chap 14 6

I.
I’m going to die.
“Don’t go! Manato! You can’t leave us! Don’t go! Please, Manato...!” Keep calling me, like that.
Please.
Just like that.
Until I can’t tell anymore.
Just a little longer—
 
 

1. Not There
“Unngh? It’s gotta be here, right? The hunters’ guild...” Yume crossed her arms and frowned.
“...P-Probably.”
Beside her, Shihoru was fidgeting. She always was. Maybe Shihoru liked fidgeting.
“Yep,” Manato said. “This should be the place.”
Manato had brought them here, and he said it was, so that was that.
They were in Alterna, the northern part of it, in a corner of the North District. Close to the gate in the north, the North Gate, there was a building surrounded by a wooden fence.
“Okay, Yume’s gonna get goin’, then,” Yume announced.
“...T-Take care,” Shihoru stuttered.
“Do your best,” Manato smiled.
Thinking, Manato’s smile, it’s such a smile! Shihoru’s voice, it’s so tiny! Yume tried to climb over the fence.
“Y-Yume!” Manato stopped her.
“Nuh? What’s wrong?”
“No, there’s nothing wrong, but you don’t have to climb the fence. It looks like there’s an entrance over there.”
Looking over in the direction Manato was pointing, he was right—a part of the fence was a gate, and it was open. If she went through there, she could get in.
“Wah!” Yume cried. “Yume, she didn’t realize at all. Climbin’ is tough, so that’s good. Thanks, Manato.”
“Do your best,” he said after a pause.
“Yeah. Yume, she’s gonna do her best! Shihoru, Manato, you do your best, too! But, y’know, what’s Yume supposed to do her best at, huh?”
“Th-That’s...” Why did Shihoru look ready to cry? “We won’t know until we go...”
“Guess not, huh. Shihoru, you feelin’ lonely?”
“...Huh? Wh-Why...?”
“Aren’t you cryin’ a little?”
“I-I’m not... crying... I-I’m fine.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, that’s good, then. So long! See you later!”
Yume went inside through the gate. There was a big yard on the other side of the fence, and a number of pens. The pens had dogs in them, and when Yume looked at them, they started barking.
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “That was a surprise! There’s no need for barkin’ like that. Yume, she’s not here to do anythin’ bad.”
Once she said that, some of the dogs stopped barking, but some of the others wouldn’t stop. It was a bit scary, but she approached and clicked her tongue at them.
“There, there. It’s all okay. Ahhh. If only Yume had some food on her. She didn’t bring any. Sorry about that...” “Hey,” came a voice from above her.
When she looked up, there was a man sticking his head out the window, and the bottom half of his face was all beard.
“You there, what are you doing?” he demanded.
“Hoh?”
“No, not ‘hoh’! Tell me who you are, you!”
“Yume’s Yume, right?”
“Oh, I see. So you’re Yume, are you? For now, get your hand out of there. The dogs bite.”
“Meow? They’re lickin’, not bitin’. See? You wouldn’t bite, would you, little pup?”
“...Well, those are no ordinary dogs,” the man said. “They’re wolf dogs, made by crossbreeding wolves and dogs. They’re more fierce than a dog, but more obedient than a wolf. Not that it matters, I guess.”
“Wolf dogs? Whoooooooooo!”
“Wh-What? What is it?”
“They’re cute,” Yume said happily. “Wolf dogs. Yume, she wants to make friends with a wolf dog.”
“No... I’ve been asking, what are you? Please don’t tell me you intend to join us.”
“Us? You mean join you, old man?”
“O-Old man...? Well, I am an old man, but... sure, in the eyes of a young girl like you, I wouldn’t be anything but an old man, but...”
“Dad, then? That seems wrong.”
“I’m not your pops,” the man snapped. “This is the first time we’ve met. Do I really have to say this? It should be beyond obvious that I’m not your dad.”
“Oh, it’s obvious? Hm...”
“Wait, don’t get so depressed!” He looked alarmed.
“Okay! Yume’s not gonna get depressed! She’s gonna do her best!”
“R-Right. Good luck... What are you going to do your best at, anyway?”
“Nuh?” Yume nibbled on her index finger, cocking her head to the side. “Yume, is it okay if she does her best? You know, she’s not really sure about that yet. She did just get here, after all. Ah!”
“Wh-What is it this time?”
“That’s right! Yume just got here! You know, here?”
“Ohh. You’re one of them, huh? A volunteer soldier trainee, right?”
“Vole and deer soldier trained bee...?” Yume nodded, clapping her hands. “That’s it!”
“You just said... something completely different. Anyway, you’re a volunteer soldier trainee, and you’ve come because you want to join the hunters’ guild, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah. That’s it.”
“Well, then stop playing with the dogs and get inside already... Hey. Hey. Hey! Wait, what are you doing?!”
“Fwuh? What? Yume’s goin’ inside the pen, isn’t she?” “Not the pen! No, the building! Get inside the guild buildeen—” “Buildeen?” Yume repeated.
“I tripped over my tongue, that’s all! Ugh, that’s enough of this. I’ll come get you, so stay put!”
“Got it! Yume’ll stay here waitin’ for the old man to come get her!”
“...Stop it with the old man stuff.”
“Well, what should she call you, then?”
“It’s Itsukushima.” The man sighed, then slowly enunciated, “It’s Itsu-ku-shi-ma. Don’t get it wrong... because I have the feeling you’re bound to.”
“Itsitsukushima?”
“Only one ‘its’!”
“Itsukushima!”
“Right. Now, listen. Until I get down there, don’t you take a single step. Got it?”
“Yes, sir! Itsukushima!”
“...A fine response, but no honorific? I can already tell you’ll be a handful.”
Itsukushima sighed again, then pulled his head back in the window.
Yume decide to play with the wolf dogs until Itsukushima came.
 
2. Ever Since I Woke Up Shihoru was bewildered.
No, she was completely perplexed.
Up until they’d reached the mages’ guild, in a quiet high-class residential area in a place called East Town, Manato had been guiding her. Now that Manato was gone, she felt lonely, uneasy, and scared.
But in order to become a priest, Manato had to go to the Temple of Lumiaris, which was apparently in North District. She couldn’t keep him here.
The mages’ guild was an elegant mansion with white walls, and when she mustered the courage to go inside, a woman in the entrance hall kindly took care of her, so she felt just a little relieved.
But later, when she was taken to a waiting room, she was together with a boy named Adachi who wore thick-rimmed black glasses, and he made her feel uncomfortable.
It seemed Adachi had been waiting for a while. He was visibly irritated, and it didn’t feel like she could talk to him. Though, even if it had felt like she was welcome to, Shihoru probably couldn’t have struck up a conversation herself.
Eventually, a woman in her mid-twenties who, of course, wore a blackish outfit and a blackish hat, led Shihoru and Adachi to another room.
That room with large windows was on the second floor of the building, and a large armchair was placed in front of rows of simple desks and chairs there.
“The wizard will be coming soon,” the woman told them. “Please, take any seat you like.”
Then she left the room.
“More waiting, huh?” Adachi muttered.
There was a pain in Shihoru’s chest. She was no happier to be kept waiting than he was, but being alone with an irate Adachi was even worse.
Adachi took the seat closest to the large armchair. Shihoru sat in the second row from the front, in a window seat. It felt like sitting in the back would be bad, but she didn’t want to be beside Adachi.
Adachi occasionally muttered to himself. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, but he seemed to be complaining about something or other.
Shihoru did her best not to think about Adachi as she did nothing but wait for the wizard to arrive.
After waiting anxiously, eventually a white-bearded old man in a large hat entered the room. He wasn’t alone. The old man was with the black-clothed woman from before, holding on to her arm for support.
His face was so buried beneath his white beard and eyebrows that she couldn’t see it, and his back was hunched, so he must have been fairly old.
The old man sat in the large armchair, while the woman stood at his side.
“This is Wizard Sarai,” the woman said, introducing him.
Old man Sarai bowed his head slightly.
—or so she originally thought, but it looked like his head was just bobbing as he slept.
No, that couldn’t be it. He’d only just sat down in that big chair. He couldn’t possibly have fallen asleep yet.
Some time passed like that.
Adachi raised his hand.
In a cold tone, the woman said, “What is it?”
“Is he asleep?” Adachi cut right to the heart of the matter. “The old man there. It looks like he’s fallen asleep to me.”
“...Wizard Sarai.” The woman nudged Sarai’s shoulder a little. “Wizard Sarai. —Wizard Sarai. ...Wizard Sarai?”
“...Mweh.” Sarai looked up. It looked like he’d really been asleep. “Oh... Is it morning already?”
And he was sleep-addled, too.
“Enough with the jokes.” Adachi rose from his seat.
Huh? Huh? Huh? Without so much as a glance to the panicking Shihoru, Adachi was leaving the room.
“Hey! You! Wait!” The woman chased after him.
And so, Shihoru and Sarai were left alone in the room.
She’d been left behind.
Shihoru was stuck waiting again.
Sarai wasn’t opening his mouth to speak.
Could he be sleeping again?
No, clearly he couldn’t be, right?
But, upon closer inspection, Sarai’s tall hat was swaying. Couldn’t he be “nodding off,” as they called it?
Should she wake him?
No, it wasn’t decided that he was sleeping yet. Wouldn’t it be rude to try to wake him when she didn’t know he was asleep?
That said, she couldn’t leave things like this forever. Even Shihoru had limits to her patience. What exactly should she do here?
Shihoru was bewildered.
No, she was completely perplexed.
Time went by without her being able to do anything but be perplexed, and outside the window, the sun began to go down.
Finally, Shihoru was ready to cry. Not that it would solve anything. It might not, but ever since her awakening, nothing had made sense, and she was sick of it.
She couldn’t take any more. It was hard to see why she should take any more, either. But what else could she do? She had nothing to go on.
In the end, sitting here in silence, for no discernible reason, suited her. She was worthless. There was no value in her living. Even after all this brooding, she couldn’t leave her seat, only bawl her eyes out.
An idiot. I’m such an idiot.
“Hmm...? What’s wrong, girlie...?”
Snapping back to her senses, Shihoru looked to Sarai. She hurriedly wiped her tears away.
Sarai was looking at her. Dark eyes peered out from behind his toolong eyelashes. “Girlie, why are you crying?”
“...N-No... Um... Th-There’s no real reason...”
“Oh, no?” Sarai mumbled a bit, then remained quiet for a while. Phew. He let out a sigh, and then slowly began stroking his white beard. “Let me tell you something about mages. We borrow the power of elementals, beings we aren’t even sure are alive or not, to cast magic spells. In short, we are powerless.” “...Powerless?” Shihoru repeated.
“Indeed. That’s the thing about magic. It’s there for the powerless to use. Look. I’ve lived to over a hundred, but my longevity is all I have going for me. I’m going senile, and I can’t see so well anymore. My legs are no good, either. But still, I can use magic.”
She hadn’t expected to hear he was over a hundred years old, but Shihoru was surprised by how well she could hear his voice given how quiet it was.
He was a mysterious old man.
“Heheh...” Sarai let out a low-pitched laugh as if he saw right through her. “Girlie, you just thought I’m a strange old man, didn’t you?”
“I... I did not.”
“No, the fact is, I am a strange old man, I agree. Truly, it’s a bizarre life I’ve led. When I first awoke here in Grimgar, I’d never have believed I’d live to a hundred.”
“S-Sarai... Wizard Sarai... you came here like us?” Shihoru gasped.
“You can call me Gramps.”
“I... I couldn’t...”
“Is that so? Call me Grandfather, then.”
“G... Grandfather.”
“Yes. That will do.” Sarai nodded, motioning for her to come closer. “Come here, girlie. If you’re so far away, I have to speak up. It’s a bit hard on an old man.”
“Y-Yes! I-I’m sorry...”
Shihoru rushed over to sit in the seat Adachi had occupied before. She still couldn’t see the man’s face through his eyebrows and beard, but he seemed satisfied.
“The boy who took off, he’s an impatient one,” Sarai said. “Well, I’m sure Yoruka will handle him. Yoruka, she’s the girl who was leading me by the hand.”
“Oh, Y-Yoruka-san is her name... I see.”
“That girl, too. She was a little girl like you until not so long ago, but now she’s gotten so big. Now, she’s a fine wizard. Much more clearheaded than I. A fine talker, too. Because I’m just an old man, you see. That girl must be over forty now.”
“Huh? F-Forty...?”
“She doesn’t look it, does she?”
“I... I thought she was maybe around twenty-five...”
“Ohhh. If you say that to her, she’ll be pleased, I’m sure. By the by, girlie.”
“...Y-Yes!” Shihoru sat up straight.
This old man likely wasn’t nearly as senile as he claimed. More than that, he might only be pretending to be declining in his old age. Either way, she could be sure he was no ordinary person.
Beyond his white eyebrows, his black pupils shone with an awfully strong light.
A mage.
Those were the eyes of a mage.
“Girlie,” he said.
“...Yes?”
“I’ve been needing to go to the washroom for awhile now. I can’t go alone. I’ll tell you where it is, so could you take me there, perhaps?”

3. The Laws of Nature
The hunter Itsukushima provided Yume with the bare minimum of gear, and immediately took her out into the forest near Alterna.
“I used to be a volunteer soldier like you. But I quit. You know why?”
“Hmm. You wanted money to play around? Or somethin’ like that?” “I’m not a robber,” he said with exasperation.
“Sorry, Itsukushima. Yume, she just said whatever came to mind!”
“Don’t just say things at random... Well, whatever. Listen up. Ever since joining the hunters’ guild as a volunteer soldier trainee, I’ve always been a hunter. It’s been twenty years now. Life as a hunter suits me, so I wanted to be a hunter more than I wanted to be a volunteer soldier. That’s why I quit being a volunteer soldier and changed trades to be a hunter.”
“Mm-hm. Mm-hm. You’re so cool, Itsukushima.”
“I... I am?”
“Yume wouldn’t know, but she thinks you’re cool. Do you think Yume can become a hunter like you?”
“If you’re serious about it, then maybe. By the way, about the way you address me...”
“Itsukushimaaaa?”
“That. That’s what I mean. You’re not poking fun at me like that, are you?”
“Mew?” Yume crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. She clapped her hands. She knew what poking fun must mean.
Yume thrust her hands under Itsukushima’s armpits and started wiggling her fingers around.
“Wahah?! Wait?! Hey, Yume?! What are you doing?! Wahahah! Wahahahah?!”
“This’s it, right? Huh? This’s poking fun at you, right?”
“N-No! Stop! Stop it! I-I’m weak there! Stop...!”
“Okaaaay! Stoppin’ now!”
“Hahh... Hahh... Hahh... Hahh... Wh-What are you doing to me...?”
“Yume thought she was pokin’ some fun at you. Was she wrong?”
“That’s tickling! It may involve poking, and you may think it’s fun, but they’re different things! Okay?!”
“Ohhh. It is, huh? Yume got it wrong. Sorry about that, Itsukushima.”
“There, again! Why do you keep addressing me with no honorific?!”
“But you’re Itsukushima, aren’t you?”
“I’m Itsukushima! Yes, I’m Itsukushima! That is not the point here!”
“What is the point here?”
“No, hold on.”
“Holdin’ on.”
“This is wrong. It’s wrong. This isn’t the kind of guy I am. It shouldn’t be. So why...?”
Itsukushima hung his head, mumbling something to himself.
Not sure how long this was going to take, Yume crouched down, resting her hands on her palms so she could relax as she waited.
She was getting sleepier and sleepier, so she sat down on the ground. Her eyelids felt heavy...
“Heyyyyyy?! What’re you sleeping for?! Is it time to sleep?!” he shouted.
“...Fumew?” Yume raised her face, then waved her hand. “Hey, it’s Itsukushima.”
“Yes, of course I’m Itsukushima! It’d be weird if I changed into someone else, wouldn’t it?!”
“Yeah, it would, huh? But still, Yume, she’s glad you’re Itsukushima.”
“H-How so?”
“Itsukushima, from the very beginnin’, you’ve talked to Yume a lot. You seem like you’ll teach her lots about bein’ a hunter. Yume’s glad she was able to meet you.”
“O-Oh, yeah? W-Well, then. I do plan to teach you. But first. First, we need to make the relationship between us clear.”
“What’s the relationship between Yume and Itsukushima?”
“D-Don’t say that with those beady little eyes upturned. You’re making this harder on me. No, listen, you don’t have to cover your eyes with your hands like that! You can’t see anything that way! It’s dangerous. Be normal. Normal, okay?”
“Normal, huh. Got it. Yume, she’s gonna do her best at bein’ normal.”
“Normal isn’t something you try at, though...”
“Then Yume won’t try!”
“I’m not convinced, but that’s fine... I think? It’s fine, right? I’m losing my confidence here...”
“You are? Well, it’s gonna be okay, Itsukushima. Because you’re a cool hunter.”
“I’m not sure praise from someone who doesn’t know what a hunter is helps...”
“Well, you’ll just have to teach Yume all about it from now on, then!” “Y-You’re right. That’s what I’m here for, after all... No!”
“Nuh?”
“If you’re going to enter the hunters’ guild, I’m going to be your father. By the way, if I were a woman, I’d be your mother.”
“Whaaaa?! You were a girl?!”
“I’m a man, as you can clearly see! I never said a word about me being a woman!”
“Oh, you didn’t? Huh. Yume was surprised.”
“You jumped to a conclusion way too quickly there,” he said with frustration. “And let me tell you, I’m not normally so talkative. I’m more taciturn. I’m a hunter, after all... Well, we’ll set that aside. Erm, what were we talking about again...?”
“About how you’re Yume’s mother? Was that it? Mom? Huh...?”
“Father, you mean. Father. Even among wild beasts, though not all of them, there’s a bond between parent and child. The mother and father teach their children to survive. In reflection of this law of nature, the hunters’ guild has experienced hunters become fathers who show inexperienced hunters the way.”
“Oooooh. Sounds complicated. Yume’s got herself all tied up in thoughts.”
“Because of your misunderstandings, I’ve got myself all tied in thoughts, no, I mean knots, too...”
“Sorry, Itsukushima. Yume may’ve mislearned some things.”
“I-It’s fine. No big deal. You don’t have to apologize... No, no, it’s not fine!”
“Well, could you tell Yume what’s wrong with her? Make it clear and bright.”
“How do I make it clear and bright...?”
“Hmm. Flash! Like that, maybe?”
“...Sorry,” Itsukushima sighed. “I think that’s a little... no, completely impossible for me. This is going nowhere, so let’s drop it. Okay?”
“Okay, Itsukushima.”
“That!”
“Foo? What?”
“Who addresses their father like that?!”
“It’s no good, huh? A father’s a dad, right? You don’t talk to your dad without honorifics? Oh, but Yume, she doesn’t remember her dad or her mom. Why do you think that is, Itsukushima?”
“I don’t think asking me is going to help. It’s weird, but now that I think about it, all I can say is that’s just how things are.”
“It’s just how things are?”
“O-Okay. You’re having trouble getting this father stuff. Listen: basically, I’m your master.”
“Ohh. You’re Yume’s master.”
“That’s right. You wouldn’t address your master without an honorific, would you?”
“Maybe not. Yume, she probably hasn’t had a master before you, so she wouldn’t know.”
“I-I’m your first, then. Well... I imagine I would be, yeah.”
“Master, huh? Okay! In that case, Yume just has to call you Master, right?”
“It’s better than no honorific, yes. Do that.”
“Well, that’s what she’ll do from now on.” Yume bowed her head.
“Yume’s got her shortenings, but she hopes you’ll treat her kindly, Master.”
“...R-Right.”
Itsukushima, no, Master scratched his neck and looked away for some reason.
“Likewise... Also, it’s shortcomings. I think you mean shortcomings there...”
 
4. Troublemaker
Shihoru took Grandfather, AKA Wizard Sarai, by the hand. Together they walked down the corridor, Shihoru carefully supporting him so he wouldn’t fall over, and she opened the door.
Grandfather’s room was in the back of the second floor of the mages’ guild. It was quite roomy, and though the furniture wasn’t too gaudy, it did look quite luxurious. Everything but the bed and the couch saw hardly any use.
Shihoru sat Grandfather down on the couch, made the bed, and then went to get a pot with a herbal decoction in it which had been left outside the room.
She gave Grandfather his medicine, then took off his robe and wizard hat. He was already wearing pajamas underneath, so he was ready to go to sleep.
She took him to the bed, helping him to lie down, and stayed by his side to talk to him until he could get to sleep.
“Girlie,” the man said.
“...Yes, Grandfather?”
“Listen. It’s elementals. For us mages, the first thing, and the second thing, is elementals. What are elementals?”
“Magical creatures, right?”
“Indeed. And yet, even we mages do not know their true nature. In their normal state, elementals are invisible to us. We cannot hear their voices.”
“Yes. But... we can feel them.”
“Mysteriously, the elementals will not let themselves be sensed by those who do not believe they can feel them,” Grandfather said. “But elementals most certainly do exist. That is why we can use magic.” “Elementals... they hide in the soft wind... breathe in the raging storm...”

Chapter end