He slapped my back roughly.
“I’ll fight beside you, and if I survive all the way to the end, I’ll wrap things up by vanishing into the depths of the woods. Of course, I’ll make sure to say something awesome and memorable before I disappear.”
“You’ll become legend.”
“Both of us will. Not bad, huh?”
“Yeah.”
That sounded like it might be a fun blueprint for the future. It was, of course, always possible that one of us would die in battle, and if it came to that, I didn’t know which of us would pass away first; but if we survived, I would definitely pass away before Menel. There was no way around that.
The thought felt kind of lonely, and I started to feel sorry for having to leave him. But if he could smile like that as he imagined the future, as things went, that had to be “not bad.”
“Say, Will. How do you wanna go?”
“Well, I’m not as decided on that as you.”
Menel’s eyes went a little wide as if he found that surprising. “Knowing you, I thought you’d have it all planned out.”
“The thing is…” I sighed heavily. “I do think about it, but everything just changes so fast!” I shouted it out in frustration. “I left my home, right, and the next thing I know I’m a paladin! And I blink again and I’m a feudal lord with everyone supporting me! And apparently Bee’s songs have reached the continent to the north too now… At this pace, there’s no way I can imagine where I’m gonna be in ten years’ time!”
Menel burst out laughing. “Human lives are short and intense, but you really take that to an extreme. I guess that’s a hero’s fate.”
“I’ll take being a hero if I have to. I just wish I could draw up a proper plan for my life…”
“A hero who plans out his life? That’s so unfitting it’s kind of funny.”
“So mean!”
We made jabs at each other for a while and laughed together. Then, unexpectedly, Menel stopped walking. As if checking something, he stared at the space between two trees, where there was nothing except total darkness.
“Here it is.” The silver-haired half-elf reached between the trees. When he did, they receded, as if giving way to him. Then the space shimmered, like the surface of water, or the air in scorching heat, and wind blew through.
Led by Menel, I took a single step forward into the shimmering space. For an instant, I felt a strange sensation similar to resurfacing after being underwater, and then, all at once, my field of vision widened.
“Huh…?”
There were no trees around me in either direction, and there was no gloom or darkness. I looked up and saw that bright sunlight was pouring down from the summer sun hanging in the middle of the sky. The summer sky was clear overhead, with cumulonimbus clouds far in the distance. I lowered my gaze. The road snaked gently off to the horizon, and on both sides was a series of partitioned fields, creating a patchwork of beautiful, natural colors. A gust of wind blew, and the vast fields of wheat swayed.
“Wait. This… is…”
No way.
“We’re out of Beast Woods. This is Wheat Road.”
“In one day?!”
I looked around as I said it, but this was definitely the Wheat Road I was familiar with. But that domain was in the deepest part of the woods. It was dozens of kilometers through the woods as the crow flies — maybe hundreds, I had no idea — and we’d traveled that rough road in a single day?
“That’s what a Fairy Trail is. It’s not like we can go anywhere with it, though.
Just the places I know.”
“If you could, you’d be a weapon of war. Wow… the woods’ secrets are scary.”
I remembered what Blood had taught me: Never get in a fight with an elf in a forest.
Then, after taking one more step forward, I suddenly realized. “Isn’t this where I met you, and where we came out of the woods with Bee and Tonio, too?”
“Yeah, it is.”
There was a rush of wind. I heard the ears of wheat rustling in the field.
“It’s already been two years since we met, huh…”
I’d set off from the city of the dead, made friends, toppled a wyvern, become a paladin, and defeated demons and a chimera, and my efforts hadn’t ended there, either. Long and yet short, it had been a whirlwind period of my life.
By the solstice system, I was seventeen.
Chapter 1
The wisteria hanging from the pergola swayed in the breeze. We were in the courtyard of the lord’s mansion at the center of Whitesails, the city that was the gateway to the continent of Southmark. Flowers of bright colors blossomed in full glory under the mansion’s windows, surrounded by the brilliant white of its walls.
“Thank you very much for your trouble.” Under an arbor in the courtyard, His Excellency Ethelbald, Duke of Southmark and feudal lord of Whitesails, spoke to us in a solemn tone. The gentle sunlight of early morning surrounded us. “I expect you’re getting tired of hearing that from me,” he added, a smile crossing his face as his expression relaxed.
I wasn’t very good at coming up with witty responses, so while I was still thinking of what to say, Menel replied casually, “You got that right. Sending us to work every time something comes up…”
“That would be because the paladin is my retainer, after a manner at least.”
“And what about me, who isn’t your retainer? You’ve got me running around doing work for you as well, here.”
“If I mobilize Sir William, I get a second hero tagging along for free. Truly good value.”
“I’m not a freebie you got at some street stall.”
“But you are the dear friend of the paladin.” Another response shot back.
“Just as a friend fights for his friend, so a knight fights for the people and his liege. Am I wrong?”
“Service, devotion, fealty… Sure, they sound attractive, but what’s the reality like? If you put too much burden on someone, he’s gonna grow unhappy with you. And once you start to suspect he resents you deep down, it’ll be hard to count on him when it really matters. Isn’t that how things work? I wonder what’s gonna happen when you have to go up against something scary without this hero to help you.” Menel pointed at me with an exaggerated motion.
Menel had no direct allegiance to Ethel, and he had nerve and no restraint. He would be frank with anyone, even a member of the royal family.
I couldn’t remember clearly what had gotten Ethel and Menel talking, but conversation between the two of them had become more frequent at some point during the past two years, and now they spoke quite a lot.
“Heheh. Indeed, indeed, the thought of my paladin running off is certainly scary. In that case, I had better keep him well compensated to make sure I keep him, hadn’t I?”
“Yeah, see, exactly. That kind of attitude’s important. Then this guy can feel good about showing you loyalty.”
Ethel laughed graciously. It looked like he was quite enjoying his exchange with Menel. That aside, I was coming to the frightening realization that some haggling about how I should be compensated had apparently been occurring just under the surface of their discussion. By the time I became aware of it, the flow of the conversation had already shifted to me receiving a reward.
“I shall see that money and items of your request are sent to you later. Now then, that aside, Sir William…”
“Y-Yes, what is it?”
“I have something I want to talk to you about. I would like you to give me Meneldor here.”