“Master—thank you.” Sid had almost said something sarcastic, but in the end bit his tongue. “Hey, Master. If I train like this every day, will I be like you one day?” Sid’s eyes were heated as he looked up at Dill. Like the surface of water filling a cup to the very brim, trembling even in the absence of wind, Sid’s eyes twinkled.
In the boy’s blue eyes, Dill could perceive an immense trust placed in him, coming from a foolishly sincere heart. Do I really deserve this? Dill didn’t immediately have an answer. His throat tightened, so much that he couldn’t even manage to say, “Of course you will.”
“I...will soon be forty.” Dill finally managed to move his lips. “I am well on my way to old age, and I will not grow any further. I have already tasted my share of life’s pleasures and pain...”
Dill slowly crouched down to bring his eyes level with Sid’s. He then stretched his hand out, bringing it close to Sid’s shoulder—but in the end did not touch it, only tracing its general shape.
“But you’re different, Sid. You will grow taller. You’ll gain muscle. You’ll learn so many things, and go to so many places. It’s true that right now you have less experience than I do. But among the things you’ll learn in the future, there will be some I don’t know. A day shall come when you’ll do things I never could. Just the fact that you’re younger than I am makes you far more wonderful.”
“Master?” Sid suddenly felt concerned. The long hair dangling over Dill’s face cast long, dark shadows over his expression.
“The truth is, this whole time I’ve been hatching a plan. This is a good time for you to hear it, so listen. I was thinking of waiting until after we got to Vulcan and I introduced you to Cirulia, but...” Dill withdrew the hand he had extended. Instead, he got down on one knee. Crouched down like this, Dill was below Sid’s height, and he looked up at the boy.
With his sword set on the ground beside him and his solemn gaze, along with his old-fashioned long hair, Dill looked almost like a loyal knight.
“Sid, will you be my—”
“Hooray, you’re gay!” A carefree cheer rang through the early morning air. Sid snapped his head toward the speaker. Nue Kirisaki looked back at him, with a bewitching—but slightly vulgar—smile.
“Oh, don’t mind me, don’t mind me. Continue, continue. I...don’t know what to say! I had no idea the two of you were that close. Deep within my chest, my heart is slowly pounding. What is this feeling? What could it be?!”
Sid turned bright red and leaped away from Dill’s side.
“It’s not like that!” Sid then glared at Dill resentfully, looking like he might cry at any moment.
With a wry smile, Dill rose to his feet. Without a word between them, he spread his arms out to Nue, who leaped lightly into his embrace as if she had sprouted wings. Nue gave Dill a kiss on the cheek.
“Good morning, Dill!”
“Yep.” Dill returned her kiss upon the whorl of black hair on her head. “Good morning, princess.”
Sid watched this scene from a distance, looking as if he wanted to say something.
“What are two men doing together so early in the morning? I’m really curious...I really, really am!”
“We men have our secrets. I’ll never tell... Try asking Sid.”
“Zoom zoom zoom!” While adding sound effects to her movements, Nue leaped from Dill’s arms and bounded up to Sid.
As Nue drew closer, desperate for attention and full of expectation, Sid retreated.
“Wha...” Nue’s smile froze. Sid did not smile in return. With his face even paler than it had been during his dizzy spell just before, he stared at Nue’s face, at her red eyes.
His chin trembled slightly. He forgot to blink, as if his eyelids were frozen in place. What Sid’s expression displayed all too clearly—was fear.
Little by little, Nue’s expression changed. The affection that had overflowed there started to dissolve, replaced by stunned shock. The look on her face changed further a few seconds later, her surprise replaced by overwhelming despair.
Nue recoiled, then turned her back to Sid. Running to Dill’s side, she put her arms around his waist and hid behind him.
A chilling silence descended. This was broken by low, muffled sobbing.
Since witnessing Nue’s transformation at the temple on the Bronze Route, Sid’s attitude toward her had changed. Although he had seemed to be growing fond of Nue before, he now kept his distance from her, growing closer to Dill instead. This might have been the boy’s way of defending himself. The fact was that Dill was the only one who could stop Nue during one of her rampages.
At first, Dill had hoped that Sid could fill a new role in Nue’s life. However...
“All right, let’s go. We’ll aim to reach Vulcan by noon. There will be hot showers waiting for us there.”
The children nodded reservedly, having finished their breakfast in silence. Both of them sat the same distance away from Dill, but between them was about twice that distance, an open space of aloofness.
In the vicinity of Vulcan, one of the Eleven Cities of the North, there stood an expanse of dense conifer forests. No such plants had grown natively in the town at the crossroads where Sid was born; he found his arms and legs were pierced by their needles at every turn. Through the gloomy, dark green woods the party proceeded, seeking the Bronze Route. Since the incident at the temple, they had not set foot on its cobblestones in quite some time.