Chapter 56 – Friends, Allies, and Enemies (2)

Friends, Allies, and Enemies (2)

Walking along the path with the morning air.
The Great Forest was incredibly humid both day and night.

Meaning every moment was damp.

If it were the road leading to Myluman, it might have been bearable, but unfortunately, no matter how much we walked, we couldn’t enter Myluman under the current circumstances.
The immediate choices were to wander The Great Forest indefinitely or to head to the Dragon Kingdom now. It was one or the other.

That’s why we made a choice.

We would postpone our journey to Myluman.
We would stay here until the rainy season ended.

So we decided to look for a village that could sustain us for one to two months.

After all, even if we went outside The Great Forest, we’d still be on the run. It was better to stay here to avoid pursuers.
Here, there were fewer people who would recognize me, and the risk was lower.

Besides, if we went to the Dragon Kingdom and came back, it would be the rainy season again, so we couldn’t move rashly.

“Hey, I’ll start carrying her soon.”

Cecilia looked more tired than I was after staying up all night. If we kept moving in that state, I felt like I would end up dragging two people along.
Given my current physical condition, I felt I could carry Valkvogel, so I reached out to her.

“Ha, ha, you don’t have to overdo it.”

It was always strange to hear words of concern coming from Cecilia.

“If you collapse, I’m screwed.”

Hiding my restless heart, I shifted Valkvogel onto my back.
As expected, she was heavy.

Damn lizard.

“Are you… okay?”

“Just follow me.”

“…Yes, let’s do that.”

It was quite heavy, but still manageable to walk.

The goal was a nearby inn.
Since we hadn’t yet reached the center of The Great Forest, it should take about an hour.

*

Damn.
Contrary to the thought that we could find a village within a few hours, it was only as the sun was setting that we finally found traces of civilization.

But can this be called a village…?

A single building situated in a wide clearing.
It looked like an inn.

Of a decent size and seemingly clean appearance.

There shouldn’t be any hostile people. Even if there were, we couldn’t move any further. We entered the building’s door with a bit of tension.

“Is anyone there?”

No answer came back.
Judging by the lights being on, they should be open for business.

The innkeeper seemed to have stepped out, as I couldn’t find any trace of anyone even with Mind’s Eye scanning the surroundings.

“…Excuse me for a moment.”

“It’s creepy.”

I stepped inside. The first floor seemed to be a dining area, filled with tables and chairs. The lights were on, but the absence of people felt somewhat eerie.

There was no sign of anyone, but you never know.
I kept Mind’s Eye active as I headed to the second floor.

“There’s no presence felt, maybe we can just rest?”

Still, nothing was felt.
Cecilia seemed to think the same.

“…Just in case, don’t let your guard down.”

Somehow, my shoulders felt heavy. The absence of people was suspicious, and for all we knew, this place could be cursed.

…Ah, right, I was carrying Valkvogel.

The second floor was a typical lodging area.
Continuing down the corridor, we soon came to a dead end.

Under normal circumstances, it would be best to stay close to the first floor, but with the Holy Sword and the Demon Sword, we could handle anyone who came. It was actually better to fight with our backs against the wall.

I grabbed the doorknob next to the window.
Tilting my hand, the door opened with a clunk.

The room was cleaner than expected.
It was awkward to share the same space, but there was no better option.

“There are two beds… Just in case, we’ll sleep in the same room. It’s dangerous if someone attacks. Don’t complain.”

Being alone with Valkvogel was also risky.

“Okay, I’ll take this bed.”

Cecilia sat down on the bed next to the window.
She kept blinking as if she was sleepy.

But I couldn’t sleep yet.
I hadn’t finished checking around the building.

“Don’t doze off, stay on the lookout. I’m going to look around.”

I laid Valkvogel down on my bed and left the room.

With Mind’s Eye activated, I gripped the Holy Sword.

I could win against anyone who came… probably.

But as I looked around, I saw nothing in particular.

I thoroughly searched around the building for hidden dangers, but nothing appeared. Despite the lights being on, there were no signs of people.
Although suspicious, there was no concrete evidence, so I dragged my heavy feet back.

Returning to the room, the task was to organize the hidden contents of the letter.
Both my body and mind were at their limits, but I had to finish my tasks before collapsing.
After all, if it weren’t for times like these, I wouldn’t have the luxury of time to think about such things.

Upon returning to the room, I found Cecilia asleep, clutching Valkvogel in her arms. She seemed out of it for some reason, but then again, she is a dragon. Perhaps we should be sleeping further apart.

But why are there two people on my bed?

I brought my finger to Valkvogel’s nose to check if she was alive.
The breath I felt was ticklish. She’s alive.

Now, to get on with what I need to do.

I placed the pouch containing the letters on the empty bed.
Using the moonlight as my lamp, I began to pull out the letters one by one.

The first one I unfolded was from Aliana.
There wasn’t really anything to investigate. A letter on golden canary-colored paper. It wasn’t written in Troka’s handwriting, and the content itself was just distasteful.
If the first letter I had delivered hadn’t been this one, perhaps things would have been a bit better. No being chased around.

Next, I pulled out a pink letter.
There wasn’t anything particularly suspicious about this one either. Just the kind of thing Troka might have written. Compared to the first letter, it lacked any sense of comfort and was smeared with fear.
Towards the end, it tried to reassure Lumen with kind words…

But there were certainly suspicious circumstances.

At the end of the letter, it read, “And………….”

It wasn’t clear, but I think this part was mentioned in Cecilia’s letter, so I’ll put it aside for now.

The third was for Master.
It was markedly different from the previous ones, raising many suspicions.
It’s a lie, don’t be fooled.
Well, it’s all known content now, so there’s no need to dwell on it. It means the letter itself was tampered with. Even the ‘deliver this letter’ written to me was a lie. There was an uneasy premonition, but no concrete evidence. However, this content did provide evidence.

Aside from not knowing which order it was written in, it was a letter that provided solid information.

Next was… Aeon.
Very suspicious. It seemed like someone other than Troka, perhaps a goddess, had alternated writing it.
Words seemed to be covered over with black ink between the lines of the text. But the censored sentences were mostly decipherable. If you’re going to censor something, do it properly. I couldn’t tell if the goddess was foolish or if Troka was barely holding on.

The most suspicious part was, of course, near the end.

The torn, overlapping pages.
I’ll need to check out.

And what could the fifth letter that was written possibly say?
It’s not certain, so I should put that aside for now.

Lastly, there’s Cecilia’s letter.
It was written with the assumption that I would read it from the start.
The same handwriting as Troka’s, and the tone he always used with me. Since the change in him happened after we parted ways, the timing of this letter must be during the blank period in between. It’s possible to assume that the reason for Troka’s change and the motivation for writing this letter overlap.

There was also a hint corresponding to the fifth letter mentioned in Aeon’s letter.
The fifth letter was written to Aeon.

I took out Master’s letter and placed it next to Cecilia’s.

In Master’s letter, it was clearly written… to look at the first letter of every second sentence.
The beginning of the sentences would probably start after ‘Then let’s begin.’

The truth lies there.

The truth lies there? Who the hell gives such a hint.

I have a rough idea of where to look….

Sigh,
A sigh that felt like the floor could collapse escaped me. I even began to wonder if I’m doing the right thing.

Well, since I’ve started, I might as well see it through to the end.

The next hint was about how to return home.

Of course, that content was on a blank page.
It wasn’t that the writing had been erased. It just hadn’t been written in the first place.

Maybe it was written when he was still in a sane state. Or perhaps there was never a sane state? The content suggests it was the second letter written when he was in his right mind.

…Or maybe, even the content Troka wrote was all part of the goddess’s scheme.

Why did I agree to deliver the letters? Because it was written so in his will that he left behind?
I just wanted to rest. To tell the truth, if the day comes when I close my eyes, I thought it might be better to alleviate my petty guilt in advance by delivering the letters.

I know that no matter how many good deeds I do, I can’t meet Ellie again.
Even if I try to give up, I’ve already crossed too many rivers.

But this choice was mine to make.

I wish I knew the goddess’s purpose, but I know nothing.

Now there are only two letters left. However, I couldn’t properly grasp the fundamental curiosity about the letters.

Well, if I think about it simply, maybe the goddess hopes that I’ll die while delivering the letters.
She might want to kill me, an irritating foreigner, if I keep on living.

Maybe the goddess is the one who killed Troka.

Most of the misfortunes that befell Troka and me are because of the goddess. It’s more comfortable to think that way.

Haha.
Fucking bitch.

“Cough, hack.”

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over me, accompanied by a surge of nausea.
Thanks to my quick reaction to cover my mouth, the bedsheet remained clean.

Unable to find anything suitable to wipe the blood with, I left the room and headed for the bathroom.

Passing through the cozy corridor and across the dining area, where chairs and tables sat idly, I opened the door.

The interior of the bathroom was also well-maintained.
I turned the faucet and let the water run.
The inn at The Great Forest had better facilities than I expected. Cleanliness aside, it even had a mirror in the bathroom. Even in the Empire, only inns close to the capital would boast mirrors. To think that such a remote place would use mirrors.

Not bad at all.

I washed the blood off my face with the running water and peeled the clotted blood that had stuck to my hands.
Checking in the mirror for any traces of blood that might have been left unseen.

That’s when I noticed something odd.

In the mirror, I looked unscathed, my appearance was clean.
I even seemed somewhat brighter.
Bright eyes despite the fatigue? Not a single wound?

Something was off.

With a sense of bewilderment, I reached out a finger towards the mirror.

And then, thud.

As my finger touched the wall, the mirror disappeared.
Startled, I blinked. The mirror had vanished without a trace.

Where the mirror had been, there was now only the wooden wall.

“Ha ha.”

Damn it.