darklydivergent

(outside the hotel)

Shino: Hey, will you stop making weird faces already?

Faust: Yeah-yeah, I got it. Stop staring at me.


The rain was becoming much stronger.

Enveloped in the thunderous roar of a sudden shower, guests in the terrace seats all start moving over to under the awning.

Shino and I ended up following the crowd as the guests whispering in each other's ears multiplied, discussing when best to leave.

Now, Shino is pulling on my arm. While keeping my gaze up, I bend my neck towards Shino and sure enough, he’s there to whisper in my ear.


Shino: What’s a rear guard?


That…was a sudden question.

When I looked down at what his own book on hand was, it turned out to be a history of the tactical use of magic.

It was still far too early for him to read that book. Having no basic foundation to go off of, even studying tactics had the potential for him to use them incorrectly.


Faust: A rear guard is for when you need to retreat from battle. But, it’s too early for you to be learning about tactics….

Shino: But isn’t retreating running away? Why’s this commander mentioned here still highly praised for that?


Taking things in a book he read so seriously was such a Shino-typical thing to do that I felt I had to correct him.

Well, it was nice to see something that had him so hooked, so while wary of the sound of rain and wandering eyes, I whisper back to him.


Faust: Overwhelming victory and breaking through the front line isn’t the only thing a good commander should be praised for.

Shino: Why?

Faust: Retreating from battle means many sacrifices are born. Keeping your allies’ sacrifices to a minimum while sounding the retreat is often more difficult than victory.

Shino: More than winning?

Faust: That’s right. Fleeing can lower your allies’ morale, and the chain of command can be disrupted.

Faust: And for your enemies, it can prompt them to try and rout you. If you do not deal with the situation as reliably and calmly as you can, your own army will be completely wiped out.

Shino: Oh, I get it. With the rear guard protecting the back of the line, you can change the fate of an entire army.

Shino: In that case, it's no wonder this guy here is called a great commander.

Faust: Who?


I suppose it could be a historical figure that even I know. However, the instant I thought that, the book was then thrust into my chest.


Shino: Faust Lavinia. The Central Country’s founder, a hero of the nation, and even Alec Granvelle’s sworn friend.

Shino: The rear guard who carried on a fierce battle, a unit of wizards who saved the revolutionary army from total destruction; these military exploits are well known in the Central Country.

Faust: ……


Framed in the middle of this dreary landscape, the displeasure and distrust was far too easy to see on his face.


Shino: And you got the same name.

Faust: Shino. That book…..

Shino: Even you got your secrets. That’s not something I really give a crap about. After all, we’re only together now.


The street was losing color, yet the shadows were growing ever clearer. Into the gloomy air, his words “we’re only together for now”...sounded somewhat lonely.


Shino: But I don’t have a duty to listen to a guy who won’t show his true character forever.

Shino: Next time, don’t let Heath go in ahead. I’m not gonna listen to that.


Shino’s disapproval was certainly understandable. A man who does not open up about himself is not someone I’d ever want to trust with my life. But Shino’s attitude left nothing in my mind to spare, and I was finally convinced.


Faust: (….Shino has secrets. Or perhaps I should say, secrets about Heath. )


I had thought about this before.

Heath’s safety as his lord and master, is Shino’s primary concern.

And Shino knows about Heath’s as-of-yet unknown affliction from the Great Calamity. Unfortunately, I’ve had very few opportunities to bring it up.

If you consider Shino’s usual motives, Heath’s affliction is something he couldn’t help but to be concerned about.


Faust: (Just maybe…Shino might actually know the true nature of Heath’s affliction.)


The rain is violently falling and splashing o the ground. Shino’s grim look stayed the same.

East wizards hate getting along with others. Shino and Nero don’t like to talk about the past.

It’s the truth for me too.

Only Heath sometimes tells us about fond memories he has of his parents.

We wanted to be friends with each other, but with our natures, it was like looking at each other through a rainy veil.

We didn’t mind how dull, how cloudy it was. We could comprehend the edges of the silhouette and needed only the voices that got through without us knowing how.

That distance was comfortable.

But, since we have to fight in the battles along the course of our lives, a good relationship is obviously necessary-

Even if it breaks.


Faust: ….Do you usually read those kinds of books?

Shino: I borrowed it from Heath. Blanchett’s a military family, after all. They’re also needed in the East’s defense.

Shino: I actually know a fair bit more about historical battles and tactics than Heath does.

Shino: That type of stuff isn’t dull in small quantities. Professor.


Usually Shino would not refer to me like that, but even I could understand what he’s going for.

The sarcasm and lack of respect is certainly not lost on me.

Shino’s mouth curled into a scornful laugh.


Shino: Hah….

Shino: Someone who’d just throw away being lauded as a hero would never understand what it’s like to want that.


I was about to say something, and opened my mouth. Suddenly, Shino looked up.

I train my eyes on the figure of a person entering the Guild hotel.

The shadow that Shino had fixated on was a woman; one that I remember as well.


Shino: It’s Tanya.


A while back on a mission in the East, we had met her by chance as a hunter in Jura Forest.

The rain grew weaker. The air around us was becoming lukewarm, the sky brighter.

A person who lived their daily life in the forest, separated from civilization was rare, even for a hunter.

Shino was standing up casually and signaled to me.


Shino: I’m gonna to go talk to her. Wait here.

Faust: Okay.


I nodded. If something had happened, I intended to come running, but Shino was able to catch the nimble woman.

They have a conversation, and then he comes back.


Faust: How did it go?

Shino: After getting to know a merchant captain in Jura Forest, it seems like she received a commission/request to come to the city. She said she accepted because of some sense of responsibility.

Faust: Sense of responsibility?

Shino: It sounded like the captain’s daughter just vanished right before her eyes.


I frowned at hearing of such an unsettling incident.


Shino: At first it seemed like some weird rumors. Travelers walking around in Jura Forest, and before they even noticed, ended up in a hotel in the City of Rain.

Faust: Travelers all the way in Jura Forest, in a hotel in the City of Rain? This hotel??

Shino: Yeah. An old, triangle-roofed hotel. The one right there.


I once again directed my gaze at the hotel.


Shino: Tanya also said she thought it too was nothing more than some gossip’s made up story at the start.

Shino: But the other day, Tanya was requested to help the merchant group lost in Jura Forest.

Shino: The captain’s daughter was grabbed by the legs and pulled away.

Shino: Tanya said when she ran after her, the girl nearly ended up dragged somewhere.

Shino: All she saw pulling the girl was just some dry leaves whirling all over the place and a cloud of dust.

Shino: But all of a sudden, in the middle of a primeval forest, some sort of small room appeared.

Shino: At that moment, the girl vanished. The room also seemed to disappear like it was an illusion.


I frowned deeply as I listened to this story. A small room suddenly emerging in the gloomy primordial scenery of Jura Forest….


Faust: (Spatial magic? Is it like Mithra’s door?)

Shino: Tanya remembered those rumors from before, and then it seemed she received a request for a manhunt.

Faust: Going to all the trouble of traveling to the City of Rain….That sounds incredibly difficult for a human.

Shino: Not really that hard. She’s pretty strong and got tough feet.

Shino: Well, even if she is loaded with requests, I think she is an okay person.

Faust: Okay then. Anything else?

Shino: Couldn’t hear anything else. They were in a rush over there.


With a nod, I narrowed my eyes.

Spatial magic is high level. If what Tanya said was real, the owner of said magic would be regularly visiting this area.

That would be someone with Oz’s or Mithra’s power, and someone like that drawing near would make the spirits noisy. I'd be able to sense such an overwhelming aura too, but  I’m not.

Instead, there is something faintly recognizable and peculiar. It could be the rain, or my own nerves, but it’s so slight that is on the edges of my perception….

Staring at the hotel, I feel around for Nero and Heath’s signals. Thankfully, I could still sense them. They hadn’t vanished.


Faust: That woman, in the hotel?

Shino: Yeah. Heath and Nero might meet her.

Shopkeeper: Ah, honored guests….


The shopkeeper called out, and we both turned our heads to look.

The shopkeeper looked very uncomfortable, and slowly held their index finger to their lips.

Of course, I understand. Instead of continuing to talk, Shino and I too, raised our fingers to our lips and nodded.

The shopkeeper averted their eyes like they were ashamed, and knew what we were talking about.

At the same time, we both opened our books we never ended up reading.

---

(inside the hotel)

Heathcliff: ……

Nero: ……

Heathcliff: I asked the hotel employees to take a look around the general area, but there really isn’t any traces of the Guild in this hotel…..

Nero: Yeah….. Well even if they said somethin’ about the Guild, it’d be old news.

Nero: Even if there’s remains, this buildin’s been repaired and built up again many times, an’ they might’ve thrown some shit out accidentally.

Heathcliff: The Wizards’ Guild book….. “The Rulebook for Mutual Prosperity”….?

Heathcliff: That book’s author is called Nova, so it could be a possibility that he is very old. Do you think so?

Nero: An old man? Guess so. That bein’ said, can’t say I’m a young wizard either…..

Heathcliff: Didn’t you say he was a white-haired gentleman who wore old-fashioned clothes?

Nero: Yeah. But he still looked pretty young.

Heathcliff: …..was he strong?

Nero: Definitely strong…. Mithra an’ the Norths were workin’ together an’ weren’t able to bring the guy down.

Heathcliff: Is that so….but Shino keeps acting like he wants to take down Nova with his own strength….

Nero: You better stop him. You gotta trust someone like Oz or th’ Norths with personally takin’ on that guy.

Nero: Nova ain’t the type to go easy. If he goes at it like is, Shino’d be easily turned to stone.


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