The next morning.
We decided to leave the beast-people village just after sunrise.
I felt bad because Aisha looked sleepy, but I wanted to put some distance between us while it was still daylight.
“Thank you for everything.”
“No — we’re the ones who should thank you for all the help; we truly appreciate it.”
I shook Claudia’s hand.
I also shook hands with the village elder and other beast-people who had come to see us off.
“Please take care of the princess and the divine beast.”
Surprisingly — or rather, unexpectedly — Claudia and the others didn’t oppose our taking the two of them with us.
It seemed they had their own thoughts about it, but they didn’t voice them; they respected our decision.
No — perhaps they were respecting Aisha and Snow’s decision.
They wanted the two of them to be with us, and they’d seemed to have understood Aisha and Snow’s wishes.
There might be trouble later.
Because I thought that, I was grateful for Claudia and the others’ choice.
“…May I have a moment?”
“Huh? Yes.”
Claudia beckoned me aside in a low voice; we were alone.
“I have a request.”
“What is it?”
“The Dawn Alliance’s goal is revenge… I don’t know if those responsible are still alive, but I believe the old divine beast was involved.”
“I see… yes.”
They had been betrayed by humans.
Something precious had been taken from them.
That grudge and anger still lingered.
There are successors.
“If that former divine beast is still alive and is leading the Dawn Alliance… would you be willing to strike it down?”
“That is… but, is that really all right?”
“I don’t mind.”
Claudia’s feelings should naturally lean toward the divine beast.
Yet she was asking for it to be cut down…
Reading what I was thinking, Claudia made a bitter face.
“…Indeed, emotionally I want to side with the divine beast.”
“Then…”
“However, the humans who committed those foolish acts are no longer alive. They died long ago.”
“…”
“Even so, taking revenge on today’s humans… I think that would be wrong. That wouldn’t be righteous vengeance, just misplaced anger.”
“Yeah… you’re right.”
There was one more thing.
There are aspects of their actions that cannot be forgiven.
The Dawn Alliance sought power for the sake of revenge.
They created a cursed sword to gain strength, and at the same time tried to plunge the world into chaos.
But…
They targeted Aisha in order to make that cursed sword.
They targeted beast-people like her.
They sacrificed their comrades to avenge their comrades’ grievances.
That is wrong.
“So please… ”
“Yes. I promise.”
Many feelings were tangled up.
We each have our own justice — both we and the Dawn Alliance.
So I decided to follow the path I believe in.
――――――――――
“Bye-bye!”
Aisha, riding on Snow’s back, waved to Claudia and the others who had come to see us off.
The sight was so heartwarming that I couldn’t help but smile.
“…Fate.”
“Hm?”
“What were you talking about earlier?”
“…She was asking me to take care of things from here on.”
“I see… then, we’ll have to do our best.”
“Yeah.”
As Sofia and I renewed our resolve—
“Hey, hey! How long will it take to reach the royal capital?”
Licorice suddenly floated in front of us and asked that question.
“Uh…”
“If we walk, about two months,” Sofia answered.
“T-two months!?”
Licorice wobbled and dropped down to the ground.
“There’s no way I can walk that long… such a harsh journey for delicate little Licorice…”
But isn’t Licorice usually flying…?
“It’s all right. There’s a town a little ahead where we can hire a carriage. With that, we’ll reach it in about two weeks.”
“About two weeks?”
Licorice drooped again, clearly exhausted just from imagining it.
She must really hate boredom — it fits her personality.
I understood the feeling, but there was nothing we could do about it.
“Well, fine! In that case, once we get to that town, we’ll just enjoy some sightseeing!”
“It’s just a relay point, though…”
Quick to bounce back — that was another very Licorice-like trait.
Comments
Post a Comment