“He’s so lame.”
“It’s just like him, though, isn’t it?”
Sara laughed with Allen about Haruto until he strode over and pointed at them.
“Ah! You two!”
“What are you yelling about?”
“You said you were just friends, but now you’re, you know...started going out or whatever!”
“How many years ago was that, then...?”
Sara burst out laughing, remembering the conversation they’d had when they first met.
“You haven’t changed, Haruto.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Pitying me ’cause I’m not popular? Is that it?”
She could almost forget that this was the bottom floor of a dungeon with Haruto here.
“No, I just mean you’re a funny guy, back then and now.”
“I guess that’s okay. I think?”
Haruto cocked his head, and Sara asked him what she was wondering.
“Anyway, what are you doing here, Haruto? Does Bradley know you’re here?”
“Yeah, about that...”
So he doesn’t? Sara almost asked.
“Anyway, this isn’t a great place to talk, so do you want to go to the top of that hill?”
If any other Hunter was listening, they’d probably say there was nowhere in the dungeon that was a good place to talk, but Sara had her barrier. Of course, you could always pick a place with a clear view and put protection cases down to keep monsters from bothering you.
“I’ll make some tea to celebrate.”
“I want bush strawberry juice! Nice and cold.”
Sara laughed and poured Haruto some bush strawberry juice, getting out snacks for everyone as well. There were bush strawberries all over the lowest floor, so she had a lot of them boiled into sweet jam for juice. Of course, it was just as tasty to get it at a restaurant.
“People in Trilgaia are all like, ‘It’s not like we can’t make it cold, but is there really any need to drink it cold?’ Though I guess I couldn’t really have cold juice much in Japan either.”
He spoke lightheartedly, but Sara recalled that Haruto had been sick in his previous life and had spent much of his time in the hospital. Maybe ice-cold drinks were something he always wanted but couldn’t often get.
“It’s been five years since you went to the Dark Mountain... No, it’s almost six now, isn’t it?”
“It was the same time you guys left on your journey, so yeah, five years. I spent my time between Rosa and the Dark Mountain and went to the capital for fun sometimes, but I basically had one place as my base of operations these last five years. We went to the Dark Mountain to get away from people, but it’s a little too lonely for me being up there all the time.”
“Yeah, I can’t imagine you’re happy reading books all the time like Bradley.”
“Rude. I like books too. I had nothing better to do in Japan, so I read a lot back then.”
Sara had completely become a Trilgaian by now, so she found it nostalgic when Haruto brought up Japan, but it also felt like a place she hadn’t been in a long, long time.
“Things have gotten calmer on the Dark Mountain, and the roads have been repaired, so Hunters have started going up there from Rosa.”
“Really?”
Sara wasn’t sure how she felt about the fact that she was more interested in hearing about the Dark Mountain than Japan. But considering that the road from Rosa to the Dark Mountain had once been completely unprotected and horned rabbits were free to attack anyone traveling on it, it seemed things really had improved.
“That deputy mayor with the nasty personality, you know, Ted...”
Sara couldn’t help exchanging a glance with Allen. Now there was a nostalgic name. The last time they’d seen him was when they had followed the continental tortoise to Rosa, which was over two years ago. Sara was comforted to know that he was doing enough work for Haruto to refer to him as a deputy mayor.
“I’m sure you three will know what I’m talking about, but there have been a lot of monster outbreaks lately, right? I guess magic stones are a lot easier to come by now.”
True, they had been involved in quite a few monster outbreaks themselves.
“It hasn’t just been happening around you. I guess there are small outbreaks happening all over the place, and monsters showing up where they usually don’t, stuff like that. I heard all this from Bradley.”
They didn’t even have time to catch up properly before skipping straight to the important matters.
“Unless it’s a special outbreak or something irregular like the continental tortoise, we Invited don’t usually need to get involved and can leave things to the local Hunters, so it isn’t anything we should be concerning ourselves over,” Haruto added, perhaps for the worrywart Sara’s benefit.
“So Rosa—or Ted, really—took the initiative to repair the roads since magic stones are so easy to get ahold of now.”
“Ted did, really? I know he’s a talented apothecary, but frankly, I didn’t think he’d put his talent to use anywhere else.”
Sara considered who Ted was to her and settled on something like an older relative with an annoying personality. So she thought it was nice that he was working so hard, but it was unexpected.
“You’re not wrong. I mean, can you guess why he’s repairing the roads?”
Sara gasped. “Silver dragonmint! Is it for Chris?”
“He still goes on about ‘Master Chris, Master Chris’ constantly.” Haruto laughed. She assumed he must interact with Ted a lot.
“Ted comes to the Dark Mountain to gather plants all the time. He can’t come on his own, so he comes with guards, but because of him, Hunters think of the Dark Mountain as a place you can go as long as you’re careful and well prepared now.”
“I guess he’s grown some. He could barely even get to the base of the Dark Mountain before.”
Sara could tell that Allen thought of Ted the same way she did.
“Hunters come more often now, so the caretaker’s cabin is a bit more lively.”
“Is Bradley okay with that?”
“He’s more okay with it than you might think. Since they don’t come all that often, he just has to make the occasional small talk with them.”
“That’s good.”
It would have been nice if it were that lively back when Nelly was there. Sara enjoyed living there together with her, but she felt like it would have been too lonely for her now. Plus, if other Hunters had come by back then, Sara would have learned a lot more about this world a lot quicker.
“So, since Bradley’s doing okay, I thought it was about time I set out on my own. I left the Dark Mountain about six months ago and have been traveling all over since then.”
Haruto rubbed the bottom of his nose smugly. He was over twenty now, but he still looked like a kid.
“So where did you go?”
“Well, first...”
It was getting late, so Sara tidied up her tea set, and they continued their fun conversation on their way home.
“Oh yeah, have you figured out where you’re staying, Haruto?”
“No, not yet. I got here in the morning and came straight to the dungeon. I thought I could see Sara if I went to the Apothecary’s Guild later, and I assumed that Allen and Kuntz would be on the lowest floor, and look what I found!”
Sara thought he should probably have figured out where he was staying first.
“Our lodging house is an inn too. Wanna stay there?”
When Allen invited him to stay at his place, Sara hurriedly added, “If I tell them a friend of mine is visiting, I’m sure you can stay at the Wolveriés’ mansion. Actually, they’ll probably be happy to host you.”
“Wow, I’m so popular!”
It was just like him to be so carefree.
“I’d like to see where Allen and Kuntz live, but I think I’ll take the local lord up on his hospitality tonight.”
It was an honor to host an Invited. It might have even been rude for an Invited to visit an area and not stay with the local lord.
“That’s Haruto for you.”
“I started out staying with nobles when I got here, so.”
They headed home in high spirits, and when they arrived at the Wolveriés’ mansion, the whole family came out to welcome Haruto with open arms.
“I’m honored you would visit, Lord Haruto! My, you’ve grown, haven’t you?”
Since Haruto had worked as a Hunter in the capital and taken part in the migrating dragon hunts, Ri, the former knight commander, had a very favorable impression of him.
“Oh? So you’re Haruto.”
Elm was very interested in any Invited who was working as a Hunter as well. He was supposed to be a traveling Hunter himself, but he must have really liked Hydrangea, because he was still there.
“Miss Nelly!”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” Nelly said with a wry grin. She and Chris both gave Haruto affectionate looks after such a long time apart.
Allen and Kuntz joined them for dinner, and they all had a lively, fun evening.
When dinner was finished and they were about to have some tea, Ri cleared his throat.
“Now, perhaps it is the guidance of the goddess that Haruto has visited us at this exact moment.”
The Invited actually were something of a boon from the goddess, but the people of Trilgaia weren’t exactly the faithful type, so it might have been the first time Sara had heard someone say something like, “the guidance of the goddess.” It was all the more surprising coming from a Wolverié, since they were all about carving their own path in life. Sara was on alert immediately.
“Here’s the thing...”
Ri took from his breast pocket a single letter.
“Another letter?”
Now, where had this letter come from?
Things always started with letters.