1. Where the Moonlight Falls “I—I can see a town!” “Well, this path was bound to lead us to a town eventually.” “Yay! I see it, too!” Having finally spotted some buildings beyond the vast expanse of greenery in front of her, Shizuku pumped her fists in the air. The young man next to her wearing traveling clothes seemed as unfazed as ever. Shizuku and the small green bird on her shoulder squealed with delight. Just four months earlier, Shizuku had been a student attending college in Japan. Then one hot summer day, her peaceful life had changed completely. She had been swallowed up by a mysterious black hole that opened in the middle of her path, and when she woke up, she found herself in another world. In this world, magic was commonplace. Fortunately, she was able to communicate with people, but she was yet to find a way of returning home. Apparently, this new world had never received any otherworldly visitors before, so Shizuku hid her true identity and set out toward the magic kingdom of Farsas, which seemed to be concealing information of some sort. It was Shizuku’s companion, Erik, who’d perused the continent’s records, dug into Farsas’s history for her, and told her what he’d found. Being a mage who specialized in the study of writing systems, he’d taken an interest in the written languages of Shizuku’s world and had asked her to teach him about them as a reward for accompanying her on her travels. Shizuku had found him to be a good leader and a knowledgeable guide. Erik had a subdued personality, and nothing ever fazed him, so his reactions tended to be very reserved compared to Shizuku’s. That didn’t bother her at all, though, and their journey had gone reasonably smoothly. Or at least it had—up until a certain point. They’d begun their journey with Farsas as their destination, but after getting caught up in a perilous incident involving a forbidden curse, the pair had been transported to an unknown location. Shizuku’s black hair had grown to just below her shoulders, and she brushed it back out of her face. In Japan, she’d been an average college student, but people in this world seemed to think she was younger than her years. Large eyes aside, she was an unremarkable-looking person, but to the residents of this world, that plainness made her look like a kid. Shizuku ran her hand through her bangs. “The thing that’s surprised me here the most is the transportation magic. The fact that you can travel to a faraway place in an instant is amazing! I know it’s high-level magic, but it’s still crazy to think you can transport goods or go on vacation in the blink of an eye! I was really looking forward to using it, but then…” “Aren’t you glad you got to try it out at least?” “My wish did come true, but not in the way I’d hoped…” They had meant to use the transit ring that would take them to Farsas, but the pair had ended up on a mysterious beachfront instead. From there, they’d managed to locate a narrow path, which they’d continued to follow. If it had led into an endless expanse of woodland, Shizuku could have met with an early demise in this new world—but fortunately, a settlement had come into view. Erik, who was walking beside her, didn’t seem particularly happy to have arrived here, just indifferent. The twenty-two-year-old man had a pretty, boyish face, but it was his easygoing personality that had really made an impression on Shizuku. Even now, he was explaining something to her in his usual calm tone of voice. “Generally speaking, it’s not advisable to enter a transit ring or gate unless its functionality is guaranteed. Otherwise, you never know where it might send you. There have even been cases of people being teleported up into the sky.” “Those are some scary portals… So they’re like unexpected traps in video games?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it sounds like you get the general idea.” Shizuku repositioned her bag as she and Erik enjoyed this casual back-and-forth. The small bird on her shoulder smiled. “We can take a break in a minute, Mea.” The small green bird chirped back at her. Mea’s true form was that of a young demon girl, and she had agreed to become Shizuku’s assistant. As the town grew closer, Shizuku couldn’t help but feel relieved. “For the time being, I just want to find an inn and wash my clothes… They have blood all over them,” she said. “You need to sleep properly. I know you took a nap earlier, but your neck was hanging down at an awkward angle.” “You make me sound like a zombie. But you’re right, my neck is sore.” The townscape that had come into view looked extremely normal. There was sure to be an inn. Just as Shizuku was thinking this, two men came running out of one of the town’s streets. The men, who were armed with swords, noticed Shizuku and started running straight toward her. Judging by their clothes and the vibe they gave off, they were probably mercenaries. Alarmed, Shizuku froze. “Agh. What’s going on?” she asked. “It looks like they’re after you,” Erik replied. He reached for the bag that was hanging from his waist—but before he had the chance to take anything out, the men came to a stop. They stood a few paces away from the two travelers, staring at Shizuku’s face as they whispered to one another. “Is that her? She has black hair.” “It can’t be. The girl we’re looking for is supposed to be strikingly pretty.” “…Did they just insult me?” “I don’t think so. They’re not saying you’re not pretty—it’s just that you don’t stand out,” Erik assured her. “You’re probably right…but still!” While Shizuku and Erik bickered, the two mercenaries promptly began to make their way back to the town. They hadn’t said anything to Shizuku—they had just given their appraisal of her looks and left. The absurdity of the situation made her scowl. “I have no idea what just happened… But I’m also too tired to care…” “It’s that sort of attitude that makes you a great traveler,” Erik commented. In a roundabout way, he was praising Shizuku for her bluntness, and she stifled a yawn. The pair forgot about the suspicious men and made their way into the small town. When they asked the innkeeper as to their whereabouts, he explained that they were currently on the west coast of the continent, on the other side of Farsas. As Shizuku was enjoying an after-dinner cup of tea in a restaurant, she looked at their position on the map and let out a sigh. “We’ve traveled so far. We crossed most of the continent.” “If we’d been sent any farther west, we would have landed in the ocean. I’m just glad we ended up on the shore.” “Don’t even go there!” They were about two small countries north of where they had been in Candela. Naturally, that meant that Farsas was now to their east rather than to their west, so the pair’s new plan was to travel east toward Farsas. “Oh… So now it’s like we’re in Journey to the East.” “What’s that?” “A story about a mountain hermit, I think. I don’t really know the details.” Erik, who had his elbow on the table and was resting his chin in his hand, gazed at the map. Shizuku, meanwhile, was staring fixedly at him. Now that she took a proper look at him, he really was handsome; she’d just grown so accustomed to seeing him lately. She examined his face, curious to see if the taxing ordeal he’d been through had affected him. The chaos in Candela hadn’t been Shizuku’s fault, but it was her journey that Erik was accompanying her on. Her head was heavy and started to droop—and before she knew it, her cheek was flat against the table. “I’m sorry about all of this. We’ve ended up so far away…” “Where did this come from all of a sudden? Where we ended up was out of our control; it’s nothing for you to worry about. Besides, we’re even closer to Farsas now.” “We might be closer than when we were in Candela, but Farsas is a big country.” Farsas sprawled west from the center of the continent, occupying a huge expanse of land. Now that Erik and Shizuku had been teleported west, they were closer to Farsas’s northwestern border, but the fact remained that the castle was still a considerable distance away. Farsas’s castle city was in the eastern part of the country, so it would take six weeks to travel there from the northwest border on horseback. Shizuku’s comment, however, brought a faint smile to Erik’s face. “Once we enter the country, there will be loads of transit rings to help us get around. It’ll be easy.” “Oh, I didn’t know that.” Shizuku had used a transit ring to get here, but she still had a hard time imagining herself using one. She traced the map with her finger…and then she remembered something. “Now that I think about it, somebody teleported into Candela Castle just as we were being sent away. I wonder if she was all right.” Shizuku was certain that she’d seen a black-haired woman appear just as she and Erik were making their escape. Would she have been safe with the miasma stirring inside the castle? Shizuku didn’t think she’d ever find out, but to her surprise, Erik casually replied to her question. “She was probably fine. She’s the younger sister of the king of Farsas, after all.” “Huh?!” “She has a spirit to help her out. Sure, it was a forbidden curse, but that thing had been severed from its central ring. She easily would have defeated it.” “Uh, what? We had a near miss with someone from Farsas?” “A near miss?” “We missed each other.” “Oh, yes. It was close. Still, if we’d have spoken to her, she would have treated us with suspicion. It’s good that things worked out the way they did.” “Yeah… You’re right.” Erik might have entered the correct way, but Shizuku and her teammates had snuck past Candela Castle’s wards and broken in. If she’d been caught, it would have been a disaster in more ways than one. Shizuku groaned with fear, bringing an awkward smile to Erik’s face. “Tomorrow, we’ll follow the main road and head for the border of Farsas.” “Yeah. I’m already tired. I should get an early night.” Shizuku’s exhaustion was still weighing her down. She stood up, ready to return to her room. “Come to think of it, did you recognize the king’s sister?” she asked. Erik had only briefly glanced at the black-haired woman out of the corner of his eye, but he’d still known who she was. Had Erik seen her face the last time he was in Farsas? It was a casual question, but it took a few seconds for Erik to respond. Just as Shizuku was beginning to grow suspicious, Erik nodded. “People call her the continent’s most beautiful woman. They say once you see her face, you’ll never forget it.” “Whoa. I wish I’d gotten a proper look at her.” In a way, this explained why Erik had been so quick to recognize her—but something didn’t feel quite right. Shizuku blamed her lingering doubts on her tiredness. The pair settled their bill and went outside. It was already dark out, and there were no streetlights in the small town. Shizuku started walking ahead, leading Erik down the narrow alleyway. “I think the inn was this way.” “It’s funny how good your sense of direction is. You really do make a great traveler.” “I don’t think I would have pursued a career as a ‘traveler’ in my old world—this special skill of mine has only become apparent since coming here.” As Shizuku was speaking, she sensed something and stopped. There was nothing at the end of the alley. All that lay ahead was the pitch-black darkness of the night. Erik followed Shizuku’s line of sight. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Nothing. It’s just…” It wasn’t as if there was anything strange about it—so why was she getting this weird feeling that she just couldn’t shake? Shizuku felt scared and restless, almost as if she’d just stepped into a bad dream. In an attempt to shake off her unease, she started walking again—but after just a few steps, she tripped over something in her path. “Hey!” “Gyah!” Two yelps echoed through the air at the same time. Shizuku had almost fallen face-first onto the ground, but Erik had caught her just in the nick of time. Holding her small frame from behind, he pulled her back. “That was close. What happened?” “I—I got caught on something… Did you just hear a cat?” “That was a human voice. Look,” said Erik. Shizuku glanced down at her feet. True enough, a pretty young girl with long black hair was sitting on the ground clutching her knees to her chest. “A—a ghost?!” Shizuku cried out in surprise. After all, there hadn’t been anyone there a moment earlier. Yet now, a young girl, maybe one or two years younger than Shizuku, was sitting right there with her arms wrapped around her legs. Although Shizuku was shaken up by her sudden appearance, Erik sounded so calm that he might as well have been reading out of a school textbook. “Ghosts don’t exist; I’m sure I’ve told you that before. This girl is a living person.” “B-but she wasn’t there a moment ago!” “That’s because of her cloak. It uses invisibility magic.” “No way…” Now that Erik had mentioned it, the girl was wearing a cloak. She must have had her hood down when Shizuku tripped. The girl stared at Shizuku and Erik, a hint of apprehension in her dark eyes, and a subtle yet peculiar feeling surged through Shizuku’s body. But then, like the fleeting memory of a dream, it quickly disappeared. Without realizing what she was doing, Shizuku shook her head, then took another look at the girl. “…You’re so pretty.” Her face was so small that it was hard to believe she was human like them. The girl’s hair and eyes were both black—far blacker than Shizuku’s were. The bridge of her nose was high, and her skin was so pale that it almost looked translucent. Her small lips, which were a rosy shade of pink, were the only thing that made her look human. If it weren’t for them, Shizuku could have mistaken her for some sort of elaborate doll. Shizuku couldn’t help but gaze at her, entranced, and the girl cocked her head to one side. “…Are you a normal person?” the girl asked. “W-well, sort of…” Shizuku was from another world, so it wasn’t as if she was completely ordinary—but that probably wasn’t what the girl was getting at. As Shizuku was searching for an answer, Erik cut in. “Aren’t you the girl they were looking for this afternoon?” “What? …Oh.” When they first arrived in the town, Shizuku and Erik had crossed paths with a pair of mercenaries who were searching for a young girl with black hair. They’d ruled Shizuku out, saying that the one they were looking for was supposed to be “strikingly pretty.” At the time, Shizuku had been dismayed by the men’s reactions, but now… “They were right. You’d recognize her immediately…” It made sense now; the girl they were looking for really was beautiful. Shizuku was actually impressed that people could recognize her based on her beauty alone, and she gave a firm nod. “She really is a sight for sore eyes,” said Shizuku. “That’s all you have to say?” “No! I just assume that’s why they’re hunting her down.” Shizuku’s comment left the young girl looking stupefied, and she repeated her previous question. “Are you a normal person?” “I’m just an ordinary passerby.” This let the girl know that Shizuku wasn’t pursuing her or doing anything of the sort, and her answer made the girl relax slightly. She placed her hand on her hood. “I’m sorry for getting in your way. Don’t tell anyone that I’m here, if that’s okay.” As the girl was speaking, she started to pull down her invisibility hood again, but Shizuku automatically stopped her. “No, no, no. Wait a minute. Someone’s hunting you down, aren’t they? Is that why you’re hiding here?” After a pause, the girl nodded. It was a narrow alleyway, and it seemed quiet, but it still wasn’t the kind of place a lone woman should be huddling down in at night, regardless of whether she was using invisibility magic or not. Shizuku turned back toward her companion. “Erik, uhh…” “I know what you’re going to say, but I don’t recommend it.” “So what else is new? Okay, fine. I understand the risks.” “Then go ahead.” “That was fast.” Shizuku was grateful that Erik had understood right away, but she did feel a little guilty. Having received her companion’s approval, she nodded to the bird on her shoulder, then crouched down in front of the young girl. The pair exchanged glances. “Forgive me for prying, but are you expecting someone to come and help you out?” Shizuku asked. “Someone will show up eventually…I think…” It didn’t sound like anyone was coming for her anytime soon, so Shizuku offered the girl her hand.
Chapter 17
15 min read