Chapter 10 (1/2)

Index

~~Six O’clock in the Morning, Nineteenth Day of the Second Month, Ninety-First Year of the War Demon Calendar~~

Passing various towns and village after we had departed from Iverialtown, we were now walking through the northern mountain range, the Giants’ Passage.

At the halfway point of our descent, a large-scaled city, which appeared to be Beilanea, finally came into view.

The distant view seems to have awakened some nostalgic memories within me.

“Wow… so that’s Beilanea… At this distance, it should take us only one more day.”

“We’ve hit quite a few snags this past month… It’s finally worth something… Well, most of them were my Master’s fault, though!”

“Hey, I don’t remember doing anything!”

Good gracious, now Pochi is fabricating faults to discredit me…

“Well, you should! Three weeks ago when came across a dungeon, you went in because you thought it would be interesting and got us locked in a Monster House crawling with B-ranks! Don’t say you forgot that!”

Oh?

“Two weeks ago, you grilled some weird mushroom for us to eat, and they turned out to be Wailing Tops! It took forever for the crying to stop!”

Oh-ho?

“Last week in Romanetown, you took so many slaying quests from the Guild but ended up being one monster short for all of them, so we had to go all the way back to hunt more!”

Oh-ho-ho?

“And just now when we were trying to make a campfire, instead of just casting Little Fire, you shot a Fire Lance right at my face!”

“Wait, I remember all of them now!? Pochi, when’d you cast a Memory Erasure spell on me!?”

“I did it when you were sleeping!”

“Wha — For real!?”

“Of course not! You really are a handful, you know that!?”

Yes, yes, I am a handful indeed.

“What’s up with that sense of acceptance of your face!? And now you’re doing that ‘how did she know!?’ face!? Oy, what’s up with that ‘is she reading my mind!?’ look!? Ahh, wipe that smug grin off! You’re just messing with me, aren’t you!?”

“Sorry, it was getting pretty hilarious.”

“Oh, for the love of… Look, we need to hurry on our way, sir!”

Pochi turned away with a pout and stood up. For a few minutes, she kept herself faced away, wagging her tail as she walked.

We’ve known each other for so many years, yet I’m still not quite sure whether I have a grasp on her personality. She was prone to anger, but also quick to forgive. I’d tried my best to not get on Pochi’s bad side, of course, but I couldn’t always keep up with her, what with her watching out for such a wide range of things.

“Oh, give me a second here… Hmm, ‘humans tend to easily forget past acts they want forgotten’… There.”

“Sir Asley, I see you write down something from time to time… What are you writing about?

“You’ve done well to ask! Behold, the Autobiography of Asley! The Principle of a Philosopher!

“Ah, Pochi, wait for me!”

……

“Lina, sometimes you can be quite…”

“Eh — What was that, again?”

“Oh, no, it was nothing. Master, hurry up!”

I… won’t give up!

~~Four O’clock in the Morning of the Next Day~~

The city, illuminated even this early in the morning, truly stood out in the landscape. Amid all the gorgeous buildings of various sizes, two ridiculously big ones stood right in the center of the city… they were the Magic and Warrior Universities.

“W-we’re finally here!”

“It was the right choice to make that final push, Master!”

“Hah hah… I’m exhausted…”

“All right, first things first, let’s go find an inn and rest up. Then, after we’re done with the entrance exam, we have the afternoon to look around!”

“”Yes, sir!””

We went into the inn closest to the illuminated city’s entrance.

The rent was expensive, going for 300 Gold per person, but I mustered all the energy in my exhausted body to approve the spending.

After sending Lina and Pochi off to their room, I went to mine and crashed right onto the bed.

Appropriate of the asking price, the bed’s cushioning was especially relaxing, as if it was soaking in my fatigue. Then, in a state of half-sleep, my consciousness descended into a dream.

[Asley… Asley, boy…]

I’m sleepy…

[Asley… Asley, boy… You can keep on sleeping. Just listen to what I have to say.]

I’m sleepy.

[……Excuse me, Asley?]

I’m! Sleepy!

[Ah– I assume you are aware that my Master would never willingly wake up a dream, sir?]

[Ngh… You are Asley’s Familiar?]

[Heh heh heh heh…]

[What– What are you laughing at?]

[I finally have another chance to do this, you see.]

[What could you be referring to?]

[You — Who are you~~♪]

…Good gracious, what a rowdy bunch.

[Oh, I see you are finally awake.]

[Who are you, Gramps? It’s not nice to waltz in and interrupt someone in the middle of healing his fatigue, don’t you think?]

In a dream… A world wrapped in pure white light.