It was dusk. When Tailtiu and I returned from hunting, Reina was already about to start cooking.
“We’re back,” I said.
“We have returned!” Tailtiu said.
Normally Reina acted like she couldn’t hear us at all if we spoke to her while she was cooking, but it seemed as though she had just reached a stopping point. She turned around in response to our greetings.
“Welcome back, you two. How’d it go?”
An upbeat Tailtiu looked at Reina as if she couldn’t contain her laughter. “Heh heh heh heh heh. We caught a pretty big one today!”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Why don’t we take it apart when Elga and the others come by for a visit?”
Tailtiu grunted with displeasure. “Hrmm? Not today?”
“It’s already late, and I’m done getting ready to make dinner.”
Apparently, she had been planning to cook whatever kill we brought back with us, but our delayed return meant she’d decided to use the ingredients she had on hand. Preparing and cooking the cassowary now would definitely make our dinner run late, so this was the right choice.
“Hrmm... Then next time, I’ll boast about it to Luna and that closet-pervert wolf!”
Though Tailtiu seemed somewhat dissatisfied, one of her good points was that she was quick to cheer up.
Tailtiu often did things together with Luna when she came here for a visit. They were close, like sisters, perhaps because they were at a similar stage of life. Tailtiu had been called a loner in the past, but now that she had made a friend in Luna, she often talked about her. It was obvious that, deep down, she was glad to call Luna a friend, even if she was too shy to say so out loud. However, she held a grudge against Elga for having disparagingly called her a loner, and it seemed she had no intention of making friends with him.
“You know, Tailtiu, you’ll make Elga angry if you call him a closet pervert,” I said.
“But he’s the one who called me a loner first! So I’m going to call him a pervert until he apologizes!”
There isn’t really anything I can say when she puts it like that...
For his part, Elga was the one who had started it, so it didn’t seem like the gap between them was going to shrink anytime soon.
“Well, I guess it’s fine, as long as they aren’t seriously getting into a fight.”
If they did get into an all-out fight, they’d flatten the entire area. I would have to stop them before that happened, but I’d rather they not waste their time fighting in the first place.
“By the way, how far did Zelos and Merlyn go?” I asked. I hadn’t sensed either of them when we were out hunting. Still, they’d probably just gone to another area.
“Oh, they took the tents I gave them and went to the riverside,” Reina said.
“Huh, the river? Are they going to be all right?”
“I imagine they will. Merlyn’s there, for one.”
Back when Reina and I had chosen a place to set up camp, she had instructed me to get as far away from the river as we could. This was because the river could overflow its banks when it rained. That wouldn’t be much of an issue if we were awake, but it would be a serious problem if we were flooded in our sleep. But even though Reina had said all that, she didn’t seem particularly concerned.
“Is Merlyn really that amazing?” I asked.
“Yes. She’s the Divine Water, Number Five in the Seven Celestial Archmages. Everyone on the continent agrees she’s the best water magician.”
“Wow...”
Reina was the greatest magician from my point of view, so Merlyn had to be quite something for Reina to acknowledge her strength. And the same went for Zelos, who was just as powerful.
“They fully understand how dangerous this island can be, so they chose a spot where they can exert their power to its fullest. Honestly, I only know one magician who can beat Merlyn when she’s near water. Or rather...I used to only know one.”
The conflicted expression on her face as she corrected herself made it clear that she had seen all sorts of beings on this island that could beat Merlyn.
“W-Wait, why does it sound like you’re also referring to me?” I asked.
“Because you’re the exact person who shattered everything I thought I knew.”
“Oh... Let’s talk about something else.”
I’d be at too much of a disadvantage if this went on. I always tried to change the subject because of that, but for some reason we always looped back around to how abnormal I was.
“Hey, Reina?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t you think you’re being harsh?”
“No.”
“Oh...”
Merlyn Mareen, the Divine Water, and Zelos Grinder, the Flame of Ruin—they were specialists in water and fire magic, respectively. These magicians were powerful enough to make Reina admit that she would be at a disadvantage in a direct fight, and now they had come to the island. I felt ever so slightly nervous about how this would impact things, but at the same time I was a bit excited by this new encounter. I decided that my change of heart was a good thing; I wanted to get along with them, too, if possible.
“Now if only I could get you guys to treat me like a human...”
“That’s quite a tall order,” Reina said.
“I also think you’d better give up on that, darling,” Tailtiu said.
“Give up on being treated like an ordinary person?!”
As two of them nodded gravely, I simply hung my head.