Alto closed his eyes and quietly thought it over.
“I’ll go with you.”
I could see a steady resolve in his gaze.
“I really want to stay in this house forever. But I know if I did, that would just be because I’m relying on Gramps again. If I do that, I’ll never grow up. I don’t think Gramps would want that.”
His words made my heart ache. Alto was always so strong. Much stronger than I was.
“Thanks, Alto. Thank you for agreeing with me.”
“That’s all right! I want to find something I want to do, too!” He hadn’t hesitated at all in his response, and it felt like a weight had lifted from my chest.
“Then it’s decided. We’ll set out on our journey again.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s decide on our destination next. I’m thinking we should go to Sagana to fulfill Ragi’s last wish. What do you think?
“I want to go to Sagana to make Gramps’s wish come true, too.”
“Then we agree.”
“Yeah. I think Gramps would be happy.”
“Now, we need to decide whether to deliver the sword before winter comes or wait until spring.”
“Why are there only two options?”
“His last letter said that the village where he lived gets heavy snow in winter. It’ll be dangerous to travel there at that time of year. So I was thinking we should go either before the snow comes or after it thaws.”
“Snow sounds bad.”
“Winter will begin in about three months. If we go through Nubul or Miglis and take a ship to reach Sagana via Lycia, we’ll be cutting it close. To deliver it before winter, we’ll have to go through that cave again. If we wait until after, we can go by ship at a slower pace.”
“…”
“If we leave before winter, we should start preparing immediately. It’ll be a rush. If we wait until after, we’ll have more time to get ready. Which do you think would be better?”
“I want to deliver the sword before winter.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because that sword… Gramps really, really wanted it to reach Sagana. So the sooner we take it, the better.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I agree. Then we should leave soon.”
“Okay. Let’s start getting ready today,” Alto said, the determination shining brightly in his eyes.
The next day, we started preparing for our journey while making the rounds to say good-bye.
First, we went to the Adventurers Guild and left a letter for Agito with Drum. I also wrote a message to be delivered to the guild in Kutt. Then around lunchtime, we visited Norris’s flower shop.
Sophia and Georges happened to be there since it was his day off. They’d been on their way to see us and had dropped by the shop to pick up flowers. We were all relieved we hadn’t missed each other.
After that, Norris led us all to the room in the back.
“So Setsuna, did you come by today just to visit?” he asked with a warm smile, offering me tea while I looked around the familiar space.
“No, I had a small errand, but since Sophia’s here, too, there’s something I need to tell you.”
They all appeared puzzled as I took out a piece of jade and a magical device.
“That’s…,” Georges said with a frown. I couldn’t blame him. It was the same enchanted device I’d used to imbue the thousand paper cranes with Darkness magic during the Founding Festival.
“It’s all right,” I assured him before setting the jade on top of the device. “I wanted to give Sophia a small thank-you gift for teaching Alto how to ride a horse.”
She looked hesitant, but I activated the Darkness magic device and imbued the jade with the spell. The device immediately broke apart. Everyone gasped, but I shook my head calmly. “I knew this device would break after one more use, so there’s no need to worry.”
I wanted to be sure that Georges or Sophia witnessed the device shattering, even if it meant deceiving them a little. It was the only way to soften the criticism the king would inevitably face once word spread.
After all, if a Time sorcerer who was also able to wield Darkness magic and had the dragon’s protection left the kingdom, the backlash against the king would be severe.
To ease that burden, I needed people to believe that I’d only been able to use Darkness magic because of a device, and once that device was destroyed, it was no longer possible.
“While I was thinking of how to thank you, I thought you might appreciate a magic item that let you watch your engagement ceremony any time you wished.”
I picked up the jade from the table and handed it to Sophia.
“When you say ‘Unfold,’ the scene of your engagement will appear in your mind. You can even share it with others. All you need to do is think of showing them, while they think of wanting to see it, and then activate the device.”
I paused for a moment. Originally, I’d planned to visit Sophia at her house to give her this gift, and I was going to ask her to share the memory of her engagement ceremony with Elly. After all, this had never only been meant for Sophia; I’d created it because I wanted Elly to see that moment, too. Thanks to that idea, I’d also been able to record Ragi’s battle to share with Alto. I wished I could have made one for Elly, too.
However, that memory belonged to Sophia and Georges. It felt wrong to take it upon myself to create a tool and hand it to Elly without their permission, which was why I’d asked Sophia first.
Saying it here in front of everyone would make it hard for her to refuse if she would rather keep that memory private, though, so the words caught in my throat.
Sophia looked puzzled, but she accepted the piece of jade. And, in the end, my worry turned out to be without cause.
“Would you care to see our engagement ceremony then, everyone?” she asked.
They all nodded.
“Unfold,” Sophia said, and the radiant scene appeared in our minds.
“It’s so beautiful,” Alto whispered next to me.
Elly’s eyes shone with tears. “I’m so glad the flowers we grew made you so happy.”
Sophia’s cheeks flushed with joy.
We chatted for a bit about the ceremony, and I realized how late it was. It was time to tell them the real reason I’d dropped by.
I handed out the letters Ragi had written for them and told everyone that we would be leaving Lypaed.
I thanked them for everything they’d done for us. Elly and Sophia both tried to persuade me to stay at least through the winter, but I apologized and said my mind was already made up.
Norris had a melancholy smile on his face as he offered to host a farewell gathering for us the next day, saying, “It would be too sad if this were our final good-bye.”
After that, we made our way to the castle, where I asked the guards if I could speak with Cyrus. I knew he was likely guarding Eugene and thought there may be a chance I wouldn’t be able to see him, but he showed up a few moments later.
Eugene had arranged for another knight to cover for him for a short time so Cyrus could come to see me.
Since he didn’t have long, I got straight to the point and explained everything.
“So that’s why I’d like you to give these letters to Eugene and Keith from Ragi.”
“All right. I’ll deliver them later. But this is so sudden. You barely have any time to say good-bye.”
“Norris and the others are hosting a farewell party tomorrow, but…”
“I won’t be able to get the time off. You’re leaving the day after tomorrow?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“Then I’ll come see you when my night shift ends. Don’t you dare leave without letting me say good-bye,” Cyrus warned.
“All right. I won’t.”
When he said he’d come to see us off, memories of meeting Cyrus in the Zeghur Forest and everything that had happened since then welled up in my mind all at once. I knew how much he cared for Alto and me. We’d only been able to properly send Ragi off to the Waterside because Cyrus had helped us.
“Thank you for everything, Cyrus.” I looked him straight in the eyes and spoke from my heart.
“Don’t say that. It’s not like this is good-bye forever. Besides, I still haven’t given you your reward, so be sure to think it over.” He gave me a smile, but then his expression grew serious. “And don’t forget what I told you.”
Although he was still smiling, it didn’t reach his eyes. “I think of the two of you as my friends.”
I remembered that he’d once said during our travels: “If you or Alto are in trouble, I might be able to lend a hand.”
“I’ll remember.”
“Because you were our traveling companion,” Alto added earnestly.
Cyrus let out a soft laugh and roughly tousled Alto’s hair.
“H-hey, stop that!” Alto scrambled to smooth his hair back down.
Cyrus laughed again, then murmured softly, “I’m really going to miss you guys.”