I looked up through the fluttering leaves.
“The flames...!”
The flames... were gathering up in the sky. Was I going crazy or something?
Still, Derek was right there alongside me, just as much in danger of getting sent flying. He was looking up at the sky in shock. And I’m betting the look on my face wasn’t much different from his.
All those whirling flames seemed to be gathering in the same place. It was late at night, but it was bright enough to be the middle of the day!
All we could do in the middle of this flaming storm was cling tight to the tree.
And then suddenly, all of the light disappeared.
Well, the moonlight was still there, but that was all...
The wind stopped, and Derek and I both hit the ground rear-first.
“Owwww...”
The pain in my rear kept my mind from going blank.
I looked around.
“The fire... it’s gone.”
“Yeah...”
Could something like this really happen? It was a miracle. An impossible, brilliant miracle.
I mean, you can’t just put out a blaze that size...
Did a fire spirit save us...?
Something like that was too impossible to even imagine, but...!
“Ah, we can keep searching!”
“Torne...!”
“We’ve got to see this thing through, Derek!”
“...Right!”
We started moving again, heading towards the landing site of that sparkling light. The place where all the flames had gathered.
“Heeeeeeeeeeeey!!!”
“Heeeeeeeeeeeey!!! Is anyone there?!!”
We yelled as loud as we could.
“Here!!! We’re over here!!!”
We broke out running, paying no heed to our ages, right in the direction of where that light had landed.
I wasn’t scared in the least, though. Rather, I was smiling and thanking God as I ran.
Once we were out of the forest, we found Yuuta and Ana waiting for us, alive and well. And between them, a girl was collapsed on the ground.
It was Anti, sleeping away in the middle of the clearing.
The pale moonlight reflected off the girl’s signature blonde hair, and even her eyelashes seemed to be shining, despite it being the middle of the night. Now, looking at her sleeping face clearly for the first time, I could see her mother’s charming features. All that, combined with the little crown floating above her head, made her look almost like a princess. Truly, it was a fantastic sight.
The little lady was injured all over, but she was still breathing.
The golden-haired father picked up his golden-haired daughter, cradling her gently in his arms.
He said nothing, but I could see the tears streaming down his cheeks, and the smile on his face.
“Good grief... I didn’t realize we had such a lovely moon out tonight...”
“Um... Old-timer, you see, I...”
...Slap, smack!
“Ack!”
“Ooow!”
“We’re heading back, you runts! Don’t let your guards down till we make it back to town!”
There may have still been monsters lurking around.
We may have lost our torches, but thanks to this moonlight, I could just barely see my feet.
I could also see that a bergbear had definitely been here not long ago.
...Actually, I’m not sensing anything, now that I think of it. Just where did it...?
And then, I saw it. The tree next to me was covered in claw marks... and blood.
I held my breath. It was close... no... it was here.
“You kids... are alright...?”
“Um...”
I knew it was a strange question even as I asked it. I mean, they were obviously alright. They were right here, alive and kicking. But I didn’t know how.
“It was Miss Ann...”
“She saved us!”
“What...?”
What... are you two talking about...? What could a delicate little thing like her do against a bergbear? There’s no way...
...
That light, like a shooting star...
Whatever it was that sucked up all the fire...
But it couldn’t be...
I looked over at Anti, and met Derek’s eyes as he stared silently back at me.
That snapped me out if it. I cleared out all the ridiculous thoughts floating around in my head, and got us back on track toward town.
The trip back to the gates of Cardiff went so smoothly that it almost felt like a let-down. Even though carrying Anti and the kids slowed Derek and me down a bit, we still didn’t run into any monsters. Though considering how fast that fire moved, it may have taken out the monsters’ dens... Either way, it was a happy miscalculation.
We passed through a door to the side of the main gate. On the other side, we found nearly all of the town’s residents waiting for us.
“Hey, Torne’s back! And he brought the kids!”
“The kids are alright!”
“That’s Torne for ya! He’s not the captain for nothing!”
“Is Ann okay?!”
All the townsfolk were shouting at once, causing quite a ruckus.
“Now hold on! Calm down, everybody!!” I yelled out, climbing up onto a wagon beside me and raising both hands. Everyone went silent. “First off, the kids are all safe! Little Miss Anti secured them!”
“Wow!”
“Good going, little lady!”
“So she’s sleeping now? Is she alright?!”
“Yeah, she’s just tired, that’s all! We’re going to let her take it easy and keep an eye on her!”
The townsfolk breathed a sigh of relief. The kids her age may have made fun of her for being magicless, but all the adults frequented the Kythera Eatery. Naturally, a good number of them had gotten attached to the place’s poster girl in the process.
“Torne, what happened with the bergbear? And why did the fire just...?”
The fire, huh...?
Everyone started talking at once again.
“What could you all see from here, Gramps?”
“The fire got sucked up into the sky.”
“I saw it, too.”
“The flames got ripped up out of the forest and off the mountain, and flew up into the air.”
“Then it all got bunched up into one spot.”
“It sure made for a strange sight...”
So that huge gust of wind really did round up all the fire? And it wasn’t blown away... it was sucked up?
It was almost like an act of God...
“...In regards to the bergbear, we went 700 mels into the forest! We found traces there, but didn’t sense it anywhere nearby!”
“Ooh...”
“That sure is scary, isn’t it...?”
“Just to be safe, we’re going to keep watch from the lookout tower during the day! But given all those flames, it may have run well clear of here! We’re going to restrict usage of the gate for the time being, but try not to get nervous without reason! After all, if anything happens, I’ll be sure to let you know!”
“You guys were really on the ball today.”
“Yeah, everyone from the station did a real good job.”
“Next up, about the forest fire! To be honest... I don’t really know myself! I may have played at being an adventurer in the past, but I’ve never seen anything like it before! I mean, a blaze like that just up and disappearing...”
“Hahaha! If the guardian deity of Cardiff doesn’t know, then nobody will!”
“That was no act of man!”
The townsfolk were all hooting and hollering, but it didn’t seem like anybody was trying to shoot down what I’d said. They were all good-natured folk.
“...It may have been a fire spirit that saved us.”
“What?!”
“Are you serious?! That’s amazing!”
“Looks like we’ve got a real guardian deity!”
“Maybe it saved Anti, too!”
“She’ll have to give thanks to the god of the flames!”
Phew... somehow, I managed to get the discussion going in the direction I wanted. I sure was nervous. I mean, I figured it was best to hide the fact that we found the little miss right where all that fire disappeared. We needed to let her rest up proper, after all.
“Sorry for making you all pack up for no reason, but go ahead and head on back home! And make sure all your loved ones are accounted for!”
“Got it! And don’t worry about it, Torne!”
“Yeah! I mean, even our good captain couldn’t have predicted a fire spirit getting involved, haha!”
“Right, let’s get this all cleaned up, everybody!”
“Yeah!” all the townsfolk yelled out together, then scattered.
Ana and Yuuta’s folks were scolding them and crying. Haha, I sure am glad I got to see this sight, though...
Then I saw a familiar woman pushing her way forward through the crowd.
“Sola...!”
“Derek! Anti...!”
...That may have been the first time I’d ever seen Sola cry.
Just as I was about to pitch in and help clean up the town, Konobo stopped me.
“You still haven’t had dinner, right? Please, go eat.”
Oh, so that’s how it is? Good grief. I don’t need your concern.
Along the way I ran into my wife, but she just said she was fine and I didn’t need to worry. Women sure are tough.
I was worried about Anti, and Derek and Sola did invite me, so I took them up on that offer and stopped by their place. He just told me, “We’re taking today off anyway, and it won’t even take a single minit to make enough for one person!”
There’s no way you could do it in a minit...
To my shock, though, it really did come in a single minit. Once I finished eating, Sola came down from the second floor. Apparently she’d finished treating the little miss.
“How’d it look?”
“She had some minor cuts, and it looks like she took lots of small blows all over. Her left shoulder looks pretty banged up, too. I don’t think there’ll be any scars, though.”
“I see! Thank goodness...!”
“Torne, we can’t thank you enough for this.”
“Oh, what’s all this about...”
“Yeah, we’re super grateful...!” Sola said, moved to tears even as she smiled.
Oh, cut it out. I didn’t do anything...
“Give it a break. I couldn’t even do anything that’d be worth your gratitude.”
I gulped down water, emptying my glass.
I didn’t do anything. Nothing at all...
“That’s not true at all! I mean, look at the way you handled the townsfolk, and the decision to mount the search. We were relying on you this time, just as we always do.”
“I was going to leave Yuuta and Ana to die.”
“Give me a break. That was the first time I’d ever seen you that distraught. The two kids heard about it, but even they know blaming you would be misplaced resentment.”
“...Hmph.”
“Hey, how about a drink?”
She placed a bottle down in front of me with a thud. Hey, come on now, Sola...