Chapter 19: The Promise on that Day 1
Chapter 19: The Promise on that Day 1
ONLY the male Party members went to the curio shop in the central square to buy things in advance for their travels to the Dark Lord’s castle. Their shopping trip was actually a pretense to leave Aki and Nako alone in the inn room where the sisters could talk freely with each other without having to worry about them. They especially wanted to give Aki the chance to catch up with Nako, because she had come to this world without knowing what had happened to her little sister.
Taking into consideration the fact some topics may be difficult to discuss in front of them, Elias and the others graciously cleared the room under the pretext of going shopping.
Leo picked up a vial of medicine from a shelf inside the shop dimly illuminated by the various lamps strewn about as merchandise and muttered, “I wonder if Aki is havin’ a heart-to-heart talk with Nako right now.”
Elias, who had been staring at a wooden mask hanging on the wall a few feet from Leo, picked up the mask with both hands. “I think they’re probably doing fine. Aki and Nako will have an easier time opening up with each other without us there. Let’s kill some time in the curio shops before we head back, okay?” he answered, prodding the mask.
Johann pulled a bunch of the medicinal herbs out of their shopping basket and carefully scrutinized them on top of his hand before tossing in his two-cents, “I agree. Returning too soon would be insensitive of us. By the way, Elias…”
“What’s up?” Elias asked, surprise flickering across his face at Johann’s scowl.
“…Please tell me you are not intending to purchase that mask?” he asked, pressing his hand to his temple.
“Hm? Oh yeah, I was just thinking about buying it. It’ll up the defense for my face and can act as a disguise when I want to lay low.” Elias snapped his fingers at his great idea.
Leo briskly strutted over to him and roughly snatched the mask out of his hands. “Az, wearing this mask that looks like it’d be used in a ritual to curse someone is gonna make you stand out even worse. Good grief man, your sense of aesthetics is more than a little off. What’s with your poor taste that makes you look at that thing like it’s a symbol of beauty?” he seriously pointed out.
Sulking, Elias pursed his lips. “You can have your opinions, but that mask has quite the cute design, so I want—”
“You are the only one who thinks that way, Elias. Come now, we should make haste to the next shop.” Johann grabbed Elias by his cloak and dragged him out of the shop.
***
WHILE the three men were enjoying their shopping trip, Aki and Nako sat next to each other on a bed in the inn room. Having been a while since Aki was last with her sister, she needed to take a deep breath to calm her restlessness.
What should I ask her first?
There were so many things she had wanted to ask her should they reunite, but all those questions seemed to escape her now that they were face to face. Equally nervous, Nako kept her eyes trained on her hands that she folded and unfolded on top of her lap.
They went out of their way to create this opportunity for us, so I have to get Nako’s side of the story while I can.
Determined to find her long sought after answers, Aki cut straight to the main topic. “…All right, Nako, earlier you said you knew the Dark Lord beforehand, but how did that happen?”
Nako must’ve had a reason to go with the Dark Lord without resisting him. Which makes that the most important thing to ask about first.
Nako returned her sister’s gaze and gingerly pulled the golden chain hanging around her neck from underneath her shirt. A large, deep crimson gem crowned ring dangled at the bottom of the chain and swayed softly in front of her chest.
Aki’s eyes widened on it. “Nako, that’s—”
“…This is something I received from the Dark Lord when I was little. He told me to hold on to this and wait for him to return for me again someday…” She squeezed the ring hanging like a pendant from the necklace as she recalled the day she and the Dark Lord exchanged their promise.
“Sis, this is going to take a while, but would you care to listen to the story of how the Dark Lord and I met? I’m pretty sure you will understand the reasons for my actions once you hear about it…” Nako implored.
“Of course,” Aki answered with an eager nod.
The tension released from Nako’s face and she looked at the ceiling as she recalled the events of that day. “The day I left, the Dark Lord didn’t come to abduct me, but just came to keep our promise…”
Her story wove the tale of the promise made between her and the Dark Lord in the distant past.
***
SINCE she was a child, Nako had been afflicted by a weak constitution. Suffering from infantile asthma since birth, she spent most of her childhood sick at home. Even if she attended school, she would be met with constant asthma attacks requiring her parents to pick her up early. Constant trips to the hospital as far back as she could remember had put Nako in an unstable, depressed state. She moped around most days when she was in elementary school
On that fateful day, her health had failed her at school once again, sending her home early to rest in bed for the entire day. The medicine she took barely restrained her cough enough to doze on and off until nighttime.
By the time the clock read 2a.m., her medicine’s effect ran out and she awoke to another bout of hacking coughs. The rest of the family had gone to bed, for no sound or signs of anyone else being awake could be heard from her room.
Nako struggled to unsteadily sit upright, clenching at her chest as she sucked in ragged breaths.
…It hurts to breathe…
Her thoughts were immediately interrupted by a wet cough, rattling her tiny body. She took short, timed breaths to steady her respiration. With tears in her eyes from all the coughing, she slowly reached out a quivering hand to partially brush aside the curtain covering her window. White stars scattered across the night sky twinkled at her, bringing a big smile to her sweat drenched face.
Maybe it’ll be sunny tomorrow.
“Nights you can see lots of stars in the sky usually mean the next day will be sunny,” her older sister told her once, bragging about what she had learned at school.
Nako’s older sister took good care of others, had a good head on her, and often helped her little sister who constantly worried the family with her sickness. To Nako, Aki was her pride and joy, as well as the object of her envy.
If only I was as healthy as Sis… I want to walk to school under a sunny sky with my friends. Just how long do I have to continue living out these painful days? I keep worrying Mama, Papa, and Sis and yet my sickness shows no hope of getting better. Wouldn’t it be better if I never existed in the first place? Nako shook her head. I can’t think that way. I’ll get better one day. I just know it.
Thinking negatively is only making me sicker!
As soon as she thought that, the worst cough yet hit her.
“Cough! Cough! Cough!”
It hurts! The ceaseless fit of coughing wracked her body into labored breathing that came out in loud wheezes. Medicine…where did I put my medicine?
Medicine and a cup of water had been placed meticulously on the low table beside her bed. Her mother had prepared it for her before bed. Nako leaned her entire body toward the table and fumbled her hand around in a desperate attempt to grab hold of the medicine. Another hacking cough ripped through her.
My chest…hurts!
The large, guttural coughs were bad enough to make her think she was coughing up a lung. Shaking from the cough, her fingertips sent the cup of water flying across the table. The cup tilted over the edge, about to fall.
Oh no, my water is going to fall! she thought in horror at almost the same time as a cool night breeze whooshed in through the window behind her. The curtains flapped with the breeze.
Nako tried to turn toward the window behind her—the window wasn’t open when she looked outside—when the cup about to fall off the table suddenly drifted into the air. The cup floated as if it were on a string until it was secure in her hands.
She blinked at the cup in her hands with no idea what just happened, when an unfamiliar boy’s voice asked her, “Are you all right? You wanted the water, didn’t you?”
Who is it?
The voice sounded like a boy’s, but his tone was awfully calm for how young he sounded. With the cup still firmly grasped in both her hands, Nako slowly and quietly looked behind her. A mysterious young boy with red eyes like the color of blood and pointed ears sat gracefully on her windowsill. His fingers with slightly longer than normal nails were extended toward her cup. It was almost as if the cup had moved at his will.
Flustered, and unsure of how to react, Nako warily looked upward at the boy.
I don’t know who he is, but that doesn’t change the fact he kept my water from falling. I at least need to thank him for now.
“A-Ah, umm, err…” she fumbled over her words. The boy inclined his head.
Seeing her confusion, the boy’s eyes widened slightly at a sudden realization and he nimbly leapt down from the windowsill, landing soundlessly in the space between her bed and the table. The black robe he wore fluttered with the motion. Nako was preoccupied by his flying leap, when the he picked up the medicine bag left on the table. He quickly walked over to her and gently put it in her hand.
“Sorry, you were trying to take your medicine, weren’t you? Is this what you needed?” He inclined his head questioningly.
Nako smiled through her lighter coughs and said, “Yeah, thank you. Wait just a bit.”
Under the boy’s watchful red eyes, Nako took several of the sedatives prescribed by the doctor out of the medicine bag and put them in order in her mouth. She downed the pills with cool water that eased her restricted throat. Having mysteriously regained her calm after just taking her pills, Nako took the chance to observe the boy intently watching her.
Looking at him up close, the boy had a handsome face that took even a young girl like Nako’s breath away. His deep crimson eyes, pointed ears, and dark-green waist-length hair had an otherworldly quality about them. Who was this boy who looked like someone who walked right off the pages of a storybook?
He didn’t seem to mind her blatant stare as he studied her face out of worry for her health. “Have you calmed down now?”
Apparently, she had worried him. The corners of her eyes softened into a smile touching her lips as she gave a small nod. “Yes. I’m okay. Um, thank you for helping me. What is your name?”
“My name?” The boy pointed to himself and answered in all seriousness, “I’m Dark Lord. I don’t mind if you just call me Dark Lord.”
“Dark Lord?” Nako was taken by surprise by the peculiar name.
As far as she knew, Dark Lord was the title given to villains often making appearances in her storybooks. With his otherworldly appearance and calling himself the Dark Lord, she was starting to become convinced the boy in front of her was nothing more than a figment of her exhausted imagination.
Dark Lord slowly reached out his hand and gently touched her bangs with his fingertips. He stared at her forehead with his crimson eyes, ignoring her flinch at his abrupt touch.
She glanced upward at his close face to see him frowning as he kept his eyes locked on her forehead.
“…As I feared, the Goddess’ power is having an effect on you.”
Goddess?
“Nako, would you mind staying still for a moment?”
Suddenly hearing him say her name surprised Nako. Dark Lord put his right hand over her forehead and shut his eyes. And then he quietly uttered words incomprehensible to her.
The unlit room flickered with light for a second as if someone had hit the flash on a camera, immediately followed by something warm flowing into her body through the hand he held to her forehead. The weight gradually lifted from her heavy and listless body as if it were never there. She could almost forget she was ever sick.
What just happened?! Startled, she stared at her hands.
Dark Lord stepped away from her and studied her face in the same concerned manner. “How do you feel? I believe you should feel much better than before…”
Much better? She felt amazing to the extent she wondered what kind of spell he cast on her. It was almost as if the illness afflicting her since infancy had been completely removed from her body.
Elated, Nako leaned over the side of her bed to grab Dark Lord’s hands with a twinkle in her eye. “Yes! I feel way better! Even I’m surprised I can feel this good! Did you rub medicine on me?”
Her instant recovery after he touched her forehead convinced her he had used medicine on her. But he bluntly shook his head.
“I did not.”
“You didn’t?”
“No. It was no medicine. I put a spell on you.”
“A spell…?” Nako’s eyes rounded into large saucers.
What he did had made her think of magic, but to think it really was magic! Or was he pranking her? But from his actions up until that point, it didn’t seem like a lie.
“You can use magic, Dark Lord?” she asked with excitement, feeling like she was in a dream.
He smiled proudly. “I can. I’m better at magic than anyone else. After all, no one can defeat me.”
“Really?! You’re amazing, Dark Lord! I mean, you cured my illness in a second!” she exclaimed, opening her arms wide and smiling. A happy smile lit his face too as he plopped down on the side of her bed.
From all appearances, her mysterious guest intended to stay with her longer.
Now that I think about it, why did Dark Lord come to see me? Why did he appear here?
“Say, Dark Lord, did you come to save me?” she asked.
He glanced at her and nodded. “I did.”
“Why?” she asked frankly.
Why would he come to save someone he had never seen before?
He gave her a long lingering look before bashfully averting his eyes. “…Because you are the person who will become my Right-hand.”
Right-hand? What is that?
Nako cocked her head. “I don’t understand…”
“You don’t have to understand right now. Nako, I’ll make this a brief explanation, but I come from a different world.”
“A different world from here?”
“That’s right. And, due to certain reasons, the power of my world’s Goddess sleeps inside of you. Latent power, that is. The Goddess’ power is mighty, and that power has endangered your health. That’s why I used my magic to restrain her power and stabilize your body. You should be able to live without any health issues now.”
What he told her was too difficult for Nako to comprehend, but what she did pick up on was that she possessed latent power of the Goddess from Dark Lord’s world which was the reason for her continued poor health. Dark Lord crossed worlds to suppress her power and used his magic to stabilize her health.
Does that mean the world he lives in exists separately from here?
Setting aside all the confusing details she couldn’t wrap her head around, Nako found herself stuck on the idea of another world existing when it sounded like something straight out of a fantasy story.
“Dark Lord, you came from another world to see me?”
“I did,” he answered curtly.
Aside from the world she knew, another world existed with different cultures and people. Nako’s eyes shined, her heart pounding with excitement at the dreamlike world and the boy who came from it. Dark Lord came from another world to save her just like something written in a fairytale.
She leaned across her bed and pulled on his black robe. “Dark Lord! I want to hear stories about your world!”
With her weak constitution, she rarely had the chance to interact with anyone outside of family and never got to play with her friends. That’s why it was inevitable her curiosity was piqued by the spontaneous arrival of the Dark Lord and the magical time they spent together. Even if it were all just a dream, she wouldn’t regret having such a fun dream—even if that meant when she awoke from the dream Dark Lord would be gone and her illness uncured.
Dark Lord consented to her request, completely unbothered by her asking a favor of him. “Sure. You’ll have to know about my world sooner or later anyways. I’ll tell you whatever you want until you’ve had your fill,” he said, his own excitement at the idea coloring his voice.
Nako turned a dreamy, broad smile on him. “Thank you, Dark Lord!”
Thank you for coming to see me!