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  “Huh…?” Klass made an inadvertently foolish face while Aryes cocked her head as though someone were pinching her nose. Then, at length, she gave a vague nod.

  Klass felt as though he was somehow being fooled, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on how.

  It was said that not even the wisest man could best a spirit.

  “That’s how it’s done, lad,” whispered Holo into Klass’s ear, and he couldn’t help being a bit impressed with her. “So, your destination was the sea, was it?”

  Perhaps she was used to eating such bread; while Klass nibbled stingily at his portion, Holo downed hers with greedy gusto.

  “M-more or less,” said Klass.

  “A meandering journey for two, eh?”

  Klass shrunk back at the tease. “That’s not really what it is, but…”

  “If you’re not truly wandering, then you’ve got to decide on a proper destination,” said Holo definitively, popping the last bite into her mouth.

  The word wandering echoed through Klass’s mind for a moment.

  He’d heard tales from such travelers, who migrated from nation to nation on horseback, faces gloomy and cloaks battered and worn.

  But when he’s spoken of such things, the other adults at the mansion all seemed to laugh in the same way, so he’d kept silent.

  “Still, your eating is as slow as your waking is late.”

  “Huh?” At Holo’s words, Klass looked down. He had not eat eaten even half of his bread.

  He immediately thought that Holo’s eating was merely too fast, but then he looked at Aryes.

  “What is it that humans say? Eating like you need a knife and spoon, eh?”

  Klass had often been told as much when his water-fetching and livestock chores were piling up.

  For the nobility who used knives and spoons, the slower one ate, the better.

  Naturally Klass had never used a spoon in his life.

  He hastily crammed the remaining bread into his mouth.

  Although the rich flavor of the bread now filled his mouth in a way it couldn’t possibly have done so while he was nibbling on it, a few chews and a swallow later and that was it.

  He was feeling as though it had been a bit of a waste, but it was gone now and what was done was done.

  He’d been further pushed by the fact that even Aryes, who was normally a very slow eater, had finished.

  “Right, then, let us gather our things and set off. The sea is yet far, but the next town is quite close.”

  At Holo’s words, Klass immediately set about cleaning up.

  He soon realized that he was the only one doing so, but he couldn’t interrupt Aryes (who was now in the middle of her post-breakfast prayers) and ordering Holo to help him was out of the question.

  Still, the one thing he couldn’t abide was having to care for Holo’s things in addition to his own.

  In contrast to Klass and Aryes’s meager belongings, Holo’s bag contained everything a traveler needed. The heaviest part was a wineskin filled with wine.

  “What do you mean, you can’t carry it alone? How did you come this far, then?” Klass complained at the unreasonable request, which Holo flashed her fangs at and brought her face close to his, smiling mysteriously.

  “You really want to know?”

  There were several reasons for Klass’s nervous gulp and nothing to make him nod in the affirmative.

  Holo nodded, satisfied, and with a wave of her tail, she set off walking.

  Klass had relinquished that pressure in exchange for this heavy burden; he sighed and walked after her. In any case, if this was the amount he was expected to carry, it was hardly impossible.

  As he was considering the situation, he sensed a presence beside him. When he looked over, it was Aryes.

  “Shall I help you?”

  It was the first offer she’d made in six days of travel, but Klass knew she had collapsed of exhaustion just yesterday. He could hardly accept it and so demurred.

  “But…,” she began, looking more assaulted by personal guilt than concern, and so Klass gave her the food bag they’d originally been traveling with.

  “Take this, then.”

  Aryes nodded and took the bag.

  Klass didn’t know why she was suddenly so eager to help but in any case was certainly happy she cared at all.

  “Well, let’s go.”

  Aryes slung the bag’s drawstring over her shoulder and followed obediently behind and to one side of him.

  This was a first for their travels together, but as Holo was already striding ahead, Klass had to hurry to keep up.

  He was worried that Aryes would collapse again, but it seemed as though they were approaching level ground as the rolling hills grew lower, and by the time they stopped for their midday meal, they’d been able to climb three small hills.

  Just before that break, Aryes—who’d been silent the entire time—spoke up.

  “I forgot to give my thanks for protecting me from the wolves, so thank you very much!”

  Klass was a bit taken aback at her strangely stiff affect and phrasing, which made it seem as though she’d been trying to find the right moment to say this.

  She was likely very serious about such things.

  “Um, y-you’re welcome.”

  At this answer, Aryes sighed in obvious relief and smiled weakly.

  It was so oddly charming that Klass was about to hastily add, “Please, don’t worry about it,” but he saw Holo sitting down ahead of them at a bit of a remove and said nothing.

  Her gaze was fixed elsewhere, but her ears were pointed at them.

  “A-anyway, let’s stop and eat.”

  In that moment, he noticed Holo’s profile looking suddenly irritated.

  Klass realized that Holo had likely made him carry her luggage in order to elicit this thanks from Aryes.

  He wished she would mind her own business.

  Such things were not why he was traveling with Aryes.

  And yet, being thanked so directly by her was a simple joy.

  After their midday meal was over, Holo sprawled out on the ground.

  She was no doubt sleepy from the large amount of wine she’d gulped down.

  She’d sent Klass and Aryes on ahead, saying she’d catch up with them later. They left behind only the blanket.

  Since the party’s walking speed was limited to what Aryes could manage, Holo could let them go ahead and still easily catch up. What made Klass sigh was the way Holo had so quickly invited herself along to travel with them and then just as easily did as she liked even after joining them.

  Of course, no matter what Holo’s conduct, it was more than made up for by the debt they owed her for sharing her bread with them.

  One could not argue with the person who fed them.

  Thus it was that for the moment, Klass was again traveling alone with Aryes.

  But it seemed that the reason she’d walked alongside Klass without straying all morning long was her searching for the opportunity to say the thanks she felt she’d missed. Now she would walk for a while, then stop, looking at him questioningly.

  The constant stopping was honestly irritating, but the questioning looks were not at all unpleasant.

  Naturally he couldn’t help but tell her whatever she wanted to know.

  After some time, she let slip a sound that might well have been a cry, which Klass turned at, surprised.

  “Aryes?!”

  In an instant, the events of the previous night flashed through his mind, but he soon realized that if there were more wolves, Holo had said she would deal with them.

  Aryes stood a short distance away; she looked at Klass, then pointed.

  For a moment he thought it was terror that colored her features—but no, it was something else.

  Not terror, but confusion.

  “What’s wrong?” The moment he heard her cry, Klass had nearly dropped the bags he was carrying to run to her side, but when he realized the lack of urgency in her
voice, he re-shouldered the burden and simply walked over to her.

  Leave one’s things unattended and they were liable to be snatched away by a hawk you’d never seen. Klass thought of the times he’d lost his meal to opportunistic livestock when tending them back at the estate.

  “Wh-what’s that…?”

  As Klass approached Aryes, the nuances of her expression became visible.

  Her face wasn’t confused as much as sad and worried.

  He looked to where she was pointing.

  There, just far enough away that it must have felt confident in its ability to escape should these strangers approach, was a brown rabbit.

  “A rabbit? What about it?”

  Even if it was her first time seeing a rabbit, it had nothing of the presence of, say, a horse, and if anything was rather cute, Klass thought.

  Just as he was wondering what she could possibly be so upset about, Aryes swallowed and answered his question.

  “Its…Its ears…”

  When Klass realized the reason for her sad, worried state, he couldn’t help but laugh.

  She thought its ears had gotten that way because someone had stretched them.

  “All rabbits have ears like that. Those long ears are how they hear things far away.”

  Klass had heard the wolves’ footfalls against the ground the night before, but when he’d slept in the estate’s barn, he’d often heard the rabbits that lived in nearby dens thumping the ground with their feet.

  When they hit the ground like that, their rabbit friends would hear the sound with their long ears and understand it as a warning of an approaching fox or wolf.

  “Are you quite certain that…someone didn’t do something terrible to it?”

  “Yes,” said Klass, which seemed to finally relieve Aryes. “Still, it sure looks tasty.” The hare was chewing away as it watched the pair vigilantly. Its fur was fine and it was rather large. If it was roasted over a fire, Klass could easily imagine the thick, oily texture that would greet him if he bit into a roasted rabbit thigh almost hot enough to burn him as the juices trickled down his chin.

  But once he’d said this, Aryes looked at him with utter disbelief.

  “Huh? Uh, er, no, I-I meant the grass the rabbit is eating. It sure looks like it’s tasty! That’s all I meant!” Klass hastily amended his statement, and though Aryes was regarding him as though he was a scoundrel of the worst sort, she seemed finally to believe him, and her expression calmed.

  “Ah, I see. I’m so sorry, I thought—”

  “No, it’s fine—I’m sorry I scared you.”

  In truth it was Klass who had been scared, but it seemed he’d managed to avoid Aryes’s scorn.

  Still, if that was so—had Aryes never eaten rabbit? Klass pondered this, and after a time Aryes spoke up uncertainly.

  “There undoubtedly is—”

  “Hmm?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I mean, there undoubtedly is much I don’t know about in the world,” she said, her gaze distant.

  Though her profile was calm, it seemed tinged with a quiet awe.

  Aryes had said that she’d lived her entire life within the stone-walled confines of that small building.

  Klass’s mouth moved of its own accord. “Well, let’s see more of it!”

  “Oh?”

  “We’ll go far away. To the ocean, to all over.”

  Holo had said they needed to have a destination or a goal.

  It seemed like a grand idea to Klass to have traveling the world and seeing its sights itself be the destination.

  But Aryes did not react for a time. For a moment it was as though his words had been a spell that turned her to stone, but her expression finally softened.

  Klass was a bit surprised at the very adult smile she wore.

  “Yes, let’s. Though I suppose I’ll need to walk a bit faster,” she said, her smile now the one Klass knew well.

  Klass, nonplussed, nodded three times, and then instead of clearing his throat, he rebalanced the bags over her shoulder. “So long as you don’t collapse,” he said teasingly.

  At this Aryes drew her chin in and hid her face beneath her hood.

  It was such a childish gesture, and Klass was relieved. “Let’s be off,” he said.

  He started walking as Aryes followed.

  The sun was setting by the time Holo finally rejoined them.

  “…Guh…” The voiceless sound came out of his throat unbidden. No matter how he tried to feign otherwise, there was nothing for it—he coughed hoarsely.

  “Heh-heh. I suppose you’re a bit young yet.”

  Holo took the wineskin from the coughing Klass and grinned unpleasantly.

  According to her, it contained filtered grape wine.

  Klass had always heard the word grape wine and imagined something sweet, but what he drank was more like spoiled grape juice that burned even though it was cold.

  “Looks like this one’s not just taller than you, she’s more grown-up, too.” Holo took another swig from the wineskin, then had a bite of jerky.

  Height had nothing to do with it, Klass wanted to say, but couldn’t come up with a good retort.

  Aryes had been able to drink it with a straight face, and if she could do it, he thought he could, too—right up until the miserable accounting he’d just given of himself.

  “Wine is the blood of God. If you can’t drink this, it’s proof that God’s teachings aren’t entering your body,” Aryes had scolded him.

  Since Klass had never heard any of these supposed teachings, that was probably true, but in any case it was humiliating that she could do something he couldn’t.

  “Wine is meant to be enjoyed. There are other liquors to drink to prove your pluck.” Told thus by the spirit, he had no choice but to back down. “Though I do pity you being unable to enjoy this pleasure.”

  These last words, though, were directed not at Klass, but at Aryes.

  Aryes seemed perplexed for a moment and looked at Klass.

  Still frustrated at having been coddled, Klass looked away.

  “Still, when one constantly calls upon God after having received His blessing, failures will also increase,” said Aryes.

  “It pains me to hear it,” said Holo, twitching her wolf ears as though flicking an insect away.

  Aryes smiled, then unfolded and refolded her arms on her lap awkwardly, as though embarrassed. “The most common failure is being unable to wait as the juice drips from the cloth one has bound the grapes in…”

  “And so you wring it out by hand, yes? And then for some reason, it tastes awful.”

  Aryes closed her eyes and put her hand to her right cheek. “‘If grape wine is the blood of God, and the blood of God is the blessing taken from his body, then you are fools who seek blessings though it injures God,’ I was told.”

  Klass didn’t really understand what Aryes was talking about, but Holo seemed deeply amused, as though she’d told a joke of the best sort.

  The only thing he did understand was that whenever Aryes had heard those words, her right cheek had been struck. She rubbed her cheek as though remembering the pain.

  “I felt deeply sorry. I knew I would never do such a thing again.”

  “And so you leashed your craving, eh?”

  Aryes opened one eye and looked at Holo, whose head was slightly cocked; the two let slip a little ripple of laughter.

  “I keep God’s teachings and receive only those blessings I have earned.”

  “Catching one drop at a time, then licking it from your finger would surely be…,” said Holo with exaggerated relish, and Aryes closed her eyes again and smiled.

  But now her hand on her right cheek was not there to remember the pain, but rather to savor the memory of tasting something delicious.

  Aryes’s new expression and manner transfixed Klass; he felt it deep in his chest.

  For a moment he was startled by it, but then realized there had been a tingle there ever since he’d downed the wine and felt
somewhat relieved.

  “Still, ’twould be a poor life not to know this particular pleasure,” said Holo.

  At those words the two of them looked at him, and Klass suddenly felt like a very young child, and like a young child he turned away angrily.

  The sun had set during the exchange, and thanks to the cloudy weather they were truly surrounded by darkness.

  As they had no fire, once night came there was nothing to do but sleep.

  It was the same group—Holo, Klass, Aryes—as the previous night, but perhaps having gotten bored with teasing, Holo did not suggest they all sleep together.

  Klass was simultaneously relieved and disappointed at this; it was a strangely lonely sensation, and he was frightened of thinking about it too much, so he wrapped himself in his blanket and closed his eyes.

  The moderate throb of pain in his temples was surely due to the wine.

  When he thought of Aryes, who tired after only a bit of walking, whose questioning eyes turned to him every time she saw something new, and who easily drank the wine, he sighed.

  He was the one who had to hold her hand and pull her down the path she so unsteadily walked.

  Such were the thoughts that occupied Klass as he drifted off to sleep.

  It was only when he awoke, with a sensation like missing a stair-step, that he realized he’d fallen asleep.

  “…Mph…”

  He wiped a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth with the blanket.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have,” he murmured to himself, remembering that the blanket belonged to Holo. He finished wiping his mouth with his own sleeve, then still lying on his side, glanced up at the sky.

  He felt like he’d been asleep for only a short time, but at some point the cloud cover had thinned, and a bit of moon-light was now escaping through. He shivered and drew the blanket tighter around himself but soon realized that the source of his shiver was not the cold.

  If it had been pitch-dark, it would’ve been impossible to find his way back to the blanket after relieving himself, but fortunately his eyes could see in this light, so he sat up. If he tried to endure and went in his sleep, well—the thought was too awful to contemplate. There was the fact that he was right by Holo and Aryes, and above all the insects would be terrible.