“They sure are taking their time,” Sirene muttered atop the warped remains of two metal doors, staring down the hallway that Princess Lynneburg and the others had taken. “I wonder if something else happened.”
A young girl slept soundly on the beastfolk archer’s lap, while the one-eyed, one-armed man who had created their makeshift bench waited a short distance away.
“They should be fine,” he said. “I didn’t sense any more trouble. And we have this lot with us, remember. If anything happens, we can always put the screws to them.”
“Oh, right. I really had forgotten about them.”
Sirene and Shawza glanced down at the men sitting limply on the cold ground, causing them all to flinch. Pitying them, Sirene turned her gaze back to Mina, the girl peacefully resting in her lap.
“I’m surprised she managed to fall asleep,” she said. “She must’ve been exhausted.”
“It’s understandable, given what she’s been through,” Shawza replied. “First the altercation on the street, then the scuffle a moment ago—even if her physical wounds have healed, she’s still been under a lot of stress. We should let her rest.”
“You won’t hear me arguing.”
Mina, who had seemed tense and uneasy from the moment they’d met, was now curled up on Sirene’s lap like a kitten. The older beastfolk spoke quietly so as not to wake her, but it seemed that it would take a lot more than a simple conversation to rouse her from her slumber.
Sirene’s eyes continuously wandered to her bow, which she had set aside for Mina’s sake. She was used to having it with her at all times, so leaving it unattended seemed to unsettle her.
“I can hold on to it for you,” Shawza said. “Leaving it there is a quick way to damage it.”
“Huh? Are you sure?” Sirene paused. “In that case... Please.”
Shawza took the weapon and examined it with his single eye. “This is a good bow,” he murmured, half sighing. It was a strange compliment coming from a man with such a stern look on his face.
“You can tell?” Sirene asked, her eyes widening and a smile gracing her lips. “Are you well versed in archery?”
There was a pregnant pause before Shawza responded. “No. I used a bow briefly, long ago, but that’s all,” he said quietly, almost to himself. “But it’s easy to tell this one’s quality. Its material is already better than ordinary, and the make is excellent too. It fits well in the hand.”
For a time, Sirene simply watched her companion admire the bow in his hand, pleased that he was praising the weapon she so cherished. She savored the moment before speaking again.
“I actually received that bow from my master, to celebrate my employment. It’s quite valuable, apparently—it was discovered in the depths of the Dungeon of the Lost.”
“The depths? Is your master Mianne, the Bow Sovereign?”
“Huh?” Sirene cocked her head. “You know the captain?”
“Only by name. She’s famous enough to be revered internationally. Mianne, the Bow Sovereign, a female archer who braved the depths of the Dungeon of the Lost—said to be the most dangerous dungeon in the world—with her compeers and returned unscathed.”
“Is she really that famous? She always insisted that she only made it back without a scratch because of how amazing her companions were.”
“I can only tell you what the rumors say. She’s described as a severe woman with a temperament too fearsome for most. It’s said that she can shoot down a flock of birds on the other side of a mountain with a single arrow. Is that true?”
“That rumor made it all the way here, did it?” Sirene looked slightly embarrassed, but she answered honestly. “Well, the truth is...she’s a hundred times more amazing than that. Uh, in terms of personality as well.”
“I see.” Shawza’s lips curled into the beginnings of a smile. “In other words, this bow is proof that you have her recognition.”
“I...wonder about that.” Sirene scratched her cheek. “You wouldn’t think so at all if you saw how she acts around me.”
“You should trust yourself more. The mere fact that you possess this bow is worth more than any words can convey.” Shawza returned to looking at the weapon, his expression serious. “I saw your archery before. Yours isn’t the kind of skill that can be learned in a day. Were you under the Bow Sovereign’s tutelage for long? Or did you have another master?”
“Captain Mianne taught me archery from a young age. Before that, my mother taught me how to read the wind. Neither one of them was very hands-on; they showed me the fundamentals and then let me figure out the rest on my own.”
“Your...mother is an archer too?”
“Yes, though she gave it up long ago.” Sirene touched the pendant around her neck. “She told me she regrets not having been able to properly teach my brother before they separated.”
“Your pendant...” Shawza said at length, hanging his head. “I’m sorry for what I said.”
“Huh?”
“I told you to dispose of it. That was wrong of me.”
Sirene was too stunned to speak.
“I said it with good reason—danger awaits you if you continue to wear it—but that’s no excuse. You have every right to do with it as you wish.”
“No, it’s fine. I kind of knew you were telling the truth.”
“Yet you still intend to keep it?”
“Yes. It might not have much of a use anymore, but...my brother gave it to me. I can’t just throw it away.”
Shawza’s eye strayed from the pendant.
“Do you not have a bow of your own?” Sirene asked, studying him curiously.
“What makes you ask that?”
“You seem to have an eye for them. Plus, I heard that everyone in the Mio Tribe was a proficient archer.”
“Do you seriously think I could draw a bow with one arm?”
“Oh, right... But you could, u-um...use your teeth...or something?”
“Now you’re just being ridiculous.”
“Yeah, I don’t know why I said that...”
Shawza’s brow furrowed as he studied the weapon in his hand. “I did use a bow once, like the rest of my brethren. My skills with it were decent...or so I was convinced at the time. As it turned out, my confidence was nothing more than unbridled arrogance, which cost the lives of my comrades and their families. Now, even if I could wield a bow, I wouldn’t be worthy of drawing it. Even if I wanted to, my fallen brethren would never permit me.”
Sirene said nothing at first, simply watching the man’s expression. Then a thought occurred to her, and resolve hardened in her eyes.
“Um, Shawza, I think you really are my bro—”
“Give up on that, would you? Rigel is dead. Gone. You could search this entire country and not find a single bone of his corpse.”
“But—”
“Whuh? Wh-Where am I...?”
Before Sirene could say another word, Mina’s eyes fluttered open. She glanced around, then seemed to remember her circumstances and jumped up.
“Eek! Was I asleep?! I... I’m sorry! I’ll get off your lap right away!”
“It’s okay. You can rest more, if you want,” Sirene assured the girl. “You must be tired.”
“R-Really...? Wait, no, I couldn’t! S-Someone like me...?”
The girl seemed reluctant to leave Sirene’s lap but scrambled to the ground nonetheless. She stood up straight and bowed to the woman who had until then served as her very comfortable bed. But when she looked up again...
“Rigel!”
“Rigel?” Sirene and Shawza repeated.
Mina shrieked and rushed toward the slender boy approaching from down the hallway. The two bore a striking resemblance to each other, and she cried out in shock when she reached him.
“Rigel! What happened to your legs?! And your condition?! You can walk now?!”
“Mm-hmm. The nice people fixed them for me.”
“H-Huh?! They did?!”
Mina looked up at the others following behind her brother, then hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to them. “U-Um! Th-Thank you very much for s-saving my brother! Snff... Thank, um, ooh... Thank you—snff—very much!”
Tears flooded her eyes, and she wept so much that she was barely coherent. The recipients of her gratitude smiled politely, and when she looked at her new master, he simply nodded. She turned back to her brother and pulled him into a tight embrace.