With the help of Mark the carpenter, Alex made a canvas cover on the cart to keep off the rain and built small pieces of furniture to use while traveling.
"Uncle! Can I take this?"
"Which one?"
Leo, who had been sorting out his luggage in his own way, came running over. His cheeks, flushed with excitement, were adorable.
"This is a present for mother and this is a present for father."
On the small hand he held out lay one smooth gray pebble and a glossy jet-black feather.
They were the most precious things in Leo's treasure box.
"Of course you can take them."
At Alex's ready answer, Leo laughed, hehehe!
At that sight, Alex resolved once more.
'I have to find them.'
He intended to defeat even the Demon King for Leo's happiness, so how could he fail to find his sister and brother-in-law?
***
That evening's meal turned into a village feast.
"Here! Eat up!"
"You need a full stomach before setting off on a journey!"
As for the roast meat Leo had wanted to feed the villagers and his friends, once Alex demonstrated it a few times, the village ladies made it even more delicious.
"So I make it like this, Alex?"
"Yes. That's right."
"The recipe is easy, but it really is tastier!"
"It's really delicious! Mother!"
"My uncle made it!"
At Leo boasting with his shoulders raised, the adults and Alex burst out laughing.
[Sob, sob, it's delicious!]
[This is delicious and that's delicious too.]
[Is this heaven!?]
The thought crossed his mind of whether a lich could even go to heaven, but Alex, in his twelfth year of ghost life, ate happily too.
"You'll have a rough time of it out there."
Said Mark, sitting beside Alex.
"Yes. I'm prepared for it."
"Good, that's enough then. Have a cup."
Mark poured drink into Alex's cup.
[Drinnnnk!!!!]
At Two Hundred's shout his head felt like it was ringing, but Alex kept it from showing as much as he could.
"It's your first time drinking, isn't it?"
"Yes."
People usually had their first drink at eighteen, when they became adults, but with the young Leo to care for, Alex had never touched a drop.
It was the first drink he had ever had across both the 'future' and the present.
"You should have learned about drink from Serena and Glick, but it seems I'll be teaching you in their place."
Recalling Serena and Glick, Mark smiled bitterly and went on.
"Don't drink a lot at once, and don't drink until you can't hold yourself up. And don't eat anything suspicious."
Alex laughed, haha, and nodded. Then he took a small sip of the drink in his cup.
"Ugh...!"
[Ghhh!]
His first drink was very bitter.
His brow furrowed on its own.
Mark burst out laughing. Then he filled Alex's cup again.
"Let's find out how much you can hold today too. These are things you have to know in advance. Somewhere safe."
Alex agreed with Mark's words.
There was no place safer or more peaceful for Alex than this village.
"Eat something with it."
When Mark held out a plate of ham, Alex picked up a piece and put it in his mouth.
Somehow he felt he understood a little of why people ate along with their drink.
[Aaah! I'm happy!]
[Is this heaven?!]
Ignoring Two Hundred, who was looking for heaven yet again, Alex talked with Mark.
"You'll do well, Alex."
Mark recalled the grubby nine-year-old boy. The small child who had appeared in the village holding the hand of his sixteen-year-old sister.
When had that boy grown up so suddenly and come to be setting off on a journey with his nephew? He felt proud himself for no particular reason.
"You raised Leo well even without Serena and Glick. And you farm well too."
Mark's sincerity reached Alex as well. Out of embarrassment Alex ended up smiling a little.
"But it's all right if you don't do well, either."
Alex looked at Mark.
"When things are hard and difficult, take help from those around you. Don't try to do it all alone."
It was as though those words were meant for Alex, who was going off to defeat the Demon King.
Alex felt the weight on his shoulders lighten a little.
"Yes. I'll do that."
Alex smiled faintly.
He was already receiving help, but since it was a lich, he could not say so.
[Ghhh! One more cup!]
And with a fellow like this, he did not want to say so either.
***
The next day.
The day of departure had come.
With all their luggage loaded onto the cart, Alex and Leo looked around the empty house.
The wall decorated with pictures Leo and Alex had drawn, the spot where a hole had accidentally been made during a repair, the charming trim on the curtains they had made together, and the post where Leo's growing height was carved.
It was full of memories.
He was sure to miss it.
But it was only when the world was at peace and Leo was alive that one could feel longing at all.
"Let's go, Leo."
"Yeah!"
[Departure!]
When they came out of the house, the village chief and the villagers were standing there. They had given them all sorts of things yesterday, and today everyone had something in their hands again.
"Leo, they say you're going really far?"
"They say you won't come back for a really long time...."
The children, who had heard from their parents this morning that Leo was going very far away and would not return for a very long time, looked at Leo on the verge of tears.
Leo, for whom this was his first such parting, soon had a face full of tears as well.
"This is a present. Don't forget me."
"I brought one too!"
The children gave Leo their own precious things. Leo handed out the presents he had prepared last evening as well.
They were things like pebbles and wooden toys, but the children's friendship came through plainly.
"Alex, come back any time if it gets hard. We'll be waiting."
At the village chief's words, Alex smiled and nodded.
"Yes. I'll definitely come back."
After defeating the Demon King and demonkind.
Once the world was at peace.
"Ah, Chief."
"Hm?"
"It looks like there's going to be a great deal of snow this winter."
"Hmm?"
"If it really does snow heavily it'll be serious, so I think it would be good to check things over in advance."
"Hm. Well, all right. Understood."
At Alex's words the chief and Mark looked bewildered, but nodded as though they understood.
At that, Alex smiled softly.
This winter.
An enormous amount of snow would fall on the Kaldis domain and this area. Enough that houses would collapse and people would freeze to death.
'It's better to take precautions early.'
For the next ten years.
Alex, who knew the incidents that had occurred during the time Leo was in the village, intended to send letters to the village even while traveling.
Alex seated Leo in the cart and took the horse's reins.
"We'll be going, then. Stay well, everyone!"
"Goodbye! Everyone stay well!"
At Alex and Leo's farewells, the adults and children called out.
"Stay healthy, Alex! Leo!"
"Don't get hurt!"
"Leo! Take care out there!"
"Bring something delicious back with you!"
At the last one, everyone burst out laughing.
"Yeah! I'll bring back the most delicious thing there is!"
Leo answered excitedly, and Alex called out loudly as well.
"We're off!"
"We'll be back!"
Sitting in the cart, Alex and Leo waved hard.
[We're off!]
Two Hundred, who had grown a little attached to this village, too.
The villagers and the children waved and watched them go. Until the cart had disappeared completely.
The 'future.'
Just like the day sixteen-year-old Leo and Alex the ghost had left.
***
"I can't see it anymore...."
Leo, who had been leaning far out to watch the village grow steadily more distant, spoke in a voice full of regret.
"So it is."
Alex stretched out one arm so that Leo would not fall off the driver's seat.
"Let's buy plenty of delicious things and come back later, Leo."
"Yeah! And buy toys too!"
Excited at the thought of snacks, Leo folded down his fingers one by one.
"Finn's dream is to be a knight, so he says he wants a sword. And Nora likes flowers, so she says seeds from a flower she's never seen would be good! And Tom says he wants a magic staff!"
[...Oh.]
[Tom and a magic staff.]
[That sounds like it might be serious?]
He had no idea what was serious about it, but judging by the snickering, it did not seem that grave.
"Uncle, when do we get to the lord's castle?"
"Hm. We'll get there in the afternoon."
When Leo asked, swinging his dangling feet, Alex answered.
"Uncle, is Max ours to look after now?"
[Who's Max?]
"That's right. Max pulls the cart for us, so we have to take good care of him. But Leo is still small and could get hurt, so your uncle will do it."
"Yeah! But I can do the feeding!"
[Ah, the horse's name is Max?]
It really was hard to have a conversation with Two Hundred while Leo was around. Still, it was convenient that Two Hundred worked things out on his own.
Alex drove the cart slowly so that Leo would not get carriage sick.
For lunch they ate the food the village ladies had packed for them by a nearby river.
"It's just like coming out to play!"
Thanks to the wide field with a cool breeze blowing and the delicious sandwiches, Leo's and Alex's moods could not have been better.
[The weather's nice too.]
Two Hundred seemed pleased with the scenery of a perfect first day of travel as well.
A little later.
While Leo, full from lunch, napped inside the cart's canvas cover.
Alex and Two Hundred held a magic lesson.
[This time you'll learn 「Fireball」.]
[I thought about teaching you a different attribute, but since we're traveling, I figured it'd be better to learn attack magic first.]
[Safety first, right?]
"Yes. Thank you."
[Don't mention it!]
Two Hundred chuckled, then explained about 「Fireball」.
[「Fire」 and 「Fireball」 aren't very different. You just compress it and change the shape.]
[Well, that's the hard part, but I think you'll do fine.]
[First, call fire to mind.]
At that, Alex recalled the 「Fire」 he had made in the back yard a short while ago.
[And then compress it. Think of gathering the power of the fire as much as possible.]
[Make the shape round. Make the size about a fist.]
Compress, gather, and round.
[If the image doesn't come easily, it's convenient to think of it as a stone made of fire. Put as much of the will to attack into it as you can.]
That was easy.
Because in the 'future,' Alex the ghost had always wanted to fight.
[Ready?]
"Yes."
Alex took a light deep breath and rotated the 1st circle ring inside his heart.
"「Fireball」."
Then a fist-sized 「Fireball」 came into being before his eyes. His mana control must have been good, because it was fist-sized as expected.
[Oh! You really are good at this!]
[Now let's move it. It'll be more aggressive once it picks up speed.]
At Two Hundred's words, Alex tried moving the 「Fireball」.
It was not such a difficult thing.
Just at the thought of moving it, the round 「Fireball」 moved smoothly up, down, and side to side.
[There's no way this should be this easy.]
[You really must be a natural.]
[Is this what you call a genius who takes nothing but school classes and comes first in the whole country?]
He had no idea what that meant, but he could feel Two Hundred's admiration clearly.
[Want to throw it now?]
[We have to check how much destructive power it has!]
"No, that's all right. Leo is sleeping."
[Ah.]
[A nephew-fool as always.]
Alex, who took Two Hundred's praise gladly, dismissed the 「Fireball」 and sat down on the cart's driver's seat.
Clop-clop, clop-clop.
Driving the cart, Alex tilted his head.
[What's wrong?]
"The road seems different from how I remember it."
[Did you take a wrong road?]
"It isn't that... it's more like the feel of it is a bit different?"
Alex made a sound — "Hm." — and looked around.
[Can't you look at a map?]
"Small roads like this don't appear on maps. Maps that aren't military ones are only for showing where a domain is located."
[Aha.]
Just as Alex, apparently unable to feel certain, was thinking of asking someone.
The cry of a horse came from far off. It was a more resounding sound than that of Max, the brown horse.
[Oh!! Otherworld knights and soldiers!!]
[It really is like the Middle Ages!]
Just as Two Hundred marveled, a knight on horseback and soldiers carrying spears were approaching from the end of the road.
"They're probably on their way to the village because of the wolf."
Muttering that, Alex drove Max and the cart to the side of the road. Then he hurriedly woke Leo.
"Leo, Leo. Wake up. A knight is coming over there."
They might meet knights while traveling from now on, but he wanted to show them to Leo, who liked knights.
At his uncle's voice, Leo got up with a "Mmm...?" and then his sky-blue eyes lit up at the sight of the splendid knight and the soldiers marching in step.
"Whoaaa! So cool!"
Somehow it seemed a small sound of laughter came from the direction of the knight and soldiers at Leo's exclamation.