Volume 4 Chapter 2: Where the Journey Takes Us Part III

I, Lahna Smith, also known as Suzanna Randall, have currently arrived at a rooftop of a building a little ways away from the inn I’m staying in.

I am on this rooftop because it is the highest place in the area.

I did make sure to get permission from the owner of the building. I could’ve climbed up without permission, but it might’ve ended up being a pain if I didn’t.

The reason why I needed to be in a high place is for this magic tool I’m about to use.

I thrust up a magic tool I took out from my bag. After a short while, the tool begins to tremble.

“There we go.”

Looks like it’s going to work. I speak to the tool.

“Ahem, this is Lahna Smith. Rafael Walt, do you copy?”

“Yes, I copy, Lahna-sama.”

The somewhat disgruntled voice of my subordinate comes from the tool.

“It’s a success.”

I grin.

This magic tool is an amazing tool that allows conversation over great distances. It was finally completed through many iterations and experimentation.

But since it uses wind magic, its sole drawback is that it needs to be used not only outside, but somewhere fairly high up.

However, if it’s improved upon, it may become viable for practical use. Once I return, I’ll implement some new improvements…

“Lahna-sama, Lahna-sama, do you copy?”

Rafael’s even more disgruntled voice cuts through my thoughts.

“Ah, my bad, I copy, I copy. So, how are things over there?”

“What do you mean, ‘how are things’? You pushed all the work onto me then suddenly went out on a trip – I would prefer if you wouldn’t do this,” whines my subordinate.

“But I can leave everything to you with no worries. Your skills are top class even in the Ministry of Magic,” I point out.

“… That’s not…” he says, sounding embarrassed.

On a side note, my statement wasn’t mere flattery or anything – it was nothing but the truth.

Last year, Rafael was put in the custody of the Ministry of Magic after causing a certain incident. Considering the circumstances, there weren’t many departments in the Ministry of Magic that were interested in taking him in.

At first, I went and made him my subordinate out of curiosity – I was interested in someone who used an unknown power. But now, I think of him as a splendid subordinate. His skills have helped me out greatly.

And so, it will likely be fine to leave my work to him. Thus, I change the subject and ask him about what I had asked him to do.

“Is that investigation proceeding smoothly?”

“… Yes. I’m managing that as well,” responds Rafael, letting out a small sigh.

“As expected from a subordinate of mine. So, what’s the situation?”

“Yes. Duke Claes is investigating independently, but it seems he has not found any clues as of now. The same goes for governmental officials or ministry workers who’ve accepted Duke Claes’ request.”

“I see, the enemy is pretty skilled to evade Duke Claes. What about those rumours that there’s someone using dark magic?”

“I believe those rumours are substantive. I found people that may have had dark magic cast on them.”

“I see, so those rumours are definitely true…”

A few weeks back, I heard rumours that another dark magic user had appeared. To be honest, at the time I had been just fed up by how information had leaked out again.

“So, what’s the probability that Keith Claes’ disappearance and that dark magic user are connected?”

“I do not know that yet either.”

“I see…”

On hearing those two reports for the first time, I just couldn’t imagine that they were unrelated. So I had Rafael investigate Katarina’s stepbrother Keith’s disappearance and the new dark magic user, feeling they may be connected.

“Oh, right. Send out a request under my name to Prince Geoffrey for cooperation with the investigation.”

“To Prince Geoffrey?” asks Rafael, sounding bewildered.

“Yeah, he owes a number of debts to me so I’ll use them for this. Also tell him that if he doesn’t cooperate, I won’t give him that magic tool.”

“… I see.”

Rafael seems to be a bit confused, but he agrees without prying too deeply.

Then, after a short silence, he speaks again.

“Um… so, how is Katarina-sama doing?” Rafael asks, sounding worried.

I recall that this subordinate of mine was one of those smitten with Katarina Claes.

“She’s completely convinced that Keith’s disappearance is just him running away from home. I don’t know whether to tell you to rest assured because of this, or to be worried because she’s just way too dense. And since she believes that he’ll come back immediately if we find him and she apologies, she’s just as cheerful as usual.”

“I see, I’m glad she’s doing well.”

“By the way, Maria is acting like that too – she believes the running-away-from-home story. I’m in awe at their innocence. However, unsurprisingly Sora and Prince Jared both seem to have realized something. Though they haven’t asked me anything directly.”

“I see. But if they did ask you directly, wouldn’t it be better for you to explain?”

“That’s true. If that happens, I’ll explain everything properly. But everything we know is just conjecture. Well, I’ll try investigating things over here, so I’m counting on you to continue your investigation over there.”

“Understood.”

“I’m counting on you, my reliable subordinate.”

When I try to end the conversation, I feel like I hear Rafael saying, “Seriously?” and letting out a sigh. But I trusted that Rafael would investigate properly regardless of his comments.

And so, I return to today’s inn.

In the inn rests Katarina, who believes that Keith simply ran away from home. She surely hasn’t even considered that Keith might have been kidnapped, much less kidnapped by someone who uses dark magic.

She probably hasn’t even realized that I had the light magic user Maria and the dark magic user Sora come along with us on the journey because of this danger.

I can’t help but want Keith to have really just run away from home when I watch Katarina, so pure and innocent.

I frantically continue my search for Keith, keeping the possibility that he might have been kidnapped secret in order to keep Lord and Lady Claes and their daughter from worrying.

“Please, be safe, Keith Claes, for your innocent stepsister’s sake as well,” I murmur to the night sky, walking along the path to the inn.

************

It was refreshing to wake up in the inn. Normally, I would wake up to Anne yelling, “How long do you plan to sleep!?” But today, I woke up to Maria’s kind voice saying, “Katarina-sama, you need to wake up soon or you will really be sleeping in too late.” It makes me feel different.

Though well, since it was pretty late it was a hassle getting ready as fast as possible. But Maria helped me out a lot so I made it in time.

I don’t know when Lahna came back, but by the time I woke up, she had finished all of her preparations and was elegantly drinking some tea.

Jared, while being a prince, seems to be capable of getting ready by himself. He was waiting, looking just as prim and proper as usual.

But the two of them still greeted me with a smile as I arrive late in a panic. The only one who reacted differently was the bear sitting next to Lahna. It looked at me as if it were calling me useless, so I glared at it, thinking “You impertinent little bear,” towards it.

On a side note, since Sora wasn’t there I thought that he had slept in even later than me, but apparently he had left early to gather information about Keith in the town. What a hardworking man.

But sadly, we couldn’t find any information here as well. So we decided to head out further for now.

Since we couldn’t find any information, I began to wonder whether this bear really was reliable. But Lahna strongly insisted that the bear was trustworthy, so there was nothing I could do but believe in it for now.

We ride the carriage again and head to the next town.

In the carriage, the bear sits on Maria’s lap and has her pet it. It seems it got attached to her because of yesterday. Its expression is mostly rather adorable, but when it meets my eyes, it looks at me condescendingly. A truly nasty and rude bear.

The journey is more or less proceeding smoothly, but my relationship with the bear is just getting worse.

To be honest, I do feel I’m being childish considering that the bear is just a stuffed animal. But it’s the one that’s taking a condescending and hostile attitude towards me. It can’t be helped.

Again, today the carriage carrying us rolls forwards.

We stopped by a number of towns on our way, but we couldn’t find any information on Keith after asking around.

Still, we voyage forwards, having nothing else to do at the moment. Eventually, the sun begins to set again.

Two days after our departure, we decide to rest at an inn in a town we reached at sunset.

The town we’re staying in today is a rather small country village in contrast to the town we stayed in yesterday.

Unlike yesterday’s town, there’s no marketplace, and the paths aren’t maintained properly – weeds pop up all over the place.

We park our carriage in a designated area in the outskirts of town and walk along one of these ill-maintained paths.

If this were a larger town, we could look at the various stores we pass by, but today there’s nothing to watch but the plants by the road. As I walk, gazing at the plants, I notice something nostalgic.

“Oh, this fruit!” I say, stopping to pick up a plant.

“What is that?” Maria asks in a wondering tone. She was walking next to me.

I hold up the fruit of stupidity I had found in the first time in a while.

“It’s a fruit that really sticks to you. You don’t know it?” I ask.

“Yes. This is the first time I’ve seen it,” she responds.

Now that I think about it, this might be the first time I’ve seen this fruit in this life. Perhaps it doesn’t grow around where we live.

In my last life, these fruits were often stuck all over my clothing after I ran around the mountains. My mother often got mad at me because they just wouldn’t come off. How nostalgic.

“Anyways, it just really sticks to you,” I say to Maria, as she said that this was her first time seeing them. I take one and stick it to my clothing.

“It’s true,” she says, wearing a cute expression of surprise, “What is it called?”

I’m about to answer her question with “The fruit of stupidity,” but then I rethink. ‘Fruit of stupidity’ can’t be its proper name… just what is its name actually?

“… Um, sorry. I don’t know its name.”

I thought it was a bit pathetic not knowing the name after starting conversation about it myself. But Maria responded normally.

“I see, I wonder what it’s called?”

The angelic Maria would never make fun of someone because of something like this.

But the same doesn’t go for the bear who’s been plastered all over Maria for the whole day. Currently, it’s hanging off of her shoulder.

Hey you, you don’t know what it’s called after starting to talk about it yourself? Then don’t start talking, you idiot.

It conveys that kind of message through its expression.

Our relationship is just getting worse as time passes, but it makes me mad that it’s getting easier and easier to understand what that bear is thinking for some reason.

You damn bear! I clench the fruit in my hand, then suddenly have a flash of inspiration.

Then, fruit of stupidity in my hand, an evil grin spreads across my face as I think:

Just you watch, you bear.