Settling In: Epilogue

Aisha handed me a kitchen knife to chop vegetables, and I nearly sliced my own fingers along with them.

A kitchen knife was completely different from a sword. When I held a sword, my fingers naturally knew where to go, but holding a kitchen knife felt awkward. Some of the carrot chunks I cut were as big as fists, while others were as small as fingernails. Aisha glanced at the chopping board, and the corner of her mouth twitched.

"Sister-in-law, that's not how you hold a kitchen knife." Standing on a wooden stool beside the stove, Aisha reached over and adjusted my fingers. "Press your thumb against the side of the blade and hold the handle with your other four fingers. Yes, just like that."

I kept chopping as she instructed, and it did get a little better. At least the carrot chunks no longer looked as though they'd been gnawed on by a wild beast.

Beef and onions bubbled away in an iron pot on the stove, filling the whole kitchen with their rich aroma. Standing on the stool to reach the stove, Aisha stirred the pot twice with a wooden spoon, then sprinkled in a handful of some kind of spice. She moved deftly when she cooked, more like a cook with over ten years of experience than an eight-year-old child.

"Sister-in-law, pass me the salt over there."

I handed her the salt jar. Aisha took it, shook some in, tasted the broth, and nodded.

"I'll make extra today. Big brother's been coming home late lately, so we need to save enough for him."

"You worry about him more than I do."

"I am this family's maid, after all." Aisha puffed out her chest, though even standing on the stool, she wasn't much taller than me.

Paul's voice came from the living room. He was talking to Norn about something, probably her sword practice that day. Paul taught Norn basic swordsmanship every afternoon, and she always came back with fresh blisters on her hands, but she never complained about the pain.

Aisha jumped down from the stool, ran to the living room doorway, and called out, "Father, Norn, dinner's ready!"

"Coming," Paul answered.

Paul walked into the kitchen carrying an old wooden sword in his right hand. He looked at the pot on the stove, then at the kitchen knife in my hand, and chuckled.

"You cut those?"

"Got a problem with that?"

"No, they look good."

Paul sat down at the long table and poured himself a glass of water with his right hand. His empty left sleeve rested on the edge of the table. I felt a little uncomfortable every time I saw it, but he himself seemed to have gotten used to it long ago.

Norn came out of her room, her hair a little messy. She'd probably just been reading. She was still holding some kind of book. She walked over to the table, sat down, and glanced at me.

"Did you cook today, sister-in-law?"

"I helped Aisha."

"The carrots you cut are really big, sister-in-law."

"...Do you want to cut them instead?"

Norn shook her head, lowered it, and went back to her book.

Aisha brought out the stew. She set the iron pot directly on the table, with a wooden board underneath it. The broth was still bubbling, and the beef and potatoes had been stewed until tender. Beside it was a basket of black bread, neatly sliced.

Aisha laid out four sets of bowls and utensils. Lilia wasn't there today; she'd gone to help out at the university.

"Big brother isn't back yet." Aisha stood in the kitchen doorway and looked toward the entrance.

"He'll probably be here soon." Paul took a sip of water. "The university's not far."

No sooner had he spoken than footsteps sounded at the entrance. The door opened, and Rudeus came in.

He changed his shoes and sat down at the long table. There was a little dust on his clothes, and his hair was slightly disheveled. But his expression was different from usual. His lips were pressed together, and there was something in his eyes I couldn't quite describe. During our three years on the Demon Continent, I'd learned to read Rudeus's expressions. A vertical crease appeared between his brows when he was thinking, his eyes dropped when he ran into trouble, and the right corner of his mouth moved first when he was happy. His expression now wasn't any of those.

"What is it?" I asked.

He looked at me, then at Paul, and then at Norn and Aisha. Aisha stood motionless in the kitchen doorway, holding a bowl of soup.

"I met someone today."

"Who?" Paul asked.

"A friend from when I was little. Sylphiette. She's still alive."

The living room fell silent.

The glass of water in Paul's hand stopped at his lips. Norn looked up from her book. Aisha's hands froze around the bowl, and then she gently set it on the table without a word.

Sylphiette. I'd heard that name before. On nights when we were traveling across the Demon Continent, Rudeus would sometimes suddenly say something by the campfire about how Sylphie used to do this or that, and then say no more. I'd asked him about her once, and he said she was a girl he'd met in Buena Village when he was little. She had green hair and pointed ears, and she was more or less his childhood friend. Later, he'd been sent to Roa to work as a tutor, and he'd never seen her again.

"Sylphie?" Paul put down his glass. "That little green-haired girl?"

"Yeah. Her hair's turned white, but it's her."

"Huh." Paul leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin with his right hand. "So she's still around. I never saw her again after the Teleportation Incident. I remember she used to follow you everywhere when she was little. Her hair was as green as a member of the Superd Race's, and your mother worried the villagers would bully her."

Norn looked at Rudeus, then at me. She didn't say anything, but there was a question in her eyes.

I watched Rudeus's face. When he said the name "Sylphiette," his left hand clenched beneath the table, then relaxed. But when he was nervous or excited, his left hand would clench and his fingers would move on their own, even now that it was a prosthetic hand.

"Is she important to you?" I asked.

Rudeus looked at me, his gaze serious.

"She was my first friend," he said. "I met her when I was five. I taught her magic and how to write. Then, after I-I went to the City of Roa to be your tutor, Miss Eris, I never saw her again."

He paused.

"Then I looked for her for a long time, but I couldn't find a single trace of her."

I said nothing. Paul's smile faded, and he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. Norn lowered her head and stared at the grain of the wood on the table. Aisha stood motionless in the kitchen doorway, and the only sound was the stew bubbling in the pot.

His first friend. There wasn't much emotion in his voice when he said it, but I could hear it. By the campfire on the Demon Continent, late at night, he would occasionally mention a few names. Sylphie, Roxy, and his family. His voice was the same when he mentioned those names: steady, but his fingers would be kneading mud. I thought that person was already dead.

"Hey, Rudeus, let's invite her over for a meal sometime. I want to meet her," I said.

Rudeus blinked.

"Your friends are my friends."

Even I felt a little awkward after saying that. I wasn't very good at saying things like that; I was more used to expressing myself with my fists. But sometimes words worked better than fists. Rujierd had done the same when we encountered those wandering swordsmen on the Demon Continent. Sit down, share food, and welcome the other person into your circle. Nothing needed to be said, but the message got across.

The corner of Rudeus's mouth moved, but he said nothing.

Aisha came over from the kitchen doorway. She picked up the bowl of soup and set it in front of Rudeus, her movements steady.

"Big brother, let's eat first. The stew's best while it's hot."

"Yeah, thank you, Aisha."

"Make enough for one more person this weekend," I said.

Aisha looked at me and nodded. "What should I make, sister-in-law? Will stew be enough? Or should I add a roast chicken?"

"I'll leave it to you."

"Then I'll make a pie! I just learned a new recipe, with beef and mushrooms."

Aisha's eyes were bright as she spoke, but when her gaze swept over Rudeus's face, that brightness dimmed for an instant. It was so brief that I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been watching her the whole time.

After dinner, Paul went for a walk in the yard, Norn returned to her room to read, Aisha washed the dishes in the kitchen, and Rudeus went to the study.

I sat in the living room with my sword across my lap, slowly wiping the dust from its scabbard with a cloth.

After a while, I put down the sword, leaned back in my chair, and looked at the ceiling.

Sylphiette.

That white-haired person from earlier in the day. I'd noticed her during the entrance test. She was thin and small. I'd seen her once from a distance while I was practicing swordsmanship at the training grounds. She'd been standing in the shade of a tree, looking at something, though I didn't know what. I hadn't paid her any attention at the time. There were plenty of oddballs at the university.

So that was her.

Sylphiette. The name Rudeus had kept mentioning from his childhood. Her green hair had turned white. Men's clothes, sunglasses, wrapped up tight. Rudeus hadn't said why she did that. There was probably some reason.

I stood up, hung my sword back at my waist, and went upstairs. The wooden steps creaked beneath my feet.

I pushed open the bedroom door. The window was open, and moonlight shone through it, painting a silvery-white rectangle on the floor. I walked over to the window and glanced at the university's spires in the distance. Their pale blue lights were still on.

Rudeus was still in the study, probably reading or writing something. Whenever something was on his mind, he'd toss and turn, unable to sleep. He'd been the same on the Demon Continent. I slept at the other end of the tent, and I could hear him every time.

I turned over to face the wall.

Tch.

Who cared what her reasons were? Rudeus said she was a friend, so she was a friend.