Good Friends (2)

The fact that we were leaving the capital was confidential. It was obvious that the moment we deployed, the demon front would be on edge, making operations difficult. Thanks to this, we were advancing while hiding in a cargo wagon with our hoods on, like people being chased by debt collectors.

Supplies were to be scattered at specific locations by places that had been contacted in advance, so once we departed this time, we were not expected to have any connection with villages for a while. Mille tearfully said goodbye to the capital’s gates closing with a thunderous sound.

“Goodbye, chicken skewers. I’ll come back alive and eat you.”

Hearing her sniffling voice made it feel like we were going off to die, but since it wasn’t unusual for Mille to express herself as she pleased, among the party members, there was nothing more than chuckling laughs and simple comforting gestures of patting Mille’s head.

Lena, who had buried herself in my chest and couldn’t sleep last night, was yawning with dark circles under her eyes, and I too was closing my eyes, letting my body sway with the pleasant rocking of the wagon. Ashuria was reading her Bible, maintaining her posture without wavering despite the wagon’s jolting.

The hero, fiddling with her hood and tilting her head, asked Ashuria:

“Ashuria, you keep reading the Bible.”

“It’s because it’s the scripture containing God’s words. When going on important missions, reciting and engraving the words in your heart brings peace of mind. Would you like to try it too, Hero?”

“Really? What kind of words do you usually choose to read, Ashuria?”

Ashuria, who would have been overjoyed at any other time, was calmly recommending her favorite Bible passages to the hero. It seemed that for her, the wall of gender was as deep and wide as the wall of heretics. Lena, unable to keep nodding off, turned her body and lay down in the wagon using her bag as a pillow.

Ashuria paused in her conversation and said to Lena:

“Lena. If you sleep like that, you might fall and get hurt.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ve slept on cliffs before. A first-class assassin from the Black Society…”

At that moment, the wagon bounced hard.

“Whoop!”

Lena floated in the air for a moment, then was thrown down under the seat. In that brief moment, Lena used her leg strength to support her body and grabbed the bag floating in the air to prevent its contents from spilling out. In a posture like an upside-down spider, Lena let out a hollow laugh.

“…See? This is the agility of a first-class assassin from the Black Society.”

“Wow!”

Mille cheered and clapped her hands. Lena wiped the sweat flowing on her forehead and smiled in response to her applause. Ashuria shook her head and asked me:

“Is something happening outside?”

“It seems a prisoner has escaped from an escort wagon.”

At least, that was the scene unfolding before my eyes as I looked outside the wagon. A man in prisoner’s clothes was struggling and flailing about, and the coachman transporting us was calming the horses by stroking their heads. Soldiers wearing armor with the church’s seal were pinning the prisoner to the ground and shouting.

“Tie the ropes! Quickly!”

“Yes, sir!”

Despite four soldiers rushing in, they couldn’t subdue one adult man, and the commotion was growing larger. Dust was rising from the man’s body as if fire was blazing, and the coachman was sweating as he forcibly tried to stop the horses from descending the slope.

Ashuria scanned the situation and said to the hero:

“Wouldn’t it be better to help?”

“No. We need to stay quiet until we enter the front lines. I understand the desire to help, but this time, we need to maintain our composure.”

The hero firmly refused. Ashuria looked disappointed at her words but reluctantly nodded and withdrew her body. Lena, without sticking her body out, pressed her ear against the wagon wall and closed her eyes.

The voice of the man crawling beside the wagon came through clearly.

“H-help me! You there! You people over there! Please help me! These people are taking an innocent person away!”

“Be quiet! Whether you’re guilty or not will be determined at trial! Get back in here right now!”

“No! I’m wronged! I’m telling you I’m wronged!”

The hero shook her head with a complicated expression. Mille asked restlessly:

“Shouldn’t we help? He looks really distressed.”

Ashuria said:

“All criminals say they’re innocent. Don’t pay attention. The church’s judgment is entirely trustworthy.”

Lena raised the corners of her mouth and sneered at Ashuria’s words.

“Well, the church does have high accuracy. If they point at 10 people, 9 are criminals, right?”

Ashuria didn’t turn the page of the Bible she was reading. Instead, she raised her head and looked directly at Lena, asking:

“What do you mean by that?”

“Got him! Push him back in!”

“Please help me! Uh, huh… huh…”

The man’s cry filled the gap in the conversation between Lena and Ashuria. Lena was still smiling brightly while receiving Ashuria’s sharp gaze. She said:

“There can sometimes be a difference in perspective between how a church inquisitor sees things and how they’re seen from the back alleys. So… there could be misunderstandings. Because our perspectives are a bit different.”

“The church’s judgment is accurate. Sometimes such misunderstandings arise because people don’t see the church’s meticulous investigation process.”

“Is it really a misunderstanding?”

Ashuria looked at Lena again. Along with the sound of the Bible closing, the wagon started moving. Our bodies, which had seemed firmly fixed, swayed, and the world seemed to be sliding by, unable to keep up with the wagon. The two mountains peeking out behind Ashuria’s back wagged their tails at the rear of the wagon and disappeared.

“Lena. What are you trying to say?”

“I don’t trust the church’s judgment. Rural churches are so poorly managed. Do you really believe the church is infallible?”

Ashuria stared at Lena. Mille and the hero were also staring at Ashuria’s waist. It seemed like she might suddenly change and strike Lena’s face. But Ashuria, who closed her eyes again and composed her breathing, nodded and said:

“…I understand. Let’s not talk about this topic anymore. It’s not good for the journey.”

“Really? Alright.”

Lena nodded and leaned her head back on her bag. Then she hummed a tune with her eyes closed before falling asleep again. Ashuria read her book silently, and Mille, after looking back and forth between the two, came to my side. The hero sighed and fiddled with her sword, and I too decided to forget about the minor conflict that had just occurred and closed my eyes to try to sleep. We had a long way to go in the wagon.

---

“Why did you do that?”

When we arrived at the first supply point, we separated for rest. Though no one decided it, Ashuria approached the hero, and I approached Lena. Lena was stretching and yawning, and the small teapot she carried around was rolling about as a footrest. Lena looked at me with a languid expression and snorted at my question.

“Do what?”

“The conversation you had with Lady Ashuria.”

“What do you think, old man? Was that person really a criminal?”

I thought for a moment. The seemingly wronged expression and the sorrowful crying voice. The desperate tone begging us for help. Just hearing the voice, he didn’t seem like a criminal.

“I’m not sure. He didn’t seem like a bad person, but being a criminal isn’t determined by appearance, is it?”

Lena scratched her head and brought her legs together. Then she looked at me and frowned.

“Right? It’s something we can’t know. We should just let it go, but lately, I’ve been on edge. Should I say I just didn’t like it? It just seemed like Ashuria was defending everything the church does.”

“I lived in the Empire, so I don’t know what the kingdom’s church was like. I wasn’t even a churchgoer to begin with.”

“But you must have met churchgoers too, right? Weren’t there any bad incidents with the church there?”

“Religion is full of troublesome things when you dig into it, so even when I was on active duty, I never investigated such matters. Even if I had investigated, wouldn’t it be rude to compare the Empire’s church and the kingdom’s church in that way?”

“…That’s right? I guess so, but…”

Lena nodded and curled up her body again. As the operation approached, she was becoming more sensitive and irritable.

---

“I understand. I’m not taking it to heart much, so you don’t need to worry about it, Hero.”

“But Ashuria. That… talking about church matters…”

Ashuria shook her head at the hero’s words and spoke calmly:

“I heard that the Black Society was like family to Lena. She can’t help but feel bad on a mission like this. At such times, everything in the world can seem unfair and bad. You want to blame everything. I acted childishly too when I heard nonsense. It was a bit too much. I’ll apologize first.”

“Th-then that’s good.”

The hero nodded with a strange expression. For some reason, it didn’t feel right.