I gathered my mana, recited the incantation, and activated the spell. A light flickered to life at the tip of my wand. Even though it had been damaged by the goblin’s club, I could still use magia without any issues.
The sky had already begun to grow dark when we left the guild, and it would likely be pitch black by the time we returned to the estate. It was dangerous for two women to walk alone at night. Having our own light served as a form of protection.
To the average person, magia was mysterious and frightening. Being able to use it was often enough to make other people wary or uneasy. A simple beginner-level spell like this served as a kind of introduction that announced the presence of a mage. No one halfway sensible would even think of trying anything.
Still, I could no longer confidently say, “Even if someone attacks me, I’ll just beat them down.” Not after everything that had happened. To think I had used that exact line as an excuse to turn down my family’s offer to send someone for us...
“Let’s take the main road,” I said.
“Yes, my lady,” Yune replied.
I had made that suggestion because it seemed like the safest route, but then I realized the main road was the only way home. It took some time to get from the guild to the estate, but the trip was straightforward with merely two turns.
I started walking, keeping my gaze forward on purpose to avoid looking at my friend’s face.
“Yune. I’m sorry about today.” I’d barely taken a few steps before those words slipped out.
“Ohhhh, it’s quite all right. I underestimated adventuring too, you know.” Yune spoke slowly, and her words were drawn out as usual.
We had light, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at her expression. I could not deny that I had made a mistake in judgment, and she had nearly died because of it.
“Actually,” she continued, “Grandfather Magnan asked me to accompany you to make sure you didn’t get involved with anything dangerous. He was so worried since you absolutely refused to hire a bodyguard or anything.”
“What?” That sudden revelation caught me off guard, and I turned to look at her before I could stop myself.
Yune met my eyes with a rueful look. There was concern in her expression, maybe, but not a trace of guilt. Her brows lowered in something close to sympathy. “Since Kiri-o seemed like the type who wouldn’t do anything reckless,” she said, her voice lilting as always, “I figured it’d be fine, you know. So I suggested you go along with him, my lady, and up to that point everything was going according to plan. But,” she added, a sheepish note creeping in, “since I was already pushing you in that direction, I really should’ve told you to follow his lead all the way through.”
I stopped walking and turned toward her, narrowing my eyes. “Wait a second. You were doing all this because grandfather asked you? He never told me anything about that.”
Yune winced slightly but didn’t back down. “He told me not to mention it, sooo...”
Of course. That old man knows I would object if I knew. And Yune, who’s my friend, clearly prioritized him over me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he bought her off with another box of those fancy sweets he keeps ordering from the capital.
“But,” Yune continued, her tone softening as she looked ahead, “I’ve treated my fair share of people who got hurt by monsters. So I also thought what you said made sense, my lady.”
I didn’t respond right away. She didn’t need to remind me. She might call me “my lady,” but there was no real master-servant dynamic between us. Yune might seem timid, but she always spoke up when it mattered. She had a quiet kind of strength, and her sense of justice might’ve been stronger than mine.
She’d felt the same way I had. That much, I understood.
“Those adventurers made fools of us.” This was the truth I really needed to say.
The sound of our footsteps echoed softly against the stone-paved street. It was getting late. With so few people around, even a quiet sound like that stood out. The passersby who spotted us flinched at the glow of my light spell like they’d just seen a ghost. The lord was open-minded about magic, so using it in public wasn’t forbidden as long as it wasn’t dangerous. Even so, we still got those looks. Maybe that was because there just weren’t many magic users.
“They sure did, didn’t they?” Yune murmured beside me in agreement.
We continued in silence for about ten more steps, then both of us let out a long sigh. It wasn’t the fact that we’d been laughed at. What stung, what felt downright pitiful, was the fact that those adventurers’ flippant, haphazard words had actually managed to lift our spirits.
“I’m never doing that again,” I muttered.
“Absolutely not,” Yune agreed without missing a beat.
The magical light on my wand lit the path ahead. “Yune.”
“Yes, my lady?”
“You’ll still come with me, right?”
“Of course. We’ve still got unfinished business, after all.”
Unfinished business. That wasn’t quite right. No, it was simply wrong. That phrase didn’t even come close, because we hadn’t accomplished anything yet. I hadn’t done a single thing.
“That rude man... Sure, he was just as insufferable as ever with the way he talks, but I suppose he did say one or two decent things. In fact, I’m willing to revise my opinion of him a little. Just a little.”
It irritated me to admit I’d learned something from someone like him, but... Well, he is experienced. Since he took the time to talk to us, even if it was more or less forced, the least I can do is give him that much credit. Call it a form of social grace. After all, we’re still rookies in this world of adventurers.
“If you’re alive, most things can be made right. And right now, we’re all alive. You and me. And Kiri. All three of us.”
Beside me, my childhood friend smiled. That gave me the final push I needed to reach out toward a debt I could’ve just kept pretending not to see. I had never expected my adventure to start deep in the red, but...
“First, I’m going to make things right.”
The road ahead was even dimmer than the light at the tip of my wand, and thinking about tomorrow scared me so much my legs were shaking. Still, in the clouds hanging over my heart, a sliver of light had finally started to shine through.