Chapter 48

The Guild Leader sighed softly but said that at least it was a relief that everyone was still alive. The handover fee Ugurtz demanded for the unit members was expensive. It couldn’t have been easy for the Guild Leader to decide to bear that cost. Yet, seeing him say it was a relief that they were saved made it clear he was indeed different from the people of Nervas. I felt a sudden sense of absurdity, realizing he felt like an incredibly honorable man.

After finishing up the rough cleanup, I returned home after several days. Perhaps because of the few things Ugurtz had said regarding Iel, I felt a bit drained. I dragged my feet as I passed through the yard. The front door was locked. It seemed Iel wasn’t home. I assumed she had gone out since it was daytime. I decided I would sleep a bit until she returned, picked the lock, and went inside.

I should sleep after washing up. I’m just so exhausted right now. However, even before I could release my fatigue, my body stiffened as I discovered a note left on the dining table. The word ‘Again?’ swirled in my half-numb mind.

I stood frozen in place for a while, staring at the note on the table. My hand wouldn’t move of its own accord. What would happen if I picked that up and unfolded it? Would I be abandoned yet again? Like Ugurtz said, like a dog abandoned once more.

And then what? I chase after her again? How many more times do I have to repeat that?

It’s too hard. At that moment, the strength left my legs, and I slumped to the floor. I braced myself against the floor with both hands and gasped for breath. I broke out into a cold sweat.

I looked back at the front door with a wavering gaze. I hoped that even now, the door would open and Iel would walk in. That she would ask worriedly what was wrong and hug me. That she would laugh nonchalantly and call me a ‘fool’ as I confessed my anxiety that she had left me again.

But no matter how long I stared, the front door didn’t open. I eventually curled up my body and lay on the floor as if I had collapsed.

Was that a faint? Or had I just fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion?

I couldn’t remember.

“Will this be far enough?”

“Yes, thank you.”

I jumped lightly off the cargo wagon I had hitched a ride on midway. As I straightened my shoulders and took a deep breath, the warm, humid air filled my nose and escaped. Having lived here for a while, I felt a familiar sense of comfort.

I checked into an inn, unpacked my simple luggage, and stepped out onto the street. I looked around leisurely to see what had changed and what hadn’t, then suddenly stopped in front of a restaurant.

Jingle— The bell attached to the shop door rang.

“Welcome— oh my?”

“Long time no see, Marel.”

I smiled softly at the shop owner, who stood there with a surprised expression, unable to open her mouth easily.

“Do you remember me? I worked here for a few months in the past. It’s Iel.”

“Ah—! Right, that’s it! Iel! My goodness, how long has it been!”

Marel rushed over and hugged me, saying she’d momentarily forgotten my name. I hugged her back. It had been so long, so that was understandable. I was just grateful that she remembered my face.

Even if my life had been for the sake of Master, the bonds I had forged within that time still remained.

“So, traveling?”

“Yes. I’m on a journey looking back on my own tracks these days.”

“That sounds exactly like… someone who has something going on. Are you alright?”

Marel asked worriedly. Even to me, it sounded like I was terminally ill, so I tried to clarify immediately, but upon further thought, I decided that sticking to that impression wouldn’t be bad. People wouldn’t pry into the story of someone who was supposedly sick.

So, in the end, I didn’t clarify and just smiled quietly. Marel covered her mouth with both hands and teared up at that silent affirmation.

I changed the topic naturally, as if to say we shouldn’t have a gloomy conversation when we’d finally met after so long.

“I heard while coming here that there’s a strange bird in this neighborhood?”

“Huh? Oh. I’ve never seen it myself, but I’ve often heard adventurers talking about it. It seems to appear occasionally in the nearby forest.”

“If it’s something miraculous, adventurers would probably try to capture it.”

“They seem to be trying in their own way, but so far, no one has managed to catch it.”

I expressed interest and listened to her story intently. Perhaps out of pity for me, who might be terminally ill, Marel actively poured out the information she knew.

“—So, interest has waned a bit lately, but there are still people who occasionally stop by the village with that bird as their objective.”

“I see.”

A few days later, I left the village and headed for the forest. Because of the rain that had started falling since the evening, there were few people around. I didn’t hurry my steps. Since a party of adventurers had headed into the forest before me, I entered the forest quite a while after them. If there was a large time gap, they wouldn’t misunderstand and think I was following them if I was discovered.

Of course, it would be better if I wasn’t discovered. I wanted to see how the bird would react to adventurers attempting various methods of capture.

I stepped on the dirt with cloth shoes that didn’t make a sound, walking along the path the adventurer party would have taken.

Suddenly, I felt a faint ripple in the air. I paused for a moment, and once the ripple stopped, I walked forward again. The intervals of the ripples, which had been sporadic, grew faster the further I went. Before long, I was able to meet the crystal bird from the rumors. The bird, made of blue crystal, was sitting on a thick branch, singing a soundless song.

Every time a thin raindrop touched the ripples, it flew as if riding the wind. The raindrops that had been scattered little by little gradually bunched up in white, bending as if painting a picture in the air. Centering around the crystal bird, they rose in a spiral like a whirlpool, or scattered and poured down like shooting stars. It was a fantastical song of water.

“Ugh….”

I was deeply absorbed in watching it, and only then lowered my gaze at a faint moan. The adventurer party that had come first was sprawled out on the ground. Every one of them had glazed eyes and was drooling from their mouths; seeing them occasionally gagging, it seemed they were suffering from motion sickness. I hesitated for a moment, then approached them and closed their eyes one by one with my hand. Their trembling, as if they were having a seizure, was pitiful.

Because there were mentally and physically weak people, I postponed capturing it that day. Since it was our first meeting, I could be satisfied with just a feeling of ‘Oh, so it’s like this.’

I turned away, leaving the collapsed adventurers behind. There hadn’t been any stories of the crystal bird attacking people, so it should be fine. Above all, it was a warm region, so there would be no problem sleeping outside for one night.

If it became known that I alone could be fine while everyone else was affected, it would surely become bothersome, so I decided to leave them be. They weren’t particularly hurt, and they would probably be able to shake off the motion sickness after a nap.

I exited the forest just as I was and returned to the inn.

According to Marel’s information, the encounter with the crystal bird had quite significant aftereffects. That was why she said that as more people suffered the consequences, attempts to capture it were on the decline.

If all those aftereffects were just nausea or dizziness, that was understandable. Since it was a type of discomfort not easily overcome, it was bound to be physiologically unbearable. Perhaps the pain of getting beaten up would be more comfortable.

Anyway, since she said interest had waned quite a bit now, I thought that if I waited calmly, there would be an opportunity to face it without any interference.

A few more days passed, and it was a night with a full moon. That day was clear, without a single cloud. Because the song of water I’d experienced the first time I saw the crystal bird had been so incredible, the clear weather today felt a bit disappointing. I probably wouldn’t see that illusion this time. At the same time, I had an anticipation of what kind of song it would let me hear this time.

Miruen is basically a region with a lot of humidity, so clear weather is actually rare. Usually, it was foggy or drizzling, making visibility blurry. It was especially severe inside the lush forest, making it easy to lose one’s sense of direction.

Therefore, taking a walk alone in the forest was not a particularly recommended behavior, but in this situation, I couldn’t go in with others, either. I had no choice but to resolve to be more careful.

I heard that there were no particular weather or time conditions for the crystal bird’s appearance and that an encounter was just a matter of luck. In my opinion, it felt more like the bird’s whim than luck, but that was just my gut feeling, so it had no basis.

“Phew….”

Since the visibility was clear for a change, I walked without hesitation and found myself much deeper than last time. If it suddenly started to get foggy like this, I might just lose my way completely. Should I go back now? I turned my head and looked behind me.