episode_0109

…

Aria and I, having left Sabra, were preparing a meal in a forest. I was resting for a moment in a forest on the way to the dragon’s nest…. Haah… well, I guess… Aria can change… But… but…!!

“Zeke-nim~ It’s almost done, please wait a little longer~”

“Uh… uhh…”

Can a person change so much overnight?! I still couldn’t adjust to Aria, whose aura had completely changed overnight. Aria, who previously had even a small shadow on her face, was now looking at me with a completely bright smile. That’s why I can’t adapt right now!! Of course, it’s true that I encouraged Aria a lot until now, but how could a face that was shadowed just yesterday change so much overnight?!

“Zeke-nim must be disappointed. I get jealous when others are near Zeke-nim, you see. So because Zeke-nim was concerned about that, you couldn’t accept Riera-nim’s sisters as companions.”

….?!

Wha… What did Aria just say?! Aria herself said that I’m disappointed because I can’t have other companions because of her?! W-Wasn’t Aria supposed to be happy about that originally, but now… she’s saying it herself?! I, who had never expected Aria to say such a thing, was engulfed in shock upon hearing her words.

‘H-How can a person change this much? No… what if that’s Aria’s true self? Then… is the Aria I’m seeing now a mixture of the current Aria and her original self…?’

“I did have a little liking for Riera-nim, you know… But still… how should I put it… if someone else was next to Zeke-nim during our journey, my heart would feel a little uncomfortable, you see… Hehehe… I feel bad about it.”

…

When Aria let out an awkward laugh and said she felt bad thinking that I couldn’t have other companions because of her, I almost lost my mind for a moment. Is the woman in front of me truly Aria…? She seems like a completely different person… Am I dreaming right now…?

“Still, I’m so grateful that Zeke-nim showed consideration for me, you know? As expected, Zeke-nim always thinks of me~ Hahahaha~”

“…. Well… th-that’s right. By the way, I want to prepare dinner together today… Is it okay if we cook together?”

“Huh?”

Right… there was still a way to check if Aria had completely changed. That was to cook together. Before, Aria would physically stop me from cooking because she didn’t want to see me struggle. So, what about the current Aria? When Aria showed a slight surprise at my question, I thought Aria hadn’t fully changed yet….

“Great~ Cooking with Zeke-nim… it feels like a dream~”

“…. Hahaha… alright… I surrender.”

….. Hmm?

When Aria felt joy at cooking with me, smiling brightly, I finally let out a hollow laugh and declared defeat right there. Aria, perhaps not understanding my feelings, tilted her head, wondering why I was making such a resigned expression. Maybe… even those who have met Aria until now would be surprised by this… That’s probably it… Or am I the one who’s gone strange?

“Ah, Zeke-nim. It’s better to julienne it here rather than just slicing it like that.”

“Oh? Uhh… Is it because I haven’t cooked in a while… I’m not getting the hang of it.”

“Ah… I never let Zeke-nim cook until now, did I? I’m truly sorry.”

….. Yeah.

Damn it. It’s too awkward. No… it seems like only I’m awkward. Finding myself in this paradoxical situation where I, who wanted Aria to change, couldn’t adapt to it, I was speechless. Wh-What should I do?! How can I adapt to Aria again?! In fact, there’s something else I still haven’t adapted to. That is…

Yawn…. Is it still dawn? Should I sleep more…? Huh…?

Snoring…

‘…..?!’

This morning, I saw Aria sleeping soundly, wrapped around me with her right arm, instead of watching me all night. Normally, she would have stared at me intensely all night long… but… that Aria… was sleeping comfortably… I still couldn’t believe it. And realizing this, I understood that the change in a person is the most frightening thing. It’s scary because you don’t know how they’ll change… but to this extent…

“…. Being like this reminds me of when Zeke-nim and I first met. Even back then, Zeke-nim didn’t leave me alone to do things by myself, did you? Heheh… You were constantly troubled by my stubbornness.”

“…. Is it okay for you to say that yourself? Normally, if you say such things yourself…”

“It’s fine now. After realizing Zeke-nim’s unchanging heart, I feel like everything is alright now. So… that, and everything else, I’m keeping as memories. Memories created in the process of my change.”

At Aria’s words, I was once again… no, no matter what Aria said, I couldn’t help but be astonished. Of course, when someone who wouldn’t normally say such things says them, you can’t help but be astonished… Phew… it might hurt… but I still have to tell her my honest feelings, right?

“….. Honestly, when a person changes so much, it’s hard to adapt, you know? No matter what you say, I keep getting surprised.”

“…. Is this uncomfortable for you? My heart feels more at ease, so I’m happy…”

“No, it’s not uncomfortable. I just haven’t adapted yet. Well… nothing works perfectly from the start, right? I’ll gradually get used to your changed self. Don’t you think?”

“…! That’s right~ At first, we… erm… it’s a bit hard to say myself, but… we didn’t adapt well to each other at first, did we?”

“…. Hehehe… Well, I can’t argue with that. Let’s hurry up and make dinner. I’m hungry.”

“Yes~”

Right. It’s just that I haven’t gotten used to it yet. If I adapt to Aria again, Aria and I will be able to set out on our journey, laughing together like before. For now, let’s just be grateful that Aria’s heart has found peace… But imagining what reactions others will have when they see Aria’s changed self… Hehehe… it makes me laugh.

“…? Zeke-nim? Why are you suddenly laughing?”

“Hehehe… What will others think when they see the changed you? Everyone will be surprised. Hahahahaha…”

“…. Hmm~ Then how about we make a bet on what kind of reaction everyone will have?”

“…. Not to that extent. Well… everyone will probably have similar reactions. Come on, let’s eat dinner!”

“Hmm~ Are you scared~”

“Hmph…”

Since she’s changed, she’s even playing pranks on me now… Well… Aria never played pranks on me during our journey, so it was a little boring. Now that we can casually exchange jokes, I imagined that the rest of our journey would be full of joy. With that thought, I ate the meat stew we made together, and afterward, we packed our bags again and continued on our way.

“Haaah… Anyway, a dragon’s nest… Hahaha… Dragons are truly rare creatures… to think I’ll get to see one.”

“However, dragons are very shy creatures, so I don’t know if we’ll be able to meet one. And well… if a dragon threatens us… I’ll turn it into meat, so don’t worry.”

When Aria stretched her arms and made a chilling remark that if a dragon attacked them in its nest, she would turn it into meat, I let out a hollow laugh, imagining that Aria truly would do such a thing. Then, when something suddenly started dripping onto my head, I looked up at the sky.

“Huh? What’s happening suddenly?”

“Hmm… It seems like it’s raining. How about we quickly find a cave? Or should I use my detection ability?”

“You can detect where a cave is?”

“Yes. Thanks to what happened in Sabra before, I’ve already finished practicing finding such things. Now… Ha!”

In response to my question about detecting a cave’s location, Aria said she had already finished practicing through the Eli incident, then suddenly stuck her staff into the ground. She then closed her eyes, concentrating all her senses on the staff, and then, as if she had found something, she opened her eyes wide and pointed forward with her finger, saying,

“There’s a cave straight ahead, Zeke-nim. It’s fortunate it’s not too far.”

“Really? Thanks anyway, Aria. Let’s hurry to the cave before the rain gets heavier.”

“Yes.”

As Aria informed me there was a cave ahead, I immediately expressed my gratitude to Aria and ran in the direction of the cave. But… No way, would it really be there? Aria’s detection ability is supposed to locate living beings, but how could it locate a structure…

“Ah, thankfully it’s a large cave.”

….?!

I was greatly flustered when there really was a cave in the direction Aria pointed. No… if I think about it, it might be obvious. She just needs to detect the presence of bats, after all… But Aria never stuck her staff into the ground or did anything like that to use her detection ability before?! C-Could she really have detected it?!

“Please, let’s go inside, Zeke-nim. The rain has started to get heavier.”

“Uh… yeah.”

Putting Aria’s improved abilities aside for now, as the rain started to get heavier, I entered the cave with Aria. I then brushed the rainwater from my hair with my hand and said to Aria,

“Oh… I didn’t expect it to rain so suddenly. Well… we had to stop here anyway.”

“Ah… indeed, Zeke-nim is someone who tries to explore everything in the world. So this cave was no exception, was it?”

“That’s right. So, since we’re here anyway, how about we look around inside…? Zap.”

Deciding to explore the cave we had entered to escape the rain since we were already here, I created a small flame at the tip of my right index finger. I had borrowed Iruvan’s power. Seeing it, Aria was surprised and said,

“Is that, by any chance, Iruvan-nim’s flame?! Do you not remember that Zeke-nim was exhausted last time after using that power?!”

“It’s fine. Last time, I created a fire strong enough to burn down a whole house… but a torch-sized flame should be alright.”

“Ugh… Still, you seem to often forget that I’m here… Most importantly, doesn’t Zeke-nim have a luminous stone?”

Having journeyed together, Aria already knew I had a luminous stone. Of course, I remembered it too, but I didn’t bother taking it out. Because…

“Ah, I do. But I need to get used to Iruvan’s flame too. Through Cecilia’s memories, I could handle demonic energy, but I’ve never handled Iruvan’s power. So, I’ll use it as a torch and gradually adapt to it.”

“Ugh… I guess it can’t be helped. But if you feel your strength waning, you must tell me!”

“Understood. Alright… shall we go inside?”

“Yes.”

To adapt to Iruvan’s flame, I started exploring the cave, creating a small flame at my fingertip. Hmm… It’s an unremarkable cave. But no mushrooms grow, and it seems no bats live here either… Wait a minute?

“Aria, how did you detect the cave then? No bats live here at all…?”

“Hmm… I detected the vibrations created by striking the ground. That’s how I was able to find it for Zeke-nim.”

“….. You’re truly amazing…”

“Hehehehe… It’s for Zeke-nim. It’s nothing much.”

…To say it’s ‘nothing much’ when you can detect sounds, and you’re not even a Melodian fairy, is truly astonishing…? I realized that Aria had once again surpassed human capabilities and let out a hollow laugh. Then, I turned my gaze back to the cave and…

“…. There’s really nothing special here. What…?”

I was greatly disappointed that it was such an unremarkable cave. Then, something strange on the wall caught my eye, and I observed it carefully. What is it…? It looks like some kind of string attached to it?

“What’s this? A thin string is attached to the wall?”

“And this string… it doesn’t seem like thread. The material feels strange…”

“Let’s follow it. It might lead to the deepest part.”

“Yes.”

Aria and I continued deeper into the cave, following the string we had found. What exactly is this string? I’ve explored many places, but I’ve never seen a string like this. But somehow… it seems to be made of a material similar to, yet different from, a snack I saw in Karizan… What is this?

“Hmm… I really can’t figure it out. What on earth is inside this?”

“Hmm… Zeke-nim. It seems there’s something else inside this string. It’s as if this soft shell is protecting several other strings.”

“Huh? You’re right. When I feel the texture closely, it really is like that, isn’t it?”

Listening to Aria, I touched the string with my finger. Realizing there were other strings inside, my curiosity about it deepened. So, we followed the string deeper into the cave, and there…

“….!!! W-What on earth is this?!”

“It feels like someone is living here… like a residence.”

Having entered the deepest part, we were greatly flustered by the sight of the innermost part of the cave, which looked like someone had set up house there. Chairs, tables, bookshelves… even tools I’d never seen before… Someone lived here, didn’t they…?

“Aria, can you perhaps shine some light with your staff? It seems I’ll need both hands to investigate.”

“Yes, Zeke-nim.”

Feeling that I would need both hands, I asked Aria to shine a light. Aria immediately emitted light from her staff, brightening the surroundings, and I extinguished the flame from my finger and looked at the desk. Small iron cans caught my eye.

“What’s this? There are iron cans with pictures of food on them?”

“Hmm… Perhaps they’re tools for storing food? They seem similar to storing wine in wooden barrels…”

“Is that so? There’s something inside, you know? It seems like there’s liquid in there too… But more importantly… what on earth are these?”

As several strange mechanical devices next to the iron cans with food pictures caught my eye, I examined them carefully. What on earth are these? It looks like various devices are tightly packed onto a green board…

“What on earth is this…”

“Zeke-nim. Would you look at this for a moment?”

“Huh? What is it?”

When Aria suddenly asked me to look at something, I looked at the book Aria was holding. Aria then pointed to the book’s title with her finger and said to me,

“This writing… isn’t it different from the writing used in Krentid World, where we live?”

….? You’re right? It’s a script I’ve never seen before. What language is this, anyway?

When Aria said the book’s title seemed to be in a different language from what we knew, I looked at the characters and realized that this script was definitely different from any writing used in Krentid World. So I opened the book to check its contents, but the book’s content was also in a completely different language from what we knew, making it impossible to read.

“…. Who on earth lives here? It feels like a being from beyond this world is living here.”

“Given that all these belongings are still here… uh… perhaps someone is still living here?”

“Wait… that means… the person living here is currently out… and… it’s similar to us breaking into someone’s house without knowing when the owner might return…”

“Stop right there. How did you get in here?”

The moment I realized Aria’s words meant we were in a situation no different from having brazenly entered someone else’s house, a man behind me poked my back with something not sharp and quietly spoke to me. Aria, surprised by the voice, muttered,

“….?! Wha… What is it…? I hadn’t detected anyone behind us…? Huh…? Red hair?”

“….?! What?!”

When Aria said the man behind me had red hair, I was startled. The strange objects found here… and red hair… Could it be… the person behind me… is Revo…? That person…?