Mage Community (3)

“Are you really lacking something up there?”

Yona couldn’t say anything to Alec’s words.

Although it was a statement cut off from the context before and after, Yona thought it was just summarizing the main point, but it seemed that the receptionist lady didn’t hear it that way.

Yona shuddered as she recalled the receptionist’s face, whose smile had instantly disappeared.

Of course, her business smile quickly covered her face again, but that look as if she was seeing a crazy person was very painful.

“But that was just stating the main point, wasn’t it?”

“Would anyone understand if you just state the main point without any context?”

“Oh, geez…”

We don’t have anything like that. You seem to be a clergy of the Celestial Church, but you shouldn’t behave like this here.

Said the receptionist, wearing a business smile but with eyes that weren’t smiling at all.

Yona and Alec couldn’t muster the courage to speak again and ended up turning away.

Of course, Yona tried to explain again, but she couldn’t say anything when the receptionist called the next person, saying “Next, please—”.

“What are you going to do now?”

“…Well, shouldn’t we go back in and try to explain again?”

“I’m not sure… Or maybe we could try looking over there?”

Alec turned around and pointed somewhere.

When Yona turned to look, she saw a huge wooden board hanging above the reception desk, which seemed to list the names of the mages residing in this Mage’s Tower. Next to each name were words that appeared to be their magical specialties.

“So, shall we look there and try to find someone who might understand?”

“That’s right. So, for example, if you want to return to being a man, what kind of magic might be related to that?”

“Um… shape-shifting magic…?”

“Isn’t that just changing appearance?”

“Body modification…?”

“Are you perhaps thinking of turning your arm into some kind of monster or something…?”

“Then… um…”

“……”

“……”

They don’t know.

Yona didn’t know, and Alec certainly wouldn’t know either, so the two were facing each other, unable to say anything.

“Well, I’m hungry, so how about we eat first and then talk?”

Yona nodded at Alec’s words.

“Choosing a menu at an inn, this is another interesting experience.”

Yona felt exactly the same way at Alec’s words.

In Evian, there wasn’t really a menu to speak of at inns — usually inns also served as restaurants —

As soon as you entered, you just said how many people and whether you wanted to eat now, and Eternal Stew would come out as if it was natural, and occasionally you could add beer, or barley bread, or sticky rice bread, and that was it.

“As expected, it’s different because it’s a place with a Mage’s Tower, right?”

Yona giggled as she closed the menu book and pushed it to the side of the table, looking around.

The inn was very bustling, with many people.

Instead of adventurers, who were hardly visible, it was crowded mostly with men in uniformed leather armor who might be guards, or people wrapped in robes befitting mages.

“It was that much more expensive.”

“Baldy, it’s okay to spend this much. We’re rich now, aren’t we?”

“But why am I the one paying?”

They had booked two rooms.

True to Yona’s nature of absolutely needing a bathroom, they booked one room with an attached bathroom, which made the fee almost triple.

Moreover, Yona now needs to receive treatment, and since they don’t know how much the treatment will cost, they need to save money, so Alec paid for Yona’s room as well.

It’s not that he particularly minds, and both Alec and Yona have over a hundred gold coins each, so they’re quite wealthy and it’s not a burdensome amount, but still.

“The food is here~”

Yona’s eyes sparkled at the waiter’s cheerful voice.

She was already hungry, and having been making do with field rations and hunted game until now, she had been missing this kind of meal.

With each movement of the waiter’s hands, food items began to fill the table one by one.

It was quite a sight to see the table, which had been as white as a blank canvas, gradually filled with steaming hot dishes.

Two loaves of bread baked with wheat flour, not barley.

And a stew full of meat.

A pot filled with undiluted, pure white milk.

Plus strawberry jam.

“Hey, pass me that stew.”

“Sure.”

Yona handed the stew pot to Alec.

While Alec was dividing the stew into two plates using the ladle in the pot, and removing the bell peppers and carrots from Yona’s portion, Yona poured milk into two cups, cut the bread in half, spread strawberry jam on it, and covered it to make sandwiches, which she then divided onto plates.

Red, thick jam.

Jam that was undoubtedly made with plenty of sugar.

Sweet jam.

Yona’s brain, which hadn’t consumed much sugar lately, immediately stirred up a fierce appetite at the sight.

“Let’s eat!”

And just as she was about to take a bite of that sandwich, Alec stopped her.

“Hey, wait a moment.”

Alec picked up his portion of the strawberry jam sandwich and moved it to Yona’s plate.

Then he took the sandwich in Yona’s hand, which had a bite mark on it, and put it on his own plate.

“You eat the one with more jam. I don’t really like sweet things.”

“Oooh? (Really?)”

Yona’s face was full of smiles, looking truly happy.

It’s natural for any adventurer to need sugar regularly, so Alec also wanted to eat that sandwich full of strawberry jam.

But knowing Yona, who would pick and eat flowers by the roadside when she wanted something sweet, he thought she must really want it, so he switched with her, and seeing her so happy made it worthwhile.

“Is it delicious?”

“It’s super delicious. Hey, try the milk too. The richness is on a different level from Evian, really. Hey hey, is there no adventurer’s guild in the Mage’s Tower? Should we just register here?”

“You, didn’t you say you were going to become a holy knight when you return to being a man?”

“Isn’t there a cathedral here?”

“Would there be? Don’t you know mages and clergy don’t get along?”

“That’s true, but…”

And then she becomes dejected again.

With such faithful emotional changes, and such honesty.

It’s really impossible to dislike her.

“Well, we’re rich now, right? How about somewhere other than Evian? If we go south, it should be livable.”

“Whew, well, that’s true.”

“And if possible, that, cou-cou…”

“Huh?”

Yona looked at Alec as she stuffed the last piece of sandwich into her mouth and scooped up some stew broth.

The well-steeped red broth tasted good, and it was so different from the stew they ate in Evian that the broth went down smoothly.

“…It’s nothing. But the food here is really delicious.”

Alec reluctantly changed the subject.

He wanted to say that it would be better to go as a couple, but he just couldn’t manage to say it.

“It’s just back to our adventurer’s taste. For an adventurer’s palate, this is a feast.”

“I see. So, what should we do now?”

As he tore off a piece of the remaining bread, it pulled apart beautifully along the grain, thanks to being baked with fine wheat flour.

When you dip that torn piece of bread into the stew broth, shake it, let it soak thoroughly, and then eat it, the combination of the stew’s broth flavor and the soggy texture of the bread creates a masterpiece of flavor that fills your mouth.

“What else? Tomorrow we’ll go back and explain everything step by step from the beginning.”

“I guess that’s what we should do, right?”

“Yeah. But I’ll do the explaining. You just stay quiet.”

“You baldy, can you do it well?”

Alec was exasperated by Yona’s gaze full of doubt.

“At least I think I can do better than you. It’s simple, just say that a person who used to be a man has become a woman like this, so please introduce us to a mage who might be related to this. Why can’t you say something so simple?”

“That’s what I—”

Yona’s attempt to retort that that’s what her explanation was like was suddenly cut off by someone.

“I heard something about returning to being a man, and look who I find here. My goodness. Meeting our pretty one here.”

A slow yet relaxed voice.

Bright blonde hair and square-framed glasses.

That strange gaze that seemed somewhat loose as if sleepy, yet gave off a decadent feeling.

“Ah, Alevian…?”

Responding with a deep smile to Yona, who was looking up at him with a dumbfounded expression, Alevian waved his hand.

“Our pretty one, have you been enjoying yourself? I see our baldy here too. You seem to have been doing well. May I sit here?”

Alevian asked this but didn’t wait for Yona’s answer.

“…Well, you were going to sit even if I didn’t answer, weren’t you, Alevian.”

“Correct.”

Sitting in the chair in the middle, between Alec and Yona, Alevian raised his hands, interlocked his fingers, and rested his chin on them.

That coy gaze turned towards Yona, and Alevian spoke to her in that leisurely tone.

“So, our pretty one. Have you found the answer since coming here?”

“What answer?”

“I don’t like it when people pretend not to know while asking, but I suppose it’s okay for our pretty one.”

His eyes curved into round arcs.

Those eyes full of smiles were quite gentle, but that made Yona feel all the more uncomfortable.

“The answer about the method to return to being a man, I mean.”

*

“Are you sure it’s alright to go straight to Evian without resting?”

The day after arriving at Capatia Port, Ludvik, along with Bigrin and Scarlet, were standing in front of the ship heading to Evian.

Ceres, who had come to see them off, couldn’t help but worry.

Although Ludvik might be fine, Bigrin might not have fully recovered from the journey’s fatigue, and Ceres was concerned that they might be forcing themselves to march on.

At Ceres’ words, Ludvik first turned to look at Bigrin.

After checking Bigrin’s complexion, Ludvik nodded with his usual cheerful smile.

“It’s alright. The Saint seems to be fine, and as for Sir Scarlet… being a member of the Crusader Order, he should be fine with this much. Besides, I want to get to Evian as soon as possible to investigate if there’s any problem.”

“Indeed, you’re truly worthy of being called the Hero guided by the Celestial God. You’re so considerate, checking the Saint’s condition first.”

“This much is only natural. She is my closest companion, after all.”

At those words, Bigrin’s ear tips suddenly turned red.

She remembered the words they had exchanged while walking together that night in Semec.

She wasn’t sure what state of mind she was in when she blurted out those words, but in any case, it was Bigrin who had said them, and they were true.

She couldn’t understand why she felt embarrassed when Ludvik spoke like this.

“…I think it would be good to pay our respects at the Evian diocese as well. It’s not a short distance either.”

“I see. If that’s the case, it can’t be helped. The loading of supplies is almost finished, so you should be able to depart soon.”

As soon as Ceres heard the planned departure date from Ludvik, she had ordered the preparation of a ship.

Thanks to that, they were able to prepare a church-owned ship in time, and even have this modest send-off at the port.

“I don’t know what’s happening, but having the Hero and the Saint here makes me feel so reassured. I entrust this to you, Hero. And Saint.”

“Yes. Don’t worry too much. Starting with this hero’s journey, we will thoroughly crush the demons so that they won’t even dare to think of anything.”

“…Me too.”

Ceres laughed out loud with a “hohoho.”

Within her gentle smile, Ceres’ gaze turned to Bigrin.

“I hope that when we meet next time, our Saint will have become a more energetic person.”

“I’ll… try my best.”

She almost answered, “Is there really a need for that?”

It felt like she could hear someone’s voice saying, “If you talk like that, you won’t have any friends or anything—”

“All preparations for departure are complete—!!!”

The captain’s voice echoed.

“Well then, thank you for everything. Regent.”

“It’s nothing. It seems you’ll be coming to Capatia Port frequently, so don’t think of it as imposing and feel comfortable, really comfortable. You too, Saint.”

“Haha, then we’ll do that. We’ll send news as soon as we finish investigating Evian.”

“Please do so.”

Standing on the deck, Ludvik and Bigrin waved to Ceres at the port.

Ludvik stretched out his hand energetically, while Bigrin raised her hand slightly, timidly.

Still, it seemed the greeting was well received by Ceres, as she also waved energetically to see the two off.

The sound of waves being cut began as the ship slowly started to move forward.

The port gradually receded, becoming smaller and smaller until it became a dot and finally disappeared from view.

Only then did it feel real to Bigrin.

That this was the beginning of the hero’s journey.

She shivered slightly at the fear of not knowing what kind of events would unfold in the future.