Chapter 25 (1/2)

The next day, we departed fro our journey to the imperial capital

Though this tie It was a far cry froe rolled on, and there was nothing we had to do in particular

To put it bluntly, it was a lot of spare time

With nothing to do, I ended up thinking about a lot of things

Calling our path to Telaberan a ‘journey’ would be rather generous It was ht

We couldn’t even guarantee there’d be anything to eat, or anywhere to sleep

Days of nothing but enduring the fear and anxiety

It already seeo

Thinking about it, quite a lot had happened since we arrived in Telaberan

Meeting Leon, and being taken to the estate

Eating food the average person would definitely never have the chance to touch

Sleeping under a roof

…Becoain

Guibenague

Going sightseeing through the city

Thinking about it, those days, those times — if Leon hadn’t found us, that future would never have been

I didn’t have a clear idea of just what, exactly, happiness was But if soht say that it was those few days I spent at the estate

That was how gray my world was until the day I met Leon

To live for living’s sake Days of that, and nothing else

Running forward in desperation today, knowing nothing of tomorrow I couldn’t ad myself to say ‘Help me’

Now, I thought — that was truly a bitter way to spend each and every day

Ahh, I didn’t want to go back to those days anymore

— Is that really how it is?

In thethat rejected the idea bubbled up from the depths of my heart

Is that really how it is? Was every day full of bitterness, and nothing else?

Did I hate it thatto life every day?

No, not at all I liked living that way

Never knohat to in the moment

Yeah, I enjoyed those days of excitement

I didn’t hate them, not in the least

But noas experiencing of a different way of life, one that wasn’t all bad either

It was difficult to leave, but I probably wasn’t cut out for this life

Even if it wasn’t so bad noould definitely fester

“……”

I suspended ht

For sohed heavily

And so I threw e, which even came with cushi+ons

In front ofoff with the precious shortsword she bought in her hands; and Aira, ake but with her ainst the wall

Aira had been in this state ever since the incident yesterday

She was thinking about sole-minded earnestness Iher

During lunch yesterday, she seemed to be without a care in the world, but she’d been like this since last night She wouldn’t eat, not even dinner

Co rather unsettling about her now To cut straight to the point, she was close to the way she hen the slavers had her

However, what I saw in her eyes wasn’t the lifelessness they had then, but a strong sense of purpose

What that was, I had no idea

Naturally, I spoke to her

Her response was [Could I ask you to wait a little while longer?]

It wasn’t like she wasn’t talking tome either ‘Wait’ Not until when, just ‘wait’

If she had refused, I would’ve gotten angry with her Like she and Palmira told me that day, ‘Rely on me’

But Aira said to wait

Then I would wait Because that, too, was a sign of her trust in me

The carriage rolled to a stop, and there was a knock at the door

I didn’t know for sure, but it was probably Leon ‘Yes,’ I replied, opening the door, and surprise, surprise, it was Leon

“We’ll becamp here today You must be tired after your journey here There’s dinner, so feel free to come outside”

S as always, he politely invited us outside ‘You must be tired’ — is there anyone here less tired than us? I wondered, but I suppose it was just like him to say that

Like the day we met, Leon was on horseback, but that should at least be e Leopard may have been here, but Leon was the company commander

However, on the other hand, I knew for a fact there were people even ot here on foot And each of the their own equipment, to boot

When I thought about that, I felt genuinely apologetic

Notreated like princesses But unlike princesses, we didn’t take it for granted at all

That said, if they told us to walk, we’d be just as screwed I knew that today, in just one day, the company marched a distance that surpassed the bounds of common sense They’d definitely march off without us in the blink of an eye

I got out of the carriage, but as quickly and inconspicuously as possible

Pals, quietly setting foot on the ground outside Well, Leon had attendants waiting at the side, so it was all for nothing

Unlike on, I already kneas evening

When we disee of sinking below the hill on the other side of the river Before long, the curtain of night would fall

It was the same vie e came here, but, precisely because of that, it pulled at so deep inside

When the thought occurred to hing without thinking

What e thinking?

“By the way, dinner today is the same as everyone else’s”

Everyone wasdinner, and so on Leon invited us to sit on the chairs around the fire, which his people had seen to first

“You wanna show off outside, huh”

Leon responded to ] He honestly seemed a bit embarrassed

The unexpected thued me into wordless worry

–

–

Dinner wasand richly seasoned So this is what arht they were a little on the heavy side1

After dinner ended, a somewhat casual atmosphere settled over the camp I stood from my seat and made my way alone to the dry river bank Aira had said earlier that she would go rest before returning to the carriage Pal her food

Right now, each of thes to think about So I decided to leave them alone

Still, the river wasn’t all that far froan to increase in height, and in the end it was still a bit of a walk

Despite the distant hustle and bustle at ht breeze as I stepped out onto the riverbank

Looking across the river fro above the hill on the opposite side

A overwhel brilliance of stars, reflected in my eyes

If I crossed the river, o to that world full of stars They seemed that close

The fantastical sight seemed to draw in my soul

“…Hmm”

I cleared out those uncharacteristically poetic sentihtly larger rocks on the riverbank and looked up at the stars They beckonedas they always did

As I watched thean to speak to the empty sky

“Honestly, there’s a lot of stuff I don’t know”

Or rather, there wasn’t a single thing I was sure of

“But for that very reason, I end up is For instance, that this body of s Like the idea thatelse”

I’d told Aira and Palut instinct

But still, even that was no uous conjecture

Coe thoughts about it, huh

Rele

But she also said soht of

Recently, Aira hadn’t been herself

I decided to wait, so that hat I intended to do But honestly speaking, I hoped she would return quickly to the way she used to be

I didn’t much like the alternative

Of course I thought it was selfish of me

“Isn’t that actually [Chris]? …Just who in the world is she? When I think about it, I don’t know a thing about her”2

I didn’t know a single thing

And that was the truth Even if I became her in my dreams, in the end, I still didn’t knoho she was

I could, of course, speculate as much as I liked

For instance, she was at least a child of status She ell off — that was a fact

Considering that estate, and the fact that she was exaical aptitude, that alone I could say for sure

Then, there was the fact that she could use ic Or she had the aptitude for it She was probably really gifted

She ic was important

Why? I wasn’t clear on that either, but I could do it too

Fro her body took on an increasing sense of reality

…However, in that case, soht

I still didn’t have a clear understanding of whatthe invocation stone, the appearance of that circle — my body definitely wasn’t normal

If I had to say… yeah, it was almost inhuman

Right now, those dreaical aptitude Whether she pursued the us’s path or not, I didn’t know

But I believed so happened between then and the point at which I possessed her

I didn’t knohat, but it was probably so

Right now, though, I couldn’t even begin to guess what it ht be

But I did have an idea about ould know