“Hahh... My stomach hurts.”
“Just give it up already, Merlyn.”
“Zelos... It’s because you agree to things without asking me.”
“I didn’t do it because I wanted to!”
Together with Luna, I returned home from washing my face in the river, and Merlyn and Zelos followed behind us while bickering. I had only asked them over for breakfast casually, the same way you might invite a neighbor, but they wore expressions of despair, as if they were about to step foot into the first circle of hell.
“Hey, Mister Arata? Why do they look so depressed?” Luna asked.
“Hmm, what’s the best way to put it... I guess they’ve made a lot of wrong assumptions, that’s all.”
“Oh, really?”
A considerable number of days had passed since I had reincarnated on this island, and everyone I had met was a good person. But it wasn’t like we had been close friends from the start. We had built our relationships to where they were today by eating together, living together, and smiling together. So I was certain that once Zelos and Merlyn got a chance to eat together with us, they would start to smile too.
“Hey, Arata. The path around here is pretty smooth, don’t you think?” Zelos said.
“Yeah, I pave the paths we use often with earth magic,” I said.
“You did it? Are you a magician?”
Unlike Merlyn, who was still wary of me, Zelos joined me in conversation, maybe because he had gotten somewhat used to me. His voice was friendlier than before, perhaps because this was a field he was interested in.
“I’m not impressive enough to call myself a magician, but I am learning magic from Reina.”
“How about that... Well, she’s strong enough to have the epithet of ‘Omnimage,’ so she might be a good teacher.”
“Omnimage?” This was the first time I’d ever heard that word, and I tilted my head, confused.
“What, you didn’t know?” Zelos asked, tilting his head as well.
“There wasn’t any need for me to know. Actually, I didn’t even know magicians had epithets until you two came here.”
For example, Zelos’s epithet was “Flame of Ruin,” while Merlyn’s was “Divine Water.” It was easy to guess what sort of magicians they both were after hearing those names.
“What does ‘Omnimage’ mean?” I asked.
“Well—”
“Hold it right there. You aren’t about to leak information about another magician to him, are you?” Merlyn interrupted. “You’re letting your guard down too much.”
“So what? It’s not like he’s an enemy, so does it really matter?” Zelos said.
“It does. Think about it—Reina might have a reason for why she hasn’t told him.”
“Oh... Yeah, you may be right.” The look on Zelos’s face turned somewhat awkward. “Anyway, sorry, but if you want to know why, ask Reina herself,” he said to me.
“Ah, okay. I don’t mind.”
I hadn’t really been all that curious, so it wasn’t a big deal, but the possibility that Reina hadn’t told me on purpose made me feel a bit lonely. Of course, she may have simply not seen a need to mention it to me, as I didn’t know anything about magicians or the continent.
As I was thinking about this, Luna walking next to me tugged on the hem of my shirt.
“Mister Arata?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s all right. Miss Reina really loves you, after all.”
I may have had a dejected look on my face just then. But when Luna looked at me with her pure, innocent eyes and said something like that so plainly, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Yeah, you’re right. I like her too.”
That was as a friend, of course, and she’d told me the same herself. I thought the relationship Reina and I had built was a good one, where we each respected each other, and I realized that the loneliness I’d just felt was misdirected.
“Thanks, Luna.” I pet her fluffy fox ears, and she smiled cheerfully.
“If I only saw her like this, I might think she was nice to have around,” Zelos said.
Merlyn paused. “She...might be cute.”
The two walking behind us watched our exchange intently.