Chapter 3

1 By the time the sun began to set, they could see the walls of Leirest. Even though the city was nowhere near the kingdom’s border, its barriers were heavily fortified because it was a main travel hub. Since they were currently at a higher elevation, Ix and Yuui could just about peer into the city. It was packed with roofs, not a single space left between. “Aah, I’m so hungry…” Ix looked back at Yuui, who followed on unsteady feet. They’d arrived later than he’d hoped because he’d had to match his pace to hers. According to what she told him on the way here, she’d arrived in Leirest the previous evening, which meant she’d walked for basically an entire day. She hadn’t eaten since having dinner on her way to Ix’s village; no wonder she was running out of energy. On top of that, she’d probably been on edge the whole time because she was on a mountain path at night. That would’ve added to her fatigue. Ix waited for Yuui to catch up, then told her, “This path’s protected from magic beasts, but we’re still in the mountains, you know. There are plenty of garden-variety creatures here that’ll see you as nothing more than a meal.” “The moon was out last night, so I decided it was not dangerous. Also, I was planning on purchasing food at the village, but you made me rush ’cause you were being so inconsiderate.” “I don’t remember saying anything out of line.” “You just…do not have any manners, do you?” “Master never taught me how to interact with the customers.” “Can you be a craftsman without that?” “I’m actually one of the more likable of his apprentices.” “Huh?” Once the two of them made their way down the mountain, the trail merged with Kusa Zuf. The path underfoot was now cobblestone. Farm fields enclosed by a simple wooden fence stretched out a short way from the edge of the road. “That’s surprising,” muttered Ix. “What is?” asked Yuui. “The fields have gotten a lot bigger since the last time I came here.” “Is that so? I only just arrived, so I wouldn’t know.” Yuui nodded. “Good to see they are so diligent.” “I wonder…” “Is something bothering you?” There had been a surprising amount of distance to cover from the point when they’d first glimpsed the walls of their destination; by the time they’d reached the gates of Leirest, the sun had already dipped behind the city skyline. The massive gates were still open. Guards stood on either side, glaring threateningly at the people coming and going. Occasionally, they would demand merchants and travelers stop for a moment before checking their piles of goods. Ix produced his travel pass from his shirt and hung it from his neck so it was visible. Yuui did the same but put her hood up again. “Hold on, you two!” shouted a bearded guard just as they were about to pass through the gate. Ix immediately stopped and stared at him. The other travelers halted as well, looking similarly anxious. The man strode over briskly and passed Ix to stand before Yuui. He was about Ix’s height, so he really towered over her. “Show your face,” he demanded. “Do you mean me?” replied Yuui. “That’s right. Hurry up.” “I…” “Hey, don’t worry,” reassured the guard, his tone suddenly turning soft. “It’s just a precaution. You got a pass, no one’s gonna stop you ’cause of your face.” “…All right.” Yuui lifted her hood and cast her eyes down, her tanned skin and blue-tinged black hair now visible. “Huh…?” The guard cocked an eyebrow. “An early delegate?” “No,” replied Yuui. “Of course not, not a kid like you… Hey, let me see your pass again,” he demanded, tugging on the pass Yuui still had in her grip. The action pulled her up on her toes, and she grimaced as her neck muscles craned. A laugh rose from the circle of travelers surrounding them. It was impossible to tell who it came from. After examining the pass for a while, the guard suddenly released it. Yuui teetered but managed to regain her footing without falling. “Eh, whatever. You can go,” said the guard. “Thank you.” “Just don’t get into trouble, ’cause if anything happens to someone like you, we ain’t gettin’ involved.” “…Of course.” “Hey, the rest of you, don’t stand here blocking the gate!” The travelers started up again as though they’d suddenly remembered how to move, but now things were different. This time, there were whispers about Yuui mixed into the chatter of the crowd. Covering her face with the hood again, Yuui moved forward and kept her eyes on the ground. Ix watched her. He didn’t really know how people from the east were treated in the kingdom. People from all walks of life used to visit the shop, but nobody had ever told him outright what it was like for them. Besides, this was actually the first time he’d met someone from the east. But based on how the guard had harassed her and the reactions of the crowd, Ix wasn’t getting the impression they were greatly welcomed. As they passed through the gate, Yuui whispered, “Let’s go, Ix.” “Yeah,” he said with a shrug. Leirest was busy even in the evening. It had originally expanded as a trade city, but since Kusa Zuf’s construction, it had become a gathering point for people and goods flowing in and out of the kingdom and grown even more prosperous. In fact, its economic activity and population had risen so consistently that there were now enough people crammed between its walls to make you feel as if you were suffocating. Merchant after merchant called out to Ix and Yuui as they made their way down the street. Everything was on offer, from food to gems to fabrics spread on the road. Yuui stopped momentarily in front of a merchant who’d set out some tools with strange patterns on them. “Hey, you, with the face I can’t see! Here we have items exhumed from the disposal grounds of indigenous religions, of gods long dead in this kingdom, and…” Without missing a beat, the merchant launched into a fishy spiel. Yuui hastily pulled her hood down farther and strode away. Ix remained completely expressionless as he passed by the merchant. Tired of the crowd, the pair stepped into an alleyway, only to be hit with a horrible stench halfway down. Garbage and detritus were scattered everywhere. “…We’re going this way?” asked Yuui, looking unhappy. “Personally, I prefer real trash to human trash. If you don’t like it, you can take a different route, though.” “I—I will stay with you,” she said, following him so closely, she was almost clinging to his back. Ix wondered why she was forcing herself if it bothered her that much. “By the way, where are we headed?” asked Yuui. “A wand shop.” “A-are you off-loading me onto them? But you promised to fix it…” “I am accepting the responsibility as promised. I’ll fix it. But I need tools and materials to do it. And before that, I’ve got to examine the wand in detail. I can’t do that by myself. Not without specialized equipment.” “I take it you know someone, then?” “There’s this lady—she was another one of my master’s apprentices. Since he left this job behind, she won’t refuse to assist us.” “This lady… Is she as dreadful as you are?” “She’s highly capable.” “Capable, huh…?” mumbled Yuui, placing a hand on her cheek as she thought. “But is there really a wand shop here? I did search this city fairly thoroughly to locate someone who would fix mine.” “First I’ve heard of that. You couldn’t find anyone?” “W-well, I was told that just examining the wand would cost quite a bit of money… And while it was unclear whether your master was alive, I had the contract, so I opted to go there first…,” explained Yuui, looking down in embarrassment. A wand as high quality as that needed to be handled delicately, so the craftsman had probably requested an additional fee to cover the difficulty of the job. Buying a good tool took some serious cash, and using it for a long time required even more. You could even argue a tool was only as good as the money you put into it. Following his memory of the area, Ix turned a corner. As they were about to leave the alley, something moved at his feet. “Eeeek!” Yuui let out a brief shriek and hid behind Ix. They saw some rags squirming down at the edge of the road. Ix initially suspected a large rat or a stray cat, but that wasn’t it. Sprouting out from beneath the rags were a pair of arms and legs with dull skin. It was a human. A thin, starving homeless person sat on the edge of the road. They stared into the space with lifeless eyes. Ix and Yuui quickly went elsewhere but soon ran into a number of other people in similar situations. One was curled up in a ball, while another begged from passersby with a withered outstretched hand. The area was overflowing with starving masses, regardless of age or gender. “The people in this alley are too weak to go beg on the main street,” murmured Ix. “If there’re this many here, how many are there in the entire city…?” “The capital wasn’t nearly this bad…” “It wasn’t this desperate when I came a few years ago, either. I’ve heard stories that the capital doesn’t have many homeless people—is that true?” “There are a few, of course, but most are taken to an almshouse or given work. The rest scrape by through begging.” “The current king is apparently big on antipoverty initiatives; he must be working on it close to home first.” In places beyond the king’s reach, however, unhoused people were simply ignored. Even if folks wanted to help them, the funds weren’t there. Given Leirest’s reputation as a commercial hub, it seemed obvious that raising taxes to help the poor would be a controversial idea. Other cities would be much the same. Places where Marayism was strong might be another story, though… Yuui sighed glumly as she walked beside Ix. “I had heard the kingdom was prosperous,” she said. “It is. The increase of homeless people just means the population is increasing accordingly.” “That does not matter if there are more citizens in poverty, though. Why is there this unrestrained growth?” “Dunno. Might be a rebound effect.” “Rebound from what?” “You heard of the sonim plague?” “Yes, I am aware of it.” An epidemic of sonim, an illness sometimes called the broken-mind sickness, had swept the kingdom about twenty years ago and wiped out nearly a third of its population. The plague pushed it to the brink of collapse. And it wasn’t confined to the kingdom, either; the disease also spread to neighboring countries and similarly devastated them. Although Ix had grown up in a tiny mountain hamlet, he knew a lot about the topic, having learned from his master’s customers who came to visit. He began to explain, prefacing to Yuui that everything he knew about the plague he’d heard secondhand. “Since sonim killed so many people regardless of status, commoners and aristocrats alike, it weakened the grip of the nobility. Serfs gained money and freedom. Some peasants even managed to save up small fortunes. As a result, those people started having lots and lots of children. The kingdom’s population exploded, and it keeps going up to this day. Supposedly, that’s why the kingdom recovered a bit faster than the surrounding nations. With a larger population, you’ve got more people to work.” “But how would that result in there being more people in poverty as well?” “That’s simple. Food shortages,” explained Ix, shaking his head. “The number of people in an area increases, but the amount of food to go around doesn’t. That’s why the cost of groceries is on the rise. Some people have so little to eat, they stoop to begging. When their family scatters, they have nowhere to go, so their only option is sleeping on the side of the street. It looks like they’re scrambling to increase the amount of arable land right now, but…I don’t think they can catch up, especially when you consider how easily populations can grow.” Yuui nodded in understanding, though all Ix could see was her hood moving slightly. “Then why don’t they employ the poor to assist in expanding farmland?” she asked. “There’s only so much land to work with,” replied Ix immediately. “Get it? They’re now having to go into areas that were previously unsuitable for agriculture.” “Because of poor soil?” “There’s that, but the biggest roadblock is magic beasts.” “…Ah, I see.” Yuui sighed. “So what you are saying is that any acreage that has not been converted to farmland is infested with magic beasts. They try to expand agriculture but are unable. There are few magic beasts in my country, but I have heard similar stories.” “Because of that, you got everyone making a big deal about this bunch of people called adventurers.” “Adventurers—” “Originally, they worked in sort of self-governed troupes, but now they’ve been systemically organized, so they’re hunting more and more magical beasts. I guess farmers or the government rewards them for eliminating creatures that stray too close to crops. Adventurers are a dangerous bunch who walk around with weapons out in the open. The scale of the Adventurers’ Guild has grown to the point that they’ve co-opted some of the rights of people to hunt and harvest crops on their own land. It seems even the kingdom’s government can’t quite control… Yuui?” Ix looked at her questioningly. She was hugging herself and muttering something in a low voice. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she leaped in response. “What’s wrong with you? You dare touch me, Yuui Laika—?” “That’s what I should be asking. Are you that hungry?” he asked. “Oh, yes…,” she answered, seemingly back to her senses. “I’m sorry—it seems I was a little out of it.” “Uh-huh. All right, what inn should we stay at?” “I-i-inn?! At wh-what point did I say I would pay with my body?!” “Huh?” Ix raised an eyebrow. “…Um, I thought we were going to the wand shop?” “There’s no point. The sun’s already setting. The store owner is only around during the daytime. She closes at nightfall.” Yuui blinked a few times, then nodded more strongly than he’d ever seen her before. She gripped her hood tight and spoke in a rush. “Y-you should have said so sooner.” “I did. On the road here to Leirest. Were you so tired that you didn’t hear me?” “Uh…” “Is that hostel over there all right with you? I’m also fine with lodging you’ve used before.” “I really don’t mind where we stay. Oh, but I would like a private room instead of a shared one.” “A private room… I wouldn’t expect a hostel to have anything like that, but I’ll see what I can do.” “A-a private room for one, yes? Not a private room for two.” “Obviously. A room for two would mean you’re staying with someone.” “Ah, yes…” She pulled her hood down even farther. 2 Yuui Laika rubbed her tired eyes. She took off her coat and threw it on the bed. The temperature was climbing in this area. Though she’d been uncomfortably hot the entire time, she wasn’t bold enough to walk around outside with her face and skin exposed. Yuui collapsed into a sitting position, unable to move further, as though her body had rooted itself there. Her legs had become stiff from the fatigue of walking nonstop since the night before. “Agh, aaah…” She rubbed her calf with her thumb, pain and comfort mixing perfectly until they exited from her mouth in a sigh. On top of that, her empty stomach had finally been settled with her first meal in a full day. She yawned. Yuui wondered if she could trust that man Ix. She knew the name Munzil. He was such a famous wandmaker that he was known even in the east, the subject of all sorts of legends that were told as if they were the truth. Tales of how his wand had allowed a child to defeat a soldier, or how he’d fixed a broken wand with a single finger, or how he’d constructed a staff from a dead branch when in distress in the forest. Obviously, those stories were quite exaggerated, but she was well aware of how amazing the products of his craftsmanship were. Solely focused on high precision, Munzil cut away everything unnecessary in a wand to the point of obsession. The wand of his she had was so natural, fit her hand so perfectly, that she hadn’t understood its brilliance at first. When she happened to use one he hadn’t made, she mistook it as broken because of the stark difference in performance between the two. That was when she fully understood. But how much could she trust that apprentice of his, in terms of both his skill and his personality? He was a suspicious character. His unchanging, emotionless expression and his colorless, washed-out hair looked utterly alien to her. There was a knock on the door. She bolted up and replied, “Who is it?” “It’s Ix. I’m coming in.” “What?” Before she could say anything else, Ix opened the door and peered into the room. She’d forgotten to lock the door. “Aaaaaaah, wh-wh-what are you—?” Yuui quickly grabbed her coat. She didn’t have time to put it on properly, so she just wrapped it around her body. After doing that, however, she remembered that Ix already knew who she was. There was no reason for her to hide from him. Now that she thought about it, she realized he hadn’t really reacted at all when he’d learned she was from the east. Ix shot a glance toward her, then came into the room. He was carrying a rectangular box. It was long, thin, and wooden, with a metal handle on top. The container was large enough that it would have just barely fit into his bag. Yuui wondered if that was the only thing in his luggage. He sat on the floor in the middle of the room. Something clanked within the box. Yuui was confused. This didn’t seem like a normal nighttime tryst at all. Her grandmother had taught her what it meant for a man to come to a woman’s bedroom at night, but perhaps things were different in the kingdom. Poking only her face out from her coat, she scolded, “What were you thinking, setting foot in a maiden’s bedchamber at this hour?!” “I was thinking I could look at the wand.” “Moreover, entering without waiting for a response is ru—The wand?” “I have to repair it, don’t I? I’ll do a more detailed examination tomorrow, but I want to get a quick look now. Things will go faster that way.” “Wh-what…?” “If you’re tired, I can go.” “I—I am not tired.” “All right.” Ix nodded and opened his box, then withdrew some strange tools and spread them out on the floor. Brief preparations complete, he wrapped something around his head. When he looked up, Yuui saw he had some device over his left eye, like the opposite of a telescope. Finally, he put on a pair of white gloves. The series of motions had been smooth and elegant, like a sword dance from a skilled warrior. “Mm.” Ix wordlessly extended his hand. “…?” “The wand.” “Oh, r-right.” Yuui’s face flushed as she realized how fascinated she’d been. She’d felt as if he was asking her to dance. Before he took the wand from her, he raised his arms high, then opened his hands to show their fronts and backs to her. After that, he delicately accepted the wand as if it was precious. Among Ix’s tools was an instrument that looked like a thin needle mounted on a wooden base. With careful motions, he placed the wand on the needle. It wobbled for a moment, then finally came to rest perfectly parallel to the floor. As he pushed the tip of the wand with his finger, it began to spin. Ix scrutinized the rotating item with an expression of utter seriousness. Yuui watched from the bed, but eventually, she shyly asked a question. Otherwise, she was likely to give in to slumber. “What was that before, that ritual?” “Ritual?” replied Ix, adjusting the device over his left eye. “You raised your arms and did something.”