Chapter One: A Journey
I
Olivia set off from Galia Fortress for the Holy Land of Mekia, accompanied by Claudia, her aide, and Ashton, her tactician, as well as a platoon of fifteen soldiers that included Evanson and Ellis. Their journey along the road to Mekia would see them first to the town of Amil. In the center of their procession were two large, horse-drawn carts that trundled along with a soft clatter. Both were engraved with the crest of Fernest, but no one rode in either. Instead, they were full to bursting with gifts for the people who awaited them at their destination.
It was mid-autumn, and the leaves were beginning to change. It ought to have been the perfect weather for travel, but for several days the sun had beaten down with the merciless intensity of midsummer. Naturally, the whole platoon save for Olivia suffered from the heat.
Olivia alone hummed cheerfully to herself, looking cool and refreshed. Provoked by a certain degree of irritation, Ashton eyed her resentfully.
“I suppose this is all a walk in the park for you, if you’re humming.”
“I guess?”
“You can’t seriously tell me you don’t feel hot?”
“What?” Olivia looked at him blankly. “Does it feel hot to you?”
It wasn’t as though the sun were avoiding her in particular.
“Oh, come on. ‘Does it feel hot?’ she says. Of course it’s hot!”
“It really is,” Evanson piped up in agreement, mopping the sweat from his brow. Claudia, who had been listening to their conversation, gave the pair of them a stern look.
“Ashton, Evanson, you feel the heat because your will is weak. At times like these, you sit up straight and hold your head high. You know how the saying goes: ‘to a clear mind, even fire feels cool.’”
“Come on. This obviously has nothing to do with ‘will’ or whatever.”
“I’d muster up any amount of will, but even then, I don’t think this heat would ease up...”
In response to Ashton and Evanson’s objections, Claudia shook her head sadly.
“Don’t be pathetic. As officers, you’re supposed to set an example for the other soldiers.”
“You say that, Lieutenant Colonel, but you’ve been drinking a lot of water. It’s because you’re hot, isn’t it?” Ashton looked coolly at the canteen Claudia held in her hand.
“O-Of course I’m not hot!” she spluttered. “I—I’m... That’s it! As the general’s aide, it’s essential that I keep well hydrated!” With this, she stuffed her canteen into her bag and gave an exaggerated cough. Nothing in what she’d said explained why regular hydration was important for an aide. It was plain to anyone with ears, not just Ashton, that Claudia was deflecting.
“What are you looking at me like that for?” she demanded, when Ashton didn’t respond.
“Oh... Nothing...”
Sensing the growing tension between the other two, Evanson chimed in casually, “General Olivia, you really don’t mind the heat at all, do you?”
Evanson was the same age as Ashton, was highly sensitive to the people around him, and could well be described as the conscience of the Eighth Legion. It wasn’t hard to imagine the toll having an older sister like Ellis took on him.
“Do you think so?”
“Yes. I don’t suppose you know some secret trick for enduring the heat? If you do, I’d really love to hear it.”
Olivia appeared to think for a moment; then something seemed to occur to her, because she clapped her hands together.
“Oh, right! You’re all too hot because you don’t have this,” she said, looking down at her chest.
“Are you wearing something?”
“Yeah. Just a sec.” Before anyone could react, Olivia had pulled off her scarf and was undoing her front buttons. She paid no heed to the wide-eyed stares of the rest of the platoon as she actually plunged her hand under her clothes and started groping at herself. All eyes, Ashton’s included, zeroed in on Olivia’s chest. Alas, that was simply male nature. There was nothing anyone could do to change it.
“General!” Claudia barked, stepping in front of Olivia to shield her from the gawking men. “Please refrain from such vulgar behavior in front of everyone! And you lot,” she went on, mustering all her fury at the onlookers and waving her hands as though she were shooing away flies. “Avert your eyes from the general at once!”
“—here.” Meanwhile, right at the center of the commotion and totally unperturbed by the stares she was getting, Olivia produced a single leaf from within her clothes. It was about twice the size of her palm.
Ashton examined it closely. “Is that, by any chance, a Cuzco leaf?”
“That’s right,” Olivia said, clapping her hands. “Trust you to know it, Ashton.”
“I mean, that’s nothing special,” he mumbled, scratching his nose in embarrassment at Olivia’s praise.
The Cuzco was a heterophyllous plant, having both scale and needle leaves. It grew in the depths of the forest where little light reached. It was primarily valued for its anesthetic properties, but venturing into the depths of the forest meant running a high risk of encountering dangerous beasts, making its procurement challenging for all but the most seasoned hunters. As such, it continually fetched high prices when sold at the market.
At this point, it would have been foolish to ask how Olivia had so casually come to be in possession of a leaf one could only obtain by risking one’s life. That aside, Ashton had never heard of such a usage of Cuzco leaves before.
“I feel like you don’t believe me,” Olivia said, leaning over in her saddle to peer closely at Ashton’s face. When she got close enough that it seemed their lips might even touch, Ashton drew back sharply.
“I-I didn’t say that...” he stammered. “I’ve just never heard of it being used like that.”
“Well, you’ll believe it when you see it!” Just like that, Olivia offered him the leaf that had been stuck to her all this time. Ashton, feeling thoroughly flustered, reached a hand up to accept it. No sooner had he done so, however, than another hand darted in from one side and swiped the leaf out from under his nose.
“Hey!” he exclaimed. Looking around, he saw Ellis cradling the leaf as though to protect it. Not only that, but she was looking at him with something like outrage.
“Major Ashton, that’s quite the leer you’ve got on your face. I bet you were thinking something dirty, weren’t you?”
“I— I am not leering!” Ashton protested fervently. “And I’d never think such things, not for a moment, not ever!” He kept one eye on Olivia as he spoke to see how she reacted. Ellis gave him a slimy smirk. When it came to expressions like that, no one could compete with Ellis.
“In that case, it’s funny that you’re blushing so much,” she remarked. Then, before Ashton could respond with more than a look of indignance, she thrust the Cuzco leaf inside her uniform. At once, a look of bliss spread over her face.
“It still has my big sister’s righteous warmth...her pure fragrance... Oh, this is heaven...”
“No, come on, what are you on about? Get to the point, would you?”
Ellis sighed dreamily. “I’m so, so happy to be alive.”
“Look,” Ashton said, getting exasperated, “I’m not interested in your nonsense impressions, I want to know whether it works or not.” Ellis didn’t reply. “Hello, Ellis? Anyone home?”
“There’s no point talking to my sister when she gets like this, Major Ashton,” Evanson said with a deep sigh. “I sincerely apologize for her behavior...”
Ashton looked back at Ellis, who was totally entranced, and gave up on questioning her any further.
“Just a minute.” Beside the defeated Ashton, Olivia began to hunt through the bag tied to her saddle. With a grin, she produced another Cuzco leaf and held it out to him.
To himself, Ashton thought, You had more?! but out loud, he merely shared his thanks and accepted the leaf. Still not convinced it would really work, he put the leaf against the back of his neck. At once, a pleasant coolness spread out from it.
“It really works...” he breathed. “This is incredible.”
“One thing, though,” Olivia said sagely, holding up a finger. “Only putting a Cuzco leaf on doesn’t do anything.”
“You mean there’s some sort of trick to it?”
“Yeah. The key is that you have to coat the leaves with crushed Mondblum berries, then dry them for a day. It’s only after that that they’re ready to use.”
Ashton looked at the Cuzco leaf again and saw that he could indeed make out the traces of something smeared on it.
Unconsciously, he let out a whistle of appreciation. “So the Mondblum berries act as a cooling medium...” he said. “That’s quite the discovery.” Then he looked back to Olivia. “Just to be sure, you came up with this yourself?”
Olivia giggled. “Yep. Impressive, right?”
Ashton knew that many of the countries in the United City-States of Sutherland to the south had hot climates. If he told his parents about these leaves, he thought, it might lead to some happy business opportunities.
Claudia cut through his thoughts. “Your mercantile ambitions will have to wait until after the war is over.”
“What?!” Ashton yelped in alarm. “How did you know what I was thinking?!”
“Oh, I’ve known you long enough for that,” Claudia said, a faintly smug smile playing at her lips.
“Are you trying to say that Ashton’s simple?” Olivia asked innocently. Choosing to ignore this cutting remark, Ashton instead stared at Claudia, awestruck.
As though to escape his gaze, Claudia raised her voice and declared, “Now, the Holy Land of Mekia might be our ally, but that doesn’t mean we can let our guard down. Not only here on the road, but also during our stay in Mekia, I want you all to do your utmost to protect the general.”
A warm gust of wind rustled through the platoon as all of them nodded seriously. All with the exception of Olivia, who chatted happily to Comet.
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