The Wolf Head Tavern's rooms for guests were all on the second floor. The wooden floorboards up there were old, and when you walked across them, you could hear the sound of time lingering in the wood. Through the dusty, thick glass of the window, you could make out the bed inside the room. The rain had been falling for a long time and still showed no sign of stopping. Its sound seeped in from outside, reaching the eyes of the tall adventurer standing by the window and gazing out.
His face looked weathered.
"Things in the Eisole Forest have been very complicated lately—the Black Mist has tainted the wild boars, but we haven't been able to find its source." Forresten sat beside the round wooden table in the middle of the room, calmly describing a troublesome situation.
"Berserk boars? Has the Black Mist grown stronger this year?" Wickel tapped on the window.
"That's right. My research hasn't made much progress. The Black Mist has been nowhere to be found since the Month of Elements this year... In theory, it shouldn't be very strong this year," Forresten said.
"What's Willondon saying? With so much Black Mist around, it must be hard for them to explain. The Holy See should be getting ready to organize a purge, right? If they can't come up with a reasonable explanation this year, I'm afraid they'll become even more arrogant." Wickel's voice held a note of mockery. "The Holy See is just as useless, but they don't have to bear the nameless fury."
Forresten gripped his staff, a trace of helplessness crossing his face. "There's nothing to be done. There's always some way to explain things, but they're never actually resolved."
"I remember your research has made quite a bit of progress. Are you taking your students with you this time?" Wickel changed the subject.
"I'm old, Wickel," Forresten said, his words steeped in sorrow. "But my starlight can't stand still. Otherwise, we'll never fulfill the wish we share."
In other words, he hoped someone could succeed him—or at least that someone would get the chance to train.
"As you wish. Then let's give it a try... I hope we make some good progress." Wickel didn't try to comfort Forresten. Instead, he turned to look at a girl sleeping soundly with her back to them. Fatenai had gone to bed early and hadn't made a sound the whole time, making it seem as though she was fast asleep.
In truth, where they couldn't see, Fatenai lay with her eyes open, deep in thought.
Just as the rain stopped, "daybreak" came—the clock hanging in the tavern showed that it was morning.
"Morning." When Wickel came upstairs with breakfast, Fatenai was already sitting by the window. She wasn't wearing her cloak, and her platinum-blond hair hung loose. Her frail figure made her look as though she'd been malnourished for a long time. Her face wasn't particularly pretty, and her complexion was very pale. Wickel greeted her.
"Good morning, Mr. Auster," Fatenai said slowly.
"You're so formal. Just call me Wickel." Wickel looked embarrassed at being addressed so respectfully, though perhaps he was simply unused to it.
Fatenai understood. She knew adventurers didn't like being addressed with the kind of honorifics nobles used. But she pretended not to notice, because she couldn't accept that this man had the same name as another friend of hers. She couldn't change the situation, though, so after a moment's thought, she gave in. "All right, Wickel."
After that, neither of them had anything to say. Fatenai went to the table and sat down, then picked up the bread Wickel had set there. It was hard as a rock, clearly made from poor-quality wheat that hadn't been carefully sifted. If you weren't careful, you might bite down on a bit of grit in the bread. Fatenai picked up a piece and frowned, but in the end she laboriously broke it into small chunks and washed them down with cold water, one mouthful at a time.
"Mr. Aus... Wickel, could you tell me what Willondon is?" Fatenai ate very slowly. Seeing that Wickel across from her was about to wolf down the rest of his bread, she asked, "There weren't any adventurers where I lived, so I haven't heard of these things."
"I see." Wickel accepted Fatenai's explanation without question, then continued, "Willondon was the first hero. He cleaved the firmament with the Holy Sword and awakened the light. Later, he founded a hall of heroes, which we call Willondon. Adventurers who've earned enough experience can go there to receive some praise that doesn't really matter."
The first hero had been named Willondon... That didn't match what Fatenai knew.
At the beginning, holy Allentia had sent her divine messenger, Aimore, from the heavens to hurl the holy spear that pierced evil. Then light had shone across heaven and earth, and evil had retreated into the corners. That day had been a new beginning.
Fatenai didn't believe in Allentia, but the nobles were her fanatical followers. They studied the Divine Language by heart, and its first scripture was "The Sacred Beginning," which said that the one who had ushered in the new era was Aimore, not Willondon.
No wonder she'd never heard the name Willondon.
"Then where is Willondon?" Fatenai asked, without mentioning Aimore.
"At the place where paths converge," Wickel replied vaguely.
The place where paths converge.
What was that? What sort of place could be called that? Perhaps Willondon itself had no fixed location.
Fatenai fell silent. In the end, she decided Willondon might be much like Allentia, a kind of faith—the faith of adventurers. In other words, if Wickel could be called Willondon, he must hold a fairly high standing among adventurers.
"Where did they go?" Fatenai decided to change the subject.
When she'd woken up, Helise, Hubert, and Forresten were already gone.
"To prepare the equipment mages need. You know how many things mages always have to bring. You have to be careful in the forest," Wickel said. He had finished his bread and stood up.
Fatenai fell silent again. It wasn't so much that she couldn't think of a topic as that there was nothing left she could get an answer to.
"Here, this is for you." Just as Fatenai finished her last bite of bread, something suddenly flew toward her. She caught it quickly. It was a dagger less than half the length of her forearm. Shu Zhu Flowers were etched onto its water-smooth blade, which reflected Fatenai's slightly awed expression. "You don't seem to have a weapon that really suits you."
The Shu Zhu Flower was an interesting flower. It symbolized women's courage and hope, but also carried a meaning of rebellion.
"Thank you very much. But don't you think I'm suspicious?" Fatenai wasn't sure whether Wickel had ever doubted her, though she thought he certainly had. Her movements as she toyed with the dagger weren't perfectly smooth, but they were practiced.
"Adventurers don't have much of a past," Wickel said. "Why did you come to Helurando?"
"Someone tried to kill me. Helise and Hubert helped me, and they wanted to come here to wait for their teacher, so I came with them." Fatenai chose to share only a few unimportant details.
"Looks like we'll have to watch out for whoever's hunting you." Wickel spoke without seeming to find it much trouble. He simply thought there was something else they needed to do.
If Wickel had anything in common with the Wickel Fatenai knew, it might have been that indefinable hospitality of his. They were strangers, yet he'd offered to help her.
"He won't come back anytime soon." Fatenai thought of what had happened and wasn't particularly worried.
So the two fell silent again, but it wasn't an awkward silence born of having nothing to talk about. Instead, Fatenai found it rather comfortable.
Before long, the three mages returned to the tavern. Fatenai had finished getting ready, too. They packed their things and set off for the Eisole Forest. Fatenai pulled her hood a little lower. In the darkness, people hurried along the waterlogged ground, sending splashes flying.
"During Rose Month, the thing that worries people most is the darkness. In the dark, many of the forest's plants can't be eaten, and the animals' movements become a concern. The danger increases as well." They soon entered the forest. A soft light glowed at the tip of Forresten's staff, illuminating the path ahead. "There's a reason we fear the dark."
Fatenai didn't know where they were headed. She didn't have anywhere else to go, either, so the group didn't hurry; they even had the air of people out for a stroll.
After returning to the forest from the town, she felt more at ease here.
"What was that?" Suddenly, they heard a rustling in the bushes. A figure darted past, revealing only its tawny fur. Helise couldn't help asking in surprise.
"An Aquile Lynx. It doesn't want to fight people, but it's an animal that looks so vicious it invites hatred, because its fangs seem so threatening," Fatenai said casually.
Darwin's research had taught her a great deal about the plants and animals here, so answering was easy for her. She didn't notice the others' surprised expressions.
"Are you going to keep going? There's a swamp up ahead. After the rain, it becomes very dangerous and at the very least, hard to cross." As they walked, Fatenai suddenly stopped.
Her eyes fixed on the plants ahead. She was used to all kinds of things happening in the forest, but apart from ferocious beasts, swamps were what troubled her most.
She doubted anyone liked dampness and mud.
"A fine Forest Hunter, but this is the way we have to go," Forresten said approvingly. "Don't worry. We have mages."
① The Kingdom of Luther's months are: Month of Awakening, Month of Budding, Month of Blessing, Month of Elements, Month of Praise, Month of the Empress, Month of Wisdom, Month of Destiny, Month of Trekking, Birth Month, Mist Month, Month of Progress, and Month of the World. Each month has an early, middle, and late period. The early and late periods each last thirteen days, while the middle period lasts two days—except in the Month of Praise, when it lasts three. That makes 365 days in the year.
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