Chapter 2
Summer Vacation at the Beach
Our vacation began with an hourlong boat trip south out of Zoltan.
We paid a merchant who’d intended to travel to the island to peddle various odds and ends for transit on his vessel.
The small ship had a single mast with a triangle sail. It was the sort of boat that could go anywhere, even upwind, so long as there was a breeze and two people to crew it. Such little ships were common in the southern seas east of Avalonia. They couldn’t bear much cargo, but they were adaptable and had uses in various endeavors, from fishing to trade.
The captain was a sailor who’d moved to Zoltan and bought the ship. The hull was made of well-aged teak.
The cruise to the island was quite pleasant.
“Look, Dad! A dolphin jumped out of the water!!!”
“Really? I must have missed it.”
“Argh! Look closer, Dad!”
Tanta and Mido were leaning out over the edge excitedly. Nao smiled at them, but held back the two to ensure they didn’t fall overboard in their excitement.
They all seemed to be having fun.
The merchant looked on with amusement. He seemed an amiable sort.
Gonz came up beside me. “Thanks for inviting us on such a fun trip, Red.”
“We aren’t even at the island yet,” I said.
“But they’re already having a great time. Tanta’s never left Zoltan before. I’m sure he’ll remember this for the rest of his life.” Gonz’s eyes narrowed as he grinned at his nephew.
“The ancient dragon forecast is predicting no storms for a while, so it’s perfect weather for a trip!” Rit said. She was holding a plate with pear slices lining it. Behind her, Ruti, Tisse, and Mister Crawly Wawly were already enjoying some of the fruit.
Yarandrala was busy aiding the merchant in managing the ship. The merchant’s hireling was at the rudder, steering.
“I’m glad everyone was able to make it,” I said.
Rit bobbed her head. “Yeah. That’s Zoltan for you.”
“Got that right. Anyone who’d stay behind after hearing the words ‘family trip’ isn’t a real Zoltani!” Gonz puffed out his chest in pride.
“Look, Tanta!” Mido shouted. “A dolphin!” The man was usually so calm. Seeing him so worked up was rare and made me glad I’d suggested this.
“This is our first family trip,” Gonz admitted.
“Really?” I asked.
“There are monsters beyond Zoltan’s walls, after all. Heading out on my own is one thing, but bringing Tanta is another. I’d be too frightened something might happen to him. It’s a relief to have Rit with us.”
She thumped her chest. “Leave it to me. Be it dragons, giants, or anything else, I’ll handle anything that comes our way!”
The merchant laughed. “Hahaha! There aren’t any monsters like that on the island. Speaking of… Look! It’s coming into view!”
The man pointed, and everyone followed his finger to a small shape in the distance. That was our destination—Regret Isle.
“Eerie name for an island,” I remarked.
“Supposedly, there was a strange current around the island when it was first discovered,” the merchant explained.
“A strange current?”
“It pulled ships to the eastern reef. Word is it sank a lot of fishing ships.”
“That sounds pretty dangerous!”
“There’s since been a seismic shift, or maybe the old stories were just exaggerated. Regardless, there’s no current like that nowadays. It’s smooth sailing as long as you don’t get too close to the eastern reef. The people living there call it Pasta Fork Island for its shape instead of Regret Isle.”
“Pasta Fork Island!” Tanta grinned.
“While there’s no dangerous current, the waves will rock the boat a bit as we get close, so you should all have a seat and wait!” the merchant cautioned.
The ship approached the island while the water gleamed beneath the summer sun.
“White sand, blue sea, palm trees swaying in the breeze, crabs scuttling in the surf… It’s perfect!” Rit shouted as she threw up her arms ecstatically.
Beside her, Ruti, Tisse, and Mister Crawly Wawly raised their arms, too. It was definitely an exciting, beautiful scene.
“Okay! Let’s go swimming!”
“Wait, wait. We need to unload our gear first. And we have to introduce ourselves in the village,” I said.
“Awww.” Rit pouted. Still, she understood that locals would be wary of sudden arrivals.
In a place where visitors were rare, it was common sense for a traveler to greet the villagers before anything else. Rit knew that just as well as I did. Perhaps the beauty of the island had distracted her.
“Give me a hand unloading the ship,” I called to her.
“Fiiine.”
We split up our luggage and lugged it off the ship.
Despite Rit’s griping, it hardly took any time.
The village stood on the western end of the island.
The pier we docked at was on the northern side, so it was a bit of a walk to the southwest to reach the settlement. Fortunately, the path was well kept and easy to follow. Honestly, it was better maintained than Zoltan’s roads.
“Over there.” The merchant, who walked at the vanguard, pointed.
The village was tucked in a tranquil grove surrounded by palm trees.
It was the perfect place for a windbreak and likely pretty safe during storms, too. Judging by the number of buildings, there couldn’t have been more than twenty people living there.
“It’s rare we get travelers out here,” the village chief greeted as he rubbed his heavy eyes.
Leadership of this village was hereditary. This man had inherited the position along with his family’s fishing boat.
“We don’t have much, but please, be at ease. We simply ask you not to disrupt our nets.”
“Of course,” I replied.
“We can share a bit of food. In this season, well-fattened south salmon visit our waters. They’re quite delicious.”
“That sounds nice. We’ve brought enough food to last into tomorrow, so we can try some salmon after that,” I said.
The villagers were friendly and carried themselves with a laid-back air. Guests with money were probably uncommon. The merchant intended to return to Zoltan shortly and then come back for us in four days. The villagers looked quite eager to buy whatever they could from him, using the money we’d paid them to secure a stay here.
Everyone got along well enough, so I didn’t expect any trouble during the trip. Looks like it will be a nice vacation.
“Ah…,” the village leader breathed.
“Yes?” I asked.
“You should know that the southeastern section of the island is dangerous. It’s best not to get too close. There isn’t anything nice out there anyway.”
What a curious way to phrase it, I thought.
“Ahh, I understand.”
With all introductions finished, the merchant set out back for Zoltan.
Now the real vacation starts!
““The sea!!!””
Tanta and I shouted together.
We’d had plenty of time to marvel at it already, of course, but seeing it from an island beach was different.
We’d donned swimsuits, which could only mean one thing.
Our group had set up on a dune east of the pier. It was far enough from the villagers’ fishing spot that we wouldn’t disturb anything. We could play to our hearts’ content.
“It’s my first time swimming on an island,” Mido remarked.
“Hey, do some stretches before you get in the water,” Gonz chided.
They were in swimsuits, too. Mido had apparently bought a new one for today. I wondered if he had been looking forward to this even more than his son.
“Warming up is important.”
“Wah?!” Tanta jumped at the sudden comment from behind him.
“Hey, Tisse. Mister Crawly Wawly,” I greeted.
Tisse wore a one-piece swimsuit, and Mister Crawly Wawly had a little swim cap on his head, though I doubted the purpose of such a thing.
“You can swim, Mister Crawly Wawly?” I asked.
He puffed out his chest at that. I guessed that was a point of pride for him.
Are spiders good with water?
Mister Crawly Wawly signaled something to me.
“Oh? And you can fly through the air with the right wind?”
Apparently, he could make a windsail using his thread to glide around in strong breezes.
Even I, a man who’d fought Demis himself, couldn’t fly. I was a little jealous.
“You got changed quickly, Tisse,” Tanta said.
“She’s a professional at swapping clothes. She always manages to do it in the blink of an eye,” I replied.
Rit, Ruti, Yarandrala, and Nao joined us not too long after Tisse.
Rit wore the red and white striped halter-neck bikini from when we’d gone swimming before. Ruti had on a bikini that matched the color of the ribbon in her hair, and a thin shirt on top.
Yarandrala’s bikini had a ribbon loosely tied at the center of her chest.
“I brought a buoy, so you can swim until you run out of strength without having to worry!” Nao wore a shirt over her white swimsuit.
Mido frowned. “That’s a little much, Nao…”
“Are you not swimming?” I asked.
“Well… The truth is, I’m still a little seasick from the ride over, so I’m going to rest a bit on the beach.”
“You got seasick, Mom?”
Nao looked embarrassed. “It was my first time riding a boat.”
She was more reserved than Mido and Tanta, so it was surprising to hear her admit to feeling ill.
Some people got so seasick that they threw up, and even less intense symptoms could last for quite a while. Nao was clearly suffering from the latter.
“Are you okay?” Mido asked anxiously. “I can stay with you.”
“It’s fine.” Nao waved him off. “I just feel a little nauseous, is all. You go play with Tanta.”
“But…”
“It’s fine, just go play already!”
Mido hesitated, but he ultimately nodded and motioned for Tanta to climb onto his back.
“All right, let’s go, Tanta!”
“Okay!”
The two of them ran across the sand and jumped into the water.
“Go on now, all of you go, too, shoo,” Nao urged.
“Sorry. Had I known, I would’ve brought medicine for seasickness,” I said.
Nao shook her head. “I didn’t know, either. Don’t worry, this will make a nice memory in its own way.”
Her first time on a boat, and her first time getting seasick.
Nao looked a little pale beneath the shade of a palm tree, but she seemed to be enjoying herself nonetheless.
The white sand darkened slightly every time a wave washed over it.
White clouds bobbed listlessly in the blue sky.
“It feels great!”
There was a splash as Rit’s head popped up from underwater.
Her swaying breasts drew my eye, but with everyone around I had to control myself.
“Come on, Red! The water’s perfect!”
“I’ll join you in a moment!”
I stood about knee-deep in the ocean, watching everyone play.
Yarandrala swam with perfect form. Her slender, toned body was beautiful.
Tisse’s face emerged from the water, swaying with the waves.
Mister Crawly Wawly floated on threads attached to his legs. Evidently, he enjoyed riding on the waves. What an incredible spider.
“Big Brother.”
“Oh, hey, Ruti.”
Ruti stood at the edge of the water, right where the waves ebbed back into the sea. She held her hands behind her back. When I turned to face her, her cheeks reddened a little and she smiled.
“My swimsuit…”
“You bought it for this trip, right?”
“Mhm.” She nodded. “I wanted to get a custom one, but there wasn’t time.”
“It’s cute. It suits you.”
“Okay… Good.”
Her swimsuit complemented her well. The wet shirt made her red top really stand out. At first, I was surprised that she’d swim with a shirt on, but I guess it was meant for it. The way her body stood out through the translucent shirt was lovely. Her bikini bottom was a low rise tied with string that looked adorable on her.
Ruti had always been lovely, so anything she wore looked great, but she’d picked out an especially good swimsuit.
Zoltan was hot and stood by a river, so swimwear was important. Several local shops specialized in it. I wondered where Ruti had found her outfit.
Maybe I should go and thank them after we get back?
“Big Brother?”
“Sorry. It looks really nice on you.”
That was important, so it was worth repeating. When conveying your thoughts, it was important to be clear.
“Hehe.” Ruti smiled. She nearly looked bashful. However, her expression swiftly turned serious.
Noticing the shift, I asked, “What is it?”
“I have a request.”
“For you, I’ll do whatever I can.”
Ruti took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I’m going to put the Hero completely to sleep with New Truth for a bit.”
Put the Hero blessing to sleep? Why?
“And then I want to play with you,” she added.
“Oh. Okay.”
Her expression was completely grave, yet her request was so innocuous.
“Is that a problem?”
“No, of course not.”
With a nervous hand, she splashed some water at me.
“Now you’ve done it!” Cheerfully overacting a bit, I returned fire. The seawater hit her head on, making her blink.
“My eyes sting a little,” she said.
“It’s salt water, so of course it does. Without the Hero’s power, you have to look away or close your eyes.”
“I understand.”
Ruti reached down and splashed at me more forcefully.
I quickly turned away as the water hit me.
We chased each other around while splashing for a while before collapsing into the water. With her blessing sealed, Ruti could do as she pleased without fear of hurting anyone. And then…
“Hahaha.”
…Ruti laughed out loud.
Her eyes narrowed in a happy sort of way, her expression softened, her teeth showed, and she laughed in a voice that everyone heard.
“Hahaha! This is so much fun, Big Brother!”
Ruti was able to laugh out loud.
The Hero was gone. All anyone saw was a normal girl enjoying summer.
When evening arrived, we set up two tents—one for Tanta’s family and another for the rest of us. Then we got to work on the next important task.
“I did it, Big Bro!”
“Nice, good job, Tanta.”
Tanta proudly pointed to the coals glowing red in the barbecue.
There was a technique to starting a fire using flint, and Tanta managed to get a fire started in hardly any time at all.
“Here, a treat.” I passed a plate of baguette slices topped with cheese and tomato to Tanta.
“When did you make these?!”
“While prepping the food for the barbecue. Pass those around to everyone for me.”
“Oh, they aren’t all for me?” Tanta smirked and headed off to distribute the bread.
“Okay, time to start cooking.” I cut the pork we’d brought into thick chunks and stuck those on skewers. Then I basted the vegetables with olive oil and grilled them.
The bacon and sausages were already good to go.
We’d brought cheese and pickles, which would pair well with the cooked meat on bread.
“I see. So that’s your method, Red.”
“Tisse, Ruti, Mister Crawly Wawly.”
The three watched me work with clear interest.
Mister Crawly Wawly jumped from Tisse’s head, catching a fly that had been drawn by the smell of meat.
“Barbecue has many regional variations, much like oden,” Tisse noted.
“True. I picked up my style from my old job,” I replied.
I’d been taught how to grill during my tenure with the Bahamut Knights. Honestly, they’d all but beaten it into me.
I didn’t know why, but for some reason the knights in the capital felt strongly about barbecue. The squires of every company prepared barbecue three times a year—during the knight division parade, the capital jousting tournament, and the anniversary of Avalonia’s founding. The senior knights were strict, saying that the knights’ pride depended on the quality of the cookout.
The Bahamut Knights preferred pork skewered and grilled, and appetizers were to be served while people waited. That was their style. When I was a squire, I had thought it was a pointlessly over-the-top obsession, but thinking back, I realized it was a good team-building exercise and fair experience for making plans to deal with the unpredictability of battle. Maybe that was stretching it, though.
“At my old job, we sliced the meat thinner to let it cook faster,” Tisse said.
I perked up slightly. “Oh? That sounds nice.”
Evidently, the Assassins Guild had its own standards for barbecuing.
There really wasn’t much to grilling meat outside; it didn’t involve any elaborate process or tools. Perhaps that’s why there were so many regional variations. Anyone could try it. That made it interesting, in a way.
“Do you want to handle the cooking tomorrow, Tisse?” I offered.
“Can we get meat on the island?”
“There have to be field birds at least, and we could probably catch a few fish.”
There weren’t many places in Avalonia that had seafood barbecues. I’d always wanted to try one.
Maybe this is a good chance. We came all this way, after all.
I had no experience with grilling fish outdoors, but I didn’t expect it to be too different.
“Maybe this is how those regional differences develop,” I mused.
“Mhm, mhm. Just like with oden.” Tisse nodded, thoroughly convinced. “Which means, barbecue chikuwa should be possible, too.”
Tisse started muttering to herself, absorbed in abrupt inspiration.
After taking the Cooking skill, Tisse had started preparing various dishes featuring chikuwa.
Her present success rate was roughly 60 percent.
“Big Brother.”
Ruti sidled up next to me.
“I want to help.”
“It’s better if only one person watches the flames,” I said.
“Oh…”
“Although that also varies from place to place. There are regions where everyone keeps track of their own skewers to make sure they’re cooked to their preferences.”
I flipped the meat over.
Juices dripped onto the charcoal, eliciting an appetizing sizzle.
Looking good.
“I want to have one more cookout while we’re here. How about you handle the food during that one?” I proposed.
“Okay. I want to try.”
“Great. Then watch what I’m doing carefully.”
Ruti observed and listened intently as I explained what I was doing.
She seemed to be having a good time, making all that time spent learning to barbecue as a squire worthwhile.
The red sun approached the horizon, and a white moon hung in the purple sky.
“Big Bro, this is really great!”
“You like the sausage, Tanta?”
“Yeah. This is even better than what we have at home! What’s your secret?”
“It’s just normal sausage that I bought at the market yesterday. I grilled it and added some salt and pepper.”
“But this one definitely tastes better!”
“Well,” I said coyly. “Just between us, there is one secret to it.”
Tanta’s eyes widened. “Really?!”
“Food tastes different depending on where you eat it.”
“Food tastes better when you eat it on an island?!” the boy shouted.
I put a finger to my lips and shushed him, and he covered his mouth with both hands and nodded.
The experience of the moment affected the flavor. The same dish could taste different depending on the state of your mind. A barbecue on an island beach with the ocean separating you from home… Location was the ultimate seasoning.
“You’re right, the food in a wonderful place like this is even more delicious than usual.”
“Well put, Rit,” I said.
She looked blissful as she enjoyed her plate. “The meatiness of this is just sublime!”
I nodded. “Simple seasoning really highlights the natural flavor perfectly.”
“I want some more!” Tanta grew excited from Rit’s wholehearted gusto. I smiled and gave him a second helping.
“Here you go.”
“Hooray! Thanks, Big Bro!”
“I made plenty, so if want thirds, just say so.”
“Okay!”
Tanta’s ears twitched happily as he ran over to Nao, who’d thankfully recovered from her seasickness.
“Tanta’s a good kid,” I said.
A soft smile bloomed on Rit’s face. “Yeah, he has a bit of a mischievous side, but he’s always polite when it counts.”
He wasn’t a perfect angel who always did what adults asked and never pulled any pranks. He got into trouble and made people angry occasionally, and he pouted and cried, too. Still, I thought he was a good kid.
“I’ve known him for about a year and a half now,” I noted. “He’s definitely gotten bigger.”
“Children grow up fast,” Rit said.
Tanta stood on the tips of his toes to whisper in his mother’s ear. I suspected he was sharing the secret of the ultimate seasoning.
“Hehe.” Rit wore a gentle expression as she watched. “Hey, Red.”
“Hm?”
“What should we name our child?”
“Eh?!”
“We’re engaged, so the next step is marriage, and then having a baby, right?”
“Ah, uh, right.”
A hazy image of the future took shape in my mind.
Would we be able to raise a kid to be like Tanta?
“What will we do if our child turns out bad?” I asked.
“Love them, of course,” Rit answered matter-of-factly.
Children never grew up quite how their parents intended. Ours might come to hate me. “You’re right,” I said. “No matter what, they’d still be our child, so I’d always love them.”
Rit leaned against me. “I’m looking forward to the future.”
Next would be marriage, and then a baby. Rit’s words buzzed around in my head.
I’d never dared to entertain such a happy vision of the future during the old days.
“Yeah, me too.” I felt Rit’s warmth as I replied.
““…!””
Rit and I spun around in unison, sensing an unknown presence. At first, we only saw palm trees and shrubs.
“Who’s there?” I called.
A tall shape casually emerged from the long shadows cast by the trees beneath the setting sun.
“I’m sorry, I heard cheerful voices and smelled a delicious scent, so I came to investigate,” said a woman in white.
She was extremely tall, just over one hundred and eighty centimeters. However, something stood out more than her height.
“Is there something wrong with your eyes?”
She had a leather belt across them, blinding her.
“A disease. It was quite long ago,” she answered with a faint smile. “Don’t worry. My ears and nose have grown keen. Enough that I found my way to you.” She held out a long, slender arm and reached for me. “I know the people I touch more deeply than I ever could with sight.”
She approached slowly, her palm ready to cup my face.
“Red!” Rit shifted, wary.
“Are you with the church?” I questioned.
The woman stopped in her tracks.
“How did you know?”
“There are a few things that give it away. Firstly, I’m an apothecary. All I need is a look to know whether your blindness resulted from an illness.”
“…I see.”
“You did that to yourself, didn’t you? Such a practice is only done by ascetic hermits.”
Honestly, the self-inflicted blindness alone wasn’t enough for me to be sure. I spoke confidently because she clearly possessed a high-tier blessing like Cleric. I couldn’t narrow it down to any one specifically, however.
She’d taken some irregular skills for the purpose of her asceticism. Discerning the exact Divine Blessing of one who didn’t pick efficient combat skills suited to their God-given role from their gait was challenging.
“Please pardon my rudeness. As one still undergoing ascetic observance, I did not wish to fall prey to the sin of pride by mistakenly leading others to view me as a priest of great virtue who’d completed her trials.”
The woman slowly lowered her arm.
“I am Eremite, an ascetic hermit, as you said. Praise Demis for this day.” She held out her palm again. “A handshake would not be too much to ask, would it?”
She wore a faint smile.
I looked at her hand. It was a pale, slender thing.
What should I do?
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t hesitate, but Eremite’s words left me cautious.
Was there a skill that triggered through touching palms?
Perhaps she hoped to learn if I was dangerous and lying about being an apothecary, judging me by my reluctance to accept her handshake.
“Nice to meet you.” Rit inserted herself between us, taking Eremite’s hand.
“I’m Rit. I’m a pretty well-known adventurer in Zoltan, so you’ve probably heard of me.”
“Rit, was it?”
“Yes, I’m well-acquainted with Bishop Shien from Zoltan’s church, but I never knew there was an ascetic out on this island.”
“I’m undergoing an observance of solitude, cutting off one of the five senses and living alone in the wilderness away from others. It’s not proper for one submitting to adversity to request support from others of the church.”
Rit conversed with Eremite while I retreated a few steps.
“Who is that, Big Bro?”
“Oh, that’s quite the pretty lady.”
Tanta and Gonz came over.
Eremite smiled at Tanta, but he seemed a little wary of the woman with covered eyes.
“I am Eremite, a monk undertaking an observance of solitude on this island.”
“N-nice to meet you. I’m Tanta.”
“I’m Gonz, a carpenter.”
Gonz flashed a carefree smile.
Their interest in our guest helped me remove myself from the talking. Gonz and Rit became the focus of Eremite’s attention.
Ascetic hermits of the church were common around various holy sites, but there shouldn’t have been any near Zoltan.
Gonz and Tanta were rightfully curious, for this was the first such person they’d ever met.
“What do ascetic hermits do?” Tanta inquired.
“Well, in my case, I live alone out here in the woods on this island.”
“Don’t you get lonely?”
“At first, perhaps. The isolation made me feel as though I were the only person in the world. However, that sensation helped me realize that God’s love is with me. That’s the purpose of the trial.”
Gonz sniffed. “That doesn’t really make sense to me.”
“The observance allows one to realize that we are endowed with God’s love from the moment we are born,” Eremite continued.
Excitement touched her voice. I could clearly sense her steadfast faith.
“We are provided for from the very beginning. Everything attained in this life is hollow, and realizing that makes it possible to perceive the true beauty of existence. Take my eyes. I know that I am sufficient precisely because I lost them. Such is God’s truth.”
Eremite touched the belt across her face. Tanta’s face tensed in fear.
That’s overdoing it.
“Back away. Before I get angry,” Rit said harshly.
“Don’t go scaring the kid,” Gonz warned.
They had spoken up before I could. Eremite, who’d been reaching for Tanta, pulled her arm back.
“My apologies. I’ve become accustomed to solitude…I was too quick to begin preaching,” she said, moving away.
“It seems improper for an ascetic hermit such as yourself to join a barbecue,” Rit stated.
“Indeed.” Eremite smiled. “I merely intended to investigate what was happening when I sensed a presence different from the inhabitants on the island. In my excitement, I’ve overstepped my boundaries. I’ve been here for quite a long while. My apologies for disrupting you.” She lowered her head. “May God’s love be with all of you.”
“Where do you live?” I questioned. “We wouldn’t want to disrupt your observance, so we’ll be careful not to get too close.”
“Thank you for your consideration. I reside in the woods to the southeast, a place called the Dark Forest.”
Another ominous-sounding name…
That region of the island was actually quite fertile and dense with flora. A thick forest canopy would blot out the light, making it dark even during the day. Perhaps it was given a scary title to keep kids from venturing there.
Eremite bowed. “Please excuse me.”
“I hope your ascetic observance goes well,” I said.
With that, she returned to the woods. She had to be moving through the foliage, yet there wasn’t a single sound.
“Ascetics are weird,” Gonz muttered.
“I can hear you, Uncle Gonz,” Tanta said.
The man shrugged, and I smiled awkwardly at him.
“I agree.”
“You too, Big Bro?!”
We all laughed, and the mood swiftly recovered.
After serving everyone another helping of food, I went over to Rit. “Any issues?” I asked.
“There’s no trace of any magic or a curse, and it doesn’t feel like my blessing or mind were probed by any skill.”
I didn’t detect anything abnormal about Rit, either. Had Eremite done anything, it left no sign.
“Let’s have Ruti check later, just to be sure,” I said. “Her Healing Hands can remove the effects of any skill.”
Rit sighed. “The Hero really can do anything.”
“Because it has some pretty terrible limitations in exchange…”
Fortunately, Ruti’s New Truth had removed those hindrances. For all the suffering the Hero had wrought on Ruti, it would be quite useful to her going forward.
Once the barbecue ended, Ruti used Healing Hands to confirm that Rit had suffered no adverse effects.
Eremite carried a strange feeling with her that had put us on guard, but perhaps we’d been needlessly cautious.
An ascetic hermit undergoing training on an island out on the frontier, far removed from any major country—she was a strange person, but not threatening.
“There’s no telling if she used some kind of investigative skill, though,” Ruti reminded.
She was right. No normal person could pull something like that on Rit without her realizing, but it wasn’t impossible to skirt detection. Ares could have used Appraisal to view Rit’s blessing inconspicuously.
However, I had spent enough time with him to know when he activated Appraisal by his quirks.
“We could try asking about Eremite in the village tomorrow, to be sure,” I proposed, recalling the village leader’s comment. The locals had to know about Eremite. Maybe they weren’t permitted to say anything about the ascetic without permission. It explained why the leader had made that odd comment.
“Eremite, huh?” I lay down on a cloth spread on the sand and gazed at the starry sky. Not a single cloud marred the view.
“It’s an alias for sure,” I said. “The name completely gives it away.” Eremite—a hermit. I was hardly one to judge, having adopted a different name for my new life.
“There are all sorts of people in the world,” came a familiar voice.
“Shouldn’t you be asleep?”
“Heh. I’m having too much fun. It’s hard to sleep.”
It was Tanta.
I shifted slightly to the side, and Tanta lay down next to me. My elbow touched the sand.
“Were you scared?” I asked.
“…Yeah. Just a little bit.”
“To think we’d run into an ascetic hermit out here on our trip… They’re a strange bunch, but a lot of them are easy enough to get along with. Sometimes, you get strange ones like that woman, though.”
“Really? I thought they might all be scary people… What is an ascetic anyway?”
“An individual who follows various intense acts described in the church’s scripture. The idea is to put your body through extreme conditions to gain grace.”
“And ‘grace’ is a good thing, right? Why do pain and loneliness become something good?”
I wish I could’ve explained it better. Questions like that were tough for me, since I was hardly a follower of Demis.
“I can’t really say, other than that’s what’s written in the church’s scripture,” I replied. “There are a lot of people in the church who follow the writings regardless of what they are.”
Honestly, that was the standard practice. The scripture was the word of God, so it was believed to be fundamentally infallible.
“Should I hurt myself, too?” Tanta sounded a little worried.
I shook my head firmly. “No, what ascetic hermits do is something only for people who want it. No one in Zoltan’s church has done anything like that, right? And Bishop Shien hasn’t ever told you that you need to do anything like that, right?”
“No!”
“If there really is some virtue to enduring hardship, it comes from your own determination to take the more difficult path. That’s how I see it, at least.”
“That’s a vague answer for you, Big Bro.”
“Well, there’s a lot about the church that I don’t know.”
“I didn’t think there was anything you didn’t understand,” Tanta said.
I shrugged. Making sense of ascetic stuff wasn’t my strong suit.
The scripture was fundamentally centered around Divine Blessings. It recommended fighting to raise one’s level. However, asceticism had nothing to do with blessings. In fact, it involved decreasing one’s fighting ability by injuring oneself.
When I’d first read the scripture, I wondered whether the chapters about asceticism were added later by someone other than Demis, since they seemed so at odds with the centrality of Divine Blessings.
“Listen, there’s no reason to suffer more than absolutely necessary,” I said firmly.
“But I have to hurt a little to become a carpenter,” Tanta replied.
“Really?”
“Yeah! A few days ago, I was practicing using a chisel to shave down some wood, and I scraped my finger!”
“That sounds painful.”
“It would’ve been bad if it wasn’t for your medicine.”
Tanta gestured exaggeratedly.
That must be what Gonz came by to pick up.
He’d only purchased some simple stuff to stop the bleeding and clean the wound, but if it had eased Tanta’s pain, then I was grateful to have chosen the life of an apothecary.
“You’re going to need more medicine if you become a carpenter,” I warned.
“No, I won’t! Uncle Gonz said a good carpenter doesn’t make the same mistakes twice!”
“Oh yeah? That’s too bad. I was looking forward to you visiting my shop more often.”
“Hmmm. When I grow up, I’ll go drinking like Uncle Gonz and come in to buy hangover medicine.”
“You probably shouldn’t do that.”
“Help Red, everything’s spinning~”
We shared a laugh at his impression of Gonz, then went silent for a little while to stare at the sky.
“The stars are amazing!” Tanta marveled.
“Yeah, and seeing them reflected on the dark sea is something you can’t experience in Zoltan.”
The glittering pinpoints seemed to go on forever, above and below. The line between sea and air grew thin. It almost seemed like I could reach the stars by wading far enough into the ocean.
“Tanta, do you want to see more stuff like this that you can’t see in Zoltan?”
“I do!”
“Do you think you’d like to travel?”
“Hmm. If that’s what it takes, then maybe not. I like Zoltan.”
He didn’t hesitate much, and there was no doubt in his words.
“I see. Nothing wrong with that.”
I ruffled the boy’s hair. He laughed ticklishly. I couldn’t help but hope that he’d realize his dream one day.
The moon rose high, and we eventually fell asleep.
It had been a good day.
When I next awoke, Tanta was shouting. It was dark. The sun had yet to rise. Dawn was only just beginning to color the horizon.
On that day, Tanta finally connected with his Divine Blessing.
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