Chapter 163

“By the way, looks like you grew a bit taller. But nothing else about you has really grown, huh, Mariela? No, I don’t mean your chest! Alchemy, you dunce. Well, we’ll talk about all that later, I brought you a present. I’m starved. Cook it for me.” Mouth still wide open, Mariela had looked down at her chest and back up to her master’s face. Freyja handed her the leaf-wrapped monster flesh. “I-is this…earth dragon meat?! Wait, what were you thinking leaving this at room temperature without draining the blood?! What a waste. Hmm, how can we make it taste good now… Oh. I know, I know. But we don’t have enough herbs. Sieg, could you go get some?” Mariela immediately came alive at the thought of high-quality ingredients, and earth dragon meat, which couldn’t even be found in the wholesale market, was among the best of the best. Excited as she was, the girl was not above feeling frustrated with her master’s sloppiness; if her master had just frozen the meat, it would have made a better dish. “U-um, understood.” Although Sieg was taken aback by Mariela’ sudden change in tone, he nodded all the same. The reply came reflexively, but even if this woman was the girl’s master, Mariela’s escort couldn’t afford to just leave her. Taking notice of the man, Freyja thoroughly surveyed him from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. Apparently pleased with her estimations, she grinned and asked Mariela a question. “Hmm? Oh-ho-ho-ho? Is that your man, Mariela? No way! What a specimen.” “Y… Y-y-y… You’ve got it all wrong, Master!” “Geez, kids these days. To think she’d choose someone so experienced and sullied. Kids really scare me.” “W-what are you talking about, madam?” “Yeah, Master. Sieg keeps himself clean, he’s not sullied.” “That’s not what I meant. Ahh, but I’m so glad Mariela’s still the same as ever.” Sieg understood. Mariela did not. Freyja gazed at the pair and smiled knowingly. “Madam, please don’t teach Mariela strange things……” Sieg could tell this person was dangerous, and he gently rebuked her. “Hmm? What’re you trying to say, Dark Sieg? I’m Mariela’s master. An alchemist’s master is akin to their parent. You get my meaning? If so, scoot off shopping now.” “Uh! Understood, Most Respectable Mother! Off I go!” At Freyja’s words, Sieg about-faced and rushed off. What happened to being Mariela’s escort? In actuality, there were guards on standby around Sunlight’s Canopy, so it likely wasn’t a problem for Sieg to leave the shop for a little while. Incidentally, a heavier perimeter than usual had been imposed after Mariela was told to close the shop, but her master had slipped through all of it. She had appeared to them as an ordinary passerby. If any of the guardsmen had noticed her, it was only after she’d gone past them. Not a one of them realized this was the effect of the song Mariela’s master had been humming to herself. Utterly ignorant of this fact, Sieg—who’d been overpowered by Mariela’s master within minutes of meeting her—dashed off toward Merle’s Spices to handle the impromptu shopping. “I’m going to make this into a stew today since you didn’t drain the blood, Master. But roasting it would have given it the best flavor, you know. So next time, please let the blood out and freeze it before you bring it.” “Ehh, too much trouble. Why don’t you come with me next time?” “…I think I’ll pass. I’d be dead in less than a minute.” Mariela made free use of both her magical power and skills to prepare the high-class ingredient, and the resulting stew proved to be a gloriously delectable achievement. An absolute masterpiece. It was so wonderful, Margrave Schutzenwald’s family chef might have even tipped his hat to it. Despite the miraculous reunion, no one said a word as master and pupil both greedily devoured the food while Sieg served them. The night quietly wore on as the silent dinner continued. A second alchemist, Lady Mariela’s master, and what’s more, a high-ranking mage…… If we can obtain her assistance, then maybe… Weishardt lost track of time as he stood motionlessly on the street near Sunlight’s Canopy, engrossed in his own thoughts. Telluther grew impatient and called out to him. “Umm, Your Excellency Lieutenant General Weishardt, I wonder if we should go greet Lady Freyja? The young man I happened to see leave the shop a little while ago is an acquaintance of mine……” “Hmm? Telluther? Why are you…? Well, no matter. The woman is in the midst of sharing the joy reuniting with her pupil. She has proven her connection to a citizen of the Labyrinth City. It would be uncivilized for us to interrupt. Let us withdraw.” “Oh, yes, sir… You know, it’s quite interesting ‘Freyja’ is the same name as the ‘Sage of Calamity’ in fairy tales. The sage had the same name and occupation as this woman. Ha-ha, quite the coincidence.” Telluther was undeniably disappointed that this wasn’t the real Sage of Calamity, but he recovered quickly enough. His innocuous statement, however, had made something click within Weishardt. It couldn’t be… He recalled a topic of conversation from a dinner with Mariela a few days back. It was said the Sage of Calamity had slaughtered many monsters during the Stampede two hundred years ago. Could they be one and the same? Alchemists had been sleeping in the Aguinas family’s cellar under the Magic Circle of Suspended Animation. He couldn’t deny the possibility. However, the name “Sage of Calamity Freyja” was mentioned in fairy tales from far earlier than the Stampede. I’m overthinking it. Perhaps the name of a hero from two hundred years ago merely replaced the earlier name of some fairy-tale character, Weishardt assured himself. However, he couldn’t deny the thought that had risen from the depths of his mind. It was all no more than a guess, certainly not an assumption. The only thing he could say for certain right now was that neither Elmera’s husband, Voyd, nor Mariela’s master, Freyja, were people he could afford to neglect. Telluther interjected excitedly, “I guess we’ll just have to meet Lady Freyja tomorrow!” But as soon as he returned to the Labyrinth Suppression Forces’ base, he was forced to make the vow, “From now on, I will not approach Freyja or Sunlight’s Canopy, and I will not disclose the information I already know by any means, including by way of writing.” As such, he couldn’t even approach Sieg, his benefactor during the giant slime incident and whose whereabouts Telluther had discovered through sheer dumb luck, let alone Freyja. The man’s despondence was unspeakable. If this were their only issue, Mariela and Sieg’s daily life in Sunlight’s Canopy could have become quite peaceful, but the inquires of an overcurious man were trivial compared to the uproar caused by Mariela’s explosive master. 09 “Master, you forgot to put out the lantern, too?! The almighty lantern?” “You’re saying you did, too? Such a kluuutz. Ah-ha-ha.” Mariela’s master burst out laughing and mocking her pupil despite her own accidental two-hundred-year nap. “You’re impossible!” Mariela exclaimed with a pout, which served to only elicit even more laughter from her master. Sieg had bought a stash of alcohol with his own allowance for times when Edgan came crying to him, and it was obliterated in a matter of minutes. The culprit was, of course, Freyja. She would look at a bottle and say, “Mmm, Drops of Liiife,” and then promptly drain it. Although she was a disgrace to alchemists for likening alcohol to Drops of Life, it probably seemed like an accurate comparison to a drunkard. Sieg was in charge of the household finances for Sunlight’s Canopy. Watching the alcohol disappear made him think seriously about factoring “Master Expenses” into the budget as he brought in new bottles of alcohol from the storehouse. He very much wanted to support his “mother-in-law,” but unfortunately his own spending money didn’t seem like it would suffice. It had been a little over two hundred years since Mariela’s master departed and left the little house in the Fell Forest to her pupil. With no advance warning whatsoever, the woman had reappeared and made herself at home, and pestered Mariela to make dinner for her. The meat her master had brought as a souvenir was exquisite, and although master and pupil had indeed enjoyed a truly miraculous reunion after ages of separation, they wordlessly tore into their food once the cooking was done. Even if one were to disregard the two centuries they’d slept under the Magic Circle of Suspended Animation, it had still been several years since they’d seen each other. They had so much to talk about, yet Mariela’s master acted casually, as if she’d only been gone for a few days. The pair who’d been buried for more than two lifetimes carried on rambling conversations that resembled idle gossip. By all rights they should be talking about the time line of events since Mariela awakened, but Freyja’s influence was too strong. “Master, how are you here after two hundred years?!” After eating so much of the earth dragon stew she was fit to burst (or at least rediscover Chubby-ela’s waistline), Mariela finally asked the question she should have asked some time ago. “Whoa, has it really been two hundred years? I can’t believe it. Looks like the Kingdom of Endalsia was destroyed, so what country are we in now?” “Why are you so casual about this?!” “This is the Empire’s Labyrinth City, a territory under the jurisdiction of Margrave Schutzenwald.” Mariela’s mouth, once full of earth dragon stew, gaped open again at her master’s feigned ignorance, so it was Sieg who had answered the question. “Ahh, I see. The Labyrinth City, huh?” Freyja hemmed and hmmed to herself, and it seemed like she understood everything just from Sieg’s explanation. “Wait just a second! Master! Why did you sleep for two hundred years in the first place? You said I graduated and then went and vanished, and now you show up all of a sudden! I mean, you even figured out where I was, even though the house in the Fell Forest is completely gone.” “Huh? It’s because I forgot to put out the lantern and overslept.” Mariela brought the conversation back around to its initial topic, and her master responded. Freyja acted as if she’d simply overslept and was late to an appointment. She gazed cheerfully at her interrogator as Mariela pressed further. “Still naive, huh, Mariela? I just figured if you’d woken up, you’d be in the nearby city, because the house in the Fell Forest was probably destroyed by the Stampede. If I get close enough to you, I can find out where you are.” Apparently, her master had come straight to the Labyrinth City. If Mariela hadn’t woken up, or if she had and her life had already reached its end, what would her master have done? Try as she might, Mariela couldn’t picture her master being at a loss. Oh, whatever. Master… I’m just glad I get to see you again… This was the kind of person her master was. No matter how inconceivable a situation, she seemed to understand everything just from the briefest of explanations, and this was completely incomprehensible to Mariela. Mariela felt happy to see her master, relieved she was the same as ever, and just a little baffled at her way of doing things. Little had changed in the last two hundred years. This red-haired woman was unmistakably Mariela’s master. That’s why Mariela decided to share some small portion of her true feelings in the same way she used to, before her master had left. “I was kinda sad when I thought I’d never see you again, you know?” “Oh my gosh, what’s this all of a sudden? You’re so cuuute!” Mariela’s master squeezed her tight. “M-Master, that hurts. And it’s hot.” Freyja had a high body temperature, so a hug from her was extremely warm, except during winter. That’s right—it hasn’t rained recently… It’ll be summer soon. I hadn’t even realized… As she tried to break away from her master, Mariela realized the rainy season had ended. The young alchemist felt like she hadn’t been able to see anything around herself ever since they’d lost Lynx. When she looked about, even the familiar interior of Sunlight’s Canopy felt strangely nostalgic, as if walking through memories rather than a solid place. I bought that big glass vial in the corner thinking it would be cute if I put a variety of soaps in it. The colored paper I bought to make it easy to tell smoke bombs apart is still wrapped up. And then there was Sieg, always at her side. He was waiting for an unguarded moment as Mariela’s teacher continued to hold her student close. Mariela’s innocent gaze exposed him, and the man turned uncomfortably as his eyes restlessly roamed around the room. “Hee-hee…” A completely spontaneous giggle slipped from Mariela’s lips. After Lynx had died, she was so sad, lonely, and certain it was her own fault that she thought she’d never laugh again. Mariela felt like a horrible person for laughing like this when she had lost him, and he could never enjoy himself, be happy, or laugh again. “Master…um…” “What’s wrong, Mariela?” Smiling through her tears, Mariela told her master about Lynx, starting with her waking up from suspended animation about half a year ago and meeting him in the Fell Forest. Her master was an irresponsible person and normally hardly listened to what someone else had to say, but at times like this she listened intently to the very end. Even when Mariela’s words caught in her throat, Freyja gently urged her to go on and stayed with her until she’d pulled out the thorn piercing her heart. “Thaz why…hic, I decided I wanna kill the Labyrinth… Sob… Because iz my fault…” She started crying again. Gripping a cleaning cloth that had been sitting on the table, Mariela recounted Lynx’s death to her master in a mumble of a voice. “I see. So that’s what happened. Then you think Lynx’s death is your fault, right?” the young alchemist’s teacher asked gently. The woman softly stroked Mariela’s head as if she were a small child. Sieg held a clean hand towel and fidgeted as if he wanted to join in. “Uh-huh. Thaz why I…” Mariela had been about to continue speaking as her instructor continued to comfort her, but that’s when— “Well, it’s not! Imprint!” “Gyaaah!!!” “M-Mariela?!” It was the young woman’s first Imprint in two hundred years. It really, really hurt. Sieg grew flustered at Mariela’s sudden strangled shriek. “M-Master?! Hey, what the heck? Why the Imprint? What is this? ‘How to call your newly Pact-Bearing pupil back’?! I’m…not grateful at all, you know? The Library will open to me once I can make special-grade potions. There is no reason for you to do this! I was going to learn it really soon anyway, but this Imprint is stupid! And it hurts! Argh, Master!!!” Mariela was even more flustered than Sieg. The shock was so great that she’d stopped crying. “It’s your fault for not being able to make special-grade potions yet! And it’s those guys’ fault for not being able to deal with the Labyrinth even after two hundred years! Everyone bears a little of the blame. What’s done is done. So it’s not a matter of who’s at fault. Got it? If you’ve got time to blame yourself and cower for that Lynx guy, then face the future and start moving forward for him, too! You’ve been sad long enough.” Freyja spoke with a grin as she answered her student’s gaze with her own. Mariela’s eyes grew as round as apriore fruit at her master’s assertion. “Master, do you really mean it……?” “Of course. Who do you think you’re talking to?” “…Masterrr.” Mariela’s quiet answer seemed to satisfy the woman. Laughing, she said, “Well? I’m right, aren’t I?” Far from merely being pulled out, the thorn piercing Mariela’s heart seemed to have vanished without a trace from the shock of her master’s Imprint. “You are, I’ll do my best. For Lynx, too.” Lynx had been a very important person to Mariela, and losing him had thrown her into a deep depression. But it wasn’t as if she’d lost the time she’d spent with him. She remembered all of it. At last, Mariela had realized that Lynx wouldn’t be happy to see her moping around forever. With a determined expression, Mariela looked straight into her master’s eyes. “You’re a good girl, Mariela. Now then, I bet you’ve been slacking off this whole time, right? You’ve got a lot of makeup work, so get ready to be worked to the bone!” “Wha—???!!” Her master smiled impishly. That wasn’t a good sign. That’s just the kind of person she is… Mariela had completely returned to normal. When she pondered the kind of unreasonable demands her longtime teacher might make, her head started to ache as though she’d been hit with another Imprint. “Okaaay. I’m ready. Oh, that’s right. While we’re at it, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you. Why did you choose the Magic Circle of Suspended Animation for my graduation test?” This was something that had tickled the back of Mariela’s mind for a long time. Even she knew Magic Circles of Suspended Animation weren’t common, but if it hadn’t been for that, she wouldn’t have survived the Stampede. That’s why it seemed so curious. Why did her master have her learn the magic circle at all? As perhaps should have been expected by now, however, Freyja’s response was far from the girl’s prediction. “What? It’s because the thing’s a pain in the ass for me to draw myself.” “Huh?” Mariela’s master had been the one who’d Imprinted the Magic Circle of Suspended Animation on her. The woman could easily have drawn it herself. She’d made her student do it simply because it was a bother to take care of herself. It was exactly the sort of reasoning Freyja would employ, but Mariela wondered if this was why her instructor kept Imprinting countless magic circles on her from a young age. “Mariela, you’re good at drawing all the tiny details, you know?” “Well, I guess, but… Is that really why you made me draw it? Because it was a nuisance to do it yourself?” “Yup,” her master answered readily. “You’re impossible…” Mariela felt as though her knees were buckling under her, and her master proceeded to metaphorically kick her while she was down. “I mean, you’d get it if you really thought about it. Magic circles have nothing to do with alchemy.” “!!!!!” The shocking truth was revealed after two long centuries. The impact was so immense that Mariela froze in place. The red-haired teacher roared with laughter at the sight and took another brazen swig of Sieg’s prized alcohol that she’d had the man pour for her. “Please, no more…” Mariela felt a fool for taking the words of her master so seriously. Freyja was that kind of person. Evidently the young alchemist had over-glorified her master during the years she’d lived in the Fell Forest alone. I haven’t had a drop to drink, but my head is spinning. As Mariela held her head, her master delivered a clean coup de grâce. “Oh yeah, the upstairs guest room is my room now! Maaan, never in my wildest dreams did I think you’d be living in such a snazzy house, Mariela. Oh, Sieg, bring alcohol to my room later. And call me when my bath’s ready.” “Certainly, Most Venerable Mother.” “Master, you’re gonna live here?! And Sieg, what’s with that name you’re calling her?!” In the end, that was the best Mariela could muster in trying to stop Sieg from calling Freyja “Mother.” “Yeah, nice, isn’t it? I mean, you’re like my daughter, after all.” “But! If I’m your daughter, how did Sieg become your son?!” “Huh? I just thought I’d back Sieg on this one is all…” “I am in your care, Most Venerable Mother.” Eventually, the red-haired woman had told Sieg to call her “Lady Frey” in a rather pompous tone. When Mariela had, quite plainly, informer her master that the title sounded self-important, Freyja replied, “What? I am important.” Sieg was conflicted, stuck between relief and loss, at seeing Mariela return to her former vigor. He felt lazy for having sunk into a deep abyss of sadness along with her. Having not yet begun to move on himself, he wondered if Mariela would leave him behind and just how far from him she would drift. Freyja’s golden eyes flickered like flame. They appeared wholly capable of seeing all the way through to the innermost thoughts of her beloved pupil and the young man who was her escort. 10 Siegmund couldn’t sleep that night. He was a light sleeper, prone to wake up at the slightest sound. He believed it was a remnant of his long life as a slave. His former master, the merchant who tyrannized him for far too long, would accost his slaves when they dared to sleep in his presence, even if they were exhausted from hard labor. Sieg’s bedroom was dim, illuminated only by the scant light of the sinking moon, but it proved enough that Sieg’s single eye could discern the outlines of the handful of furniture. He sat on his bed, leaning against the wall with his arms around one knee, and he listened, without moving a muscle, to the sounds of approaching daybreak. The night wasn’t silent. The section of the City where Sunlight’s Canopy was located wasn’t unsafe, but hardly anyone walked around in the middle of the night, so it made for a nice, quiet place to live. Even so, he could hear leaves swaying when the wind blew, the sounds of insects, and the fluttering of bird wings. As daybreak neared, early-rising animals began to stir. He heard a window or a door opening from somewhere far off. Perhaps a baker was beginning preparations for breakfast? When Sieg held his breath so he could even hear his own heartbeat, sounds of the awakening City also reached his ears. A bird’s song rang from some distant place. A morgena…? A morgena was a bird that started being active before dawn. Its cry told him daybreak was near. That’s something my father taught me. Sieg’s father had been a hunter. He came from a long line of them. With bow and arrows, he stalked his prey for days at a time in the forest. He would rest in the woods exactly the way Sieg was sitting now, spending the night holding his breath. Apparently, his father even slept with his eyes open depending on where he was. Sieg remembered the first time he went hunting with his father and spent the night in the forest. As a boy, he’d taken in everything his father taught him. His father had had no formal education, and at the time, Sieg had simply thought the teachings were easy compared to what he imagined the lectures about science and etiquette under a teacher might be like. He understood now. Everything his father had taught him, he’d inherited through the blood coursing in his veins. That was why he took to even advanced skills with ease. Sieg’s light sleeping wasn’t really because of his previous life as a slave. Rather, it was more like an instinct to him. I understand… Sieg picked up the bow he had previously set aside. His hands were made to hold a bow—not his knee, not even a mytrhil sword. This was his true weapon. Holding a bow, spending the night leaning back against a tree or the wall of a cave. Now he leaned on the wall of his room and waited for daybreak. Back then…back when he and Lynx lured away and fought the death lizards so that Mariela could escape, Lynx had watched his back. It was the first time Sieg had fought back-to-back with another, shared that mutual trust. Enemies had only ever appeared in front of him. Although he’d been fighting for his life, he’d never feared anything behind him. That was the first time Sieg had ever experienced that, and he felt he’d become the kind of person who could do that with another. That was who he’d wished to be. If only I’d been able to use a bow back then… If he’d just been able to use a bow, he was certain Lynx wouldn’t have died. Even if he couldn’t have killed the death lizard in one shot, if he could have made it flinch just a little, he had no doubt buying that bit of time would have given Lynx the opportunity to parry the monster’s blade. No, Sieg was already able to confidently wield a sword after just half a year. If he’d faced the monsters with a bow, a weapon he was confident he could learn even faster, he might have been able to protect Mariela himself. Every time he thought back on it, his regret was never-ending. That day, even Medical Engineer Nierenberg of the Labyrinth Suppression Forces had been absent. If only they hadn’t gone into the Labyrinth. If only they’d carried potions despite the apparent safety of the stratum. If only they hadn’t taken along a baggage-carrying slave like Jay, who had no sense of loyalty. The “if onlys” continued to pile up. Siegmund, who’d endured a harsh life as a slave, understood better than anyone that he couldn’t change the past or the present circumstances born from that past. If only he’d known back then. He’d never have guessed how many times those regrets would play back in his head. But none of them had any meaning. Mariela had been the one who met Siegmund by chance and saved him from the brink of death. That was why he’d wanted to say farewell to his own past and never make those mistakes again. His previous self was no more. Mariela had saved Sieg’s new self, and he’d wanted to continue living on using the sword she’d given him. And he wasn’t even able to protect her. Lynx had been the one to protect Mariela. He had been Sieg’s most treasured, closest friend. The one who watched his back, and Sieg had lost him. He hadn’t become a “new self” at all. Light trickled in from eastern skies. Somehow it was enough for him to make out the target set up on the wall of the rear garden. Siegmund slung his practice quiver onto his back, shifted his bow into one hand, and stood up. If only he’d known back then. No matter how much regret he felt, he couldn’t change the past. Lamentation did no good by itself. He understood in his head that no one person was at fault, just as Freyja had said. But no matter what he tried If I’d been able to use a bow was the only thought he couldn’t drown out. Siegmund thought back on the half year since he’d met Mariela. “Geez! Quit moving around! Sieg! Use a bow! Aren’t you an archer?!” That’s what Lynx had said while they were fighting the needle apes during winter at the Ahriman Springs. And it wasn’t as if the bow’s usefulness for fighting foes from a distance, like when they were hunting wyverns, hadn’t occurred to him. Even Elmera’s husband, Voyd, had pointed him out as a former archer. Sieg had made excuses for it all and kept the bow, and his past, at a distance. I can’t lose her. Even if Mariela’s all that remains… I can’t… At Sieg’s waist was the mythril sword Mariela had given him. And the short sword Lynx had lent him and never taken back. Lynx had entrusted Sieg with a wish along with that short sword: “Protect Mariela.” Unable to give it back, he would carry it forever. His body had been bought for no more than two large silver coins, and even after all this time, it was worth no more than that. He longed to be an escort worthy of an alchemist like Mariela, but he was physically incapable. But even so… He wanted to do what he could to help her, even if only a little. She’d reunited with her master and begun to move forward once more. If he could just stay by her side even a little longer… Siegmund quietly went out to the rear garden and took aim with his bow. The target was hazy in the morning mist.