Chapter 122
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Enjoy~
ED: LonelyMatter
Chapter 122 – A Disappointing Beginning
Before leaving, Ain had several things he had to take care of.
To complete these tasks, Ain sat quietly at his desk in his office after his conversation with Laralua.
He took care of these tasks with his usual hands while also having dinner in his office.
——Knock, knock.
“Yes. Come in.”
“Excuse me… I brought the medical report you requested.”
The one who came was Varra. She had come to Ain’s office dressed in her white coat because it was her formal attire.
“Oh, thank you. Can I ask you to bring it here?”
“Understood,” Varra replied and went to Ain’s side. In her hand, she held a large envelope filled with doc.u.ments.
“This is Krone-sama’s. And this is Chris-sama’s…”
“Yes, I’ll look at them later. …Are the symptoms basically the same?”
“Yes, that’s right. High fever, stomach ache, some people also get headaches, but the two of them don’t have that.”
“So, will they get better in a week?”
“It depends on the progress of the disease, but I think they will feel better within a week.”
Hearing her answer, Ain felt relieved.
He sighed and looked away from the paperwork he was working on.
“Hah… I can take a breather now, too.”
“Thank you for your hard work. Right now, I think… you’re dealing with Heim, right?”
“That’s right. It’s a lot of trouble.”
“…I can imagine.”
They both smiled bitterly, and Ain started to talk briefly.
“I wish that man could keep my brother and the prince in check…”
“…That man… who exactly are you talking about?”
Ain spoke with a worried look on his face. Varra wondered who that man was.
“It’s my former father. Well, it’s a story from another country, so I don’t want to interfere too much.”
“A-ah… I see, that’s what you meant. ——Oh, come to think of it, my father gave me a hard time too…”
“Hmm? You mean Varra’s father?”
“Yes. Mine and Mei’s… and he gave my mother a hard time, too.”
Varra’s face was complicated, and she had a wry smile as she said this.
“Can I ask you this? Come to think of it, I had never heard about Varra’s father.”
“Of course. But I don’t think it would be interesting to hear about it… Then, if it is not too presumptuous of me, I will tell you.”
Frankly, Ain was curious.
He had heard about her mother several times in the past. But now that he thought about it, he had never heard about her father.
It’s rude of him, but he just a.s.sumed that her father had died.
“But I don’t remember much about him because he went somewhere when I was very young.”
“Went somewhere…?”
“He left us suddenly, saying, “I’ve had enough of this.” My mother didn’t understand what he meant, and she looked for him for a while, but… she couldn’t find him.”
She smiled bitterly, but her words were quite serious.
“…And then you went to live in the slums?”
“N-no, no! We were in the slums from the beginning, so our lives didn’t change that much… but we were still pushed around.”
Ain thought.
In fact, he thought it was much worse than his own father’s.
Despite his feelings, Logas had at least made sure that Ain had enough to eat and a roof over his head.
Compared to that, he was probably better than Varra’s father.
“It was hard for both of us, wasn’t it?”
“But after that, Your Highness brought me here. That alone is enough to make both Mei and I happy.”
“…Is there any inconvenience?”
“Oh, of course not!”
Varra raised her voice when she heard his words.
“…I-I’m sorry! I just got excited…”
“It’s okay, I was just a little surprised.”
He was surprised by her sudden att.i.tude, but he could sense Varra’s desperation.
“…We don’t want anything more. We are just happy to live here like this.”
“——Hmm, I’m glad to hear that.”
“I’m sorry for the suddenness of the situation. With such a boring topic… I think it’s time for me to get back to work.”
Apologizing as if she remembered, Varra left Ain’s vicinity and headed for the entrance.
“Well, Your Highness. If you need anything else, please call me anytime.”
“Yes, thank you. I’ll also read this medical report later. And, can you give this letter to both of them?”
“I certainly received it. I will give it to them later when I go to check on their progress.”
In truth, he would like to go to the room where the girls are resting and visit them.
But since that’s not allowed right now, Ain has prepared a letter expressing his concern.
“——Excuse me.”
After receiving the letter, Varra left Ain’s office.
“There are many different kinds of ‘fathers’…”
As many as there were family members. After listening to Varra’s story, Ain realized that everyone must have gone through some kind of hardship…
“Well then. Let’s check on their condition… before I go any further.”
Ain got up, walked to the window, and opened it.
The cool night breeze entered the roon. The sky was filled with stars, and a beautiful cloudless night sky filled Ain’s field of vision.
“I’ll wait for you in Magna. Both of you.”
＊＊＊
As Ain observed, the sky in Ishtalika was full of stars.
A few hours later, in the waters near the continent, the weather worsened like a storm.
The ship that left Birdland was struggling to make its way through the bad weather.
“I-it’s such a shaky ride…”
“The weather seems to be bad today. Please be careful.”
——What should one be careful of?
The road to Ishtalika was so difficult that Elena had to think about such complaints.
The wooden cabin without a single window.
Elena’s room was uncomfortable because of the unpleasant humidity and stuffy air.
Still, the ship the merchants boarded was well-built.
The conditions aboard a ship for adventurers would be even worse.
The ship was made of cheap materials, had no bathrooms, and rocked and creaked.
“I wonder how much longer it will take…”
“Well, I’m not sure… Probably about half a day.”
In half a day, they would be on the ground. Hearing these words, Elena regained hope.
She was ashamed of herself for being so ignorant, for she had not expected the journey to Ishtalika to be so difficult.
“Okay. Then I think I can handle it.”
“That’s good to hear. I will go back to my room.”
“Yes. I’ll call you if I need anything; thank you for your time.”
And so he left Elena and returned to his room, which was hard to convince that it was a room.
“I really don’t get it. It takes such a long time to get there, and yet the Ishtalika ship only takes half… or even a quarter of that time.”
What kind of technology did they use to build such a ship?
Even if someone explained the technical details to her, she wouldn’t understand, but she was curious to know how it was built.
——Creak…
“…O-oh, come on! It’s shaking so suddenly…”
With a creaking sound, the ship Elena was riding on tilted heavily.
Due to the rough sea, many waves also crashed into the hull of the ship.
“How can they not rock in the sea? How can they be so fast…!”
For some reason, the bad environment made her want to blame Ishtalika’s technological prowess.
It was meaningless, but she couldn’t help but complain.
“Elena-sama? I heard a loud voice…”
The civil servant who had just left heard Elena’s voice and came over.
“I-I’m sorry. I was startled by the shaking.”
There was no way she could say that she had been irritated and was complaining, so she put the blame on the big wave that had just hit.
“Ah, I see. It was indeed a big wave…”
“I know, right? I heard that the Ishtalika ship is not bothered by these waves. It’s the technology that really makes no sense…”
“…In fact, I too am ‘jealous’ of Ishtalika and feel like it is a ‘paradise’…”
The technology of Ishtalika was so fascinating that the accompanying civil servant alos thought so.
“I’m going to bed now. Elena-sama, it might be easier for you to rest as well.”
“You’re right. I’ll do that. That sounds better.”
Going to sleep, waking up, and then, in a short while, they would reach Ishtalika.
With that in mind, she felt a little more at ease, and the irritation seemed to subside.
“Well then. Good night, Elena-sama.”
“Yes. Good night…”
Elena watched the officer leave and wrapped herself in the uncomfortable blanket, suppressing her annoyance.
——She wished she could fall asleep quickly and be in Ishtalika as soon as she woke up.
＊＊＊
The next time she woke up, she felt terrible.
——Knock, knock, knock!
The sound of knocking on her door echoed from outside.
It was uncomfortable to wake due to that sound, and her body was not in good shape, probably because of the uncomfortable bedding.
“What is it now…?”
Elena woke up with a start and approached the door.
“——Who is it?”
“Elena-sama. We have finally arrived in Ishtalika! We have finally arrived!”
——!?
“R-really…?”
She opened the door with a start and saw the face of the civil servant waiting outside.
He seemed surprised by Elena’s appearance, but his expression quickly changed back to one of joy.
“Yes! Pack your bags and let’s go outside…! The first sunrise in days is waiting for us!”
“Y-yeah… sure!”
She wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.
Elena thought as she picked up her luggage and hurried to the deck.
Elena had been asleep for a long time, so they were late getting off the ship.
Therefore, it seemed that the other pa.s.sengers had already disembarked, and there were no other pa.s.sengers in the corridor.
“E-Elena-sama! Please wait…!”
“Come on, you, hurry up! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the sun!”
Elena continued on her way in a good mood; her listlessness before bed and the stiffness of her body after waking from sleep were gone.
She finishes walking down the corridor and starts to climb the steep stairs.
“G.o.d… this is so frustrating!”
She had been naive in her thinking. She was aware that she had done this, but now she wanted to be honest and happy that she had arrived.
She wanted to see the outside scenery in the sunlight as soon as possible. That was all she wanted to do.
“Come on, let’s open it.”
After climbing the stairs, she saw a wooden door in front of her.
With her hand on the doork.n.o.b, Elena opened the door with determination.
“It’s so bright…”
The morning sun shone into her eyes after a long time, so she couldn’t open them too wide.
“E-Elena-sama… you’re rushing too fast!”
The civil servant who caught up with her said, but Elena just laughed and let it go.
“Oh, the air outside is so good. I never knew it was so nice to be outside.”
With her eyes not quite open, she took in the fresh air.
The smell of the sea breeze was strong, being a port city, but not bad at all.
As she breathed in the air of Magna in this way, her eyes finally got used to it. Eventually, Elena’s eyes begin to open.
“I wonder what kind of city this is. The city of Magna…”
Just to be sure, she puts her hand over her eyes to create a shade.
And the eyes that opened revealed the vast expanse of the port city of Magna.
At first, she thought she was starting with the nearby landscape, but when she opened her eyes, she saw an endless expanse of cityscape.
“This is Magna…”
The cobalt-blue sea stretched out before her, and the city was beautiful, with red roofs and white walls.
But what struck her most was the sheer size of the place.
When she left Birdland, she had confidence in the port city of Roundheart. But what about now?
“…It wasn’t a place to compare.”
Twice? Three times? No… it was easily ten times better. The city of Magna, a wide and s.p.a.cious city, stood side by side in such a large area.
Many people walked around the city, and many shops lined the streets.
“This is an amazing city…”
“…Yes.”
The accompanying civil servant also revealed this, and Elena nodded silently.
“Well, Elena-sama. Please take a look over there…”
After a few moments, the civil servant next to her spoke.
Elena looked in the direction he indicated, wondering what was wrong.
“W-what is that… thing?”
“It’s probably the fleet of the Ishtalika. There seems to be a larger battleship in the background, but it is not visible from here…”
Indeed, there was a battleship visible in the background, with the top sticking out.
If it was that big, it must be the battleship dedicated to royalty that they have heard so much about. But even without that, the many battleships lined up in a row are enough to draw Elena’s attention.
“The meeting will take place in Heim. If we do that, the port city of Heim… won’t take more than a few hours.”
“You’re so right. Ishtalika was the one who refused, and that’s the only reason we’re saved.”
It was not a compet.i.tion.
They were not even an opponent.
The thought struck Elena with horror.
Until she actually saw it, she was still not completely convinced.
It was just that her imagination could not catch up with the reality of the situation, and she could not understand it until she saw it.
“Oh, excuse me, can I have a minute?”
“Yes, yes. What is it?”
Then, the civil servant approached a sailor who was walking by.
“Excuse me, sir, but what is that big ship over there?”
“Hmm? Ah! That ship, that one.”
The huge ship they had just seen. The sailor’s answer was not at all what Elena had expected.
“It’s a battleship of the Order of the Knights, you know.”
“For the Knights…?”
The sailor’s mouth was so full of unexpected information that Elena could not keep her mouth shut.
“…When you say that, do you mean that it’s not the royalty’s…?”
Hearing the sailor’s answer, Elena couldn’t help but open her mouth.
“Of course! The ships of the royal family of Ishtalika are many times bigger than that one; you can’t compare them!”
“——Well then, I’ll go now!”
The sailor then left, but Elena and the civil servant seemed even more puzzled.
“Oh, it’s bigger than that ship? And there are more of them?”
“…I can’t put it into words.”
It’s like a city now.
The ship was so huge that it made them think so. Considering how many of them there were, they could only laugh.
“Hah… Let’s leave for now, shall we? We won’t get anywhere if we stay here.”
“That’s right… Well, let’s go.”
Putting on a cloth robe like those worn by travelers, the two prepared to disembark.
“By the way, where are the accompanying adventurers?”
“Sure, that’s right… Oh, excuse me. May I ask you something? I believe a ship of adventurers came with us, but where is that ship…?”
Another sailor from earlier.
Taking advantage of the fact that they had just pa.s.sed each other, the civil servant stopped the sailor and asked.
“An adventurer’s ship? Oh, by the way, there was another ship coming. Come to think of it, it wasn’t moored next to us… I wonder what happened.”
“Huh? What’s wrong with you?”
Another sailor arrives, wondering what was going on.
“There was another ship, wasn’t there? The one with the adventurers on it.”
“Oh, yes, there was. But that ship is not coming; it seems to have been hit by a wave.”
“Oh, man… really?”
The two who heard this conversation turned pale.
It was a ship with adventurers who were supposed to escort them. They had never imagined that the ship had capsized.
“Even if you are lucky enough not to encounter sea monsters, you can still get hit by waves. Recently, the number of sea monsters in the sea between Ishtalika and the island has decreased drastically. However, accidents caused by waves are something that cannot be eliminated…”
Compared to merchant ships, adventurers’ ships are shoddily built, which makes them more p.r.o.ne to such accidents.
Adventurers who were active in Ishtalika can probably get a better ship than a merchant ship, but if it came from Birdland… that ship would be hard to find.
“I understand… Thank you for telling me.”
Elena quietly thanked the sailor.
“No problem. Well, I wish you both a good trip.”
After watching the sailor return to his work, Elena opened her mouth to the civil servant.
“We don’t have an escort, but what are we going to do?”
“We’ve come this far. So I thought we should get off and at least see this city and go home…”
It was disconcerting that their escort was gone, but still, she generally agreed with what he was saying.
After all, Heim had spent a lot of money for this journey, and it would have been unforgivable if they had spent it all on a boat.
“I agree. Then let’s get together.”
So, Elena made her first visit to Ishtalika.
＊＊＊
Walking along the dock, many fishing boats are lined up in a row. At first glance, the boats are so st.u.r.dy and magnificent that they might be thought to be the boats of the n.o.bility.
The fact that these boats were nothing more than fishing boats makes no sense to the people of Heim.
“Hey, hey! Look at it, look at it!”
“We just unloaded a few minutes ago!”
A few steps further, there was another stall.
Elena walked down the street lined with stalls and got the impression that it was some kind of festival.
“This isn’t some kind of festival or something, is it…?”
She had heard about it from her husband, Harley.
“You’d be surprised at not only the bustle of the crowd but the size of it…” he said.
It’s not that she didn’t believe Harley’s words, but still, she had never thought of a city that big.
“Oh, sister, sister! This fish is good, you know! Would you like one?”
“Ara, I’m sorry. I haven’t even found a place to stay yet.”
“Hmm? …Ah, so you’re like that too, sister! Then I guess it can’t be helped!”
The shopkeeper who spoke to her was a strong man with tanned skin and strong arms as if he had been born in a port.
“Huh…?”
“I know! You came all the way to Magna just for today, didn’t you? Well, you better hurry up; it’s going to be a hard day finding a place to stay! …Ah, a customer! That’s it; you can look at it all the time!”
What on earth was he talking about? Not knowing what “that” was, it might seem suspicious to honestly ask what’s going on.
“H-hey, shopkeeper? Are there more people here today than usual?”
“Yes, every time! …Ah, there are certainly a lot of people.”
The owner took care of the customers while he spoke and then looked at Elena from a different angle.
“But I guess things are the same around here. But if you go a little further, it will be hard to walk! After all, the ‘two’ have come from the royal capital, so it’s only natural that the place will be crowded! So be careful not to get lost!”
“Yes… thank you.”
Elena was also intimidated when she heard that the crowd was even bigger than this one.
Since more than half of the purpose of this visit was to check on Ishtalika, there was no particular outcome required.
As Elena, she could only concentrate on seeing Ishtalika.
“Let’s go then. Let’s go to the inn first… huh?”
She thought she was calling the accompanying civil servant, but there was no one there.
He must have walked right beside her until she entered this street. How could she be alone now…?
“Maybe we got separated?”
Though she tried to speak calmly, she felt quite anxious inside.
If she got lost in such a big city, it would be very difficult to meet up in time. She didn’t know which way he had gone, but instead of thinking about that, she had to think about meeting him now.
“Hah… It’s a long way.”
The two of them were dressed in a figure that was, to say the least, simple and inconspicuous. In that case, if they got separated, it would be even harder for them to meet up.
——What should she do now?
“Let’s go to the main street first. It seems that there is a main street if I go further…”
If it’s a place where many roads intersect, the chances of pa.s.sing each other might be higher…
With this faint hope in mind, she began to move her feet slowly.
“The ground is also beautiful.”
There were no sloping or uneven areas.
In other words, it was easy to walk on, and she noticed that her feet did not tire easily when she walked on it.
The tiles, which are sometimes arranged in different colors, create a simple pattern that is pleasing to the eye.
“When there are differences in these areas, I still feel empty…”
She muttered to herself, sighed, and continued on her way to the main street.
She had no local knowledge of Magna, but as she walked, she made a map in her mind.
It might be difficult to meet up through the narrow alleys. With that in mind, she tried to stay on the larger streets as much as possible.
But really, she was glad that this ground was so easy to walk on.
If even her legs were tired at a time like this, she would feel mentally exhausted as well.
＊＊＊
——She walked for several hours, trying to find the civil servant.
It would have been better to keep quiet and wait somewhere, but Elena decided to look for him herself.
She went back to the dock where she had arrived in Magna, but there was no sign of him.
When she returned to the boat she had boarded, the answer was that no one had seen him.
The sun was slowly setting, and Elena would have to decide on a place to stay soon. She remembered that.
As for herself, she was restless today. If anything, it would have been better for her to decide on a place to stay first and then try to find the civil servant again.
She thought about it and realized that she was weak in such a situation.
“…I’m still me. I shouldn’t have done anything other than what was on my desk.”
She had volunteered for the job, but it was shameful to be in that position.
Still, she had to put her regrets behind her and do something to get out of this situation.
“All right… Now, let’s get back on track and find a place to stay first.”
She slapped her cheeks and regained her determination!
She started to move forward on her feet again, trying to find the inn she had checked into earlier and get a room ready.
＊＊＊
“We were all booked up by mid-afternoon, and there are no more rooms available.”
How many places had she checked? An hour had pa.s.sed since she started looking for a place to stay, and the sun was about to set.
She was told that the inn was full, so she would have to move on to another one.
“Okay, then.”
——Creak.
Elena opened the door and left the inn.
Considering the time, she should have found an inn by now…
“I lost my cool. That’s what happened.”
Thinking back, the owner of the stall with whom she had a conversation during the day. She should have gone to find a place to stay as soon as she heard what he said.
It was only natural that the meeting was important, but she regretted that she should have thought a little more about the lodging.
“I think I’ll take a little break.”
Elena, who was still walking along the busy street, looked at a bench at the side of the road.
Just as the person sitting on the bench walked away, she walked over and sat down.
There was still a person in a gray robe sitting next to her, but Elena sat down without paying any attention to him.
“As expected, my legs are getting a little tired.”
She rubbed her feet to loosen the tense surface.
“As expected, I can’t stay out in the open…”
There was probably a lot of pedestrian traffic in this city, even at night. But as a woman, there was still a part of her that wanted to avoid being out in the open.
“Really, I should have gotten a place to stay earlier…”
She regretted her misplaced priorities and wished to return to this morning.
The woman’s face was a little pale, and her eyes glistened with tears.
“…Um.”
While Elena relaxed her feet, she heard a voice coming from the gray robe sitting next to her.
“…..?”
Elena stopped moving and looked next to her.
“Excuse me. Could it be that you don’t have a place to stay for tonight… or something like that?”
The hood of the man’s head was too low for her to see his face.
But from the sound of his voice, she could tell that he was a man. And he seemed to be… young.
“Y-yes… Actually, I didn’t know it would be so crowded.”
Was he an adventurer from Ishtalika? Elena thought about that even as she talked.
“Haha, I see. It really is a huge crowd.”
Despite his appearance, he has a gentle smile. Elena got this impression and let her guard down a bit.
“Really… I didn’t know Magna was such a lively place.”
“It is. I’ve been here a few times myself, and I’m always surprised.”
“Ara, is that so? …Do you live nearby?”
Maybe she was being too cautious. Still, she liked the way he talked to her, and she talked to him as if she were the usual Elena.
“Hmm… I actually live in the royal capital. Besides, they don’t usually let me leave so easily.”
“Fufu. I was wondering if you were an adventurer… but you are actually a n.o.ble, aren’t you?”
“A n.o.bleman, huh… I’m not a n.o.bleman, but you could say I’m in an awkward position.”
With his arms crossed, the figure tilted his head from side to side, lost in thought.
At least he didn’t look like a commoner.
——He was certainly highly educated.
Talking to him made that clear to Elena.
“Then I won’t ask for details. It would be better for you, wouldn’t it?”
“Haha… Indeed, I am sorry.”
The man had no way of speaking in a way that made others feel uncomfortable.
Just the tone of his voice seemed to have the power to make people feel comfortable.
“Then how about a thank you for not chasing it too deeply?”
“Ara. You talked to a traveler like me. Shouldn’t I thank you for that?”
“If you had to thank me for a mere conversation, the merchants would be dead.”
The man ended it like a joke and stood up quickly.
He was tall, and Elena looked up at him as he stood. A glimpse of brown hair that seemed long for a man.
“I know an inn that has rooms even at times like this. I’ve heard of it, so I’ll take you there.”
“An inn?”
“Yes, you don’t have a place to stay, do you? I haven’t checked it out myself, but my aunt told me about it. Well, my aunt is not very reliable either…”
It was hard to say for sure, but she would appreciate it if he could introduce her to the inn.
If they turned into a narrow alley, she would just have to run.
“I’ve “forced” myself out of the house, so let’s hurry up and get over there, shall we? This way, please.”
And the gray-robed man began to walk away. Elena watched his back and followed him silently.