The first month after I took up residence in Balrog’s village passed by in a flash. It was the most calm and tranquil period I’d ever experienced, and all it took was abandoning my duties as a Hero.
“Is something wrong, Koh?”
“Ah, no, nothing.” I’d stopped in my tracks without realizing it. Rei turned to face me from her wheelchair. I gave her a pat on the head to deflect my moment of distraction.
“Ahh...” Rei smiled and visibly relaxed. I’d learned over the course of the past month that she really liked having her head patted like that. Making somebody else happy was honestly really new to me, and I still wasn’t used to that idea.
I’d done a fair bit of helping out since I’d arrived, mostly with manual labor. Word about the boar I took down spread among the townsfolk overnight, and it wasn’t long at all before they started asking me to help carry around crops and materials or drive away wild animals that were threatening the fields. It felt like I was making myself useful, but I wasn’t occupied all the time. Not by a long shot. When I wasn’t busy helping people with their requests, I spent my time in a slow, leisurely manner—and I spent most of it with her.
“Sorry you’re stuck with someone like me all the time, Rei. I’m sure you must be bored.”
“Really, Koh? Have I ever said anything of the sort?” Rei puffed out her cheeks, making a big show of sulking. She was rather prone to somewhat childish mannerisms like that. “I’ll admit that you might not be a very good conversationalist, but that doesn’t keep you from trying your hardest to talk with me anyway! It’s really kind of you, and I appreciate it.”
“You’re giving me too much credit.”
“But that’s not all! Thanks to you taking care of me, my brother and Lyra have been spending a lot more time together recently.” She tilted her head up towards me again, smiling happily.
“What, are they in love?”
“Huh? You haven’t noticed?!”
“I asked a while back, but they denied it.”
Rei paused for a moment. “I’m certain that’s my fault.”
“Yours? Why?”
“Balrog’s always taken really good care of me, but all that time he spends on me is time he can’t spend on himself. Lyra’s always been considerate of our circumstances too—I have an inkling that she’s worried about stealing him away from me.”
“Have they ever said anything like that?”
“They didn’t have to. I can just tell.” Rei hung her head. Most likely, her lack of vision made it easier for her to discern people’s intent and emotions by other means—be it the words they chose or the way they said them.
“That makes sense...”
“But now it’s different! You’re here now, Koh!”
I hesitated. “But I’ve never had a family. I don’t really think I can do a good enough job to take your brother’s place.”
“‘Take his place’...? Koh, has anyone ever told you that you’re a bit dull?”
“No. Most people tell me I’m quite sharp, if anything.”
“Oh, you liar!” I wasn’t lying, though—or at least not intentionally. I was under the impression that I was quite sensitive when it came to stuff like detecting the presence of monsters in the vicinity. Rei started up her usual little sulking routine again, though a moment later, an idea seemed to hit her, and she hung her head once more. “Koh... Do you enjoy spending time with me like this?”
“Yeah.”
“You didn’t even have to think about it?!”
“People tell me that I’m so expressionless, it’s like I don’t have emotions at all, so this might be hard to believe, but I do know how it feels to enjoy something. I’m pretty sure that’s how I feel when I’m with you.”
“W-Well, now I feel all shy...” She hung her head yet again, but this time, she was blushing. She was precisely my opposite, in that respect. Every thought that went through her head showed instantly on her face.
It’s been said that it’s normal to have complicated feelings of admiration and jealousy towards people who have what you don’t, but I’d certainly never experienced any jealousy when I was with Rei. She made me feel calm and relaxed, if anything. Plus, the fact that she couldn’t see my expressions meant that she wasn’t bothered by the fact that I barely had any.
“I wish I could live like this forever,” I mumbled.
“Koh?”
“I was just thinking about how nice it’d be to live without any messy, complicated stuff to worry about. With Balrog, and Lyra, and you... Ah, we’re here.” Rei didn’t seem to have said all that she wanted to yet, but the walk from Balrog’s house to the village’s main gateway only took about ten minutes. I could only stretch it out for so long.
“Oh, hey, Koh!” shouted Balrog with a wave. “Thanks for walking Rei all the way out here.”
“Wait, you’re here?” I replied, confused. “But then, why did you leave Rei at the house...?”
“Oh, no—you’re serious, aren’t you?” interjected Lyra. “Sounds like Rei has it pretty rough...”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” For reasons I couldn’t fathom, Balrog and Rei both sighed. I was under the impression that I was the one who should’ve been exasperated, but it seemed I was misreading something. Right around the end of that brief exchange, I felt a tug on my sleeve.
“What is it, Rei?”
“Whoops, looks like we’re getting in the way. Let’s move along, Balrog,” said Lyra.
“Oh, the tragedy! I knew the day would come that my beloved little sister would treat me with indifference, but alas, now that the time has arrived I find my heart unprepared and broken!” Balrog collapsed dramatically onto Lyra’s shoulder, and I watched the two of them walk away until Rei tugged on my sleeve once more.
“Come on, Koh! Are you really going to ruin a rare chance for some privacy?”
“Yeah, you’re right. Shouldn’t be nosy—I definitely don’t want to bother them.”
She sighed. “Yes, I suppose you wouldn’t. Shall we head out as well?”
“Y-Yeah, sure.” Her reaction struck me as sort of weirdly unenthusiastic, but I moved on anyway, pushing her wheelchair towards the peddler’s wagon that was set up by the village’s entryway.
“Oh, Rei! Good to see you,” called the peddler. “And... Actually,” he started, looking me up and down, “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“It’s been a while, yes,” replied Rei. “He only arrived recently, but he’s staying in our village for now.”
“Hmm, that so?” The peddler made no effort to pry into Rei’s rather evasive answer and replied with a smile. “You’re a real go-getter, huh, Rei? With company like him around, I guess you won’t be wanting this anymore?”
He pulled a book out from his carriage. Its cover was decorated with an illustration of a handsome knight and a woman wearing an apron. It didn’t have a title written on it, as far as I could see, but I surmised that it was an item she’d requested the peddler to find for her.
“O-Of course I do!”
“Ha ha ha, I’m just messin’ with you! You already paid for the thing, and I’m not in the business of cheatin’ my customers.” In contrast to his teasing, he was very gentle about setting the book down on her lap.
No sooner had we wrapped up our conversation and walked away than another villager strolled over to talk with him.
“Looks like he’s pretty popular around here,” I observed.
“Not many of the villagers here have to leave for work often, so he’s our only real means of bringing in things from the outside world.”
“So that book you got came from outside?”
“That’s right.” She opened the book up to show me, but its pages were perfectly plain and white. There wasn’t so much as a single word printed upon them. When the light hit them just right, though, I could see tiny bumps protruding from the paper’s surface.