Lucia and Maria Go for a Night Stroll

That night, the others really enjoyed the meal that Miss Maria and I cooked. After dinner, everyone but Sir Gaius, who was the night watch, returned to their tents. Miss Maria and I stayed up chatting for a while, but our conversation eventually died off, and I fell asleep, wrapped in my blanket.

“Hey, Lucia,” came a whisper.

I was awoken from my doze by a gentle shake of my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, Miss Maria was looking down at me in the darkness.

“What’s wrong?”

While I rubbed my eyes, she continued, embarrassed, “I’m sorry. I need to use the toilet, but I’m kind of afraid to go in the dark.”

Unlike at an inn, going to the bathroom outside was more difficult. You had to worry about monsters, as well, let alone the darkness.

While Shiro slept on his back, snoring happily, Miss Maria and I quietly left the tent.

“There are so many things I hate about camping, like bugs, and the hard ground, and no baths, but using the toilet is the worst of all. I mean, yeah, they put up a little tent for it, but it’s still just a hole dug into the ground. It’s so gross and primitive. Why does it still suck so much when you have magic?”

As she described, camp toilets were just holes dug into the ground. Once you were finished, you used an earth crystal to cover it up so it didn’t smell. It all went back to the earth as manure, so I didn’t really see the problem, but... I guess it would be hard to adjust to if you were used to the flush toilets in the capital.

“Why can’t we just make it disappear?”

“If we made it disappear, we wouldn’t have any manure.”

“Oh...so you can’t just grow things with magic? Your world is still medieval in some weird places.”

“Is manure different in your world?”

“They use animal stuff sometimes, but most of what I’ve seen has been chemical fertilizer. This world is way behind in terms of science. You guys rely way too much on magic.”

That was true. Our world was based on magic. All it took to get drinking water was a water crystal, so magic was indispensable to us.

“What would happen if you didn’t have magic anymore?”

“If we didn’t have magic...?” I repeated her question as I tilted my head. “Magic is convenient, but I think we’d still be able to live without it. You can get water from wells and rivers, and start fires with flint. You can wash clothes just fine by hand, and you can use candles for light.”

“That’s true... But I can’t imagine this world ever having as many machines as mine does. It’s so peaceful, I don’t think it’d ever have things like bombs and guns. There’s probably no gunpowder anyway...”

After a bit more chatting we finally made it to the toilet.

“Sorry, just wait a sec. Don’t go back without me!” Miss Maria cried out.

“Don’t worry, I won’t. I’ll just be waiting out here.”

I looked up at the sky. It was full of stars, just as it had been when I looked at it with Sir Celes. I wondered where all of the rainclouds had gone.

“I wonder if it’ll be sunny tomorrow...” I whispered.

Tomorrow, we’d be crossing the mountains. It would be too dangerous to do in the rain, so we might end up having to wait here for it to stop. We needed the blue sky to let us get to the Cristallo Sacro of Foristarn quickly.

◆ ◆ ◆

Instead of returning right back to the tent, we decided to go on a walk. I’d woken up completely, and I wanted to see the stars with Miss Maria, since they were so beautiful tonight. As we made our way around the campsite, Miss Maria suddenly stopped.

“Huh, what’s wrong?” I asked, turning to her.

Miss Maria’s eyes were opened wide. Standing a bit away from the tents was Sir Celes; his uniform top was off, showing just the shirt underneath.

“Aren’t you cold?” she asked him.

“Not really.”

“That outfit actually looks pretty simple without the coat. Why’d you take it off? The coat makes it look more military-like with the collar standing up.”

“This is how I usually look when I’m not on night watch. It’s hard to sleep with that coat on.”

The low-key grey and black uniform he wore looked nice, but he looked handsome in his rough-looking shirt too.

“Where are you two going?”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I made Lucia come for a walk with me. Wanna come with?”

“Alright. That’s a good idea.” Accepting Miss Maria’s offer, Sir Celes walked beside me. “The stars are beautiful tonight, aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“I thought it’d be cloudy because of all the rain, but it looks like it was just washed clean.”

As we walked, Miss Maria stopped abruptly again. “Isn’t that Ed over there? And he’s with... Fer?”

“It is,” Sir Celes replied, looking over to where the two were standing.

“What could they be doing so late at night?”

Though they were hidden by the trees, we could definitely see the prince and Commander Agliardi standing there. His Highness was wearing a hooded cloak, but he was turned towards us, so we could make out his face.

“Why are they doing, hiding out here in the middle of the night?”

It seemed they hadn’t noticed us. It looked as if they were discussing something serious. I wonder if we’d be able to hear it if we got a bit closer?

“What are they talking about?”

Thinking back, I should have stopped Miss Maria before she got any closer. But we were distracted by the conversation, not even thinking what it would mean to us. We stayed quiet while watching, and they continued their conversation, without thinking they’d be heard.

“...That’s right. As long as we have a ‘Sacred Maiden,’ it doesn’t matter if it’s Maria or not. Though she’s lowborn, Lucia would be better as my Queen, since she’s so meek. No one will care, as long as my wife is the ‘Sacred Maiden.’”

The prince’s quiet voice ripped through the darkness much faster than any magic could.