Wolf still didn’t quite buy that explanation either, but let it slide.
“I get it. Adults treat me like that all the time too. It pisses me off every single time. But why does the old man do that to you?”
“Well.”
Silver, who had been frowning, lifted a finger.
“You mentioned spruce and birch earlier. Human variants, in your words. But the Ice-Armored Beast said there’s another male variant. Do you know about it?”
“Not really?”
Wolf and the Red Eagle Prince looked at each other.
“I’ve only heard about the male variant that can have children. What’s the other one?”
Silver didn’t answer immediately. Instead, the finger he’d raised stirred the water. Small ripples spread outward.
“According to the Ice-Armored Beast, that other male variant… is called an ‘Ash Tree.’ Never heard of it?”
“First time I’m hearing it. Hmmm… isn’t it possible the old man got something mixed up?”
Wolf propped his chin on one hand and muttered thoughtfully.
“In Atania, Stol’s human variants are incredibly—really incredibly—famous. I heard there are even scholars who specialize in studying them. If there were another male variant, it would’ve been known a long time ago.”
“Wolf’s right. When it comes to human variants, you can trust Atanian knowledge completely. Actually, Atanian biology and ecology practically went berserk developing because of research on Stol people.”
The Red Eagle Prince chimed in with an explanation.
“When Stol started invading and all these previously unimaginable races appeared, the Atanian biologists back then… well, to put it bluntly, they completely lost their minds. I’ve even heard Stol warrior corpses were traded like hot merchandise on the black market for research. For a hundred and fifty years that entire field went insane. If another male variant really existed, there’s no way it could’ve escaped the eyes of Atanian scholars.”
“Exactly!”
Silver slapped the water with both hands.
“Just like I thought! That Ice-Armored Beast bastard must’ve heard some stupid folk tale somewhere and believed it completely! Idiot!”
“Yeah. Oral legends are supposed to be taken as entertainment.”
While casually agreeing, Wolf noticed a few things.
Silver talked more than he’d expected.
Silver’s fingers were long.
Silver’s shoulders formed a clean right angle, like the cross-section of a cake.
For some reason, Wolf’s throat tightened. The words wouldn’t come out. Beside him, the Red Eagle Prince asked with sparkling eyes,
“So what kind of variant is this Ash Tree? Can they have children too?”
“Tch. If they could have children, that’d be a blessing.”
Silver snorted.
What came next made Wolf and the Red Eagle Prince recoil like they’d just met an evil spirit face-to-face.
“They don’t have a dick. A monster cursed with the worst fate a man can have.”
“What?!”
Wolf’s eyes flew wide open. The Red Eagle Prince also shouted in horror.
“A person without genitals? How is that even—!”
“You can’t believe it either, right? That argument earlier started because I asked if this Ash Tree thing even exists, and the Ice-Armored Beast started cursing at me out of nowhere—”
“Wait, wait! Question!”
Wolf waved both hands.
“Pee! Where does an Ash Tree pee from?”
“Right. That’s what I’m most curious about too.”
The Red Eagle Prince nodded vigorously. A wrinkle formed on the bridge of Silver’s nose.
“How the hell would I know? Maybe they’re the kind that doesn’t pee.”
“Didn’t the old man tell you where it comes out?”
At Wolf’s question, Silver stared blankly at the air for a moment, then shrugged lightly.
“Don’t remember if he told me or not. Maybe through the nose, the ass, or the tits. Or maybe there’s a separate hole just for piss.”
“You should definitely ask him. I’m really curious where it comes out.”
“You’re curious about that crap? Ash Trees don’t even exist anyway.”
“Even novels are fictional, but you still want to know what happens next. Silver, are you the type who ignores things you think are pointless?”
Wolf asked because Silver fascinated him. Silver couldn’t remember people’s names well, yet had managed to learn a foreign language in only three years.
“I heard there are knowledgeable scholars who forget their own home address. If you actually tried studying, Silver, I think you’d be really good at it. If you hadn’t said you taught yourself the Atanian language, I would’ve assumed your mother was Atanian. But why did you learn Atanian in the first place?”
Silver glared at Wolf without saying a word.
Then abruptly stood up and splashed out of the hot spring.
The sudden coldness shook Wolf badly.
Did I get too close too fast?
Silver, don’t turn your back on me. I’m just having fun talking with you…
Wolf knew he should back off here. His head understood that.
But his eyes followed Silver anyway.
Through the hazy veil of hot-spring steam, Silver alone looked vivid, as if painted in primary colors against the blurred background. The white body wrapped in a towel around the waist was slender for a man, yet not soft either.
Like the dry edge of parchment.
Even a light brush would slice open your fingertip.
So back away now.
If you don’t want to get hurt.
“Silver.”
But the voice slipped out on its own.
He couldn’t possibly say Don’t go, stay and keep playing with me, so he was about to clamp his mouth shut—
When Silver turned his head toward him.
“What.”
Huh…?
Wolf was the one who became flustered by Silver’s response. The atmosphere had been so cold it seemed like Silver wouldn’t even pretend to listen.
But he answered?
“What is it? You call someone over and then don’t say anything?”
“Uh, well… ah, do you have a comb? I need a comb.”
Wolf blurted out the first excuse that came to mind.
Silver squinted slightly, then grabbed the towel and shook out the water from his hair.
“A comb? What’s that?”
“You don’t know what a comb is? For brushing hair. Like this, like this.”
Thinking Silver might not know the Atanian word for it, Wolf mimed combing his hair.
「This idiot is really stupid!」
Silver hurled the towel at him.
“Who said I don’t know what a comb is? I just don’t use that crap, idiot! There’s no comb here!”
“O-oh… that’s what you meant?”
Wolf’s face burned.
Well, if Silver used a comb, there’s no way he’d be walking around looking like he’d just woken up after clawing at his hair all night.
「Idiot! Even stupider than the Ice-Armored Beast!」
Silver kept rattling off Stol words as he got dressed.
Thanks to that, Wolf learned one Stol word.
Ditoy.
Probably meant fool or idiot.
Yeah… among all the Stol people, the dumbest one might be Wolf Bell.
Silver threw on his clothes and strode off.
“Where are you going?”
Even as he asked in a dejected voice, Wolf thought another 「Ditoy!」 would come back at him.
After all, whichever way you go, it’s still a cave.
But the answer that came back was:
“To get some sunlight.”
* * *
Silver never actually said to follow him, but Wolf and the Red Eagle Prince hurriedly dressed and went after him.
After walking quite a distance from the hot spring, light appeared.
At the exact center of the towering cave ceiling, which rose to dizzying heights, there was a hole like the mouth of a well.
Sunlight trickled down through it, pooling on the ground like a spring.
The airflow had been smooth enough that Wolf had guessed there must be some kind of opening somewhere, but for it to be this large…
Wolf lifted a hand to his forehead and leaned his head back.
A gray sky came into view.
Not a blue sky with white clouds blooming across it—just a gray sky.
Yet tears welled up in his eyes for no reason.
When he lived in Atania, sunlight had been like the paving stones crushed underfoot on the way to school every morning. Something so ordinary it barely existed, like weeds or ants.
But now that same sunlight was more beautiful and precious than anything.
“Haa.”
Silver flopped down flat, using his arm as a pillow.
Wolf and the Red Eagle Prince awkwardly sat down beside him.
Silver bent one knee, draped the other leg over it, and said casually,
“The Ice-Armored Beast isn’t here for a while.”
“Huh?”
Wolf and the Red Eagle Prince both looked at Silver.
“You mean the old man… left this place? When will he come back?”
When Wolf asked, Silver let out a short laugh.
“You think I’m going to answer that?”
“I’m worried about His Highness the Prince…”
Wolf trailed off, his thoughts spinning.
Now that Black Weasel had left the hideout, wasn’t this the perfect chance to escape?
If he persuaded Silver, that is.
No, that was reckless. A seasoned contract killer wouldn’t leave without considering something that obvious.
In that case—
“Isn’t it dangerous? That room at the cave entrance. If the pursuers search the forest thoroughly, they might find it quickly. The cloud bridge already makes it hard to get in. And there’s even a huge opening here—”
“No pursuers.”
“What?”
Wolf lifted his head.
Silver idly swung the leg resting over his knee.
“Are you stupid? If there were pursuers, would the Ice-Armored Beast and I have been drinking and partying?”
“But in the forest—”
“Ah. That.”
Silver glanced sideways at Wolf.
“Well… just in case. Either way, there are no pursuers.”
“That… are you really sure?”
“I’m sure. Don’t ask twice.”