by Fujino Omori
People unable to face their own reality, people escaping danger, and young couples eloping from families who couldn’t accept their love all found their way here.
And, of course, exiled adventurers from Orario who wandered into the mountains with the intention of dying out here ended up settling in the village as well. As a result, the villagers are exceptionally friendly and open to new arrivals. More than half the people living here are the descendants of these wayward travelers. I have a feeling that’s the reason they were so quick to assist lost people like us.
A hidden village not on any map, for people who had lost their way.
This…is another world I didn’t know about.
Deities must be a rare sight in the village because two demi-human children, a boy and a girl, keep peeking in through the window. Lady Hestia notices and smiles at them, gently waving her hand. The kids blush and smile back.
“How are you feeling today? If you need something, please let me know.”
“Oh, Miss Rina. Thank you for everything.”
Kam’s daughter, Rina, steps into the room and asks how the goddess is coming along. I tell her the goddess is doing well and bow my head.
She’s probably two or three years older than me and very friendly. She and several of Kam’s adult sons have been taking care of everything for us these past few days. My gratitude for what all of them have done to help the goddess knows no bounds.
But there is one thing that feels odd. I don’t want to sound rude, but Kam is pretty old. There’s such a gap between him and his children, it’d be easier to think of them as grandchildren. Whenever I see them in the room or around the house, I can’t help but be a little confused. What’s more, I’ve never seen anyone the right age to be their mother during my time here.
Strange as it may be, I’m not about to ask. Instead, I bring up something else that’s been on my mind.
“Um, is there something going on today? There’ve been a lot of people outside the window since yesterday…”
“There is. Today is our annual fertility festival. We were concerned because the rain wasn’t letting up, but it stopped just in time…Everyone’s getting excited.”
There’s a blue sky outside my window, and I can hear many people talking outside. She explains what’s going on, her tied black hair swishing behind her head. I nod in understanding.
The small village where I grew up had festivals, too.
“Bell…go help with the festival preparations.”
“Huh?”
Both Rina and I turn to face the goddess, surprised by what she said.
“B-but, Goddess…”
“After all they’ve done for us, with us not doing anything in return, I’d make goddesses look bad…Please, Bell.”
She’s much better now than she was, but leaving her side still makes me uncomfortable. She laughs at my worry and says she wants me to go.
…I want to do something to pay back the people who have helped us, too.
Going home without repaying the debt seems cold, and I’m sure I’d regret it.
With that in mind, I return the goddess’s smile and agree to do what she asks.
Standing up from the side of the bed, I tell Rina that I’ll help. My offer makes her happy.
Leaving the goddess in her care, I exit the room.
“Ah, Miss Aiz.”
“Morning…”
I bump into Aiz halfway down the hallway.
She returns my greeting, but it’s her outfit that gets my attention—so much so that my cheeks start heating up.
“Um, those…those clothes look cute on you…”
I always see her dressed in battle cloth and armor, but today she looks nothing like an adventurer.
She’s wearing a long red skirt with vivid embroidery, with a loose white blouse underneath a patterned vest buttoned in the front. It makes her blond hair stand out even more than usual. She looks like a country girl.
She’s beautiful, as always, but…I’ve never seen this cute side of Aiz before. My face turns red as butterflies run rampant in my stomach.
“These were recommended to me…Do I look weird?”
“N-no, no! You look great!”
She looks down at her outfit as I vigorously shake my head.
Just like me, she borrowed clothes from Kam’s daughter to wear because the rain had soaked through her equipment and battle cloth. Apparently, Rina got excited choosing an outfit for Aiz because of her goddess-like beauty, and she wanted Aiz to look the part.
Aiz looks slightly off to the side when I compliment her, her cheeks turning pink…and shyly blushes.
—Jolt! Every move she makes sends a shock up my spine. I’m the one who complimented her, but it’s my chest that’s getting tighter every second. As fire in my veins turns my skin bright red, she looks at me with puzzlement while I turn into a pitiful wreck.
“Are you heading somewhere?”
“Oh, yes. There’s a festival in the village today, so I’m going to help them get ready.”
She tilts her head when she figures out I was going outside alone.
Over the past three days, I’ve hardly left that room. As for Aiz, in order to keep us safe—or perhaps because she’s had nothing else to do—she’s been on guard outside the guest room or patrolling the house. The rain didn’t let up until last night, so there was no point in going outside.
However, she gave Kam’s sons, and me, quite a scare by arming herself with her saber while dressed as a cute country girl…She’s a knight through and through, no matter what she’s wearing.
She nods while I explain what’s going on and then says, “I’ll come, too.”
“Huh? Are you sure?”
“Yes. They provided clothing and more than enough food…I want to help.”
Her expression is just as distant as usual, but her desire to help makes me happy.
The two of us exit Kam’s house.
“It was dark when we arrived, and it was raining so hard that I couldn’t tell but…this village is pretty big.”
“Yes, it is…”
The puddles on the ground reflect the blue sky above. The villagers outside come up to greet us, and we offer our assistance for the festival preparations.
Being an old elf dwelling, Edas Village is surrounded by trees on all sides and much bigger than it looks. Add in the tall mountains of the Beor Mountain Range, and the term hidden village seems to describe this place extremely well. It would be really hard to find this place without knowing where it was first.
The fact that we’re here must’ve spread around the village by now, so when we emerge from Kam’s house, we get a lot of attention. Or, I should say, Aiz does. Looking around, I see the men of the village are gathering left and right to catch a glimpse of her in this outfit. Quite a few have their mouths open, gawking. At the same time, the ones who are already married are getting reprimanded by their wives. A slap or two rings out from the crowd. A smile grows on my lips as I watch the men shrink in front of the angry women and excited children next to them.
There are many houses built around a central square in the middle of the village. Many tables have already been set out in the open area, and several people are busy building a bonfire. Things are already getting under way. A group of muscular middle-aged men, probably the ones in charge of the event, are directing traffic. So Aiz and I listen to their instructions, go our separate ways, and get to work.
“Um…I hate to bother you, but what is that?”
Working among the many races of people living in the village, we made a great deal of progress. The afternoon was over before I knew it, and dusk arrived.
I was in charge of preparing firewood and carrying decorations from place to place, so I had a chance to see several peculiar objects scattered about the village.
They look like large, shiny obsidian rocks, but there’s a strange aura hanging over them.
Each one is about the size of my chest. They form a ring arou
nd the village, creating a line between where the village ends and the forest begins.
I ask a nearby elderly animal lady about the black things that seem to be protecting the village. She smiles and answers right away.
“Oh, this? It’s…one of the Black Dragon’s scales.”
“It’s what?”
I can’t believe my ears.
Beneath an evening sky so red it might as well be bleeding, I’m sure I misheard her and ask for clarification as I step closer.
“The Black Dragon…As in the one in the legends? That Black Dragon…?”
“Yes, that’s the one. Long ago, after heroes drove him from Orario, the Black Dragon fled north. These scales fell from his body as he passed over this valley.”
The lady tells me the story has been passed down through generations of long-living elves.
So, many years ago, a legendary beast flew over that sky while scales dropped into the forest below…?
“Didn’t you find it strange that a village situated in the middle of a forest filled with so many monsters never comes under attack?”
“W-well, yeah, but…”
Aiz and I were swarmed by harpies on our way here. But I haven’t seen a single one since we came inside the village. Sure, I thought it was weird, but…
“It’s all thanks to these scales. Monsters are so afraid of them that they stay far away. It’s thanks to the Black Dragon that we can live in peace.”
The strange aura coming from these things is the presence of the King of Dragons, or perhaps his power.
The monsters are afraid of the isolated pieces of the legendary beast, so they don’t come close to them. That’s why Edas Village doesn’t worry about monster attacks.
Her story leaves me speechless. At the same time, she closes her eyes and brings her hands together as she takes a knee in front of the black scale.
“…I’m sure you find it peculiar that we worship a monster. The reason we are alive today is not due to the protection of adventurers or deities…but these scales.”
That, and they are afraid.
Afraid of the day when the legendary beast will return and destroy the world.
The villagers living in Edas both revere the monster as well as live in fear of it every day. They, who are more aware of the dragon’s power than anyone, fear the day that it will be unleashed on the world. To the point that they can’t help but worship it.
…A village built on faith in a dragon.
No, not quite. A village that prays to a dragon so that tomorrow will continue to come peacefully, and to hold back the calamity that is its power.
I’m stunned by this side of Edas Village, a place so far separated from the world I know.
The story of the calamities that Lord Hermes told me about feels so much more real.
The Black Dragon…I wonder if there’s more evidence left behind by the one-eyed dragon in other parts of the world.
“But of course, should there come a day when Lord Dragon is gone from this world, we’ll have no need to keep doing this, now will we…”
The lady, eyes still closed and hands still together, says this to me with a grimace. Suddenly, it all clicks.
The meaning of the Three Great Quests that have been entrusted to Orario.
The wish for salvation that the world still holds to this day.
“Well, this heart-to-heart chat got a bit serious. We’re almost done getting ready, so why don’t you run along and pitch in?”
“Ah…Y-yes, sure.”
She looks up at me with a gentle smile. I manage to convince my head to nod. I’ve been carrying a few logs over my shoulder this whole time, so I start moving my feet toward my original destination.
After leaving the nice lady behind and delivering the wood, I pause for a minute and survey the village.
The black scales dot the landscape. With the preparations nearly complete, this place looks a little bit different from before.
“Ah…”
I spot Aiz while I walk through groups of villagers who’ve already finished what they had to do.
Still dressed like a country girl, she has her back to me. She’s standing in front of a stone hut.
“Miss Aiz?”
“…”
She keeps her eyes on the stone structure, not reacting at all as I walk up next to her.
One of those black scales is inside the hut. Up on a pedestal, several plates of food and other offerings are lined up in front of it…This must be an altar. That would mean that this stone hut is a place where the people of the village come to pray to the thing that protects their home.
Aiz stares quietly at the scale. Like me, she probably heard from the villagers about the history of this place and the black scales.
“It’s almost like a god, don’t you think?”
Their fear of this piece of the dragon has led them to present it with offerings. The similarities with actual gods are uncanny. I casually voice my observations.
However…
“This thing is no god.”
Her sharp words cut through the air, slicing through my offhanded comment.
“”
She’s still looking away from me. All I heard was a low, stone-cold rejection.
Was that really Aiz just now? I’ve never heard her put so much emotion into her voice. Words are stuck in my throat.
My heart is trembling.
That voice genuinely scared me.
What did her face look like when she said it? Time comes to a halt without an answer.
“Let’s go back.”
“…S-sure.”
Aiz turns to face me after a few seconds that feel like an eternity.
She’s wearing the same aloof expression that I’ve seen many times before. It’s the Aiz I know. Even her voice sounds like it always does. She walks away from the stone hut.
But I don’t move. She stops and looks over her shoulder after a few steps. My legs finally wake up, and I scurry after her.
Now walking side by side, I chance a glance at her face. Cast in a red glow by the setting sun, nothing has changed. Absolutely nothing at all. Was what I heard moments ago just my imagination? Those words are still haunting my ears, but did they really ever happen?
I never work up the courage to ask.
Still a little bit shaken by what happened with Aiz, I finish what I was assigned to do and head back to check on the goddess.
There are many wooden houses built around the center of the village. I make my way all the way to the back to Kam’s place, open the front door, and go inside. A quick walk down the hallway and I’m at the guest room that he’s so graciously let us use.
“Huh?…Mr. Kam?”
I open the door and go inside, only to find Kam standing at the foot of the bed in front of the goddess.
She’s asleep. Zzz, zzz. The breaths of the young goddess fill the room as the elderly man silently watches her.
Standing with the help of a cane, he slowly looks up at me.
“Don’t be afraid. I haven’t done anything to her.”
“Eh, um, I’m not worried about that…I-is something wrong?”
I venture a question, unable to hide my surprise. I see him turn to face me almost as if he’s moving in slow motion.
“I was waiting for you.”
After yet another surprise, the elderly gentleman continues.
“Bell, can you spare a moment of your time on this old man?”
He leads me farther into the house, all the way to his room.
There’s a bed, desk, and a chair in here. Not much else at all.
There’s a small pile of papers and a feathered pen on his desk, but that’s to be expected. He is the village elder, after all, but I don’t think he’s used the pen in quite a while. Even the top sheet of paper has a thin layer of dust on it.
“Cah-ough…!”
“A-are you okay?”
A loud cough comes out of nowhere.
I rush over
to help him and offer to call his daughter, but Kam puts out his hand and waves me off.
“Please don’t concern yourself. I understand what’s going on with me better than anyone.”
I’m not sure how to take that. It must’ve shown on my face because he tells me one more time not to worry.
The elderly man is thin but still stands a little bit taller than me. The grayish white hair on top of his head shifts as he smiles at me. I’m still worried about him, but I’ll listen to what he has to say.
As golden-red evening light streams in through the window, Kam makes his way to the desk and opens the top drawer. Pulling something out, he sets it on top of the desk.
Whatever it is, it’s very old. I lean in for a closer look, but the details are so worn that it’s hard to see…Is that a fire? An emblem?
“Is that…a familia’s emblem?”
“Yes, indeed. A long time ago, I pledged myself to a certain goddess.”
My ears perk up. Kam begins to tell me about his life.
“I fell for her, and she had feelings for me as well. We were in love with each other.”
“You were…?”
He fell in love with a goddess.
This is shocking news to me. Kam takes his eyes off me for a moment. Is he blushing?
“Unfortunately, I was unable to protect her. I was her only follower, and I had sworn to defend her with my life. But she was felled by a monster’s claw…”
“…!”
“Her sacrifice saved my life…and consequently, she returned to Tenkai.”
Kam casts his gaze up and out the window, as if remembering the events that happened more than fifty years ago.
They were attacked by a swarm of monsters while traveling. Kam lost his goddess on that day. She pushed him off the edge of a cliff and into the sea, saving his life at the cost of her existence on Earth. At the same time, he plunged into the deepest depths of despair.
His reason for living gone, Kam decided to throw his life away by wandering aimlessly into the Beor Mountain Range, but…
