by Kiri Komori
“Nakona!”
Wh-What am I…supposed to do about her…? I hung my aching head.
She was right, and I…I also felt like I couldn’t trust father figures. Marcus was a nice, kind man, but he wasn’t my real father. But he did raise me… And at the same time, he was her blood-related father…
What do I…?
“…F-For now, how about we continue this talk inside?” Mister Giyaga suddenly suggested.
Another silence settled over us. No one objected.
Mister Giyaga’s caravan consisted of three large wagons, carrying twelve subordinates. They were divided into teams of three, consisting of an appraisal merchant whose job was to handle restocking, a silver-tongued salesperson who also knew all the trade routes, and a bodyguard.
Each group was in charge of different types of merchandise. Weapons and weapon-making materials, alchemy and medicinal ingredients, clothing, accessories and jewels, foodstuffs, curios… It was quite effective, and the groups were well sorted out.
A heavy silence loomed over our inn’s first floor, where our reception counter and coffee corner were. I tried making the supreme antidote but couldn’t concentrate on it with the pink-haired girl glaring at Dad and me in the room.
“H-How about I introduce you two, Tina?” Dad suggested.
“O-Okay…” I nodded vaguely.
“This is Nakona, my daughter from my ex-wife. She’s, uhh, ten years old right about now…?”
“Eleven!” Nakona corrected him sharply.
“E-Eleven years old. Five years your elder, as it goes… Hahaha…”
A difficult age… Especially when it came to how girls treated their fathers. I responded with dry laughter, just like Dad, but Nakona kept frowning at us like a dissatisfied cat.
Oh boy… This is trouble…
“So, uh, Nakona, it’s just you, right…? I haven’t seen your mother around…”
She stuck to her sour silence.
“Don’t make that face and explain yourself. I won’t get mad and send you back.”
“…Really?”
“Really.”
…It made sense. This girl, Nakona, was his daughter. His ex-wife took her when she broke up with Dad. Dad came home to an empty house, a divorce form, and a letter informing him that she was moving back in with her family. Their things were all gone too…
They very much walked out on him, though it’s hard to say how much Nakona was on board with the idea. She probably just followed her mother. Maybe she was happy to leave, or maybe her mother dragged her away…
I assumed what she’d say next would answer that question. Dad and I directed slightly nervous gazes at Nakona. If she came here to meet Dad, doesn’t that mean her mother took her away against her will?
“…Well, you see, Daddy…Mommy got remarried.”
Upon hearing those words, Dad looked up at the ceiling and sighed.
Whoa… This girl just dropped that bombshell right off the bat…
Hearing about his wife’s remarriage from his daughter… I had to cheer for Dad on the inside. Keep going, Dad! Live on! This talk’s just getting started!
“I told her not to… But Mommy said she loves that person! That she already has a baby in her belly!”
Dad’s silence was mortifying. He was shivering! His arms were crossed and he was looking up at the ceiling and trembling. I could almost see how fast Dad’s mental HP bar was depleting!
Stop it, Nakona! His mental HP is already zeroed out!
“I, uh, I…I see…”
That’s all you have to say in this situation?! Dad, you’re…you’re so strong! You really are a retired knight! Still pushing forward, even when you’re on the edge!
“And you know who she’s marrying, Daddy?! A knight who used to work with you!” Nakona dealt the finishing blow.
“Gfah!”
D-Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!
“The Captain of the Crimson Knights!” Nakona continued mercilessly.
“Him?!” Dad breathed out, slamming his fist against the table and rising to his feet.
“Dad!”
I didn’t know who that was, but Dad was livid. Nakona fanned Dad on further, slamming her hands on the table in imitation and exclaiming, “He’s trying to steal Mommy from you!” This prompted Dad to turn toward the table as he got up and whack his forehead hard against it.
It looked like it hurt, but I couldn’t blame him. His actual, eleven-year-old daughter just told him someone was “stealing his wife.” It had to be a painful thing to hear.
“…I had a feeling that would happen…” Dad said with a heartbroken voice. “They were always close and were extra friendly during parties in the castle… Looking back, Lico used to come to the Azure Knights’ barracks, crying about how Rondered wouldn’t look at her. She had me and Dir buy her drinks all night, crying about how Rondered wouldn’t pay her any attention…”
“Dad…” I said gently.
“Ah…! R-Right, sorry, Tina. Might be too soon for you to hear about things like that…”
I was an adult on the inside, so I understood. Dad lay face down on the table but raised his head upon hearing my voice and patted me on the head. He looked twenty years older, though…
“…We lived together in a small house, like the one we lived in with you,” Nakona said. “I said I was fine living there, but Mommy said she wanted a big house, with servants… So I went with her to that man’s house. And my room was really big… But there isn’t anyone there. Mommy doesn’t talk to me anymore, and she keeps bringing private tutors every day… But I don’t want to study! I can’t see my friends anymore and I have to eat all alone in my room! I don’t want to live like that!”
“Nakona…” Dad said, looking at her pitifully.
“…I hate studying, but…I can tell! I can just tell…Mommy thinks I’m in the way. She has a new man, and that’s the only thing on her mind! That’s the kind of woman she is!”
Dad looked up at the ceiling again. I could kind of tell what he wanted to say. Girls can grow up incredibly fast…
“I see. So…Mommy told you to come to me?” he guessed.
“No. I snuck out. I found Mister Giyaga’s caravan near town and asked if he could take me to you.”
“All right. I’ll send her a letter then.”
“What? No! If she knows where I am, she might come get me!”
“If you don’t want to go back there, you can stay here. If anyone comes to take you, I’ll send them away.”
“…Daaaaaddy…”
“But we need to tell her where you are. I’m happy you decided to depend on me… So I’ll keep you safe. Daddy’s on your side, Nakona.”
“…Daddy.”
I could feel their family bond tightening again from across the table. Marcus really was a nice man. He was trying to be a dad, and I thought it suited him, but…
What is this feeling…?
“Huh… Daddy, what happened to your hand…?” Nakona asked, her eyes widening.
“Ah…! O-Oh… Well, I lost it in the war. That’s why I quit being a knight and took over this place. Sorry for not telling you… Are you surprised?”
Nakona didn’t know about his missing arm. He might have a prosthetic now, but it was still his right hand—his dominant hand. He tried to pat her head on reflex before remembering his hand was gone. He always patted me with his left, so it never bothered me. He was like that for as long as I knew him.
But Nakona was in shock. I could tell that much from her expression. And it made sense. It was pretty daunting the first time you saw it, and she was only an eleven-year-old girl…
“Well, I guess we’re a family of three from now on. Nakona, you’re going to have to do your share of the work too! We don’t have enough hands on deck as—”
“A family of three?” Nakona repeated, shifting her eyes in my direction. “You mean, her too?”
“Huh?”
What is she implying…?
“Of course I do. I mean, she’s…”
“Daddy! You’re my Daddy! You can’t be anyone else’s Daddy!”
“Nakona, listen, I decided I’m going to take care of her…”
“…What… What are you saying?! Are you going to say you don’t need me either, Daddy…?”
“Huh? No, what are you…”
“Daddy, you dumb-dumb!” Nakona ran off in tears.
“Nakonaaaa!” Dad called after her but was cut off by the sound of her throwing the door open and dashing outside.
It was evening, and almost time for us to prepare dinner. Giyaga’s caravan would take care of themselves with the cottages’ kitchens, so we only needed to cook for ourselves. And we needed to prepare the baths, so we had to start cooking now if we wanted to make it in time… Buuuuut…
“…Dad, you should go after her. I’ll make dinner.”
“T-Tina…” Dad looked at me awkwardly. “Sorry!”
That girl was emotionally unstable…but I couldn’t blame her. Her mother remarried some rich man and got knocked up with his child… The woman she always thought was her mother suddenly became another man’s wife and the mother of someone else’s child.
Meanwhile, when I looked back on the day I “remembered” my past life, I couldn’t help viewing Marcus adopting me as something that sort of happened to someone else. But if I was her age, I wouldn’t know how to process any of it. I’d lose my nerves and just run.
But there was also another problem cropping up now…I couldn’t trust father figures. Marcus was a nice, kind man. I didn’t doubt that. But he didn’t feel quite like my father. I did call him “Dad,” but…I couldn’t really get rid of that distance. He wasn’t related to me, not really. This whole thing with Nakona only further reminded me of that.
I couldn’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if my Mom from my past life got remarried. Could I have brought myself to trust whoever she chose? No… I probably would have treated them the same way I treat Marcus. Even if I’d have gotten a new father, I probably would have treated him the same way. Because I…!
“Hello?” Mister Giyaga’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Whoa!”
Mister Giyaga peeked into the room from the open door. Apparently, we were too loud… I hadn’t said much, but Dad and Nakona were shouting.
“H-Hello. Do you need anything?”
“Are you done talking? Because… Oh? Did Marcus go to the toilet or something?”
“Ah, no, Nakona threw a tantrum and ran off, so he went after her…”
“Oh, my.” Mister Giyaga frowned. “Well, girls can be difficult when they get to that age…”
“Definitely…”
I couldn’t deny that. Not when I just saw how “difficult” she could be before my very eyes.
“But that’s going to be a problem…” Mister Giyaga scratched his head. “I wanted him to hear about it as soon as possible.”
“Hear about what?”
“Well, you see, there are apparently monsters prowling these parts…”
“M-Monsters?!”
Monsters—creatures that didn’t exist in my past life outside of fiction. According to the stories, monsters started appearing after Saint Akari-Berz purified the Primal Sin. As soon as she passed away, the monsters began growing in numbers. When a monster dies, it releases the Kathra—Primal Sin—within its body into the air, forming new monsters.
It was worth noting that Kathra was different from Camilla—the Primal Evil that formed Zombies. Zombies and monsters were technically different types of creatures.
Kathra was a punishment of sorts, enacted by the world on creatures that had committed crimes against it. It was, in a way, a manifestation of the sins they committed. On the other hand, Camilla was an aggregate of malice released by living beings capable of emotion.
Zombies are created when a soulless human body is filled with Camilla produced by humans. If left alone long enough, they can evolve into “human-formed monsters.” That’s because when left unchecked, Camilla can change into Kathra.
It was hard to grasp all of this at first, but put simply, monsters are created by sins, while zombies are accidentally created from human malice.
Zombies… Back in my old world, there were stories about human disasters or viruses that produced them. Like a dead baby’s grave filling with Camilla, and as it matures, it eventually rises from the grave and starts mutilating cattle and chickens… And when you beat it, it only produces more zombies…!
In fiction, of course. That never happened in real life.
But long story short, monsters were much more dangerous than zombies!
“I think De Marl dispatched knights to exterminate them, but killing the monsters scatters Kathra into the air, which produces more monsters, and I think the knights are really struggling,” Mister Giyaga said.
I hung my head, concerned.
“De Marl’s knights told me to let you guys know about it. They said you and your guests should avoid going out at night. But Marcus is a former knight, so he probably knows all that.”
“Y-Yes…”
Dad and I were often told to stay indoors after sunset. To that end, we couldn’t heat any bathwater after dark, but…
Oh no…
“Mister Giyaga, I’m sorry, the baths for the cottages…”
“Huh? Oh, yes. I understand, the monsters make it harder to schedule things… We’ll help boil them tomorrow, so if you could at least sell us some firewood?”
“…Yes, of course! I’ll have it prepared.”
“Aww, you’re such a dependable girl, Tinaris. You’ll make for a good bride someday…”
“Th-Thank you…?”
I was an adult on the inside, so I was a bit uncomfortable with that comment. I wonder how old I’ll have to be until men stop dropping these kinds of comments. Hopefully, they’ll stop once I’m not a little girl anymore.
But an inn that had its guests heat up their own bathwater… I couldn’t help but feel like our inn was doing things the wrong way. And the building was starting to show signs of wear too…
“This place is really starting to show its age, eh…”
“Y-Yes… I’m sorry…”
“No, I mean, I’m not as bothered by it as Marcus is. He’s wondering if you’d be better off closing the inn so you can go study in Saikorea.”
“Ah…!”
This question had probably been smoldering in Dad’s heart this whole time. He wanted to see me make the best of my talents in alchemy… But…
I looked in the mirror near the coffee table. My ears were growing pointy recently, and the fringes of my blond hair were a purplish-red hue. My eyes were crimson.
By comparison, the human customers that came to the inn mostly had brown hair. Bright hair colors like Nakona’s weren’t that unusual, but… The gradation in my hair and the color of my eyes were something I’d never seen in anyone else. My memory was understandably hazy by now, but I thought the “mother” I saw when I just came to this world had long ears too.
Even if I ignored my hair and eye color, I couldn’t ignore the pointed ears. And it felt like they were getting longer every year…
No, I’m just getting older. That’s all!
Or so I tried to tell myself, trying not to think too much about it. But could it be that I’m not…?
“Tinaris?” Mister Giyaga asked me.
“O-Oh, it’s nothing.” I shook my head.
“Do you want to study alchemy in Saikorea, Tinaris? I’m sure you can go far!”
“…I want to restore this inn! This is the house Grandma and Grandpa left us, so…!”
…Will that really be possible for me though? If Dad…Marcus chooses Nakona over me, I won’t be able to stay here any longer. And if that happens, I suppose I’d just…make a living selling the medicine I make with alchemy. And Sirius seemed to really like me. He offered me the opportunity to come to the Elven Empire of Forestria to get ma
rried, so at worst, I could pretend to take him up on that offer and study magic there.
Then I could go back to the human continent, study alchemy in Saikorea, and maybe open an atelier to make a living for myself… And if Sirius’ son is a nice man, maybe marrying him is an option after all…
“You’re a good girl!” Mister Giyaga said all of a sudden.
“Pardon?!”
“You’re such a good girl, Tinaris! I’m moved!”
“…Y-You’re exaggerating…”
“Here’s an idea! Why don’t you open a pharmacy by the highway?”
“A pharmacy?”
“Yes, yes. You could open a pharmacy and sell the medicine you make. They’re high in quality, so you could sell them for a little higher than the market price! That way, you can save up money and hire a carpenter to renovate the inn! I think it’s a fine idea!”
“Renovate…!”
Right, that was an option! But…renovate the place? True, it looked old, but the building was still solid and steady. It wasn’t like the roof was leaking or anything… If there was anything I’d outright change about it, I’d like to furnish the cottages and baths with a Heatstone.
Tinaris’ Note!
Heatstones are a material imported to the human continent from the dwarves’ country. Placing this unusual stone in water makes it heat up and boil quickly. When someone with mana touches them, they can boil water in the blink of an eye!
They’re supposed to operate on some kind of magic, but even humans can use it. I don’t know for sure, though, since I haven’t seen one yet!
“By the way, Mister Giyaga, can you get some Heatstones?”
“Heatstones? Ah, for the bath?”
“Yes. With seven Heatstones, we could easily boil the bathwater for both the guests and us.”
“I see. Well, we’re going to restock in De Marl’s market soon, and then we’re going to head back to the demi-human continent. We could stop at the dwarves’ country… With my merchant’s spirit and my love for you, I’ll definitely secure seven of them to bring back to you!”
“R-Really? But aren’t Heatstones expensive?”
“Fifty thousand colts for seven!”
“What?!”
“Well, fifty thousand if you haggle…”
