Chapter 67

Children can be fickle creatures; they’ll easily change their minds about something they insisted on, depending on their mood. That was exactly the case with Busse, who, despite having fled from Akina, ended up inviting her and the rest of the members into his home. Though he likely still had some lingering hesitation, Busse seemed strangely happy as he prepared a simple soup for everyone.

Rather than just being happy to have guests, it felt more like he was enjoying the role of being a host. Just as a young boy feels the urge to swing a long stick like a sword the moment he grips it, for Busse, this act of hospitality might have been his way of “playing” a certain role.

After pouring the steaming soup into cups for each person, Busse served them to the three knights who had been shown into the living room.

“Here you go. It’s cold outside, so this is guaranteed to warm you right up! It’s Isberg style!”

They couldn’t tell if it was the deer stock, but as a soup meant to warm a body chilled by snow country, it was undeniably effective. To the three people there, it was a godsend. It was the fundamental culmination of the wisdom of Isberg’s ancestors for surviving in an arctic land.

“This has a mysterious aroma. What’s in it, young Busse?”

“Onions, garlic, chili peppers, deer meat stock, and a few other things!”

“I can feel the warmth spreading from the core of my body. It’s soaking right into my bones… Uh oh, now that I’m warm, I’m suddenly getting sleepy…”

“You can sleep if you want. Personally, I’m looking forward to waking you up. Go ahead, lean on your senior and sleep for now.”

“I have a feeling you’d pull a terrifying prank on me, so I’m going to show some grit and stay awake.”

“And here, Pero-kun gets plain water and some dried deer meat, okay?”

“Wa-un!”

Pero began happily gnawing on the dried meat, seemingly pleased with the meal prepared specifically for a canine whose biology finds the nutrients in onions and garlic toxic. However, because he was crunching and tearing through the tough meat with savage sound effects, his face looked grim enough to kill. Even as Busse asked, “Is it yummy?” his smile was twitching slightly.

The room, now warmed by the fire placed in the hearth earlier, was decorated with animal-hide coats, gloves, and small trinkets covered in a light layer of dust. It wasn’t exactly dirty, but it gave the impression of a place that hadn’t seen a human touch in quite some time.

Noticing the discrepancy but choosing not to comment on it for now, Caliban grumbled about the one person who wasn’t there.

“Man, Captain Akina is seriously selfish. She breaks the door, ‘upgrades’ it into a monstrosity under the guise of repairs, and then, just when it looks like she might reconcile with Busse, she heads off to the old man’s room without even waiting for the soup.”

Indeed, the root of all these problems—Akina—had left the room to scavenge through the items installed around the house the moment she was invited inside. While they didn’t think she was actually stealing anything, the younger knights felt quite uneasy leaving a woman with zero sense of cooperation to her own devices.

Senega, on the other hand, was acting as usual, as if she had already read Akina’s next move.

“Well, once she gets bored and hungry, she’ll come back. She’s probably in the room where Busse usually works or near the warehouse. Still, I wonder which I should ask about first…”

“Ah, you mean what Captain Akina said to him, and the situation in that village?”

“Ah, you idiot…”

“—I-I’m going to go give Akina-san her soup!!”

No sooner had the words left Caliban’s mouth than Busse fled the room. Since he was clutching a cup and a pot of soup, it was true that he went to deliver it, but the reason for his sudden exit was clearly something else. Bevion, who was the most accustomed to dealing with children, held his head in his hands with a groan.

“You should have predicted that those were things he didn’t want to talk about. You can’t just ask so directly… kids run away from things they don’t want to see or hear.”

“I wasn’t actually planning on asking him so directly, but then Knight Caliban went and…”

“Eh? It’s my fault?! Wait, Senior, are you just casually shifting the blame to me?!”

“My, my. I suppose I should have predicted that my incompetent junior wouldn’t be able to read the room.”

“That’s cheating!! This person is so unfair!! Whether it’s true or false, once you say it like that, I can’t even argue back!!”

Senega’s streak of ruthlessness showed no signs of stopping as she let out a long sigh of feigned exasperation, but it was certainly true that the two of them had blundered by trying to bring the subject up at that timing.

What Senega and Caliban wanted to know was the reason he ran off crying and the fact that he was being treated like a pariah in the village. However, the fact that he hadn’t mentioned such unfair treatment to the Knight Order meant that Busse himself didn’t want to speak of it.

“But maybe this is for the best.”

“Eh?”

“Captain Akina seems to have heard a bit of the story from Busse already. It’s possible she didn’t stay in the living room specifically to create a ‘buffer’ before talking to him again.”

“No way, her? Doing something like that…? Wait, come to think of it, she did say she’d analyzed Busse’s behavioral patterns in her own way.”

“Yeah. And the Captain was the first one who said we should go after him.”

It was easy to forget because of her utterly careless words and actions, but Akina was indeed the one who had insisted on the search. Looking back at the front door incident, one could even interpret it as her choosing a design she thought he’d like in order to cheer him up.

“Perhaps, at their core, those two are more alike than we thought…”

No, surely not… but then again… While the two men exchanged fruitless words, Senega took a sip of her soup and murmured as if it were someone else’s business.

Children give up on things very quickly.

Difficult tasks, knowledge they can’t memorize, studies, sports, boring chores… they throw these things aside and get scolded by adults, eventually learning the rewards of effort that come from not giving up.

In a society that considers perseverance a virtue, that is an important lesson.

However, Akina had taken this theory at face value and paid a heavy price for it.

She should have realized much sooner that there is no clear distinction between “not giving up” and “clinging on.” Essentially, useless efforts that would never bear fruit got mixed in with her “perseverance,” and she missed the window of opportunity to tell them apart.

Because she failed to realize such a simple thing, Akina lost many things as a person.

From the precious to the trivial, she had lost so much to reach where she was today.

But—thinking back on the past and speaking honestly—if she had noticed sooner, she might have lost far less. And looking at Busse, she couldn’t help but feel the urge to meddle.

“…”

Akina was looking at the tools in what was presumably his grandfather’s room and the diary she’d found behind a hidden panel in the back of a shelf, but her mind was entirely elsewhere.

Then—the sound of someone coming up the stairs outside the room reached her ears.

Akina hid the diary back in its original place with a perfectly natural movement just before the door opened.

“Akina-san… um. The soup…”

It was Busse, stepping into the room hesitantly.

A cup of soup was clutched in his hands.

He had managed to face her, but now it seemed he didn’t know what to say. After all that hesitation, the first thing out of his mouth wasn’t an apology but “soup”—a move that was charmingly airheaded.

Steam rose from the cup he timidly held out. Even though they were inside, they were in a room without a fireplace; Akina took the cup without a word of thanks and downed it in one go.

“Mmm… Delicious! Another one!”

“Ah, certainly! …Hehe♪”

“What? If something tastes good, it tastes good. What’s wrong with that?”

“S-sorry! I wasn’t making fun of you or anything…!”

“I know.”

It was a good soup—one that made you feel the heat rising from the depths of your stomach. She had a feeling Chef Tamae would probably make something even tastier, but right now, that didn’t matter.

“Isberg is interesting. Good soup, architecture and traps I’ve never seen before, and I hear the alcohol is decent too.”

“Right? That’s my hometown for you!”

“The people living here, though… they might just be a bunch of good-for-nothings.”

“…I knew it. You really are like my grandpa, Akina-san. He used to say almost the exact same thing.”

Busse’s smile, which had brightened for a split second, clouded over immediately.

I would have liked to meet the old man while he was still around, Akina thought.

Even if it wasn’t Akina, there were plenty of people who would be infuriated by the villagers’ attitude. Especially now that she knew the truth.

“But this is all I have… In Isberg, the life of a hunter is the only life I know. I’ve only seen the vastness of the Royal Capital, the scent of the sea, or the endless deserts in books. I don’t think anyone would help me if I left, so I’ll probably just live and die in this village.”

Busse was stuck.

People aren’t the only thing that makes up a world; one’s environment is just as significant. It’s no easy feat to decide which is more important. Furthermore, for a child who knows no way of life outside his hometown, how could he ever think to leave the mountains he knows like the back of his hand?

And so, Akina came up with a plan.

“You just said something terrible. I’m deeply hurt. Mostly me.”

“Eh? Hurt? Why…?”

“I… I’m capable of putting you up in the Royal Capital, taking you to the sea, and leading you to deserts, mangroves, and all sorts of interesting places. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can do that. And yet, you weighed this hometown against me and chose the hometown? I’m hurt. Super hurt. My glass heart is having a breakthrough.”

“Eh? …Eeeh?! D-did I do something bad again?!”

“Yes, you did. I won’t forgive you.”

“No way?!”

Finding it hilarious how easily he was being led on as he flailed his arms in a panic, Akina placed her hand on Busse’s head and gave it a messy ruffle.

“However, Busse. Because I am broad-minded, I’ll forgive you if you do one thing.”

“I’ll do it! I’ll do the ‘one thing’!! So please don’t hate me…!”

“Alright, you’re doing it? A man’s word is his bond, right?”

She peered into his face to confirm, and Busse nodded his head up and down frantically. She liked people who were this easy to provoke; they were fun and worth the teasing.

“Then I’ll say it… Busse. I’ll look after you, so come to the Knight Order.”

“I understand! I just have to join the Knight Order, right?! The Knight Order… wait, what does that mean exactly?”

As Busse tilted his head with an anxious expression, Akina gave him a wide, reassuring grin.

In short, he was sealing off his own world because he didn’t know the outside and had no prospects for living there. So, all she had to do was provide the reason and the prospects. It wasn’t like he was leaving forever; she was sure she could talk him into it.

“—I’ll hire you under my authority as the Engineering Squad Captain and look after you. Well, I doubt I can get a room ready for you right away, so you’ll live in mine. It’s called, uh… right, ‘cohabitation’. Why not take a peek at the world outside the village for your studies?”

“But this house… and throwing away my life in the village… I can’t. My grandpa’s grave, my memories, there are so many…!”

It’s natural for anyone to cherish the world they were born and raised in. Even Akina still occasionally remembered the hometown she was supposed to hate. However, life doesn’t store all its possibilities and hopes in just one place.

What Busse lacked right now was “indecisiveness”—the ability to find a path by trying things out and giving up when they didn’t work.

“If you hate the outside, you can just quit. I’ll take responsibility and bring you back to Isberg. But listen, I’m telling you the outside is definitely more interesting, and I think you should know these things. There are all sorts of tools, and you can ask the mechanics all you want about those motive carriages you’re curious about! That’s a luxury even city folk don’t get easily, you know?”

“The city… like the Royal Capital? There are lots of food stalls, everyone is wealthy, and there are castles…”

“I don’t know if everyone is wealthy, but there’s plenty of other stuff. You should go at least once in your life. You could even brag about it in the village, couldn’t you?”

She wasn’t lying, and when people are told they can quit halfway, they usually feel more inclined to accept. Sure enough, once Busse realized he didn’t have to abandon the village, his heart leaned sharply toward the outside. One more push, Akina thought, closing the distance between them.

“L-living in Isberg… but if I miss this chance, when will I ever see the Royal Capital…!?”

“If you don’t take this offer now, you’ll definitely, definitely regret it. So, you gonna do it? Cohabitate?”

After agonizing so intensely it was actually entertaining to watch, Busse finally muttered excuses to himself and gave his answer.

“Right… This is a trip… If I think of it as my first trip… I’m not running away, I just want to go… S-six months! No, just one year, then…”

“You’re gonna do it? Cohabitate?”

“I’ll do it! Cohabitation!!”

Ultimately, his yearning for the world outside—which outweighed his stubbornness—won out, and he chose to aim for the horizon. Busse grabbed Akina’s hand with his smooth, small hands and shouted, “Please take care of me!” For a split second, Akina felt a bit strange about a male touching her skin, but she decided to lead him properly as his senior.

“Alright! Since that’s settled, get ready for the expedition! Don’t forget to pack your pants!”

“Y-yes!! I’ll pack the explosives for the artificial avalanches too!!”

“…That’ll violate Knight Order regulations, so don’t do that.”

Remembering the time she’d tried to make saltpeter out of orc corpses and caused a disaster, Akina firmly stopped him there. The manufacture or purchase of gunpowder without permission from the Order was strictly forbidden.

And so, Akina managed to arrange to bring Busse along, mostly according to plan.

Except for one massive miscalculation.

Akina didn’t quite understand that the word “cohabitation” usually implies a romantic relationship. She simply thought that if a man and a woman lived together, it was cohabitation. To make matters worse, since Akina didn’t distinguish between how to treat adults and children, she viewed Busse as someone relatively close to her own generation.

The result of this was—

“I’ve decided to cohabitate with Akina-san!!”

“CAPTAAAAAAAIN?! There’s a ten-year age gap, that’s a crime, isn’t iiiiit?!”

“Your relationship took a nosedive into intimacy overnight?! Impossible! Are you telling me you’d break the Principle of Non-Interference?!”

“Captain Akina… I knew you’d pull something like this!”

“Huh? …What, did I do something wrong?”

…Well, that’s how it went.