tribe, and that his people were traveling
all over the world doing good deeds in an attempt to gain the friendship of the
other races.
"At a glance, the Superd might seem cold or even hostile, but it's easy
enough to break through that stony exterior. You see this little statue right
here, folks? All you have to do is show a Superd one of these and mention
Ruijerd's name. That fearsome scowl will melt into a happy smile, and you'll
be best friends for life in minutes!"
It was a perfect sales pitch, if I do say so myself. Still, the village chief
looked less than enthusiastic. They were grateful to Ruijerd, but that wasn't
enough to change their views on demonkind as a whole. And as followers of
the Millis Church, they weren't interested in owning a statue of a demon.
With that said, he pushed the little figure back into my hands.
It seemed the experiment was a failure. This probably wasn't a problem we could hope to solve immediately.
Maybe a figurine of a sexy girl would have been more effective. Ooh,
what if I made a gender-swapped version of Ruijerd?
Wait, no. That would defeat the whole purpose.
"I had no idea you'd made such a thing," said Ruijerd, studying the
figurine admiringly as the three of us trudged back toward Millishion.
"Isn't it amazing? Rudeus is really good at making those things!" For
some reason, Eris seemed very proud that I'd earned his approval.
While this one had been rejected, my figures did actually fetch a good
price on the market. They had quality enough to earn the admiration of a
certain beastfolk Sword King and a prince in some foreign country, after all.
Yes indeed. I was practically a royal artisan at this point!
"This position is no good at all, though."
"Yeah, the stance is all wrong. You'd have to crouch much lower…"
Sad trombone noise.
Those two really knew how to burst a guy's bubble.
***
Three days later—the day before my dinner appointment with Paul—I
realized that I didn't have anything to wear to the restaurant.
There wasn't a dress code, and this was just a family get-together. Still,
the clothes I'd bought back in the Demon Continent looked a bit shabby on
the streets of Millishion, so I headed out with Eris to do a little shopping.
This probably qualified as a date, although it wasn't a particularly
exciting one. Eris was never too motivated about buying clothes and tended
to think everything looked "fine." I figured I should take this chance to get
her a few new outfits as well. From this point on, we'd be traveling in
humankind's territory, and they say first impressions are all about how you
present yourself. At the very least, I wanted us dressed well enough that people wouldn't treat us rudely.
I kind of wished I could turn to a friend who knew something about
fashion for advice. But the only people I could even call "acquaintances" in
this city were that monkey-faced newbie and Vierra. I had no idea where
Geese was, and I wasn't friendly enough with Vierra to ask her for a personal
favor.
Ultimately, I decided to study people going by until I had a feel for
things. Eris and I sat by a street and engaged in a bit of idle crowd-watching.
After a while, I noticed that blue clothing seemed somewhat popular at
the moment. Also, some people had cloaks or jackets on, but many others
didn't bother. The climate here was nice enough that most outerwear was on
the lighter side.
"Looks like blue's in style right now, doesn't it?"
"Blue doesn't work at all for you, Rudeus."
Wow, blunt. Fortunately, I really didn't care that much about the trends
of the hour. "What does work for me, then?"
"You've got that thing Geese gave you, right? Just go with that."
She was talking about that fur vest, right? That thing was a little big on
me, though. It was long enough to look more like a coat. That said, it wasn't
uncomfortable at all, so I did wear it sometimes. Mostly on colder days.
"That one's not bad, but I feel like it's a bit too long for me."
"Yeah, I guess so. Why don't you just cut it down to size, then?"
"That would just be a waste. I'm still a growing boy, remember?"
Chatting casually, the two of us picked out a few purchases. It didn't
take long at all, which I chalked up to our mutual lack of interest. So, it came
as something of a surprise when, at the very end, Eris chose a rather
fashionable black dress embroidered with small white roses.
"Do you really want this one, Eris?"
"…What? Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, no. I bet it would look great on you."
"Hmph. You don't have to flatter me, you know."
After paying for our purchases, we headed back to the inn.
Finally, the big day arrived.
In the afternoon, I let Ruijerd and Eris know that I'd be having dinner
with my father that evening.
Ruijerd said "I'm glad to hear that" with a slightly relieved expression
on his face. I could actually see the happiness in his eyes. From the looks of
things, he very much wanted me to leave this city on good terms with my
father. Not that he had any cause to worry, of course. I was going to take full
advantage of this family-bonding opportunity.
"I'm coming, too!" announced Eris.
Turning, I found her staring me down in her usual arms-akimbo pose.
"Uhhh…"
"What? Is that a problem?"
If it wasn't for the other day, I would have given in immediately, but
Eris clearly still felt some hostility toward my father. That was probably an
understatement, in fact. It seemed like she hated his guts. I could understand
how she felt to some degree, but I'd already decided to make nice with Paul.
If that was the only issue, I might have brought her with me and tried
to get the two of them on better terms. But this dinner was going to be our
first meal as a family in many years, you know? And I hadn't patched things
up with Norn yet, either. Also, I did say that I'd be coming to the restaurant
alone.
"Would you mind staying here instead, Eris?"
All things considered, I wanted Eris to show a little self-restraint here.
Carrying a bomb into the middle of a raging forest fire didn't strike me as the
best of ideas. Formally introducing her to the family could wait until the two
of us got a little more intimate than we were right now.
"Yes, I would mind! I'm coming too, got it?!"
Silly me. The word "self-restraint" wasn't part of Eris' vocabulary.
"Ruijerd, could you say something here?"
When I turned back to Ruijerd in search of help, I found him holding a
hand to his chin in thought. His intense gaze moved from my face to Eris',
and then back again. "You've made up with your father, haven't you? It
shouldn't be a problem, then. Let her come along."
Wow! Stabbed in the back! Was this the same guy who'd punched Eris
to stop her from intervening last time?
Oh well. I guess I'd have to let the majority rule on this one. "Well, if
you say so, Ruijerd…"
"Hmph! What did you expect?"
"Just one thing, Eris. I want to stay on good terms with my father, so
please be polite to him, okay?"
"…Fine!"
Judging from her tone of voice, she had no intention of actually
keeping that promise. Not exactly reassuring.
Afterwards, I went upstairs to put on my brand-new clothes, then
headed over to the restaurant as a brand-new me (a.k.a. Newdeus). Eris
tagged along in the black dress we'd bought the other day.
I did my best to avoid the narrower side streets. There were lots of
kidnappers lurking in those dark alleys, and they could get a little violent in
some places. No reason to risk our new clothes getting messed up.
The main avenues had their dangers too, of course. Since it was around
dinner time, quite a few people were buying something like yakitori from the
outdoor stalls. If I bumped into one of those guys, the result would no doubt
be tragic. And if one of them walked into Eris, her Boreas Punch would
probably leave both of us drenched in their blood.
As a precautionary measure, I kept my Eye of Foresight active. By
constantly looking one second into the future, I was able to navigate us safely
through the crowds. I felt a bit bad for using such a powerful ability for
something this mundane, but at least we reached our destination without
incident.
That whole thing with the "reservations" had gotten me a little nervous.
As it turned out, though, Lazy Millis was a perfectly ordinary place. It was a stand-alone bar and restaurant, not part of an inn; most of the clientele
seemed to be relatively respectable locals. When I gave my name to the
waiter up front, he brought me and Eris over to our table immediately. The
fact that there were two of us went unremarked on. Paul was already sitting at
the table with an awkward smile on his face, along with a very grumpy-
looking Norn.
"Sorry, am I a bit late?"
"Uh, nah… Sorry about this, kiddo. Shierra got kind of carried away
for some reason. I told her the usual place would be fine, but…"
"Nothing wrong with a change of pace every once in a while, right?"
I started to pull out a chair, then stopped as I noticed that Eris was
looking rather grumpy herself. This technically wasn't the first time she'd
met Paul, but maybe introducing them would be a good idea. "Um, Father,
this is Eris. As I told you the other day, she's Philip's daughter, and a
member of the Boreas—"
"Oh. Right, right." Cutting me off mid-sentence, Paul rose to his feet
and turned to Eris. He straightened up and put one hand to his chest, then
lowered his head slightly. It was a practiced bow—no less smooth than
Philip's. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss. I'm Paul Greyrat,
Rudeus' father."
Taken aback, Eris tried to glance at me, but couldn't manage to totally
break eye contact with my father.
"Uh, I'm…E-Eris Greyrat…sir." The expression on her face was still
grumpy. Nonetheless, she grabbed the ends of her dress and gave an
awkward little curtsy. It felt like she'd missed her chance to start screaming
or throwing punches.
I had to admit, I was impressed with Paul. Apparently, he'd learned a
thing or two about handling girls from his years as a womanizer.
…Since when could he pull off a bow like that, though?
"All right then. Why don't we all sit down?"
In any case, our family dinner got underway without any bloodshed.
Eris and I settled into our seats. For the moment, Eris was keeping
quiet, but it was obvious she'd bare her fangs in an instant if things took a wrong turn. Paul still looked a bit uncomfortable. And as for Norn… Well,
she hadn't even glanced at me yet.
Long story short, the mood wasn't so great. Maybe it really had been a
mistake to bring Eris with me.
It seemed I wasn't the only one who found the situation a bit awkward.
After a few moments of silence, Paul turned to Norn with a troubled
expression on his face. "C'mon, kiddo. Your big brother's here, see? Why
don't you say hi to him?"
"No! I don't wanna have dinner with some jerk who punched my
daddy!"
Eris scowled and started to open her mouth, but Paul was quicker.
"Don't say that, kiddo. Sometimes Daddy deserves a punch or two."
"But you didn't do anything wrong!" said Norn, puffing out her little
cheeks in an adorable show of indignation.
"Your big brother and I already made up, okay? Isn't that right,
Rudy?"
Oh boy. He was throwing this over to me, huh? Well, maybe this was
an opportunity of sorts. An opportunity to demonstrate my wit and charm!
"Oh, absolutely," I said with a smile. "Want us to kiss and prove it?"
"Huh?!"
"Huh?"
For some reason, the line went over like a lead balloon. Was Paul that
opposed to the idea of swapping spit with his own son? Actually, I couldn't
really blame the guy. I didn't want to kiss him, either. Maybe we could just
forget I ever said that.
"Uh, anyway…the two of us are friends again now, Norn. Why don't
you make up with your big brother too?"
"No way!"
Paul patted Norn on the head as she pouted. That golden hair of hers
really was pretty, though. It reminded me of Zenith. Come to think of it, she
used to sulk up a storm just like this whenever something ticked her off.
Maybe Norn had inherited that habit from her mother?
After submitting to Paul's petting for a little while, the kid abruptly
turned to glare at me. She had to tilt her head back just to look me in the face,
so the overall effect was more adorable than intimidating. "Daddy's trying
really hard."
Since this comment seemed to be directed at me, I responded as gently
as possible. "Yeah. I know he is."
"He doesn't kiss any girls or anything!"
"So I've heard. I'm sorry to have doubted him."
"He's always really nice to me, too!" Norn's little eyes were filling up
with tears. Crap, did I say something mean? Please don't start bawling, kid…
"Daddy always looks like he wants to cry!"
Flustered by Norn's obvious distress, Paul and I looked at each other
uncertainly. "Wait, really?"
"Uh, well, I got a little—"
"I feel so sorry for him!"
Neither of us had anything to say to that.
"How could you beat him up like that? You're so mean!"
Looking at Norn's face, I had to fight the urge to heave a long, heavy
sigh. Paul and Norn had been teleported together. I knew all about that now.
She'd gotten very sick during their journey back to Fittoa and was nearly
attacked by monsters several times along the way. And it was her father
who'd protected her from all those dangers.
With her mother, maid, and sister missing, and her heart bursting with
anxiety, Paul was the only person she could rely on. For years, he was the
only family she had left.
And then some stranger showed up out of nowhere, knocked him
down, and started punching him in the face. That would be enough to
traumatize most kids her age.
"Norn, look. That was all my—"
"It's all right, Father."
If she was a little older, the three of us might have found a way to talk
this through. At her age, though, that was probably impossible. Both Paul and I had made mistakes and jumped to conclusions; we'd reconciled by
acknowledging our faults. But you couldn't expect a child to understand that.
"Norn's still very young. And if I was in her shoes, I don't think I'd forgive
the jerk who punched you, either."
It was sad that Norn hated me, but there wasn't much I could do about
it. We'd just have to talk things through a few years down the road. Once she
was older, I was sure she'd understand. Time's not an infinite resource, but it
can heal at least some wounds.
"No, it's not all right." Evidently Paul wasn't on board with my plan,
though. "You guys might be the only siblings you've got left, okay? I want
you to be good to each other."
As the meaning of those words sunk in, I frowned at my father. "That's
a little ominous, don't you think?"
"…Yeah, you're right. Sorry."
Well, this was no good at all. The mood was getting heavier by the
minute. It seemed like it was time for a change of subject. "By the way,
Father, what's good here? I skipped lunch today, so I'm starving."
Not the smoothest transition, no, but Paul seemed to pick up on what I
was doing. With a strained smile, he took his cue. "Hm, let's see. They've got
a damn tasty seafood stew with fresh fish from the sea down south. Oh, and
the beef's good too. They raise a lot of cattle in the farms around here, you
know? It actually tastes pretty different from the Asuran kind, especially
since they tend to boil it. Gives it a real nice, rich flavor."
"Oh, I've got to try that. All the meat on the Demon Continent was
seriously foul."
"You said it was mostly cuts of Great Tortoise, right? Yeah, most
monsters do taste pretty nasty."
The conversation was finally starting to pick up some steam, but Norn
still had her head turned away. She only responded when Paul said something
to her, refusing to even glance in my direction. I'd more or less resigned
myself at this point, but it still kind of stung, you know?
Of course, this was the exact same thing I'd done to Paul just a few
days ago. I felt terrible about that, in retrospect. Eris wasn't too pleased by Norn's attitude, judging from the way she
was staring at her. I really didn't want this to turn into a fight, but…it was
best to leave things be for now.
"Oh, right. There was something I was meaning to ask you about,
Father."
"Yeah? What's that?"
"Do you know of anyone by the name of Gash Broche?"
"…Uh, nope. Where'd you hear that name?"
I took the chance to tell Paul about Ruijerd's letter and the mysterious
friend who'd written it for us. I'd made a rough copy of the emblem on the
wax seal, so I took that out and showed it to him.
"A sheep, a hawk, and a sword, huh? Looks like the family crest of a
paladin. I don't think I've heard the name Gash Broche before, though. Not
that I'm familiar with all the Millis nobles or anything."
"I see… Do you think Shierra might know something about him?"
"Hmm, dunno. I'll ask her later."
It wasn't reassuring that he'd never heard of the guy, but we'd just
have to wait and see.
With that topic exhausted, Paul and I went back to chatting about
anything that came to mind. Eventually we landed on the subject of my tenth
birthday.
According to Paul, the monsters in the forest outside Buena Village
had grown much more active about a month beforehand. Paul and Zenith had
been so busy trying to get the situation under control that they just didn't
have the time to worry about my presents. They finally managed to clear the
forest the day before my birthday, but just as they were getting ready to send
me a few things, the Calamity took place.
As she listened to all this, Eris pouted with her lips pursed. Come to
think of it, she'd looked really sad when she found out Paul wasn't coming to
that party.
"Just out of curiosity, what were you planning to send me?"
"I was going to give you a pair of gauntlets. I felt a little guilty, since I'd just found them in the back of our storehouse, but these were magic items
from the bottom of a labyrinth. Those things were light as feathers. They
never fit me, but I thought they might look good on you, Rudy."
"No kidding? I didn't know you had anything like that lying around."
"Yep. Zenith said hers was a secret, but sometimes I noticed Lilia
looking at this little locked box with a smile on her face. I'm guessing that
was for you, too."
"A box?" Now he had me curious. What could have been inside that
thing? Not that there was much point thinking about it. Whatever it was, it
was long gone now.
After this, we somehow got onto the topic of Zenith's family. They
were evidently well-known among the Millis nobility, and had a history of
producing many talented and righteous knights. Unfortunately, my
grandparents had basically disowned Zenith when she left home, so they
weren't too enthusiastic about helping search for her at first.
They'd changed their tune completely once they got a look at Norn,
though. This world was different from my old one in a lot of ways, but the
power of a cute grandkid was evidently universal.
"Hmm. I wonder if they'd give you more money if I stopped by?"
"Uh, I think that would probably backfire…"
"Yeah, you're right." I could try to act like a sweet little tyke for them,
but my true nature would most likely reveal itself in time. It wasn't worth the
risk.
Not long after this exchange, the waiter finally brought our food out to
the table. "Okay, let's dig in," said Paul, his fork hovering theatrically in the
air. "Hmm, what first…?"
"This does look appetizing," murmured Eris, studying the spread with
shining eyes. She seemed more like Paul's child than I was, honestly. Then
again, Paul and Philip were cousins, so maybe that wasn't too bizarre.
In any case, this seemed like a golden opportunity to improve Norn's
image of me slightly. "Father, your manners are—"
"Cut it out, Daddy! You've got to pray before you eat!"
The two of us had spoken almost simultaneously. Norn looked over at
me in surprise, but turned away sulkily a second later.
"Ha ha. Okay, kids."
"…Fine, fine."
Paul scratched his head ruefully, and Eris looked a bit reluctant, but
they both leaned back in their chairs for the moment. The four of us
proceeded to say a short Millis-style prayer. All this involved was clasping
your hands together and closing your eyes for a few seconds.
Eris and I weren't believers, and Paul probably wasn't either, but this
was just good table manners in this world. When in Rome and all that, you
know? We went through the motions without complaint.
For some reason, it seemed like Eris and Norn were in a slightly better
mood after this.
We enjoyed our food while chatting about nothing of real importance.
Paul and I did most of the talking, of course. Norn never looked in my
direction, and for her part, Eris kept mostly silent. Paul did start to speak to
her now and then, but the waves of hostility she emitted were strong enough
that he always thought better of it. It was probably wise of him not to poke
the beehive.
As Eris and I left the restaurant together, I heard her mutter, "Hmph, I
guess he kept himself under control this time," under her breath.
I didn't even want to think about how she might have reacted if Paul
had yelled at me, let alone taken a swing at me. But since there hadn't been
any of that, her desire to murder him might have faded—at least slightly.
In that sense, at least, it had been a productive use of our time.
Our week in Millishion came to an end in no time at all.
On the day of our departure, we headed for the Adventurers' District
gate. We'd finished loading our stuff into the carriage and were just getting
ready to head out when Paul showed up to see us off. "Hey, Rudy. You sure
you don't want to stick around a little longer?"
Much as I appreciated the sentiment, it was a bit late for that now. "I'm sure that would be nice, but we might end up lazing around here for the next
year if we don't get moving."
"You and Norn haven't even made up yet, though."
"There's time enough to work on that once we've found the other
three."
Also, this wasn't just about me. I glanced over at Eris. Ruijerd had
seized her by the scruff of her neck as a precautionary measure, but she was
still glaring daggers at Paul. I might have overestimated that girl's ability to
quickly move on. "And I'm not the only who wants to see their family, you
know?"
"Right, of course. But the Boreas family's probably—"
"Let's not talk about it," I said, cutting Paul off with a movement of
my hand. "It's possible that Philip and Sauros will be waiting for us when we
get back to Fittoa, you know? The news might not have made it here yet."
"Right. Yeah, that's true. But you know, Rudy…" Paul paused for a
moment, his face growing grim. "You really shouldn't be too optimistic
about that. Even if the two of them do make it back alive, there's no telling
what might happen to them after a disaster of that scale."
"What do you mean by that?"
Paul lowered his voice just a little. "Philip's brother James is busy
trying to save his own neck. There's a chance he'd push all the blame for this
mess onto one of them."
Wow.
The idea hadn't occurred to me before, but it sounded plausible. Sauros
was the lord of Fittoa, and Philip was the mayor of Roa; they'd both held
major positions of authority. Even if they made it back home, they might be
held responsible for the massive loss of life and property caused by the
Calamity.
I didn't know exactly what that would mean. But at the very least, it
was hard to imagine they'd get to step back into their old roles and rebuild
their power. In fact, it wouldn't be that surprising if someone had them
assassinated immediately. That would prevent Philip's brother from using
them as scapegoats, making it far easier to corner him politically.
"If things do look ugly, just make sure you keep the little lady safe.
Some people might trot out a bunch of crap about the 'duties of the nobility,'
but you don't have to pay them any mind."
"Of course," I said, nodding with the most serious expression I could
muster. "I'll be careful, Father."
Paul smiled proudly and nodded back. "Oh, and I asked Shierra about
that letter, by the way. She's never heard of the guy, either."
"I see…"
"She did say he probably wasn't anyone dangerous, though."
"All right then. Would you mind thanking her for me?"
Paul nodded slightly. And then, finally, he turned around and spoke to
the little girl who'd been standing behind him. "Come on, Norn. Say goodbye
to your big brother."
"…Don't wanna."
Norn didn't move from her hiding spot behind her father. Half her face
was peeking out, though. Talk about adorable. I found myself wondering if
she'd grow up into a beauty like her mother. "I don't know how long it will
take, Norn, but let's meet again someday."
"Don't wanna."
Right until the very end, my little sister refused to look me in the face.
Smiling awkwardly, I headed back to our carriage.
And just like that, our party left the city of Millishion behind.
[Paul]
Just like that, Rudeus was back on the road again.
The kid was as impressive as ever. He figured out his plans in no time,
then put them into action immediately. Elinalise once told me I was "rushing
through my life," didn't she? You had to wonder what she'd think if she got a
look at him. It might be fun to get the two of them to meet sometime, but…maybe
that wasn't such a great idea. Yeah. The last thing I wanted was to end up as
that woman's father-in-law.
Just as I'd reached this conclusion, someone slapped me on the
shoulder. I turned to find a monkey-faced man grinning at me. "Hey there,
Paul. You done sayin' goodbye to your son?"
"Geese…" I was grateful to this jerk; more grateful than I could
express in words. If it wasn't for him, I probably never would have made up
with Rudeus. "I seriously owe you one, man."
"Hey, don't sweat it!"
At this point, I noticed that Geese was dressed for the road. "What's
with you, though? You going somewhere?"
"Yeah. Not sure where just yet, but there's plenty of places you folks
ain't poked around in yet, right?"
It took a moment for me to realize what he was saying. Geese was
going to keep searching for my family. That came as a shock, frankly. Of all
the members of my old party, Geese had struggled the most after I disbanded
it. He wasn't a fighter, but a jack-of-all-trades without any real specialties.
No other party would take him in, and he wasn't strong enough to handle
tough jobs on his own. He'd been forced to leave the adventuring life behind.
He had all the reason in the world to resent me, even hate me.
"Why are you…doing this, Geese? Why are you trying so hard to find
them?"
The corners of Geese's mouth twitched up into his usual ironic smirk.
"Just feels like my fortune." And with that typically cryptic "explanation," he
turned and walked away.
I put my hands on my hips and watched him go with a wry smile on
my face. The man had a lot of ideas about luck, and none of them had ever
made much sense to me. But this time, I wasn't exactly complaining. "All
right then!"
Once Geese disappeared from view, I reached down and hoisted Norn
up onto my shoulders. All of a sudden, I was bursting with energy and
motivation. First things first—we had to make sure that the refugee relocation
operation went off without a hitch. And once that was done with, I'd find the
rest of my family. No matter what it took.
With my resolve fixed firmly in my heart, I headed back into the city.