“…You never know. I might run into that person again.”
Bailey was dumbfounded. At this rate, the cart was being put before the horse. What was important to him right now was writing the thesis needed for his next promotion, not some unidentified petty thief.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been dawdling all this time because you want to meet that thief again?”
“…”
At the returning silence, Bailey clicked his tongue. This was an illness, an illness. A severe case of unrequited love for a superior. His desire to have a brilliant genius colleague had gone too far, leading him to fall in one-sided love with an unidentified petty thief.
Ignorant Bailey couldn’t understand how Kalian could be so certain based solely on seeing Adam-ssi transformed into a frog, but he was worried that Kalian was becoming too absorbed in useless matters.
“Lord Kalian, you know you have to complete your thesis before the year ends, right?”
Bailey began in an admonishing tone.
“Even if that guy really is a genius mage, what does that have to do with you, Lord Kalian? Are you going to take him to the royal palace and make him your colleague? That would just be adding one more outstanding competitor.”
“But he’s truly an amazing mage… If someone like that could gain proper credentials at the royal palace, and ideally use that talent for the country, wouldn’t that be good?”
At times like these, Bailey felt his superior was truly like a senseless child.
“What you need to focus on right now is your promotion. That’s ultimately why we came here.”
Kalian sighed. Though Bailey was usually a bit dumb, he had an oddly realistic side that occasionally gave piercing advice. Since there was nothing wrong with what he said, Kalian couldn’t refute it.
Bailey looked up at him. However, because of the bright sunlight beating down directly, he couldn’t see Kalian’s expression well as he sat atop the horse.
“Did you hear me? Forget about that mage or lunatic or whatever he is.”
***
‘He really is a lunatic.’
Elijah, who had returned home with a tired body, shuddered as he recalled some madman he’d encountered at the market.
Last time he’d nearly been terrorized after getting caught by a bad con artist, and this time he’d nearly gotten caught by some lunatic. The world really was too frightening. Of course there were some good people, but the world was dominated by far more villains and madmen than them.
‘I should never go down there again.’
Still, the fortunate thing was that this time he hadn’t returned empty-handed.
“Rose, raise your arms.”
Though he himself had returned having lost one of his only two cloaks, Elijah was very happy to finally be able to dress Rose in clothes that fit him perfectly.
A white shirt with a glossy sheen and soft texture wrapped around Rose’s body, and after putting on well-ironed pants with crisp creases, his fatigue completely vanished.
“Turn around, Rose. You’re pretty.”
Watching Rose obediently spread both arms and spin around as told, Elijah completely forgot about the incident where he’d nearly had a disaster meeting some lunatic at the settlement.
“Am I pretty?”
“Yes.”
Rose hopped and clung to Elijah. The cord connecting his ankle to the bed leg pulled taut. Rose embraced Elijah’s neck and laughed.
“Elijah is prettier.”
He habitually fiddled with Elijah’s hair and asked,
“But why did you cut your hair?”
“Ah, I had no choice. I had to cut my hair to go to the settlement.”
The hand touching the ends of the shortly cut hair was full of regret. Elijah tapped Rose’s nose.
“Why, does it look strange?”
“No?”
Rose immediately denied it. He stroked Elijah’s head with his small hand.
“Elijah is pretty no matter what you do! You’d be pretty even with chestnut-burr hair.”
Elijah chuckled. He didn’t know what chestnut-burr hair was, but it was a pleasant thing to say anyway. Rose kissed his lips with a smack.
“Thank you for the clothes, Elijah. I’ll treasure them and wear them until I grow too small for them.”
At the quite mature thanks, Elijah felt Rose had grown a little more in this moment. He didn’t know how this child only said such pretty things.
It really was good that he’d gathered his courage and gone to the settlement. He should have gone sooner. Then he could have dressed him in lots of pretty clothes from when he was even younger.
“But…, next time don’t leave me alone.”
Burying his head in Elijah’s nape, Rose said in a sulky voice.
“I woke up and you weren’t there, so I was sad.”
“I’m sorry. I won’t do that next time.”
“Next time you go somewhere, definitely take me with you.”
“I won’t be going anywhere from now on…”
“Really? You won’t go anywhere and will just stay with me?”
“Yes.”
Kyaa! Rose, letting out a shriek, bounced up and down in Elijah’s arms.
“Keep your promise. You have to stay only with me.”
Rose, clenching his fist tightly, extended his pinky finger. Elijah hooked his pinky finger to that small finger.
“I promise.”
Rose shook their connected hands with a bright smile. Elijah thought as he watched him. If there came a time when he had to go down to the settlement next, Rose would probably be a complete adult by then. Then it would be okay to go out together.
“…”
Elijah’s gaze suddenly reached Igrit.
Would it really be okay for the people at the settlement too? A vampire walking freely among them…, would that really be safe?
“Elijah, I’m hungry.”
“Yes.”
Elijah, who had been lost in thought for a moment, tilted his head slightly. As if finding its very natural place, Rose’s lips moved along his neck.
Crunch. Feeling the familiar pain of skin being bitten, Elijah suddenly looked down.
The cord tied to Rose’s ankle finally caught his eye. Though Rose could have asked to be untied, he hadn’t said anything all this time, so it seemed he’d forgotten too.
Elijah, in an awkward position with his neck offered to Rose who was clinging tightly to him with no intention of letting go, tilted his head as he untied the cord bound to his ankle.
…Did I tie it this tightly?
He thought he’d tied it loosely so it would come undone easily with a pull on the end, but the knot looked a bit different. The shape of the knot was too neat for Rose to have touched it himself. It wasn’t something a young child could do.
“Nng.”
A soft tongue swept over the punctured skin. Ticklish and stinging, Elijah shivered slightly.
“Does it hurt?”
“No. It’s fine.”
Elijah, having untied the knot on the ankle, adjusted his hold on Rose and sat on the bed.
Well, what did it matter? His memory could be mistaken. Elijah, feeling unnecessarily sorry, rubbed the reddish mark left by the cord on Rose’s ankle with his fingertips.
***
「August 13th.
Are you well, Master?
There was a brief shower this morning. Since I still haven’t repaired the ceiling that collapsed last winter, the entrance became flooded. If Rose hadn’t woken me to let me know, it would have been harder to clean up.
Thinking about it while writing the date, today marks one year since Rose came to me.
Strictly speaking, he would be one year old in human age, but Rose actually looks like he’s about five or six years old. His intelligence seems even higher than that.
I usually don’t notice, but whenever I realize Rose’s growth like this every few months, it’s fascinating and amazing.
Just when does Rose grow so much? There’s not much difference when comparing day to day. Still, Rose must be growing diligently every day, because at some point he’s been whining a lot about his knees hurting.
I’m a bit worried about how much he’ll have grown by this time next year.
I’ll write again tomorrow.
Rose and I are doing well today too.
—From your inadequate disciple, Elijah.」
“Elijah, look at this. It’s sparkling.”
Rose, riding on his back, pointed at a leaf with raindrops on it. Though the inside of the house may have become a mess from the morning shower, the forest was refreshingly clear for once.
Rose, who shook a branch within reach to sprinkle water on Elijah’s head, burst into clear laughter.
“Rose, you’ll fall doing that. You need to stay still.”
His upper body was leaning far to the side and he looked like he might fall off his back. Elijah floated the letter in his hand on the river and quickly adjusted Rose on his back.
The river that had received a downpour flowed faster than usual. The paper boat caught on a small pebble swayed precariously as if it would sink at any moment, then was swept away by the current pushing from behind.
***
“So, you’re saying this river is where the body was first discovered?”
Kalian, squinting at the pouring sunlight, asked while looking at the sparkling scales of water. The young woman nodded her head vigorously.
“Yes, that’s right!”
The current was fast and rough despite the weather not being particularly bad. On a rainy day, the flow would be enough to give nearby residents a terrible headache.
“Where does this river lead?”
Kalian, who had been blankly watching the river flowing endlessly down along the mountain slope to below the village, asked.
“It would merge with the Lantes River down there.”
“Ah…”
He nodded vaguely. He knew the Lantes River too. It was the only famous attraction known in this insignificant eastern edge of the land.
Taking his eyes off the river flowing in a curve across the bottom of the village, he turned his head upstream this time.
Through this river, the physician’s body had floated down recently. The body, bloated with water, was already so badly decomposed that even identifying it wasn’t easy.
It was just a few days ago that the body’s identity was finally revealed. It had been possible because Ollie, the physician’s wife, was certain after seeing the ornament around the corpse’s neck.
