Chapter 11 (1/2)

Mould.

At this rate it would definitely mould.

Looking at the blue mantle hanging from the line, Izumi’s features curved into a frown.

The mantle given to her by the man lost in the desert――――in other words, by King Huuron――――was thicker than expected.

But the desert was hot in the daytime, and freezing in the night. Perhaps something like this was to be expected.

At any rate, the mantle was certainly thick. Had that been the only thing, then Izumi wouldn’t have worried.

Embroidery decorated it in the same colour as its cloth, and its craftsmans.h.i.+p was clearly finer than anything she had ever seen.

It spoke much that the first thing she thought was ‘looks expensive’.

Up until now she had received two bottles of the finest liquor, three b.a.l.l.s of hahanero bags, and then even a map, so surely it was no big deal to receive a mantle that was just a little fancy…?

Izumi didn’t think so at all.

The mantle was simply that splendid.

Perhaps she would meet a poor person next.

Selling it would probably net a fortune. But it was still technically the mantle of Yohk’Zai’s king. Perhaps selling it would garner unwanted attention.

And thus she concluded that it was still best to simply return it.

However, this was not the same as wanting to meet him herself. The reason she didn’t mind people seeing her naked is because she had been sure that she would never meet them again. Now that she knew that wasn’t an absolute, she started to care a little more about her appearance.

Izumi glanced at the vinyl bag in the corner. Her newly purchased bathrobe lay inside.

This time she would be prepared no matter when her window might connect to a strange world.

Perhaps she would be able to relax more this time.

Which left the current problem. While safely blow-drying the mantle from a distance, she wracked her brains wondering how she could return this to King Huuron.

The hot air continued to leave the dryer.

Suddenly, the cry of “Fire!” overlapped the sound of the machine.

Did the shout come from this world, or did it come from the mysterious world beyond her windowsill? The quickest way to determine it was simply to open her window.

Turning off the drier, she ducked past the mantle on the line and then opened the window.

And it was connected to the inside of some house she didn’t know.

Ochre dirt walls. A kitchen seemingly carved from stone. Warm furniture made of wood. And finally, two people in white-coloured clothing.

The two of them hadn’t noticed Izumi’s presence yet, and were looking outside through the opened wooden window.

And outside the window, beyond a gap of about a metre, was the window of a house placed diagonally from theirs.

Izumi closely examined the two of them. Their bare arms were of brownish hue, and it brought to mind a desert people. But their clothing was completely different. White clothing that resembled an ancient kantoui or tunic, tied with a white belt that l.u.s.tred like silk. Both tunics went beyond the b.u.t.tocks, and whilst one was like a long skirt that reached the ankles, the other had a shorter skirt that reached just below the knees.

From the silhouettes, Izumi could tell that the knee-length tunic was worn by a man, whilst the ankle-length by a woman.

“W-, What should we do, Kyousui-san? There might still be children left behind! Aahh, why isn’t anybody going to save them? Should I go bring water?”

“It’s pointless. With motor skills like yours, there’ll just be one extra person to save. The soldiers will be here soon.”

“Well that might be true, but still…”

The man glanced at face of the woman next to him. From what Izumi could see, he had friendly looking eyes that slanted outwards, and particularly striking were his s.h.i.+ning red earrings.

When Kyousui, the woman, looked back towards him, she noticed Izumi.

Her eyes widened so far that they were in danger of falling out of her head.

“Eh? EHH? UMM… EHH!?”

She pointed at Izumi as she visibly struggled for words. Because of this, the man noticed Izumi as well.

“h.e.l.lo. Umm, you might not believe me but, I’m n.o.body suspicious. By the by, might you be having trouble of some sort?”

First was greeting them.

“Oh, well thank you for introducing yourself,” said the man as he bowed. It was a standard response, but it seemed to Izumi that he was simply numb from shock.

After raising his head, the man ran over to Izumi’s side.

“The truth is, we’re terribly troubled, Lady Magician!”

Izumi didn’t comment. Her experience suggested that correcting him was pointless.

“The house beyond this alleyway is on fire, but there might still be small children in there! Please lend us your aid!”

Izumi was troubled. The man’s response was so intense that he might prostrate himself at any moment.

“Ummmm.”

She turned back to check her bathroom.

The only thing that looked to be of use was the swaying mantle before her eyes.

Izumi s.n.a.t.c.hed it. The clothes peg fell to the ground.

She turned the k.n.o.b of her shower and held the mantle beneath the water.

“Perhaps you could cover yourself with this and save them yourself. Don’t try the impossible though.”

Izumi forced the words, “Because you look kinda slow.” back down her throat.

“Oohh, how reliable. If this is Lady Magician’s cloth then there will surely be no problem.”

It’s just a normal, fancy cloth though…

Izumi couldn’t help but feel incredibly nervous.

“Dear, wait a moment!”

Kyousui tried to stop the man, but he had already donned the mantle and was on the verge of jumping through the window. He tried to make a gallant jump through the window, but his raised leg got caught on the mantle, and he fell through the window instead.

Izumi could hear the dull noise from the impact.

“I told you that it was impossible for you!” shouted Kyousui as she leaned through the window.

It was at that moment that Izumi spotted bright red hair fluttering beyond her.

“I’ll be borrowing this cloth!”

A voice reached her ears. It was calm, and low, but unmistakably a woman’s.

Who exactly, Izumi couldn’t see, but apparently somebody had torn the mantle off the man.

As the man floundered outside however, Izumi occasionally spotted the somebody’s bright red head beyond the windowsill.

Now fully wrapped in the cloth, a woman stood up outside.

The fiery red hair that reached her hips was tied into a high ponytail.

Her white skin was tanned slightly olive, while her sharp brows, straight nose, and clear blue eyes painted the image of a strong-willed woman. Said eyes were currently turned towards Izumi.

The moment she saw her, the woman looked astonished for a moment, but she immediately regained her composure.

Clad in Huuron’s mantle, she dashed off without hesitation.

It didn’t take long for her to disappear down the alley.

“Owowow…” muttered the man, as he stood up, rubbing his hips.

From far outside, Izumi could hear a crowd falter between horrified screams, and cheers of joy.

Black smoke rose from the neighbouring house as the flame audibly crackled.

“Dear, hurry inside!” screamed Kyousui.

Her shout had brought Izumi back to her senses.

She rushed out of her bathroom and grabbed every bucket and pail she could find, and when she ran out, she went for the vases as well.

When she returned to the bathroom, Kyousui was just on the verge of dragging the man back herself.

“We’re going to do a bucket relay,” Izumi declared to her.

“Eh?”

Kyousui turned around.

Without delay, Izumi forced a bucket of water into her hands.

“Come on! Hurry up! Hand it to the man outside!”

After glancing at the bucket, and then at Izumi, Kyousui gave a strong nod before making for the window.

“Dear! It’s water! Come on, hurry!” she shouted.

The man had been standing there dazedly, but Kyousui’s voice sent his head snapping back towards her.

Receiving the bucket, he splashed the water through a burning window. By the time he had finished, Kyousui was ready with the second bucket. One after another, Izumi handed the filled containers to Kyousui, and one after another, Kyousui handed them to the man. When the man had emptied each one, he would exchange it for the one in Kyousui’s arms, before turning back to toss the water through the window. For a stopgap measure, it was rather well-done.

Just as sweat was beginning to form on their brows, a gust of wind came from beyond that window.

Earlier, the red-head had charged in with the mantle on her person. That same woman was now jumping out of the window, carrying something wrapped in that mantle.

Gently placing the bundle onto the ground, she unfurled the blue cloth, and from inside appeared a boy of four or five. His teary, bloodshot eyes looked around uneasily. Although he tried to clench his lips tight, it was heart-rending that sobs still escaped them. However, he wasn’t injured, and there wasn’t a single burn mark on him.

“Mister! I’ll leave this boy to you. And Miss, I’m sorry about this, but could you hide me? The soldiers are starting to gather, and I have a reason that I don’t want to be seen.”

Right after she finished speaking, the woman handed the child to the man, and then entered the house through the window. Naturally she didn’t catch her foot on anything.

Kyousui showed her agreement by reaching for the window shutters.

“Dear, I’m leaving this to you.”

“Hm? UMM, EHH!? AH-, WAIT, KYOUSUI-SAAAN!”

The man’s voice disappeared as the window closed.

Kyousui wrung a wet cloth to give to the sooty woman.

She accepted it with thanks, and began wiping her cheeks and arms down.

Looking closely, it was now obvious that the ends of her hair and part of her sash were burnt black, and the back of her right hand had turned red.

“Come here,” beckoned Izumi. “We’ll cool your hand with running water.”

Although the woman tilted her head in confusion, she came over nonetheless.

Turning on a cold shower, Izumi took the woman’s hand to hold beneath it.

“Sorry for the trouble,” said the woman, as she left her arm to Izumi.

It was at this point that the woman noticed the mantle in her other hand and caught her breath.

“Looking carefully, isn’t the embroidery on this cloak amazing!? It’s my first time seeing such a beautiful and detailed design.”

After sighing in admiration, the woman spoke apologetically to Kyousui.

“I’m sorry, Miss. I don’t think I can reimburse you with something like this, but I’ll try my best to repay you.”

“No, that doesn’t belong to us. It’s actually Lady Magician’s.”

“Magician?”

Now subjected to two stares, Izumi shook her head.

“No, well, that isn’t exactly mine but… Well, it did save the life of a child, so I guess its original owner wouldn’t complain.”

“Truly? How magnanimous,” she replied, before staring at the mantle.

Its edges were charred black, and the rest of it was soiled with sooty water. Its intricate patterns now frayed, and it looked beyond repair.

On the other hand, the sash wrapped around her waist l.u.s.tred splendidly, its gradated dye-job reminiscent of the morning sky.

In Izumi’s eyes, it too, was quite the work of art.

No, actually, it’s not the sash that’s the real pity here…

“It looks like the ends of your hair are singed.”

The waist-length hair was as red as red could be, and it was obvious to anyone’s eyes that it had been carefully tended to.

Both the embroidered mantle and the sash had been a shame, but as a fellow woman, it was the woman’s hair that pained Izumi’s heart the most.

“It’ll grow back in no time,” smiled the woman. Though the smile had been a casual one, it was charming like the blooming of a gorgeous flower.

“Now then, please help yourselves,” announced Kyousui with food and drink. “I’m not sure if it will suit your tastes, but please go ahead.”

“Aye, thank you. To tell the truth, I haven’t eaten since this morning,” said the woman. She promptly put down the mantle, and brought drink to her mouth. Without delay, her hand continued on towards the pita-like flatbread with the green paste inside.

“Lady Magician, please help yourself as well. It’s naan with zora bean.”

“Thanks.”

Izumi took some naan without reserve.

The surrounding bread was roast crisp, whilst the green paste inside had a texture not unlike roughly-ground red-bean paste. Although it could do with just a little more salt, it had a gentle and light taste to it.

“How delicious,” muttered the redhead.

Izumi agreed. But for some reason the woman had sighed sadly.

When she raised her head, she found Kyousui frowning towards the woman.

“Umm, could it be that you are Princess. .h.i.tow?”

“EH-!?”