After a fantastical night that felt like I had stepped into another world, morning arrived.
I lay dazed in bed and suddenly felt a sense of emptiness, letting out a sigh.
The emerald lights that adorned the night sky. The various colors of fireworks intertwining and shining mysteriously behind them created a spectacle that I couldn’t shake from my mind, like a meteor shower falling.
“Really….”
It felt like I had a vivid dream. Such was the night.
After shaking off my daze and getting out of bed, I completed my usual preparations and left the room. It seemed that the students were still asleep, as the living room was quiet when I went down to the first floor.
It was six o’clock in the morning. It was natural that the students had not yet woken up. I hurried to prepare breakfast in the kitchen.
Even though I had done this every day for the past four days, today was a little different. I decided to use up all the ingredients in the refrigerator.
Even though it would be tough to finish an extravagant meal from the morning, there was no need for concern.
The reason I was preparing such a hearty breakfast was not only because today was the day I would be leaving this place but also because…
– Bang! Bang!
Well, we had a dwarf living in this forest. I approached the front door after seeing a small shadow vaguely visible through the window.
– With a clang.
“What, were you awake?”
It was Roarock Ironhammer, the lonely dwarf living deep in the mountains. If Roarock joined me for the meal, we would be able to finish all that food. I nodded at Roarock.
“Yes. I have to pack up early in the morning.”
“Right, you were leaving today, weren’t you?”
“That’s correct.”
“…tch.”
Roarock clicked his tongue, expressing his disappointment. It seemed he was trying not to show it, but even with half his face covered in a beard, it was still visible.
I thought to give him a final gift.
“By the way, Roarock. You’re just in time.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I think I’m going to prepare too much for breakfast, but if you help me out, I won’t have to waste any precious ingredients.”
Upon hearing my words, Roarock stared at me for a moment with a dazed expression before chuckling confidently in response.
“What are you saying? Is that all you wanted to say?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been starving since last night.”
“…….”
Thinking back, I had heard that the beasts in this area were periodically controlled by the House of Vallerge, so it made sense that Roarock wouldn’t have much to hunt.
Going without a meal must have become a regular occurrence for him.
I cautiously stepped aside from the entrance, and Roarock confidently strode into the lodge.
“The smell is incredible.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I may not know much, but I will acknowledge your cooking.”
“That’s quite an honor.”
“Don’t be sarcastic. I still have my gun, you know?”
“But you don’t have any bullets left.”
“Damn it. At least I had one bullet left. But not anymore.”
I turned to face Roarock. His expression was tinged with a hint of nostalgia.
“…It was the last bullet. Compared to the others that I couldn’t use, that last one was especially intact.”
“The bullet you kept in the chamber?”
“Yes. Thanks to that, it remained intact. I had been taking it out because I was worried I might accidentally fire it, saving it for an ’emergency.'”
The ’emergency’ he spoke of, could it be…
– …I’m sorry, Lucio.
“…….”
It was an image I didn’t want to think about. I shook my head and continued preparing the food.
“So, how did it go missing?”
“I used it.”
“You fired it? There was no sound yesterday….”
“I didn’t shoot it. It was that Kar’galg bastard.”
“So then….”
“I left it as a final gift.”
I stopped chopping and gazed blankly at Roarock.
“I don’t know if I mentioned this yesterday, but Nerwen liked what I showed her with that bullet.”
“Yes. I heard that yesterday.”
“Yes. So, I gave it to her. I wanted to give something a bit better, but that was all I could offer at the moment.”
What was Roarock feeling right now?
Was he regretting that he couldn’t give her something better as a final gift?
Or was he satisfied to give her something she liked during her lifetime?
I couldn’t tell, but there was only one thing I could say.
“She will appreciate it. Just that alone.”
Roarock, who had been staring out into the blue dawn sunlight streaming through the living room window since he entered the lodge, looked at me.
“…Yes. I hope so.”
“I mean it.”
“I know. Damn it….”
“I know someone similar. Someone who was always frugal and remained frugal even in the end.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. A person who smiled even at small things…. Nerwen was probably similar.”
We were silent for a while. The only sounds in the kitchen were the sound of my chopping and the simmering stew.
After a long silence of gathering our thoughts.
“Thank you.”
Roarock expressed his gratitude. Although he was looking outside at the dim dawn sunlight again, for some reason his eyes seemed to be gazing into the distance.
“I thank you as well.”
“…Yeah. That’s enough.”
“That is enough.”
Time passed, and the sound of birds chirping as they woke up began to fill the air as I finished preparing breakfast.
“…….”
Even until the students descended to the first floor, rubbing their sleepy eyes, we carried out our tasks in silence.
I prepared the food while Roarock discreetly helped me or quietly sat at the table, watching the outside world.
Until the morning’s azure sunlight faded and the warm summer sun gradually began to shine into the living room…. A significant amount of time passed.
*
“Are you really leaving now?”
After finishing breakfast and packing up to leave the lodge, the first words that Roarock, who had been silently keeping his mouth shut, uttered were just that. I looked back at him.
“Yes. It seems it’s time for me to go.”
“Time flies. Well, it’s only been about two days, after all.”
During those two days I spent with Roarock, I felt like I could sort out my complicated feelings. It seemed Roarock felt the same, as he looked at us with a wistful expression while we each carried our bags, leaving the lodge behind.
“I’ll keep you posted from time to time.”
“Is that possible?”
“Yeah. It will be.”
Vivian chimed into the conversation. It wasn’t because she was an immature student but rather from the perspective of being the eldest daughter of the House of Vallerge, the owner of this land.
“This lodge is registered with an address. A postman will come to deliver letters.”
“What? Was it like that?”
Roarock scratched his beard and shrugged his shoulders. He seemed to have something nagging at him.
“My place is quite far from here, kid. I can’t come here every day to check the mail.”
“Huh? What do you mean it’s far?”
“…Hmm?”
Lines crinkled on Roarock’s flat nose. When I looked at Vivian with a confused expression, she continued in a nonchalant manner.
“The dwarf can live here, right?”
“W-Wait a minute, Vivian.”
I hurriedly grabbed her shoulder. Vivian looked at me as if to say, “What’s the problem?” but there was no malice in her eyes.
“What’s wrong? Professor Antorelli.”
“Can you decide that on your own? In the first place, the reason Mr. Roarock lives separately in that cave is….”
“It’s fine. This lodge is mine anyway.”
“…Excuse me?”
I looked at Vivian’s stoic face and then raised my gaze to the lodge. It was a beautiful lodge with a serene and warm atmosphere, seemingly thriving as it grew in harmony with nature.
“Is it your property, Vivian?”
“Yeah. Not the whole mountain, but this area is my land. The village down below is also an estate in my name, at least for now.”
“…….”
Honestly, I was quite surprised. She was still a student, yet she already owned land that was almost a manor….
Is this… the nobility’s grace?
For some reason, I turned to Laura who was standing behind me. Laura glared at me sharply.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…It’s nothing.”
“I own a few estates myself, you know?”
Raising the stakes, Laura claimed that she owned quite a few. I was reminded that nobility indeed was nobility.
Anyway, I looked back at Roarock. It was obvious that living in a lodge with electricity and essential appliances, let alone clean water, was far better than living self-sufficiently in a cave.
However, whether he could leave the cave filled with memories of Nerwen was entirely his personal matter.
Whether my thoughts were correct, Roarock stroked his beard with a thoughtful expression for a while, contemplating deeply.
“Alright, kid. I’ll gratefully accept it.”
“I should mention that I’m not a kid.”
“You’re not a kid? If a human is just a little taller than me, I’ve been told that’s considered a kid.”
“…I just want to keep living where I used to.”
“Hey, I was just kidding! Come on!”
After the small commotion between Roarock and Vivian came to an end, Vivian continued with her explanation.
It seemed that the House of Vallerge was reluctant to send troops to manage the mountains.
Deploying personnel to an empty mountain and rotating them constantly to eliminate its former notoriety seemed like a waste of resources.
“So, let the old man take care of the forest ranger duties. That’s my condition. You’re the one who drove out the criminals that were sneaking into this area.”
“…What? Did you know that?”
“Yeah. I didn’t think the spirits living here would do that.”
“Spirits…? Well, anyway. It’s nothing too serious. Yeah, I’ll give it a try.”
“I’ll send you food every month, so don’t worry about it.”
Somehow, it all ended positively. Vivian’s ownership of this place significantly influenced that.
“Good to hear, Roarock.”
“I guess I’ll finally be free from that damp cave.”
“Congratulations.”
“Yeah, yeah… So, what’s this about spirits? What does that even mean?”
“…….”
I looked at Roarock silently, then turned to Daniel and Vivian. The two, who had been whispering to each other for a moment, nodded in my direction.
“Roarock. Aren’t you curious why we came here?”
“Huh? Well, I came to clear my head for a moment….”
“We actually came to find the spirits living in this area.”
Roarock’s mouth closed tight. His eyes, which had been filled with questions, began to fill with certainty.
“Could it be that you did something absurd in front of Nerwen’s grave….”
“Roarock, I don’t believe in spirits….”
It might be close to a false hope. However, it was still puzzling that Daniel and Vivian’s equipment had reacted strongly during that time.
In that case, wouldn’t it be okay to hope?
“The equipment we brought showed a particularly strong response at that grave.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Nerwen seems to still be by your side.”
“……!”
Roarock’s expression noticeably stiffened. I placed my hand gently on his shoulder before turning around without lingering.
“I will take my leave now.”
“Dwarf, let’s meet again when the time is right.”
“We’ll be leaving now! Take care of yourself!”
There was no lingering sentiment in my steps as I departed. The weight in my heart lightened with each step.
As we distanced ourselves from Roarock, who stood there awkwardly waving his hand, we slowly walked down the hiking trail.
“Professor. We’ll be able to meet Roarock again, right?”
It was Chloe’s question. I continued to walk without looking back, mumbling to myself.
“…If fate allows.”
As the rain falls and the snow falls, through the passing of the four seasons and the relentless passage of time.
If fate allows, we will meet again someday.
