Farewell, Replant
Daniela and I returned to the inn and quickly finished packing. We had stayed here for so long, but once it was decided that we would be leaving, we began to pack our things a little by little every day. And so we were mostly prepared to leave.
"So this our last night here."
"You seem a little sad?"
Daniela turned to look at me as we lay in bed.
"I"d be lying if I said that I wasn"t."
"Do you want to stay here then?"
"Don"t be silly, Daniela. We decided to go together. You can"t just leave me here."
It was just a suggestion she made, knowing how hard goodbyes were for me. But saying goodbye to Daniela was the one thing that I would not do. It wasn"t something I could express with words, and so I rolled onto my side and wrapped my arms around her.
"I am sorry. That was thoughtless of me."
"Don"t worry about it…hahhhh…I"m sleepy."
I was so relaxed when I was around her, that a yawn escaped me. And since I felt no desire to fight the waves of drowsiness that swept over me, I allowed my eyelids to fall shut.
"Good night, Asagi."
"Good night…"
When I woke up, Daniela was gone.
No, of course not. I woke up with my head on her chest, just like when I had fallen asleep. It was a typical morning. I saw the sunlight shine through the window as I got up and went to the bathroom to wash the sweat off of me. We had held onto each other all night and had sweated quite a lot as well. I would have to recommend that she take a bath later.
The magic tools in the bathing room that had caused such trouble for me at first, was now so familiar. The innkeeper refilled it whenever we were away. I crushed the fire and water ore and put them into the hole above the faucet. And then with a turn of the lever, the hot water came rushing.
I had recently discovered that the temperature could be adjusted by changing the amount of ore used. Ever since then, I have been making it extra hot. It just felt better that way.
Once the bathtub was full, I scooped some out with a bucket and poured it over myself. It felt great and refreshing. I repeated this several times and washed before entering the tub. A moan of pleasure threatened to escape my lips, but I bit it down and sunk until the water reached my shoulders. It was the height of pleasure. One might call it heaven.
"Hahhhhh…I love bathing in the morning…"
As I soak in the tub, I think about our plans for the day. First, we needed to check out of here and go to the street stall district. There we would say goodbye to Veiken and head to the southern gate. The imperial city of Vellefrost was in the center of the empire. It was southeast from the mountain gate of Alessa. So, far south of here.
Now that I think of it, we had walked a lot since coming here. We had gone south through Alessa, and the east through the forest town of Valdorf, and then through Senka village and down south. And then we arrived in Replant. We would continue south from here before turning to the east. We would be going to the Imperial Capital from the west.
This was the route that Daniela and I had talked about during the past month. We would cross the valley we had investigated, pa.s.s that village and the crags and head east. There were no towns around the rocky area, so we would have to camp outside. But it should be fine. And there was a path along the mountains, apparently. I wasn"t too worried.
"Ahh…I better get out now…"
Noisily, I got out of the hot water and wiped myself dry before putting on my clothes. We would be leaving today, so I put on my fighting gear.
When I got out of the changing room, Daniela was awake and dressed.
"Ah, good morning."
"Good morning, Asagi. Were you bathing?"
"Yeah. I suppose we were cuddling the whole night, and it got sweaty. Why don"t you take one too?"
"Indeed… I have already gotten changed, but maybe I will."
"The water"s still hot."
"Hmm. Alright then."
She decided and entered the changing room. Well, I suppose I should clean up…
I stuffed all of my belongings into my bag and gathered any trash. Then I moved all the furniture we may have rearranged. None of it took very long, and by the time Daniela finished her bath, we were ready to leave.
"Let"s go then."
"Aye."
Daniela picked up her belongings, and we left the room. I took the keys off of the shelf near the door and looked back at the room that had been our home for a month. It was the best room we"d ever stayed in. I felt somewhat sentimental towards it and bowed with grat.i.tude before leaving.
The sight of lounging guests near the entrance was now so familiar to us. We pa.s.sed them and headed for the counter. Vegun was there and scribbling on some doc.u.ments when he noticed us.
"Ah, Mister Asagi. It was today, I believe."
"Yes. Thank you for a wonderful stay."
I said as I returned the key. Vegun took it and stared at it for a second as if he were looking at something terribly moving.
"We will miss you."
"Hearing that makes me very glad that we chose to stay here."
"Hehe. That was probably not the best thing to say to someone who is going on a journey."
He chuckled and I grinned.
"Well then, let me do this properly. All of us here will be praying for you and hope that your journey is a good one."
"Thank you. Goodbye."
"I am grateful. Take care."
Daniela and I said as we bowed and walked away from the counter. And like that, we opened the doors and stepped out into the morning city. I turned around once to look up at the Lamb"s Hoof. It was a great place, and I was sure that I would choose it again if we ever came back.
Well then, the next thing to do was to visit Veikin. We would buy some meat skewers, eat, and then head towards our next town.
"I see…I"ll miss you."
"We owe a lot to you. I think our stay in this city was much-improved thanks to you."
"Haha. I don"t know how anyone could not help you two after seeing you like that. Well, be safe. And here, take this. It"s on the house!"
Veikin said as he handed some extra meat to me and Daniela. He really did like to take care of people. And I had no complaints in this case.
"Thank you!"
"Thank you. We will take it gladly."
"Aye! See you again!"
Veikin waved his hand. Daniela and I waved back and then we left. This city was full of friendly people.
"Hey, Daniela."
"What, Asagi."
I stared at the meat skewer in my hand.
"There"s one last place I want to visit."
"What a coincident. So do I."
"I see…then let"s go."
"Yes."
We chewed on our meat as we walked towards the market district. If I could say goodbye to the person who should be there, I would be able to set out on this journey without any regrets. I had been thinking about it since yesterday. I hoped she was doing well…
I was somewhat afraid of meeting her. There was a part of me that wondered if somewhere, deep inside, she hated me for not being able to save her father. I recalled the smile and tears she showed the last time we met. My legs felt a little shaky.
It was a small general goods store called the "Little Bird." It was her father"s store. We pushed open the wooden door and a bell rang.
"Welcome."
The voice of a little girl echoed from the far back.
"Can I help with…oh."
"Hey, Marie Elle…it"s been a while."
"Mister Asagi."
Marie Elle ran up to me and wrapped her arms tightly around my waist. Almost cautiously, I brought my hand up and patted her on the head. Then she looked up at me and smiled.
"I"m sorry we didn"t come sooner."
"No, I"m just happy that you came. Where is Miss Daniela?"
"She"s waiting outside. I"ll call her now."
I opened the door and called Daniela. She entered the store as I held the door open. Her eyes were a little teary.
"Marie Elle."
"I"m glad to see you, Miss Daniela."
"Aye."
Daniela smiled gently and placed her hand over Marie Elle"s head. The girl closed her eyes with a blissful expression.
"Marie Elle. We are going to leave the city today."
"You are?"
"Aye, and so we have been saying our goodbyes. Your store is our last stop."
"Then I will go call mother. I"m sure she will want to talk to you…"
"Oh…yes. Thank you."
We followed her to the back. We pa.s.sed a shelf of beautiful gla.s.s sculptures and went around the counter. Everything pa.s.sed there was their house. We then entered one of the doors.
"Mother, we have guests."
"Oh, who are they?"
There was a beautiful woman there. Seeing her made me feel like I was looking at what Marie Elle would look like when she became an adult. I took a step forward and introduced myself.
"It"s nice to meet you. I am called Asagi. We…happened to meet Marie Elle outside of the city."
"You… I see. My name is Yufy. Please, stay and have some tea."
"Yes, thank you."
For a moment, there was a sadness in her eyes. The four of us sat down at the table and talked. About the day we met Marie Elle. What happened. During this time, I could not touch the tea that was set before me. I was overcome with a fear that taking even that would be wrong.
"…and so the three of us arrived in this city."
"I see… I had heard it from Marie Elle…but it must have been very hard for you."
"…What?"
No, it was Marie Elle and Yufy who had suffered. I didn"t do anything.
"I heard that you killed a man for the first time in order to save her? It could not have been easy."
"No, I… It"s nothing. It"s Marie Elle who…"
"Yes, she lost her father and we grieved. But it wasn"t just us. It couldn"t have been easy for you. Could it?"
Something was welling up inside of me. But I would not let it show. I pushed it down and looked at her.
"Perhaps you are right… But anything I may have felt was nothing compared to what you have had to go through."
"Asagi, there"s no need to discuss the weight of our emotions. That does not matter. You do not need to endure it on our behalf."
She said, then she wrapped her arms around my head. I wanted to pull away, but I couldn"t. Silently, tears began to fill my eyes.
"I"m sorry…I"m sorry. I couldn"t…"
"It"s fine. My child is alive. That is enough to make me happy."
"I…I…"
What did these tears mean?
Sadness over my failure? The joy of forgiveness? Or…
Her gentle hand caused me to well up with emotion. I felt pathetic, and could not raise my head.
"I"m sorry… Sorry that you had to see this."
"Don"t be. I cried a lot as well. I cried and washed away those feelings. And I look forward. That"s the right way to live."
"Yes…Thank you."
My eyes felt hot as I wiped them. Just then, Marie Elle and Daniela came in from the next room.
Daniela must have sensed something because they had left us alone for a while. Though, I could see that Daniela was teary-eyed as well. I suppose they had also been saying their goodbyes.
"Sorry about that."
"It is fine. That is why I like you, Asagi."
"Mister Asagi, do you feel better now?"
"Yeah, I"m fine now."
Marie Elle looked into my eyes as I touched her cheek. She laughed happily. She looked just like her mother.
I drank down the cup of tea I hadn"t yet touched, and then stood up.
"We should be going now."
"You will stop by when you visit next time?"
"Yes, of course."
We had to.
"Goodbye, Marie Elle. Take care of your mother."
"Yes. Be safe, Miss Daniela!"
"Aye, goodbye."
Daniela said and stood up as well. Marie Elle went ahead of us to open the door, and so I followed her while pulling on my backpack. It reminded me of the time we walked out in the city together. We had a carriage then. It was one of the brief moments we spent together.
The four of us stood outside of the store. The sun was dimmer now as it was afternoon. I crouched and hugged Marie Elle.
"We"ll come again."
"Yes."
We would. It did not have to be a long separation.
"Well, Marie Elle, Yufy. Take care."
"You too, Asagi and Daniela. You do not need to worry about us."
"I know."
We waved and started to walk towards the south gate. Even if I knew it wasn"t the last time we would see them, it was still sad. They say that every meeting leads to a parting. I hated those words. I don"t know why, but I just did.
I looked back several times and waved. There was nothing wrong with finding this hard, I thought, as I waved almost excessively.
I continued until I could no longer see them.
Now, we were finished saying our goodbyes. I felt better about it all now. From here, it would be a new journey with new encounters. I had already met my soul mate, but surely it was still a good thing to meet as many people as you could. I would continue to meet all kinds of people from here on out.
It seemed as if finally, my life was ready to take a new step in this world again.