Chapter 31

The forest wasn’t that deep, so I thought we’d catch up to her quickly, but there was one problem. Since it was just a natural forest, there weren’t even any paths.

“If we move forward carelessly, we’re going to lose track of which way we went…”

Naturally, my speed slowed down due to anxiety. At that moment, Cerulia squeezed my hand tightly.

“It’s alright, Master. I am right here with you.”

“Cerulia…”

“Besides, even in tests of courage, boys and girls hold hands, don’t they?”

“I get what you mean, but I didn’t know the Demon Race had the concept of a ‘test of courage’…”

I had a feeling they were usually the ones jumping out to do the scaring.

“Holding hands like that is a tactic to make the other person mistake their anxiety for feelings toward their partner. Therefore, Master, you should just think of your anxiety as love for me. If you do that, your fear will fade, our love will deepen, and it will be a win-win relationship.”

“I feel like something is slightly off there, but positive thinking is important, so let’s go with it!”

Though, it wouldn’t matter how much our love deepened if we actually got lost… We had to reach Senior as soon as possible.

“This forest is small, and I don’t think many large wild animals live here. Thus, there isn’t much danger.”

“Thanks for the accurate analysis. It helps.”

We never learned forest survival tactics at magic school. Come to think of it, some of my classmates who found jobs at companies in the Royal Capital would probably spend their entire lives working without ever leaving the city. That felt a bit lonely in its own way. Not that I think getting lost in a forest is a better alternative, of course…

Suddenly, a large beehive appeared right in front of us.

“Ah, this is bad…”

However, I had the skills to overcome something of this level.

“Cerulia, give me the staff.”

With a pop, the staff appeared in Cerulia’s hand. I usually find it a hassle to carry around, so I have her store it for me. It was, by the way, company equipment. I quickly traced a magic circle and performed an incantation, pointing the staff toward the hive. The bees that were blocking the path promptly returned to their nest.

“I used [Mind Control (Minor)]. It works well on insects as small as bees.”

“As expected, Master!”

Controlling insects was easy even in my second month at the company, but if I could use this on insects capable of attacking, it might actually be quite useful. It could even function as a type of offensive magic.

Cerulia and I hurried onward. Since we were walking while holding hands tightly, it felt misplacedly romantic. But that feeling vanished instantly.

I heard Senior’s voice.

“…Beneath the earth, the kingdom of roots, the river of dreams; may the body rest quietly in the distant lands. My friend, until we meet again.”

I couldn’t bring myself to step out toward her immediately.

“That’s… a dirge, isn’t it?”

“It appears so…” Cerulia whispered.

In front of a small stone grave, Senior was singing a song to comfort the dead. Her voice was small, matching the size of the stones. Eventually, the song ended, and Senior turned toward us immediately. She had already noticed we were there.

“And I said I was just going for a walk. Though, maybe I should have told you why so you wouldn’t worry.”

“Um, if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to, but this grave…”

Now that I’d seen it, I couldn’t just ignore it.

“This is the grave of a friend. From back when I was… wild.”

“Wild?”

“That’s right. I was a Dragon Skeleton Speedster.”

“A… Speedster? What exactly is that?”

“Ah, right… I guess there aren’t many ‘Speedsters’ around these days. Especially in the Royal Capital; it’s so urban that they couldn’t exist even if they wanted to. There’s nowhere to run… Wow, I’m feeling the generation gap. This is embarrassing…”

After her face turned red, Senior Tototo reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a tiny picture, barely the size of her palm.

“I had a fledgling portrait artist in a town draw this for me back in my Speedster days. It’s actually a pretty good likeness.”

In the drawing was… Senior, with her hair spiked up like a demon? To be precise, there was another Dark Elf with spiked hair drawn there too, but my eyes went straight to Senior first.

“I was a delinquent for a long time. I only started wearing twin-tails like this after I graduated from being a Speedster…”

“You look like a completely different person!”

Moreover, the clothes she was wearing in the drawing were embroidered with phrases like “I Have Arrived!” and “Ready to Fight.” This wasn’t just a character shift; it was on a whole other level.

“Do they even sell clothes like that?”

“To be honest, some places did. But mostly I made them myself. I felt like I could put my soul into it better if I made it myself. People who settled for ready-made stuff were called ‘soft.’ I used to stiffen my hair with horse grease. It smelled pretty bad and was quite a chore…”

There were so many things to point out that I wasn’t confident I could get to them all.

“So, what kind of profession is a ‘Speedster’ exactly?” I asked. I’d never seen anything like it in the Capital, so I had no idea.

“Are you serious? You still don’t get it? This is super embarrassing to explain myself!”

“Master, Lady Tototo is currently accumulating damage as if she’s being struck in the heart with a blunt object…”

I felt like I was being quite cruel, but I truly didn’t know. Sorry. I’m only eighteen…

“A Speedster is… someone who dresses like this and rides a dragon skeleton across the wilderness. Why do we run? Because… it’s fun? We’d intentionally drive dangerously and things like that. That’s what we did.”

“But is it that easy to get a dragon skeleton?”

“You buy them cheap at second-hand dragon skeleton shops and then customize them.”

Those shops actually exist? I really am naive to the ways of the world…

“By the way, it’s not a profession. Rather, it was something done by delinquents who refused to enter society. I was firmly on that side. But since it was a gathering of social outcasts, I suppose it was our own version of ‘youth’.”

Senior had a look in her eyes as if she was looking at something very far away. Perhaps she was seeing the face of her departed friend.

“The person in this grave was your best friend, then?”

“That’s right. She was my ‘mabudachi’—my soul sister.”