One day, Rio decided to address everyone who had gathered at the dining table for dinner.
“I think it’s about time I headed for the Strahl region. It seems like Miharu, Aki, and Masato have become pretty familiar with life in this village now,” he stated.
“Okay. In that case, you can leave them to us,” Sara said, with Orphia and Alma nodding along at Rio.
“Yes. It’s thanks to all of you that I can leave without worrying.”
“Ehehe. Don’t forget I’m here, too, Onii-chan,” Latifa said, tugging on Rio’s sleeve from where she sat to his right.
“Yeah. I’m counting on you as well, Latifa,” Rio nodded, offering Latifa a gentle smile.
With a happy laugh, Latifa’s ears and tail flicked from side to side. “Yup, leave it to me!”
“And so, I’ll be leaving you three in the care of this village. There may be some developments with regard to the heroes that were summoned, so I’ll investigate those too before I return,” Rio said, looking at Miharu’s group.
“Yes, please. But... Please make sure you don’t endanger yourself when doing so... Don’t push yourself too hard?” Miharu bowed her head apologetically before looking up at Rio’s expression with worry.
“It’ll be fine. I’ll be with Haruto,” Aishia said to Miharu, quiet but determined.
“I see. If Ai-chan is with him, then I’m relieved,” Miharu smiled calmly.
“Which means Rio and Lady Aishia will be on a journey alone, huh...” Alma murmured. Beside her, Sara’s expression changed with a gasp.
Orphia was watching their reactions with a smile when she suddenly remembered something. “Come to think of it, you originally went to the Strahl region because you had business there, right? Do you have old acquaintances there?” she asked Rio.
“Yes. There’s actually a teacher I am greatly indebted to. I wanted to go and see them again,” Rio replied, a faraway look in his eyes filled with fond memories.
“Was this a teacher from the kingdom that put out arrest warrants for your false accusation...?” Aki guessed, recalling the story Rio had previously told them about.
“Yeah. It’s my teacher from when I lived in that kingdom.”
“...Say, Haruto, are you actually a noble?” Masato asked hesitantly.
“No, I’m not... Why do you ask?”
“Because you said you were dragged into the mess of some royalty and nobility.”
“Ah. That’s because certain circumstances led me to attending an academy for nobles.”
“So your teacher was a noble? Will it be okay for you to visit them?” Masato asked worriedly.
“It’ll be fine. I have utmost faith in them.” Rio shook his head cheerfully. It was a gesture that showed how much trust he truly had in this person, which was why it caught Sara’s attention. “Umm, Rio... May I ask what kind of person your teacher was?” The others also turned their ears toward the conversation in interest.
“Despite being fairly young, my teacher was an excellent sorcerer, professor, and researcher. But underneath all that was a warm and kind personality, albeit a little clumsy at times. I stood out in the academy for not being of a noble status, but they were the only one that didn’t discriminate against me.” A gentle smile was fixed on Rio’s face as he thought about Celia and recalled his former teacher’s personality.
“...When you say fairly young, around how many years old do you mean?”
“If I recall correctly... Twenty-one years old this year.”
“That really is young... It’s not too far from me in age. So that means this person started teaching in their early teens?” Sara asked one question after another.
“Yes. My teacher graduated from the same academy, skipping grades and scoring the highest marks in history. They first started teaching at Masato’s age.”
“That’s amazing. Your teacher really must be talented,” Sara said. Rio’s answer had made everyone at the table widen their eyes.
“Yeah, they must be a genius. I can’t even imagine you teaching someone else.”
“You’re only one year older than me, Aki!” Aki and Masato bickered while glaring at each other, while Sara spoke up with another question.
“Umm, is your former teacher by any chance a woman...?” she asked fearfully.
“Yes, that’s right. She was the daughter of a count. No, she may already be married into another family by now...” The possibility of Celia being married suddenly crossed Rio’s mind, but he decided the chances were low and smiled wryly. She had often whined that she didn’t want to think about anything other than her research.
“A count? If I recall correctly, that’s a high ranking noble family in the system that the humans of the Strahl region decided upon. So Rio knew someone like that...” Sara said, quietly humming to herself in contemplation.
“Typical Onii-chan. Looks like an unexpected obstacle has appeared, huh?” Latifa turned to murmur quietly to Sara and Alma sitting nearby, but she had a somewhat delighted smile on her face. Sara and Alma cleared their throats quickly.
“...At any rate, there’s no need for you to worry about us, Rio. Please go make your way toward Strahl without any reserve. I pray that you can meet your teacher,” Sara concluded, feigning calmness.
◇ ◇ ◇
Two days later, in the early morning hours, Rio and Aishia were in the town square, being sent off by a group of their close friends. Once everyone present had more or less all said their goodbyes, Dryas came over.
“Aishia, make sure you support Rio properly,” she said.
“Yeah. Thank you, Dryas, for teaching me so many things during our stay,” Aishia replied.
Dryas gave a small shrug of her shoulders. “I simply taught you how to use your power and the fundamental basics of being a humanoid spirit. You’re very talented, so you remembered things quickly.”
“Allow me to thank you, too, Great Dryas,” Rio spoke up.
Dryas shook her head in a friendly manner. “It’s fine, it’s fine. However, Aishia seems to be so powerful, it makes it hard for her to suppress her aura when she’s in her physical form. Just keep that in mind. Her aura should be pretty much undetectable when she’s in her spirit form or inside your rock house with the same barrier as the village, though,” she warned. Spirits could detect each others’ presences, and it seemed like Aishia’s was particularly strong.
“...I’ll remember that, thank you,” Rio nodded with a solemn expression.
“Well, you don’t need to be too nervous about it. There are barely any stray spirits in the Strahl region, and there aren’t many spirits who would voluntarily approach a higher-ranked spirit, either. You should just let Aishia do as she wants,” Dryas said, smiling gently.
“Okay,” Rio said with a nod.
“That’s all I have to say to you. Go and pay attention to those children now,” Dryas giggled, looking over at where Miharu and Sara stood with the others in wait. That was when Latifa jumped forth from the waiting circle.
“Have a safe trip, Onii-chan!” she exclaimed, hugging him first.
“I’ll be going now. Everyone, take care of yourselves.” Rio patted Latifa gently on the head before addressing the others.
“Yes, be careful. Oh, and it seems like Miharu has a present for you?” Sara said cheerfully, looking at Miharu.
“Ah, yes. Umm, I made this lunchbox, so... Umm, please take it, if you’d like.” Miharu stepped forward shyly and offered a wrapped lunchbox to Rio.
“...Thank you very much. But when did you have the time for this?” Rio’s eyes widened as he accepted the package.
“Miharu woke up really early to make it,” Orphia said, grinning as she looked at Miharu. Alma also looked at her with a tranquil gaze.
“It was a good display of your housewife skills, Miharu.”
“N-No, not at all. I just figured a lunch would come in handy on a trip...” Miharu shook her head in embarrassment. Rio grinned happily.
“...I’ll gr
atefully accept this, Miharu. Thank you.”
“N-No worries. I hope it suits your tastes,” Miharu said, blushing further.
“Hohoho. I am most envious, Lord Rio,” Ursula interrupted with a hearty laugh.
“I’ll say. A sensible woman with good cooking skills is quite the catch, Rio, my boy.” Dominic also burst into hearty laughter as he joined in on what Ursula had to say.
To hide his embarrassment, Rio lightly brushed off Ursula’s and Dominic’s remarks. “Ahaha, thank you for coming to see me off, too, head elders. I’ll be going now.”
“Indeed, make sure to take care of yourself. May the blessing of the spirits guide your way, Lord Rio... Oh, and Lady Aishia, too. You could say you’ve already been extremely blessed to begin with,” Syldora said, smiling with amusement.
“Right. Conservo.” With a chuckle, Rio stored away the lunchbox into the Time-Space Cache. Then he looked at Aishia standing beside him. “Shall we go, Aishia? Make sure you stay beside me,” he said.
“Leave it to me.” Aishia said, quietly but determinedly.
“All right, we’ll be going, then! Thank you for coming to see us off so early in the morning,” Rio said, then kicked off from the ground and slowly floated up into the sky. Waving his hand, he looked down upon the remaining people below. Aishia soon ascended beside him.
The two of them continued to raise their altitude until Rio suddenly noticed Miharu looking fixedly up in their direction.
...Miharu.
He didn’t know if she could still see them, but he smiled gently until she was out of sight. Once they rose high enough, Rio turned to Aishia.
“Let’s go, Aishia.”
“Yeah.”
After Aishia nodded in response, the two of them set off immediately. They accelerated, heading straight in the direction of the Strahl region.
Down on the ground below, Miharu watched their retreating backs grow smaller and smaller.
Please let Haruto and Ai-chan return safely. She continued to look up at the sky, praying for the safety of their journey for a while after their figures had faded.
Chapter 3: To Strahl Again
Two weeks had passed since Rio and Aishia left the spirit folk village. Perhaps it was a result of Miharu’s prayers, but their journey was remarkably smooth. They arrived in the Strahl region unscathed, having not run into any dangerous encounters along the way.
Their current location was the eastern tip of the Kingdom of Beltrum, in a forest on Marquess Rodan’s territory. Rio and Aishia descended in a random area of forest when the sun began to set, setting up the rock house and settling down for the day. After that, they immediately prepared dinner and sat down facing each other at the table.
“We’ll arrive in the capital of Beltrant by tomorrow afternoon, so let’s go over our plans one more time,” Rio said to Aishia.
“Okay.”
“First thing tomorrow morning, we’ll head straight for the kingdom capital. Once we arrive, we’ll gather as much information as we can about the hero summoning while it’s still bright out. Then, at night, we’ll sneak into the academy and visit Professor Celia’s research laboratory. If her room hasn’t changed over the years, then we should be able to meet her there.”
“Got it,” Aishia acknowledged quietly.
“Professor Celia may know something about the heroes, so we’ll also ask her if she knows anything about Miharu’s friends, Sendo Takahisa and Sumeragi Satsuki. I may introduce you to her, too, but it depends on how complicated the discussion may get. Can I leave that decision until after we meet her?”
“Yeah. I’ll change into my spirit form and focus on guarding your surroundings,” Aishia said, volunteering herself as a lookout. Since she couldn’t be seen in her spirit form, being a lookout was the perfect role for her.
“Thanks, that’d be great. Now, since we’ll be getting up early tomorrow, let’s call it a night now. We were flying all day with only a few breaks, after all,” Rio said, smiling gently.
“Yeah, let’s get a lot of sleep,” Aishia nodded with a dazed expression. It seemed like she was sleepy already.
◇ ◇ ◇
The next afternoon, Rio and Aishia arrived at the capital of the Kingdom of Beltrum. They set up the rock house on the outskirts of the city as a landmark in advance and headed into the city.
At the moment, they were at the entrance of the main street leading to the business district inside the castle walls.
“Now, arriving at the capital is one thing, but...” Rio gazed at the street crowded with people and muttered to himself.
“What’s wrong?” Aishia tilted her face that was hidden by her hood and asked. Her appearance tended to attract attention, so Rio had ordered her to put a hood on. Rio, on the other hand, wasn’t wearing his hood.
“No, I was just thinking... It’s gotten a lot more lively here. It used to be pretty populated in the past, but... Let’s ask around in some stalls around here,” Rio answered with an unconvinced expression, suggesting they get a move on.
“Yeah,” Aishia nodded, reaching out to grab Rio’s left hand so that they wouldn’t be separated in the crowds. Rio gently held Aishia’s hand back.
The two of them stepped onto the crowded road, but it was difficult to make progress down the main street, so they decided to enter a random store and gather some information.
“There are no empty stalls around here. Let’s try going into an alley.” With a strained smile, Rio pulled Aishia by the hand and led her to a back alleyway.
“The alleys are crowded, too, but the stores at least have seats. Let’s enter one of them,” he said, wandering further into the alley. As he expected, there were more empty seats in the shops around there instead.
“We haven’t had lunch yet, so let’s get something to eat.”
“Okay... That one smells nice.” Aishia sniffed in the air and followed the scent before pointing out a shop. It appeared to be a stall selling sandwiches where a group of people were accepting their freshly made meals.
“Then let’s go with that,” Rio said, moving toward the stall.
He gave his order to a girl around twelve or thirteen years of age behind the counter. “Excuse me. I’d like to take two, please.”
“...” The girl took one glance at Rio and froze as though she was captivated by him.
“...Is something the matter?” Rio asked curiously.
“Oh, no, two orders it is. Please wait a moment. Mom, two please!” The girl shook her head with a faint blush on her cheeks before passing the order on to her mother behind the counter, where she was preparing the food.
“Yes sir, please wait a moment!” The girl’s mother gave a friendly nod and immediately began preparing the ingredients. She looked to be in her early thirties — still fairly young and with refined facial features.
...Hm? Rio looked at the woman’s face and felt a strange sensation similar to deja-vu, but he couldn’t think of a reason why, so he let it go and returned his thought process to his main objective.
“The main street is filled with crowds of people. Is it always that busy?” he asked the girl.
“Oh, I think some really high class nobles are getting married tomorrow, so lots of people are visiting from outside the capital. There’ll be some big celebrations and even a parade, or something. Because of that, even a stall located off the beaten path like us is getting customers, so we are very grateful,” she answered with a happy smile.
“Tomorrow... I see. May I ask which noble family...?” If it was a really high class noble, then there was a chance he knew of the family too.
“Umm, who was it again? Something like Ar... Ar...” The girl couldn’t quite recall the name, inclining her head as she searched through her memory.
“...The Duke Arbor family?”
The girl’s expression brightened as she nodded. “Ah, that’s it! It’s a noble by that name.”
“I see. That is indeed a high class family,” Rio said, recalling wh
at he knew of the kingdom’s politics.
Holding the ceremony during a parade... Is it a show of power? The Second Princess’ kidnapping incident nine years ago should have caused Duke Arbor’s influence to decline greatly, at least up until I left the kingdom... Was there a shift in the political powers of the kingdom after I left? If I recall correctly... Professor Celia’s family was part of the Fontaine faction that was especially loyal to the king. Comparing the balance of the past with the present, he formed a hypothesis on what was happening.
“Umm, you really seem to know a lot about nobles, mister,” the girl said, looking up at Rio’s face hesitantly.
Rio’s eyes widened for a moment before he picked up on what the girl was implying and reassured her with an amused smile. “Hm? Yeah, but I’m not a noble, so you don’t have to be scared.”
“Ah, no! That’s not what I meant! I just thought you spoke really prettily, so I was wondering... It wasn’t that I thought you were one... Umm, you don’t have to talk to someone like me so politely. Ah, my name is Sophie, by the way!” The girl blushed, explaining herself with flustered gestures. On top of that, she introduced herself for some reason.
“What’s wrong, Sophie? Here, it’s done. Hand it to the customer.” The food had been completed and Sophie’s mother’s voice could be heard from the back.
“Ah, okay Mom. Here... Thank you for waiting, mister!” Sophie accepted the completed sandwich and offered it to Rio with a bow.
“I apologize for my daughter’s rudeness, sir.” Sophie’s mother also bowed her head deeply at Rio.
“No, you have a very cute and friendly daughter there. I enjoyed our conversation very much.” Rio shook his head with a smile.
Sophie’s mother sighed quietly in relief. “I’m glad to hear that, then.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, have you had this store here for a long time?” Rio suddenly asked.
“Yes, it’s been around five years now. I started when this child was still young,” the girl’s mother answered with a slightly curious look.
Ah, I see now. No wonder... A smile tugged at Rio’s lips as it all clicked in place.
The Silver Bride Page 9
