“This time, it’ll be my turn to support Ann as a Wolverié.”
“And when you’re done, you’ll go wherever life carries you next.”
The possibility of a future where she didn’t come back to Hydrangea settled heavily in Sara’s heart. But this parting wouldn’t be for forever.
“I’ll come back sometimes.”
“I’ll come to visit too.”
“I’ll come back no matter where I go.”
“And I’ll come see you no matter where you go.”
The story that had started on the Dark Mountain would continue for a long time still.
They set out a mere two days after receiving the reply from Gardenia.
“Protagonists are always wanderers, after all. No preparation needed. They go where the wind takes them.”
Haruto was in top form, but Sara was sweating as he said all this in front of an actual wanderer.
“I’m the protagonist, eh?” said Elm.
“Aren’t you? Your Ann’s guardian, right?”
Haruto was casual even with a much-older veteran Hunter. But Elm wasn’t upset. He was a magnanimous guy.
“The rest of us are just extras.”
“I’m comfortable with that.”
They would go pick up Ann and then have fun working in the capital. Their job this time was as simple as that.
They parted with everyone at the Wolverié mansion and gathered at the entrance to Hydrangea. The group consisted of Elm—who was apparently the protagonist—Haruto the Invited, Allen, Kuntz, and Sara.
There was nothing else. No carriage, no luggage, and no servants.
“I didn’t think we’d be going on foot...”
The last time they went to Gardenia, they had Hunters dispatched by the guild with them, and they’d gone by carriage. Sara had walked some of the way because she got bored, but she’d ridden in the carriage for most of the journey.
“Look at this group. It’ll be faster to run.”
“So we’re not even walking...”
Elm was a veteran Hunter, of course, and Haruto, Kuntz, and Allen were all young Hunters with a lot of promise.
“Huh? It’s almost all Hunters...”
“You’re registered with the guild too, so you’re pretty much a Hunter yourself, Sara.”
It seemed Allen still hadn’t given up on Sara becoming a Hunter.
“So it’s all Hunters.” Haruto nodded and raised his hand up high. “Okay! Let’s go!”
“Hey, wait a second! Isn’t that something the protagonist should say? You’re smiling, Elm. Is this okay?”
“I don’t mind.”
“Isn’t it a little early to be rushing like this? We can take our time a little more, can’t we?”
Sara’s shout may or may not have echoed down the morning streets of Hydrangea. And so, the four boys, excited about their first journey in a long time, ran off. Naturally, they were lectured by an out-of-breath Sara sometime later.
“I can’t believe you. And I think I’m rather impressive myself for being able to keep up with you.”
“I’m sorry, I mean it,” Allen said, his hands together in apology. Sara was his girlfriend, so he should treat her a little better, as far as Sara was concerned.
“I’m sorry too. I’ve been traveling on my own for over half a year, so I was having too much fun being with everyone.”
With Haruto apologizing glumly as well, Sara couldn’t very well stay mad, could she?
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t stop them.”
All Sara could do was agree with Kuntz.
“Same here.”
“No, you could, couldn’t you, Elm? In fact, you’re the only one who could, aren’t you?”
“Sorry.”
Elm had saved Allen and had brought him and Kuntz to the capital the year before, but Sara hadn’t interacted with him much herself. She hadn’t made an effort to get to know him, so she didn’t feel close to him, but from how he let Haruto influence him and parroted Kuntz’s excuse, maybe he wasn’t really the levelheaded adult Sara thought he was.
She cocked her head looking up at him, and he tilted his head the same way.
“Pfft. Gosh.”
Elm looked relieved, and Sara didn’t get any angrier at him after that.
“I’m used to physical strengthening, but I’m not a Hunter and I don’t have as much confidence in my stamina as you guys, so I’d prefer a slower pace. This will be a long trip too, so let’s make sure we take breaks as we go.”
The boys all agreed, whether or not they meant it, but if it came to it, she’d just have to keep up. They must have gotten the excitement out of their system, though. The rest of the trip went well, with them all being considerate of her. She’d left the preparations to Elm, who had decided on several inns where they’d be staying on the way, so they didn’t even have to camp out as much as she’d been expecting. The first time they had to sleep outside, it was in a meadow where flame bats showed up.
“This brings me back. What was it, two years ago? I’m glad I can see this nighttime scenery again with you, but I’m really happy we could show it to Haruto too,” Allen said.
He and Sara were sitting inside a large protection field, watching Kuntz fend off attacking bats with his shield while Haruto swung a sword around under Elm’s instruction. Each time Kuntz stopped a bat with his shield, wisps of flame puffed up in the air around him. The flames were all the same size, like little lights in the sky.
The bats Haruto took down with his sword were more like fireworks, bursting around him, sometimes big, sometimes small.
“He’s not just good with magic, huh? All those sparks mean he’s not hitting the bats in their center, though. It looks showy, but he’s using a lot of wasted movement. That’s probably what Elm’s telling him.”
“I was wondering what he was saying.”
Allen couldn’t hear them, but he probably knew exactly what was going on just from watching Haruto hunt. Impressive as always.
“On the other hand, look at Kuntz. Unlike your barrier, he says you have to hit monsters at a precise angle in order to reflect their attacks back on them.”
“Oh, so they slide off instead.”
“Still, it can protect you at whatever angle. But reflecting a monster’s attack does a lot more damage to them. He’s been practicing that so much that he’s knocking back every flame bat from the same angle. It looks really cool.”
“Yeah.”
The lights shining in the night sky were the flames of monsters’ lives being extinguished. Still, watching this scene with Allen at her side was so beautiful that it made Sara shiver.
“Hey! Some people are on a date over there while we’re working so hard!”
And Haruto’s comment completely ruined it.
“Ha ha ha. Well, if he’s gonna get mad about it, I’m gonna go join them for a bit.”
“Okay. Kick their butts!”
All on her own now, Sara quietly watched the fires flying around Allen from the safest place in the meadow, her barrier. The bats burst into flame and fluttered to the ground before even coming into contact with Allen’s fists.
“That’s another application of my barrier. Stretching out your physical strengthening, right? Allen called Kuntz’s shield precise, but he moves efficiently too.”
Even an amateur like Sara could tell how good Allen was at hunting. She was sure he’d improved by leaps and bounds from two years ago as well.
“I’m glad we came here.”
Just getting to spend the whole day with everyone like this made Sara appreciate going on this journey with them.
From the meadow with the flame bats, they entered the mountains. There was a road carriages could take that passed through, so it was easy enough to continue walking.
“Last time we came, it was a hotter season, so the scenery feels new to me.”
It was spring now, and still a little chilly, so the greenery was just beginning to sprout. There were many trees with no leaves on them yet, so they could see far off into the distance through their branches.
“Oh yeah, there were a ton of dragonflies last time. That was a real pain, wasn’t it?”
“We were able to take out the green grass locusts thanks to them, though.”
Haruto’s ears perked up at Allen and Sara’s conversation.
“Tell me more.”
“We didn’t tell you about this already?”
The last time they’d seen Haruto had been during the continental tortoise uproar, so the only thing he knew about Gardenia was that Ann the Invited had appeared there.
“I want to hear more about it too.”
As for Elm, he’d had a whole year to ask about it, but Sara decided not to mention that.
And so, they told the whole story of Gardenia, rather than run through the mountains or stop to gather plants.
“Haven’t you been all over the place, Elm? You don’t know much about Gardenia?”
“I’m all over the place exploring dungeons. There’s no reason for me to visit Gardenia for long since there are hardly any monsters there. And...” He looked away, like it was hard to say what came next. “If I let Lati catch me, I wouldn’t be able to leave.”
“Ah...”
Allen and Kuntz were mostly dealing with the green grass locusts, so Lati’s intensity hadn’t left as big of an impression on them as it had on Sara. That was why she was the only one who really understood what Elm meant.