114 Testing One's Mettle

When we left Harlin it was already sunrise, and by the end of the day, we were able to reach the outskirts of Urtysh, the third of the seven towns needed to pass through before reaching Yaref. Here the trees are starting to grow more sparingly, with numerous boulders and swaths of open land in their stead. Also, another thing to note is that the road we're using has become noticeably getting more and more inclined that when we stopped during the night to set camp and rest, we were already about 750 meters above sea level.

"...Hey big brother, can we talk for a moment?" Aoi approached me, just minutes after having our dinner and before preparing to sleep. With the three of us having covered yet less than half of the distance between Harlin and Yaref, we decided to sleep early tonight and get going early the next day, so that we can reach our destination the day after tomorrow.

"Sure. What should we talk about?" I replied.

"...Um, you see..." Acting fidgety, she spoke: "it's about that lady."

When she said that, I immediately closed the book that I'm reading and placed it aside. I looked around first to see if Lerish's still around, and then...

"I see. So you're worried about her too, huh."

"...T-That's not it! I'm not worried for her at all!" Aoi waved her arms furiously. "It's just that it's unbearable for me to see a familiar person behave differently, despite it only for just a while."

According to her, she started to notice a change in the aura Lerish emits, just after we left Silmun. At first, her aura was smooth and crystal clear like a glass ball but it started to become muddled and lumpy as if boiling. When asked what could that possibly mean, Aoi shrugged her shoulders, meaning even she doesn't exactly know.

"...While on the outside she might appear normal, the aura around her doesn't lie. I guess that she's still insecure about her condition, and those guys earlier just made things worse for her. I'm afraid her current state might affect us negatively if push comes to shove."

It's hard to admit, but Aoi and I have the same thoughts regarding the matter. Lerish's marksmanship relies on her innate talent, experience, and clear mental state, and if one of them isn't in good shape, her overall ability might become more of a liability than an asset. I don't want to think of any scenario where Lerish is a burden to us, but such things happening isn't close to impossible.

"So..." letting out a frustrated sigh, I asked: "what should we do about her?"

Aoi shook her head. "...Not we, big brother, but just you."

"H-Hah?!"

"...Nn. What she needs right now isn't a little girl who will just nag at her all the time, but a friend whom she could rely on. You're her friend, right? So do something about her problem!"

Hrrghhh. This girl is a—

"I see it now, Aoi. You're just putting all the responsibility on me again. How about I do something first about your rotten attitude instead, huh?! Maybe you'll stop being a brat for real!"

"...N-Noooooo! Don't pull my cheeks so haaaaarrrddd!!!" Aoi cried.

Well, nevertheless, it's always good to know that Aoi cares about other people, though with some reservations. She's quite a nagger, but there are times when her being bossy has some reason behind it. It makes her brattiness a little bit more tolerable.

Alrighty then, looks like I have to follow her advice, as usual.

-----

The next morning we decided to skip through Urtysh and enter the fourth town instead, as the former is currently facing a problem in their water supply. Being accompanied by two girls, it is very important to maintain good hygiene, and Lerish in particular isn't the type of person who would skip a daily bath or two just because she's traveling.

"...Big brother, why are you blushing? I noticed that you've been like that ever since we went out of that public bath. Is there something wrong?"

"Eh? No, I'm fine. It's just that...uh..."

"Ren?" Even Lerish has started to look at me with a concerned face, wondering whether to stop the carriage or not.

"Uh..." holding back my embarrassment, I spoke: "y-your scent, you girls smell so good that I can't help but to blush."

Dead silence. For a moment I thought that the girls has started to think of what I said as something creepy, but they both giggled and said:

"...Aww, you shouldn't feel bad, big brother. Here, you can smell me as much as you want!"

"Aoi, that's..."

"Even though things like that should not be stated explicitly especially in public, I am glad you liked it, Ren."

When she said that I noticed that her eyes weren't as sparkly as they were always—a bit lifeless, so to speak. Even if I try to ask her what's wrong she'll just brush it off and smile at me, and that's it. She'll keep her facade until such time that she can't take it anymore and start breaking down.

Though I said that I will help her as much as I could, I don't know where to start. Our friendship might be that close already that I can become her confidant, but what's there for me to provide for her other than to listen to her thoughts? If I were to become her trusted comrade, what help should I give to make her feel better?

Meanwhile, as the carriage continue to traverse through the road on the way to the fifth town we started to feel that the winds have started to change in speed and direction, leaving behind a strange chill in my skin as it blew past us.

"Woah. Even though autumn's just about to come, the winds here can be bitterly cold at times, I guess," I muttered, as I tightly hugged Aoi to keep both of us warm.

Lerish replied, acting clueless. "P-Pardon? Excuse my words Ren, but there seems to be no wind blowing at the moment."

"H...Huh?"

All of a sudden, a huge flock of birds came flying over our heads in the direction opposite of ours, cawing and screeching loudly while their wings flap violently as if being chased away by something. Their appearance also caused the horses to panic, almost making the entire carriage flip over to the side with their frantic effort to also run away.

Biting her lip, Lerish spoke: "This...this is serious. Seeing birds flying away in the opposite direction means that something bad will happen..."

"Hm? Do you believe in superstitions, Lerish?" I asked.

"I do not believe in most of them," she shook her head. "But some superstitions, like the one that occurred just now, has already happened several times historically that many people have started to consider it as a fa—"

"Both of you, get inside the carriage!!!"

""—?!!""

Fwaakkk!!! Just as when Lerish was about to finish her sentence, my intuition felt something was wrong, and hurriedly I summoned a wall of wind around us using the [Magician] Arcana—effectively stopping in midair a set of strange, sharp metal objects that came whizzing towards our direction.

"T-These things..." I muttered in bewilderment, "are these things knives...?"

"...Big brother! On your left!!!"

"Hu—BWUUUUUUHHHH??!!!"

At Aoi's warning, I immediately looked to my left, only to be greeted by a huge fist about to hit me in my face. Through some inhuman reflexes, I managed to catch the fist with my hand.

"For a long time, I was wondering what and how great your attack capabilities are...now I'm able to see it up close."

With a huge black robe and cloak covering his large, muscular body, the person in front of me exuded an immense aura usually coming from those who have extensive martial arts training. If not for the funny-looking boar mask covering his face, however, I would've felt more intimidated by him.

"I am the type of person who would prefer to use his mouth instead of his fist to win battles, so, understandably, you won't see my fighting skill that often."

Saying that he then pulled his fist away and retreated a few meters away in a backflip, landing atop a tall rock pillar. Fascinated and confused with how elegant his motion was despite his build, Lerish unconsciously clapped her hands.

"...Why in the world are you clapping, you woman?!" Aoi yelled at her.

"M-My apologies, Miss Aoi, but I cannot help but feel enthralled whenever I witness something graceful as that!"

"...G-Graceful?!!"

"Thank you, thank you very much for appreciating such a simple maneuver, Your Highness," Boar Guy said as he bowed his head to her. "Just as what many people have claimed, your words fill a man's heart with joy."

Immediately Lerish's face became pale when she found out that her cover's already exposed from the start. She glanced at me, and I said—

"You see, that guy...he silently and stealthily watches over other people for a living. He's a professional stalker, I say."

"Correction—'observer' rather than 'stalker'. Those two are very similar, yet different from each other," he retorted.

Yeah, whatever. It doesn't change the fact that you and your subordinates were watching me and my sister's movements until just recently when I agreed to become part of your hijinks with Myriel.

"Enough of that. Why did you all of a sudden? It's not that you went missing for a long time just to wait for the time to ambush us like this, right?"

"Well, something very important came up, so I had to accomplish it first. As for why I'm here, I just want to give you young ones a warning—especially you, Your Highness."

"Eh? M-Me...?" Lerish gasped.

"That's right. As it turns out, you three aren't the only ones who are looking for the 'tower'. I can't tell you how many they are, but I can assure you that a cheap, store-bought bow and arrow won't work on those people should you fight them."

Without saying anything further, Boar Guy then picked a small knife just like the ones earlier and threw it towards Lerish. I tried to deflect it but it was so fast that my eyes almost couldn't keep up, and could only watch as the dagger is about to pierce her chest—

"If you can't react to something as simple as that, how can you keep up with the likes of them? At this rate, you'll die in no time, Your Highness," he jest, as the 'knife' he threw is a plush copy of the ones he used before and didn't cause any physical damage to Lerish.

Nevertheless, it seems that his words are enough to shatter her spirit as she looked down on the floor, speechless. I tried to comfort her but Aoi stopped me, saying that doing so would do her more harm.

"A very important person like you dying helplessly, just because of her selfish desire to explore the world more freely, would surely cause chaos in this country. Moreover, other countries might catch wind of such news, and use it as an opportunity to topple down the country in its low moment. You don't want that to happen, right? If so, I'll recommend you going back to the capital and—"

*squeak*

"Hmm?" he looked down, and on his feet, he saw the plush knife he had thrown at the lady earlier.

For him to not notice it while he's speaking—

"I...have sacrificed so many things...just to be where I am today," she spoke, her voice cracking as her pent-up feelings were about to come forth. "And for someone to tell me to go back, means all of that will only be put to waste. A lowly person like you—how dare you to tell me what to do?!!"

Overcome with fury, she quickly picked up her weapon and aimed at Boar Guy's head. I tried to stop her, but—

"...Don't, big brother."

"Aoi?!"

"...You don't know how to help her, right? Then don't interfere. That's the best you can do for now."

"T-That's...!"

Again, this feeling of not being able to help someone hurts me a lot. It hurts, but I have to relent as Aoi's words do make sense.

Damn it...

"What you're doing is a mistake, Your Highness," Boar Guy said, still unfazed even with an arrow aimed at him.

"A 'mistake'? Perhaps you could say that, but for me, this is the path that I chose, my reason for being. I will not let anyone trample on the path that I made."

Without hesitation, she let go of the arrow. Boar Guy effortlessly caught it with his two fingers but Lerish, with her body moving to the tempo of her burning emotions, unleashed several more as she weaved her way closer towards him.

"Sigh. Here I thought I'll persuade her with just words alone. Looks like I have no choice but to etch it right into her head."

He took a deep breath, then jumped up high in the air, dodging all the projectiles coming his way. Wielding two knives on both hands he then covered himself with a very powerful aura as he began his swift descent.

"Lerish! Get back!!!"

At this point, I can't take it anymore. I want to save her, I want to protect her. I want to fight alongside her and help her overcome all the obstacles in her way.

I want to do all of that, and yet...

Knowing that there's no time to go back, she decided to push through and kept her sights on him, the last of the arrows available to her already about to fly anytime. If her attack miss, it means the end for her. Boar Guy will kill her, I'm sure of it.

Nevertheless, the scene in front of me right now is the most captivating thing I've ever seen in her since the day I met her. Her body, postured properly in the stance of an archer, held her ground without any sign of hesitation, nor fear. Her eyes, bright emerald green in color, remain steadfast as they gaze directly at her target's weak spots. Her expression, brimming with courage, looked as if she already prepared herself for the moment.

Seeing her like that...made my heart skip a beat. And because of that, I shouted with all my breath:

"Lerish—GO FOR IIIIITTTTTTT!!!!!"

"Understood!"

I expected that in a blink of an eye the outcome would be decided between the two of them, but all of a sudden—

"All right—you passed," Boar Guy said, as he gracefully landed in front of Lerish instead of swooping straight through her.

Stupefied, Lerish's eyes opened wide as she muttered, "E...E-Eh?"

"Hm. Are you disappointed, Your Highness? Are you expecting me to harm you, even though I already told you the consequences of that happening?"

He then explained the reason why he tried to attack us, especially Lerish. For him, what's important isn't a person's body strength or skillset, but the hardiness of the mind. He saw that despite her surging emotions Lerish's mind remained clear, thus achieving his set goal of testing her mettle.

"Now that I've finally determined your resolve, allow me to apologize for the words I spoke earlier. As compensation, I would like to give this to you."

He picked one of his knives and gave it to her. Lerish tried to refuse his gift, but his towering presence forbade her. In the end, all she could do was to thank him for the weapon.

"Ah, now that I'm done I believe it's time for me to go. Death Goddess, I hope you remain as cute as always."

"...Hmph, it's not that I wanted to be this small," Aoi looked away from him.

"And you, Ren Mortel—take care of yourself, as much as you take care of others. I know it's hard for you to do that, but I believe in you."

"Yeah, I will."

After that he began to slowly fade into thin air, walking away from us as he disappear. We have no idea how he does that, but I think it's on par with his mysterious nature.

Still shocked by the turn of events, Lerish muttered, "I...I passed..."

"Lerish, are you okay?"

"Y-Yes, I believe I am fine," she replied, already feeling calm. "I feel refreshed, that is all."

"...It does feel good to unleash your anger once in a while," Aoi agreed. "Harness more of that, and you'll become an unstoppable killing machine in no time!"

Aoi, isn't that way too much?

"...Jokes aside—you did well, Lerish. At the very least, you proved that my decision to take you with us was right. Your performance was still lacking, but you'll get there someday."

"Miss Aoi..."

"You hear that? You also passed Aoi's test!" I said as I grabbed her hands out of happiness.

"Nn! I am very glad!" she replied, with tears in her eyes.

Now that she's proven her potential, I believe that she won't be affected that much by her limits. Instead, I believe that it'll further serve as her inspiration to be stronger.

Do your best, Lerish.