episode_0071

Holding Ariel’s hand, we walked side by side, matching our paces along the path leading to Eaton Village.

Farewell to Killua-nim.

After accepting Ariel’s confession and becoming her lover, I had been mentally preparing for this to some extent.

Killua-nim’s journey to find the lost pendant fragments would clearly involve fighting against the Demon Queen, leader of the demon race, and the Empress, who leads the Empire.

Simply put, an ordinary person like me had no place in that fight.

Shrimp get their backs broken in a whale fight [a proverb about collateral damage]? No. I would be like a tiny microorganism, not even treated as a shrimp.

Even if I disappeared or was crushed, I wouldn’t receive anyone’s interest or even a glance—such an insignificant existence that my very presence in that place would be doubted.

“Should we go together?”

As I walked, my gaze fixed on the ground, a bitter expression on my face due to my pathetically insignificant existence, Ariel, who had been observing me, cautiously suggested that we join Killua.

But I responded to her suggestion by shaking my head heavily.

“It’s too dangerous a journey…”

Although Ariel was a powerful mage, remarkable for someone in such a remote village, compared to the Demon Queen, whose very existence was a disaster, or the Empress, who commanded the continent’s strongest Swordsman, she was truly a weak being.

In fact, among the mages of the Empire, there were many mages with immense power that Ariel couldn’t possibly contend with.

“If it were just me, it might be fine… But I don’t want to drag you into such a dangerous journey too.”

Should a dangerous moment arrive for Ariel, I would be unable to do anything.

I would merely be a burden, hoping that Ariel and Killua-nim would somehow overcome the crisis approaching us, and cheering them on… Yes. A useless porter and an observer without responsibility.

“Ah~ You’re making that gloomy face again.”

Compared to Killua, Ariel, and even Rai, my insignificant self felt incredibly pathetic. Perhaps those feelings showed on my face.

Ariel suddenly stood in front of me and used her hand to lift the corners of my sadly downturned mouth.

“Jazel, it’s not that you lack ability. It’s just that your path is different.”

Ariel, who had lifted the corners of my mouth with her hand, gently stroked my cheek as if hoping the lifted corners would stay.

“Just as fish swim and birds fly in the sky, everyone has their own path.”

“But wouldn’t a swimming fish envy a freely flying bird?”

“Birds would also envy fish freely moving through the deep water filled with mystery.”

What would a bird flying in the infinite, free sky have to envy about a fish living in a small puddle…

Ariel’s advice wasn’t persuasive enough to greatly sway my heart. But at the very least, I could tell that she was genuinely trying her best to comfort me.

Thinking I couldn’t keep showing such a gloomy and weak expression in front of her, I put strength into my cheeks to fix the corners of my mouth that she had lifted.

“Yes… What I can do… I should try to swim like a fish.”

As I barely managed to suppress the rising gloom and forced a smile, Ariel also lightly hugged me as if I had done something admirable.

“Ah~ Then, shall we try to form a merchant guild?!”

Ariel, who had been hugging me for a moment, as if a good idea had suddenly struck her, offered me a suggestion with a bright face.

“What…?”

Surprised by her unexpected, sudden proposal, I looked at her with wide eyes and asked again.

“Jazel, you were a merchant who led a large merchant guild, weren’t you? Plus, Killua-nim made an incredibly rare specialty product just for our village! We can use the capital from selling that to create a merchant guild!!”

“No… What do you mean, suddenly…”

Forming a merchant guild was not as easy as Ariel casually suggested.

Massive capital was a given, along with wagons and horses to be the core of the guild, and even mercenaries to guard them.

When I first started as a merchant, I began with just a single backpack.

After struggling for four years with only that backpack, I bought a horse, and by struggling for three more years with that single horse, I finally managed to acquire a wagon.

It was only after ten years had passed since I left the village that I was finally able to gather a group that could be called a merchant guild.

“A merchant guild isn’t something that can be formed so easily… There’s so much to prepare…”

I calmly tried to explain how absurd Ariel’s suggestion to form a merchant guild was.

But Ariel, after hearing my words, gave a meaningful smile and added just one remark.

“Becoming a Great Mage-nim isn’t easy either, is it?”

“……”

Yes… I wasn’t the only one who had lost everything I had achieved. Killua-nim, who was once the White Great Mage, was also someone who had lost everything.

But she didn’t give up. Despite falling to the bottom, she didn’t lose her will or drive, and was someone who desperately tried to crawl back up. And as a result, she succeeded in finding part of her power.

“She showed that even a fallen bird can fly again, didn’t she? Shouldn’t our fish also show off some skill?”

Although it was a rather awkward metaphor, it was enough to motivate and encourage my heart.

“Yes. Let’s try to form a merchant guild again.”

Unlike my childhood self, my current self no longer had the Fox God’s blessing. But I had the experience and insight gained from leading a merchant guild until now, and trustworthy people by my side.

Building a merchant guild from scratch again would clearly take a long time and be mentally and physically challenging.

“Can you be with me?”

“Anywhere~ Anything!”

Ariel, who stood by my side and held my hand, answered confidently with a triumphant smile.

The Fox God, who had protected me and was like a childhood illusion, was gone, but in his place, I had her, who was even more trustworthy, so I wasn’t afraid or worried.

“Good. First, let’s focus on rebuilding the village. If the village comes back to life, people will return. Then it will be easier to recruit volunteers to form the merchant guild.”

Rebuilding Eaton Village, Ariel’s hometown, was partly a reward for her being by my side, but also because I needed young recruits for my merchant guild.

“Wouldn’t it be better to get help from Tom Bolt-ssi instead?”

Ariel, upon hearing my opinion, tilted her head and suggested a reasonably rational alternative.

If we received support from Tom Bolt, a merchant who regularly visited the village, things would become easier, but we wouldn’t be able to escape his influence. Although he was kind to the people of Eaton Village, there was no way he would be kind and considerate to a potential rival merchant.

“We’re going to form our own independent merchant guild. It will take some time, but… we’ll be that much freer.”

In other words, to form our own free and independent merchant guild, we first had to rebuild the fallen Eaton Village.

“Hmm~ Sharp acumen born of experience! I couldn’t even imagine such a thing~ It’s so admirable, isn’t it?”

Ariel praised me, adding more compliments than necessary, as if trying to flatter me.

Her praise was so overwhelming it was burdensome, and my face unconsciously flushed.

“So don’t show that gloomy face anymore. I’ll fill in the parts Jazel lacks. Got it?”

“Alright, alright!”

As if comforting a child, patting my cheek with her actions and tone, expressing concern for me, Ariel made me so embarrassed I wanted to crawl into a mouse hole, and I cried out sharply.

Ariel chuckled at my reaction and patted my back, adding one more remark.

“If you show that gloomy face in front of me again… I’ll get really angry, okay? You know I’m scary when I’m angry, right?”

The problem was that single remark was an immense threat.

Her threat made me recall the sight of her beating Rai.

I knew that at the time, she was truly enraged to the point of losing her reason, but even so, seeing her beat Rai almost to death showed just how fiery her personality was.

If the magic staff that struck Rai’s crown with full force at the end hadn’t been worn out… it would have been Rai’s skull that broke, not the magic staff.

“Ah… I get it. Don’t worry.”

Hiding the cold sweat running down my neck, I simply replied to her threat as if it were nothing.