VIP Chapter 397: He Is Truly There (3k)
Iaar arrived at her home by late afternoon, around dusk, after departing at noon. She walked slowly along the small path, dragging her suitcase and wearing a new black maid outfit.
The flower bouquet she had planted at home, intended to be picked and placed at her young master’s grave when it bloomed, now looked wilted because she had been away too long and hadn’t taken proper care of it.
“I’m so sorry. As an all-capable maid, I should have found someone to help you take care of you,” Iaar said, setting down her suitcase and kneeling to caress the petals with a pang of sadness.
However, it felt strange for a maid to hire someone else to help her care for flowers. Looking at the blooming orange flowers before her, which had a color similar to her hair, she reached out and carefully picked one, not minding the thorns on its stem.
“I’ll pick this one first and wear it on my chest,” she murmured, not knowing why she was doing this. Perhaps it was because it resembled her in some way. Would he be happy if he saw her wearing a similar flower when she visited his grave every year?
“Keys… let me find them. This is the Hysterm Family’s key, this is the Capital’s key, neither of them are right.” She stood at the entrance, fumbling through her pocket for her own house key. However, these keys were lost among others she no longer used but felt she should keep, perhaps one day opening a door she needed.
“Wow, is this the Fire Dragon Killer’s residence? It’s beautiful. The Hysterm Family really treats you well.” She suddenly heard a familiar, impatient voice from behind.
“This voice is…” A somewhat “fiery” scent reached her nostrils. Just a slight whiff made her nasal cavity feel like it was on fire. Her perception of smells had always been peculiar, but with this scent, she fully understood who was waiting behind her.
Iaar’s eyes widened, and she turned around.
“Liya…!?” Standing with her arms crossed in the golden glow of the setting sun was Liya, her striking red hair shimmering in the sunlight, almost blending into the sun itself. It reminded Iaar of the unbelievably powerful Fire Dragon she had encountered in the Dungeon that day.
No… how could there be a connection between the two? One was a Fire Dragon, and the other a Witch; there was a vast difference in their species, at least.
“That’s right. It’s me.” Liya, who had been leaning against the fence with her arms crossed, stood up, adjusted her clothes, and walked towards Iaar.
“…I didn’t expect you to look for me. I thought after the three of us parted ways, we wouldn’t meet again.”
“The one who isn’t here definitely thought that. Since that day, she’s been happily living as an Empress. The only information we get about her is from scraps in the newspaper,” Liya said, shaking her head.
While the two of them had no contact, at least there was no “class” barrier between them; they still considered themselves “Adventurers.” However, Treya had completely abandoned the identity of an Adventurer. Holding the “Zero Demon City,” she seemed more like an “Empress.”
“You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.” Iaar was somewhat wary, but looking at Liya, she remembered how Treya had been after the three of them cleared the Dungeon that day. She had gritted her teeth, tears streaming down her face, yet she had forced herself not to sob or wipe them away, clutching her Staff and looking down at the ground. At least… at that time, they couldn’t “reconcile” with each other. They were “rivals in love” but also “teammates” who stood on a united front and shared common grief.
“Liya, get straight to the point. Are you in trouble and need my help? If it’s something I can assist with, I’ll do my best.”
These words stopped Liya, who was about to speak.
“You… you, why are you suddenly so kind? You, Iaar, who never showed me any respect, never treated me as a teacher, and always found ways to call me short.”
Iaar noticed something, something even she, who wasn’t good at picking up on others’ emotions, could see. Liya seemed much “happier” now. She wasn’t the Liya from that day, who couldn’t stop crying but clenched her fists to hold back her tears. She seemed to have a “release” of ease from the depths of her heart, as if she had completely forgotten what she had experienced before.
“…Alright, it seems so. His death… changed us all.” Liya sighed.
“So, what does Liya want me to do?”
“It’s not that I want to do something. You’re the famous Fire Dragon Killer now, so… there are plenty of people who need you.” Liya spread her hands. “You have a new employer who wants to hire you to kill the Fire Dragon of The End Ash.”
Iaar’s ears perked up. But… she disliked the term “hire.”
“I can cooperate with someone to take down that Fire Dragon, each getting what we need, but… I’m not being hired. At most, I’m taking on a commission.”
“…Is it because you feel that only Will can be your ’employer,’ or rather… ‘Master’?”
“You’ve experienced the same thing as me. I believe you understand when I say this.” Liya slightly curved her lips into a smile, but it quickly disappeared.
“Let’s meet that person first, then you can say that.”
“Huh?”
“At the coffee shop in this town, I’ll take you to him.”
~
Although Iaar had lived here for a long time, she had never explored any places in town beyond those for daily necessities. It was only by following Liya that she discovered a coffee shop that looked quite tranquil from the outside. The weather was fine today; the dazzling sunset shone on the flowerbed in front of the coffee shop and reflected a bright red on its glass windows.
“Here, you go in. The person at the very back, by the window.”
“Aren’t you coming with me? Why?”
“This is a surprise for you. Of course, I won’t come along.”
“…” Iaar found Liya somewhat strange. Liya’s enigmatic expression made her feel that Liya was hiding something from her. It was just a client; why would Liya conceal their identity? Moreover, Iaar couldn’t fathom any benefit Liya would gain from hiding the client’s identity.
But… Iaar had a possibility in mind. She was different now, no longer the easily deceived Iaar. Her interactions with Liya could be counted on one hand, or even just a few fingers. And if she counted those she could contact… there was only that one person left…
She knocked on the small wooden door of the coffee shop. It was unusually quiet inside, with the wind chimes by the window swaying. Looking around the small coffee shop, all the seats were empty; she saw no one else.
“…”
But… before her gray eyes could capture it. Before her ears could detect it. Before her body could feel it. A scent reached her nostrils—it smelled incredibly comforting, like the first ray of sunshine smelled at the exit after walking through a long, cold forest.
You would fear it at first. Because you are unsure if you can truly possess it, because you have been without such sunlight for too long, because it is too dazzling to grasp. But when you truly come into contact with it… You will find that, even before your heart, it is this ray of sunshine that accepts first.
Iaar remembered that afternoon when she was brought to the grand entrance of the Hysterm Family, under the gentle sunlight, the afternoon she first saw Will… As she raised her head, shaking her dirty hair, amidst the crowd who wanted to treat her like a slave, she saw herself in his eyes, like the farthest part of the sky and the deepest part of the ocean… She smelled precisely this scent.
Three-tenths of the fragrant aroma of books—from every morning she stayed by his side, watching him read.
Three-tenths of the aura of magic—from every afternoon she sat nearby, tending to his practice.
Three-tenths of a maddening, pungent scent—from every night she listened intently, understanding his illusions.
And finally…
One-tenth, a scent that couldn’t be found in anyone else, a scent that made Iaar feel safe, like she would never be abandoned again just by having it around.
The scent of her young master.
Her gray eyes reflected a brown-haired boy by the window, looking outside in the faint red sunset. He was wearing a white shirt, his hair looked freshly washed, and was a bit fluffy.
“Is that you? Iaar?” Finally, from a pair of wolf ears, she heard his voice, a voice she couldn’t be more familiar with.
“Young… Young Master… You… How could you…” It was a voice Iaar had experienced countless times in her dreams and dared not imagine. Her tail perked up, wagging back and forth, even leaving afterimages; it was a joy she had never expected. It was something Iaar had never imagined seeing with her own eyes again.
She bypassed the coffee shop tables, her walk transforming from the restrained gait of a maid to increasingly large strides, then to quicker steps. She began to pant softly.
It was him. It was truly him. He was here. Just like the first time she saw him, his profile bathed in sunlight, sitting there calmly. Iaar even felt like she was dreaming, but the illusion of this dream shattered when she accidentally caught her skirt on a table leg and tripped, feeling the pain of her knees hitting the ground.
Everything was real. Both his presence here and her seeing him again.
“Iaar, are you alright? It sounded like you fell?”
“Iaar… Iaar is fine. I trip over myself often…” But Iaar looked up and froze. Why… Why “sounded like” it? She widened her eyes, and the person she was looking at was no longer her favorite pair of eyes, like the deepest blue of the farthest sky and the deepest ocean. Instead, it was a pair of sunglasses that blocked out all light.
