Chapter 287 - Cause and Effect (3)

After Raven left the library, I considered following her to find out where she lived, but decided against it. That wasn't how you treated a companion.

If she'd never mentioned her family situation to me, she must not have wanted me to know. If I was really that curious, the right thing to do was ask her directly once I got back.

'... What do I do now?'

After Raven left, I went back to organizing my plans, but I couldn't concentrate, so I just left. I grabbed something to eat, then lounged around in bed until Amelia, who'd gone out early, returned.

"... Have you been doing that all day?"

"And?"

Weren't you the one who told me to stay inside?

As I stared at her with that question in my eyes, Amelia shook her head and tossed me a heavy pouch.

"Here. Take it."

"... Money?"

"The proceeds from selling the plunderers' equipment and supplies. I split it exactly in half, so go into the city tomorrow and get the equipment you'll need."

"Oh, that's quite a lot."

"There aren't many smithies in Noark, so replacing your equipment there is difficult. Don't waste it. Spend it only on what you need."

There she went, nagging again.

"What about your business? Going well?"

"Still in progress."

Amelia said she'd update me when she had results, then disappeared off somewhere, saying she had things to do. Apparently, she'd only stopped by to give me the money.

'I'll go get some grilled meat tomorrow.'

Once morning came, I headed out early for Commelby, the commercial district known as the Free Market. There, I commissioned several pieces of equipment from the smithy I regularly used.

They said it would take about three weeks...

'Business was booming here even twenty years ago.'

Well, it made sense. Even in Commelby, few places offered higher-tier equipment at such good prices.

'Might as well look around while I'm here.'

With nothing else to do, I wandered around sightseeing. I checked prices at the Central Trade Market and asked nearby explorers for restaurant recommendations from twenty years ago.

I made the most of my day, enjoying myself until just after the last carriage had left. Then, with night upon me, I returned to my lodgings, had a drink, and went to bed.

The next morning, on my third day...

'Whew, I'm nervous.'

I visited the sanctuary.

I'd worried someone might approach me because they didn't recognize my face, but...

'Is it because there are so many more people? Even the sanctuary feels completely different from twenty years later.'

Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened. Things were different in many ways from my generation, when we memorized the names and faces of not only our own cohort, but everyone a year above and below us.

'Okay, let's leave the letter and get out of here.'

I loitered near the chieftain's tent, slipped in the letter I'd written the day before while he was away, and left the sanctuary.

Then I visited the Order of Leatlas.

As luck would have it, they had posted the perfect commission: repairing buildings belonging to the order. The only reward was merit score, making it practically volunteer work.

"Your application has been received."

The commission didn't start for another three days, so I only submitted my application and returned to the street. That wrapped up everything I needed to do today, but I still had plenty of time, so I went to the library.

As I quietly organized my thoughts like yesterday, the chair across from me scraped back.

SCRAPE

Right, she was back.

"Good to see you, Allua."

"..."

I readily greeted her by name, but Raven looked sulky.

"Why didn't you come yesterday?"

She made it sound like we'd agreed to meet. She was the one who'd said it was time to go and left without looking back.

"Never mind that. Have you eaten?"

"Yes."

Raven answered that she'd eaten a piece of bread she'd brought from home.

How was that a meal?

"Let's go out and get some grilled meat."

"... Meat?"

"Don't you like it?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never had it."

Man, this kid was really going to make me cry.

"Then you can try it today. What are you waiting for? Get up. You can study later."

"But..."

"We're only going to the place right outside, so don't worry."

"I wasn't worried."

Apparently annoyed at being treated like a child, Raven closed her book and climbed down from her chair. Then she moved one seat over, putting a little more distance between us.

"Don't pity me. I can buy meat with my own money someday."

It seemed the very act of offering to buy her something had wounded her pride.

Well, that was my mistake. Someone like her needed a different approach.

"Ah, I'm sorry if that's how it came across."

At my sincere apology, Raven climbed down from her chair again. Then...

"I've never met an adult who apologized before. I'll let it slide."

She returned to her original seat.

Good grief. Was she a cat?

"I'm going to read now, so don't bother me."

After that crisp declaration, Raven really did start reading.

I was a little dumbfounded. When had I bothered her...?

"..."

Anyway, time passed quietly with that comfortable distance between us.

TAP

Raven spoke again after turning the last page of her book.

"... Are you an explorer?"

Honestly, I'd been wondering when she'd ask. Kids went crazy for this sort of thing.

"Yes, I am."

"What rank?"

"Rank five... No, rank six."

I quickly corrected myself. Just to be safe, I decided all my answers should match Nivels Enche's identity.

"Is that high?"

"Just average. Most explorers who make it into the books here would be above rank four."

"Hmm, I see."

Surprisingly, Raven didn't mock my low rank or look down on me. She was simply curious.

"Can you tell me about it?"

"The Labyrinth?"

"Yes."

I entertained her as one would a child, telling her about things that had happened in the Labyrinth, amusing incidents I'd heard about as an explorer, and a few embellished tales.

Naturally, I left out the bad parts as much as possible. Raven's case was different from Dwalki's. Of course I had to preserve a child's innocence.

"That's fun. Are all barbarians like you?"

"I have a name. Nivels Enche."

"Oh, sorry. I'll call you by your name from now on."

Despite my initial impression of her as some crazy brat, Raven had a surprisingly good head on her shoulders. She was considerate, too, and tried not to do things to others that she disliked herself.

There was just one thing she lacked.

"Then why do you go around picking fights with adults?"

"I told you, I wasn't picking a fight."

"A smart kid like you must know there are better ways than shocking people out of nowhere."

"... I don't know anything about that."

Talking to Raven, I'd noticed how desperately she wanted recognition. Sure, everyone wanted that, but her need was several times stronger than other children her age.

Perhaps shocking people who blocked her path was an expression of that desire. She probably wanted to show someone, anyone, that she was a mage.

Though she'd likely never once gotten the response she wanted.

Speaking from experience, there was only one thought that came to mind when you were suddenly subjected to an electric attack.

Was this crazy brat out of her mind?

"I'm going now. Bye."

It was a little earlier than yesterday, but Raven left the library as if fleeing an uncomfortable subject. So I simply returned to my lodgings, too.

Three days passed.

* * *

Twenty years in the past.

At first, the novelty had sent me scurrying through the streets every day, but my interest quickly faded. After all, what was so special about twenty years ago? People still lived much the same way.

So, aside from chatting with Raven at the library, I'd spent most of the last three days at my lodgings.

'Oh, I forgot to tell her I couldn't come today.'

After meeting and talking every day for several days, Raven and I had grown quite close. It wasn't just me telling her about the Labyrinth anymore; she'd even started bringing up her family herself.

'... That was unexpected.'

Raven lived with her mother alone. Her father wasn't dead or anything; apparently, he'd had an affair and left home a year ago.

He was a mage, too, by the way. I'd wondered whether even a child as bright as her could really learn magic from library books alone. It turned out her father had taught her all the fundamentals, making it possible.

["Anyway, that's why Mom doesn't like me learning magic. She sold all the books we had at home, too. I think it reminds her of him."]

The family history she'd sprung on me without warning left me stunned, but Raven spoke as though it were nothing. To me, even that seemed like part of a defense mechanism. If you acted like something didn't bother you in front of others, you could almost believe it really didn't.

'God, that's heartbreaking...'

So I'd recently gained a new goal: helping Raven enter the Magic Tower. Sure, she'd join it someday even without my help, but...

'The sooner she gets in, the better.'

Perhaps she'd be an even greater mage when I returned to the future.

Hmm. Would that change our first meeting, though?

'Nah, how different could it be?'

It would probably just make the vampire battle a little easier, and even if that wasn't all, it didn't matter. I'd already altered the past. I'd left a letter at the sanctuary, and in three weeks, I'd head down to Noark with Amelia to save someone who was supposed to die.

'If things are going to change anyway, I might as well steer them in a direction that's even a little better for us.'

Right. On that note...

TAP

Having reached my destination, I steadied my breathing at the entrance.

'I'm kind of nervous.'

An orphanage run by the Order of Leatlas. The place where Dwalki had spent his childhood.

"Ah, are you Mr. Nivels Enche?"

"I am."

"If you wait here a moment, the foreman will explain today's work. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine."

I entered the orphanage, explained that I'd come to volunteer, and sat down to wait. Soon, a stern-looking man came and led me and several other volunteers to the work site.

"As you can see, the building is rather old. Quite a few places are inconvenient or dangerous for the children to use on their own. I've split you into teams with a mix of experienced workers and beginners, so let's all put in a good day's work."

Starting today, I'd spend about a week repairing the aging building.

It felt strange. The last time I'd come here, I hadn't been repairing it, but carrying things out just before its demolition.

"Hey, barbarian! That's the morning's work done. Go take a break!"

Anyway, I worked hard at whatever I was told to do, then spent my free time visiting the clearing where the children played. Finding Dwalki wasn't difficult. While everyone else ran around, one child sat alone beneath a tree, reading.

'... So you didn't have friends back then, either.'

Drinking from my canteen, I casually walked into the shade and sat beside him. But I couldn't recall any of the lines I'd prepared to strike up a natural friendship.

All I could think about were his final moments. There had been so many things I'd wanted to say if we ever met again.

"I-I'll get out of your way. Please rest..."

Apparently uncomfortable under my stare, Dwalki hesitantly rose to his feet.

Only then did I snap out of it. I could get sentimental later. Right now, I had a job to do.

"Sit."

"Y-Yes!"

"... You can relax. I'm not going to eat you."

"..."

Dwalki sat back down, but he looked as if he were sitting on pins and needles, constantly watching me for cues.

Well, I hadn't expected him to be this timid.

"What's your name?"

"Leor."

"Your surname?"

"I don't want to say."

"I'm Nivels Enche. A rank-6 explorer."

"Okay..."

Whew. This made it feel like I was bullying him. Weren't kids usually excited when someone who looked like an explorer showed up?

Like these little ones.

"Wow, a barbarian!"

"Are those tattoos? Didn't they hurt?"

Once I sat on the ground, the children playing nearby approached me curiously. When I revealed that I was an explorer, they begged me to tell them about the Labyrinth.

I checked Dwalki's expression. At some point, he'd moved off to one side.

'He could sneak away, but he's staying. Guess he's curious, too.'

Dwalki watched from a distance, apparently wanting to hear about the Labyrinth himself. So I began telling my stories in earnest.

Of course, this was a different version from the tales of dreams and childlike wonder I'd told Raven.

"Goblins! Have you killed goblins, too?"

"Of course I have. I crushed its eyeballs with my hand like this, then smashed my fist down here like this. Its skull was pretty hard, so I had to hit it three times."

"Wow..."

"That reminds me of the time I stepped in a trap without warning. I really thought I was fucked. It tore through not just the muscles but the tendons, too, leaving one foot completely useless. Unable to walk properly, I crawled through the dark for hours, looking for someone to save me."

"Uh..."

"Yes. It was awful, even looking back. A bone must have been sticking out of my shin, because every time it touched the ground, the pain was unbearable. Partway through, the goblin's paralytic poison wore off, too. I thought I'd go insane. I didn't realize it then, but afterward, I found I was missing a molar."

"... Huh?"

Apparently, the children hadn't expected such realistic stories. Their faces grew darker the longer I talked.

Well, who else would have told them things like this?

"Oh, and one more thing. Most people think monsters turn into magic crystals the instant they die, but that's wrong. They stare right at me for about three seconds, even as brain matter pours out of their noses and ears. With exactly this look in their eyes."

"..."

"Is it boring hearing only about monsters? Then let me tell you about people. Someone I know once met a plunderer who wore human ears like a necklace..."

"... Waaaaah!"

A little girl trembling at the very front burst into tears and ran away.

I continued regardless.

"Not a fan of that one? Then let me tell you about the first time my arm got torn off."

"..."

"Not that one, either? Then... Hmm, I should tell you about the time the Guild framed me and tried to kill me."

"Um..."

"Yes?"

"A-Are all your stories like that?"

Just as I was about to continue, one of the children asked me, trembling.

Without a moment's hesitation, I nodded.

"What else were you expecting? I don't know what stories you've heard, but horrible things like this happen every day while exploring."