At the foothills of Dragon Peak, we live.
A man spoke of the past, and a boy spun the future.
“A walk, a walk.”
“Oh! And here, at last, Ares-chan claims me all to herself!”
Shortly after leaving Linze’s mansion, Ares-chan took my hand.
Nimia was left behind to guard Madrine, so I was truly alone with Ares-chan.
“Well then, shall we go to the Great Shrine together?”
“Endlessly, endlessly.”
“Naughty Ares-chan.”
Tebbe tebbe tebbu, we walked through the evening residential streets.
We had only rushed through in the morning, it had been noisy. On the way back, we would take our time and enjoy the surrounding scenery.
“Haa! If only I could enjoy walking through town like this with Madrine-sama too!”
“It can’t be helped, it can’t be helped.”
“That’s true. Given the current situation, it can’t be helped it’s difficult. But, someday, I will definitely make it happen.”
The residential areas around here are full of nature and have a peaceful atmosphere.
Is this what they call a “posh residential area”?
The people passing by were also elegant in their demeanor, and the hustle and bustle of the shopping district did not reach this far.
“Uh, where did we come from?”
“That way, that way.”
“Huh? You’re lying. I’ve never seen that building before?”
“No, no.”
“You’re a really naughty child!”
Without my White Sword and Spirit Tree Wooden Sword, without Nimia on my head. And walking hand-in-hand with a young girl, no one would notice that I am Elnea Eris, the “Heavenly Maiden of National Salvation.”
A passing family chuckled as they watched my and Ares-chan’s exchange.
“For now, we should just aim for the main street, right? I can sense a lot of people from that direction, so that’s the way to go.”
Even while walking through an unfamiliar quiet residential area, I can usually grasp the location of a landmark by searching for presences.
I turned towards the direction where I sensed lively presences and started walking.
Ares-chan, not thinking anything as reckless as trying to get me lost with a Bewildering Technique, walked obediently beside me.
“I need to make sure I remember the way properly, for our next visit to Linze-sama’s home.”
It is often said that the scenery is different when returning the same way you came, even if it’s the same path. But truly, the residential area continued, seeming completely unfamiliar.
Even though I had walked this way with Madrine-sama this morning, it felt like an entirely different path.
We passed a large mansion that served as a landmark and arrived at a park. I proceeded past the fountain while checking the direction, and then entered a tree-lined avenue.
“Mumumu. Is it just my imagination that the scenery is starting to look completely unfamiliar?”
“Imagination… it’s not!”
“I knew it!”
It seems we took a wrong turn somewhere along the way.
However, since we are following the lively presences, we should eventually reach the main street.
“Well then, that road looks like it could be a landmark, so let’s go there.”
Finding a backstreet lined with stalls, we changed our course.
I still have some money in my pocket, perhaps I should buy souvenirs for Mary-sama and the others? Thinking this, Ares-chan and I followed the stalls.
Among the stalls lined up on the roadside, I saw not only food but also shops selling miscellaneous goods and even arms and armor.
“Is there anything related to Ruiseine’s Magic Eye… as expected, there isn’t.”
I peeked into a stall selling used books, but it seemed to be mostly fairy tales, and I couldn’t find any biographies or anecdotes like the ones we were looking for.
As I was browsing the stalls, I thought that perhaps it would be better to get permission from the Royal Palace to look at valuable materials when Laira comes here.
“Hey, you there. How about it, are you interested in fortune-telling?”
I was suddenly called out to and momentarily stopped.
Glancing back in the direction of the voice, I saw a suspicious-looking man sitting on a mat spread on the corner of the road, surrounded by instruments not commonly seen, such as cursed objects and crystals, which were haphazardly arranged.
He wore a black cloak and his hood was pulled deep, obscuring his face. Yet, from the dark shadow of his hood, he peered at me as if appraising me.
He looked overtly suspicious, the kind of person you shouldn’t get involved with.
I confirmed this and resumed walking.
“Hey, hey, don’t ignore me?”
I was called from behind, but I ignored him.
In the Yorttenitos Kingdom, fortune-tellers and curse-users have a bad reputation.
I recalled a previous incident where a Demon Race member, disguised as a fortune-teller, had deceived the Queen and tried to destroy the country.
So, both Ares-chan and I pretended not to see or hear and passed the suspicious fortune-teller by.
However, the fortune-teller, undeterred, called out to me again.
“Your journey ahead is fraught with difficulty. Nevertheless, are you going to proceed without listening to my advice?”
A cliché line.
Difficulty awaits everyone. Life is never easy, and if it were, it would be devoid of stimulation and simply boring.
I would push through, even if a difficult future awaited me.
This was true for Madrine-sama and Sefina-san, and for Ruiseine.
Therefore, the man’s words did not resonate with me. Or so I thought…
“Surely, you don’t think that just because you two are special, the Miko and the Ōjo are also to be treated specially?”
“Eh?”
The man’s unexpected words made me stop, and I was perplexed.
Indeed, I thought we had already passed him.
I had intended to ignore his words and keep walking.
Yet, the mat I had seen just a moment ago was spread out right next to us, and in the center of the suspicious instruments, sat the suspicious man in the black cloak.
That wasn’t all.
“Elnea.”
Sensing something, Ares-chan transformed from her young girl form into an adult and stepped between me and the fortune-teller.
Concerned about the eyes of passersby, I finally noticed the anomaly.
There were no people.
Even though it was a backstreet, it should have been bustling with people.
Before I knew it, only Ares-chan, I, and the fortune-teller remained on the backstreet.
The stalls were still lined up, but all signs of people and their presences had completely vanished.
“We’ve been trapped in a barrier!?”
When did this happen!?
“Elnea, run…!
“Spirit Tree Spirit, who has not yet fully matured, stand down.”
With those few words from the man.
Ares-chan, who had unleashed her power and transformed, vanished from my sight in an instant.
“Impossible!”
An unexpected turn of events.
I instinctively activated Spatial Jump, putting a large distance between myself and the suspicious man… or so I thought.
“Spatial Jump didn’t activate!? No, that’s not right. It activated, but I didn’t move…?”
I hastily looked around.
The same deserted backstreet view. And the suspicious fortune-teller.
But, no matter where I looked, Ares-chan was nowhere to be seen.
I searched for her presence. Then, I could feel a faint connection between Ares-chan and me.
“Ares-san was sent outside the barrier…”
“A perceptive observation. You’re quite good at sensing such things.”
At the man’s voice, I turned to face him again.
“Who are you?”
The man, sitting in the center of the mat, with his black hood pulled deep.
I suddenly recalled a man I had faced before.
Baltnowar.
A worn-out old cloak. Messy hair, and a beard growing around his mouth – everything about him was jet black.
He had been granted immortality like us, lived far longer than us, and had been involved with the world.
The fortune-teller had a certain aura that reminded me of Baltnowar.
“So, I resemble him. Should I be happy about that, or sad?”
“!”
Did this man read my mind!?
“Have you ever been told that your mental defenses are weak?”
“Ugh…”
I felt like the man chuckled from within his hood.
“Tell me, what was his end like? Did he die satisfied, or with regrets? As the one who guided him, don’t I have the right to ask that? To you, who saw him to his end.”
“Ah, I see!”
Just as we were guided by Micheila and the Dragon God, there were those who saw potential in Baltnowar.
Baltnowar had said that the one who granted him immortality was a man named Warren.
“Ah, that’s right. It was indeed me who recognized Baltnowar.”
The man finally lifted his head and looked straight at me from under his hood.
I met Warren’s gaze without flinching.
“If you want to know about Baltnowar, I believe you should visit his grave first? I think that is the first responsibility of someone who meddled with his fate.”
After that fierce battle, we carried Baltnowar’s body to the Forbidden Territory and buried him.
It was near the mansion.
At my reply, Warren smiled from behind his beard.
“Meddled with, you say. Is that how you see it?”
“Of course!”
We were not subservient to Micheila and the others just because we were granted immortality, nor were we forced into any destiny.
Micheila and the others simply saw hope in our future and extended our mortal lives.
We, in turn, don’t expect anything more from Micheila and the others than what we have gained in becoming immortal.
However, there are times when I think, “But still…”
Baltnowar’s end was one of being tossed about by the fate of immortality.
No, not just his end.
He alone did not age or reach the end of his lifespan. Yet, those around him died one after another from aging.
He even lost his beloved spouse.
Baltnowar and his companions, and his loved ones, had strived with all their might until their final moments, trying to be granted immortality just like Baltnowar, he had said.
But their wish was never granted, and only sorrowful partings remained.
And so, Baltnowar came to resent the world and delved into forbidden arts.
“As the one who guided him, I won’t arrogantly say I want you to help me until the end. But, he and those around him must have had other paths. You, who left him without any help or advice, can only be said to have meddled with Baltnowar’s fate?”
At the very least, couldn’t you have prepared an environment where those who departed first could pass on peacefully? Couldn’t you have healed Baltnowar’s heart that remained?
However, Warren scoffed at my opinion.
“You yourself must have thought, in the back of your mind? That while we may see potential, we do not guide people hand-in-hand.”
“T-that is true, but…”
“Think about it. Why doesn’t Micheila, who entrusted you with the task of defeating the Demon King and protecting the child, appear before you to offer thanks? The answer is simple. If she were to appear before you now, she would likely fear being asked to grant immortality to the new Miko and Ōjo.”
I had thought about it.
Why didn’t Micheila and the others show themselves?
Of course, I could come up with a simple answer like they are traveling the world freely, but…
Even so, it was unnatural that they wouldn’t appear before us after we accomplished such a great task.
Warren says that it is our fault.
He suggests that they are not visiting because they are concerned that we will request that Madrine-sama and Sefina-san also be granted immortality so I can marry them.
“That’s an absurd claim!”
I want to dismiss it outright.
Indeed, I do want Madrine-sama and Sefina-san to become immortal, just like us.
Ultimately, getting them recognized by Micheila and the others is the most realistic path.
But, I won’t beg!
Just as we were shown our potential, we will show them theirs!
And, rather than begging, we will earn their recognition!
“But that is not an easy path. You too have heard about it, haven’t you? About Baltnowar’s wife and those around him. I will not indulge you. And neither will Micheila and the others.”
“…Nevertheless. We will definitely reach it!”
No matter how difficult the path may be.
Even if it’s a trial that those who came before us failed.
“But, what will you do? Even if their fates don’t change?”
Hah! This time, I laughed off Warren’s words.
“You are trying to test us, aren’t you? But that is a wasted effort. What if Madrine-sama and Sefina-san cannot become immortal? That question itself is flawed. The ‘what-if’ of not being able to achieve it does not exist before us. We will definitely reach it! That is our answer.”
I declare it now.
I will definitely make Madrine-sama and Sefina-san immortal and take them as my wives!
I met Warren’s gaze with unwavering determination.
No matter how malicious the temptation, my will will not waver.
Met by my will and gaze, Warren fell silent.
Warren and I exchanged silent glances.
Warren was the first to break.
“…Very well. I will watch closely how you tackle this. But let me say this again? We are not as lenient as you think.”
“That’s exactly what we want!”
I have never overcome trials through leniency before.
And I will not be lenient from now on either.
We will forge our own destiny!
Hearing my resolve, Warren waved his right hand as if to say he had nothing more to say.
“Elnea!”
Immediately after, I felt a tug on my clothes and turned around.
Ares-chan, with a worried expression, was grabbing my clothes tightly.
“Uh…?”
I looked around as if to confirm.
The evening, the backstreet.
The lining stalls, the passing people.
Before I knew it, the lively scene had returned.
I looked at Warren again.
But there was no mat on the roadside, and Warren was nowhere to be seen.
“How much time has passed?”
“Only a fleeting moment. The people around you probably only felt that you stopped for a moment, looking down at the roadside.”
“I see…”
We had been talking for quite a long time, but it seemed.
It appeared Warren’s barrier not only blocked space but also distorted my sense of time.
Then, I thought.
Why did Warren appear before me?
Why wasn’t it Micheila and the others?
“While he might have wanted to hear about Baltnowar’s end, it means this is a difficult trial to the point that someone like him would issue a warning.”
The fact that Micheila didn’t appear means the same. I believe it implicitly indicates that we should not expect even the slightest indulgence.
But, there’s no point in stopping now, or turning back.
As I declared, we will definitely reach our goal.
Therefore, Warren’s words are not a “warning” but simply “advice.”
It’s difficult, so don’t let your guard down.
“Let’s talk about this with everyone when we get home.”
“That would be wise.”
I took Ares-chan’s hand and started walking.
Towards the endlessly extending road before us.
