Chapter Fourteen: Secret Base
“Alright, little Naofumi! You and I are going to have some fun tonight!”
“Like hell we are!”
One night, several days after Itsuki arrived at the village, I decided to have Sadeena teach me the Way of the Dragon Vein. The slaves had gotten over their trauma for the most part, so she didn’t have to spend so much time looking after them at night.
“He’s right, Sadeena! You need to stop fooling around so much!” Raphtalia snapped.
Raphtalia must have finally gotten her nights back to herself too, because she was sleeping at my house again. I’d asked her to fight Atla off if she showed up during the night.
“Oh, by the way, I figured it might be difficult for me to teach you all of the details by myself, so I asked little Gaelion to help out,” Sadeena said.
She stuck her hand out the window and made a beckoning motion. Gaelion came flying over in his baby dragon form and entered the room.
“Hmm . . . So you want to learn the Way of the Dragon Vein, do you? I sense that a divine blessing has already been bestowed upon you.”
“Did he just sp—”
Raphtalia was standing there dumbstruck after hearing Gaelion speak.
“I am Gaelion, the weakest of the emperor dragons. I was slain by the Sword Hero. Nice to meet you.”
Introducing oneself as “the weakest” was kind of strange, but whatever.
“He’s the dragon that raised Wyndia. The Demon Dragon took control of his core, and now he shares a body with baby Gaelion. I didn’t have time to explain before now,” I added.
“Normally I would have introduced myself right away, but I’ve had my hands full keeping my presence hidden from Wyndia, since she’s always around.”
“Little Gaelion can use the Way of the Dragon Vein too. With him helping out, you should be able to get the hang of it in no time.”
“That would be nice.”
I’d been studying a bit on my own, but it wasn’t going very well. Ren and Itsuki . . . Those two still couldn’t even use normal magic without relying on crystal balls or something. I was rushing them to master normal magic, while also trying to work on the Way of the Dragon Vein in my own time.
Then again, now that I had Sadeena and Gaelion with me, couldn’t they just fire off powerful support magic nonstop? I guess it would still be good for me to learn too.
“Mr. Naofumi! Huh?! Brother!”
“Atla! I’m not letting you get away tonight! I’ll show you the fruits of my training!”
“Ha! Do you really think someone like you could stop me, Brother?”
“I’ll stop you tonight for sure!”
I heard a loud commotion coming from outside of the house. I peeked outside and saw an imbecilic pair of siblings brawling while the rest of the slaves looked on excitedly. What were all of them still doing up?!
“I have a feeling it’s going to be hard to concentrate,” I mumbled.
“I think you’re right. Atla will probably be here shortly, so I doubt you’ll get to learn much magic tonight,” Raphtalia replied.
“It would be nice if there was a good place we could go. Should we use my portal and go find a place near the castle?”
“That could work. But if it were only as far as the castle, Atla might still show up riding Chick, for example.”
Who was that? Ah, that must have been Filo Underling #1’s name. I seemed to recall hearing the slaves call it that while petting it.
Zeltoble could work. But on second thought, Zeltoble wasn’t any quieter, and then I’d have to worry about accommodations and dealing with the slave trader. After staring out the window and enjoying the commotion for a few moments, Sadeena suddenly spoke up.
“How about I take us to my secret base then?”
“Secret base?” I asked.
“Yep. There’s a little island not far from the village, and my secret base is on that island. I doubt even little Atla could come after you there.”
“Hmm . . . If that hakuko girl is going to interfere with our training, then it does make sense to move to a quieter spot,” said Gaelion.
“Fine. Raphtalia, don’t leave my side, no matter what. You’re the only one I can trust,” I said.
I could only imagine what might happen to me if I ended up alone with Sadeena and Gaelion. Well, mainly Sadeena. But that would have been pretty much the same as being alone with her, so who knew what she might try to do.
“Mr. Naofumi, I think you’re a bit too scared,” Raphtalia replied.
“Oh? I wonder who he’s more afraid of? Me or you, little Raphtalia?” Sadeena poked.
Seriously? Raphtalia, of course! That went without saying! Raphtalia got really scary whenever Sadeena started hanging all over me.
“Should I swim, and you can all ride me? Or should we have Gaelion fly us out there?”
“Gaelion sounds good.”
If something happened, I could sick Gaelion on Sadeena. That should at least buy me enough time to get away.
We all climbed onto Gaelion and departed for the island where Sadeena’s secret base was located.
“Wow. So this is where your secret base is, huh?”
It had been around thirty minutes since we climbed on to Gaelion’s back. The island finally came into view. It was dark, so I couldn’t see well, but it wasn’t a very big island. It reminded me of one of those crescent-shaped atolls I’d seen in travel brochures. There didn’t seem to be any monsters on the island either. I didn’t want to sound like Motoyasu, but it seemed like a romantic little island floating there under the moon.
Once we landed, Sadeena took us to a cave near the edge of the island and lit a torch inside. The cave even had a little hole in the roof, like a skylight. The interior was crude—what I imagined a pirate cave would look like. There was a table made of haphazardly piled-up rocks and a chair that was really just a tree trunk that had been split down the middle. There seemed to be other rooms in the back, but it was dark, so I couldn’t really tell.
“Make yourselves at home.”
“You used to come here with mom and dad, right? When I was little, they told me they’d bring me when I grew up. I remember lying in bed unable to sleep because I was so excited,” Raphtalia said.
I could relate with that. I could remember being little and getting excited when relatives told me they would take me camping. But I had no recollection of ever actually going camping, by the way.
“Oh? So you already knew about this place then?” Sadeena asked.
“Yes,” replied Raphtalia.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure even Atla won’t show up all the way out here,” I said.
“Right?”
Then again, I couldn’t help but feel like she might actually try to swim or take a boat.
“Alright then, little Naofumi. How about we go ahead and get started with the Way of the Dragon Vein lessons?”
“Sounds good.”
“This isn’t the kind of thing you can learn without having a certain amount of aptitude, right? I’d like to be able to use it too, if possible,” said Raphtalia.
“It should be possible if I bestow my blessing upon you,” Gaelion replied.
“In that case, you should join us, Raphtalia. If we can learn it together, then that’s even better.”
Surely that would be a good thing if Raphtalia could use it too. But Sadeena stared at Raphtalia for a moment and then groaned.
“Hmm . . . Teaching little Raphtalia could be problematic.”
“She can’t learn?” I asked.
“Hmm?”
Gaelion placed his hand above Raphtalia’s head.
“Ah, I see. She already has some kind of blessing bestowed on her. It seems to be far too powerful for me to remove in my current state,” he said.
“R . . . really?” Raphtalia asked.
“Does it have to do with the vassal weapon or something?” I asked.
I guess this was a downside to having a vassal weapon from Kizuna’s world. How annoying. That reminded me, I’d forgotten to ask Kizuna and the others about what kind of magic they used in their world. I seemed to remember there being something about that in the manuscripts they gave us, but deciphering that stuff was such a hassle. I guess I’d just have Rishia figure it out. Then again, Rishia had been working on deciphering a different manuscript already and was having a hard time. I guess I shouldn’t expect much. Not to mention, she had to take care of Itsuki now too.
“If I absorbed the knowledge of that other world’s emperor dragon from the core you have, then I should be able to teach her, but . . .” Gaelion suggested.
“It’s all too easy to imagine you getting swallowed up instead,” I replied.
“I’m just lucky that he was a different class of emperor dragon, which is why he didn’t completely assimilate me. If that hadn’t been the case, that would have been the end of me.”
“I see . . .”
So there could be class differences, even if they were both emperor dragons. I guess that meant he could read some kind of basic information from the core stone, but there were fundamental incompatibilities at a deeper level. The Demon Dragon was the whole reason Kizuna got summoned to the other world in the first place. I’m sure the Demon Dragon that Kizuna fought was stronger than the one we had faced recently.
Gaelion pointed at some water in a jug.
“We’ll start by drawing power from that water over there. I’ll show you how it’s done.”
Gaelion placed his hand over the jug.
“I call upon the power of this water to come to me and take form. Earth Vein! Lend me your power!”
“Aqua Seal!”
Some kind of power shot up out of the water toward Gaelion and materialized in the form of magic. I’m pretty sure that spell was supposed to create a magic barrier. It would be effective against fire-based magic. That would come in handy at the scene of a fire.
“So there are no magical tomes or anything, I guess.”
“With the magic you normally use, you materialize your own power using a fixed process. This magic doesn’t work like that. You’re borrowing power from other sources,” Gaelion replied.
It seemed to employ the same basic system as the magic Therese used. She had told me once that she was borrowing the power of her jewels when she cast her spells.
“Dragons can call upon their own power to conjure the magic, but humans should stick to borrowing power from other sources,” he continued.
“Why is that?” I asked.
“We’re talking about your own life force, otherwise. If you overdo it, you’ll end up drawing out every last bit of your own power. You would die,” he replied.
Whoa! That was a risk I didn’t want to take.
“On the contrary, when it comes to materializing magic using your own inner resources, the magic you normally use is more than enough,” he said.
That was true. So normal magic drew from your own power, and the Way of the Dragon Vein borrowed power from other sources. I’d just remember it that way.
“I’m sure you realize this, little Naofumi, but once you are able to use the Way of the Dragon Vein, it’ll be easy to use counter-magic too. You’re reading the opponent’s power in order to interfere with their casting,” Sadeena said.
Oh? So that’s why the Way of the Dragon Vein made things like interference possible. Ceremonial magic and cooperative magic were difficult because you had to attune your power to that of others. This would simplify that process. I think that’s what she was saying.
Gaelion and Sadeena continued to give me pointers, and I spent the next two hours or so practicing using the Way of the Dragon Vein.
“I told you to stop injecting magic power! I can tell there’s some kind of strange magic power going into the water just by watching!” Gaelion lectured.
“You can see that?” I asked.
“The water is vibrating! Not to mention, it’s glowing!”
Ugh . . . Therese had scolded me about the same thing when I was practicing magic with her. They really did seem to be similar systems.
“It . . . It seems incredibly difficult,” Raphtalia commented.
She was watching me as I struggled to figure it out. She looked concerned.
“Hey, Raphtalia, maybe you remember. The magic back in Kizuna’s world was similar. Maybe you can use the same kind of magic that Therese used.”
“I’ll give it my best shot.”
“Little Naofumi, you have to avoid releasing magic power like you would when using normal magic. Instead, think of yourself as empty and let the power come to you from the water.”
“Yeah, that’s what’s so hard.”
It was a sensory type of thing, and those were always the most difficult.
Alright . . . Don’t use magic power to draw it out. Let the power come to me from the water.
Nothing was happening. The water didn’t respond.
Concentrate! Hey, water! Give me your power!
“Stop releasing magic power!” Gaelion thundered. Goddammit! This was so annoying! I felt like I was starting to understand why Wyndia could only use the Way of the Dragon Vein. The fact that Sadeena could use both types of magic just meant that she was a bona fide freak. She was a prodigy. I wasn’t. I was just a hard worker.
I continued to struggle, and another two hours or so passed. I was starting to get the idea of how it worked. Since I’d developed the ability to see the flow of magic power, watching Gaelion and Sadeena cast spells and then mimicking their flow had done the trick. In other words, I just kept begging them to do it over and over.
While watching, I created an empty space in my own magic power. Then I carefully extended the magic power out until it just brushed the water’s surface, like reaching with my hand. A pristine flow of power was sucked up into my body by way of the magic.
“That’s it. That’s good enough. You’re progressing faster than I expected. I’m surprised,” said Gaelion.
“Yeah, not bad,” Sadeena added.
After that, a little puzzle popped up, like when I’d cast magic along with Ost or Sadeena. I was already familiar with how to do the rest.
“I call upon the power of this water to come to me and take form. Earth Vein! Lend me your power!”
“Aqua Seal!”
A target icon popped up on my screen. I chose myself and verified that the magic had successfully been cast.
“Hmph. You sure learned that quickly. I guess heroes really are different,” Gaelion said.
“Yeah, you must be a genius, little Naofumi,” Sadeena poked.
“Oh, shut up. You have no idea how much time I’ve spent studying on my own.”
Now that I had figured it out, it seemed like it had taken hardly any time at all. But they had no idea how hard I’d worked to get here. Ost had granted me the ability to use it, and I’d been practicing ever since getting Therese to teach me the basics! I’d been racking my brains and trying to figure it out forever now.
“All that’s left is to practice, practice, practice. Diligence is key,” said Gaelion.
“Yeah. Now that I can manage this much, I guess that’s really the only option,” I replied.
It was like learning to ride a bike. Being able to just barely pull it off would be pointless. I needed to shoot for becoming a pro cyclist. Well, they didn’t have those in this world, but still . . .
“Alright, I guess we should wrap things up and get some sleep,” I said.
“Good idea. I completely lost track of time,” Gaelion replied.
“You know what that means, little Naofumi. It’s time for you and me to have a drink!”
Sadeena brought a barrel of alcohol out from the back and plunked it down in front of us.
“Where the hell did you get that from?”
“I salvaged it from a shipwreck. It’s perfectly aged!”
As if I cared. Wherever she’d gotten it, I’m sure the circumstances had been shady. That’s probably why she was keeping it here.
“Salvaged it from a shipwreck, you say?”
“Yep.”
“Is keeping something like that for yourself allowed? In Melromarc?”
“It’s perfectly fine. This barrel falls outside of salvaging law jurisdiction.”
“Salvaging law?”
“Salvaging law says that someone who salvages something maintains seventy percent ownership, and the remaining thirty percent goes to Melromarc. It’s a pretty useless law actually. It only applies to the territorial waters of Melromarc. I salvaged this in international waters.”
Well, I guess it would be impossible to prove who had salvaged what. People could probably get away with it as long as they kept their mouths shut.
“The waves have been high lately, and the currents around Melromarc are strong. Now is the right time to be on the lookout.”
I guess the waves of destruction made the ocean waves more dangerous too. Now that she mentioned it, I did seem to recall the captain saying something similar when we were on the boat headed to the Cal Mira islands.
“Do you want me to do a bit of treasure hunting if I get some free time? That might be dangerous if I don’t level up some more first though.”
“You’ve already leveled up quite a bit. I could use some treasure right about now if you’re up to it.”
What I really wanted to know is how she leveled up so quickly. Maybe monsters gave more experience in the water. But underwater treasure sure sounded lucrative. I guess salvaging was kind of like a side job for Sadeena.
That must have been how she’d made money before meeting me, apart from her fight purses and other funding from Zeltoble.
“Okay, let’s all get our drink on!” Sadeena exclaimed.
“Hmm . . . I could go for a stiff drink,” said Gaelion.
He leaned toward the barrel.
“Here! This is for you, little Gaelion!”
Sadeena pulled out a 1.8-liter glass bottle and handed it to Gaelion. Umm, was that Japanese sake? The bottle was shaped the same. I guess one of the previous heroes must have told someone how to make it like that.
“Cheers,” he said.
Gaelion starting drinking straight out of the bottle.
“Oh! This is the good stuff, isn’t it?”
“It sure is. It’s from the region where I grew up. It’s strong enough to satisfy even a dragon.”
“I see . . .”
Gaelion continued drinking. He seemed to be in high spirits.
“What about you, little Raphtalia? Your parents could really hold their alcohol, so I bet you can too.”
“Umm, sure.”
She could definitely drink a lot. L’Arc had been totally smashed by the time Raphtalia had only started getting tipsy.
“Drink up, you two. I have some rucolu fruit for you too, little Naofumi.”
Sadeena handed me and Raphtalia a drink. It wasn’t like I actually liked rucolu fruit that much. But whatever. Going on about that at a time like this would be tactless.
With a map of the sea in one hand, I discussed our plans, while we all went on drinking. Every time the conversation died down for a moment, Sadeena started prodding Raphtalia.
“Hey, little Raphtalia. What do you think about little Naofumi?”
“I have a lot of respect for Mr. Naofumi.”
Oh? She was always getting upset with my crude behavior, so her answer was a bit of a surprise to me. This probably wasn’t the kind of thing a person should admit, but I really did do a lot of terrible stuff.
“Is that really how you feel?”
“Yes.”
“So you don’t want to marry him or anything like that?”
“I . . . uhh . . .”
Huh? Marry me? Was she asking if Raphtalia thought of me in a romantic sense? It wouldn’t really bother me if she did say she liked me, but I’m pretty sure Raphtalia had other things much higher on her list of priorities. That was clear from how hard she was working to ensure that more children didn’t end up in the same unfortunate circumstances she had, as a result of the waves.
“I . . . That’s . . . Umm . . .”
Raphtalia’s face turned red. She was looking this way and that, avoiding eye contact. Chronologically speaking, Raphtalia was still pretty young. She probably shouldn’t have been drinking alcohol actually, and she wasn’t old enough to be thinking about things like love and romance. She only thought of me as a surrogate parent. Asking her to think about me in that way was probably just getting her worked up.
“I . . . Mishter Nawofoomee . . .”
Raphtalia was starting to slur her speech. I didn’t think she would be that drunk already.
“Oh? Little Raphtalia?”
“Whuud I’m shaying ish . . .”
Raphtalia’s face fell smack-dab into the table with a loud thud.
“Err . . . I, too . . . am feeling a bit . . .”
Gaelion shook his head back and forth and then lay down on his back.
Hmm . . . Raphtalia was no lightweight, and she was passed out drunk. Meanwhile, Sadeena and I were completely unfazed. Something about that was kind of depressing. I always felt out of place when I went out drinking with a group of people. That’s why I didn’t really like drinking very much. I just felt more and more alone as everyone else happily drunk themselves further into oblivion.
I had no idea what it felt like to be drunk. I’d never even gotten motion sickness, which was supposed to have symptoms similar to being hungover at least. I guess the closest I had ever come to being drunk was experiencing a state of euphoria. Well, that was an exaggeration, but I’d felt carefree while just having fun before. I guess I’d been drunk with success before, but that was obviously not the same thing.
I don’t remember who it was, but someone once told me I drank like a mutant fish. Mutant . . . Really?
“Well, look at that. Dragon Killer and Tanuki are both famous drinks where I come from, and it looks like they live up to their names. I guess they were a bit much for little Gaelion and little Raphtalia.”
What?! What was Sadeena implying?!
“You . . . This was your plan, wasn’t it?!”
This was bad. Sadeena had obviously intentionally chosen drinks that would be too much for Raphtalia and Gaelion. And now there was a chance that she would make a move on me. Worst-case scenario, I could use Shield Prison and then flee using my portal, maybe.
“Now then. Let’s have another drink!”
“No thanks. I’m going home.”
“Oh, come on. If you go home, what will happen to little Raphtalia and little Gaelion?”
“I’ll take them with me when I use my portal.”
“I’m sure you will. But I want to talk with you a bit before you do that.”
“Talk? Aren’t you planning some kind of rampant debauchery?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Sadeena cheerfully chugged the remainder of her drink. And then her demeanor changed instantaneously.
“Little Naofumi, I want to know what your true intentions are toward little Raphtalia.”
Sadeena completely dropped her usual playful attitude and changed into her demi-human form. She had a dead-serious look in her eyes when she asked.
“You got Raphtalia and Gaelion completely smashed just to ask me that?”
What did Raphtalia really mean to Sadeena anyway? I didn’t know what the deal was, but asking Sadeena about it always felt like crossing some kind of line. She never gave me a straightforward answer.
This was something that happened not too long ago.
We were right in the middle of getting the village set up and rebuilding the neighboring town. Having gotten wind of the fact that my most-trusted assistant was a racoon-type demi-human, a whole bunch of demi-humans, racoon-type demi-humans, showed up at the territory.
“Shield Hero, since your most-trusted assistant is a racoon-type demi-human, that makes us practically family. We rallied together and came as quickly as possible to help you with the reconstruction.”
When I saw the other racoon-types, I couldn’t believe how different they were from Raphtalia. I’m not sure if portly was the right word . . . Basically, they struck me as a bunch of pudgy country bumpkins. They didn’t seem very driven. It was more like they figured they could come latch on to me and live an easy life, so I wasn’t too keen on the idea of taking them in.
But seeing as they were racoon-types, I also found it really hard to refuse. Any time I met eyes with one of them, they started explaining all the details of how they were related by blood, probably in an attempt to pressure me. That really started getting on my nerves, and I was contemplating just telling them to leave.
That’s when Sadeena stepped forward. Unlike her usual cheerful self, she was seething with anger. She pointed her harpoon at them.
“I’m sorry, but any blood ties you might have with little Naofumi’s most-trusted assistant are so far separated that you’re as good as complete strangers. Don’t try to use that as an excuse to win his favor. Understood?”
Sensing her anger, the whole bunch of them were scared stiff.
“Well, if you really want to help out, then I guess you can give us a hand with the reconstruction over at the neighboring town. I’ll think about making you an official part of the team later,” I told them.
After wrapping up the discussion, I sent them to help with the town’s reconstruction. But not long after . . . Yeah, now I remember. I’m pretty sure almost all of them had fled during the night by the time three or so days had passed.
That wasn’t the only time Sadeena had acted strangely. Every now and then I would catch her glaring at something in the village, but there was never anybody there. She’d have a wary look in her eyes, as if there was someone hiding or something. But if someone were using concealment magic, I’m sure Raphtalia would have noticed. She never actually mentioned anything, so it was most likely just her imagination.
“Seriously, what’s the nature of your relationship with Raphtalia anyway?”
I don’t know, but . . . Even I’d been able to work out that finding Raphtalia had been Sadeena’s true motivation for buying up the slaves in Zeltoble. Of course, judging by how she interacted with the villagers, securing the slaves was still a big part of it, I’m sure.
“Little Naofumi, little Raphtalia and her parents were what gave my life meaning.”
“Gave your life meaning?”
What was her connection to them? That just made things even more confusing. Back in my world, cultural concepts like chivalry or the way of the samurai had existed in the past. Maybe it was something like that.
“When the first wave occurred here in this world, I wasn’t able to protect little Raphtalia’s parents. Well the truth is, I had been somewhere far away when it happened, and I couldn’t make it back in time. It was carelessness on my part.”
There was a hint of regret in Sadeena’s whispers. She took another drink. Judging from her demeanor, she definitely didn’t seem to be joking. Raphtalia was still out cold. Sadeena tucked her into a simple bed in the cave and then continued where she left off. Sadeena seemed to be serious, so there was no reason for me to be hard on her, even if it was just the two of us.
“But when I finally made it back to the village several days after the wave occurred, nobody was there,” she continued.
“I searched and searched. I was sure that they had survived. But I’m a demi-human, so I had to stay away from the shadier side of things in Melromarc. Zeltoble specializes in the slave trade, so I went there and continued my search as a combat slave. I had some big-name connections there, so I figured things would work out if I could save up some money.”
“You took quite the detour, huh?”
In reality, Raphtalia had been a dirt-cheap slave. Sadeena may have searched really hard, but she sure ended up a long way off target.
“Searching specifically for a slave named Raphtalia that looked like a racoon was just taking too much time. I did manage to find some of the other village children though.”
“Yeah, you were protecting the village slaves, right?”
“Yes. And then when I did finally come across little Raphtalia, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I never expected her to be fighting by your side, little Naofumi.”
“Talk about a life full of ups and downs. Raphtalia’s, that is.”
If possible, I wanted Raphtalia to live a comfortable, quiet life once this world had found peace. She’d believed in me, so I wanted her to be happy. That wasn’t going to change. Sometimes I just wanted this world to go up in flames, but as long as Raphtalia lived here, I had no qualms about doing my best to make it a peaceful place.
“You said, ‘looked like a racoon.’ Is Raphtalia not a racoon-type?”
“It’s kind of like how I get mistaken for an orca. She’s not exactly a racoon, but she’s something close.”
“I see. Well, Raphtalia is Raphtalia, regardless of her type.”
There were lots of animals that were similar, yet different species. Kind of like native and non-native species of the same animal.
“That’s what’s nice about you. Hey, little Naofumi, if you’re not ready to commit to sticking by little Raphtalia until the very end, I’d prefer if you’d just settle for me instead.”
“Huh?”
“I’m asking you to be prepared to commit before getting into a relationship with little Raphtalia. If you’re not prepared to commit, but you still feel the need to get intimate, then I’d rather you use me to get that out of your system.”
Well, I wasn’t expecting that.
“Do you think I’m some kind of savage or something?”
Well, I guess I did act like a savage. But I’d rather die than get intimate with a woman. I mean, I trusted Raphtalia. If you asked whether I liked her or not . . . Yeah, I liked her. I was certain about that much. If you told me to tell that to Raphtalia’s face, I could. Although I’d prefer not to. But was it in a romantic kind of way? I don’t know.
Raphtalia was my trusty sidekick. We were companions that had shared the good times and the bad. At the same time, she was like a daughter to me. In that sense, I considered myself her “father,” as Motoyasu liked to call me. As long as this world hadn’t found peace, I was sure Raphtalia would remain focused on her mission and wouldn’t be interested in things like love and romance. On the other hand, I loved her like a child. Wait a minute, I needed to slow down. I was getting caught up in Sadeena’s pace.
When Sadeena said “very end,” she probably meant until Raphtalia died, and not just until the waves ended. In manga and games, it wasn’t uncommon for the protagonist to settle down in another world. But . . . I wasn’t prepared to make that kind of commitment, I don’t think. I intended to return to my own world once this one had become peaceful.
Sadeena was probably worried I would try something with Raphtalia, and knowing my personality, that’s why she had been teasing me. Her advances seemed like harassment, but by keeping that up she probably figured it would keep me away from Raphtalia. Sadeena was always messing around, but the truth was, she had a knack for calmly observing people’s behavior and leading them to act in a certain way. She was the type that would be a real headache if you made an enemy out of her.
She was trying to sound playful, but her eyes were dead serious.
“You must have a good reason to keep pushing the issue.”
I wasn’t planning on doing anything with Raphtalia, but I wanted to get a better idea of what Sadeena was thinking.
“Oh, alright. I guess I can fill you in just a bit.”
Sadeena ran her hands through Raphtalia’s hair gently and then began her explanation.
“You might have suspected something like this, but little Raphtalia’s father belonged to an important family with a long lineage. I was a miko priestess that served that family.”
“Oh? Was this in Siltvelt or Shieldfreeden?”
“Nope. I can’t tell you exactly where. I’m already telling you way more than I should.”
So it wasn’t a demi-human country. And what kind of position was a miko priestess, anyway?
“Little Raphtalia’s father didn’t want to take over as the head of the family. He eloped with little Raphtalia’s mother. I went with them and we left the country.”
Hmm . . . So Raphtalia’s parents had been selfish. Or not, depending on how you looked at it. I wondered if there was some special reason they had come to Melromarc, seeing as how the country heavily discriminated against demi-humans.
“I lost a lot by leaving, but I gained even more. I don’t regret the decision.”
“Between her father’s lineage and the heroes, which would rank higher?”
“Raphtalia’s father would have been more important in the region we came from.”
“More than the holy heroes?”
“The legend of the heroes doesn’t exist there. Although, there are records of heroes visiting the region. But personally, I think they were just referred to by a different name.”
What kind of region was it? And referred to by a different name? Like . . . “holders of the holy weapons,” maybe? Either way, I had a feeling I was starting to understand what kind of family Raphtalia had come from. She was the descendant of a family line that was worshipped in some country because it was thought to trace back to the gods or something.
I decided to see if I could reason it out using what I already knew. There was the name and characteristics of the special finishing move that Raphtalia had created herself. And then there was the way Sadeena’s demi-human form looked. Both of those had a Japanese feel to them. That reminded me of what the old guy at the weapon shop had said about some place to the east.
“Does the country Raphtalia’s father was born in have a policy of isolation?”
Japan was like that a long time ago. It wasn’t like that made me special or anything, but being Japanese would make it easier to understand how a country might develop differently due to the effects of such a policy. Also, I’d heard that the country where the Spirit Tortoise had been sealed away had also been closed off. Perhaps there were more isolationist countries than I would have thought.
“Wow, you really are impressive, little Naofumi. That’s exactly right. It’s been that way since ancient times. There are a lot of countries like that, but ours is one of the most exclusionary of them.”
“Are you worried about the country trying something?”
It was an isolationist country in the east. So it was a country kind of like Japan, and Raphtalia was a descendant of an ancient and dignified bloodline there. If they found out about her, they might send someone to try to take her back or something. Maybe that was it.
“That’s part of it, but it wouldn’t really be an issue if that’s all it was. I guess you could say that Raphtalia’s happiness is what really concerns me.”
“Ugh . . .” Raphtalia moaned.
Sadeena wet a piece of cloth with cool water and placed it on Raphtalia’s forehead.
“She’ll be waking up soon. Is there anything else you wanted to ask?”
“Why don’t you tell Raphtalia any of this?”
“Her father didn’t want her to know.”
The last thing I wanted was to get dragged into some kind of family feud with Raphtalia’s relatives. People could waste time on that kind of thing once the world was at peace. The same went for the whole Church of the Three Heroes mess and the trouble with the nobility. That power struggle stuff was a real pain in the ass.
“Is this going to be a problem?”
“Probably not. They’ll probably stay away as long as we don’t do anything to upset them—something like you and little Raphtalia getting intimate.”
“Do you mean because that would cause internal family issues?”
Sadeena nodded silently. So that was it, after all. Hypothetically, let’s say I slept with Raphtalia and she got pregnant. I was worshipped as a god in another country, and Raphtalia would be pregnant with my child. Those relatives might suspect that Raphtalia was trying to take control of the family, which could prompt them to take action. And Sadeena was worried about that possibility.
“If you decide that you really want to have a child with little Raphtalia, do it after you crush that country and quash those family issues. Promise me.”
“Aren’t you a bit too worried?”
I couldn’t imagine that the country knew everything that was going on. Of course, it never hurt to be careful, but still . . .
“You’re probably right. But that country is full of miko priestesses and people that can use unique abilities. You shouldn’t underestimate them. Just imagine a bunch of people like me coming to try to kill little Raphtalia.”
“. . .”
A country full of Sadeenas . . . Why didn’t we just have them save the world? Still, Raphtalia was incredibly strong, so it wouldn’t be easy to kill her. That didn’t mean I was going to do anything irresponsible, of course.
“The truth is, it’s really up to you, little Naofumi. I just don’t want you to do anything that would make a little girl cry. But I’m an adult, and not a little girl, so I can handle it.”
“After all of those excuses, you go there?”
“Oh, stop it! You’re making me blush!”
Of course, lineage and all of that was probably an issue too, but Sadeena really just wanted to ask about my feelings for Raphtalia. That was clear now.
“Ugh . . . Mr. Naofumi?”
Raphtalia regained consciousness and sat up.
“You okay?”
“Umm, yes. I feel oddly refreshed.”
I demanded a lot of her. She might have been stressed about things too. In that respect, drinking might not actually be a bad way to blow off some steam.
“That’s good,” Sadeena said.
“Did anything happen while I was passed out?” Raphtalia asked.
“Nah . . .” I replied.
I was sure Sadeena would rather I didn’t tell the truth. There was no need to stir up any trouble. I’d just pretend I hadn’t heard any of it.
“Not really. I was just telling Sadeena about how you’re like a daughter to me.”
“What?!”
Raphtalia shouted out in surprise and her voice cracked. We went back and forth for a bit and she forgot about her initial question.
So I should be prepared to commit if I wanted to pursue a serious relationship with Raphtalia, huh? What a bunch of trouble. I wasn’t going to settle down in this world. I didn’t intend to, at least.
“Alright then. That’s enough drinking. Let’s head back and get some sleep,” I said.
“Aww . . .”
“He’s right, Sadeena. You’ve had more than enough.”
“Hm? Did I fall asleep?”
Gaelion finally woke up.
“Fill me up,” he said.
“Oh! I like that attitude, little Gaelion! How about you and I have a drinking contest?”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
Were these two going to be drinking buddies now? Gaelion was hungover the next day. I guess I’d just have to warn him not to drink too much next time.
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