Chapter 25: Departure and Morning after the Rain

Chapter 25:
Departure and Morning after the Rain

 

THE MORNING DRIZZLE stopped, and the sky opened up. The west wind was calm. It was the perfect weather to set off.

As I prepared for my departure, Gol accompanied me to Chotos’s Mana Tool Shop.

Mr. Chotos, watching us, hesitated before opening his mouth. “Nemaki, are you really going? It’s no trouble if you want to spend a bit more time in Tibar…”

“Mister, can you please be quiet? You keep spoiling me, so my departure keeps getting pushed back, and now I’ve dallied here for like half a month already!”

Two weeks had passed since the little negotiation drama with the Paisley Company. The town of Tibar was comfortable, sure, but I couldn’t simply settle there.

After all, on my list of goals, “Find out stuff about the Sorcerer King of Destruction and his summoning” was first and foremost. Whether the answer meant discovering a method to return to my original world or finding a way to ensure my safety in this one, this investigation was of utmost importance.

At any rate, no institution in this region could enable me to conduct that investigation. In the first place, the Sadie territory, where Tibar was located, was considered to be the countryside. If I wanted to go to a library, I apparently needed to head farther west to a large city in another territory, especially if I wanted to go to a place on the level of an academic institution.

The largest library in this country was said to be much, much farther west, all the way in the imperial capital. But it would no doubt be a long, tough trip to make it that far, so I’d be satisfied if I found a regular library first.

In any case, Mr. Chotos didn’t seem to know much about the Sorcerer King, and I couldn’t thoughtlessly ask around because even basic lore about the Sorcerer King was considered taboo by the Church. Even if I stayed in Tibar forever, I would eventually be driven into a corner.

Despite that, Mr. Chotos kept delaying my departure, and Teru kept sobbing whenever it came up… I couldn’t just leave. What was with this parent-child duo?!

Moreover, I had failed to spend these past few weeks studying more about this world. Instead, I tended Mr. Chotos’s store and played with the five-year-old.

What else did I do? Hmm… Ah, right. Ginem Bari had fully recovered within a few days and finished repairing his jester golems. So, as a form of rehabilitation, we had numerous Gol vs. Clown Brigade golem-fighting game rematches. The loser had to treat the winner to a meal. Currently, Gol won by a landslide every time, so Ginem had to keep treating me.

Huh…exactly when had Ginem and I become so close? Almost like…I dunno, friends?

In any case, I was on a serious backslide. I felt like an elementary school student frivolously wasting his summer vacation. I hadn’t grown at all this past half month. The only skill I had acquired was knowing exactly when to stop wiping Gol before her eyes turned cloudy.

As a matter of fact, I had confirmed quite a few malfunction conditions beyond removing her extensions and her sniffing my underwear. For example, when I wiped various parts of her body—such as her inner thighs, chest, ears, armpits, or belly button—too much, her eyes instantly turned pink. In the beginning, I hadn’t known how to manage this, so it had been super difficult to clean her without the risk of breaking her.

Also, I worried that the number of locations on Gol that made her cloud up had been steadily increasing, especially when it came to her belly button. It seemed that because I had messed around too much when I stuck my finger inside it that first night, it had become a weak spot for her. Ugh, inexcusable.

Whenever I stopped wiping, Gol would look pained and stare me with her greedy, cloudy eyes. However, stopping was, of course, a necessary measure to protect her. Sorry, but please understand, partner.

Given all these pressing reasons to sally forth, we were at last being seen off on our journey west by the father-daughter duo in front of Chotos’s Mana Tool Shop.

Teru has been bawling her eyes out for some time already. This five-year-old usually could be surprisingly mentally strong, yet bringing up my departure made tears spill down her cheeks. Now that I was just about to set off, her crying had turned into a Biblical flood. As she sobbed, she tried with great effort to speak. “Deru, doo! Wid Mistuh Nemagi! Miss Gowedaru, doo! Goh twugehder!!”

No good. I can’t understand. This far exceeds the capacity of my strange translation ability.

“Wid Mistuh Nemagi!” Teru began coughing, having finally strained herself to the point of throwing up.

I patted her back. Gol also joined in by stroking Teru. Seeing this, my eyes widened. The way Gol’s palm lovingly touched Teru was practically the same as when she gently stroked me—and it was totally different from the way she usually clumsily ruffled Teru’s hair.

This farewell gesture convinced me: Gol really had become attached to Teru. I just felt it to be true.

Occasionally, Gol radiated homicidal intent and mishandled other people’s possessions, but she was unabashedly happy when she hugged this small girl. Gol’s carelessness with children had greatly diminished since she started combing Teru’s hair, putting her to bed, and such. She behaved like a real older sister now. Whenever I saw her like this, I felt like I was catching a glimpse of her true personality.

“Nemaki…” Even Mr. Chotos’s eyes had moistened, just like his daughter’s.

Hey, stop! I’ve told you, no one wants to see an old man do that!

“Jeez, will you be okay, mister?” As I let out a sigh at this pitiful man, I gazed up at the tool shop behind him.

This single-story, wooden shop looked a bit shabby, and it appeared slightly larger than the other shops on the street, so it reeked of a kind of half-baked elegance. I had spent most of my days there during my time in Tibar. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel sentimental about it.

But I wouldn’t need to worry about it anymore, management-wise. The once-scarce goods were being restocked, and in response, the customers were steadily returning. In addition, Mr. Chotos still had one remaining sorcery core, although he hadn’t found a buyer yet. This was the extra I had given him for the repair costs of Gol destroying his wall. Since he no longer had to worry about that malicious debt with its ridiculous interest, he didn’t need to rush to find a buyer.

Still, I was surprised when Mr. Chotos wrote up a kind of contract between us concerning the sorcery core, even though he was such an unreliable guy. I didn’t read the contents, so I didn’t know whether it was an investment agreement or a consumer-lending agreement or what. I tried to turn down that nuisance piece of scrap, but Mr. Chotos refused to yield. As you’ve seen, he was a stubborn man. His stubbornness was so hardcore that he’d managed to win over a beautiful and good-natured wife. At that level, it was like some kind of special skill. I was sure that no matter what I said, we would end up running in circles.

I decided to just accept the contract as a formality. But for some reason, I had a feeling we would need firewood for tonight’s dinner. The contract would be a good starter for the fuel.

We also had a countermeasure against any more punk attacks.

I turned to the blue-haired man with delicate features and a purple robe, the one who stood next to the Chotos family. “I’ll be leaving the rest to you, Ginem.”

“Yeah, I got you. I’ll make sure to look after the old man’s shop.”

Could you believe Ginem Bari was actually concerned about the safety of Mr. Chotos’s shop? He seemed to have thought about a lot of things after he suffered that initial defeat, and he told me he wanted to reflect and start seriously training with his golems again—from the beginning.

Yeah, that’s good. Turn over a new leaf and stop hunting newbies, Ginem.

“Say, Ginem. You won’t betray us for a payday, right?”

“I owe you big, Nemaki. You saved my life. I won’t dishonor that,” Ginem Bari replied with a dignified expression. Then his face crumbled pitifully. “Besides, there’s no way I could ever betray Miss Goretaru. I’d get so murdered…”

“Ehhh? You’re just scared of Gol! You sounded so cool just then, but you instantly ruined it.”

Ginem had taken to calling Gol stuff like “Miss Goretaru.” Even though he was casual and didn’t try to “sir” or “mister” me, he was unfailingly polite with Gol. He really didn’t make any sense. He’d been all twitchy with me to start, but he’d slowly opened his heart. Now he could say whatever was on his mind to me. Conversely, he regarded Gol with absolute awe.

It was almost as if he’d had a terrible epiphany.

In any case, in a somewhat wild turn of events, Ginem wouldn’t have to find a job any time soon, as he’d been paid in advance by the Paisley Company for the job he ultimately failed. In the meantime, he was settling in Tibar to practice with his golems and work as a bodyguard. You could say he was a perfect match for Mr. Chotos’s shop.

“Well, you don’t have to worry. There’s no one in Sadie who I can’t beat. If I call myself this shop’s bodyguard, no creep’s going to so much as glance at it.”

“Eh? Really? I’m pretty sure you lose to me every single time.”

After our tons of Gol vs. Clown Brigade matches, Gol had become so familiar with the jesters’ movements that she was far stronger than them. Usually, Gol decapitated all four with a single chop, ending the fight in less than a minute.

“Yeah, but not because I’m weak! You guys are just bizarrely strong!”

“Ehhh? You sure you’re not just small fry?”

“You…! I definitely won’t lose next time, got it?!”

As Ginem and I argued, Mr. Chotos wryly smiled.

In truth, I had asked Ginem to watch over the man’s shop as a kind of insurance, though I didn’t think I needed to worry about the Paisley Company meddling anymore. You see, the Zibil branch office seemed to have gone out of business. Five days before, one of Mr. Chotos’s customers had shared a rumor that a fire had broken out in that branch.

It seemed that right before the Paisley Company building went up in flames, they had a quarrel with some great, enraged spellcaster and earned the spellcaster’s ire. Although there wasn’t any definitive proof of this—as everything had turned to ash—the people of Zibil whispered that the destruction had to be the result of spellcraft.

What a terrifying story. Jeez, how badly off is public order in this world?! I absolutely don’t want to meet some crazy, pyromaniac spellcaster.

In any case, the Paisley Company had committed hundreds of evil acts, so such a fate was bound to come knocking eventually. I couldn’t just dismiss this as “someone else’s problem”—it was a lesson. I needed to always pay attention to my own actions and comport myself with modesty and kindness toward others.

Now, the following is just my personal conjecture as a master detective, but I believe the true identity of the culprit who destroyed the Paisley Company branch office was a Fire spellcaster.

I mean, obviously, right? They burned down the building and camouflaged it as a normal fire. It’s obvious they used their absurd, flashy Fire spells to do crime!

Seriously, the Fire attribute is good-for-nothing. Hmph! It could only be used for assassination and arson. It needed to learn from the peaceful Earth attribute, which had no other real use aside from enjoying a nice golem-fighting game, where the only stakes were who bought whose lunch.

As a side note, when Mr. Chotos heard the Paisley Company had been burnt down, rather unbelievably, both he and Ginem accused me of secretly setting the building on fire.

That was absolutely outrageous. A cooked-up baloney accusation, and utterly inconceivable. That branch manager had already agreed to mutual noninterference by way of my brilliant negotiation skills. I was a proud, cultured man and an honest gentleman. How could I do something so barbaric as to break that promise?

In the first place, it was totally beyond my ability to turn such a huge building like that into a magnificent blaze; I couldn’t even use Fire spells. Moreover, lately I’d spent every day being badgered by Teru to play house in the shop, so the resident five-year-old could provide me with a flawless alibi. Logically speaking, I was clearly innocent.

Unfortunately, it seemed Mr. Chotos and Ginem could never become master detectives like me.

At any rate, now that the Paisley Company’s business had been so upended, I didn’t think they would meddle with Mr. Chotos’s shop or Tibar again.

“Well, everyone…take care, now.” I said my farewells in a cheerful tone and patted the crying, sniffling Teru’s head before starting down the street.

“Hey, Nemaki,” Mr. Chotos called out.

“What now, mister? I just said goodbye; don’t try to ruin it.” I turned with a dejected look, but I was surprised to see Mr. Chotos’s eyes were no longer disgustingly teary.

With a serious face, he said, “Remember, Nemaki. When you’re done with your important business, you can always come back to Tibar, all right?”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Well, I would consider returning home whenever I felt like seeing the face of my adorable stepsister, Teru. I didn’t care at all about seeing any unsightly old men.

Mr. Chotos snorted. “Jeez. You’re going to be like that till the very end, huh?” He sounded irritated, but there was a smile on his face. “If you don’t know where else to go at the end of your journey, don’t hesitate to come right back home. I’ll keep that second-floor bedroom empty for you and Goretaru.”

“…”

After I quietly nodded, I turned on my heel, my olive-brown robe fluttering from the momentum. “Thanks for your care. See you later.”

I began walking down the streets of Tibar, Gol by my side.

After a short while, I turned around one final time. A balding, middle-aged man and a fair-skinned, innocent girl… They didn’t look anything alike, yet their continuing farewell waves were identical.

 

***

 

The dignified back of the young man in an impressive robe disappeared into the distance. Beside him, the beautiful shrine golem with long, flowing, silken hair and the appearance of a white goddess also disappeared.

The wind blowing from the west made a lonely sound.

“He really left, huh?” Chotos closed his eyes in front of his shop.

His daughter, Teru, continued to wave her small hand in the direction of the young man, although he could no longer be seen.

Chotos extended his arms and picked up Teru, who was light for her age. He used his sleeve to wipe the tears from his beloved daughter’s eyes. Then he looked back toward the street and said, earnestly, “Nemaki’s personality is… How can I put it? Not quite simpleminded honesty. Calling him a ‘maverick’ also doesn’t seem right. It’s hard to explain, but he’s got a strange charm.”

Nemaki Dasai was a truly odd fellow. A black-haired man with noble eyes who claimed to have come here from a distant country, his mannerisms and astonishingly excellent equipment proved he had been born into wealth. Chotos understood that the majority of Nemaki’s outlandish behavior was due to his upbringing. However, the real strangeness lay elsewhere.

More than anything, Nemaki’s unique fighting ability deserved utter admiration. The soldiers in charge of maintaining Sadie’s public order had been unable to lay hands on the Swordbreaker gang, yet Nemaki annihilated them as easily as twisting a baby’s arm. After that, he caught the attention of the strongest golem wielder in Sadie: the Four Jester Wielder. But likewise, despite distance and an overwhelming disadvantage, he managed to attain a crushing victory.

Nemaki’s talent as a golem wielder equaled—perhaps even surpassed—that of the strongest wielders in the vast land of the Heilemia Empire. Additionally, Nemaki had shown them a glimpse of his own tremendous fighting ability as a spellcaster sans golem. Chotos had never heard of a living human capable of destroying a military-grade golem, let alone at long range.

But the most terrifying thing about Nemaki was his abnormal clarity of vision on the battlefield; it was as if he could see through all the traps his opponents laid. It was no wonder his enemies could only describe him as a nightmare.

With his unorthodox, unbeatable strength, Chotos wanted to say Nemaki was just like the kind of hero who appeared in a picture book.

However, Nemaki didn’t seem to think anything much of these talents of his. The proof was in how he never looked down on the powerless townsfolk, nor did he put on a haughty attitude and show off his power.

Moreover, he constantly threw insults at Chotos, calling him a useless middle-aged man or a sloppy old geezer. At the same time, he always went out of his way to help out and protect Chotos. His words said one thing, but his actions showed a surprisingly gentle side. Frankly, he was more sincere than the protagonists in those books Chotos had read as a child.

Nemaki had been exactly the same way with Ginem Bari. He called Ginem harsh things like “delinquent,” “outrageous,” “pitiful,” and such, but at the same time, he visited Ginem every day until he recovered, always giving some random reason. Once Ginem had healed, the two practiced with their golems and ate lunch together. Now that Chotos thought about it, Nemaki might have done this out of kindness so Ginem wouldn’t feel alone after being put in such a difficult spot.

Nemaki’s words and behavior were often at odds, but it strangely attracted the people he came in contact with. That was the kind of young man he was.

A young man dressed in a gaudy, stage-worthy purple robe had been leaning against the shop wall and gazing down the road toward where Nemaki disappeared. He really couldn’t hide the loneliness in his eyes.

“Not simply honest, huh…? It’s as you said, old man. Nothing ‘simple’ can fully express Nemaki’s personality. When he was honest, he was utterly honest,” Ginem Bari muttered.

At this moment, Ginem suddenly remembered something. “Oh, yeah, Nemaki said that in his hometown, there was a special word to describe just such a personality.”

Chotos turned to Ginem with an interested face. “Oh yeah, like that ‘bahcode’ thing he says.”

“Right, right. And like ‘faiten geym.’ Um, what did he call it again…?” Ginem stared into space for a moment before raising his eyebrows. “Ah, I remember. It’s ‘tsundory.’”

“Tsundory?”

“Yeah. He said adorable people who care deeply for their partner but say all sorts of things to the contrary are called that in his hometown.”

“Huh. That’s another strange word.”

“Nemaki said he wanted to meet a charming tsundory girl in this country, but…it seems to me he’s the one who’s the most tsundory.”

“Ha ha, that’s true. That Nemaki is, without a doubt, a first-class tsundory.”

Chotos and Ginem exchanged a glance and laughed loudly. In her father’s arms, young Teru laughed along with them. The tears had finally dried from the corners of her little eyes.

The front of Chotos’s Mana Tool Shop was bathed in bright light after the morning rain.