The vast plains of Britannia shook.
It wasn’t an earthquake. Earthquakes rarely occurred in this land. Moreover, the shaking was oddly rhythmic, with a beat resembling that of a drum:
Boom boom boom, boom boom.
It had just stopped raining, so the ground and the trees of the forest were all damp. The birds and animals were finally just emerging from their rain shelters.
The vibration gradually grew stronger—boom, boom, boom.
At last, something appeared from beyond the hillside, its silhouette breaking apart the trees—revealing itself to be, remarkably, a single giant boar.
In size, it surpassed the elephants from the southern continent. It must have been as large as the Earth Crawler, a beast that was said to swallow even tyrant dragons whole in one bite. And the boar’s body was a deep green, as if covered in moss. However, its eyes were gentle, and its mouth seemed to be smiling.
For some reason, there was what looked to be a person’s house atop the boar’s head.
The small building, with its orange roof that looked like a sharp pointed hat, indeed had windows and a front door. By the green wooden door on the white plaster wall were the letters BOAR HAT, embellished with a silhouette of a boar.
Indeed. This was the traveling tavern, the Boar Hat.
It was said to travel around Britannia while swaying atop a giant boar’s head. It was a legendary pub that had been seen all around for the past ten years.
The giant boar continued to walk as the reverberations of its footfalls continued: boom, boom, boom! With each impact, the raindrops stuck to the leaves of the trees scattered and glistened in the sun.
“Wow…Look, everyone! A rainbow!”
A window on the first floor of the Boar Hat opened, and a girl with silver hair stuck her head out. Where she pointed, a large double rainbow hung in the sky.
“Let me see, let me see!…Oh, it’s beautiful.”
“You don’t often get to see a rainbow as clear as this.”
The next window over and the ones on the second floor opened too, and several people peeked outside.
Though the Boar Hat had formerly been managed solely by one boy, who called himself the master, it had now become quite a large family. Currently inside the pub alone there were five or six people. Including the figures on the second floor and in the watchtower, the total number of people living in the tavern seemed to exceed ten people.
“Ah, rainbows. It’s sad that they disappear so soon.”
As the silver-haired girl, Elizabeth, said this, the beautiful woman with dark grey hair standing next to her smiled. This was Merlin.
“Shall we try to make a rainbow that doesn’t disappear? That might make for interesting research.”
At these words, spoken by Britannia’s reportedly top-ranked sorceress, Elizabeth clasped her hands in front of her chest.
“Oh, how wonderful! But—maybe rainbows are beautiful because they are short-lived.”
Just as Elizabeth said, the ends of the rainbow were already slowly growing faint.
“Maybe you’re right. It’s not like you can see them when you want to. They appear suddenly, and disappear in the blink of an eye. That might be the nature of their beauty.”
Merlin took a deep breath and her figure faded. Elizabeth could see a round transparent thing floating lightly in the air around her chest. Merlin’s soul was sealed inside this ball; the figure that people saw of her every day was something like an illusion.
“They leave an impression because they disappear. Hmm…I wonder if that’s it,” a bespectacled young man with red hair abruptly interjected from behind them. Elizabeth and Merlin, who reappeared as a solid figure, turned their heads towards him, surprised.
“Master Gowther.”
“Gowther, what’s wrong?”
Pushing up the bridge of his glasses with his right hand, the young man they called Gowther squinted at the rainbow outside the window.
“Do rainbows make you remember something special?” Elizabeth asked Gowther innocently. He replied in an indifferent tone.
“Memories are nothing more than the accumulation of information. It is true that there are times when you may observe a similar phenomenon, which becomes a catalyst that vividly revives certain memories. In those terms, right now, I certainly remembered a previous event. A recollection of a ‘persistent rainbow.’”
“Oh?”
“Oh, how interesting. I’d like to hear about it.”
“…Hear about it? Why? That story doesn’t have anything to do with the two of you.” Gowther cocked his head, puzzled.
“Well…of course, if you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t force yourself to…”
Elizabeth looked at Merlin with a troubled expression. Merlin laughed. She said:
“Humans are beings that deepen their mutual understanding by occasionally talking about each other’s past experiences, and view that as proof of their friendship. It means that the princess and I want to know more about you. Well, do you find that unreasonable?”
“Hmmm.” Gowther placed his hand to his chin and thought for a while, but before long, he nodded slightly.
“Well then, let’s talk. But I don’t think it’ll be particularly interesting.”
“Oh, oh. I definitely want to hear this story,” someone suddenly said. It was a young boy with blond hair who had been standing behind them unnoticed.
“Master Meliodas!”
“Hey, everyone. Gowther says he’s going to tell us some kind of old story.”
Gazes gathered from here and there in the tavern in response to Meliodas’ call. Tired of looking at the rainbow, the people setting about arranging the alcohol bottles and cleaning the place each stopped doing their business and gathered loosely around Gowther.
“I’d love to hear Mr. Gowther’s old story.”
“When is it from? Was it before you joined the Seven Deadly Sins?”
With a slight look of surprise, Gowther looked around at the young men who were unanimously asking questions. “This is really quite interesting. Are humans really this interested in the pasts of others?”
“Is that such a big deal? So, when was this story?” Meliodas asked.
Gowther returned his gaze.
“No—it’s not such an old story. It was just recently—when I was living in the village of Ordan.”
Then he started to tell his story.