243

Chapter 243 — Even in a Life Like This (6)

The Archmage sighed as she watched the Mountain Lord depart.

At her feet remained several characters the Mountain Lord had painstakingly written with its tail.

They explained that there was a proper reason for the Mountain Lord’s departure and that it must not be stopped.

“It’s leaving……”

“Really……?”

But being unable to stop the Mountain Lord from leaving and having everyone’s spirits break because of it were two separate matters.

Even the soldiers who had escorted her through the wind and rain wore expressions filled with despair.

The grace the Mountain Lord had extended to them had been an enormous emotional support, making the repercussions of its departure all the greater.

Even the lone knight accompanying them could not manage a decent expression.

“Great Sage, your conversation…….”

“It said that it was never a being that could remain here for long. It took action out of pity for humankind, but its time has simply come. At the very least, it is not leaving because it is angry with us, so do not worry.”

But what could they do about something that had already happened?

Originally, they would have had to endure this situation without receiving such grace at all.

The Archmage pointed that out as she encouraged those around her.

It did not seem particularly effective.

It was all because of the rain.

The violent wind and rain dragged people even deeper into their gloom.

“Let us return.”

Realizing that, the Archmage secretly let out another sigh.

This damned situation always seemed to plunge straight back into the pit the moment it showed signs of improving.

It was suffocating.

“When will things finally get better……?”

They needed to reach a point where she could at least withdraw her hands without feeling anxious.

Would that day ever come?

If she put down roots here not merely for a month or two but for half a year, would conditions finally improve?

…And once that time came, would they be able to catch the person they had let slip away?

Unable to feel confident about a single one of those things, the Archmage pushed through the rain.

An oil-treated cloak covered her entire body, but it could not keep her feet or hands from getting wet.

Needless to say, the same went for the gaps in her collar that the wind forcibly pried open.

Aware of their body heat rapidly draining away, they silently continued onward.

“……?”

But by the time they had returned to the entrance of the tent settlement, the Archmage noticed someone standing outside the golden barrier.

It was a familiar face, so she could hardly ignore the person.

She spent a moment contemplating the platinum-blonde woman standing at a distance before gesturing toward the knight.

“Go on ahead.”

“I will continue escorting you.”

“Someone must report to the Lord that the Mountain Lord has departed, must they not? I can explain the details myself later, but the core of the matter—that its time had come—will remain unchanged.”

“…I will leave two soldiers with you.”

“There is hardly a need for that…….”

What had those soldiers done wrong to deserve suddenly being stranded in the rain with her?

Having trained bodies did not mean they were incapable of feeling cold.

Nevertheless, the knight left two soldiers behind before departing.

Feeling somewhat guilty toward them, the Archmage headed toward her new destination.

“Why are you standing out here?”

“Mage.”

Perhaps she had been spacing out, because Berserk lowered her head half a beat late.

The atmosphere around Berserk had grown unusually calm ever since the battle, sometimes making it seem as though the woman before her was not Berserk at all.

As if she were the person Berserk called her older sister.

Only younger than that person.

And more exhausted.

Something like that.

“I found the turtle.”

While the Archmage entertained thoughts she could hardly voice aloud, Berserk abruptly spoke.

The turtle.

It took the Archmage one second to understand what she meant.

“Ah, you found it?”

She had only searched briefly on the day it disappeared, so the Archmage had thought Berserk was not particularly concerned about it.

Had that not been the case?

Had she secretly been looking for it alone?

Perhaps because she had worried that involving those around her would inconvenience them?

The Archmage grew a little melancholy at the train of thought that raced through her mind.

She had not realized Berserk cared that much about such a tiny turtle.

“But……”

Why, then, was there no turtle in Berserk’s hands when she claimed to have found it?

Not on her shoulder.

Not in a pocket.

Not inside her clothes.

Why?

Surely not?

Just as the Archmage’s sharp mind arrived at the most dreadful possibility, Berserk opened her mouth.

“It returned to where it belongs.”

Thankfully, the answer was different from what the Archmage had expected.

Though… there was still room to interpret it in a rather unfortunate way.

“I… see.”

After all, when someone stood there getting drenched by the rain with a scene like this around them and said something like that, did it not sound rather like they were saying the turtle had died?

The Berserk she had known until now would probably prefer either to say such a thing straightforwardly or to keep silent entirely rather than dance around the subject……

But the Archmage had never been particularly good at judging people.

Just as the Demon Knight had done unexpected things, there was no law saying Berserk could not do the same.

“It didn’t die.”

“Ah.”

Apparently her imagination had run too far ahead.

The Archmage was relieved.

“Then… did it return to the sea?”

“I don’t know. But I’m sure it got where it needed to go.”

Yet it remained equally difficult to understand.

Had Berserk not found it and released it herself?

Had she simply witnessed the turtle going somewhere and therefore said that……?

If Berserk had personally let it go, surely she would not have said she did not know.

“…If it made it there safely, then that is fortunate. Were you… out here to see it off?”

“Who knows……”

This truly makes no sense at all.

While the Archmage suffered beneath the weight of far too many thoughts, Berserk, after trailing off, finally answered in the affirmative.

“If this counts as seeing something off, then yes. I suppose this was that too.”

In her hand was a piece of metal the Archmage had never seen before.

“Why are you out here, Mage?”

“I came out briefly because there was something I wished to ask the Mountain Lord.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

Before the Archmage could even identify what the object was, Berserk turned around.

A heavy golden gaze, undimmed even by the rain, slid toward the barrier whose nature differed from her own.

“Are you going back?”

“Our conversation is finished, after all. What about you?”

“I have nothing else to do here either.”

“Then come with me.”

The Archmage had been on her way back in the first place and had stopped only because she saw Berserk.

If Berserk was returning too, the Archmage had no reason to remain.

Feeling sorry for the soldiers now getting needlessly drenched because of her, the Archmage waited for Berserk’s answer.

“All right.”

Fortunately, no refusal came.

For some reason—though the Archmage had no particular basis for thinking so—she had half expected to be turned down, so she felt somewhat relieved.

Even though they would only be walking together for a few minutes at most.

“Are you going back to work?”

“There’s no good in idly lazing around.”

“I doubt anyone would call you lazy merely because you rested for a while……. Where are you working at the moment?”

“I’m helping dig drainage channels outside the barrier.”

“I see…….”

Of all places, it had to be the harshest one.

Berserk was exceptionally strong, able to effortlessly lift things that several grown men could not, and she had excellent stamina as well, so the Archmage could not deny that it was an optimal assignment.

Still, as one of her companions, she could not help worrying.

After choosing and discarding her words several times, the Archmage asked Berserk not to push herself too hard.

“Be careful not to catch cold. Make sure you rest from time to time.”

Berserk merely listened.

She did not bother giving an answer.

Whether that was simply because she had chosen not to respond or because it constituted a refusal would probably become clear later.

They were nearing the point where they would have to split up for their separate destinations.

Read only on MUGEX

“Ah, right. Do you happen to know where Meister is, or have you seen Meister anywhere?”

Just as one of them was about to head toward the worksite while the other went toward the area occupied by the Temple and the Lord’s forces, the Archmage asked one last question.

Her words came partly from a desire not to waste the opening Blue Coral had given her, and partly from a sense of responsibility to let Blue Coral know that the grandchild was safe.

“Do you need to find Meister?”

“The grandfather is wondering whether the grandchild is safe. If you do not know, there is no need to go out of your way to search. If you happen to run into Meister, simply pass along that I am looking.”

“Understood. If I see Meister, I’ll relay the message.”

Berserk did not refuse that request.

The two separated once again.

Neither knew who awaited them at the places they were heading.

* * *

“Why are you back already? Couldn’t find him?”

“I did find him.”

Meanwhile, Daniel bowed his head to the senior who had taken over Daniel’s share of the work so he could move around freely.

After all, Daniel was here as a member of the reinforcements.

Without the senior’s help, Daniel’s attempt to question the residents about the black-flamed demon—and, after concluding they had nothing useful to tell him, his trip to meet one of the Representative’s companions—would have been delayed for quite some time.

“It’s just that he said he had business of his own… and told me to come back later.”

“Well, sure. But it’ll probably be hard to free up time for you again later.”

“We agreed to meet this evening. You don’t need to make any more accommodations for me.”

“Then that’s good.”

Still, the brief stretch of time Daniel had obtained through his senior’s consideration had been rendered pointless by the other party’s refusal.

Not completely pointless, since he had managed to arrange a meeting, but still.

“Thank you again.”

“No need to thank me. Just don’t let the captain catch you. I said you went to the bathroom.”

“…Yes.”

If Daniel had known things would turn out this way, should he simply have endured until the free time he would be given that evening?

There was not even any guarantee that the demon said to have appeared here was the same individual as his hated enemy.

But Daniel knew perfectly well how unrealistic the thought he had just entertained was.

Before setting up that appointment, he had been so unable to calm himself that his leg would not stop bouncing.

Without even this promise of a later meeting, he would probably still have been fretting and darting his gaze in every direction.

Some might call it a waste of time, but at least it had eased his impatience.

In that respect, it had not been entirely bad.

He merely felt sorry toward his senior for borrowing that time.

“Don’t let it weigh on you so much. You think I don’t understand how you feel?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“I just told you not to worry about it.”

Fortunately, his senior was an extraordinarily generous person.

Grateful for that generosity, Daniel focused on the work he should have been doing in the first place.

All the relief supplies had already been moved, so the only thing left was to pitch the tents where they would be staying.

Even that would end after putting up only a few more, since the Temple forces already stationed here had erected most of them.

“Once the tents are up, we’ll eat and get the handover at the same time.”

“They really must be short on manpower.”

“Looks that way.”

Still, his senior shook his head, saying there was no way they would immediately be assigned grueling work after forcing their way here through the storm.

Even Inquisitors, renowned for their strong and durable bodies, would inevitably exhaust themselves after a forced march while soaked to the bone by the rain.

It was a reasonable prediction.

“They say public order itself has almost stabilized, so we’ll probably be assigned to guard duty or peacekeeping.”

Digging drainage channels and repairing or reinforcing tents were more physically demanding than maintaining already stabilized public order.

They were also jobs that could be handled by mobilizing residents rather than highly skilled personnel—though rations would have to be offered as compensation.

So the newcomers would probably be assigned work that could not simply be entrusted to ordinary residents.

“We might end up helping with ration distribution too. Apparently trouble still breaks out there all the time.”

“You’ve already gotten quite familiar with the situation here.”

“Familiar, my ass. You would’ve heard all of this too if you hadn’t left your post, you brat.”

His senior gave his back a light smack that did not hurt, then handed him a task.

The framework had already been completed, so all Daniel had to do was secure the tent cloth.

“If you’re not going to give us rations, at least let us slaughter the horses and eat them!”

“Yeah! There are dozens of horses!”

But not long after they began working, word spread that the Mountain Lord had left.

And, as an added bonus, starving people came flooding in.

“Why are you hoarding them when just one horse could feed dozens of people!”

“This is……”

The site assigned to them was near the existing Temple-controlled area, and since the people had gathered on the Temple’s side and begun shouting, the voices forced themselves into their ears whether they wanted to listen or not.

Eventually, several people who had been doing the finishing work stopped moving their hands and looked that way.

“…It’s because of the rain. Once the weather clears, they’ll ride the horses out to hunt.”

“If everyone had the luxury of thinking that far ahead, none of these disturbances would have happened in the first place.”

“That’s true.”

They knew both how valuable horses were and how desperate people became when driven to the edge.

So rather than criticize anyone, they could only express regret.

There was nothing they themselves could do, leaving them little other choice.

“Martin, Daniel. Go lend them a hand over there.”

Things changed slightly once all the tents had been erected and everyone began receiving their assignments—with their meal included in the process.

Daniel and his senior were told to head together toward the area where the horses were being managed.

The reason was simple.

It would be troublesome if, unlikely though it might be, the people decided to target the horses.

“Four Inquisitors just to guard horses……”

Including eight soldiers, that meant a full twelve people were being used to protect the horses.

Wasn’t that an absurd overinvestment?

Daniel frowned reflexively.

“Don’t take it too personally. Those of us who can see the larger picture have to bear it.”

“Yes.”

Still, the task would not be useless.

A beast hunted by soldiers riding warhorses, or supplies such as firewood carried back and forth by pack animals, would ultimately provide more resources than slaughtering a single horse ever could.

Trusting that logic, Daniel waited for the handover.

Of the two people currently on duty, one had happened to go to the bathroom at exactly this moment—and this was not even the originally scheduled shift-change time—so they had no choice but to wait.

“How are things?”

“Not quite disastrous, but……”

Then, suddenly, Daniel noticed a familiar horse.

His senior and the Inquisitor they were supposed to relieve were in the middle of talking.

“That horse is……?”

Large even for a warhorse.

A glossy coat.

A slightly curly mane.

An appearance impressive enough that even someone unfamiliar with horses would immediately think it magnificent.

A temperament that kept the surrounding horses at a distance.

And the way it snorted irritably the instant it noticed Daniel.

No matter how he looked at it, this was a horse he knew.

“What is it?”

“Is there a problem, Brother?”

“No… it’s nothing. I just saw a horse belonging to someone I know.”

Why is this horse here?

Daniel pondered the question briefly before realizing how utterly foolish it was.

Of course this horse’s owner traveled with the Representative, and the Representative was still here.

What could the question be except stupid?

It was a little odd that Daniel had not heard a single thing about the Demon Knight since arriving, but given the circumstances, that was hardly impossible.

Besides, the Demon Knight was not the sort to go around loudly announcing his movements.

“You recognized it that easily?”

“His horse has a rather distinctive appearance. I apologize for worrying you.”

“I don’t think that’s anything you need to apologize for……”

Then that must also explain why Daniel had heard nothing when he searched for the Representative or the Representative’s companions, hoping to learn more details about the black-flamed demon.

Perhaps the Demon Knight had simply taken such a wide route around the outskirts that the residents did not know about him.

“Wait. By any chance… is the distinctive horse you mean that one? The one standing by itself?”

“Pardon? Yes. It is……”

“Then do you know its owner well?”

But Daniel’s expectations were shattered in a different way.

“I wouldn’t say I know him well… but I have spoken with him before. Why do you ask……?”

“You’ll need to come with me.”

The same ominous feeling that had struck him when he heard that one of his comrades had died in battle slammed into Daniel’s mind.

It would probably not take very long for that foreboding to turn into anger.