When I held a skewer with a perfectly grilled fish in my hand and waved it back and forth in front of her, the girl whose name I didn’t even know immediately woke up with a shriek.
“Fish!”
As she awoke, the girl opened her mouth and lunged forward.
However, though she pitched forward, the girl’s mouth came to a stop right before it reached the fish. I was waving the fish just out of reach of the girl, who was tied up and bound to a tree.
For the moment, I was just relieved that she’d woken up. Feeling reassured, I greeted her. “Good morning. I am Elaina, a traveling witch.”
“…? Uh, ah, okay. Hi… I’m Ashley, an adventurer…?” Ashley answered me with a polite bow of her head, and I could tell she had been taught good manners. At the same time, she seemed to be a little bit of an airhead, because it was only after she lowered her head that she realized she was tied up.
“Um, why am I tied up…?”
That’s a very natural question to ask.
“Sorry. I have a good reason for tying you up.”
“Because you’re going to do dirty things to me…?”
“No.”
What are you talking about? Are you still half-asleep?
“First things first, I just want to ask you, how did you find your way here?” I asked, waving the fish back and forth.
“Um, I, well, the thing is, I’m really hungry right now,” she said, her eyes darting left and right like a cat’s, following the fish. “And so, um, I thought maybe you wouldn’t mind giving one to me—”
She had been trying to give me money in exchange for one of my fish.
I see, so just as I thought, I jumped to the wrong conclusion.
“So that’s what was going on…sorry.” As I apologized, I loosened the ropes that were holding her.
“Here, have a fish.”
I couldn’t begrudge her asking for a fish in recompense, when I had launched a fierce blow at her guts, even if it had been a misunderstanding. I decided to give it to her for free. The girl’s eyes lit up brightly.
“Huh?! Really? Hooray! Are you a goddess?”
“I guess so, if you can call the person who attacked you the moment you met her a goddess.”
“In my hometown, the word goddess is generally used to mean something like that.”
“What an incredibly twisted place you must come from…”
“It’s a bizarre land filled with rather bizarre people,” Ashley told me as she munched away at her fish.
According to what she said, her hometown was very, very far from us and deep in the mountains, and she had been traveling the countries of the world as an adventurer for the past two years.
“Wow, this fish is good… It’s been several months since I ate a fish this tasty…”
Ashley heaved a deep sigh. As the person who had grilled it, it made me glad to have someone take so much joy in a simple river fish.
“You must have had a hard time of it…” I could guess that the path she had traveled over the preceding two years had by no means been an easy one.
“Hardship is an essential part of any journey. If your goals are lofty, then the path to get there will naturally be steep.” Ashley answered me matter-of-factly.
Lofty goals, huh?
“What are you aiming for in your adventuring?”
When I asked the question, Ashley, who had been chewing away, swallowed her fish and, after a short pause, put on the listless smile of someone fully aware that they are walking a steep path and told me, “I’m searching for a goddess. Do you know any goddesses?”
She pointed straight up into the sky as she asked.
The moon peeked out from behind the clouds.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Okay, so this is a fairy tale told in my hometown.”
Ashley told me the tale carefully and tenderly, as if she were telling a child a bedtime story.
Apparently, a tale known as “The Legend of the Goddesses” had taken root in the town where Ashley had been born and raised. According to the legend, in the region where she lived, the word goddess referred to enormous birds that grew vivid blue feathers.
They were said to be as large as houses. Their blue wings sparkled brilliantly, and the legend said they looked just like shooting stars as they drifted elegantly through the air.
“Sounds like they were beautiful creatures.”
“And that’s not all. It was believed that there was amazing power hidden in the bodies of these birds. The feathers that fell from their wings contained extremely powerful magical energy, and just touching one could instantly heal any illness. Their claws were blades that could cut through anything, and if their tears fell to the ground, they would transform into precious gemstones that concealed special powers.”
“Sounds like the birds had all sorts of really good things going for them.”
“That’s why the people in the past called those birds goddesses.”
“I see.”
“Oh, also, apparently the goddesses were quick to spew blue flames around everywhere.”
“Are you sure they weren’t terrible monsters?”
In contrast to their divine name, they sound like pretty fierce creatures.
“It requires remarkable determination to come in contact with one of those wonderful birds, as you can imagine. Just acquiring one of their feathers or talons or tears, any one of those, would be certain to change your life forever.”
“And so you’re traveling to look for one of those birds?” The more I heard her talk about them, the more confused I became. “I just want to make sure I’ve got this straight. Those birds really exist, right? You’ve seen one?”
“Not even once,” Ashley replied.
“……”
“Just now, you thought, ‘That sounds kind of fishy,’ didn’t you?” she asked.
“That is exactly what I thought,” I answered.
“I knew it. You made that kind of face, so I figured that was it.”
I’ve been told that my face is honest to a fault. It’s an unfortunate face to have. I pinched and squished my traitorous cheeks.
“But if you’ve never seen one, doesn’t that mean you have no idea if the goddesses really exist?” I asked, still pinching.
“Uh-uh. I can prove that they do. As thanks for the fish, I’ll show you something marvelous.”
As she shook her head, Ashley pulled on a slim cord that she was wearing around her neck.
At the end of the cord was a brilliant dark blue gemstone. It had been hidden under her clothing.
“This is a goddess tear,” Ashley said. “A precious jewel that conceals special powers.”
“Special powers…”
She said that earlier, too.
So I asked, “What kind of powers does it have?”
“You can sell it for a lot of money.”
“Compared to the feathers and the claws, that’s a pretty modest power.”
“That and, according to one theory, it’s said that just by possessing one, you will find true happiness.”
“That’s an awfully vague power.”
“And apparently, it will lead you to the whereabouts of a goddess.”
“So when it comes to seeing one—”
“There have been many hardships along the way…”
“You never have, then.”
I see, I see…
For the time being, I nodded along perfunctorily. Ashley narrowed her eyes sharply at me when she saw me doing that.
“Again, you just thought, ‘That sounds kind of fishy,’ didn’t you?”
“You could tell?”
“I sure could. You’ve got that kind of face.”
Nevertheless, she must have understood just how rare the creatures were, if she herself had been chasing them for two whole years.
I started to pinch and squish my face again, and beside me, looking up into the empty sky, Ashley said, “One day, I will meet a goddess. Because that is my dream.”
For a girl who was dreaming, her eyes looked rather full of determination.