By Zephyria 
Dan.
It was a name I had completely forgotten while Ruben was gone.
The day we first met Raul. The reason we decided to go to the Diamant mansion without hesitation was because Hugh Benson had spoken of his past for the first time in his own words.
Of course, we came to Bardiol chasing the traces of a Black magician. The recent events Raul mentioned were suspicious enough to suspect Black Magic. But if that were all, we would have watched for a while longer.
I remembered acting more recklessly because I thought, “How could we afford to be leisurely when Hugh’s acquaintance was kidnapped?”
Hugh Benson couldn’t find her among the kidnapped mercenaries, and we, busy with the matter of losing Ruben and Benjamin, quickly let go of the Diamant family’s affairs. After getting them back, we were preoccupied with stories of contracts the Spirits had made or my past lives.
But did Hugh Benson forget just because I did? I felt belatedly worried about him, who had joined us on this long journey without mentioning a single word about our concerns.
Perhaps it was because of that feeling, but Hugh Benson’s face looked more troubled than usual.
“Which direction are you heading now?”
“North, further north than where we were before. But I don’t know Bardiol’s geography well.”
“How far north?”
“We just set off. I don’t know yet.”
I wished Raul had just used any random name and lied to shake Hugh Benson.
I added a few more words, hoping I might be able to find them later.
“Does that Tracking magic… last long?”
“It doesn’t last that long. About three months? It’s just a vague sense of direction and distance. I originally intended to track them immediately after they fled…”
Back then, we didn’t know we would suddenly end up on completely opposite paths.
As I hesitated, unable to find more to say, Hugh Benson took a deep breath and let out a sigh.
“…What the hell is Raul doing?”
“What do you mean, ‘what is he doing’?”
“He was selling off mercenaries too, gathering them and selling them. It seemed like he was directly contacting the Owner’s subordinate.”
“Right? And why is that?”
Marianne eagerly chimed in with an intrigued expression.
Unable to address Hugh Benson in such a cheerful and bright tone, I naturally fell silent.
“He must know that the Diamant family is doing the same thing, so why did he drag us specifically in that direction?”
“Hmmmm.”
Ruben, who had been listening quietly beside me, added in a calm tone.
“Raul acted as if he knew about my existence from the very beginning. I found it suspicious because I thought the seniors couldn’t have told him about me…”
“So, he was deceiving the others and trying to hand over Rub to that person called the Owner?”
“I don’t know why he went through such a troublesome method, but probably.”
Ruben’s gaze fell on Elvin, who was riding alongside Nadish ahead.
We all understood what he was implying.
Right. If Raul could also hear Divine Revelations… that god might have told him about Ruben’s existence. But why would he need to go through such trouble, deceiving even his own companions, to achieve this?
While we were deep in thought, Marianne suddenly grabbed her hair.
I was startled and speechless, but Hugh Benson, who immediately recognized who she was imitating, scowled and let out an annoyed sound. The two, who were bickering playfully like children, saying “When did I ever do that?” and “Did I ever copy you, Seonbae?”, returned to their conversation.
“What did he mean by ‘just hold on a little longer with Rub Seonbae’? Was he saying that if we just waited a little longer, Mikael would come to save us, or that if we just waited, we’d be handed over entirely to the Owner?”
“It’s obviously the latter, isn’t it?”
“Why? Raul could be a nymph of love.” I pressed down my conical hat, which the wind blowing from afar threatened to lift.
My eyes met with the Spirit’s as I looked at Ikyun. Seeing the blue creature, who was pretending not to have played any pranks and was hiding in Nadish’s clothes, I sighed.
“I wish the god we’re going to meet now was omniscient and knew everything.”
“…Ah…”
As I sighed, Marianne deliberately turned her gaze back to Elvin’s retreating figure. Hugh Benson waved his hand between Marianne and Elvin, blocking their view. His voice was drained of energy.
“I don’t expect anything. What are you expecting?”
“Hahaha! Ah, why is your trust in Elwin Seonbae so low?”
“Would you trust him? I knew that guy was crazy, but wow. He’s really something.”
“You didn’t know either?”
“No. When I asked him about the Oasis, he just said… I thought he was being difficult, so I let it go.”
“What are you talking about so interestingly?”
Drawn by Marianne’s laughter, the mercenary Ann chimed in.
Ann was also a Sword Master. There was no way she couldn’t have heard the conversation we were having at this distance, yet she spoke with such a playful tone. Realizing that it was her way of showing courtesy, we readily included her in the conversation.
“Mercenaries were disappearing in Bardiol, right? I heard it was a systematically organized act. Is the White Lion Mercenary Group registered with the Kingdom of Owen?”
“We are based in Sierren, not Owen, so we don’t bother registering there. Except for the five of us, the rest are currently in the Widdrow Duchy.”
“I see.”
Perhaps it was because she was so thin. Or maybe her head was small. Even though she wore a conical hat of similar size to others, the shadow on Ann’s face seemed particularly deep. With only her lips and chin visible, Ann smiled brightly.
“However, I have heard something about that couple you were just talking about.”
“Oh? The couple story?”
“Isn’t it that Sword Master? The one with reddish-brown hair, about this tall, who carries their sword hilt wrapped with bandages and colored ribbons. Is her name Wendy or Andy… They say she always had a smiling man by her side.”
Ann gestured with both hands, mimicking someone hugging another person around the waist. Seeing her playful gesture, I couldn’t connect it with the Raul I knew and the Sword Master, and I was just puzzled. It was true that the Sword Master had reddish-brown hair, but the rest was unknown.
As I blinked in confusion, Hugh Benson immediately showed interest.
“I don’t know her name either, but if the guy by her side has dark gray hair and purple eyes, then it’s likely her. Do you know?”
“It seems so. I heard they were a couple who hadn’t been dating long. The man seemed a bit of a playboy? As soon as they arrived in Bardiol, he warned other mercenaries not to get involved and suffer misfortune. He told them not to go near.”
“…Hoo.”
“…They really do anything and everything.”
According to what Ann had heard, Raul and the Sword Master had been together for less than a year. Yet, the woman seemed to cherish and protect Raul so much that all sorts of rumors were circulating.
They didn’t know about the systematic kidnapping of mercenaries, but they had heard that approaching them could lead to trouble.
Mercenaries rarely stayed in one area for long. The White Lion Mercenary Group, not from the same country, knew nothing about the disappearances of Owen’s mercenaries. They only heard that the mercenaries from Sierren were busy traveling to the Yuil Mountains, having encountered a rare boom season.
So, where was Dan in the end?
I was just distressed, unable to know if he was alive or dead.
Putting aside these various matters, there was another issue that had been most troubling me lately.
Soon, it would be the end of October, Ruben’s birthday.
Around this time last year, I had kissed Ruben under the guise of a birthday gift.
Even if I had never had a lover, I wasn’t a fool.
I knew that giving flowers and jewels on an anniversary was a form of courtship. On that day, at the auction where I had tried hard to obtain a precious jewel in advance, I had the wicked thought of wanting to spend this year similarly to last year. At that time, I was actually, to some extent, looking forward to this day in my heart.
But now, things had become difficult.
Ruben had said it was fine even if the person inside this skin was old, but I wasn’t fine.
It felt so regrettable and pitiful that the child had chosen someone like me because he had never shared affection with someone his own age. What good was it to be involved with someone who, being old, didn’t know how to treat a precious person well and dragged them to such a harsh place…
Furthermore, what if that frivolous god decided, “Oh dear, I’ve made a big mistake,” and moved me back to the Central Plains? The thought of this deep and kind child shedding tears from great hurt made me even more afraid and cautious in my conduct.
With such thoughts, I let out a sigh, and Ruben immediately turned to me with a worried expression. Seeing him draw his horse close and ride right beside me, I smiled and told him it was nothing.
But inwardly, I thought about various things.
What if I abandoned my vain desires and sent Ruben to the capital, ending things as early as possible?
Would this child cry, or get angry?
Or perhaps, he would just shrug it off, thinking it was for the best, and leave without a second thought.
…Just thinking about it made me feel suffocated with pain and sorrow.
I stopped tormenting myself with my own thoughts and took a breath. I looked far in the direction the sun was setting. I tried to calm my mind by focusing on the rhythmic sound of the horses’ hooves. My heart was far from at ease.
❖ ❖ ❖
October 30th.
It rained from the morning of the day before the child’s birthday.
Why is a desert a desert? It’s a desert because it doesn’t rain. Therefore, rain falling in late summer was no less than a blessing to the people of the southwestern regions of Owen, bordering the desert.
The innkeeper and the inn staff, who had rushed inside to escape the rain, had all gone out early to collect water. The interior, devoid of people, was quiet, but the outside was noisy with the sounds of laughter, chatter, and rain.
Leon and Peter, who had gone out to tend to the horses and returned drenched, shook their heads.
“It’s no good. They say this kind of rain will pour down like this for a week. Wouldn’t it be better to rest for a while?”
“Well… there’s no rush. It’s a promise that’s been postponed for about a year.”
“But…!”
Nadish Haisan tried to say something, but Hugh Benson sat firmly against the back of his chair, shaking his head a couple of times. His gaze swept over Ruben, Marianne, Benjamin, and me in turn. Nadish, following Hugh’s gaze, quietly closed his mouth.
“We have more than one precious person in our party. If someone catches a cold, it’ll be more trouble. We’ll rest until the rain stops.”
“…Yes.”
Ruben’s slender gaze fell on my cheek.
There was no greater predicament than this. I broke out in a cold sweat, feeling greatly embarrassed.