How long had Cesare spent in such dark places, and just how deep had that darkness been?
The sunlight streaming in through the hole above touched Cesare. The crystal dust scattered across his body glittered. I thought of Cesare fighting within the light like a falling star.
My disciples had to live in bright places. Always radiant, always dazzling. It was enough for me to be the one who remained in the darkness.
“Let us go home now.”
I took Cesare and set out on the road back. Next time, Xenia would be with us when we returned home. The place we had to go next was clear.
Whistleton. We had to go bring back our youngest disciple.
A freight wagon rattled along the country road. The ride was somewhat uncomfortable, but its advantage was that it could be used for a low price.
The road to Whistleton was clear and sunny. Cesare and I were riding in the freight wagon, along with several other passengers.
There was also a little child who looked to be around five years old. He had a gentle face and was rather cute.
Although right now, his face was a mess of tears and snot, making him look quite pitiful.
“Waaah, I am sorry, mister…….”
“No, hey! Why are you crying? What did I do to make you bawl like that?”
The child was sobbing loudly after seeing Cesare’s face. Cesare looked utterly bewildered.
It was understandable that he would feel wronged. All he had done was grin once at the child who was looking at him, only for the child to burst into tears.
Though Cesare did have a fierce impression, a body as large as a bear, and scars all over his face and body.
“What did you even do wrong? Huh?”
“I-I do not know, but I am sorry…….”
It seemed Cesare was trying to soothe him in his own way, but it had the opposite effect.
The child cried even louder. The child’s mother bowed her head while trying to comfort him.
“I am sorry! My child is very shy around strangers……. I have a little money, so please take this and calm your anger…….”
“Ma’am, am I a thug? Huh? Why are you giving me money?!”
Just before even the child’s mother was about to cry, the wagon stopped at the entrance to Whistleton. Only we got off, and the freight wagon set off again. Cesare grumbled.
“No, what is wrong with that little brat? How rude can he be? Crying just from looking at someone’s face.”
“Children that age are timid, are they not? You cried when you saw my face as a child too.”
Had that been when he was around nine? Cesare roughly scratched the back of his head.
“No, that was……. It was because an adult I had never seen before was holding a sword. It was not because I thought you were frightening, Master.”
Thinking back to that time made me laugh a little. As we walked in the direction indicated by the signpost, Cesare suddenly spoke.
“Master, is my face really that frightening? Will Xenia be startled when she sees me too?”
Fifteen years had passed since Cesare and Xenia had parted. I remembered Xenia as she had been at five years old.
“I wonder. She was a fearless child, so she probably will not be afraid. She might be startled, though. You have changed a great deal.”
“Ha, it is not as if I can change my face.”
Cesare rubbed his cheeks as if trying to soften his expression. I did not know whether Xenia would recognize the much-changed Cesare and the rejuvenated me. After fifteen years, Xenia would have become an adult.
When we arrived at the village, Cesare looked around and said.
“This place is tiny. It really is a backwater village.”
Whistleton was even smaller than I had expected, but that was actually better. If it had been a large city, finding Xenia would have taken a long time.
“Let us go to the inn and unpack. We can ask around there as well.”
I saw a small, cozy inn. When we entered, the kind-looking innkeeper welcomed us.
“Welcome. Food? Lodging?”
“Both, please.”
“Please wait a moment. The attendant will clean a room and show you there.”
In the meantime, we sat briefly at the counter on the first floor and each received a glass of water. The innkeeper asked me with interest.
“Are you brothers traveling together?”
“That is right.”
“The younger brother seems young, but he is quite composed.”
Cesare put an arm around my shoulders and said.
“Yes. My younger brother is very composed, is he not? He grew up well.”
This was probably unavoidable improvised acting, was it not? It seemed better than calling me his underling.
While I was thinking that, the innkeeper continued asking us questions.
“Travelers do not often come here. What brought you to this place?”
“We are looking for someone. Is there a woman named Xenia in this village, by any chance?”
“You know Xenia?”
The innkeeper knew Xenia. But somehow, the innkeeper’s expression was subtle. She also seemed somewhat uncomfortable.
“Yes. We are acquaintances of Xenia. Where would we be able to meet her?”
“Hmm, she is usually in the flower field. If you go outside and keep heading north, you will see it beyond the stream.”
“Thank you. Let us go, Cesare…… older brother.”
We immediately headed north. My disciple, our youngest. At the thought that I would soon be able to meet Xenia, my heart swelled.
As we went north, a stream began to appear in the distance. In the middle of the flower field, someone was standing with her back turned.
The woman, who was short and small in build, had pink hair. A round bob cut. Beside me, Cesare murmured.
“Xenia?”
The woman slowly turned around.
Her water-blue eyes sparkled. A gentle-looking yet indifferent gaze stared at me.
It was Xenia. She looked to be in her late teens. Because she had not grown much from her childhood appearance, I could recognize her at a glance.
Xenia slowly walked toward us. There was no gladness or affection in her eyes. Only eyes as empty and still as a lake.
As expected, she did not seem to recognize us. That was only natural. I had originally been an older man, after all. Cesare had grown a great deal as well.
Just as I thought Xenia was walking toward us, she stopped in front of Cesare. A cool breeze blew, and the flowers swayed faintly.
The two of them exchanged gazes for a long time. Did she remember Cesare?
Seeing that sight made me feel as though I might cry a little. Even if she had forgotten me, she recognized Cesare. If she at least remembered her brother, then that was fortunate…….
“Aaaargh!”
Cesare’s scream rang out. Before I knew it, Cesare had been bound tightly by pink tentacles.
Those tentacles had stretched out from beneath Xenia’s skirt and through the gaps in her clothes. Xenia stared intently at Cesare and said.
“Who are you?”
The tentacles crawled over Cesare’s skin and even turned him upside down. Cesare, being treated like a toy, screamed.
“Xenia, you little brat! Has this habit come back again?”
“Come back?”
“Yes! Master worked so damn hard to fix this habit of yours!”
Seeing Cesare tied up by tentacles like that brought old memories to mind. Including the moment I had first met Xenia.
Xenia was a child we had found in a magic beast den. We could not leave a newborn baby there, so we took her in.
At first, we thought she was a child who had survived by luck. But when Xenia’s growth speed proved abnormally fast and tentacles began stretching from her body, we realized what she was.
Xenia was a hybrid of a magic beast and a human. Her body was similar to that of a slime, but she possessed human intelligence that slimes did not have.
There were other differences from ordinary humans as well. Xenia could hardly feel joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure, and she did not understand other people’s emotions.
Meanwhile, her curiosity was strong. That was why she used her tentacles to examine other people like that. My comrades and I had been caught by Xenia’s tentacles many times too. They were good memories.
“Are you doing this because you are angry? I did not abandon you! I earned money and went to get you, but the orphanage……. Aaaagh, do not touch there!”
At Cesare’s scream, I pushed my memories aside for a moment. When I approached Xenia, who was moving her tentacles with great enthusiasm, she turned her gaze toward me this time.
“Xenia. Let Brother Cesare down now.”
Even at those words, Xenia did not release him. She merely tilted her head.
“Cesare? Brother?”
“Yes. You lived together in Balanus Domus, did you not?”
“What is that?”
Had she lost her memories? How much of them? No, even so, it was enough that I had met her alive.
“Do you remember me? I am Dane, your master.”
“My master is Mr. Gainak, though.”
Master. At that word, my breath caught for a moment. So Xenia had a new master now. Not me.
Meanwhile, Cesare was still struggling and screaming. First, we had to resolve this situation.
“Release him. Cesare dislikes it.”
She stared at me. Her sky-blue eyes looked straight at me.
“Strange. For some reason, my eyes keep going to you.”
Could she possibly remember me unconsciously? Xenia’s eyes sparkled with an emotion I could not tell was affection or curiosity.
“I like you more than him. I want to play with you.”
―SWISH!
Xenia released the tentacles and immediately tried to attack me. It was not entirely unexpected, so I quickly stepped back.
“You dodged that?”
Xenia seemed to find me interesting. This part of her had not changed. She stretched her tentacles toward me even faster.
It was an attack faster than that of most magic beasts and most people. She was also attempting to predict where I would move and subdue me.
But she was still immature. Her predictions were so obvious that I did not need to increase my speed. When I avoided the tentacles with only the bare minimum of movement, Xenia tilted her head.
“You are not even fast, so how are you dodging all my attacks? Strange.”
As if she intended to do this properly, Xenia created more tentacles. The two tentacles increased to nearly ten.
Amid the writhing pink tentacles, Xenia’s eyes shone. A somewhat mad curiosity appeared in them.
Just like when she dissected frogs and lizards as a child.
“I am curious about you. I will definitely catch you and play with you. I want to know what you are.”