We were asked to attend the funeral, but Fina politely declined.
She said, “From here on, it’s a time for family and loved ones.”
Currently, we’re on horseback, making our way back to the town of Raza.
We’re riding along a gently rising forest path.
It’s a little past noon.
“That was quite the speech, Neil,” Fina teases, back to her usual lighthearted self.
Seeing her like this, she seems like a completely different person from when she’s drawing.
She’s good at switching gears.
She laughs cheerfully, chasing away the dark mood from before.
“Please stop… I got carried away, or rather, I just ended up speaking loudly… it’s embarrassing.”
“Fufu, your older sister is so happy that her little brother is growing up to be so earnest!”
These kinds of comfortable, casual conversations are nice.
It really feels like a brother and sister interaction.
“Right, Katia?”
“Huh?”
Why are you bringing me into this?
“Ah, yes. I liked what you said just now.”
“!!”
Neil’s face turned bright red.
He spurred his horse on, leaving us behind.
All I can see is his back.
Is he angry, maybe?
Did I step on some kind of landmine?
“Oh, really? Hmm…? You two are reacting strangely, what’s up?”
“Um, did I say something that offended Neil? I mean…”
I try to examine my words.
“I liked” it.
Which could be taken as, “it’s generally weird, but I liked it!”… I guess?
Uh oh, is that bad?
“Oho? Hmm… I see, it seems my boy finally has a spring in his step. And this one is as dense as a rock. There seems to be a misunderstanding, but it’s amusing, so I’ll leave it as is!”
Fina seems to have convinced herself and is chuckling.
Spring? That boy? It is spring now, indeed.
After that, whenever I tried to talk to him, Neil, with his face still slightly red, wouldn’t look me in the eye.
Fina! Help!
Eventually, because I couldn’t apologize before we arrived in town, Fina said,
“I’ll talk to him, so it’s okay! Okay!”
So, I decided to take her up on that.
I’m not sure why she repeated the end of her sentence twice though.
I upset him, but this should be a relief.
We arrived in town, so it’s time to report to the soldier’s guild.
It seemed Fina handled things well, and Neil was back to his usual self.
When we entered the guild, the branch manager and Gale greeted us.
Gale seemed momentarily surprised to see Fina with us for some reason, but then immediately looked resigned, as if he understood everything.
…His expression hinted at the usual hardships he faced.
As usual, we were led to the office.
“Well now, you’ve done a great job. Defeating a wyvern and capturing imperial agents, I’d really like to raise your ranks…”
The branch manager trailed off and motioned to Gale to continue.
“Yes. Regarding the capture of the agents, we’ve decided to postpone the official announcement. Those who need to know have already been notified by the intelligence department.”
“Eh, why, Dad? Isn’t it better to spread the word and raise awareness?” Fina asked, puzzled.
“Well, the reliability of the information is low. How to control monsters, the scale that can be controlled, whether anyone can do it, we don’t know anything yet. Currently, it would only cause unnecessary confusion. Well, the soldier’s guild will get a notification though.”
“Hmm, I guess that can’t be helped, right?”
“Well, it’s only a matter of time before rumors spread. But as someone in charge, I can’t release inaccurate information. All that’s left is to increase vigilance.”
It seems they’re in a reactive position, just like us.
To prevent it, it really comes down to…
“The intelligence department, right? In the end.”
Monitoring the border, catching suspicious individuals in their nets,
Picking up on unusual activity.
That’s about all that can be done to prevent things beforehand.
“Were you calling for me?”
“Hyaah!?”
Nanashi-san was standing silently right behind me.
That’s scary! And, bad for my heart!
I let out a strange sound, how embarrassing.
“When did you get here?”
Neil’s face was twitching.
“Just now. I’ve spoken to the man…”
Nanashi-san spoke while moving to a position where he could see everyone’s faces.
“How did it go?”
Nanashi-san shook his head.
A reaction that wasn’t promising.
“It’s no good. He’s disoriented and doesn’t give coherent responses. His memories are vague, either they chose someone like that, or perhaps…”
They deliberately sent him in that state.
That’s pretty cruel.
“However, he had a strange item with him.”
Nanashi-san pulled something from his pocket.
That is—
“An ocarina?”
I took the item that was handed to me.
“Please, try playing it. Ah, the mouthpiece has been cleaned, so don’t worry about that.”
It’s true, I don’t want to share an indirect kiss with that man.
Why me, though?
Well, whatever.
I put my lips to the distinctive tear-drop-shaped object.
I cover some holes and blow into it.
“…? Is there any sound coming out?”
Even when I blow firmly, there’s no response.
I asked Neil to check.
“I can’t hear anything.”
“No sound comes out, right? Doesn’t that make it suspicious?”
It certainly is suspicious.
Visually, it doesn’t look damaged.
“Normally speaking, is it likely that something that controls monsters is coming out of this ocarina?”
Like a snake charmer’s flute…
“It’s a possibility. Of course, it could be completely off or a disguise. We’ll have to wait for an expert in magical items to analyze it. That’s all the information we got from that man. Well then, I’m leaving.”
Nanashi-san collected the ocarina, gave a report to Gale, and left.
No useful information, then.
“It’s a dead end, isn’t it. We have to postpone this issue?”
As expected, it seems the man was a loose end with no further leads.
We can’t trace it back to important information.
“That’s right. It seems we have no choice but to increase the strictness of monitoring people entering and leaving,” Gale grumbled.
The branch manager furrowed his brow.
“As the soldier’s guild, we can only increase village patrols… Is it okay to apply for an additional budget, Gale?”
“Please no! I’d like to say that, but I can’t. I’ll figure something out. The budget from the state is just not enough.”
I felt a little uncomfortable listening to the conversation between the two managers.
“Oops, sorry about that. You all must be tired? Here’s the reward for this time… you should all go home and rest.”
The branch manager, sensing the mood, gave us our share of the reward and prompted us to leave.
“Woah, a lot of money.” Fina muttered.
50,000 Luci each (about 500,000 yen).
It’s a lot, but I guess it’s an amount that includes payment for the work done and an incentive to not leak the information.
The two of them started discussing future plans, so the Raza siblings and I left the guild.
The three of us had a combined breakfast and lunch, then spent the rest of the day resting in our private rooms at the Raza estate.
The next day, we were scheduled to leave the town of Raza.
Gale said that he has an early morning meeting and wouldn’t be able to see us off.
We said our goodbyes the night before, but it’s still a bit disappointing.
It’s almost time to leave, but Fina hasn’t come out of her room.
I’m waiting near the entrance of the Raza estate.
“Neil-san, what happened to Fina?”
“This pattern means it’s that.”
That? Ah…
“Painting?”
“Yep. Definitely.”
And then, the door was opened with a bang.
Coming down the stairs with loud thuds was, of course, Fina.
She seems to have finished packing her luggage.
“I finished it! Katia-chan Series First Work… Ta-dah!”
Fina held out a painting, showing it to us.
Is this a painting of me?
It was a picture of a red-haired girl jumping high and slashing, while a wyvern was depicted in agony, engulfed in flames.
It’s a very powerful and skillful painting, but…
“It’s flamboyant, isn’t it?”
“It’s so cool!”
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it!”
Our opinions were clearly divided.
Fina looked dissatisfied.
“Neil’s ‘cool’ is understandable, but the ‘flamboyant’ part is because that’s how Katia fights! You should reflect on your opinion!”
“I’m sorry…”
I brought this on myself and it was a can of worms.
“Well, nevermind. I’m going to have this painting made into woodblock prints or copies for distribution! I have connections at the commercial guild!”
Since we got permission that we didn’t have to hide the fact we defeated the wyvern, there shouldn’t be a problem.
But still.
“This painting will be distributed…it’s a bit embarrassing, I guess…”
“Just give up. It was originally the reason for going along with her in the first place. And once she had her eye on you, I think the outcome would have been the same anyway…”
“I’m going to show everyone Katia-chan’s charm! So, let’s get along from now on!”
And so, while entrusting the painting to an art dealer at the commercial guild, we departed from the town of Raza.
I’ll pray now that the three of us will be able to return safely to the Raza domain.
