Episode 18: “Something I Want to Show You”
About halfway through, Fiine quietly closed the diary.
As the pages went on, the handwriting grew messier, and here and there she could see faint traces where tears had smudged the ink.
(Conrad hated fighting, the entire time…)
I don’t want to die. I want to run away. I don’t want to fight.
The same words appeared again and again. Almost certainly, they were his honest, unfiltered feelings.
At the same time, the diary was also full of reasons he couldn’t run.
Because there was no one else who could fight.
Because if he didn’t fight, he’d be the one who died.
Because he loved the people of his village.
“…That must have been so hard on him.”
Without any special talent to speak of, surrounded by expectations no one should have placed on him, he’d kept fighting against his own fear, over and over. She couldn’t claim to fully understand what he’d felt, but she couldn’t help feeling for him all the same.
“And now I have to bring someone like that back, and make him fight all over again…”
It felt almost like the work of a devil.
Reviving someone who never wanted to fight in the first place, and forcing him to face monsters once more.
“Fiine, it’s about time for lunch!”
A voice called down from the top of the stairs, and she lifted her head in a hurry.
Unlike Fiine, who’d been buried in materials about the Frontier Hero, Yuria had gone out to investigate the state of the village.
“…Okay.”
“It’s strange how crops even grow in weather this cold, but apparently they’ve been cross-breeding varieties for generations. And it sounds like they go hunting in spring too.”
Listening to Yuria talk about the village, Fiine made her way to the living room.
Not much of an appetite, she thought, opening the door — only to find Bianca’s eyes already on her from inside.
“Bianca…?”
“We ran into each other earlier. She said she wanted to have lunch with you, so I brought her along. I’ve still got some farm work to help with, so I’ll head off.”
“…Farm work? Why?”
“Apparently a lot of people have been getting sick lately, between the cold and the fear of monsters. So they’re short-handed.”
After explaining that much, Yuria left the estate.
(I don’t think that’s really a reason for you to be the one helping with it, Yuria…)
It was very her, but being left alone with Bianca was uncomfortable all the same.
“Fiine.”
“…What?”
“You’re making the ‘Frontier Hero’ tomorrow. The goal’s to convince the monsters he’s still alive so they’ll stop attacking the village, right? Do you actually have a concrete plan for that? Just scaring off the usual low-level ones a little won’t be enough.”
Freshly baked bread and what looked like a delicious stew sat on the table, but Bianca wasn’t even glancing in that direction.
Fiine took a bite of bread soaked in the stew for the time being, and Bianca let out a sigh.
“Don’t tell me you actually haven’t thought about it? Or is it that you still don’t know what magic the ‘Frontier Hero’ used?”
“…All he used was basic fire-attribute magic.”
“Wha—?!”
Bianca’s eyes went wide. Not that Fiine could blame her.
By the version of the story known to the wider world, the “Frontier Hero” had been a genius who could wield magic of every attribute.
“He never actually studied magic properly. Though it sounds like he grew through combat itself and developed his own fighting style, at least.”
He’d apparently had extraordinary natural talent with a sword, and had fought by skillfully combining swordsmanship with fire-attribute magic.
But fire was the only attribute he could use, and by all accounts, he’d never fought relying on magic alone.
“Bianca. The ‘Frontier Hero’ was a hero that got made.”
She kept eating as Bianca fell silent. After a moment, Bianca too reached slowly for a piece of bread.
◆
“So what, you’re planning to just drive off the monsters as flashily as possible, exactly the way the legend says?”
“…As far as the commission goes, yeah, I guess so.”
“Don’t talk in circles like that.”
Bianca’s blunt way of speaking made it easier to keep the conversation moving, at least.
“…The villagers pushed the role of hero onto one young man. It feels awful, that even after death, he’d be made to do it all over again…”
Maybe it was only because it was Bianca that she could say what she actually felt.
Someone who, just for looking capable, was probably plenty used to having roles forced onto her too.
After the Demon Lord’s defeat, the Magic Corps’ overall strength had fallen sharply. With no more war against monsters, hardly anyone trained seriously anymore.
Of course, there were still some soldiers who kept fighting exactly as they always had.
She’d heard that quite a few of the more serious ones had gotten stuck picking up everyone else’s slack, grown sick of it, and left for civilian life instead.
Even back at the magic academy, plenty of people hadn’t taken the training exercises seriously either.
“Fiine.”
“What?”
“There’s something I want to show you. Come with me.”
Standing up abruptly, Bianca grabbed Fiine’s hand and pulled hard.
“W-wait, I’m still eating—!”
“You already had five pieces of bread, quit complaining. You can finish later.”
“Uuugh…”