As for me, while I had originally been listening to Larna, the conversation’s contents were a little beyond me, and I soon started dozing off.
“Katarina, we’re at the first town.”
Larna’s voice shook me awake from my sleep. I opened my eyes and peered outside the window. As she said, we were now in a large town. We’d already arrived at the first town in this direction while I was asleep.
With Larna’s prompting, I finally got off the carriage, and the hum of the town soon filled my ears. Although this was the closest town from where we had set off, the carriage had traveled for a good half a day. This was the first time I had been to this place. I could feel a small spring of excitement well up from within me.
First, we’d have to make some inquiries about Keith’s whereabouts in this town.
“This town is big, and a large group would only attract attention. We’ll split into three smaller groups: Katarina and me, Jeord and Maria, and Sora,” Larna suggested.
But Jeord immediately protested. “If possible, I would very much like to go with Katarina...”
Larna, however, dismissed him almost immediately. “This arrangement is set in stone,” she said, and that was that.
Well, I didn’t really mind. Anyone was fine, as long as I was with someone. I’d just get lost on my own, after all, so it would be better for me to have at least one other person with me.
So I ended up sticking with Larna. As we made our rounds around town, I realized that this place wasn’t too different from the area I lived in, probably because they were still reasonably close to each other. Even so, I had never been here before, and couldn’t help but ogle my surroundings.
Seeing this, Larna chuckled slightly with a hint of exasperation on the side. “You’re almost like some village girl seeing a real town for the first time.”
Looking kind of like tourists, the two of us went around town and asked for information on Keith. But we didn’t find anything. Honestly, I thought Keith was very handsome, putting aside my perspective as his sister. I’d set off on this journey thinking that he’d be easy to find — a few questions, and that’d be it. The fact that we still found no trace of him was disheartening.
Seeing my mood drop, Larna turned to me. “But we’ve only just started, Katarina. We still have a ways to go, right? Come now, don’t make that face,” she reassured me. “Also, the location Alexander was pointing at still seems somewhat far away,” she added, pointing to the bear on her shoulder.
As I turned to look at the bear, it gave me that look again — that “harumph,” like it was making fun of me! As I expected, this bear was... unbearable.
Noticing my reaction, Larna turned to look at the bear, only for it to return to its usual, unremarkable expression. What an irritating thing!
My annoyance soon faded though. As we turned the corner, a shop with tasty-looking foods on display came into view, and with that, my irritation vanished with a poof.
“Wow! These look delicious!” I found myself plastered onto the shop window before I knew it — the normal effect of spotting food. After all, I did really, really love snacking. In fact, that over there... I’ve never seen anything like it before. I wonder what it tastes like?
As I continued staring at the shop display, I felt myself slowly getting hungry. Soon, my stomach erupted into low-pitched, audible growls. What can I say? I suppose my body is honest about its desires.
I heard laughter from behind me. I turned and came face to face with Larna, who seemed to think that this was all quite hilarious. She probably heard my stomach rumblings. Quite clearly, too.
Larna kept laughing for a while, before finally she said, “Well, there’s still some time before we gather up again. Want to buy some food and have a bite on the way back?”
Of course! “Yes!” I replied happily.
I entered a sweets shop with Larna and bought all kinds of stuff for myself, including the unfamiliar treat I saw before. I felt guilty about only feeding myself though, so I ended up getting some of the shopkeeper’s recommendations for everyone else too. Larna herself didn’t seem hungry, so I just bought plenty for us all to have in the future.
After that, we were finally able to rest on a bench in the town plaza, and I quickly opened up the bag of snacks in my hands.
“Delicious...!”
I wasted no time, quickly stuffing my face with my recent purchases. As the different delicious tastes spread through me, I noticed Larna laughing to herself in that fashion again.
“What’s wrong?” Huh? My stomach isn’t rumbling anymore, is it?
“Ah, sorry. I couldn’t help myself, Katarina. Seeing your myriad of expressions, I just end up laughing.”
“I... see.” Is she praising me? Hmm. I’m not sure.
“It just means that I have a ball when I’m with you. I finally understand how they feel now. I suppose you are an irreplaceable person to them in many ways...”
“...Them who?” I wonder what she’s talking about? I thought I’d ask just to be sure, but Larna merely smiled vaguely and stayed silent, not answering me.
“It’s very much like how magic is to me.” That was her only response.
“How magic is to you, Lady Larna...?”
“Yes, magic itself was what brought color to my world, you see,” Larna said, her calm expression suggesting a hint of nostalgia. Then she continued, “I was very tired with the world from a young age. I was very skilled and could do most things with ease. I didn’t view anything as fun or enjoyable. I was an insufferable child, you know? One that always felt a pervading sense of boredom. I wasn’t very cute at all.”
I felt like I had heard of someone else like this before. Someone who was lonely because they were blessed with perfection — someone with no hobbies or interests.
“However... someone came along. They gifted me with a large collection of books on magic. This person was quite a strange one. They were not books that children could read, much less understand. In fact, even adults had a hard time understanding these tomes.”
Hmm, giving books on magic to a child... If I had been given something like that, those books would have immediately gone to their graves in the depths of my bookshelves.
Naturally, Larna was different. “I tried reading the books a little, and was immediately hooked. At first, I thought they were interesting, which made me want to read through all of them at once. There were so many of them though, so I only finished reading them on the second, hmm, perhaps third day. When I was finally done, I was enamored with this little thing called magic. Fortunately, I was born with magical aptitude myself, and was able to test certain things out. That only made me more interested, of course.”
I see. And this was how Larna became the magic otaku she is today. I nodded as I continued listening.
“Come to think of it, you’re only the second person I’ve told this to, Katarina,” Larna said.
“Eh? Is that so?” I had assumed that this was something that could simply be told to anyone.
“Well, no one wants to listen to things like this. The only ones who have listened were you, Katarina... and my partner.”
“Buddy...?”
“That’s right. My fiancé.”
“Your fiancé?!” I was surprised. To think that Larna, who was only interested in magic, would have a fiancé! Well, I did hear from Raphael that Larna is a noble of somewhat high standing... so I suppose this is possible to a certain extent.
“Wh-Who is he?” Curious, I posed the question to Larna, only for her to answer me with a single phrase:
“A weirdo.”
Ah, I suppose she’s gotten his character type down...
I see... but Larna’s fiancé, huh? It could be a little scary, but I was curious enough to want to see him at least once. Fiancé... hmm. Come to think of it...
“Ah! I remember now!”
“Wh-What is it, all of a sudden?” Larna seemed taken aback at my sudden outburst.
“Ah, sorry
Lady Larna. Speaking about your childhood reminded me of someone. I felt like I’d heard something similar before, and now I finally remember.”
“Oh? And who would that be?”
“Ah, yes. It’s Prince Jeord. He’s capable of anything, and has no dreams or aspirations at all... at least, that’s what I heard.” I didn’t hear that directly from him, of course. This was all from me reading the scenario of Fortune Lover in my previous life.
“I see. So Prince Jeord was the same way? Then I suppose he has safely managed to find something that allows him to dream as well.”
“...? Well no, not quite... I don’t think Prince Jeord has found anything like that just yet.”
After all, Jeord was supposed to meet with Maria, fall in love, and all that. Unfortunately, that never happened, and that was why I thought that Jeord had yet to find this thing that allowed him to have dreams and aspirations.
“...I suppose this really is unrequited.”
“?”
Larna sighed deeply, though I didn’t know why. “Anyway, finding something that inspires you to dream is a wonderful thing. Just one thing, and suddenly color and beauty floods your vision. You start to see things differently. Everything becomes more enjoyable, and you find yourself becoming happier and happier, like I am now,” Larna said before smiling at me like a mischievous kid.
Then she added, “All right, it’s almost that time. We should return to the carriage.” So we made our way back, with me holding a bag of snacks in one hand.
Upon seeing me return with the bag, Jeord turned to me and said, “I hope you are not only eating sweets and nothing else, Katarina...” And with that, my amount of souvenir snacks was reduced.
As for Jeord’s share, he offered it to Maria, who was very pleased. “Wow, this looks delicious!” she exclaimed.
No one in our party had any leads with regard to Keith, so we soon piled into the carriage, and were once again on our way.
As I cheerfully ate the snacks I’d bought, I got lost in conversation, and before long we were at the next town. We were pretty far from the academy grounds, and this town was much bigger than the last.
“Wow! It’s so big! I exclaimed, peering out of the carriage window.
“It is. It’s the largest town in the region, in fact,” Larna replied. “In any case, it’s already late in the day. Perhaps we should rest here tonight.”
It was decided that we would be spending the night in this town. As we got out of the carriage and walked into the town’s streets, we were greeted with a busy sight. Not quite as busy as the areas around the royal castle, but busy nonetheless. There were several times the number of people compared to the previous town, and many more shops too. From what I was told, Larna and Sora had been here before, but this was the first time for the other members of our party.
It was a day of firsts for me. I had never been to the town we were previously in either. Still, it had been relatively close to where I grew up, and so it featured similar sights, shops, and such. This town, though, was completely different.
The atmosphere was different, and there were many objects I had never seen before on sale. My eyes shifted from one storefront to the other, peering at the seemingly endless array of items that were on display.
Before I knew it, my flitting eyes had settled on a certain object. “Wah! This is cool! It looks so nice! I want one!”
“Katarina. I should remind you that we are not here on a leisure trip,” Jeord said, appropriately reprimanding me for my overly tourist-like mentality.
“Ugh... that’s right...”
“But... hmm. If it does catch your fancy, perhaps I will purchase one for you. Which one of these items is it?”
“Eh?! Really?!” Our crown prince is truly generous!
I was the daughter of a duke, yes, but whenever I wanted to buy things my parents would always say “It would be unbecoming of you to spend needlessly, Katarina,” and decrease my allowance. So I had no choice but to be somewhat strict with the things I bought. Honestly, most of my funds went to saplings, seeds, or fertilizers, so I was usually short on money that I could freely spend. In fact, I’d already spent most of my allowance on treats at the previous town. With that in mind, I had to be more conservative with my funds from here on out. In that case... it made sense to take Jeord up on his offer!
Without wasting any more time, I enthusiastically pointed out a certain item to Jeord. “This one right here, Prince Jeord!”
“Eh?! Th-This is...” Jeord seemed to physically pull away from the storefront. After a while, he asked, “Do tell, Katarina, what exactly is this?”
“I have no idea. It looks cool though, doesn’t it? Look at it!” I replied.
The object that had caught my eye, and that I was now holding in my hand, was a round tool about the size of my palm. I guess you could assume it was a pocket mirror at first glance, but it didn’t have a mirror of any kind. It seemed like a decorative item with a circular depression that contained an ornamental object. I had no idea what the strange disc was for. It looked like some kind of secret, stealthy magical tool, like that Ugly Bear.
Whatever it was, I thought it was really cool. I almost felt like I could shout “COME FORTH!” and summon a mythical beast of some sort on command. The way it looked stoked the flames of my otaku soul from my past life and made me want this object very badly. With that in mind, I tried my hardest to express to Jeord its innate coolness and explain why I wanted it.
But Jeord only responded with a vague, “I... see.” Then he continued, “In any case, we should really ask the shopkeep what this... item is used for.” This was his sensible response, and so we did just that.
“Ah, good sir. This is a decorative item. An ornament of sorts,” the old shopkeeper replied.
“Just an ornament? Did some famous craftsman in the region create it?” Jeord asked.
The shopkeep seemed a little unsettled by the question. “Unfortunately, good sir, I have no idea who made the item in question. It came into my possession from the inventory of other shops. No one wanted to purchase it! It has been sitting in my store for quite a time too, and few have shown interest in it. I was just about to let it go as well, if I may say so...”
Apparently, this strange disc didn’t sell no matter where it went — it would always be left behind in a shop’s inventory, and ended up being passed on from one shop to the other. This man had received it from another shopkeep he was friends with for that exact reason.
As a result, it was on sale for a cheap price. Although Jeord had so generously offered to purchase the disc for me, I was relieved that it didn’t cost very much.
“Is this price... really all right?” Jeord asked again and again.
The shopkeep, however, merely responded with, “Yes, good sir, this will do,” without fail.
“Thank you very much, Prince Jeord,” I said, happily thanking Jeord as I tucked the strange ornamental disc away in my pocket.
“But... such a cheap item, Katarina? Would it not have been more fitting if you chose something more expensive?” he said.
“Nah! After all, you’ve been buying all kinds of saplings and seeds and things for me all this time! Those are expensive, so I feel bad!”
“You should hardly be bothered by those gifts, Katarina. You are my fiancée after all, are you not?”
“Eh, but that...” I was Jeord’s fiancée, yes. But that was temporary, wasn’t it? Surely Jeord would find someone he actually liked sometime later. Hmm... why do I feel like I’ve forgotten something important, ever since I found out that Keith ran away from home?
As I stood lost in thought, Jeord extended a hand, stroking my hair. For some reason, my heartbeat became audibly louder.
“Say, Katarina... perhaps you have forgotten. Perhaps your mind is filled with thoughts of Keith. But as I had said before...”
“Ah, yes. Just when I thought I had not seen the two of you for a bit. But here you are, whiling away the time.” That voice
came from Sora, who had appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Jeord’s hand. With it gone from my hair, I quickly forgot all about the thing I thought I would recall.
“...Sora. Did you do that on purpose?” Jeord said, turning to Sora with a grave, hostile expression. He had been smiling up until just now, but now Jeord’s mood took an immediate turn for the worse for some reason.
But... why? He was all happy and smiling until a moment ago!
“Yes. I have been tasked with it, after all,” Sora answered.
“Tasked, you say...?” Jeord’s expression of surprise did nothing to Sora’s unwavering smile.
“Yes. A request from Lady Mary Hunt through the Ministry, you see. To ‘ensure Lady Katarina Claes’s safety.’ And so there you have it.”
“And... does that include getting in my way?”
“Yes. If anything, that would be the core of the request in question, Prince Jeord.”
“...” Jeord’s expression darkened even further, but he did not speak.
Although there were sections of the conversation I didn’t understand, it would seem like Mary had put in a formal request with the Magical Ministry to ensure my safety during this search. I felt happy — it wasn’t exactly a dangerous trip, and yet my friends cared enough about me to do something like that. I really was blessed with gentle and caring friends.
“Well then. We have found a place to rest for the night. Let us make our way there. Lady Larna and Lady Maria are waiting for us.”
We started following Sora, but Jeord kept mumbling to himself. Something like, “To think that she would go this far...” and, “I’ve been outdone...”
Hmm, I don’t know what that could be about. Did something happen?
Apparently, Sora was the one who had recommended this inn to us. He really was dependable.
There were two rooms — Larna, Maria, and I shared one, while Jeord and Sora shared the other. “We do apologize that we could not provide individual rooms... there’s a bit of a room shortage tonight, you see,” said the staff at the inn.
Honestly, I was happy. This reminded me of the school trips I had in my previous life. I always slept alone in my room normally, so maybe that was why I felt a surge of excitement as I entered the room.
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Volume 4 Page 5
