The Monkey-Faced Man

Doldia Village, the Doldia Village in the Great Forest.

It took me about three seconds to place the memory. Back then, we had traveled south from the Millis Continent and passed through the Great Forest, where Geese had been thrown in a cell for cheating at gambling. I had told him to call me "senior," and he had. When I came out of the cell later, he had leaned against the iron bars and waved to me.

Paul's old teammate, a member of Black Wolf's Fang.

"Geese?"

He straightened up from the wooden post and came over with a grin. He walked casually, a stalk of grass resting on his shoulder and both hands swinging at his sides.

"Well, well, senior, you remember me! I thought you'd forgotten all about me! I'm just another monkey face, after all. It's only natural you humans can't tell demon faces apart, right?"

He spoke rapidly, one stream of words tumbling after another. He had been the same way in the cell in Doldia Village, his mouth never stopping for a moment. Back then, I had thought he was just talkative. Only later did I learn it was a disguise of sorts. Talkative people seemed to have nothing to hide, but he was actually sharper than most.

"By the way, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Here?" Geese spread his arms wide. "I was waiting here for you! I've been waiting forever! I told Paul, 'Senior will definitely come to Milishion,' but Paul didn't believe me. He said, 'That boy won't go to the guild to check the messages.' I said, 'Want to bet?' and Paul said, 'No bet.' So I said, 'Then I'll go wait for him myself.' And here I am."

He knew we would come. He'd suspected I was Paul's son since we were in Doldia Village. After getting out of prison, he hitched a ride to Milishion, reunited with Paul, and stayed there. Now he'd been waiting outside the refugee camp specifically for me. His ability to gather information really was no joke. But if I'd thought sooner to include this place...

"Wait." I looked at him, then back in the direction of the warehouse. "How did you know I'd come here today?"

Geese chuckled, showing two rows of somewhat crooked teeth.

"Senior, I saw you come into the city yesterday. Two people, a man and a woman. The woman had a sword on her back and red hair-she really stood out. Then you headed for the refugee camp early this morning, so I followed. But you ended up fighting in the old warehouse district, so I didn't follow you in. A weakling like me would've just gotten in the way, right?"

Eris came over then. She stood two paces behind me, her right hand on the hilt of her nameless sword, staring at Geese.

Eris knew Geese too, but she'd been watching him warily the whole time. I didn't know why, though. Maybe it was because of his personality? It couldn't be a woman's sixth sense...

"Rudeus, if Geese is here, does that mean...?"

"Yeah, my father's here too." I was a little nervous as I said it.

"Isn't this Miss Eris? Long time no see. Do you remember me?"

"I remember. I won't forget what happened in Doldia Village."

Geese looked at her, then at me, his grin growing wider and wider.

"Miss Eris... the young lady from House Boreas? Paul mentioned her. He said there was a red-haired young lady in the Fittoa Territory, and that you went to be her tutor, senior."

"Yes. A lot happened, and now she's my fiancée," I said.

Eris's body stiffened.

Geese's eyes went wide, his mouth formed an O, and the stalk of grass nearly fell from his hand.

"F-fiancée?! Are you serious, senior?! How old are you? Thirteen? When Paul finds out, he'll definitely... No, he'll probably burst into tears. That guy goes on every day about how 'Rudeus will definitely survive,' and now you're not only alive, you've brought a fiancée back with you. Won't he go crazy with joy?"

Eris turned red from her ears all the way down to her neck. She didn't object or say a word, just turned her head away.

Even that night at camp, I'd never seen her blush this much. Geese made such a fuss repeating the word "fiancée" to her face, and she got this embarrassed. But anyone would feel awkward, wouldn't they?

Geese laughed for a long time before stopping. He tucked the stalk of grass behind his ear and clapped his hands.

"All right, all right, I'll stop teasing you. Come on, I'll take you to Paul. The camp isn't far from here, about twenty minutes south."

He turned and started walking, then looked back after a couple of steps.

"Oh, right, senior, what were you doing in the warehouse just now? I saw several groups of guards show up from a distance."

"Saving people," I said. "Some beastfolk children had been kidnapped."

Geese's expression changed. For the briefest moment, something flashed in his eyes, part scrutiny, part appraisal. But he immediately returned to his usual grin.

"Whoa, you haven't changed a bit, senior. You can't hold yourself back when you see someone who needs help. You're just like Paul in that respect, too."

I couldn't tell whether he was being polite or sincere, but I knew he was right. In that respect, I really was like Paul.

We followed Geese south.

The gravel road turned to dirt, with low shrubs and weeds on either side. In the distance, the cluster of tents in the refugee camp looked gray and hazy in the sunlight. Cooking smoke rose from between the tents and dispersed in the wind. The air smelled of boiling beans and firewood.

Geese talked as he walked. His mouth really never stopped.

"Paul's had a rough year and a half. After the Teleportation Incident, he and Norn were teleported to southern Asura. He rode two horses to death getting back to the Fittoa Territory, only to find everything was gone. The whole territory had disappeared, and Buena Village was a wasteland. He stayed there for an entire day, from morning till night, sitting alone on the ruins and staring without saying a word."

Geese's tone changed. He was still talking at the same rapid pace, but his voice grew quieter, as if he were afraid the wind might carry something away.

"After that, he formed a search party. He borrowed a huge amount of money and traveled all over half the Millis Continent. He found hundreds of survivors, but none of them were his family. Everyone he found was somebody else's family, but he never gave up. He was sure his son was still alive."

My feet didn't stop, but it felt as though something were lodged in my chest, making it hard to breathe.

Hundreds of survivors. All of them someone else's family. Every time he found someone alive, he probably asked their name first. Then, "Have you seen anyone from the Greyrat family?" Every time, the answer was no. Once, twice, ten times, a hundred times. The same answer every time.

"Then he started drinking," Geese went on. "Every night he'd sit alone outside his tent, going through bottle after bottle. I tried talking him out of it, but it was no use. Once, when he was drunk, he said to me, 'Geese, if I can't find them in the end, I'll wait here. I'll wait until I die.'"

Eris walked beside me. She didn't say anything, but I could feel her shoulder move a little closer.

Until he died. Those words made me feel awful. I didn't think he was a good father or a good husband, but after the Teleportation Incident, he'd probably been waiting and searching all this time. Searching and drinking, drinking and waiting.

"What happened after that?" I asked.

"After that, I hitched a ride to Milishion and ran into him at the refugee camp. I said, 'Your son sent me.' He burst into tears right then and there. A grown man in his thirties, bawling his eyes out outside a tent in the refugee camp. People were staring at him, but he didn't care."

Geese smiled, but this time it was a little different.

"I stayed on to help after that. Paul doesn't know how to take care of himself. He skips meals all the time. Everyone else in the search party was busy with their own business, and I was the only one with nothing to do, so I took care of him while I was at it."

"Weren't you arrested before?" I asked.

"Oh, that." Geese rubbed his nose. "I got caught cheating at gambling in Doldia Village and was locked up for over a month. Later, Paul had someone bail me out. The bail cost a lot, and he keeps bringing it up, saying, 'You owe me thirty-seven Asura silver coins.'"

I couldn't help laughing.

That was just like Paul, cursing Geese while helping him. He said Geese owed him money, but he had helped him all the same.

"Oh, right, senior." Geese suddenly looked back at me. "How did you find your way to Milishion? Paul left messages at a whole bunch of guilds, but he always thought you wouldn't check them."

"Zant Port," I said. "At the Adventurers' Guild in Zant Port, I was looking through the register when I found my father's handwriting on page thirty-seven."

Geese stopped in his tracks.

He turned to look at me, opened his mouth, then closed it again. A few seconds later, he suddenly threw back his head and burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha! Page thirty-seven! You really did look! Paul goes on every day about how 'that boy won't go to the guild to check,' and I said, 'I bet he will,' but he wouldn't take the bet! Hahahaha!"

He doubled over with laughter, nearly stepping into the ditch beside the road.

"Senior, do you know how many messages Paul wrote? More than thirty. At over thirty different Adventurers' Guilds. Every single one had your name on it. 'To Rudeus Greyrat. If you see this, come to Milishion in the Holy Country of Millis. I'll be waiting for you there. No matter how long it takes, I'll wait.' The exact same message, written more than thirty times."

More than thirty messages, at over thirty different guilds. Every time he handed over a note, he had no idea whether I would see it. Maybe no one would ever turn to that page. Maybe the note would grow moldy, turn yellow, and be eaten by insects in the register at the counter. But he wrote them anyway, one after another. When he was done, he kept waiting, repeating the process.

My nose prickled, but I didn't cry.

Eris gave my hand a squeeze. Just once, and then she let go.

Geese didn't notice any of it. He had already turned around and continued walking, still muttering to himself.

"To tell you the truth, back in the cell in Doldia Village, when you told me to call you senior, I knew you were Paul's son."

"Really?"

"The way you acted so grown-up even though you were a kid, you were just like Paul when he was young." Geese glanced back at me, his eyes narrowing to slits. "Paul was the same way when he ran away from home as a teenager. He was just a green kid, but he insisted on lecturing people like he knew everything. I thought, 'Hey, that's definitely Paul's kid.'"

His tone was casual, but I could hear what lay beneath it. The moment he recognized me in the cell, he had probably already begun planning how to get the news to Paul.

Geese never said anything serious, but he understood things better than anyone.

We walked for about twenty minutes.

The road began to widen. A cluster of tents appeared in a clearing ahead, much smaller than the refugee camp by the city, but much neater. They were military tents made of dark green canvas, each secured with guy ropes. The largest stood in the very center, with a flag hanging at its entrance bearing a crossed sword and shield.

The search party's camp was also where Paul was stationed.

I slowed my pace.

Eris noticed and glanced at me. She said nothing, merely slowing down to walk beside me.

Geese, walking ahead, looked back at me.

"Whoa, you get nervous too, senior?"

"Yeah, a little."

"That's only natural. It's been three years." He chuckled. "But don't worry, Paul will be happy to see you. He doesn't say it, but he waits for you every day."

He turned and walked toward the camp.

I followed him. With every step, my heart beat a little faster.

People were moving about in the camp. Several people in coarse cloth clothes were carrying things between the tents, and two others crouched beside a fire, tending a large iron pot. The aroma of stew filled the air.

Geese went up to the largest tent, lifted the flap, and looked inside. Then he turned and waved me over.

"He's inside."

I walked up to the tent.

The flap was made of coarse hemp cloth. The wind lifted one corner, revealing the dim space inside. I reached out and pushed it aside.

It was much darker inside the tent than outside. A large table was covered with maps and assorted documents. Luggage and weapons were piled in a corner. Stew was still steaming in an iron pot, and the air smelled of boiling beans and salted meat.

Then I saw him.

A man was rising from beside the table. He had probably heard the commotion outside.

He had brown hair tied in a loose side ponytail, with a few strands falling over his forehead. Green eyes, and a beauty mark beneath his left eye, just like mine.

He looked haggard and much thinner than I remembered. His cheekbones protruded, his jawline had grown sharp, his cheeks were somewhat sunken, and his eyes were full of exhaustion.

He looked at me.

I looked back at him.

Sunlight from outside filtered through the gap in the tent flap, falling on the dirt between us.

Paul's lips moved.

"...Rudeus?"