[Miku]
WE’RE heading back to the village when I suddenly realize something. The mountain of monster corpses we’re about to leave behind!
Why didn’t I think of it sooner?
“Uh, shouldn’t we do something about those corpses?” Frazzled, I mention it to the others, only to be met with Rinny’s nonchalant response.
“Our job was to take care of the monster horde—we made sure to clean up after ourselves. We’re professionals, after all.”
“You mean I cleaned up after us, you oaf. You didn’t lift a finger,” Macro interjects moodily.
“Don’t get so hung up on the details, you snarky brat.”
“You’re the one trying to mooch off the hard work of other people.”
“You wanna fight?!”
And those two are at it again.
“But when did you have the time to clean up?” Trying to stop their argument before it gets too heated, I quickly pipe up, inquiring about the mess. “We started back toward the village as soon as we took out the horde, and there were a lot of corpses!”
“Well, it’s not really a secret, but…wanna hear something neat?” Macro asks.
Thank goodness! They stopped fighting to answer me. I’m sure they’ll be picking on each other again before long, but at least for now, their attention is focused on me. Although that, in itself, is a little terrifying.
“Sure, I would love to hear about it if you’ll tell me,” I say.
Seeing how earnest I appeared to be in wanting to hear what he had to say, Macro turns his attention away from Rinny.
Whew!
As Macro slowly walks forward, the soil begins moving around his feet, almost as if it was alive!
“I made a pact with the earth spirits, which means I can use the power of the earth to return dead bodies back to the soil. Everything will be cleaned up before you know it.”
“Wow… But what do you mean by spirits?”
He explained it all in a matter-of-fact way, but what are these spirits?
I don’t have a clue. Confused, I look to Rinny, silently pleading for help with my eyes. As if able to pick up on my unspoken thoughts, he adds a bit more information.
“Macro’s a dwarf. Each race has their own specific magical abilities, and in his case, dwarves are able to use this type of natural magic because of a pact made between them and the earth spirits. You’ve never heard about it before?”
“He’s a dw-dwarf?!”
I’m more surprised about him being a dwarf than the spirit stuff. I’ve only ever heard about dwarves in stories. Claire mentioned them to me at some point, but I hadn’t realized they were an entire race. I wonder if Claire realized Macro’s a dwarf.
“Rinny, you talk too much,” Macro said in a low voice.
“Oh, sorry, but it’s not that big of a deal for you, right? You dwarves are a rare race, but you’re strong enough to fend for yourself if anybody gets any funny ideas.”
Oh, right… Rare races are usually targeted more often by good-for-nothing humans. Although demi-human trafficking is, for the most part, not allowed, there are rumors of it happening often in the shadows of society. That’s why Claire always warns me to be careful.
“U-Um… I promise I won’t tell anyone about you. So, I’d be grateful i-if you wouldn’t tell anyone about me, either. Let’s keep this between us,” I say but feel the words drying up in my mouth.
After all, the two of them are pretty gruff looking. Rinny is pretty rough and tumble, while Macro is a man of few words but is always, somehow, in a mood… A part of me knows that neither are really bad guys. They are living proof to me that I should not judge others based on appearances alone. Still, it’s impossible to completely ignore their overt abrasiveness!
I wait for an answer, growing more anxious by the moment, before Macro finally speaks up, expressionless as always. “Fine. A shared secret. That good with you?”
“Oh. Uh, yeah.”
What a relief!
I’m glad I had the courage to ask. I can move forward now without any regrets, and as a bonus, the tension between us seems to have lifted as well.
“You’re pretty quiet, but you can speak your mind when you need to!”
“Ow!”
“Uh, sorry.”
Rinny slapped my back without warning, and my tail stuck straight up in surprise! I guess he doesn’t fully understand how strong he is. Still, oddly enough, I don’t feel anxious at all, perhaps because the tension in the air is gone. I wonder why?
Perhaps they’d simply been wary of us? It was odd that we’d gone after the monsters all by ourselves. Anyone would be suspicious! Knowing they finally let their guard down around me makes me happy, although I still don’t fully understand why they suddenly feel more comfortable around us.
“You’re not a very good liar, are you?” Rinny asks with a grin while I’m trying to figure out the reason for the shift in the atmosphere between us.
“Huh? Why do you say that?”
I look at them quizzically while Rinny tries to hold back a laugh in response.
What’s with the odd question? How can he tell?!
As my mind struggles with this seemingly nonsensical conversation, Rinny throws his head back and laughs, unable to hold back his merriment any longer.
“Ahahaha! It’s written all over your face! That’s why we don’t have to act so cagey around you.”
Oh! So that’s why!
I’m suddenly overcome with embarrassment over how transparent my emotions are. Written all over my face? Argh, my cheeks are heating up again! Still, I’m pretty happy they feel comfortable around me… But also unbelievably embarrassed!
✦ ✦ ✦
🦊 🦊 🦊
AFTER arriving back at the village, the three guys split off, saying something about going to pay a visit to the village elder. They have to tell the elder about the monster horde, which is why they came here in the first place. Before heading off, they promise us, however, that they’ll only reveal the full details of what happened to the village elder.
“We don’t want to make everyone worry needlessly,” Ektor proclaims while giving a hardy chuckle. And I can’t help but feel truly grateful for his concern. It will ultimately be up to the elder whether to evacuate the village or not, but I’m sure he’ll arrive at the same conclusion I did: Ektor really cares about our village and the people in it!
“Hey, Claire? You know how we killed a bunch of monsters, right? About the cleanup…” I say in a hushed tone now that we’re alone together again.
She seemed worried that the story was going off course, so I wanted to give her whatever information I could. Of course, I’m not planning on going back on my promise to Macro! Still, Claire’s next words surprise me.
“Macro took care of it, right?”
“Huh? You know?!”
I’m shocked. She figured it out so swiftly.
Claire grins at my blatant astonishment before explaining, “I don’t remember all the details, but I remember stuff like which characters can wield what sort of magic in battle. Macro stuck out in my memory since his name is such an obvious contradiction to his race.”
So, in other words, she had known all along Macro was a dwarf? This storybook really is amazing if it lets you know secrets about others around you.
“What exactly do you mean by his name being a contradiction to his race?” I ask curiously and she giggles.
“Well, macro is a word that means something that’s large, but he’s pretty small, right? That’s all.”
My mouth falls open in awe as I gasp in amazement.
I get it now!
That’s what was contradictory. Claire’s past world sounds so exciting! I’d been listening to all of her stories since I was very young, and I suddenly realize even the parts I thought were too ridiculous to be true probably are. Except for the flying machine that can supposedly transport people and objects through the sky, of course. Still, I wonder if I can tell Macro that Claire knew he was a dwarf from the very beginning? I haven’t really broken my promise, so it’s probably fine. I decide to tell Claire more about our earlier conversation.
“Hmm… I see. So, I have to pretend like I don’t know he’s a dwarf? Honestly, that was my plan all along, but I’ll have to be extra careful not to let anything slip. At least while we’re here, in the village. Don’t worry!”
According to Claire, the story has changed since the village is now safe, which also means we won’t have to go off with the three guys to the capital… Which also means the time for goodbyes is rapidly approaching. We’ve all grown fairly close in the short time we’ve known each other, and a part of me feels sad to see them go so soon.
“We were able to change the future, after all. This was by far the best possible outcome. What a relief! We can continue living a peaceful and quiet life, Miku,” she says with a smile, clearly relieved.
Being able to overcome adversity is good, but preventing it from happening in the first place is even better! Still, I feel a touch of uneasiness.