chap 13+2

It didn’t look like things would be as simple as expected, but, well, there was absolutely no need to rush.
They had money. Honestly, having money was wonderful. It gave them room to work with.
Haruhiro managed to secure some pretty nice lodgings for the party before sundown, and then they headed back out to get dinner together.
“Let’s go to the Stormy Petrel Restaurant,” he suggested.
In the process of gathering information, that place had come up a number of times as having good food.
When they arrived, they found that the Stormy Petrel was an outdoor eatery with over a hundred tables, but not a single chair. Customers were apparently supposed to buy food and drink at one of the numerous stalls nearby, then stand to eat and drink wherever they liked. There was a wide variety of dishes available, and they could get alcohol, too.
It was awfully busy considering the sun hadn’t gone down yet, and the tables were nearly all taken.
Kuzaku and Setora were tasked with buying food, while Haruhiro, Shihoru, and Merry stayed at the table they chose. Kiichi went with them.
The gaps between tables were relatively small, and it was pretty noisy, so it was hard to relax when the place was so crowded.
“Should we have gone somewhere else?” Merry asked casually. “Hmm.” Haruhiro scratched his head. “I wonder. I mean, right now, we could go to the kind of luxurious restaurants we’ve never been in before. Like... I dunno. Something more quiet? Maybe?”
Shihoru ducked her head a little and smiled wryly. “I feel like it might be hard to relax there, too...”
“Yeah. You might be right. We’d be out of place. Clearly.”
“Not good enough for a dragon rider?” Merry asked with a teasing smile.
“Lay off with that, please...”
“It’s how we got rich, though.”
“It was pure coincidence. I didn’t even ride the dragon, okay? I was just holding on for dear life. I mean... I’m shocked I didn’t fall.”
“That was—” Merry puffed up her cheeks almost like Yume for a moment. It was only a moment, though. They quickly deflated, but Haruhiro thanked the heavens he hadn’t missed that moment.
What were the heavens? Like God, or something? He didn’t really know. But it was a good face she’d made. Like a reward to him.
—Wait, how was it a reward?
“You get one demerit,” Merry said harshly.
“...I’m sorry.” Haruhiro bowed his head.
He’d had the feeling he’d been given a demerit once before. Did that mean he had two demerits now? A thought occurred to him. What would happen if he kept accruing demerits?
“Hey, pardon me!” There was suddenly an awfully loud voice, and someone slammed a mug down on their table.
It wasn’t Kuzaku, or Setora, and it obviously wasn’t Kiichi. It was a man with strangely hard hair. He wore glasses, and carried a large backpack. He had the well-worn clothes of a traveler, and his boots were filthy, too. He looked human.
“...Huh?” Shihoru looked frightened. It seemed, at the very least, Shihoru didn’t know who this guy was.
Well, of course not. If this were Alterna, maybe, but this was Vele.
Merry pulled Shihoru closer to protect her, glaring sharply at the man.
“Hm? Is something wrong?” The man’s large eyes blinked behind his glasses. He had a snub nose, and his angular face was distinctive, in a way, but Haruhiro really didn’t recognize him.
“Um... Who might you be?” Haruhiro asked hesitantly.
The man lifted his mug, chugged his foamy drink, and exhaled contentedly. “Me?”
“Well, you and we are the only ones here...”
“Wahahaha! We are, indeed! We are, indeed! I, you see, am a humble trader by the name of Kejiman. There were no seats to be found, and you people, you don’t seem to be a large party, so I figured you wouldn’t mind sharing the table. Look, it’s just me by my lonesome. I won’t get in the way. Right?”
“No, I’m not so sure about that...”
“You said it!” Kejiman laughed raucously again, then took another sip of his drink.
His laughter was mildly annoying. Also, it was sort of aggravating to see a little foam left around his mouth. It would have been fine to tell him to wipe it, but Haruhiro felt like that would be admitting defeat.
“We have more friends with us,” Merry told him in an incredibly cold tone.
But Kejiman assured them with a seemingly endless supply of cheer, “It’s fine!”
If he wasn’t even flinching at Merry’s rejection, he was tough. This guy, he had way too much mental fortitude. Was it that, or was he simply insensitive?
“You say you have friends, but it’s not like it’s ten or twenty people, right?” he asked. “In that case, I see no problem here. I mean, look at this table. Seven or eight people can use it, maybe even ten if you stretch it. How many friends do you have? One? Two? Three, maybe? Ohh, two! It’s all good, then!”
Not good. Haruhiro was getting steamrolled here. If only Kuzaku or Setora were around. But those two weren’t back yet. Haruhiro had to shut this guy down somehow.
—But wait.
“...A trader, you say?” he asked cautiously.
“Yes. Why do you ask?” Kejiman still had foam on his upper lip.
Damn, thought Haruhiro. I lose.
“Um... There’s foam on your upper lip.”
“Whoooooooops!” Kejiman wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, on which he wore a fingerless leather glove, his face turning red with embarrassment.
That embarrassed him? That was a long “whoops,” too. Way too long.
“Sorry, sorry,” Kejiman said. “And? Where were we? Oh, right, I’m a trader. What about it? From the looks of you, you’re volunteer soldiers from Alterna. Am I wrong?”
“Well, you’re not wrong.”
“Yeah. Yeah. I knew I could trust my eyes. Or my glasses, at least.
They’re not just for show, you know. They’re prescription. And? What? Were you interested in business?”
“Not particularly...”
“Oh, I see. It happens sometimes, you know. Former volunteer soldiers trying to go into business. The amateurs. I know a number of them. Well, it never works out, though. Serves them all right!
Diiiiiie!”
“Isn’t that a bit much...?”
“Sorry, sorry! I can’t help it! The resentment builds up over time, you know!”
Slowly, Haruhiro asked, “Have you ever been to Alterna?”
“I have. I have. This is just between us, but I’m about to go again, too.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, what do I have to hide? I’m making good money trading with Alterna!”
“The way you’re shouting, I don’t think you’re hiding it at all...”
“Oh, that’s just a thing I say sometimes. ‘What do I have to hide?’ It’s a convenient expression. In other words, I’m the one who makes a quick buck on niche products no one else will touch! The great Kejiman, that’s me! Wahahaha!”




Perhaps she was a worrywart. Always thinking things would go worse and worse. Especially when it came to herself, things would go badly. She couldn’t help but think that way.
In truth, sometimes things went well, and sometimes they didn’t. It went both ways. But the times it went badly were the ones she remembered. They stayed with her, never leaving.
If she reflected back upon the path she’d walked, not everything that had happened along the way made her want to avert her eyes. She understood that perfectly fine. But even when she raised her head, her face remained lowered in her heart.
For now, her actual face was facing down, too.
A droplet of water fell from her hair and landed in her lap.
“Shihoru.”
Hearing her name, Shihoru finally raised her head.
The gentle light of a lamp illuminated the room. The inn itself was like a little castle, and upon first setting foot in this room, she had wondered what kind of princess must live here.
Of course, a princess’s room wouldn’t have had four beds in it. The furniture was minimal, too, and at close examination, the upholstery weren’t especially lavish. It was carefully built, regularly maintained, and kept clean, that was all. But the bed Shihoru was sitting on was soft, and there was a faint pleasant aroma.
How long had it been since she had stayed in such a place? This might very well be the first time.
Merry was standing in front of Shihoru, towels in hand.
“Your hair, it’s still wet,” she said.
“...Oh.” Shihoru touched her hair. It was still rather damp.
Merry sat down next to her, pressing the towel against Shihoru’s head. Her movements were careful, like Merry always tended to be.
You don’t have to, Shihoru was about to say, but she swallowed the words. It was harder for her to accept kindness from others than it was to reject it. That was probably just her personality. Still, she had learned by interacting with friends that if someone wanted to do something for her, and that made them happy, she should let them, even if she wanted to hold back.
Yume didn’t hide her feelings. She didn’t lie. Shihoru was the opposite.
Even if she wanted to, Shihoru couldn’t be like Yume. However, if Yume had snuggled up to her in search of warmth, Shihoru would hug her back and not run away. If Yume had said she liked her, Shihoru would somehow manage to respond, Me, too.
So even if she had trouble conveying how important the people she cared about were to her, Shihoru could still put her heart into her interactions with them.
“Thank you... Merry,” she said slowly.
Merry smiled slightly and kept moving her hands.
Shihoru missed Yume’s boisterousness. Now that she was alone with Merry, neither was particularly talkative, so they didn’t engage in much small talk.
Shihoru didn’t find silence unpleasant. She just worried whether it was okay to keep quiet, and what the person she was with would think. But while Merry spoke when she wanted to, she wasn’t the type to force herself to engage in idle banter for no reason. So when Shihoru was with Merry, even if they weren’t talking, it didn’t feel awkward. They each told the other just what they wanted to, and listened to the words that came back.
“It feels lonely,” Merry suddenly said.
“...Yeah.” Shihoru nodded, and her chest tightened.
Merry felt the same way she did. She’d known that, though.
“It feels really... lonely,” Shihoru said sadly.
“I feel like... Yume was always saving me,” Merry sighed.
“Me, too. Maybe... no, definitely... even more than you, Merry.”
“When she comes back, we’ll have to welcome her with a smile.”
“I might cry...”
“That’s fine, though, isn’t it?”
“I’m... a little angry.” Shihoru hadn’t meant to tell anyone, but the words just slipped out.
Merry let the towel rest on her lap, putting an arm around Shihoru’s back.
Yume was pretty strong, but Merry was soft. For awhile now, Shihoru had assumed Merry was holding back. But she realized now she’d been wrong. This was Merry’s way of doing things, and it was what made her unique.
“I was dumbstruck,” Merry said. “It made me think, ‘Yume’s so funny.’ I realized that all over again.”
“She’s too funny. But I’ll admit, that’s one part of her that, well... I love it.”
The tears felt ready to flow, but they didn’t. It was because Merry was staying with her.
“So, it never occurred to me she would go away...” Shihoru mourned. “I’m so creepy... I have this part of me. The way I’m so quick to depend on others.”
“It’s probably because Yume trusts you, Shihoru,” Merry said comfortingly. “Even if she’s away for a while, she’s sure you’ll be fine.”
“Do you think Yume ever doubts her friends and comrades?” Shihoru ventured.
“I don’t think so,” Merry replied immediately, and she laughed.
Shihoru found that funny, too. “I know, right?”
“Even if she gets stronger, Yume will always be Yume. That’s the feeling I have.”
“She might change more than we think, you know...”
“Even if she does, that’d be so like her. I might just be fine with anything, in the end. As long as Yume is all right, and we can see her again in half a year, that’s enough...”
Merry’s right hand was on Shihoru’s hip. Her left hand was playing with the towel above her knees.
“I guess... you’re right.”
Shihoru reached out with her right hand, grabbing Merry’s left hand. She must not have expected it, because for a moment, Merry’s body tensed. Still, even if she had tried to shake her off, Shihoru would have held on and not let go.
“Because you’re here with me like this, I’m all right,” Shihoru said. “No matter what happens, you’re you.”
Merry hung her head, thinking about something.
No matter how much they acknowledged one another, no matter how much they closed the distance, all people were separate. Shihoru hadn’t been able to see through Yume’s resolution. When it came to what was going on in Merry’s head, she could only guess there, too.
Still, she could make the attempt. Even if she couldn’t understand everything, she could at least tell Merry was deeply worried, and something was tormenting her.
Shihoru couldn’t fix Merry’s troubles. It might be difficult for her to even provide useful advice. Shihoru’s very existence might not even be much help to Merry.
But—
I’m here, Shihoru thought. Even if you say you don’t need me, I can’t hate the friend I’ve trusted with my life, and no matter what happens, I won’t give up. I’m clingy, and can be pretty creepy if I do say so myself, but there’s no helping that. I mean, that’s part of who I am.
“I’m glad,” Merry said in a whisper, holding Shihoru’s hand back.
What was she glad about? Shihoru chose not to ask, only imagining.
I should delve deeper, she thought. But she wouldn’t do what she couldn’t. She had her own pace, and couldn’t become a person she wasn’t.
When she’d first come to Grimgar, she hadn’t even been able to measure her own steps. But little by little, stumbling forward, she’d at last begun to find herself. Lately, that was how Shihoru felt.
That was all the more reason why she was worried about Merry, who sometimes seemed to have lost herself. Holding her hand like this was all Shihoru could do. For anything more—
It can’t be me, Shihoru thought. Haruhiro-kun. Probably... you’re the only one who can do it. Do you understand that?
Suddenly the door opened, and Shihoru panicked. Merry sort of jolted away a bit, and Shihoru realized a moment later that she didn’t really need to have panicked like that.
Setora came into the room.





Surprisingly, this inn had some impressively large gender-segregated baths. But it would be careless to leave the room empty, so Shihoru and Merry had gone to bathe first. Setora had stayed in the room while they did, then gone off to bathe alone, so now she was returning.
“Y-You... didn’t take long,” Shihoru said.
“Oh. Is that right?” Setora wiped her hair with a towel as she walked over to a different bed from the one Shihoru and Merry were sitting on. She took a seat herself.
They had all changed into cotton clothes bought in Vele’s marketplace. They were simple garments that opened at the front, and unless they tied a belt around them, they easily fell open. They only went down to the knee, too, so they were a little exposed. Shihoru could never have gone for a walk like this.
Setora lay back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. She took a breath. It might not actually have been the case, but Shihoru had the impression she knew what Setora was thinking.
She must feel uneasy right now.

Chapter end