The four of them sat around the wooden table. Shannon took in the sight of the food set out in front of her. “Ooh!” she exclaimed, putting her hands on the sides of her face. “It looks delicious!”
“You put in more work than usual today, mom,” Kyle noted.
His mother laughed. “It’s rare that I have the opportunity to treat a stranger to dinner. I gave it my all!” She beamed. “So, Shannon, eat as much as you like. Then you can let me know what you think—I want an honest answer!”
“Of course! Now then...” Shannon eyed all the food lining the table and began with the vegetable soup. She scooped her spoon into it and lifted it to her mouth. “Mmm! This is good!” Her eyes sparkled as the spoon left her lips.
“Oh, really?” Kyle’s mother asked, looking pleased.
“Yes! It’s a light flavor—very nice! And the vegetables are delicious.”
“The soil around here is rich, so our vegetables turn out that way,” Kyle’s mother explained. “The merchants who come by every so often always buy heaps of them from us.”
“Wow! So the veggies are a local specialty.” Shannon brought the spoon to her lips again.
Kyle felt a little proud to see Shannon enjoying the soup, as if he had made the dinner himself. He followed suit and dug into the meal. Yeah, it’s the same as usual, he thought. Still, hearing someone else call it tasty—which he always thought it was—made him happy.
“Anyway, I’m glad it’s to your liking,” Kyle’s mother said.
Shannon nodded. Her beaming face seemed to shout out, Of course! She reached for the meat dish next.
“Oh,” she exclaimed. “The sourness makes it so tasty! I want to eat this every day.”
“I’m happy to hear you say that. Please have more!”
“I will! For the past few days, I’ve been surviving on what I could hunt outdoors.” Shannon paused, then murmured, “So it’s really special to eat a meal inside with everyone.”
“Wait, Ms. Shannon, do you mean you were sleeping outside all that time?” Kyle asked.
“Yep. Since I left the last town, I’ve been camping out. It’s been a while.”
“Whoa, that sounds tough.” Kyle could hardly imagine living outside. What would he even eat if he didn’t have his mother’s cooking?
“That’s the way it is when you’re traveling,” Shannon said. “Still, it can be fun, too, to live out in nature.” From the look on her face, Kyle knew that she believed that from the bottom of her heart.
“What town did you come here from?” Kyle’s mother asked.
“Wisteria. I was heading east toward Orwood.”
Wisteria was a large city to the west. Travelers from there occasionally visited the village—if they could find it—on their way east to Orwood, since they had to cross the mountains to get there.
“Speaking of Wisteria, I hear their wine is famous,” Kyle’s mother said. “When the peddlers come to replenish our stocks, they sell out fast.”
“Ah!” Kyle’s father exclaimed. “That’s some tasty stuff, that is. So you came from Wisteria, huh? Must’ve been hard, coming so far.”
“Not at all. I was just fine. I’m used to long trips.”
“You’re pretty hardy, Ms. Shannon,” he said. “It’s dangerous for a girl to travel alone, but you seem to be doing all right. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders.”
“Of course I am! I also know self-defense, so I’m way stronger than all the guys around here.” She made a show of flexing her biceps, putting her surprisingly toned muscles on display. A girl who was always traveling by herself must have needed a suitable physique.
The conversation intensified Kyle’s longing for a journey of his own. He’d always thought that he’d live his whole life in the village, but a whole wide world with mages in it lay beyond the village’s borders. There had to be all sorts of interesting things to find out there.
Without thinking, he muttered, “Traveling, huh? Sounds nice.”
“Traveling is fun,” Shannon agreed, her expression serene.
“You’re only a little older than me, right, Ms. Shannon?” Kyle asked. “It’s amazing that you travel despite being so young.”
For a moment, Shannon froze, looking stunned. Then she let out a little giggle.
“Wh-What?” Kyle stammered.
She laughed again. “Sorry, sorry. It just struck me as funny.”
“Huh?” Kyle didn’t know what she was chuckling at. He shot her a bewildered look.
“I’m...older than you,” Shannon said after a pause. “Yeah, just a little older.”
“Yeah? Did I say something strange?”
Shannon waved her hand. “No, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“Really?”
Shannon hummed and nodded several times.
Well, she was a mysterious person; of course he would wonder about every little thing she did.
His interest far from waning, Kyle peppered her with more questions. “Anyway, what do you do on your travels? You’re a mage, so are you studying magic?”
Apparently unperturbed, Shannon hummed thoughtfully. “I’m doing something a little different than studying magic. I mean, despite how I may look, I’m pretty confident in my magic.”
“Wow... Ms. Shannon, are you a famous mage?”
“Huh, that’s a good question. There might not be that many people around anymore who know about me.”
“Um, I see. Well, then, why are you traveling?”
“Well...I guess my goal is to find myself? There’s something I just have to do, you see. And to accomplish that, my journey has taken me to many places, where I’ve met many people and experienced many fun things.”
“Whoa, so you have a reason to travel?” Kyle’s eyes shone. “That’s so cool!”
Searching for something on a journey... That was the stuff of epics. To Kyle, who had grown up in this cramped village, Shannon was radiant with her experience traveling freely around the world.
The four of them continued their friendly chat as they ate. Time passed peacefully, and just as the meal was about to end, Kyle’s mother said, “Oh, I meant to ask—Shannon, are you doing all right? You’re not injured? We have some medicine if you need it.”
Shannon tilted her head. “What for?”
“Didn’t you collapse at the river? I thought you might be hurt.”
Oh, right! Kyle had been so distracted by Shannon’s uniqueness that he’d actually forgotten.
“Oh!” Shannon exclaimed. “I’m perfectly fine. That was just me taking a little rest.”
“Really? Well, then that’s okay,” Kyle’s mother replied. “Did you know that area is famous for being haunted? They say ghosts will drag you off the cliffs. What a scary thought!” She shivered.
With gleaming eyes, Shannon leaned forward. “Yes! Yes, that’s right! An old man I met at the base of the mountain told me that. That’s why I went up.” She paused, then let out a dejected sigh. “Turned out it was just a story.”
Kyle’s mother was shocked. “You were that curious? Incredible...”
“Well, I’m just kinda like that.”
“Still, you should be more careful. You’re still a young girl.”
Hold on a moment, Kyle thought, remembering when he had found Shannon. She had been lying by the river, that was true, but something far more concerning had happened just before that. Shannon had—
“Wait,” Kyle said. “You weren’t just lying there, Ms. Shannon. You fell right in front of me!”
“Huh?”
Three stares pierced him, each demanding to know what he was talking about. “What’re you trying to say?” his father asked.
“I mean, it’s impossible for Ms. Shannon to have no injuries!” He had definitely seen her fall from the cliffs. It had happened right in front of his eyes. There was no way he was wrong about this!
But his parents exchanged looks and chuckled.
“Oh, Kyle,” his mother said. “Shannon may be a mage, but not even she would be up and walking around after a fall from so high up. She doesn’t even have any injuries.”
Exasperated, his father added, “Your mother’s right. Honestly, Kyle, what are you talking about? Just look at Ms. Shannon.”
“No, I... Ms. Shannon, you fell from the cliffs, didn’t you?!” Kyle asked, flustered.
“Huh? No way,” Shannon replied.
“Wh-What?!” Kyle froze, his mouth hanging open at this betrayal. “B-But...”
“Honestly, Kyle, what are you on about?” his mother asked.
“You weren’t the one who ate the poison mushroom, were you?” said his father. His parents both sighed and then laughed scornfully.
“No, but... But I saw it happen!” Kyle insisted.
It hadn’t been a dream! He was sure that he had watched her fall. Then, at the riverbank, he had seen her—blonde hair and all—lying in a sea of blood. He would never forget how beautiful she had looked or how harrowing the sight had been.
Shannon, however, was shrugging her shoulders. “Kyle, even mages would usually die after a fall from those cliffs.”
“Why are you saying that, Ms. Shannon?! Y-You’re right, but... But you did fall! You bounced along like a ball!” He pantomimed the action.
“I did?”
“You did! It wasn’t something I ever thought was possible, but...” He paused. “Is there...something wrong with me?”
Shaky and troubled, he put his hands to his head. Having his judgment challenged so thoroughly made him wonder whether what he had experienced was real after all. I know it was so hot that I was super thirsty... Maybe the heat made me hallucinate? Or maybe I really did eat a poisonous mushroom...
She would not be okay after falling so far. A hallucination made far more sense.
Kyle’s mother, finding the argument unproductive, cut the conversation short. “Well, Kyle, it won’t do you any good to be so stubborn. Isn’t it enough that Shannon is alive and healthy? Surely that’s the most important thing.”
“I guess,” Kyle muttered.
“Then there’s no reason to further upset her. I’m sure she’s just as tired as you are.” Her expression was filled with affection for her son. “You’ve been working hard lately. Get lots of sleep tonight.”
It was true that he was tired. But...
“There’s still something I don’t get,” he mumbled, indignant, before stuffing his mouth with food.
Ultimately, the topic was dropped, and Kyle was left with hazy conclusions. They continued to discuss other matters well into the night with Kyle’s family’s first guest in a long, long time.