Episode 4
It might have been my imagination, but the whole town of Flower Lake seemed to be filled with a kind of giddy, floating feeling.
Or more precisely — like the air had been let out of it?
A general absence of tension, like everyone had finally allowed themselves to relax.
I turned it over as I walked, and somewhere along the way it clicked. Obvious enough when you thought about it: until very recently, this whole world had been under the demon lord’s influence. Flower Lake itself had been contaminated before Teresia purified it. And on top of that, however things had turned out, a demon lord had suddenly appeared right nearby — strange thing to say about yourself, but there you go.
When all that ends cleanly and the world is at peace, of course the tension’s going to drain out of everyone.
“Oh — Lady Teresia!”
A little girl nearby came running up to Teresia and called out to her.
Teresia smiled warmly and crouched down to meet the child’s eyes. “What is it?” she asked.
The little girl, in a halting voice, said: “Um, thank you.”
“My mum said that Lady Teresia saved the world. So I had to come and say thank you. Mum couldn’t make her perfume and she was really worried.”
“Is that so — well, everything’s alright now. The world is at peace, so you and your mother can live without any more worries.”
“Yeah. Because Lady Teresia beat the demon lord, right?”
“Th… that’s right.”
A brief stumble, but the smile held.
“I did. I defeated the demon lord.”
“You’re so strong, Lady Teresia! You didn’t let the demon lord win!”
“Y-yes.”
Her smile was starting to look a little strained, so I decided to step in.
“Does your mum make perfume?”
The little girl looked up at me, eyes going slightly wide, then “u-um” and she glanced away, suddenly at a loss for words.
Either she was shy, or I simply didn’t give off the same warmth as Teresia. Possibly both.
Either way, it stung a little, even for me.
“Sorry, did I startle you? I’m Teresia’s friend. I heard someone praising her and I got a bit excited.”
“Lady Teresia’s… friend?”
“Yep. My name’s Yurina, nice to meet you.”
“O-okay. Nice to meet you…”
She reached her hand out cautiously, so I took it with the most reassuring smile I could manage and gave it a gentle shake.
“My mum said,” she continued.
“Yeah?”
“She wants to give Lady Teresia her very best perfume as a gift.”
“That’s lovely. She’ll have to take good care of it then, won’t she. Won’t she, Teresia?”
“Oh — yes. I’ll treasure it.”
“Okay, I’m going home now. Bye, Lady Teresia!”
She trotted off the same way she’d come, and I watched her go for a moment before tilting my head.
“Do I come across as hard to approach, do you think?”
“I — I don’t think so?”
“But she went all guarded the moment I spoke to her.”
“For that, I think it’s actually the opposite. Bit strange to say myself, but as the saint, a lot of people know my name.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks.”
“…Thank you, too.”
She didn’t say for what.
Instead I asked her, “So — what do you want to do?”
“I’m thinking we should stop wandering around and head back to the inn for now.”
“I’m glad you’re being sensible about it, but are you sure?”
“I didn’t come out here to make things difficult for you. I just wanted a bit of exercise and to see how the town was doing. I’ve gotten enough of both.”
I started walking back toward the inn, but before I could get far, Teresia caught my hand and held me there.
“Yurina — please don’t worry too much about it.”
“If anything, that’s exactly what I want to say to you, Teresia.”
She’d been visibly shaken back there.
“But I do think we’re going to have to think things through properly. This isn’t just a problem for the two of us.”
“That’s…”
“For now, though, let’s not. No more difficult thoughts today, alright? Same as everyone else in this town, we’re allowed to let ourselves float a little.”
“…You’re right.”
“So — what are we having for dinner tonight?”
I flashed her a grin, and it pulled a laugh out of her too.
“Honestly. You really are always that way, aren’t you, Yurina!”
“What do you mean, ‘that way’?”
“Just that you’re always such an idiot!”
“Hey, you know what they say — whoever says ‘idiot’ is the idiot.”
“You just said it too!”