EXTRA:
Zinal’s Dilemma
GARITT OF ZEPHYR’S PERSPECTIVE
“HEY.” I entered the room at our inn, and Fische lightly waved a hand in greeting. I looked around the room to find Zinal wasn’t there. Had he gone out somewhere?
I’ve been a little worried about Zinal after the shocking thing Druid told him earlier today. He can be a bit fragile at times. But if he went out, I guess he’s doing okay?
“Hey there. Any leads?”
“None whatsoever. I talked to some elite adventurers, but that was a dead end.”
What in the world were our rampaging monsters in the forest? And why hadn’t anybody seen them? If people were being attacked, at least one of them should have gotten a good look at the monsters. Well…I suppose somebody will eventually figure out what they are.
“So, where’s Zinal?” I just couldn’t help but worry a little. Fische smiled and pointed at the dressing room. I gave it a curious glance and noticed the door was ajar, so I had a peek inside. Zinal…why the hell are you staring in the mirror?
I watched him for a while, but all he did was move his face to different angles, staring vacantly at his own reflection. To be honest, it was a bit unsettling. Is he enamored by his own reflection? No, no, Zinal would never…
I returned over to where Fische was sitting and sighed. “What’s Zinal doing?”
“It’s really eating at him,” Fische answered. I thought back to what happened at lunchtime. The word he’d been called was definitely shocking.
“Zinal…are you interested in Ivy in a deviant way?”
I’m sure that was difficult for him to process in the moment. He probably didn’t understand what Druid was implying, so when he finally got it, he was stupefied. That’s right, and Fische spat out his tea, didn’t he? Ivy jumped back at the sight of it, too.
“So he really did let it get to him…”
I thought about the way Zinal looked in front of the mirror: completely emotionless.
“Looks like it, yeah. He’s been staring at the mirror for like thirty minutes now,” Fische said.
A chuckle escaped me. How could someone stare at themselves in the mirror for thirty whole minutes?
“Poor guy. Hee hee hee!”
“Garitt, just setting the record straight…”
What’s this? I looked at Fische. For some reason, he had a wicked look in his eye.
“From Ivy’s point of view, you and I are Zinal’s accomplices.”
What?!
“Remember how we arranged it so he could be alone with her?”
I don’t remember tha… Oh! Right, when they asked us to dinner. He did say he wanted to check on Ivy, and he asked us to keep Druid busy.
“You’re right… Ivy would’ve thought we were pedophile accomplices.”
“Exactly.”
Damn it! This is all Zinal’s fault, isn’t it? Wait… But Ivy didn’t seem to suspect him of any ill will, right? So maybe she doesn’t see us in a bad light, either?
“Oh, you’re back.”
I turned around at the sound of the voice to see a gloomy Zinal standing in the room.
“Hey. You look tired.”
“Yeah, I’ve had a lot on my mind… Listen, from an outsider’s perspective, do I really look like I’m…that kind of guy?”
I studied his expression carefully.
“Don’t worry. You don’t look like one of those types,” Fische answered.
I nodded.
“Yeah…I thought not,” Zinal muttered.
“Yeah, but if I had to guess,” Fische continued, “it’s not so much how you look, but how you act. I don’t think your looks have anything to do with it.”
Damn it, Fische, why you gotta pour salt on the wound?
“How I act…”
Agh, now he’s depressed.
“Zinal, we got them both to realize it was all a misunderstanding. Don’t be so hard on yourself,” I said, glaring at Fische. He grinned back at me.
“You’re right… I know I shouldn’t be so upset…”
His head knows, but his heart probably can’t quite keep up.
Zinal sighed. “I just need to get over it. So, do you have any leads?”
I gave Zinal a curious look. He shot an exasperated glare back at me. Hey, you were wallowing in self-pity a few seconds ago.
“Find any witnesses?”
Oh, he’s asking about the forest. “Sadly, no.”
Zinal frowned thoughtfully, but he quickly snapped out of it and said, “Understood.”
“So what are we gonna do?” Fische looked at Zinal, who shook his head. He didn’t have any ideas, which was unusual for him.
“Guess we’ll just have to keep our eyes and ears open,” I said.
Fische and Zinal gave me a questioning look. Why the confusion? If we don’t have any witnesses, there’s nothing we can do.
“Guess you’re right. Yes…we’ll wait and see.” A mysterious look appeared in Zinal’s eye for a moment, but he snapped out of it and nodded.
“Say, wanna go out for a drink?” Fische asked. That brightened up the mood in a flash. After all, we hadn’t gone out drinking for days now.
“I like it. Let’s go get drunk.”
“I’ll pass. There’s somewhere I need to go.”
Booze-lover Zinal’s words shocked both me and Fische.
“Where the hell are you going?” Fische demanded.
Zinal looked a bit troubled. Was he going somewhere secret?
“To see Druid and Ivy.”
“Whoa, you mean Ivy actually makes you…”
“No. I was just so shocked earlier that I didn’t get a chance to apologize, so I want to do that,” he explained, glaring at me.
Okay, my bad!
“Got it. Well, get it over with quickly and join us. We’ll be at Drink-Drink over on Main Street.” That was a tavern I’d had my eye on. Let’s see, what should I drink and eat…?
We parted ways with Zinal and left the inn. I was a little confused as to why we hadn’t had a drink yet since we arrived in Hataka. Well…I guess it’s nothing to worry about.
“Let’s get smashed!” Fische and I cheered as we opened the door to the tavern.
“Hm?!”
Huh? Where…am I? The inn…right? Um…I had a few drinks and…then I came back here, and Zinal was there…
“What happened to me?”
“Ah, you’re awake. Do you feel like something’s wrong with your brain?”
Huh?! Wrong with my brain? I looked over at Zinal and saw a particularly sober look on his face. There was an unfamiliar presence, too. I jumped out of bed and swept my eyes around the room. Fische was asleep in the bed next to mine, and sitting in one of the chairs in the corner of the room was…Druid?
“What’s Druid doing here?”
“I’ll explain later. But tell me, do you feel like something’s wrong with your brain?”
“No…I feel fine.”
Zinal looked relieved to hear that, and I was relieved to see it. I wondered if he was worried about some problem that had come up while I was sleeping.
“Ahh, is something…hm?”
I went drinking last night…but why? Disaster is on Hataka’s doorstep. Wait a minute…
“Are you okay?” Zinal ran over to my bedside as I clutched my head.
“What happened? Why am I acting like this during a crisis?”
“Sounds like your memories are a little mixed up. Oh, Fische just woke up! Until I get a moment to explain, think hard about what happened to you. Got it?” he pressed.
I nodded. Fische also looked a little disoriented when he woke up, but Zinal was bringing him back to reality.
“They both look like they’ll be okay. I’m gonna go wake up Ivy. She’s probably ready by now.”
There was an odd feeling in my chest as I watched Druid leave the room.
“Garitt, Fische, just stay calm and listen to what I’m about to tell you, got it?”
Zinal’s tone and posture were so grim that we both sat up straight in bed. He only acted this way when there was a serious problem. But I never would have guessed in a million years that we’d been under a summoning circle’s spell or that Ivy and her monsters were the ones who broke it.
“Seriously?” Fische asked Zinal, unable to believe it. When Zinal nodded, Fische sighed heavily. “Wow…we were under a summoning circle’s spell. It doesn’t seem possible.”
We were more cautious than the average person, so just like Fische, a part of me couldn’t believe it, either. But I remembered something… We’d gone out drinking last night, in spite of the looming crisis, and got black-out drunk. We never drank beyond our limits; that just wasn’t something we would ever do.
“We’ll have to thank her. If her monsters hadn’t been around…”
If we still couldn’t sense the danger…would we have just died? Or would we have broken free from the spell only when death was staring us in the face? How terrifying…
We owed our lives to Ivy. If she was ever in trouble, we would do everything in our power to save her.
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