Episode 35: Moonlit Musings
Night.
The witching hour when even the plants and trees are asleep.
I was on watch duty, paired with Hanako, patrolling the surroundings.
The other four were asleep.
We had put up a simple tent as a precaution… just a leather sheet hung on sticks stuck in the ground to keep the rain out, but fortunately, there was no rain or wind.
A half-moon was out, and there weren’t any clouds, so the moon and stars were shining brightly enough to at least get a good look at Hanako’s face right in front of me.
I tossed a dry branch into the bonfire in front of me and spoke to Hanako in a low voice.
“Aren’t you sleepy?”
“Nn, I’m alright.”
A quiet time.
Hanako might look like a simpleton, but she’s a Fourth-Class Strider.
She’s relaxed, but not completely letting her guard down.
That’s what it takes to be a Fourth-Class, so being a Strider is a surprisingly difficult job.
Fifth-Class is considered an apprentice, and Fourth-Class is the standard, but most Striders either retire or die at Fourth-Class. There are quite a few who can’t quite become warriors and can’t rise above Fifth-Class.
But as expected of the “Blue Comet.” It’s a proper Clan. The members are well-trained.
Hanako… if she acquires one more skill, she’ll definitely be Third-Class.
Her ogre-like strength, her sturdy frame. She’s reached the basics of ‘Adamantine Body’ and ‘Adamantine Strength,’ even if it’s clumsy… With just that, her combat ability alone is already at the Third-Class level.
Not in several decades… maybe five years, or four. She should be Third-Class in that time.
Third-Class isn’t just about being able to fight and survive… that’s not enough.
They must be warriors with not only combat skills but also solid credibility and knowledge.
“Hanako and Xiaolin were both Fourth-Class, right?”
“I guess.”
“Xiaolin is still a bit green when it comes to fighting, but her etiquette is impeccable, so Xiaolin might be promoted to Third-Class first.”
“Probably. I’m just the youngest daughter of a peasant farmer. All I’m good for besides tilling fields is this brute strength… but even that strength is nothing compared to someone stronger like Shio-nee-san. And I can’t hold a candle to a Cursecaster like Aunt Ma.”
Oh, is she feeling a little blue?
I’ll comfort her… and try to flirt with her while I’m at it.
What’s wrong? Want to talk about it?
“There are only a few Magicians in this town. Three at the Lord’s place, one with the Blue Comet, and one with the Guardian’s Shield. That’s it.”
“I guess… In Azuma, I’ve never met a real Cursecaster. They’re like royalty.”
“Huh? Real ones?”
“Oh? Don’t you know? There’s usually a Fake Cursecaster in every village, right?”
Ah…
Well, I was sold off by my parents early in this world, so I ran away and lived in the forest for a while.
I peeked into noble families’ homes with Far Sight magic, learned the manners and writing of this world, and created and expanded an extradimensional space with Garden magic, where I grew plants collected from various places… so my knowledge of the general common sense of this world is only at the level of a five-year-old.
Still, I’ve been gradually increasing my knowledge by talking to people around me as a Strider and traveling around villages on requests… but honestly, there’s a lot I don’t know.
In particular, I still have no idea what ordinary people “know to what extent?” and “what would be strange to know?”
“Sorry, but I was abandoned as a child. I don’t know much about villages.”
“Ah… Brother, you’re a Changeling, aren’t you? Sorry, I wasn’t being considerate.”
“No, it’s fine. So, what’s a Fake Cursecaster?”
“Well… they’re people who aren’t really sure if they can use magic or not. They say you have to undergo rigorous training for decades to use magic. But there are a lot of guys in the countryside who ran away during training or failed their training, right?”
Ah… I think I’ve seen something like that.
In small villages in the countryside, there are rainmaking rituals that have an effect, or maybe they don’t, but in this world where “magic” exists, they actually have an effect, unlike those on Earth.
Of course, it’s true that you have to train for decades to use magic, so those rituals are unstable, and most of them fail in the first place.
But they’re not like the “rainmaking rituals” or “exorcism rituals” that were performed in the old days on Earth, which are really meaningless superstitions even if you do them seriously…
The rituals on Earth have a 0% success rate, but the mysterious rituals done by word of mouth in the countryside of this world have a success rate of about 5%, right?
It’s certainly possible that the village elders can do a tiny bit of magic-like ritual-like things.
If you offer sacrifices and increase the number of ritual attempts, you can hit the jackpot even with a 5% success rate…
And the people of this world understand that empirically.
“Ah, I might have seen something like that.”
“In the countryside, those Fake Cursecasters are running rampant! They think we don’t know any better, and they act all high and mighty…!”
Hmm… I wonder if something happened?
No, I won’t ask.
“Aunt Ma is the real deal. When she raises her staff and prays, lightning crackles. But those fakes do it ten times, twenty times, and only manage to summon a little rain! That’s what happened to my family…”
…Hmm.
It sounds like a poor harvest led to the breakup of her family.
A common story that I often hear.
“There, there.”
I comfort her.
“…That’s all in the past now. I should forget about it.”
“That’s right. From now on, Hanako will be happy, so let’s forget about the past and live happily!”
“…Brother, don’t you have any regrets?”
“Huh? Why?”
“I know. You were sold off by your parents and siblings when you were five, and you ran away from the kidnappers and lived in the forest, right?”
Ah, that story?
I’ve told that to other people quite a bit. It’s not surprising that she knows.
“That’s right. I lived in the forest, became a Strider around the age of twelve or thirteen, traveled the world, and now I’ve settled down in this town.”
“Wasn’t it hard?”
“No. I’m strong, after all.”
Saying that, I apply oil to the short sword I used during the day.
I sharpened it earlier.
After that, I’ll also apply oil to the moving parts of my leather armor…
“B-but! Don’t you feel lonely without parents and siblings?”
“No? I have slaves, companions, and women. I’m happy, beyond measure.”
“…I see. Brother, you’re so lucky.”
“What’s lost will never come back. No matter what you do. If you want to be happy, you have to start building from scratch again, you know?”
“Haha… that’s like the Sai no Kawara.”
Hmm? Does the concept of Sai no Kawara exist in this world too?
“Even if it gets destroyed, you have to keep building, or it’s all for nothing… Well, if it seems hopeless, you can always run to my place, you know? I’ll keep you with the Mazoku slaves.”
I laughed.
“Nn…♡ B-being kept by Brother… that… uhe, uhehehehe…♡”
Why are you taking it in that direction? You’re such a pervert, this ogre woman…
“W-well! If I become a mess, then I’ll become Brother’s… mistress! I’ll… take you up on your offer…”
She blushed and fidgeted.
Well, a woman who’s left her hometown, come to a place like this, and is working as a Strider all alone…
Everyone has their reasons.
So, if things get too much, I’ll protect them, of course…