Was she able to use Warm’s wyvern in his stead?
“Surprising,” I remarked. “I didn’t think that this wyvern took orders from anyone but Warm.”
“It wasn’t an order; it was a request,” Yunaile insisted with a frown.
“I don’t care.” I readied my Dark Ball. “I’ll ask again: Who are you?”
This girl only wore a thin, white dress within this freezing cold yet seemed completely unfazed. It was obvious that she was out of the ordinary. My perception field could pick her up, but her signal didn’t resemble a human’s—it was a spirit’s.
“I know that you aren’t human,” I said.
Yunaile narrowed her eyes. “Ah, you know that much.”
“No normal human could just stand in a blizzard in a thin dress and be fine.”
“Ah, so it seems,” Yunaile said, gazing down at her attire and nodded. “Humans are rather susceptible to the cold.”
Clearly, she no longer meant to hide her identity.
“What’s your goal?” I asked.
Yunaile didn’t answer as she turned her back on me and walked ahead. “Let’s head to civilization first. You’re trembling.”
“You expect me to blindly trust you to guide me there?”
“I’m not a human, so I won’t lie like one.” Her steely gaze was focused on me. “I just want to save Warm. I can’t have you die here.”
“What are you to Warm?”
“I’m...his friend.”
She walked ahead in the snow. Honestly, I don’t want to stay here in the cold forever. But is this nonhuman girl really a friend of Warm’s? I don’t think she existed in the tale... This meant that I had no information on her. Yunaile couldn’t be trusted—she was clearly giving the bare minimum of explanations, and her words didn’t feel particularly genuine. But it didn’t seem like she was trying to deceive me, and I needed her to tell me what happened to Warm.
Even if she’s leading me into a trap, I could probably beat her.
And so, I chased after her within the blizzard.
✶✶✶
A massive manor stood in the center of Stelia, one that would put even the lord of the land to shame. This huge building was built of prime estate, and it was precisely where Gillan, the wealthy merchant of Stelia, resided. He was the director of the Merchant Association in the land, and the economy of this large fief was single-handedly supported by him.
Normally, he lived in a remote region, but he’d moved back to his headquarters because of the incident three months ago. A certain heir of a noble household had attacked his manor in the middle of the night, making it clear just how flawed the merchant’s security system was. Admittedly, he hadn’t expected anyone to oppose or attack him in Stelia, and his security had gotten rather lax over the years.
But he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. He threw his money around and tightly secured his manor, even hiring excellent soldiers as his guards. His house became an impregnable fortress.
Gillan sat in the guest room of his manor, lounging on a lavish sofa. His guest was Sigil, the leader of the Scarlet Wind.
“What brings you here today, Mr. Sigil?” Gillan asked. “Did you find some expensive artifacts in a ruin? Or have you perhaps gathered the necessary funds to buy the medicine?”
Sigil shook his head. “I don’t have the money yet, but there’s something I’d like to ask about it.”
The pudgy merchant stroked his double chin while sizing Sigil up. “Hmm, you don’t seem to be here to haggle. What do you want to know?”
“Is it really effective?”
Gillan knit his brow. “What are you implying?”
“The medicine you speak of is manufactured in the empire, right? But Iz’s illness comes from a special sort of manatom accumulating within her body. A friend told me that the empire isn’t known to delve too deeply into that field.”
“Oh? Your friend certainly claims to be an expert. So... Are you saying that you doubt me?”
“I don’t mean to offend. It’s just that we’ve gone to the empire before, and there really aren’t any stores that deal in mana. You could say that this has made me a touch curious.”
Gillan’s eyes glimmered with hostility. “But, Mr. Sigil, you do offend. You understand that trust means everything in business, yes? And yet, you are denying me such trust.”
Gillan stood up from the sofa, implying that this conversation was over. He made to leave, when Sigil hastily jumped to his feet.
“W-Wait! Please!” Sigil begged. “I just wanted to confirm the facts...”
“I don’t know who your friend is, but if you’re so convinced by some nobody, then our deal is off. I cannot put my trust in a man who will not return it. Does that not sound fair?”
Sigil rushed toward the exit and stood in front of it. He bowed his head, stopping Gillan in his tracks.
“I-I’m sorry,” Sigil stammered. “You’re the only one willing to sell me this cure, and it was my mistake to doubt you.”
Gillan gazed down at the bowing Sigil and grinned.
“Very well. Apology accepted, Sigil,” Gillan said. “However, this mistake is not one you can simply take back with an apology. Tell me, how do you believe you should compensate me for this breach of trust?”
Sigil looked up. “Excuse me? What am I supposed to do?”
Gillan flashed a lecherous smile. “Well, for example, there was a woman I liked, but she recently ran away. My nights have been lonely. If I recall, you had a pretty lady called Elma with you, no?”
“What?!”
At once, Sigil’s eyes flashed with rage and hostility. His voice went low, as though he were about to murder this merchant on the spot.
“Oh, is she yours?” Gillan asked. “Hmm... Iz isn’t too hard on the eyes, but I’m not interested in sleeping with an invalid.”
Sigil trembled with fury as his hands reached for his blade. “You’re really crossing a line here.”
“Ah! You had another woman with her, didn’t you? What was her name again? Lilka, was it? She’s a bit too young for my taste, but I could make do.”
“I hope you’ve made your peace, Gillan!”
Sigil, no longer able to hold himself back, unsheathed his blade and pointed the tip right at Gillan. The merchant only cast a bored look at his guest.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the merchant asked. “This is rather foolish of you, if you ask me, Mr. Sigil. Or do you not need the medicine?”
“You think I’d sell my family for that?!” Sigil spat.
“Hmm, I need her for but...three days. No, just one evening will do. But if you’re going to stoop to violence, it seems I’ve got no other choice. I’d pinned you for a smarter man, but I overestimated you.”
Gillan took a few paces back and snapped his fingers. At once, the door behind Sigil burst open, and dozens of soldiers flooded into the guest room. In a flash, the leader of the Scarlet Wind was surrounded.
“Wh-What’s the big idea?!” Sigil growled, his blade at the ready.
Gillan guffawed. “Ha ha ha ha! What? Did you think I’d let myself be caught unarmed against an outlaw such as yourself? But no matter. It’s high time I made my move anyway.”
“What? What are you on about?”
“See, I’ve been after your airship for a while now. I thought I’d take some money from you before then, but if you won’t play along, I’m left with no other choice. I won’t be able to take a single thing if you run off.”
Gillan’s smile was sickeningly wide, laced with amusement and malice. Sigil felt his blood boil as his face turned red, and his hands trembled from pure rage.
“Then...what about the cure?” he whispered.
“It doesn’t exist, you fool!” Gillan laughed. “You’ve done well, working so hard for a fictional drug! You might not have much, but money’s money, all the same. I’ll take it, along with the women.”
“Gillaaan!”