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THE girl jumped down from the carriage with no help and walked towards the knights. They said nothing. It was disconcerting how silent they were, but it didn’t seem to bother the girl. Everything proceeded with an unspoken understanding between the participants.
“Thank you. Are you adventurers?” said one of the knights, his imposing voice coming from inside the helmet that concealed his face.
“Of a sort,” said Ivar.
“Same!” said Lushera. They both showed their adventuring licenses.
Ivar had received his adventuring license to make things easier for his work as an adventuring manager. Lushera had also gotten hers for the same reason. Things got complicated after that, but she was able to confirm her identity with the branch office of the Adventurers Guild in Kugut’hulm and keep the same qualifications XXXX had before. They even reissued her a license, since her original one had been taken away.
But the knight looked at her license and grumbled, “What in the…? Is this license broken?”
“No, it’s…”
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Name: Lushera
LV: 40 | HP: 812/871 | MP 2219/2433 | STA: 720/720
Strength: 58 | Magic: 75 | Speed: 60
Dexterity: 20 | Endurance: 52 | Resistance: 93
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The knight was suspicious of her license and the impossible numbers on it, though, all the stats it showed were a faithful representation of reality.
“That is her. She’s the one who saved me. I’m sure of it,” said the girl, unexpectedly throwing Lushera a lifeline.
“Ah, I see…” The knight backed down at that. “Let me compensate you for your work.”
He then pressed a money pouch into Lushera’s hands in a manner that said he wasn’t going to allow them to refuse the money. It was not so big that it didn’t fit in Lushera’s hands, but if it was all gold inside, it was about enough money for an average family to live off for a month.
“Thank you for your work,” said the knight. “If you wish to enter the city, please follow the standard process.”
And with that, the knight turned away, not waiting for a response. The mystery girl turned back and glanced at Lushera only briefly, then she and the knights disappeared into the city gate.
“Is this hush money…?” guessed Ivar. “No, it’s ‘don’t look further into this’ money.”
“Who was that girl…?” Lushera wondered.
“I have one idea, but I hope I’m wrong. Things are complicated if I’m right.” Ivar opened the pouch and counted the gold coins, not looking particularly happy. “Eh, whatever. I’ll let you know if I figure anything out. ’Bout that golem too.”
“Thank you. All right, I need to go meet up with Mom and the others.”
“Mm. Good luck.”
Though they both felt uncomfortable with not knowing more, they continued on to the gatehouse and the procedures for entering the city.
There was no sign of the mystery girl there.
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THE knights surrounded her so no one could see her. People looked on with curiosity.
Where was she being escorted to? A jail cell? A mansion? A tour through the city? The situation could’ve fit any of those.
And in fact, it was something like all of them.
No one had ever explicitly told her that her existence was a sin, but that was how it seemed she was treated when you took in her entire life.
But Monica forgot all that, just this once. She even forgot that she was nearly killed not long ago. She didn’t care about what happened now.
Her feet were unsteady, like she was walking on fluffy clouds. She wasn’t stumbling. In fact, she felt if she didn’t think through every single step, she might just leap away like a rabbit.
The early summer sun shone, the river babbled, the birds sang, the leaves of the trees lining the streets whispered in the wind. She saw all these things from her mansion’s window all the time, but they’d never seemed so brilliant before.
That girl…she saved me. And…she talked to me. A little.
She kept thinking it over, digesting it. On the back of her eyelids was seared the image of the crimson girl, how heroic she was, and what she said.
It was awe-inspiring. All of it. Just thinking back to it made Monica’s heart race. She felt she wasn’t the lowly, hateful thing from before. She’d turned into something else. The girl treated Monica with decency. And that was a single beam of light into the darkness of Monica’s life.
Monica also felt sorry. She never even said thank you to the girl who saved her life, instead she responded with hate and vitriol. It was half on purpose, and half out of habit.
Hope. Expectation. Monica learned early on that never having those things was easier. That was why she threw away anything she got. She wanted others to hate her.
The knights who came to pick up Monica had given the crimson girl an excessive payment, which meant this was the end of that. She’d never have anything to do with the girl again.
That was for the best. Monica knew what would happen to someone who showed her kindness, who helped her.
Or perhaps the crimson girl would find out who the weak young lady she rescued was and she’d regret her actions. Maybe she didn’t even need money, maybe she’d wish she could go back in the past and just leave Monica to die instead.
Her heart hurt thinking that, but she was used to giving up. She wouldn’t be hit by any nasty surprises if she set her expectations low for those around her.
It could just be like a pretty flower pressed between pages, or a story she finished reading that she went back and read again. She could just think back to this one day, remember the crimson girl, reliving the one tiny happiness she’d been allowed.
She wished she could say that would be enough. She didn’t think she’d be allowed any more than that.
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🐉 🐉 🐉
ALHYURA was a city well suited as the capital of the kingdom of water that was Setrayu. If you looked down on the city from the sky, it likely looked like one gigantic fountain, or perhaps a cake sculpted from water and stone.
The king’s castle was on a slight rise in the center of the city with waterfalls pouring out from its base, forming a circular island lined with cascading water. That was an expression of the power of the Hurricane of Insight, the dracovitae staff used to quell the lands of the kingdom. It resided in the castle during times of peace. Its waters filled the city’s canals, running to the walls where it burst out in fountains, falling into a moat-like river surrounding the city.
The canals glittered like jewels, the city filled with cheer and brimming with life.
Smooth, polished stone stood out, used along the roads and edges of the canals, but most of the buildings were actually made of wood. Lumber was cheap in this country, with its abundant water, and the wood helped moderate the humidity, something to worry about when living in a country as rainy and damp as this one.
Lushera walked around the inside of the wall, about forty-five degrees of the circle, and came to the meeting place they agreed on earlier: the north gate (presumably the inside?). There she found a throng of people.
As she worked her way closer, she realized it was just a blockage caused by people slowing down as they passed by. And at the center of that blockage…
“Lushera!”
Was Kaphal, of course.
Timm did stand out a bit, with his mountain-like armor, but adventurers in full gear weren’t an uncommon sight on the main streets of the capital. Kaphal stood out more, with her fire-like beauty.
She may have left her main body back on Mount Kugus, only bringing a fragment of herself here, but she was still like a ruby mixed in with pond stones. Her being shined with an unusual brilliance.
Kaphal stood at the side of the gate waiting, and, when she saw Lushera, broke into a smile as bright as the sun and rushed over. The crowd naturally parted before her. Lushera moved straight for her, and Kaphal hugged her, lifted her into the air, and nuzzled her nose against Lushera’s cheek.
“Mom… What’s this about?”
“Make up for amount we separated.”
“Everyone’s watching. It’s uncomfortable.”
Since everyone’s attention had been on Kaphal, they were all of course now staring at the two of them, gentle smiles on their faces. A lot of them seemed to make their own guesses about what was going on, some even had tears in their eyes. They probably thought this was the emotional reunion of a mother and daughter who got separated.
Which wasn’t technically wrong. But they’d only been separated for less than half a day.
“Where’s Weyne and Viola?” asked Lushera.
“They went on ahead to our inn. I’m gonna head into the Guild to say hello,” said Timm, while Lushera was still trapped in Kaphal’s embrace.
“That’s convenient for me. I actually ran into some trouble on the way here. I want to bring it up with the Guild,” Lushera said.
“What happened?”
“Well…”