Her other companions had some minor liberties taken with their portraits, but were still not too far off. Lacey’s was the only one of the bunch that looked like a different person entirely. That was how she could walk around town unbothered, as she was doing now.
“Just one left!” the dealer loudly announced.
When she heard this, Lacey pulled out her wallet, somehow managing to do so without getting squished.
After that, she walked toward her destination, carrying goods that were much too large for her. As she did, she saw a young man with whom she was familiar, crossing his arms and standing in front of the inn. Even at a distance, it was obvious to see how tall he was.
She approached, and before she could call out to him, he noticed her first. He unfolded his arms and lifted his face. “Hey.” He immediately knitted his brows. “Lacey, what have you got there?”
Her arms were laden with the goods, which she’d struggled to keep from slipping out of her grasp on the way over.
“Portraits of everyone,” she told him. The pictures nearly dropped out of her arms again, but the man grabbed them with one hand and effortlessly held them up for her. Lacey wasn’t very good with people, but he was an exception. They’d been travel companions for a whole year, after all. “Thank you, Wayne.” She gave a very slight smile.
“You’re welcome,” replied the young man. His name was Wayne Cielanic, and he was the hero who’d saved the nation.
Lacey and Wayne sat down on a bench side by side and ate sandwiches. It was simple fare—just ham and cheese stuffed between two pieces of bread. Lacey took small bites with her tiny mouth so as to not get crumbs on the portraits resting on her lap. Wayne looked down at her and watched.
“So about those portraits...”
“Yeah. They were selling these. It doesn’t include quite everyone, but it’s the closest thing to a full set.”
“The two of us, Brooks, and Dana. Haven’t seen the two of them since they left the capital...but that’s beside the point. What are you doing, lugging around those huge things? You might trip! You should just use spatial magic.”
“But there aren’t many people who know spatial magic, and I don’t want to draw attention. The inn was close enough anyway.”
Lacey didn’t hear Wayne sigh in exasperation. She was too busy eating. She glanced at one of the portraits as she did. “Everyone’s likeness besides mine resembles them, but they’re still a little off. You’re more handsome than this, Wayne.”
The youth on the canvas had a resplendent, heroic appearance, but the genuine article was more dignified and had a down-to-earth composure. There was something else about him that a paintbrush couldn’t capture: at present, Wayne was using concealment magic. To a third party, he would just look like a run-of-the-mill youth. Without this enchantment, people would’ve swarmed the plaza around him. Of course, it was elementary for Lacey to see through magic, so to her, he looked no different than he normally did.
“I don’t really care about that.” Wayne was used to compliments on his appearance, so the exasperation on his face remained unchanged. He plucked the portraits off of Lacey’s lap and tucked them under his arm. “I’ll hold on to them, so eat at your own pace.”
“Okay.” She bit in, stuffing her cheeks. Around the plaza, adults were relaxing and enjoying themselves, and children were catching a cool breeze by the fountain. Lacey was once again struck by how peaceful it was compared to a little over a year ago when they first set off.
That was probably a good thing.
“So why are you here, Wayne?” Lacey bent her head to the side and asked once she’d taken her sweet time to finish eating her sandwich.
“To see you, obviously.” If his arms weren’t full of the portraits right now, he would probably have them folded over his chest like usual as he stared at her.
“Well...”
“I was starting to wonder if you were still alive.”
“...” Lacey couldn’t say anything in response. She had to admit, that made sense.
Over the last month, their party had split and returned to their respective hometowns. Lacey and Wayne were the only ones who were still in the capital, and Lacey hadn’t kept in contact with anyone.
She could spend hours or even an entire day or two at a time training her magic, yet she couldn’t fix her negligent behavior. Actually, one could say that she just wasn’t interested in her own welfare. Her opinion was that skipping a meal or two wouldn’t affect her ability to function. Wayne had been unable to let this kind of attitude slide, and at some point, he’d started to keep a fussy eye on her. In fact, he was the one who’d bought the sandwich she’d just eaten.
Their journey hadn’t made her any slimmer—on the contrary, she’d come back a little more filled out than before. Lacey was about the only person to whom this could happen. Even still, all of her body parts were scrawnier than other girls her age. Wayne bounced his leg each time he caught a glimpse of Lacey’s arm peeking out of her robe. It wasn’t very good manners for a noble, but he’d picked up the bad habit on their travels.
“Well, I’m not dead yet, so it’s okay.” She had thought this response would be good enough, but Wayne still looked displeased.
“So, you moved out of your house? I was surprised to hear you were at an inn.”
“Yeah. I wanted to get my affairs in order. And besides that, I wanted to experience living on my own.”
She’d stayed overnight in plenty of places on their travels, but she’d always been tagging along with the rest of the party. This was her very first time being on her own, so it felt rather strange.
“Still, you could’ve picked a better place to stay. Didn’t you get reward money?”
“I donated most of it. There isn’t really anything I’d spend it on.”
“Now look here—”
“Most, but not all. I still have some on hand, enough to stay at the inn.” She glanced over at the portraits. “Enough to squander some of it too.” Her lips curved into a slight smile. “It’s all over now.”
It felt so strange to say this. All she’d ever done was refine her skills, because that was what she’d been ordered to do in preparation for the time of destiny. She’d lived a wretched existence, and now all that she had left was her own self.