What the hell was he trying to say to him?
His heartbeat felt thunderously loud. Kenta focused every scrap of his attention on his ears, trying to calm his trembling breath and body.
In this state, he felt like he could hear even the voices of people far away.
So tense he could barely stand it, Kenta even forgot how to swallow. For some reason, his knees felt weak, and he felt like sweat was breaking out at the crown of his head.
At last, a voice reached him—exhausted and cracked, yet still sweet.
“I don’t know... what you’re trying to do....”
Kenta nodded.
“Don’t. You asshole....”
“.......”
“I’ll pay you back threefold....”
“.......”
Kenta froze blankly.
What had he just heard?
He stayed rigid for a long time before finally lifting his stiff neck. Ren’s breathing was hot and fast.
“H-hey... hey!”
Kenta called to him, but Ren gave no answer. It seemed he had passed out again.
Kenta stared at him in disbelief... and somehow felt like he had been smacked in the back of the head.
Earlier... you asked me to wash you.
And you thanked me....
So why suddenly call me an asshole? Pay me back? What did I even—
Then Kenta remembered the thoughts he had been having earlier, and a chill of fear ran through him.
Had Ren read his mind? Otherwise, why would he suddenly say something like that?
Kenta hurried back.
“Why are you so late?!”
Beta, who had been pale with anxiety, nearly burst into tears when she spotted Kenta. Kenta turned Ren’s face toward his chest and was too busy reciting his confession in his head to hear a word Beta said.
One of the men slapped Kenta across the head for coming back late, then returned to his post. Even with the blow ringing through his skull, Kenta was too busy repenting the wicked thoughts Ren’s face had tempted him into having.
They started moving again.
The guards watching them chattered as they walked. They said that if a nasty plague hadn’t gone around last year, they would have made them piss and shit inside the wagon like usual, and that slaves these days had it easy, even getting walks. When the captives glared back, all they earned was snickering laughter and a beating.
After they had walked for a long while, a glittering blue wave appeared beyond the forest.
“The sea...?”
“We’re still... in the kingdom...!”
The men locked them back inside the cargo wagon.
***
Before leaving the village, the old apothecary thought of Ren’s shack and stopped by, only to click his tongue.
There were countless stones scattered by the door and windows. Since the owner was gone, people had probably come to see if there was anything worth taking, then gotten angry when they couldn’t do anything about the tightly locked door and thrown stones at it. No—maybe they had meant to break the windows and climb inside.
The old apothecary reached into the air as if feeling the energy surrounding the shack and closed his eyes. A black light lingered briefly over his hand.
“A Hero, is it?”
Thinking of the man with the white-burned blond hair who had come to take Temar away, the old apothecary clicked his tongue.
“Caw! Caw!”
A crow shot through the leaves like an arrow and clamped onto the old apothecary’s shoulder. Even as its hard, sharp talons dug into his shoulder like hooks, the old apothecary remained perfectly calm.
He glanced at the crow perched on him and held out his hand. The crow hopped down onto his wrinkled palm. The old apothecary read the note tied to its leg. He seemed to think for a moment, then started walking.
“Caaaw! Caw!”
“Oh! Aah! What’s with the c-crow...!”
The coachman waiting to see him off at the village entrance jumped in fright at the flapping wings.
“My apologies. You little rascal! Stay still!”
“Caaaw!”
The crow, which had been circling through the air and scattering black feathers, settled quietly back onto the old apothecary’s shoulder.
“Please get in! I’ll take good care of you.”
“Thank you.”
“Still, you’re going on a long journey, yet you’re traveling awfully light!”
“When you get old, you don’t need much. Ha ha.”
With a kindly smile, the old apothecary climbed into the carriage with the coachman’s help.
***
“Captain! Lord Temar left ahead of us.”
Charles, who had been fidgeting anxiously, found Geloman and reported in.
Geloman, who had been listening to the knight who had gone scouting the day before, lifted his head.
“We split up. Which direction did Temar go?”
“He likely headed toward Delfona.”
“Then I’ll go the opposite way. Kelton and Charles, go with Temar.”
“What?”
Charles, who had assumed he would obviously be going in the same direction as Geloman, jolted in surprise.
“Charles.”
“Yes...!”
At the heavy bass of his voice, Charles snapped to attention.
“Contact me immediately if anything seems wrong.”
“Understood! What should we do about the physician still at the inn?”
Geloman spoke.
“Who do you think will find Ren first?”
“What?”
“Exactly what I asked.”
“Hmm.”
Charles thought about it seriously.
“Well... I don’t know?”
The tension drained from him. Geloman and Temar had returned looking so grave that Charles had been trembling, thinking something terrible had happened, but hearing Geloman ask such a strangely offbeat question seemed to ease his nerves.
When he thought calmly about it, wasn’t that true? Ren was not a very young child. He was not an adult yet, but surely he could take care of himself to some extent. Maybe all this worrying was just needless anxiety.
Feeling oddly swept up in it all, Charles looked dazed. Seeing his strangely slack expression, Geloman raised a hand.
“Eek...?”
Charles flinched, thinking he was about to be hit when that huge hand came toward him, then looked up. Geloman flicked him hard on the forehead.
“Don’t stand there looking stupid. Your answer?”
“That... shouldn’t you ask Lord Giselle? Hmm. I think Delfona might be more likely. Why? Are you going to send him with whichever side seems more likely to find him?”
“No. Then the physician comes with me.”
“Huh? Captain, that doesn’t make sense with what you just said!”
“Brothers need time together.”
“Excuse me?”
“Charles.”
“Yes, sir!”
Geloman jerked his chin toward the inn.
“Yes, sir!”
Charles ran up into the inn to bring Doctor Jepeto.
***
Doctor Jepeto was packing in the room, sighing so heavily it felt like the ground might cave in beneath him. As he checked whether he had left anything behind, he looked over the luggage he had packed the day before and paused, puzzled.
Aside from his own bag by the bed, there were two other bundles.
“What’s this?”
Jepeto opened the larger bundle first.
Inside the loosened wrapping lay a luxurious fur cloak.
“Oh, dear God.”
He let out a mournful sigh.
He guessed what it was immediately.
On the day Ren fought another boy at the store, there had been a moment when Jepeto and Luman had split up briefly on the way back after sorting things out. Jepeto had bought medicinal herbs, and he had wondered what Luman had bought...
Apparently, he had bought a cloak.
The moment Jepeto saw the blue-green color of the cloak, Ren came to mind.
So this was what had been inside the large bundle Luman brought back that day.
“He should have said something! Oh, dear. Oh, dear.”
If Ren had received this gift right away, perhaps his heart would have softened. Perhaps he would not have left all alone. Jepeto lifted the fur cloak, spread it open, looked it over here and there, then swallowed another sigh and folded it neatly again.
A note slipped out from between the folds. Jepeto opened it just enough to confirm the name “Ren,” then tucked it back into the cloak.
Sighing bitterly again and again, Jepeto opened the unfamiliar bundle beside it.
“This is... haah. How could this happen!”
He cried out even more dramatically than before.
Inside the bundle were sweets, charming little toys, herb-flavored candies, a dagger, and more—an entire pile of things that were obviously gifts. They were small items, but just picking up any one of them made it clear who they were meant for.
These were gifts Ren had bought!
“Why are all of you doing this to me? Ahh.”
Jepeto clutched his head and shook it.
How nice would it have been if they had simply exchanged gifts properly! He should have grabbed them by the hems of their pants and forced it to happen! If only Lord Temar had just greeted him properly!
But what was the point of dwelling on the past?
Jepeto started packing again. He tucked the gift that seemed meant for him into his inner pocket and put an herb-flavored candy in his mouth. It smelled bitter, but it was not bad to eat.
Rolling the candy around in his mouth, he prayed Ren had not gone far.
In truth, he was not deeply worried.
Tempesto was a large village, and the nearby villages were fairly large too, so he doubted anything could have happened in just one night. The public order was decent, and as long as Ren was not terribly unlucky, he should not get caught up in any incident. What worried Jepeto was Ren’s heart—how lonely he must have felt to leave in the middle of the night.
“He can’t be that unlucky, can he?”
Jepeto muttered without realizing it.
Knock, knock.
“Yes.”
At the knock, Jepeto rose from the bed.
“Doctor! We’re leaving now. You’ll be going with Lord Geloman.”
“Yes. Understood.”
“If you have luggage, please give it to me.”
“Ah, here it is.”
Jepeto handed him, one after another, the bundles Luman and Ren had left behind.
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. Ah, would you perhaps prefer to go to the capital first?”
Charles asked him all sorts of questions. How had he ended up traveling with Temar? What was his relationship with Ren? By the time they left the room and descended the stairs, the constant stream of questions had already left Jepeto looking exhausted.
Geloman’s party split in two. One group headed toward Delfona, the port city to the west in the direction of the capital, while the other set off in the opposite direction.
