episode_0005

I emerged from the tent, exhausted. It was morning, so I had to come out anyway… How many hours had I slept? I was sure I had finally fallen asleep because Aria’s gaze made it impossible to sleep. Still… how could she have stared at me so intently all night?

“Oh my, Zeke-nim. You don’t look well. Did something happen? Was there an intruder…?!”

‘It’s because of you…’ If I shouted that she stared at me all night and I couldn’t sleep, Aria would probably do something strange again, so I couldn’t say it. But did she still not have enough after watching me all night? I felt that burdensome gaze from behind me again… Ugh, if I just put up with it, my mental health will suffer! …Wait, what’s that?

“Aria.”

“Ah! Yes, Zeke-nim… Something did happen, didn’t it…? Please wait, I’ll handle it… Who’s comi—”

“That’s not it… What’s that long staff in your hand?”

Aria was holding a long, golden staff in her hand. It wasn’t simply a walking stick. Aria showed it to me and said,

“It’s a golden staff used by Saintesses! I found it in the ruins!”

“I see… I should record that later… Ah, more importantly. Did you perhaps not sleep last night?”

“Hm?”

“Literally. Did you sleep last night?”

“Yes. I slept soundly. Ahh… Is it because I was next to Zeke-nim? I slept even better than usual, you know? I felt so comfortable by Zeke-nim’s side, tee hee hee… I just drifted right off to sleep… Thank you so much, Zeke-nim.”

“What?”

As I stood dumbfounded, Aria tilted her head and looked at me. If you react like that, what does that make me for asking? …No, more importantly, she said she slept well? Then the gaze I felt last night, could it be…

“Aria, do you perhaps talk in your sleep?”

“Hm? Oh… don’t ask such embarrassing questions… Hehehe… But if it’s Zeke-nim, I can answer. I don’t know.”

“Huh…? Even after saying that earlier…?”

“I said that to make Zeke-nim anticipate it. But ta-da! I don’t know *anything*!”

“Uh… then your sleeping habits…”

“Of course, I wouldn’t know! Because I used to sleep alone!”

Uh… if that’s the case… then Aria doesn’t know her own sleeping habits. And Aria said she slept soundly. So… was it a sleeping habit?! Then she wasn’t awake… Wait… if it was a sleeping habit that made her stare at me all night with wide open eyes… that’s a terrifying sleeping habit… Or did she develop such a habit after Esrad’s destruction…?

“Zeke-nim, why are you… Ah! You must be hungry! I’ll prepare a meal right away—”

“No. It’s nothing. I’ll prepare the meal. I have some bread my mother gave me the day before. Wai… huh?”

The moment I reached into my backpack to get food, I felt something and turned around to see Aria shedding tears. What was she crying about this time…?

“What’s wrong, Aria?”

“Sob sob…. To think you’d prepare food for me… It’s so touching… But I’ll prepare it. I want to do anything for Zeke-nim. Just looking at Zeke-nim makes me feel like I can live every day vibrantly…”

“Hm? Uh-uh-uh?”

What just happened? Aria grabbed my arm and began pulling food out of her own backpack. But why was she taking out the bread from the cloth and sniffing it…? And with such an enraptured expression…

“Hey, Aria?”

“Ah… Ahahaha… Because I can see Zeke-nim’s teeth marks here…”

“Don’t do that…”

“I can’t control myself…. Everything about Zeke-nim… especially this outfit, tee hee hee hee….”

Aria pressed the sleeve of the priestess’s robe she was wearing – the one I had accidentally dyed black while trying to fix it – against her face and grinned widely. Is she that happy? Even though it became a black priestess’s robe… Esrad’s priestess robes were originally supposed to be white; is it alright for her to like it this much…?

“Hey, Aria. I’m asking again… Is it really okay for the priestess’s robe to change like that?”

“Yes. As I’ve said again, my country has fallen, so what does it matter? For me, there is only Zeke-nim…. I won’t discard anything Zeke-nim has given me, and I won’t refuse anything Zeke-nim asks of me…. Because I love Zeke-nim…!!”

It’s still terrifying to see. If anyone said that with a shadowed face, hands clasped, and a wide grin, anyone would be scared, Aria… Well, whatever… it’ll work out somehow… I sighed, worried about what the future held. Then Aria held something out to me, and I unconsciously swallowed hard upon seeing it.

“What’s this?”

“Uh… how is it? I heard there was food like this abroad, so I made it… I… I put well-roasted boar meat inside bread, and poured sauce on top…”

“It looks delicious. You made one for yourself this time, too, right?”

“Yes! Zeke-nim helped me last time. I thought you might say something like that again, so I made one for myself too! Here!”

“…”

It was small. Mine was about half the length of an adult man’s arm, but Aria’s wasn’t even half of that. So I sighed and tore off a piece of my bread, placing it on top of Aria’s.

“Make them the same size. Don’t just think about me, think about yourself too.”

“Z-Zeke-nim is worrying about me…!! Haaaah…. I could die right now…”

“Don’t do that!!!”

I was actually a little worried she might say that again later. In any case, Aria and I finished our somewhat noisy meal and put out the campfire. Then I took out my exploration journal again and continued documenting Esrad.

It is presumed that there are no survivors from Esrad. Thus, Esrad quietly vanished from this world. However, one survivor was found. The last Saintess of Esrad survived its destruction and is said to be alive somewhere in the world.

“No one will know that ‘somewhere in the world’ is by Zeke-nim’s side! This is a secret just between me and Zeke-nim… Tee hee hee….”

“Why are you making that kind of laugh…?”

“Well…. Ever since I started loving Zeke-nim, this kind of laugh just keeps coming out… Ahh! My heart feels like it’s going to burst—”

“St-Stop that and let’s go…”

“Why are you doing that, Zeke-niiiiim?”

“Argh!”

As Aria kept trying to cling to me, a scream escaped me without realizing it. I tore a blank page from another book and wrote something on it. Then I placed a stone on it and left it at the entrance of Esrad. Aria then asked me,

“Zeke-nim, this?”

“I thought Chief Todrua should know. I left a note so he’d know what happened. That Esrad was destroyed, and I visited.”

“I see. But now I’m such a nation…”

“Oh, let’s just go.”

“Why are you cutting me off…? Surely I’m not already… If so, then if I die…”

“Uwaaaah!! Stop it and let’s go! Or I’ll really leave you behind!”

“Ah! Let’s go together, Zeke-nim!!!”

Damn it. The road ahead is going to be very tiring. It seemed better to worry about myself than about Aria. Aria and I left Esrad and were walking along the Boyati Road, a path created by ancient people, towards our next destination. Ah, the destination Aria and I were heading for was a place called Melodian, rich in music-related technology. I didn’t know much about this place, so I was a little excited. While walking, Aria and I talked about various things… and well, several other things happened too. For example…

“…Do you really have to walk while looking at my face?”

“Hehehe… Only I should have the gaze that watches Zeke-nim…. Only I can see Zeke-nim…”

“Then what about my parents…”

“Ah! I’m sorry! To forget that… As atonement…”

“Don’t do it!!!”

Whenever something went wrong and Aria tried to make an extreme choice, I stopped her. Ugh, I’m tired… Well… as we walked, I learned various things about Aria. That Aria had never been outside Esrad, and had almost always been confined to the castle. In other words, the outside world was a strange place for Aria. Something she had only heard about but never experienced. I hoped this opportunity would change how Aria saw the world. But…

“…Will you still keep looking at me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s the paradise of my life! Hehehe….”

I hope that broken way of thinking gets fixed too… Ugh… Well, it’s still the beginning, so… I guess I’ll have to continue exploring while receiving that gaze? Ha… I didn’t expect my journey to become this much more tiring. As I lamented, I saw someone sitting on a rock, clutching their leg. What was it?

“Huh? Why is that person like that?”

“Their leg is injured.”

“You can see that?”

“Yes.”

As expected of a Saintess. To discern someone’s condition from such a distance. Truly amazing. The Boyati Road was a path previously created by ancient people to recognize and interact with other nations. They used sickles and swords to cut down grass and built stone walls in the forest to defend against monster attacks. Thus, the Boyati Road is marked on maps as the safest route for trade… Ah, I should write this down.

“Aria, just a moment. I’m going to write down information about this road.”

“Yes! I can wait for you anytime.”

“Okay. Ah, can you perhaps heal that injured person?”

“Hm?”

“If they’re clutching their leg and groaning in pain, we should help them.”

“No. I will only heal Zeke-nim.”

Huh? What did she just say? Didn’t she say earlier that she wouldn’t refuse any request I made? No, more than that… she’s a Saintess, so why would she say she wouldn’t heal an injured person? I stopped my pen at Aria’s unexpected reply and asked her,

“Why? You said you wouldn’t refuse anything I asked?”

“But I don’t want to do this.”

“Why on earth? You’re a Saintess. You have the ability to heal injured people, don’t you? Shouldn’t a Saintess heal injured people?”

“Yes. A Saintess should do that. But my country has fallen, so do I really need to follow the rules of a Saintess? I don’t know anything about that, I just need… only Zeke-nim…!”

Ah, right. Her thinking is twisted. This is a problem… If she doesn’t heal him quickly, his condition will worsen. I know how painful muscle strain is, as I’ve experienced it myself. I don’t like being famous… but I can’t just leave someone in trouble, can I? Alright.

“Aria. I don’t like becoming famous.”

“Yes, I know.”

“But I want to help people in trouble. So… don’t say I did it, tell them you healed them because you wanted to.”

“But…”

“Hmm… I just said I want to help people in trouble, didn’t I? If you heal that man, then you’d be granting my wish… Wouldn’t that be good?”

“….”

Oh. It’s not working, it seems. Aria suddenly fell silent. Is there no other way… I’ll have to save that person even if it means becoming famous…

“So that’s how it is! Alright… To think I can fulfill Zeke-nim’s wish! Ahh… wonderful! I’ll go right away!”

“Huh…?”

Suddenly, Aria ran towards the man at a very fast speed. What? Is a person’s heart really that fickle? Well… it’ll work out somehow. I continued with my writing. At that moment, Aria began to approach the injured man.

“Ugh… Damn it… To trip over my own feet of all things… Was hurrying the problem…? I need to get to Melodian quickly…”

“Hello.”

“Ugh… huh?”

The injured man was greatly surprised. Anyone would be surprised if a beautiful woman in a black priestess’s robe suddenly appeared before them while they were in trouble due to an injured leg. Because of this, the man couldn’t easily open his mouth and stared blankly at the woman in front of him.

“Oh dear. You’ve injured your leg…”

“Uh… y-yes… I tripped…”

“Hehe… Excuse me for a moment.”

“Hm?”

Aria touched the man’s injured leg with both hands. Then, green energy was seen flowing from Aria’s hands to the man’s leg, and the man was greatly surprised to see it. Furthermore, seeing his leg instantly healed, the man was greatly astonished and asked Aria,

“A-Are you a Saintess?! Or…”

“Yes. I am a Saintess. I stopped for a moment because there was someone in trouble before me.”

“Th-Thank you so much… A Saintess in black robes… that’s not common….. W-Will you take some of these fruits?”

The man removed the cloth covering his cart and gave Aria some reddish-black fruits. He placed about ten of them, not just one, into Aria’s hands and said,

“These are called cherries. They have pits inside, so you can just spit them out while eating. They are a harmonious blend of sweet and sour.”

“Ah, thank you. I will enjoy them.”

“I should be thanking you. I had to hurry to Melodian… I will never forget this kindness!”

As the man led his cart towards Melodian, Aria looked at the cherries in her hand and grinned widely again. Seeing that from a distance, I knew what Aria was thinking. She was definitely smiling because she was thinking of giving them to me again… Aria came over to me with the cherries and said,

“I received a fruit called a cherry as thanks, Zeke. Tee hee hee… Just imagining Zeke-nim liking this…”

Just as I expected… I let out a hollow laugh and ate a cherry…. Ugh! It has a pit inside… After spitting out the pit and chewing the flesh, it definitely tasted good. Then, after recording the cherry in my exploration journal, I finished my entry about this road.

This path, still in use, can be said to be the safest route to Melodian. The stone walls built by the ancients are so sturdy that even boars cannot break through them, and they are too high to jump over. Merchants who use this route have highly praised it as safe, saying it has marked a new chapter in the history of trade routes.

“Hmm… it’s still lacking a lot. I’ll have to ask other merchants about the rest. But what are you doing…?”

“Ah, I’m peeling the cherries… because Zeke-nim might not like the skin…”

“I don’t particularly dislike it. Still, thank you for granting my request.”

“Ah…. Ahh!! I got praised… I wanted a reward, but this feels like it’s enough….”

Upon hearing my praise, Aria made that enraptured expression again. Yes… It’s a relief that you’re happy, Aria… But I’m still scared of you… very much so. Because I realized many things from the conversation with Aria just now, and one particular part of that conversation made me even more afraid of Aria.

Meanwhile, the man heading towards Melodian thought.

‘A black Saintess… It seems a beautiful Saintess has come out into the world, indeed…. If I tell everyone this story, they’ll all find it amusing!’